sorry ive been silent for a while..this whole blogging thing takes a while.
anyway. updates

TATTOO!!!!
i got mine! hurraaaaaaay! it actually didnt hurt really, it just kinda felt uncomfortable. lasted about an hour. the tattoo artist didnt let me bring my cousin with me so i had to do it alone...and the only thing i could stare at was the cieling or this poster of a half naked women...fun lol. i couldnt really talk with the tattoo artist bc the noise of the tattooing was loud and i couldnt hear.
speaking of the tattoo artist, his name is pablo annnnnd! he tattooed Diego Maradona, Andres Calamaro and a bunch of other famous people...SOO cool.
after it was all done i almost passed out..my blood sugar went down and almost calapsed down the stairs...but then they gave me pop with sugar and i was fine.

CLASSES:
well lets seee. i am now done with both seminars. the second one was during an intensive week with class everyday for 5 hours each day..crazy. the class wasnt bad. the prof was really good, she a. knew what she was talking about and b. knew how to keep everyone interested in the subject for a long period of time. in the four days that we had class we talked about movies, tv shows, instituional spots (i think thats how you say it in english..) and commercials. the prof wants me to do the final project so i have to analize one of those in depth and write a min 5 page essay on it in spanish...this is gonna be fun. (its a grad level class and she grades really hard.. O boooy)
everyone in my class was 24/25 + and everyone assumed i was that age..and then they find out im 20 they were shocked.. i think im gonna start lying about my age.
i also met a girl that has a similar story ... she was born in the states went to high school in france and her dad worked in argentina..therefore she speaks all three of those languages. very interesting!
the first day of the class the pipe inside the class room exploded causing a flood of soapy water..the class kept going. and each day they kept changing the location of the class room..so i got to see alot of different classrooms which was cool. theres also a mandatory break where they provide you with coffee or tea and in the morning classes they give you pasteries as well...awesome!
i also got to learn a bit about how argentina works and how the tv works (things dont start on time..depending on the popularity they are extended or shortened and there are no commercials between programs, only throughout the programs).
first day of class it went over an hour and that made it 830...very dark out and i never traveled alone in the dark here so iwas freaking out..and it was pouring rain..but i made it! and now i no longer fear it. hurray.
the last day i got invited to go out with the ppl from my first class which was really fun!

outing adventures:
friday night i went out with my mom and her work friends and we went to a tango place. there i found out that i really really like dark quilmes stout beer...its really good!
and i pissed off an old man. he wanted to dance with either me or my mom...we both just walked by. and hes like hmmpf! and throws his arms up all pissed..it was hiliarious!
my mother also introduced me to her doctor friends and insisted on saying ooh hes a nice young man to everyone...it was really funny.

saturday: i went out with my class which was realyl fun. we went to a bar called acabar where they have alot of table games so we played sexonary (pictionary but about sex) and jinga. and we also got really good food. soo fun! from there went to a pub but i left before it got exciting bc i had to get up early ish since i got invited to go ot a bbq to watch the game and i was getting picked up early.

sunday. went to the bbq watched the game... was again reminded taht i should start lying abuot my age and say im at least 23 cuz when they find out im 20 they all freak out lol.

i also got to talk to alot of ppl about politics, the current president here, their thoughts on her, their thoughts on obama, universal health care, the poverty, the corruption (the majority of the police here are all bought off by the bad guys), how no one really respects rules...like driving rules for example.
all very interesting stuff but WAY too much to type out so if your interested we'll talk about it!!

last update about work:
work is pretty much same old same old
i compile the google alerts, send out emails, create email lists, and now im organizing the books..aka putting all the titles and authors and code numbers onto an excel spread sheet. fun fun stuff.
bright side. its good experience AND i finally mastered openning the stubborn door!

family is good. my mom is still here. and i see my cousins every now and then.

end of my update!! hope you enjoyed.

alright. so i should probably update this baby.

work is same old same old. i pretty much do the same thing every day. oh well..at least it'll look good on my resume.

i really really appreciate the proximity of my classes and stuff in ann arbor...one hour transit there and then one hour back everyday will def make me appreciate a short 10 minute walk.

this study abroad wasnt really all i expected...but that fact is making me realize that i should start to not expect anything to not have expectations and just take things as they happen..

on that note, ive been doing alot of thinking about how back home ppl see me as having argentine roots and when i'm here ppl dont see me as one of them but rather american. i'm also slowly starting to accept this difference i have in both worlds...which is a big step.

umm. my first seminar is over. i start another one next week that is every day for 4 hours a day. we'll see how that one is.

my parents come tomorrow! im really excited to see them.

annd um. idk. i cant really think of anything else im sure theres more but o well. it just wont get posted.

ooh. my baby cousin loves me!! i went to say bye to her yesterday night and she said noo dont go.

so adorable!

