Ahh Summer at the Beaches of Argentina

Hello friends and family in California!  It's been a while since my last post and I'm sure you've all been wondering what exciting new adventures I've had since my last post!haha...After Leanne and Liz left the Porteno city, my roommate Jessica and I set out on our own exploring of the coast of Argentina.  First we went to a little town named Villa Gesell which was really fun, it was filled with tons of young people and everyone vacationing.  We relaxed on the beach and walked around town at night.




























After Villa Gesell we went to Mar del Plata, a very popular summer getaway for Argentinians.  We went to visit with the two boys in the picture because one of them is from Mar del Plata and he showed us around the city.  The beach was a lot bigger in this city and prettier as well, although the water on the coast of Argentina isn't the most gorgeous you've ever seen.  The trip was so fun altogether, mainly because of all the beach/tanning time.  We also got to meet Matias'(the boy on the right) family and we tried a home cooked asado dinner!  Asado is the Argentinian version of barbeque which includes different cuts of meat cooked in a special oven.  We went out one night to a street lined with clubs, called boliches, and bars.  The street was packed as well as most of the bars and clubs and even as we left at about 5 am (early for the end of an Argentinian night out) people filled the sidewalks like a never ending party.  It was a great way to spend our free time in another country and I'm so glad I stayed through the summer here to experience a different way of living.  The people are so much more relaxed here and always take a summer vacation, sometimes for a whole month!  It's a great way to live, if only Americans knew how to take more vacations, slow down and enjoy life more.

Punta del Este, Uruguay and the end of Leanne's visit

Hello again! Not long after New Year's my friend Leanne arrived and we all rushed off to Punta del Este Uruguay.  This beachy spot is the exclusive vacation getaway for Argentinians and it was gorgeous!  The beaches were amazing although it rained two out of the three days we were there.  We still got some great pictures of the crystal blue water and the white sand.  We got all our sun in on the last day by the pool at the hotel because our dreams of sun tanning by the ocean were squashed by the ominous clouds hanging over us.   It was still an amazing trip in another country!

The random fingers coming out of the beach are something Punta del Este is famous for, so of course a touristic picture was necessary.  The beach was amazing and I wish we could have spent more time there.  After we got back to Buenos Aires we settled in for about a day and then my friend Liz had to catch her flight back to the U.S.  After that, I wanted to show Leanne all I could of Buenos Aires so we organized some day activities.  First I took her to Tigre, a little town outside of the city where there is a river and an open market.  We took a boat ride which was very relaxing and explored the market a little although we did get burnt, a recurring theme that week.   We also explored the many different ice cream stores of Buenos Aires and Punta del Este because the ice cream here is too delicious to resist.  Although we ate our way through quite a few stores, I assure you there are many more untasted by us California girls.  One of my favorite things (even since being in Buenos Aires) was going to a Tango show!  We made reservations at a place called Senor Tango in San Telmo.  The neighborhood was sketchy but the inside of this building was incredible!  There were lights everywhere, chandaliers a stage in the middle of dining tables covered in red and black tablecloths and Tango memorabilia.  We opted out of the included dinner because it was about US $60 more which is pretty pricey for a college student's dinner.  The dancing, singing, and costumes were amazing and I hated for it to end!  It has to be one of the most exciting things I've done since being in Argentina yet and I would love to do it again if only it wasn't as expensive.   The last thing Leanne had to do before she left was a tour of the city, which we did on a bus with audio information about all the different areas we visited.  Most of the places I had already seen but it was nice to hear interesting facts about the famous monuments and parts of town.  Some of you will recognize the Casa Rosada (the Pink House, like our White House) which is in the Plaza de Mayo.  We also visited Caminito in La Boca, which is a street filled with colorful buildings and is known for its artwork.   The city tour pretty much concluded Leanne's visit and I took her to the airport that night.  It was an amazing trip and there's still more summer fun to come!

International Christmas and New Year's

Hello everyone!  I know it's been a while since my last post but vacation can keep an American girl in Argentina extremely busy!haha...I just wanted to keep everyone updated as to what went on during my Christmas and New Year's in Buenos Aires.  For Christmas Jessica and I went to our Colombian friend's house and tried Ajiaco, a Colombian soup that has chicken, potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables.  It is eaten with rice and it was delicious!  We brought a fruit salad covered in a creamy sweet sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and pasta salad which they said was delicious as well.

