Second day of classes today. I started to learn about the world-renowned wine culture in Mendoza and the process/history of wine making. I'm actually going to go on a wine tour tomorrow afternoon. I finished my classes regarding the history of the Spanish language today--quite interesting given the transformations that have occurred since Latin and why they have occurred. I was lucky to get the last spot on an excursion today that had me horseback riding!! It was SO much fun! I took lessons ages ago and have been riding a handful of times since. I think the most recent time would have been when I was in Montana which was similar to this--alone on the horse following a group. I went alone and met a nice group of girls from England finishing up their gap year along with a group of college students from the US who were finishing up their semester abroad. I got to trot a bunch and gallop a little, but the most fun was crossing a river! We went back and were served wine from their vineyards (an incredible one only found in Mendoza, which is why the name escapes me right now--burguño or something like that??) while we waited for the other group to do their ride. They then served us an Argentinian asada (barbecue) which myself and the other vegetarians were able to enjoy with some grilled zapayo (squash--there are different names for EVERYTHING down here!). Franco was our guide and he was very informative and helpful--my coat fell off while my horse was galloping at one point and Franco got it for me (after earlier getting my lens cap that fell off my camera!). He grew up in the mountains and learned English by working at a hostel for a couple of years. The Andes were off in the distance and we saw a couple snow covered volcanoes--Tupungato and Tupungatito. It was pretty hard to maneuver the reigns and take pictures, so I don't really have an action shots to share. But once I buy the USB cable (I was going to do so today, but we got back later than planned), I will share the photos of the ranch and the horses we rode. My horse was Juan Cruz (according to Nicolás, it is a good name). This last photo is for my brother Robert who is pretty much obsessed with the street dogs in El Salvador, better known as chuchos. He would be very disappointed with the selection here--I have not seen many, though I'm told there are. But the ones that I have seen look like they are well-fed and are well-treated. Also, one person told me they are called perros callejeros o callejeros. Here is one in the airport from the other day. I didn't want to be seen taking pictures of the chuchos so I had to do it undercover. Después de mis clases hoy del vitivinicultura y gramática, aproveché de una excursión para montar a caballo!! ¡¡Era increíble! ¡¡Tenía tantos años de no hacerlo y me encanta!! Después de andar por un rato, cruzamos un río que era un poco hondo--tuve que levantar los pies para no mojarlos. Cuando regresamos al rancho, nos sirvieron vino de su viñedo y era exquisito! Cuando el otro grupo regresó de su caminata, nos hicieron una asada y aun los vegetarianos pudieron disfrutarla con la ensalada, papas, y zapayo (ayote). Mañana iré a otro tour de unos viñedos.
Adjunté la foto del perro para Roberto porque está medio obsesionado de los chuchos de El Salvador. Aquí había uno en el aeropuerto.
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On Sunday I didn't get a chance to update because after the soccer game-that-won't-be-named ended (around midnight here!), I had to make some reservations for when Francisco gets here next week. I got into Mendoza early in the morning. Here are some shots of the Andes Mountains that I was able to take from the plane. Mendoza has the highest peak outside of Asia with Aconcagua (nearly 7000 meters!). I'll have to figure out where to get a picture of it (I don't think hiking it is on the agenda this time!). I arrived at the family's apartment where I'll be staying until Saturday morning. Mabel is the mom and she has 4 grown children. Her son, Mario, lives with her here too. Mario' s 2 kids stayed here last night and watched the game-that-shall-not-be-mentioned. Here's a picture of the room I'm staying in. I think a bout of home-sickness had me worrying over things yesterday....Mabel has been sick with a fever and Mario is getting over being sick as well. I was worried about catching something from staying here, but walking around more today, lots of people seem to have a cold (I'm taking extra, extra vitamins and herbs and avoiding touching things in the apartment as best I can to do what I can to avoid getting sick!). Mabel also showed me how they drink water from a filter attached to the tap in the kitchen--there's no bottled water in the house. With my "gringa" stomach, I was worried I was asking for problems if I drank it, but it turns out it's actually safe to drink water straight from the tap here in Mendoza. I'm still playing it safe and drinking bottled water though. During the day yesterday, there weren't tons of options of things to do since