<3>

ok. well that's all for now. byebye

K lets see

Interning stories:

I really fail at opening the door…its sooo hard. My key keeps getting stuck and I cant open it. Its terrible.

Other than that. Its pretty chill. I do the same thing every day…which is basically is just cataloging when FOPEA shows up and listing contacts for all the newspapers of the places FOPEA will be hosting events.

Subways:

Well im starting to get used to the idea of being a sardine when im in the trains….its SOOOOO crammed. And the pda I see…SOO not necc. When im crammed against someone there is no reason why that person should get all hot and heavy with the person next to them. Ugh.

Anyway…what else. Hmm

Oh my class.

I love it. We had to create a character and give it life. Soo fun. And im making friends which is very very exciting! I got invited to eat lunch with them after class so awesome.

I also bought a new dress..it sparkles so excited.

Last night I hung out iwht my cousin and her friends for home made taco night. They were really good which is surprising bc I don’t like tacos…but these were good.

I also have a cold which sucks L

Next week im gonna go to a court trial of the military ppl from the dicatorship of argentina (from the disappeared ppl) its gonna be intense!!

And the 20^th my parents arrive! Yaaaay!

K sorry. I don’t really feel like writing too much, if you want detailed stories just ask me.

Okay so time for more updates

The weekend:

Friday was the last time I updated so that’s taken care of.

As for Friday evening I skyped for a bit and then just kinda chilled, talked with my grandma etc.

Saturday I woke up, ate, chilled with grandma then my cousin called asking if I wanted to come over. So I made my way over to her apartment all by my lonesome and found the street and everything!! Im totally growing, its great! So I helped her with some painting (well to be honest I sat there and gave her company while she painted…but still) I got some time to hang out and chill with my cousin.

Though apparently im too American. And my cousin made a good point about something…since I have things from both cultures I can pick and choose the things I like from both and such.

She also further explained to me how waxing is the way to go in argentina bc if you shave then that’s lazy and masculine here apparently…good to know. I tried to explain that her way is way more painful and she just said beauty is pain and our way is better and healthier. We’ll see. Lol

Then we both got really hungry so we went to mcdonalds…gotta say…its SOO much better here than back in the US. Dang. Also the medium size fries are totally a small size back home. Its crazy!

Then we stopped by her friends house and talked. I learned some things about argentine ways.

Example: driving four hours to go somewhere and coming back that same day is no big deal at all. The majority of the ppl here in Buenos aires travel and 1-2 hours to go to work everyday there and back…therefore they couldn’t understand why I don’t go home to gp every weekend bc its only 1 hour away.

We also all agreed that argentine fashion is awesome. And they asked me if I went out while im here in Buenos aires… I said not yet, im not about to go to a bar by myself and drink…that sounds like a terrible idea.

Then my cousin quizzed me on how to get back to my grandmas from where we were. I GOT IT RIGHT!

Also, ive been advised to lose my shyness. I need to be more in ppls faces and talk too much bc that’s whats expected in a way (in the argentine culture)

Also ive noticed that its highly male focused all about pleasing them, taking care of them, traditional gender roles in the house hold and such. Very interesting…things I never really noticed before when I was here all the other times I visited.

Oh I also decided that im done being scared…as long as I know where I’m going I’ll get there eventually…even if I have to be constantly asking directions..i’ll get there.

Anyway. We finally get ot my grandmas and I brought a movie to watch…the other bolyen (spelling?) girl. Omg terrible the way the women were all controlled and used. Gaah. Crazy. I watched it with my grandma

Then Sunday I got gnoccis with pesto!!! Amazing. And then just chilled with my grandma, skyped with my parents and such. Then watched devils wears prada and went to bed.

Oooh and I went for a walk but everything was closed .

Today….apparently the subway I take to work caught on fire or something so it was closed. So I went to work in taxi and FOUND MY WAY BACK ALL ON MY OWN BY BUS!!!! Huge accomplishment, im very proud of myself.

And I decided…Buenos aires isn’t all THAT dangerous…everyone on the streets aren’t all out to get you etc. thooo ive heard PLENTY of stories from my cousins of things that have happened to them…even in groups. Scary. Times like that im glad I have some training..tho sadly thinking of that makes me think that its sad that im not able to go to the dojo.

Later today after lunch I went for a 2 hour adventure walk and did some window shopping and actual shopping. Very exciting!

Tomorrow one of my cousins invited me to get some coffee in the afternoon and I think at night I’ll be going to dinner with one of them so that’s exciting!

Also, yet another cousin told me that if I wanted to wait until the 17 to get my tattoo that his friend who owns a tattoo parlor (whos currently back home in the south) will do my tattoo and give me a better price. Sooo I think I’ll wait till then I think. Ive waited this long I can handle ten more days.

