West Coast Party!

Santiago is fantastic. And has included more life experiences than should be had in just a month. The journey across Argentina and the Andes was sweet, although mostly by night. Despite the concerns of my mother and grandmother, it was not an overcrowded bus covered in fruit vendors and chickens; it was a cozy coach bus with ample room, Hollywood movies, and dinner and breakfast served. We woke up in the morning at the border, about 12,000 feet up in the mountains, to go through customs. This gave us a chance for the Mexican interns in our group to make their first snowballs, always a treat in the middle of July. We arrived in Santiago with lower expectations than the excellent time we had in Buenos Aires. This was justified when no one showed up to lead us to the house for a half hour…but then they did…and the adventure began.

At the top of the world. (Border between Argentina and Chile, in the background)

To compare Buenos Aires to Santiago is literally like comparing Rome to Los Angeles. They might be a two hour flight apart but culturally are so distinct. The accent, the way people look, the transportation system, the food, the architecture, the geography, everything is different. Diego and I were fortunate enough to make a fantastic friend named Pati at an AIESEC conference in March in Puerto Rico, who happens to be in a leadership position in the local committee of AIESEC in Santiago. Instead of living in the international ‘frat house’ like in Buenos Aires, we have the opportunity to live in a more traditional Santiago neighborhood with Chileans. This gives us a chance to really see what Chilean life is like (which is absolutely amazing).

Chileans watching the Copa America game against Peru.

The job experience here is also very different. In Buenos Aires, I was able to work with a team of interns lead by an Argentinian to organize a soccer tournament; here we get to teach English in middle- and high schools. The first day we arrived we were given the news that student protests have moved the students’ winter break to the first two weeks of our Chile adventure. Being typical AIESECers, our group ran off and explored South America. Some went to the snowy south; some went to the coast, to the cities of Viña del Mar and Valparaiso; some up north to the desert; and some spent a week to visit Machu Picchu, in Peru. Diego and I are cheap, so we stuck around to explore the city and its surroundings.

Our friend Pati also had another AIESEC friend staying with her, a Parisian guy who has spent the last ten months travelling throughout Latin America to learn Portuguese and Spanish. For our first week or so, the four of us climbed mountains, went out on the town, and saw all the touristy stuff. Then we began to get antsy for work. We weren’t exactly sure what to expect, especially since our job descriptions for Buenos Aires were so vastly different than what we actually did. But we knew it was supposed to be teaching English or creating workshops for students.

Me, Christopher, Pati, and Diego at the statue of la Virgen de Santiago at the summit of Cerro San Cristobal.

Day one was one of the greatest days I have had in the college period of my life. The nine of us who work at Colegio Valle Hermoso discovered the transit route the night before, and met up in two groups the next morning to go up to the school. The bus took us farther and farther from the city center, and closer to the mountains. We finally got to the end of the route as we arrived to the snow line at the base of the mountain, and were welcomed by all the teachers and students immediately. Although most of the students were not around because they were staying downtown to protest the Ministry of Education, it was great to begin teaching English to kids who were more than eager to learn.

The past few weeks have been a blast, meeting some of the coolest kids I’ve ever met and learning that teaching could be a hat in my future. My experiences down here, although far too short, will be a life changer. I’m excited to see where this goes and even more so to see how I’ve changed once I arrive back home. Diego is making a documentary about the student strikes so tomorrow we’ll be going down to Plaza Italia to film. Tell you how it goes ;)

Nic

Argentina in a nutshell..(for Diego)

I apologize to all for not updating in a while but here it goes...
Today, Nic and I have officially been in Buenos Aires for 6 weeks and this has been enough to learn a few things about Argentina and its culture. It has been an interesting experience to learn more about the culture because I find myself comparing things to Colombia often. I become confused or thrown off when things are not the same. However, I've compiled a list of things that stand out to me about Argentina and Buenos Aires to be more exact which I find different and/or amusing:

• Restaurants are always tricky here. If you're not a patient person, don't ever go to a restaurant in Buenos Aires. You walk in and you have to find your own table (no hosts), then you sit there for about 10 to 15 minutes before anyone from the restaurant acknowledges your existence. Most restaurants sell the same exact things: Ravioli, gnocchi, milanesas [breaded meat or chicken], pizza, empanadas [often baked... Colombian ones are fried], medialunas [croissants], wine, Quilmes 1lt. beer, and Coke products. Therefore, bringing la carta (menu) to a table isn't always done so you might have to ask for it. Either way you only get the menu just to look at prices and their promos. Here is a picture of a typical combo:

This a meal bought at the nearest dive bar from our house. It's a Muzza grande con una de Quilmes (Large cheese pizza with a liter of Quilmes) Fun fact: ALL pizzas here are served a green olive on every slice.