lots of places were closed and it was c-c-c-c-cold!! I boarded one of those tourist buses that goes around the city to pass a couple of hours before the soccer tragedy last night. These are the best photos I could get on my phone from the bus--they're from the huge park on the west side of town. It has a small lake, sports complexes, a huge hill to hike, a zoo, and more. The gates are entering the Parque San Martín and were sent from overseas (I can't recall where from exactly). Inside the park is the stadium. Here's another photo of a statue--check out the one kid photo bombing my shot! He had me cracking up! I'm adding these photos below because I feel like everything I tend to see about Argentina is about how beautiful and rich things are here (which I knew wasn't a universal aspect--and any one I have talked to would say it's just the corrupt top government leaders who are rich from stealing and hiding money). These shots show some of the poverty that exists (forgive the camera phone). There are many other photos I could have taken to demonstrate this as well, but it would not have been appropriate to use my camera. Some of my most memorable and endearing times in El Salvador were when I was able to visit the cantones (the more rural areas) and interact with the people there. I don't know how much of that kind of an experience I'll be able to get during this short stay, but something to keep in mind for the future. I had my first day of classes at Intercultural today. I received a scholarship from AATSP to study at the school, Intercultural, for a week and if today is any indication of what awaits, it will be an amazing experience! The scholarship I got last year was to study in Cuernavaca, Mexico which was a great experience but I didn't feel 100% satisfied with the language-side of things. At Intercultural, they have programmed all of my classes to meet my level, needs, and interests. I am one-on-one with the teachers and do not have to sit through grammar lessons. My "grammar" class today was about the origins of Spanish which we'll continue next class. My second class was about teaching Spanish in the classroom and we'll be comparing how things are done in Argentina with the US. They take a communicative approach at Intercultural, focusing on the student producing and using the language--just up my alley (what is the point of studying a language if you can't speak it!?)! Next class is about differentiation in the classroom regarding the varying degrees of levels students have in the same class. I'll also have some cultural and history classes about Argentina. There's a class about film as well. They offer some supplementary things in the afternoons. I have class form 8:30-10 and 10:30-1 with lunch after. Since there wasn't much going on today, the teachers for 2 teenagers from the States let me observe their classes with them this afternoon (thanks again!!). It was great for me to see them using the same methods I'm accustomed to using. español
No pude añadir más información el domingo porque después del desastre del partido que no vamos a mencionar, tuve que "hacer reservas" (como dicen aquí) para cuando llega Francisco. Cuando aterrizamos en el aeropuerto, tomé aquellas fotos de las Andes--hermosas, ¿no? Aconcagua tiene la cima más alta fuera de Asia y se encuentra aquí en Mendoza, pero no sé donde necesito ir para tomar una foto. No sé si es posible--creo que es necesario manejar una distancia para hacerlo Pasé unas horas durante el día en un bus turístico que hizo un recorrido por toda la ciudad. No hubiera sido mi opción preferida, pero casi todo estaba cerrado por ser domingo. Fuimos al parque grandísimo en Mendoza, se llama Parque San Martín. Tomé fotos terribles del bus, pero es lo mejor que pude. Extrañaba mucho a Nicolás y a Fran y creo que eso contribuyó a mi preocupación por varias cosas el domingo que no tenían mucho sentido. Cuando llegué al apartamento con la familias, los dos aquí estaban enfermos con fiebre y tos. No quiero andar enferma cuando Francisco está aquí, así que estoy tomando un montón de vitaminas y hierbas y evitando de tocar cosas en la casa. También la señora (se llama Mabel y su hijo Mario) me enseño el filtro que usan para tomar agua del chorro (es la canilla aquí) y pensaba en mi estómago gringo delicado.... Después leí que se puede tomar agua directamente del chorro, ¡pero voy a seguir con mis botellas de agua! Tuve mi primer día de clases el lunes. Recibí una beca de AATSP para estudiar en la escuela Intercultural por una semana. Mi primera clase ayer fue de la gramática, pero me enseñó de la historia de la lengua española. Seguimos en la próxima clase. Para mi segunda clase, la profesora me hablaba del sistema educativo aquí en Argentina y estaremos comparando la didáctica de los idiomas aquí y allá. Después me dio permiso observar las clases de dos profesores que les dan a dos adolescentes estadounidenses. (¡Gracias de nuevo a Matías y a Paula!) ¡Todo en la escuela es chivísima! No puedo esperar las otras clases.
