Adventures around Argentina

Wow the last two weeks have been crazy and I don’t even know where to begin! In the last 12 days I have been in Córdoba for only two, I have been on buses for four, and I have spent the rest of the time in Buenos Aires and at Iguazu Falls. This is going to be a long post but I think it’s a good one full of adventure and travels to new places.

On March 17^th I took an overnight bus to Buenos Aires where one of my best friends from Golden, Molly Jensen, is spending a semester abroad. Prior to my arrival we had purchased passes for a two day music festival called Lallapalooza. I arrived early Friday morning and then we headed to the grounds of the festival, about an hour outside of the city center. We enjoyed concerts by Walk the Moon, Twentyone Pilots, Of Monsters and Men, and Eminem! It was so much fun and despite a brief and stressful separation, Molly and I had a great time!! The next two days were spent exploring the huge city of Buenos Aires, which really is a massive city full of different and interesting neighborhoods. We visited El Plaza de Mayo which is where the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo march every week on behalf of the people who disappeared during Argentina’s ‘dirty war’, for anyone who knows the history of the war, it is a very important and sobering place to visit. We also visited the neighborhood of San Telmo which has cobblestone streets and is full of antique shops and cute little restaurants, where we shopped at many outdoor artisan fairs and just enjoyed the atmosphere. We ate amazing hamburgers at Burger Joint in Palermo Soho and visited the famous Cemetario de Recoleta which is where Sarmiento and Evita Peron are buried. We had the opportunity to visit a café that was inspired by Harry Potter and also had some of the best coffee I’ve ever tasted. To say the least, we packed a lot of awesome things into three days and still didn’t even see and do all that Buenos Aires has to offer. It was a wonderful weekend getaway and it was so nice to hang out with someone from home and compare stories and experiences of our time in Argentina!

After another overnight bus ride I was back in Córdoba for three days of work, the week was cut short because of the Easter holidays so I jumped at the chance to travel to Iguazu Falls which requires either $600 for a flight or a time commitment of 42 hours on a bus, 21 hours each way. I chose to spend my time instead of my money and so spent almost two full days on buses.

Was it worth it? you might ask, and the answer is yes it was. 
In another completely random and divine encounter I ran into my friend Molly at the entrance to the national park. We knew that we would be there during the same weekend but hadn’t been able to communicate due to a lack of WiFi, fortunately God stepped in and we got to spend a morning together hiking through the jungle and swimming under a waterfall. If that isn’t divine intervention I don’t know what is.

The waterfalls of Iguazu are one of the seven natural wonders of the world and for good reason. I had the opportunity to walk next to them, over them and almost in them. During my trip I stood above a waterfall that is thousands of feet high, wearing a rain jacket that was zipped as tight as I could get it in order to protect my things, being completely soaked by the spray coming off the falls and unable to hear anything over the wind and the crashing of the water and I was in awe. It was an experience that pictures and words can only do some justice, and as I was standing there I realized I would never be able to make others understand how amazing it is. It was hard to tear myself away from just staring into the misty depths of the Devil’s Throat waterfall, which I did for a long time. If you even have the chance to visit, take it! I would gladly spend another 42 hours on a bus to experience the power and beauty of those waterfalls.

It hasn’t all been rainbows and butterflies though, I had a pretty hard day on Easter Sunday when I woke up alone in a hotel room in a far corner of Argentina 21 hours away from anyone I knew. I don’t think there has ever been a year in my life that I haven’t been with a family member or gone to church on Easter morning, so that was definitely a hard day, especially since I spent the majority of it on a bus. Upon returning to Córdoba I was told that I was getting a new roommate, which I now have. Her name is Lisa and she is from Belgium. She is also doing equine therapy so we spend a lot of time together which has been difficult for me because I am an introvert and really enjoy having my own space and my own time and I have less of both since she has gotten here. She will be here the whole time that I am so prayers for a good relationship and patience to be around her almost constantly would be very appreciated!

I will now be in Córdoba for two weeks doing my regular routine and then I will be heading to Patagonia for two weeks which is very exciting! As always thanks for reading my blog, looking at my pictures, asking my family about me and sending me good thoughts and prayers. I promise that all of it really makes a difference and is immensely appreciated!

LP

I've been here for a month!