• During your meal the waiter/server completely forgets about your existence again. By the way, most restaurant servers here are middle aged men. They would never ask how your meal is or if they can get you anything else, unlike the States. Finally when it comes to paying you ask how much you owe. Sometimes the waiter will say it to you right away, bring you a printed receipt, or a handwritten piece of paper with random numbers for the cost of all the items on it and a total. When it comes to tipping, Nic and I have not figured it out. It's not very common and if you do end up tipping it's usually 2 pesos (US$0.50).
• The concept of customer service, as we know it does not exist here. Whenever you deal with a restaurant waiter, money exchange house clerk, or even immigration clerk, you get this feeling that they're always pissed off. If you make their job more complicated that it has to be, they will make their annoyance known to you. They don't have the mentality that the "customer is always right" as we do at home.
  
• Graffiti and tagging is EVERYWHERE in Buenos Aires! But it's not always cool, sometimes it's just boring incomprehensible letters that just clutter up wall space. Anyway I'm serious when I say everywhere. Even in very public areas where you'd think you could easily get caught doing so like a Subte station.
  
• Argentinians pronounce their ll and y's like sh's and they drop their s's.
• The concept of time is weird here. When someone says meet at noon, it could mean noon on the dot or it could mean 2pm and it's acceptable to do so depending on the context.
  
• There is dog poop on the sidewalks almost everywhere. So watch out when you walk... Nic :P.
• Soft drinks like Coke or Sprite almost never come with ice (like it's not an option). And if it's a sitdown restaurant you always get a 600ml glass bottle and a glass to pour it in. This also means no free refills...ever. And water costs money everywhere, it's not free because it's never tap water you get.
• Alfajores are the best thing ever! They are like little cake pastries that are often covered in chocolate and filled with dulce de leche. I will be bringing some home with me for sure.

Anyway this is all I have to say about lovely Buenos Aires. Despite all of the differences, I really enjoy this city and it's culture. It's helped me put a lot of things in perspective and it allows me to appreciate home.

Photo Essay

Diego in front of the hostel. Including the garage/basement, it has four floors and has had up to 27 interns living in it at once. It includes a full kitchen, a large living/work room, and (in theory) five bathrooms. We sleep in bunk beds and the huge house also includes a back terrace, and patio with a large grill for traditional asados (barbeques).

Mika (Croatia) hanging laundry on the back terrace. This only works so well since during an Argentinian winter there tends to be a ton of rain. So of course, the railings on the stairs and throughout the house are always covered in drying towels and clothes.

Nearby is the large Avenida Rivadavia where we can find grocery stores, malls, restaurants, convenience stores, and everything. Fun fact: it's one of the longest avenues in the world. Buenos Aires also has Avenida 9 de Julio which is the widest in the world with at least a dozen lanes at some points.

Living with so many others can be stressful, like your first experience living in dorms as a freshman. At the same time, living and working with a group of people 24/7 creates a strong sense of community and the group put on a surprise birthday party for me, led by the always wonderful Diego. Somehow he found an ice cream cake in this city, which is always a tradition in my family since my birthday normally passes in the middle of summer. Meli (Austria) brings me my cake. Of course the candles were trick candles.

Exploring the city is a huge part of traveling! Exploring with friends is that much better. Here are Orson (Arizona) and Rosario (Buenos Aires) trying to get us lost.

Getting around the city has been made easy by the extensive bus, train, and subway network crisscrossing it. I can't imagine traveling around this easily or cheaply (about 30 cents per ride) in Milwaukee, especially not without a car.