I was going to walk around a little while before 8pm mass (late huh?) began in the Compañia de Jesús Church (the oldest in Argentina--more pictures to post later), but as I was walking, I heard mass beginning in the cathedral a lot earlier so I went to that one instead! I DO have pictures of that from my cell phone! I wish I could have gotten a great picture from the outside, but the rain was coming down. As I was walking to the Cathedral, I finally found the Museo de la Memoria. It was closed but there was a type of outdoor museum. The Dirty War is a really sad story full of pure injustices, but worth reading about. This site has pictures of many of the thousands of people who "disappeared". Tomorrow I have an early flight to Mendoza where I will be staying with a family and begin my classes on Monday. Tomorrow is also the HUGE soccer match between Chile & Argentina--can't wait! español
Otra vez me toca escribir en español ¡y ya me cae el sueño! =( Hoy, después de despertarme tarde, agarré un bus para ir a Alta Gracia donde está la casa de Che Guevara. Conocí a dos personas amables en el bus y ellos iban al museo también--una era de Córdoba y el otro de Inglaterra. Me ayudaron encontrar el museo más rápido. Tomé bastantes fotos pero cuando llegué a mi hotel, ¡me di cuenta de que dejé la cuerda para bajar fotos en la casa! =( Después de la casa, regresé a Córdoba y fui al Museo Histórico de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. El guía era muy informativo, pero admito que me cuesta acostumbrarme al acento argentino! Me fascina con la entonación y pronunciación, sin embargo, necesito tener conversaciones más largas para poder comprender cada sílaba! =) No se permite tomar fotos dentro de museo, pero el enlace a su página de Facebook te lleva a ver fotos. Iba a asistir la misa en la iglesia más antigua de Argentina, pero mientras esperaba, oí una misa en la catedral. Así que asistí a la misa allí y tomé las fotos de arriba después. En camino a la catedral, encontré el museo que buscaba ayer--el Museo de la Memoria. Los enlaces de arriba tienen información sobre la Guerra Sucia y los desaparecidos. Ahorita necesito prepararme para mi viaje temprano mañana a Mendoza donde me quedaré con una familia esta semana. Mañana es el partido entre Argentina y Chile--¡será una experiencia única estar aquí viéndolo! After nearly a full day of traveling, I finally made it to Córdoba! My mom and Nicolás dropped me off at the airport. It was too much to say good-bye, so he decided to fall asleep instead!I need to get my phone out faster as this was supposed to be the great view of the skyline and me saying good-bye, but just take my word for it! It happened again with the amazing sunrise from the plane in the morning. It was a pink ball glowing and in seconds turned to yellow. I hope to have some better photos once I start using my nice camera. =) I had to transfer airports once I arrived in Buenos Aires this morning. We wen through the gate and boarded a shuttle bus for some first class entrance on the plane! The only other time I can remember boarding the plane directly from the tarmac was when I was in Ghana. We actually got some decent free snacks too--some crackers, a cookie and a chocolate-dipped alfajor. It's actually a lot colder here than I expected. Luckily I brought a winter coat with me, but that was supposed to be for Patagonia next week! Because of all of the different climates I'll be in over the next two weeks, I had to bring two suitcases with--one would have made it for this coming week in Mendoza, but when I'm traveling with my husband the following week we're going far south and far north. I tried to find the Museo de Memoria when I arrived, but couldn't find it. Being alone, I didn't want to bust out a map of the city and scream tourist even more! It was almost closing time anyways (and actually according to another website, it was already closed when I arrived in town). It was formerly a detention center where people were kidnapped and tortured. It's not a pleasant site, but an important one to learn about. I then bought a SIM card for my phone so that I have some kind of service and don't have to rely on wherever I can find a WiFi signal to communicate. FAIL OF THE DAY I went to the grocery store to buy some fruit to have during the day tomorrow. I was standing in line with my mandarine, orange and bananas and other snacks only to get to the register and she tells me I had to weigh the fruit in the meat department on the scale. I apologized and as I'm walking quickly back there since the cashier had everyone wait in line behind me, I hear one of the ladies in line say "how did she not know that?". Now I do! =) Tomorrow I hope to catch a bus to Alta Gracia to see the Jesuit Estancia and Che Guevara's house where he grew up. It's only an hour away and then hopefully I can make it back to see a couple museums in Córdoba before they close. It's two hours ahead of Chicago time, so I need to get some nice sleep--anything beats sleeping overnight in coach in the last row on an airplane! =) español
Creo que tengo demasiado sueño para poder traducir cada parte exactamente como me expliqué en inglés aquí, pero por fin llegué a Córdoba después de un día de estar viajando. Nicolás estaba despierto en el carro en camino a dejarme al aeropuerto, ¡hasta el momento que llegamos! Ahora hablé con él y me preguntó cuántos más días faltan. Cuando le contesté, me dijo "¡es como 100 días!" Tuve que ir al otro aeropuerto en Buenos Aires para ir a Córdoba y nos hizo abordar desde la propia pista de los aviones. La última vez que hice eso fue en Ghana. Apenas de comenzar el invierno aquí y ya está muy frío--más de lo que esperaba. El pronóstico decía unos 60oF pero se siento mucho más bajo. Menos mal que traje mi abrigo, ¡pero estaba esperando usarlo en Patagonia la otra semana! Llegué tarde en Córdoba y no pude ir al Museo de la Memoria. No creo que hay otra oportunidad, como me voy el domingo en la mañana para Mendoza. Tuve que comprar un chip para mi celular porque quisiera tener la habilidad de hacer una llamada por cualquier cosa. Estaba un poco frustrada porque mi empresa estadounidense me dijo que iba a poder hacer llamadas y textos, pero cuando llegué y no funcionó, me dijo que no hay torres para ellos aquí. Hay WiFi en varios lugares así que tengo contacto con otra gente. Mañana quisiera ir al pueblo/ciudad de Alta Gracia donde se encuentran las estancias Jesuitas y la casa de Che Guevara. Quiero regresar a Córdoba para poder ir a unos museos, si hay tiempo. Por eso necesito acostarme ya--son 2 horas adelantes aquí pero ya tengo mucho sueño. Dormir en la cama en mi hotel será bastante mejor que dormir en la silla de coach en al última fila del avión! =) |
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