First Month In Argentina
My first month in Argentina
After reading all of Andy’s cool stories about India, I decided it’s about time to detail my life here in Argentina.
To start, I need to reach way back to the trip here. In the airport, after a long and hard goodbye, I met up with Natalie Robles and Megan Tresenriter. We were able to sit together on the flight and it was very smooth. In Mexico Ciy, we met up with several others and traveled to Buenos Aires. There was much thunder, lightning, wind, and rain and that was just about the most tumultuous plane ride I had ever experienced. Andy had given me a present before he left me but asked me to wait until he wasn’t there to open it. When I did, I was pleasantly surprised by a stuffed toucan (typical of the Igauzu region of Argentina) sprayed with his perfume. I loved it! Also there was a beautiful letter to me which I find myself reading almost every night and especially if I miss him.
Once we arrived we were met by Nilde and Haroldo. Haroldo greeted me by name and said he had heard wonderful things about me. I felt very welcome. He is a relative of Annie Leiss who also is here at La UAP studying for her medicine exam. From the airport, our group went via bus to the Adventist restaurant in Buenos Aires (Granix) and enjoyed a delicious meal. After, we drove six hours to La UAP (Universidad Adventista del Plata or Riverplate University).
Upon arrival, I met my roommates: Dahiana and Leidi. They are very nice and force me to speak A LOT of Spanish. Dahiana also speaks English and helps when I’m completely tongue-tied and confused. Haha . I’ve also been getting to know several of the ACA students, ironically most of my ACA friends are from Andrews, Southern and Walla Walla and not PUC or LSU. Ha!
The first week was full of events. There was no school but lots of orientation and the placement exam. Somehow I was placed in the highest level (Avansado 2)! Ha! Imagine that…if Andy would have come here I would be in the same class as him. I think it was a good decision afterall---he would have been bored to tears!
Also, I auditioned for musicap (the select choir here), got in, and went to rehearsal on Thursday night at 8. I really enjoyed it and am impressed by the group. The MAJORITY of the singers are vocal majors and the men sound fantastic! A select few remember Andy from when he studied here in 2004 and sang in this very group. We are going on a tour to Chile on October 23 for 10 days. I am very excited about this because we are stopping in Mendoza, Argentina (the Napa of Argentina), crossing the Andes mountains into Chile and visiting Santiago (the capital), Chillan (where the Adventist college in Chile is located), and other random places htat I don’t know about yet. Also, another ACA girl and I (Anne-Claire) started the ACA choir. Anne-Claire and I discussed how we were going to do it and concluded that we would have a very diverse choir. I brought Spanish, English, and Latin music scores with me and she brought Spanish praise music tracks. We will have both traditional and contemporary repertoire and will adjust to meet the needs of our performance venues. We are both excited about the group. I actually brought the famous “Peace, Peace” of GAA to use as one of our Christmas songs. One of the girls brought her violin and is doing the violin obligato, and I also got Silent Night in Spanish and so the congregation can sing with us in Spanish! I’m also working with the group on “Esto Les Digo” and it’s coming along. So far, we have had three weeks of rehearsals (2/week 45 minutes each). Unfortunately, because it isn’t a legit class and the directors are students, people don’t arrive on time and some not at all because they have homework or other random things to do. This makes it hard but we’re getting along. We hope to have a church performance in November at one the churches here in la villa. I’m also in one other choir now that is student run and we are going on tour to Uruguay in the beginning of November. Woo hoo! Traveling! I’m really glad to be involved so much in music here. I’m actually invited to sing for vespers at Iglesia del Parque this Friday! In Spanish!!!! I need to practice! Haha.
I really like exploring this town. On Wednesday of the first week, Dahiana and I went to Zeroim and got something akin to vegetable empanadas, and then went to the gym. The gym here is not for me. It hurts to think I still have that LA fitness membership but was kicking the air in some ridiculous combat class in a very old and small gym. Yeah…not for me. Instead, I’ve been trying to do some walking and found that there is a beautiful walk to a bridge called Puente and the path is beautiful! I also have gone with friends to a really good Peruvian restaurant, la vieja estacion, el navigante, and other random places in this small town.
