Bueeehhhh.... I´m done with my traveling weekends and back to normally packed weekends. This weekend was a blast leaving Friday night around 9 to meet up with people and load the buses to leave BA by 11:30 and arrive in Bahía Blanca around 7:30 for the first game starting at "8:00" which obviously started later than that. Saturday we had three games, Sunday we had two, and Monday we had 3 (would have been 4 if we would have gone to the final). Because of the way the bracket was set up our team happened to play the most games because we lost a few the first rounds, then one against the same teams later. Anyway, 8 games of Ultimate. Needless to say painful, painful days. The last day I was playing like a cripple, it hurt to walk at all and steps up to our beds was quite the journey. So the last day I was in constant pain having pulled my calves, and couldn´t use my full gate because of tight hamstrings. Meaning my play style felt really awful. Anyway, MY TEAM GOT THIRD out of eight teams. At the tourney there were several teams from Buenos Aires, but also teams from, Cordoba, La Plata, and even one from Montevideo, Uruguay (international tournament)! This week I returned to promptly have to finish my application for my spring semester which I have decided will be in Quito, Ecuador! The decision was based upon many things. The biggest one is feeling ready to change programs. I really liked and appreciated my program here, but I think its the type of program that works better for independent semesters and I feel like I am ready for a new location as well. Buenos Aires is a great place, but I´m also eager to get to know different places and explore. Why not make even more great connections all over south america. I have friends here which I will likely see again in the future, be it in the US, Buenos Aires, or other parts of South America. Everything feels like it is leaving that relaxed time I was getting used to here in Buenos Aires and this are speeding up. Always too many options of things to do during my free time and even what I think is an empty weekend seems to be running from thing to thing without a break. Not to mention the increased workload of classes as mid-terms and tests are beginning to be juggled and talk of final papers is in the air. But, once finals are over, I will have lots of free time in december to travel, relax, and just hangout with friends, until my family arrives (everyone except liz and Jordan) for Christmas and new years. But it is all in place. Looking out over the weeks ahead is a bit daunting to think about but, its all manageable (I think). If you haven´t already there are quite a few pictures from the tourney this weekend as well as a general album called Buenos Aires that is a collaboration album of several friends and things we have seen and enjoyed while in Buenos Aires. Suerte, hasta la proxima!

Just Gunna Be Clowning Around

Feels like it's been quite a while since my last update, but things don't feel like they have changed, rather they feel like they have solidified. Last weekend was my first ultimate frisbee tournament. It is important to note that these tournaments don't only come with game play, but parties as well. Since the ultimate teams are so few here in Buenos Aires everyone knows each-other, so when teams get together and have a weekend dedicated to frisbee their days are games, and their nights are hanging out with friends you don't get to see very often. The weekend flew by and nearly felt lost, but it was definitely worth it. 

This week has very exciting in anticipation of my first weekend trip outside of the city (although not far). Tomorrow morning I leave at 9am to make my way to one of the islands near Tigre in the river delta, where I will attend the "Encuentro del Circo"(The Circus encounter).  A local friend I met juggling invited me to it. I have no idea how many people will be there or how big this island is, so it will be exciting to see how many people are there. For how many people are around town juggling, I expect there to be quite a few. 

I know this isn't too informative, but I thought I would at least put out an update.

=)

Ultimate Team

Cat n Boots. Not quite the same as seen in the movies, but everyone has to get around 

Today

9/14/2013 (failed to upload)

I carried a large sheet of plywood for an hour and a half, who knows how many blocks or miles. 

Then i went to class. 

Then i exited my class. 

Then i started a video of exiting the building. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMnTV4KEphk

 

TravelClassesSettlingin

Everyone seems to be traveling right now, mostly involving school of many different varieties, from people to and from Goshen, to Madison, to Seville or Alicante, Spain, or all the way to Varanasi, India. People are on the move and their excitement rubs off on me and reminds me of the days when I said good-bye to Goshen for the summer, then said good-bye later for over a year, and then eventually said good-bye to the U.S.A. what will most likely be more than a year. With specific and memorable moments in each of those journeys, they are filled with people I miss, things I forgot about and had people get my back and help me out, and other things that I plain didn't get done. Travel brings lots of emotions and lasting memories. So to all of you getting ready to travel, enjoy the clinking roller coaster winding its way up to the top. Soon enough you will be looking down over everything, and then all the sudden the first big drop will be over in the blink of an eye (only to be followed by numerous more before you get off the ride). Enjoy every moment of it.

I am now in my third week of some classes, and would be finishing the first week of other classes I almost took, but didn't get a chance to. So for me, school has indeed started, and my classes have been locked in, I have a schedule established which is starting to become a norm (but nothing ever seems routine). For those of you who have been dying to hear my classes I'll give you the whole picture as clearly as I can. I have four classes that each meet once a week. 

"Bodies, Gender, and Sexuality in Argentina" at FLACSO (Latin American Faculty of Social Science), 2-5pm Tuesday. 