Our first night in Buenos Aires was 25 de Mayo, which is a huge national holiday in Argentina. The local AIESECers brought those of us interns who had arrived to Plaza de Mayo in front of the Casa Rosada, to see a rock concert. It was a ton of fun. As you can see, the whole palace was lit up by LED lights and we were surrounded by street vendors selling every imaginable type of empanada and drinks.

Buenos Aires is a huge cosmopolitan city with many opportunities to see new things from around the world. Ironically I saw my first American electric car in South America.

Burger King has a pronunciation guide. Also, notice the prices: a medium size combo meal with sandwich, fries, and a drink costs 31 pesos, or about US$7.50. On the other hand, it's easy to find local restaurants or street vendors selling jumbo hotdogs for 5 pesos (US$1.20) or the local choripan, about the size of this "steikjaus" burger for 8 pesos (US$2).

Street market in the San Telmo neighborhood. You can buy just about anything you want here and it is a very lively area full of music and art. But beware: this is not a very legit Argentinian place, for you will hear about as much English as you will Spanish.

There is a very touristy town called Tigre about an hour by train north of the city, which has an amusement park, touristy markets, and a ton of green space. After going crazy not seeing almost any green in the city for weeks, it was refreshing to see green grass and new places via boat down el Rio Tigre. There are large homes on islands in the river's delta which can only be reached by boat. They even have trash pick-up boats and ice cream selling boats.

I suppose it's also important to show the internship work itself, although it's difficult because we aren't always allowed to photograph the people we work with (kids, elderly). Here is a group of us at an orphanage where we just unloaded the full truck behind us of clothing and food donations for the kids. The orphanage is great, with a full sized soccer field on the girls' side and a similarly sized yard for the boys. When we showed up at the boys side, a little guy also named Nico threw me a frisbee and wanted to play. The kids are great!

The main project my group has been working on for the last few weeks has been a soccer tournament as a fundraiser. Finally, on my birthday the day arrived, and we had five teams (including two made up of some of us AIESEC interns) playing all day, with music and an asado to grill chorizo. It was a ton of fun, and hopefully raised some money for all the people we've been serving. Here Ana Maria (Peru) and Jose (Ecuador) watch the one of the house teams get beat by Argentinians.

Pictures are supposed to speak a thousand words, so to condense this post from the last one I wrote it is based on images rather than text. Hope it bring our experiences to life!

Nic

Two Weeks In

It's been a while since I've gotten a chance to write either on this blog or in my handy-dandy little MoleSkin visual journal. Since first settling into our new living arrangement a lot has happened and changed, both good and bad. To sum everything up, I'm realizing that the things we are experiencing, learning, and having to learn are not necessarily the same things that I expected to experience, learn, or have to learn.

My expectations were to begin improving my Spanish, to make a ton of friends, and have a few unique stories to tell. I assumed the difficulties would be with adjusting to a new climate or environment, to have issues deciding which experiences would be best of all the great opportunities available. For the most part these are all true. And there are more things that I didn't expect.

My Spanish is slowly but surely improving. It's very interesting to step back and watch as one day I can speak for hours on end with full comfort and interest while the next I might not remember how to respond to 'Que tal?' However, it is certainly improving. In Milwaukee, I would have to mentally prepare myself to ask for a pen in Spanish, needing to form the words in my mind and silently practicing several times before speaking. Here, I've accepted that my Spanish sucks and that I'm going to make mistakes, and suddenly asking for directions or ordering at a restaurant becomes a much easier activity. Speaking with the old folks who hang out at the center that we spend many of our lunch hours volunteering at becomes quite the art, since the combination of their history and their slow ways of speaking allow for an engaging experience. And constant kisses on the cheeks from old, senile Argentinian woman is always interesting. These conversations, games, and meditation times with these old people allow for great inter-cultural as well as inter-generational bonding. I hope the enjoyment is mutual. There are plenty of other cool linguistics opportunities that this opportunity offers. Last night I got an hour-and-a-half long Portuguese lesson from a Brazilian intern. That in itself is awesome, but he was teaching a Polish intern as well as me, and this was all being done in Spanish since this is the only language that all three of us know. One more sweet experience, brought to you by AIESEC.