The caf here is nothing compared to PUC or LSU. Breakfast especially is not very tasty. There is cereal, apples, oranges, bananas, hard baked bread, hot milk, and liquid yogurt. There is no actual bowls and plates but a big metal tray with dips in it for the food. The silverware is such a thin, cheap plastic that it breaks. Ha! But that’s okay. After hearing about Andy’s food in India I realize that comparatively I’m eating like a queen. Haha.
I absolutely LOVE this campus. It is very green and beautiful. The weather is very odd though. In the first week we have had hot weather, extremely cold weather with thunder, lightning, and pouring rain, cloudy weather, extremely windy weather, and again hot weather. Now, one month later the weather is still tempermental. Today is raining and I need a sweater, but yesterday was sunny and beautiful.
I have really enjoyed getting to know Andy’s relatives here: Tia Beba, Viviana, Tia Hadita, Graciela and her family, Elvira’s daughter, and Ivonne. I love going over to their houses because I get completely immersed in Spanish and I enjoy getting to know them more. I also get a wonderful homemade Argentinian meal!
Church here is inside of a huge gymnasium to potentially fit all 3,000 students that study here at La UAP and the town. They are currently building an enormous church but it isn’t ready yet. Sometimes I find myself spacing out in church though because the pastor speaks so fast. However, this last week was week of prayer and the speaker was Leslie Pollard, the assistant chaplin at Loma Linda! It was a great week of prayer and I was able to pick up a lot of Spanish because I would here a short phrase in English, followed by Spanish.
After church on the first Sabbath I was invited to have lunch Haroldo, his wife, Annie and a few other ACA students. It was very very fun! We ended up staying at their house until 6 pm. Haroldo is the director of ACA and my favorite professor. His wife is also one of my teachers and will be teaching a cooking class next quarter which I want to take.
At some point in the first week, a group of about 20 of us decided to hike/walk about 3 miles to the abandoned black bridge (Puente negro). The trip there was really cool. I saw a plaque dedicated to Jorge Riffel (Andys great great something… haha) who started the first Adventist church in Argentina. It was kind of in the middle of nowhere. We had to do all sorts of random maneuvers to get to the bridge like jump across streams and climb slippery, muddy hills. When we got there it was super scary because one could easily fall through the tracks on the bridge. One of the ACA girls, Isabelle, and I linked arms as we stepped from wood plank to wood plank. One of the Argentineans was crazy and climbed to the very top of the bridge (standing on top) and walked across a very small area. I seriously couldn’t look because I thought he could so easily fall and die. The river below was very shallow and wouldn’t provide much cushion at all. At the bridge we sat on a more stable area and drank terere (a very common argentina drink with an herb called mate). Great day.
My classes are hit and miss. I really like my Spanish grammar class (nerdy I know), Spanish conversation, and current events in South America. Bible and folklore class I’m having trouble liking. The teachers don’t speak English and just kind of ramble in Spanish while I space out. :/ I’m also in Spanish composition and like the class and teacher, but the homework is ridiculous busy work.
As far as daily life, I have a lot of free time. Sometimes I get bored, and when this happens I find that the internet or watching movies with friends keeps me entertained. I’ll always watch with either Spanish subtitles or in Spanish so I feel like I’m not totally wasting time. Haha. The internet is INCREDIBLY slow on the campus. When I get fed up with it I just hed over to the internet café across the street.
So..the big question. How long will I be here? I still haven’t decided. A part of me wants to go home in December after the ACA Peru trip and a potential destination Christmas in which I meet Andy in another country that is around the half-way point between Argentina and India (perhaps South Africa?). If I would do this, I would come out with a minor in Spanish and be able to go back to LSU winter quarter and graduate next year. If I decide to stay here longer, I could potentially receive a second major in Spanish, take the CSET and teach it! (if I learn enough that is. haha) Also, I would be able to go on another ACA trip to Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL! I just don’t know yet, though. I’m going to wait it out to see how I feel in November/December. Right now I’m happy and having fun, but I miss everything about my life back home as well.
Wow this turned out to be longer than I expected. Thanks for reading!