For New Year's my friend Liz flew down and we also celebrated with my Colombian friends again but this time we had arepas, like Colombian tortillas that you eat with butter and salt and we made a macaroni salad that was delicious.  We also had arroz con leche (rice with milk) for dessert.  It sounds weird but it's really just sweet rice and it's so good!  We talked and ate dinner (although the talking was a little difficult because Liz doesn't speak Spanish and very few people spoke English at the party) and then danced salsa a little bit after.

We had a great time and I'm glad I got to show my friend a good time, she said she really loved Buenos Aires.  Another blog to come...

Las Cataratas de Iguazu (Iguazu Falls) and Other Adventures

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay in blog posts but two sets of midterms plus makeup midterms took over my life and left me with unsatisfying results.  HOWEVER I rested in between those and my upcoming finals with an amazing trip to Iguazu Falls which is a national park full of huge, gorgeous waterfalls on the border of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.  We took a bus with a group that organized everything for us(it was much easier than doing it ourselves) and was soo fun!  We met many people from all over the world who are studying here because it was a trip specifically for students and it was an experience I'll never forget!  On the way there we stopped in the province of Misiones to see the Jesuit ruins where they tried to convert the Guarani natives.  The middle picture includes Stephanie and Garrett two German students who study at UCES with us.  The ride was long but we slept through the night and got to know the people on the bus with us so it really wasn't that bad.












After arriving, we moved our stuff into the hotel rooms and headed for the pool to relax.  Later we had dinner at the hotel (it was included as well as breakfast) and talked until bedtime to get ready for the next day at the national park.

Unfortunately the entrance to the park was not included, but it was worth every penny!  First we took a boat that went directly under the waterfalls so we got a nice shower to cool us down.  We were definitely rockin the bright orange life jackets hahaa.  After that we went to a little beach area to take pictures of the falls and talk for a bit.

After our break we hiked up a hill to get a closer look at the gorgeous spectacle and got to take a few more pictures.

The views were beautiful, but we still had more to see....after lunch we continued up the hill to see Iguazu from above and the falls were incredible.

I never had any idea how huge Iguazu Falls was!  It may even be larger than Niagra Falls, but I've never been so I'm not sure.  There were so many butterflies (and bugs!) at the falls it was wonderful to see all the wildlife and different nature here.  But it was still not the end of our day....We continued on and took a tram to the other side of the falls to see La Garganta del Diablo (the Devil's Throat) which is a huge fall and all you can see from above is the foam (not sure if that's the right word) of all the water coming down.

The day was long and hot but I enjoyed every minute!  We came back to the hotel and that night we spent some time with the new friends we made on the trip...

The next day we were free to do whatever we wanted and Jessica and I decided to take a tour through the forest, zipline and rapel down a waterfall! It was scary at first but I'm sure we'll never regret it!

Before our waterfall adventure we took a few little trips to a town called Tigre which is about an hour away on the train(like BART).  There's a river, a theme park, a casino, and a farmer's market and it's a great way to spend the day outside...

You can't tell, but the plaque says Los Estados Unidos (United States) and all of us are from the U.S.

They actually still have phone booths in Buenos Aires!  Amazing since they're basically non existent in the U.S. 

We also had a very fun Halloween, Jessica, Dani, Andrea and I were all tourists and Jessica's friends who are studying in Brazil were clowns...

As of now we're in the middle of finals and haven't experienced any spectacular adventures lately with all the studying going on....I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on any trips we go on and what we're doing out here in the big BA!

Noches en Buenos Aires

Hello again! It's been a while since I posted my last blog, but unfortunately nothing too exciting has been happening except school, the gym, and going out trying to meet people.  Here are some new pictures of some of our friends and the things we've been doing....

These pictures are from the "train" we took to a bienvenido(welcome) party for Study Abroad students.  We got to meet students from all different countries who are going to UCES which is where we met many of the friends we have now.  We took the "train" to a club/bar in Palermo where we got pizza and sodas all for about $4!Another study abroad get together, the guy on the right is from Mexico and his friend is his floor mate( I can't remember where he's from).Simone from Germany..A market named after Jessica...Friends from Ecuador..Friends from Peru...Friends from Peru and also from France...More friends from Ecuador

For right now that's all I have! I just wanted to show some more pictures and let all of you know what we've been doing and who we've been meeting, there'll be more to come soon.