Running is my passion and what keeps me sane and so far I've only been able to go once with Diego. At home it is easy to run along sidewalks anywhere you are and is generally a safe experience. In our neighborhood the traffic is constant, the sidewalks are made of broken cobblestones covered with dog poop, and running for fun is not exactly a typical South American past time. In addition the air quality in a third world city like this sucks, although not noticeably until you engage in any serious exercise. For our first opportunity, we began running north along sidewalks, incurring piercing stares from anyone within a half block. Just when it began to feel fruitless, I suggested we find a park to run around. Sure enough, within a minute a big park appeared with not one, but two tracks around it and runners everywhere. At least there is one safe, relatively clean place to stay healthy and sane.

These are all things I have somewhat expected. One thing I am a little surprised about is the food. What I thought would happen:

- There is a ton of meat (Argentina after all has the highest per capita meat consumption in the world)
- There are also a ton of cheap veggie and fruit stands
- They eat really really late, so this should result in three really really late meals
- Therefore, being vegetarian shouldn't be terrible. Stir fries accented with some typical Latin American sides of rice and beans will be fantastic!

What actually has happened:

- There is a ton of meat, and a ton of cheap veggie and fruit stands.
- This is not a tropical climate, so those veggies and fruits are mostly limited to the exciting, tropical fare of tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, apples, bananas, and if you're willing to spring for a real treat, kiwis.
- This might be Latin America, but rice and beans in the Mexican or Puerto Rican sense do not exist. On that note, there are no spices used to flavor anything. Rice becomes like a gray soup. Ketchup is about as wild and crazy as condiments get.
- They eat dinner really really late (it can begin as late as 11pm), but the only other meals are lunch and tea. Breakfast might be tea and crackers. And tea means tea and crackers. Adding a banana and yogurt for breakfast must be their idea of an Easter feast.
- Therefore, being vegetarian can be really difficult and expensive, since salad is about the only option unless you can afford to go find exotic international foods every day.

I have learned how to navigate the complex maze of buses and the subway (el Subte) around the city, so that is not difficult, and I am comfortable enough with the language to get around if I get lost. Nonetheless, the concept of dangerous meaning you shouldn't go some places at night, especially alone, does not compare to any bad neighborhoods in Milwaukee. Here, it can be much more real. This is easy to deal with in big groups, but as a big group of foreign interns we have learned to carry our backpacks and purses in front of us and to not yell "I think I'm lost" in English to your friends on the other side of the street.

The biggest shock has not come from some tip-of-the-iceberg difference like language or food. It is something that I have been sheltered from back home enough to not have to deal with. Here, living in a foreign country with a couple dozen college kids, I have learned that I need to both go with the flow as well as fend for myself. There are certain things that I have no control over and this will not magically change by being stubborn. At the same time, I have to take care of my things and my needs and not expect anyone else to.

To elaborate, the internship that I signed up for is to work with a team of interns to fundraise for an NGO in Buenos Aires. This is not exactly what has happened. Mensajeros de la Paz is a great organization and has a fantastic mission of providing food, shelter, and safe places for lone or homeless kids and seniors. However, they have had us spend time (and a lot of it) in community centers just chilling and talking. The people we engage with are amazing, fun individuals who have great stories to tell and I expect to make some good friends with some of them by the end of our time in Argentina. However, the NGO's idea of fundraising, my job, is to put together a one-day soccer tournament and sell hot dogs and yerba mate tea for donations. To be honest, I did not travel thousands of miles to a different continent to just hang out with people. I would love to do plenty of that back in the Midwest. I came to help this NGO achieve its mission by raising money while developing my business skills and experience working with other companies or organizations to create a program to bring in donations. At the end of this I need something to put on my resume. So far, this hasn't really happened.

There are a few other interns feeling the same way, and we will work with the organization to come up with a new plan to better achieve goals from both needs and the needs of the interns. Fortunately, the local AIESEC people have been wonderful with assessing our needs and helping us with these. In addition, the organization has been more than accommodating (they bought the house we live in for not just the interns working for them, but also for all Andes Way program interns here working for other NGOs). Nonetheless, a few things within the internship need to change for me to get what I invested into this.