After reading all of Andy’s cool stories about India, I decided it’s about time to detail my life here in Argentina.
To start, I need to reach way back to the trip here. In the airport, after a long and hard goodbye, I met up with Natalie Robles and Megan Tresenriter. We were able to sit together on the flight and it was very smooth. In Mexico Ciy, we met up with several others and traveled to Buenos Aires. There was much thunder, lightning, wind, and rain and that was just about the most tumultuous plane ride I had ever experienced. Andy had given me a present before he left me but asked me to wait until he wasn’t there to open it. When I did, I was pleasantly surprised by a stuffed toucan (typical of the Igauzu region of Argentina) sprayed with his perfume. I loved it! Also there was a beautiful letter to me which I find myself reading almost every night and especially if I miss him.
Once we arrived we were met by Nilde and Haroldo. Haroldo greeted me by name and said he had heard wonderful things about me. I felt very welcome. He is a relative of Annie Leiss who also is here at La UAP studying for her medicine exam. From the airport, our group went via bus to the Adventist restaurant in Buenos Aires (Granix) and enjoyed a delicious meal. After, we drove six hours to La UAP (Universidad Adventista del Plata or Riverplate University).
Upon arrival, I met my roommates: Dahiana and Leidi. They are very nice and force me to speak A LOT of Spanish. Dahiana also speaks English and helps when I’m completely tongue-tied and confused. Haha . I’ve also been getting to know several of the ACA students, ironically most of my ACA friends are from Andrews, Southern and Walla Walla and not PUC or LSU. Ha!
The first week was full of events. There was no school but lots of orientation and the placement exam. Somehow I was placed in the highest level (Avansado 2)! Ha! Imagine that…if Andy would have come here I would be in the same class as him. I think it was a good decision afterall---he would have been bored to tears!
Also, I auditioned for musicap (the select choir here), got in, and went to rehearsal on Thursday night at 8. I really enjoyed it and am impressed by the group. The MAJORITY of the singers are vocal majors and the men sound fantastic! A select few remember Andy from when he studied here in 2004 and sang in this very group. We are going on a tour to Chile on October 23 for 10 days. I am very excited about this because we are stopping in Mendoza, Argentina (the Napa of Argentina), crossing the Andes mountains into Chile and visiting Santiago (the capital), Chillan (where the Adventist college in Chile is located), and other random places htat I don’t know about yet. Also, another ACA girl and I (Anne-Claire) started the ACA choir. Anne-Claire and I discussed how we were going to do it and concluded that we would have a very diverse choir. I brought Spanish, English, and Latin music scores with me and she brought Spanish praise music tracks. We will have both traditional and contemporary repertoire and will adjust to meet the needs of our performance venues. We are both excited about the group. I actually brought the famous “Peace, Peace” of GAA to use as one of our Christmas songs. One of the girls brought her violin and is doing the violin obligato, and I also got Silent Night in Spanish and so the congregation can sing with us in Spanish! I’m also working with the group on “Esto Les Digo” and it’s coming along. So far, we have had three weeks of rehearsals (2/week 45 minutes each). Unfortunately, because it isn’t a legit class and the directors are students, people don’t arrive on time and some not at all because they have homework or other random things to do. This makes it hard but we’re getting along. We hope to have a church performance in November at one the churches here in la villa. I’m also in one other choir now that is student run and we are going on tour to Uruguay in the beginning of November. Woo hoo! Traveling! I’m really glad to be involved so much in music here. I’m actually invited to sing for vespers at Iglesia del Parque this Friday! In Spanish!!!! I need to practice! Haha.
I really like exploring this town. On Wednesday of the first week, Dahiana and I went to Zeroim and got something akin to vegetable empanadas, and then went to the gym. The gym here is not for me. It hurts to think I still have that LA fitness membership but was kicking the air in some ridiculous combat class in a very old and small gym. Yeah…not for me. Instead, I’ve been trying to do some walking and found that there is a beautiful walk to a bridge called Puente and the path is beautiful! I also have gone with friends to a really good Peruvian restaurant, la vieja estacion, el navigante, and other random places in this small town.