So far in the first few days of this class it has revolved around some of the stand-out differences that we, the class of 15 or so americans, have noted here in Buenos Aires. I think it will be really interesting as we dive into some of the deeper issues, solutions and what those solutions would look like. A few hot topics:

-Abortion: Currently illegal in Argentina, resulting in many unsafe practices among both the rich and the poor.

-Prostitution: Currently legal, and being defended by many women who see it as their right, leading to complex issues between women who see it as a vocation  and the prevalent issue of sexual exploitation. Human trafficking is a complex mess of legislation I yet, do not have a grasp for to tell you all about, but the most recent piece was in 2008 and it still needs work, but I'll dedicate future posts to the topic I'm sure.

-Gender Roles: I have heard not only from my professor, but also from argentine students that gender roles in the family are a growing tension. 

"The University Today: Structure, Problems, and Politics" at la UBA (University of Buenos Aires), 7-11pm Tuesday.

Not too much to say about this one yet, it has been hard to get much out of it in my first two classes, the first week because I was sick and had a huge headache and Spanish was not about to happen. The second class was just relatively boring, it reminded me on Joan Brant classes, packed full of in depth information, that couldn't trouble myself to get my mind around. Also, the guy mumbles like a pro and throws in jargon from the street like a teenager. The parts I was able to pay attention to/understand were interesting especially because unlike an equivalent class in the US, everything is internationally oriented comparing universities from the US, to Chile, Argentina, all the way to Europe. It fills me with lost of questions. 

"Post-Advanced Spanish I : Grammar Workshop" at FLACSO, 2-5pm Thursday

This classes is really cool, because we will be working hard on the grammar that I have really been missing and second guessing all the time, as well as the class being a whopping total of 5 people counting the teacher. Luckily the environment is very relaxed and full of question asking, and making sure answers are fully understood. It'll be both a good place to work on my grammar, and ask about street jargon at the same time.

"Culture of Peace and Human Rights" at la UBA 3-7pm

The titled professor is Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, who wont the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolfo_P%C3%A9rez_Esquivel Sadly he doesn't actually teach it, though the guy seems like an amazing person. He gave the opening lecture and will also give the closing lecture. I really enjoyed his opening lecture and I think the classes will be phenomenal. The second class we looked at a very interesting court case regarding indigenous communities and how their customs fit into the law. 

I had to drop classes that I was interested in that included topics like painting, drawing, children's human rights, conflict resolution, contemporary art history, and many others that sounded great but over lapped with so many of my other classes.

Besides classes I have be come an active member of an Ultimate frisbee team here in Buenos Aires made up of a few Porteños, a few Colombians, and a couple people from the US. We practice Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons. I missed a hat-tournament which was this past weekend in Uruguay, but I hear that more international tournaments are to come. Next Saturday is the next tournament that will be local teams. The team looks promising with lots of very committed players and lots of organizational potential. Its a higher level of play than my teams in the Goshen Ultimate Summer League, but I think it will be a great community to be a part of while I'm here in BA. 

Other involvement includes a service opportunity that I just got an introduction to on friday and will be looking into to see what I can do (and when). The group does workshops and classes from kids living in a "Villa" which from what I understand basically means ghetto neighborhood. The neighborhood is bad enough they don't actually go into the neighborhood, they own a building on the edge of it and welcome all kids to come for activities and classes. So I could possibly be helping with anything from English classes, art classes, to who knows what else.

As I said, I'm settling in. Its good, parties are still hard to make it to so late at night. I planned to go see my host dad and his band play at a club 15 minutes away. The plan was head to my friends house at midnight, hangout/pre-game before the party, which my host said to show up to around 2am. My friend txts me at 11:30 and delays it till 1, so I'm like..... welp, I'm kinda tired, but ok, thats fine. 12:45 rolls around thinking about heading out, and my friend calls it off feeling quite sick all of the sudden. So its then around 1am and I have to decided if I want to go to this party to see my host play (which would still be a really fun time even alone). Soooo...... I call it a night and go to bed a 1:15. I'm just not Porteño enough for that life style yet, I was glad, I didn't have to go.

Welp, to summarize this post in a few words: People go to School, I go to school, 3am is not when shows should start.

Life goes on, and on, and on...

Till you die,

then its over

Trip to Tigre

Today a group of my friends from ciee got together and took an hour long FREE (due to the elections today) train ride to Tigre. 

I have had one class so far and the majority start this week, the first being tuesday. 

My house is a bit ghetto, and we had to jerry rig power to the fridge after figuring out the cheap extension cord was the issue causing the freezer to melt into the fridge. No worries we got pans on the top shelf to catch that water and we got power back to it. Also the internet went out for a while when i was away. I helped fix that too. BECAUSE!! I forgot to mention that my host is gone for the week on vacation with his gf he doesnt get to see often. 

Pics or it didnt happen... (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pics%2520or%2520it%2520didn't%2520happen)

(Above: ultimate frisbee disc near the top next to the pole)

Guess who threw it in the water??? Yup the ultimate frisbee fanatic. 