Ooh last fact. Today, here in argentina, is national day of journalists! So happy day!

Alright…I think that’s enough debriefing for now. Until next time!

Internship:

-I got the internship! My boss even gave me keys to the building so I can come in and out as I please. Very exciting.

I learned how to get there all by myself..its a good 45 ish minute transit. I take the subway that’s 2 blocks away from where I am and then I take that a few stops and make a connection to another subway and then go a few more stops and exit. Then I cross the street and turn to the right go down a block to this really old narrow building with a really creepy elevator and bam. There I am. At the national organization for journalism and journalists of argentina!

I even kinda sorta made a friend. Theres another girl that’s doing an internship so maybe we’ll become friends and ill actually have someone to hang out with. Apparently here to graudate from the university (at least hers) you need to have 3 months of interning, which is pretty cool.

-ive only been there for one day but ill be working there 3 hours ish a day in the morning at 10 (meaning I leave here at 9 and wake up around 8) and then ill be there until 1. I do that everyday except Fridays when I have the seminar.

Seminar:

-first day of class today!!

I must say…a four hour class is pretty hard to sit thru, luckily the prof is really fun.

He;d go on and on about how creativity and imagination is the most important thing to capture the attention of anyone. This is grad class and we had an exercise of combining two FAIRY TALES and turning it into a new fairy tale with elements of both. Sooo we had to do Cinderella and the flute guy that charms rats (I forget the name in English) soo the story that we came up with in the group I was in was that cinderellas mice turned mutant by eating some bad cheese and grew crazy huge and prince charming wanted to rescue Cinderella but being a poor rich boy he hired the flute guy. He comes and starts playing his music on the roof charming the mice and making Cinderella fall in love with him so she starts scaling the house to get to the roof.. prince charming sees this and isn’t pleased so he goes inside the house to get Cinderella…the mice kill him. So the flute guy puts on the princes clothes, since the mice were on his side, and he and Cinderella go ot the castle…with the giant mice as the court and the lost children that the flute guy has at the end of his original story (who followed him on his Cinderella mission in our version) are adopted by Cinderella and the flute guy after they married and they live happily ever after in the town that only allows them, giant mice, and kids.

Hilarious.

The girl I was sitting next to was very nice too. Incredibly friendly and told me about some cool history books about argentina and where I could find them and stuff… ill need to go on an adventure.

I then had to wait for the bus and got on it…but then I started freaking out thinking I might of gotten on the wrong one….which luckily I dindt. And then I sat there for an hour closely paying attention to everything until I got off where I needed to and walked back to my grandmas.

Other stuff:

Being here is very frustrating, though that’s all im gonna say here about the matter …

20 ish days and things will hopefully get better if they don’t by then.

Oooh and I need to keep having to wait to get my tattoo…its been postponed to this coming week. Getting sooo anxious about it. But that’s okay..gives me more time to prepare for it…tho I think that will only result with me building it up way too much in my head.

Anyways.

That’s all for now!

Welll part two of my stay in argentina has begun!

I am now in argentina. Im living with my grandma making and unmaking my bed everynight living on the couch.

I saw a few of my cousins so far, but its exam season for them so they are busy. Tomorrow I believe I will be getting my tattoo! Woohoo (hopefully it wont be sooo bad)

Today I learned how to manage myself in the subway AND landed myself an internship with FOPEA, a national organization of journalism. Very exciting! They even gave me the key to the building so I can get in and out. Tomorrow I start at 10:30….soo ill be leaving here around 950 and make my way (ALONE yay) down to the subway then onto the train, make a connection, and exit (hopefully on the right now) and thennnnnnnn walk over to work and I will be there! Woohoo. All very exciting!

There are more stories but I cant exactly write them out so if you are curious id be more like willing to share.

I also went shopping today I found a really cute top…perfect for summer so ill have to wait two months to use it but its really nice.

Friday I start my seminar. Its 3 hours. Starts at 9 am. Hopefully that will go well…it’s a seminar on coming up with story ideas (journalism seminar)

Yayness!

My rents are also coming soon which is exciting…well soon. The 20^th. The 21 is my moms birthday so were having a big family party (which will be awesome im very excited about that)

As for this weekend…hopefully my cousins will be up to do something. If not, maybe maybe I’l make some friends either in the class or in the internship. We will see how it all goes.

Ooh. A side story. When I got to Buenos aires my suitcase was the first one that came out on the belt…THAT NEVER HAPPENS. It was great!

Ooh. And while walking around the streets of Buenos aires…there are sooo many shiny things on sale.. SOO exciting. Lol.

K well that’s all for now!