So last night as we were walking back from class, there was a bicyclist who had had an accident lying in the middle of the road. People were rushing to help him, somebody was calling 911, and others were running into the street to stop oncoming traffic. I think he was probably going to be ok, but he wasn't wearing a helmet and he started spasming as we walked by, so I don't know.
Anyway, the point of telling this story was to say, first of all, that you should ALWAYS wear your helmet. End of story. Secondly, it got me thinking about taking advantage of life. Between that, the metro crash on the red line in DC, and spending the entire weekend cooped up writing papers, I've been thinking about how much there is to do and see in the world.
The major thing that studying abroad has taught me is how little I know. I feel like I'm constantly learning new things, searching things out, traveling. And I still know very little about almost anything. Take geography and politics, for example.
So, reaffirmation of an old goal: take advantage. Get out and see and learn as much as possible. And that can happen even back at home.
Philosophical musings aside, I've been trying to enjoy my last month or so in BsAs (unfortunately papers get in the way a little). Kelsey came to visit last week, so I took her to all the cool places I've discovered but we also went a couple of places I hadn't gotten a chance to visit yet, like the Congress building. (Oh and we went to a classical ballet, which was pretty amazing. Can't say I particularly understood the "plot" but those people are crazy good.) Funny how showing somebody around makes you get to know your own city. Pictures here, although she's got all the good ones of the two of us. And looks like Amanda's coming next week! woot!
At this point, I'm done with classes (finally!!! I feel like I have been in school forever) and just have a paper and an exam left before I'm finally done with junior year. So I'm starting to look forward to next fall, of course, but first it will be so nice to be home for a bit.
Maybe it's the stress, maybe it's the fact that I have been away a long time or that I get to go back soon, but I've been missing things from home:
free water at restaurants, a spice rack, doing my own laundry, knowing what things actually are when I look at the list of ingredients, not having to think beforehand about what I'm going to say when I walk into a store to ask for something, sidewalks not covered in dog poop, summer, the food, the people, humor I can understand immediately and participate in.
Things I'll miss from BsAs: the sheer amount of things to do, tango, mate, cheapness, the people, making fun of people in English and not having them understand me, ferias, the food, walking everywhere, the Argentine accent, the sun, the laid-back atmosphere, the abundance of bookstores, Governor Sanford (jk).
All in all, although I'm ready to be back to normality, to a system I understand and can work in, I wouldn't change my past year for the world. I don't think I can express (even to myself) the impact it's had on my life, so if you hear me blabbering on about it, please bear with me.
I just realized this is kind of a wrap-up entry and I still have two weeks left here... I'll probably post briefly again but in the meanwhile, thanks for following, anybody who actually still reads this :) and I can't wait to see you all! Maybe we can have mate and french bread.
All my love,
Jenelle
PS. I know I have been deficient on the postcard front, but I do have them, so if you would like one, send me your address :)
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Mate culture, Iguazu, and Jenelle's Rule Of Four
Hi everybody, sorry it's been a while since I updated. I would make excuses, but I feel like it's better to be out experiencing my life abroad than writing about it...
When I last wrote, I believe I was dying of midterms. Well that is basically all over and we've moved on to final papers, but I did get a little respite in between.
I've come up with a theory of living abroad, we'll call it Jenelle's Rule of Four: After almost exactly four months you will be done with the culture shock cycle and feel at home in your new city abroad. This generally occurs close to the time (in semester study abroad programs) that you're starting to get ready to head home. This has happened to me both semesters, and I'm pretty happy that I have a month left here to enjoy being adjusted.
Which brings me to my next point. I have finally figured out what I think of Buenos Aires/Argentina/Argentines. I like the people, I like the culture. I don't particularly like the city. It's enormous. It's dirty. You can't walk a block without stepping on a broken tile in the sidewalk, around dog poop, or under a drip (no idea where the water falls from. Don't want to know). The subte is a mix of occasional efficiency and rush hour conditions that make sardine cans look spacious.
But there are parts I like, too: it's also got trees and theaters and european facades. It's confusing and bustling and vibrant. And the people here are some of the friendliest I've ever met. I'm going to digress for a moment to tell a story.