Wow! I can’t believe that I have already been in Argentina for a month and that I only have two months left! If the rest of my trips go this fast, this year is going to fly by! For this blog post I want to do a bit of a reflection on my time here so far and tell you all about what has surprised me and what I am missing the most after a month away from home!

I’m going to start with things that have surprised me about Córdoba and Argentina in general.

-I knew that I was coming to live in the second largest city in Argentina but I honestly didn’t expect it to be so similar to big cities in developed countries. I have been to Port-au-Prince, Haiti which is a capital city but a very far cry from the capital cities of the US. Here, I can go to a drugstore on any corner and I can buy the exact same shampoo that I brought from home. I was definitely surprised by the availability of things here.

-I have seen almost no signs of extreme poverty as I have in all of the other Latin American countries I have visited, which has led me to classify Argentina as a ‘developing’ country as opposed to an ‘underdeveloped’ country. For those who don’t know, I have been to the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and Haiti.        

-I have been pleasantly surprised with how safe I feel walking the streets here. Whether it’s because I don’t stand out as a foreigner or because I live in the center of a big city, I can walk around pretty much any time between the hours of 7am and 1am and feel pretty safe.

-I work in the outskirts of the main city and usually that’s where you would find poverty but where I work it is full of huge country houses with big lawns and privacy fences, which was a surprise to me.

-Finally, the police presence here in Córdoba has been another pleasant surprise. In the DR and Haiti, whenever you pass a policeman, they have a machine gun on their back and are pretty intimidating. Its not unusual for them to stop and car or bus for no reason other than just to stare menacingly at everyone. Here, the police presence actually makes me feel more secure. There are a lot of protests and marches in the city and the police are always there to keep traffic running smoothly and to keep the marches peaceful. Based on my experiences with police in other countries, it was surprising to see such a strong yet just police force.

Now for the things that I miss most. These are things aside from my family, friends, and dogs who are always at the top of the list!

-TARGET. Yes the store Target is something that I find myself missing daily. What can you not buy at Target?? There are no multipurpose stores here and I often find myself wishing I could pop into Target and get a bunch of random things that I think I need but probably don’t.

-The snow! From my Facebook newsfeed it appears that the ski areas are getting dumped on while I am here sweating in 90 degree weather with 90% humidity. I definitely miss the snow and the snowboarding that comes with it.

-American style pizza. Everywhere I have traveled I have been able to find pizza but it is never the same as the pan crust, cheesy, meat topped pizza that we eat in America and I am really missing that!

-The ability to walk into a place and be able to speak English. My Spanish has improved a lot and I can communicate in any situation but sometimes I just wish I could walk into a restaurant or hotel and not have to deal with language barriers. Language is a privilege that you take for granted until its gone!

I have a had a great week at some points I have been overwhelmed by my blessings in life and wondered how I got so lucky as to be able to live in a wonderful place with wonderful people while still having even more wonderful people at home. I am traveling to Buenos Aires this weekend for an international music festival called Lollapalooza. I will be meeting up with one of my best friends from home, Molly Jensen, who by some intense stroke of coincidence or divine intervention is also in Argentina right now. Stay tuned for the next blog post as I’m sure I will have lots to report! Enjoy the pictures and know that it really means a lot that you all read this blog and are supporting me from far away!

LP

            

BBQ's and good news

This past weekend Ileana invited me to go to a “parilla” or barbeque at her uncle’s house with a lot of her extended family. I didn’t have any plans and since I enjoy a good BBQ, I accepted the invitation. When the day came I was a bit nervous because I would be around an entire family of people who all speak Spanish, so not only would I be an outsider, but I would be an outsider with somewhat limited conversation skills, yikes! When we first arrived it was a little awkward because everyone was chatting in super-fast Spanish and I was not following along but it turns out Illeana’s uncle speaks English pretty well so we started talking, him in English and me in Spanish, and he was really fun to talk to. While we were chatting more and more family members were arriving until there were thirteen of us in total. The family was so nice and so welcoming, I felt comfortable very quickly! They all made a real effort to talk to me which was so nice and I was able to speak in Spanish with native Spanish speakers all afternoon. Turns out I speak pretty good Spanish and my degree wasn’t for nothing! After chatting for a while, we sat down to eat salad, bread, and lamb which had been grilled over coals on the backyard parilla, it was all delicious. After the meal, we played a dice game to determine who had to wash the dishes. It was super easy and super fun and I had a great time playing with everyone, they really made me feel like part of the family, and I came in 4^th place! In Illeana’s words, it was an authentic Argentinean experience for sure! As we left, her uncle told me that I am always welcome in the family and in any one of their homes, so sweet! 