Another thing that I didn't think about is the planning process involved in social activities for 27 people, plus local AIESEC members. For example, one night AIESEC told us about a free buffet that went that night from 8pm to 10pm. We all agreed this would be great and decided to check it out. What does 'free buffet' mean in Argentina? A really cool three-story, blazer and tie-type club built in a 19th century factory with expensive drinks and at the end of a subway line. It was certainly a sweet place to go out on a Friday night, but was no Golden Corral. And when you are a big group of starving interns, this is not ok. So we had to settle for Burger King.

Another day included a plan that involved going to a Japanese Garden and some particular museum as well as walking around the trendy areas of the Palermo neighborhood. This turned into us wandering around the Puerto Madero area and taking a tour of la Casa Rosada, then being part of the 6pm changing of the guards. Or today, we planned to go to an art museum and some kind of festival at the university. This turned into us getting to the museum three hours late and spending the evening planning who would go to Iguazu Falls and who would go to Montevideo in a couple weekends. In other words, living in a giant frat house in Argentina does not allow for good planning. Ever. So I've had to learn to just go with the flow and be in charge of what I can do. These are experiences that I didn't expect and didn't know I need; maybe I do.

In other words, I believe that by the end of this experience I will have grown up a lot. If I don't get anything else out of living in South America (and so far it has been incredible), I will take a new maturity home with me. And that is priceless.

Nic

The Hostel Andes Way

It's our fifth day here in Buenos Aires...

In these past few days we've seen an exponential growth of residents in this house. I call it a house because we live in a large house that used to be an orphanage for the NGO we're going to work for (Mensajeros de la Paz) and now they're turning it into an international volunteer hostel. The hostel has been a work in progress for Mensajeros who are doing a fantastic job at fixing the house up. I've seen the before and after pictures of some rooms and all I can say is "THANK YOU!". It seems that it has been an effort from some international volunteers, AIESECers (They call themselves AIESECos here), and other Andes Way interns.

It's interesting living in a hostel. Neither Nic or I have lived in one. Everything is communal. Eating...hanging out...sightseeing...cooking...and more. It's not easy to get used to living with some many people (27) who are all culturally different. Sometimes the toilets don't work, the heater is not set up yet, the walls are thin, we don't have shower curtains, the wifi only works in certain areas of the hostel, and some beds have broken. However, we've come to realize that us interns are all in this together and we are each other support group and it's an amazing feeling and the quality of this house improves everyday. There are 13 countries represented, y somos una familia feliz :)

Buenas noches,
Diego

PS We start work tomorrow!!!!

Buena onda!

After the one day excursion from Chicago to San Salvador, Lima, and final Buenos Aires...with a cold...we are in Buenos Aires. Or as it's spelt in the house here, Buenos Aieres ;). We are in the middle of our second day, relaxing before going back for Colombian Night tat the bar at the hostel we hung out at last night. As Diego pointed out, in the first twenty-four hours we both celebrated Argentinian Revolution Day (25 de Mayo) in the square outside La Casa Rosada and celebrated the first night of our new friend Lucia's birthday. And still managed to eat and sleep quite well. The 25 de Mayo celebration was like if the White House hosted an Obama-fest, decked out for a Super Bowl halftime show on the Fourth of July. Or something like that. It was amazing. Today we went to Palermo to find a phone. So far, no go. But the empanadas were great, as is the maté is all great.

Gotta run. It's Colombian night.

Nic

Packin' n Leavin'

Hola amigos,
Nic and I have had a hectic past few days and we haven't even left yet! We had finals, friends to host, moving out of Milwaukee, packing for the trip, seeing family, and last minute errands have taken over our time. However, as of today we officially started out journey to the great land of Tango.

Today, we said goodbye to Nic's parents and grandparents who came and visited us in Milwaukee. We had a blast showing the city to his family but it felt rather surreal. We were showing them the city we are not going to see for the next almost 3 and a half months. Anyway, it was a fun weekend and we are definitely going to miss them.

After saying bye to Nic's family, we took the train down to Plainfield, IL to visit my parents before leaving this Tuesday out of O'Hare. It's going to be hard saying bye to my family but I know they're really excited for us :)

By the way I want to give a shoutout to our very own Vanessa Radlinger for being our first intern to go abroad for this summer! Have fun in Colombiaaaaa!!! (my country)....

Next time I write on here we'll be in Argentina.... Can't wait!! XD

Diego