Last week I was at my tango lesson, where my friend Alessandra and I are the only non-Argentines. It was one girl's birthday, so after class they brought out the cake they had made her and uncorked a bottle of champagne. After pouring, we all sang and toasted. And then the Argentines came around and clinked glasses with everybody. Individually. And then they sat around for half an hour and chatted and just generally had a group hangout session. I don't know how to explain it, but that for me epitomizes the culture here. They care about each other. They take the time to do the things that really matter. They sit and drink mate and play the guitar and relax because even though it's a city life is too important to rush away. They laugh.
It's one of those "had to be there" moments, but for me that is Argentina.
On a rather unrelated note, I went to the falls at Iguazu! I'd been wanting to go because I kept hearing great things and finally manged it last weekend. The falls are located on Argentina's border with Brazil and Paraguay and are absolutely breathtaking. We couldn't go to the Brazilian side because the visa to get to Brazil is expensive and difficult to get, but everybody says the Argentine side is better anyway. I took about fifty billion waterfall pictures from every angle, walked quite a bit, and took a boat under some of the little falls, so I was completely soaked. In other words, pretty much had a fantastic day. It was an extremely long bus ride, but definitely worth it. Pictures here.
And now my friend Kelsey's here visiting from Chile, so I'm getting to see parts of the city I hadn't gotten around to seeing before, which is really exciting. And hanging out with Kelsey's pretty cool, too. I'll put up those photos soon but in the meantime I updated another of my photo albums (mostly with pictures of a polo game I went to (the Argentines are really into-and good at-polo) which was a lot of fun, even though they didn't ask us to stomp the divots).
When I last wrote, I believe I was dying of midterms. Well that is basically all over and we've moved on to final papers, but I did get a little respite in between.
I've come up with a theory of living abroad, we'll call it Jenelle's Rule of Four: After almost exactly four months you will be done with the culture shock cycle and feel at home in your new city abroad. This generally occurs close to the time (in semester study abroad programs) that you're starting to get ready to head home. This has happened to me both semesters, and I'm pretty happy that I have a month left here to enjoy being adjusted.
Which brings me to my next point. I have finally figured out what I think of Buenos Aires/Argentina/Argentines. I like the people, I like the culture. I don't particularly like the city. It's enormous. It's dirty. You can't walk a block without stepping on a broken tile in the sidewalk, around dog poop, or under a drip (no idea where the water falls from. Don't want to know). The subte is a mix of occasional efficiency and rush hour conditions that make sardine cans look spacious.
But there are parts I like, too: it's also got trees and theaters and european facades. It's confusing and bustling and vibrant. And the people here are some of the friendliest I've ever met. I'm going to digress for a moment to tell a story.
Last week I was at my tango lesson, where my friend Alessandra and I are the only non-Argentines. It was one girl's birthday, so after class they brought out the cake they had made her and uncorked a bottle of champagne. After pouring, we all sang and toasted. And then the Argentines came around and clinked glasses with everybody. Individually. And then they sat around for half an hour and chatted and just generally had a group hangout session. I don't know how to explain it, but that for me epitomizes the culture here. They care about each other. They take the time to do the things that really matter. They sit and drink mate and play the guitar and relax because even though it's a city life is too important to rush away. They laugh.
It's one of those "had to be there" moments, but for me that is Argentina.
On a rather unrelated note, I went to the falls at Iguazu! I'd been wanting to go because I kept hearing great things and finally manged it last weekend. The falls are located on Argentina's border with Brazil and Paraguay and are absolutely breathtaking. We couldn't go to the Brazilian side because the visa to get to Brazil is expensive and difficult to get, but everybody says the Argentine side is better anyway. I took about fifty billion waterfall pictures from every angle, walked quite a bit, and took a boat under some of the little falls, so I was completely soaked. In other words, pretty much had a fantastic day. It was an extremely long bus ride, but definitely worth it. Pictures here.
And now my friend Kelsey's here visiting from Chile, so I'm getting to see parts of the city I hadn't gotten around to seeing before, which is really exciting. And hanging out with Kelsey's pretty cool, too. I'll put up those photos soon but in the meantime I updated another of my photo albums (mostly with pictures of a polo game I went to (the Argentines are really into-and good at-polo) which was a lot of fun, even though they didn't ask us to stomp the divots).
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