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.
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