I went back to work on Monday and I can’t say I was very excited since last week was extremely frustrating for me. However, Monday was an awesome day and I think I’ve turned over a new leaf at work! For whatever reason, I wasn’t the only volunteer doing heavy poop shoveling and I wasn’t left out of everybody’s conversations. I’m not sure if I was making an unconscious effort or if something changed with the other volunteers or what, but it was a much more enjoyable day. On top of that awesomeness, I learned how to do some cool things on the back of a horse, like make a revolution, lay on my stomach and act like a sack of potatoes, stand up, and gallop without stirrups or hands! I was really nervous at first but once I did it, it was so fun! Thank goodness for my five years in Westernaires because I really feel at home on a horse and Veronica definitely took notice. Today was another good day and I’m really starting to enjoy work rather than just tolerating it, which is great! 

Thank you so much for all for the prayers and good thoughts, I’m convinced that they are the reason things have improved so much! Once again, thank you for all the support and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the blog so far! Crazy to think I will still be doing blog posts 10 months from now! I’m planning on writing a more cultural and reflective blog post sometime in the near future so look out for that!

Chao for now!

LP

The good, the bad, and the prayer requests

Hi everyone! I hope that you are doing well and are ready for another summary of my Argentinean goings on! At my volunteer job I have still been primarily shoveling horse poop but I have been getting more class time and have also been able to do a bit more with the horses themselves. I have had some difficulties at my placement in the last week because there are two other volunteers there from another organization. While they are volunteers there, they are also living on the property. This means that they are closer with the family and know a bit more about the ins and outs of how the foundation runs. This wouldn’t be so bad except that so far our personalities have clashed a bit and I feel like I am given the most menial and undesirable tasks while they are called on to do much more and much more interesting tasks. Last week we had our first evaluation with our projects abroad program coordinator and shared our feelings of frustration which he in turn passed on to Veronica. Unfortunately, Venetia felt too frustrated and misused to continue at the center and since she only has a short time here, she decided that the best thing for her would be to switch to a different volunteer placement which she has now done. Since I am here for such a long time, I don’t want to make a hasty decision and have decided that I will not consider switching until I have been here for at least a month and a half. Since our evaluation however, things have gotten better and Veronica has been better about giving me more tasks and more instructions. I also made a personal decision to try really hard to get along with the other volunteers since they will be there for another month and I no longer have Venetia volunteering with me. It’s only Tuesday but so far I feel like things have improved. Prayers for my volunteer situation would be especially appreciated since I really want to be helpful there but also want to be able to enjoy my time as a volunteer there.

 

In more exciting news, I went back to Villa General Belgrano and La Cumbrecita this weekend and this time Venetia came with me which was super fun! We caught the bus on Saturday morning and then spent the afternoon and the night in VGB in an adorable “posada” which is basically a bed and breakfast. We explored the town, relaxed at the pool, ate an amazing dinner, and went to an artisan fair and bought bracelets. We made lots of friends, waiters at the restaurant and the vendor who handmade our bracelets and so got lots of Spanish practice. It was definitely what I would call an “authentic” Argentinean experience and it was awesome. Sunday morning we caught the bus to Cumbrecita and hiked to the same waterfall and watering hole that I visited last weekend. It was definitely a different and fun experience to have a friend with me. We swam in the waterfall which was freezing, and since I compare water temps to Clear Creek when it’s raining, when I say it was cold that means it was pretty darn cold. But cold aside, it was so much fun! We hiked and swam and sunbathe and ate spätzle and goulash and then headed back to the city. The fun didn’t stop there though! Every weekend on the city there is what the locals call a “hippie market”. It’s basically four or five streets full of artisan crafts and it is AMAZING! There were so many creative things and I was so impressed by all of it! If only I could have bought everything! It was such a great weekend!!

 
 

Having a friend has been such a great thing and has really helped me transition into my time here! However, Venetia is leaving Argentina in the near future and I think it will be difficult for a while after she leaves so prayers for loneliness and finding new friends would be especially appreciated as well! Thank you to everyone that reads this blog, it’s really special to know that I have so many awesome people in my life! Until next time!

LP