The caf here is nothing compared to PUC or LSU. Breakfast especially is not very tasty. There is cereal, apples, oranges, bananas, hard baked bread, hot milk, and liquid yogurt. There is no actual bowls and plates but a big metal tray with dips in it for the food. The silverware is such a thin, cheap plastic that it breaks. Ha! But that’s okay. After hearing about Andy’s food in India I realize that comparatively I’m eating like a queen. Haha.
I absolutely LOVE this campus. It is very green and beautiful. The weather is very odd though. In the first week we have had hot weather, extremely cold weather with thunder, lightning, and pouring rain, cloudy weather, extremely windy weather, and again hot weather. Now, one month later the weather is still tempermental. Today is raining and I need a sweater, but yesterday was sunny and beautiful.
I have really enjoyed getting to know Andy’s relatives here: Tia Beba, Viviana, Tia Hadita, Graciela and her family, Elvira’s daughter, and Ivonne. I love going over to their houses because I get completely immersed in Spanish and I enjoy getting to know them more. I also get a wonderful homemade Argentinian meal!
Church here is inside of a huge gymnasium to potentially fit all 3,000 students that study here at La UAP and the town. They are currently building an enormous church but it isn’t ready yet. Sometimes I find myself spacing out in church though because the pastor speaks so fast. However, this last week was week of prayer and the speaker was Leslie Pollard, the assistant chaplin at Loma Linda! It was a great week of prayer and I was able to pick up a lot of Spanish because I would here a short phrase in English, followed by Spanish.
After church on the first Sabbath I was invited to have lunch Haroldo, his wife, Annie and a few other ACA students. It was very very fun! We ended up staying at their house until 6 pm. Haroldo is the director of ACA and my favorite professor. His wife is also one of my teachers and will be teaching a cooking class next quarter which I want to take.
At some point in the first week, a group of about 20 of us decided to hike/walk about 3 miles to the abandoned black bridge (Puente negro). The trip there was really cool. I saw a plaque dedicated to Jorge Riffel (Andys great great something… haha) who started the first Adventist church in Argentina. It was kind of in the middle of nowhere. We had to do all sorts of random maneuvers to get to the bridge like jump across streams and climb slippery, muddy hills. When we got there it was super scary because one could easily fall through the tracks on the bridge. One of the ACA girls, Isabelle, and I linked arms as we stepped from wood plank to wood plank. One of the Argentineans was crazy and climbed to the very top of the bridge (standing on top) and walked across a very small area. I seriously couldn’t look because I thought he could so easily fall and die. The river below was very shallow and wouldn’t provide much cushion at all. At the bridge we sat on a more stable area and drank terere (a very common argentina drink with an herb called mate). Great day.
My classes are hit and miss. I really like my Spanish grammar class (nerdy I know), Spanish conversation, and current events in South America. Bible and folklore class I’m having trouble liking. The teachers don’t speak English and just kind of ramble in Spanish while I space out. :/ I’m also in Spanish composition and like the class and teacher, but the homework is ridiculous busy work.
As far as daily life, I have a lot of free time. Sometimes I get bored, and when this happens I find that the internet or watching movies with friends keeps me entertained. I’ll always watch with either Spanish subtitles or in Spanish so I feel like I’m not totally wasting time. Haha. The internet is INCREDIBLY slow on the campus. When I get fed up with it I just hed over to the internet café across the street.
So..the big question. How long will I be here? I still haven’t decided. A part of me wants to go home in December after the ACA Peru trip and a potential destination Christmas in which I meet Andy in another country that is around the half-way point between Argentina and India (perhaps South Africa?). If I would do this, I would come out with a minor in Spanish and be able to go back to LSU winter quarter and graduate next year. If I decide to stay here longer, I could potentially receive a second major in Spanish, take the CSET and teach it! (if I learn enough that is. haha) Also, I would be able to go on another ACA trip to Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL! I just don’t know yet, though. I’m going to wait it out to see how I feel in November/December. Right now I’m happy and having fun, but I miss everything about my life back home as well.
Wow this turned out to be longer than I expected. Thanks for reading!