(Im too pro to let that disk die)

(On and off are irrelevant btw)

Sup mom

Happy b-day mama. Today i had a day off and got linch with a friend then went to an art museum. Enjoy some of the pictures. 

Made with roasted cold cuts. 

All of those scenes were in a circle. All made from colored clay. 

Orientation Week 7.29.2013

The last blog only really hit on the very first bullet point, hopefully this post will go better.  Also mail me stuff!!! ( yea my mailbox is labeled Joel, so send stuff labeled Joel.

Joel Nafziger

555 Ayacucho

Buenos Aires, 1026

ARGENTINA

Back to the list from the last post:

-Meeting host "family" ✓ 

-Spanish placement tests 

-Fiesta 

-Getting around (SUBE, Colectivo, Guia"t") 

-Host Meet and Greet So spanish 

Placement tests consisted of a written exam we completed the week before arriving to orientation that asked us questions in spanish about our previous knowlege in Buenos Aires and Argentina as a whole, as well as questions that just forced us to use different tenses to test our ability to conjugate verbs. Then the Friday we took a very short written test consisting of fill in the black verb conjugation, specifically testing Subjunctive (When I mentioned something about the imperative tense my mom was exteremly supprised that I knew what that was, and I said "Yes, MOM, I know what the imperative form is"and so now I say, YES MOM, I KNOW SUBJUNCTIVE). Finally we all had a short interview as an oral exam. Supposedly tomorrow (tues. 30th) I get my test results to be placed in one of four groups, the lowest isn´t recomended to take any classes immersed with local argentine students, while the most advanced is required to take two classes in immersion minimum. Only today did I learn that classes can be anywhere from 4-8 hours a week, and I´ll be recieving 3-4 Credit hours, so lots´O´Lots of class hours should be fun.

 ---------Update from when I wrote that this afternoon-----------

I am in the third level of spanish out of four. Basically by the programs standards it says I have to do things that I already wanted to do which is take more classes in the local universities (with argentine students) and less with FLACSO which is the university that CIEE uses as its primary university for international students. I will find out slightly more about classes tomorrow and choose some to look into as a tentative schedule.

The next point I wanted to make was that some of my fellow students have started pissing me off with their english/spanglish. I swear when ever we are in a group of at least 6 people one of them has to shout a loud curse word in spanish poorly pronunciated in the middle of the english conversations they continue loudly. Sticking out like a sore thumb and looking like an arrogant group of tourists is not the way I would like to spend this semester, so I really look forward to meeting the people in my meeting tomorrow which consists of the top two levels of Spanish. the basic level meets first, then two separate groups of level two, followed by the last meeting consisting on the top to groups which I assume has the least amount of people even when the top two groups are combined together. So I look forward to walking with people who choose to speak spanish more often. *sigh* I'm getting tired of it. 

OK SOOO!!!! Back to my second night with in my new host, Luciano. So I first heard about the party in the cab on the way to the house the first night and was delighted to hear I would get the chance to meet some of Luciano's friends from his University years, with whom he has clearly maintained contact. 

--7pm. So back to saturday night, I got back to the house after walking around with ciee friends all day and Luciano was asleep. 

~~9pm. Luciano wakes up and tells me he just finished sleeping and that he was going to make a few phone calls and remind/invite more people. So I decided to go ahead and get my own nap, and wind up in bed by 9:30 to start sleeping. --1am. Forgetting to set my alarm, my other house-mate Susie wakes me up with a knock at my door because people started arriving. And then we partied.

~~3am. Luciano, preparing to blow out the candles while we all sing happy birthday. 

~~4:45am. People finally trickle out to only leave 5 or so people in the house. I stay up chatting.

~~7am. We split up and call it a night.

--10:00 am Wake up, drink a tall glass of water

--10:03 am Sleep.

--2 pm Wake up and start my day.

So the next topic is the Guia"T" which is my new best friend. The Guia"T" is a guide book to help get around on the public bus system.

You can look on the map, which is divided into quadrants, each corresponding to the left which has a list of numbers which signify the busses that pass through the area. So looking at the above image there are around 28 pages like that of the city. So you would find one quadrant on such an example and pair a matching bus number from where you are, to where you want to go. and Boom, your there as soon as you comprehend the route.

In the back of the book is a list of every bus and the route it takes to and from the destination which obviously changes slightly due to oneway streets. So you find the quadrant then look up what the actual street is that is running through the quadrant in the direction you want to go. 

Lets just say the I have already spent multiple hours looking through about 3 bus lines in my neighborhood to figure out where they can take me. Flipping back and forth between all of the pocket sized pages. This is a huge life saver, if you want to get around the city for ARS$1,70 (21cents USD). Takes some time, but its well worth it.

Well, meet and greet was on my todo list, but I'm going to make it short. I was able to meet two of the ciee students who live in my neighborhood and their hosts. So it's really nice to know who lives around me and who I can share cabs with when I need to get back to my house after a Porteño (pertaining to Bs As) night out.