So in about 24 hours I will be at the airport waiting to head home to the States. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here in Argentina, but I am excited to come home.
However, I am kind of nervous about the 50 million questions I'm going to get. People are going to ask me how my experience was, and how am I supposed to summarize every detail of the past 4 months of my life in 2 minutes? Also, I don't really think I am going to know exactly how I feel about it till I get a little bit farther out from it and have more perspective.
Friends and family are going to be curious about the things I did here, and about the things I didn't do and why. No, I didn't jump out of a plane, tango every night, walk on a glacier, or meet my future husband, but I did do lots of other cool stuff. I'm just worried that somehow my experience is going to be devalued in their eyes, and possibly mine as well because I didn't make the same choices they might have made.
The hardest thing possibly is that I feel like people are expecting me to know what I want to do with my life now. Because living away from home for a semester in a big city with a different culture and language is supposed to bring you MORE clarity, yeah right.
Despite all these worries I am still SUPER stoked to see you all :)
Nos vemos!
Ryan
Friday, June 21, 2013
One Day More: another day, another destiny
THINGS IM LOOKING FORWARD TO ABOUT GOING HOME
-seeing my family
-friends
-cuddling my dog I haven't met
-room to dance
-going to the gym
-taking my ASL class #nerdalert
-the foods I've missed
-singing at the top of my lungs while driving in the car
-wearing different clothes
-not having to take public transportation everywhere
-my bed a.k.a. the cloud from Heaven
-sheets that stay on my bed
-my bathrobe!
Chao for now!!
Ryan
-seeing my family
-friends
-cuddling my dog I haven't met
-room to dance
-going to the gym
-taking my ASL class #nerdalert
-the foods I've missed
-singing at the top of my lungs while driving in the car
-wearing different clothes
-not having to take public transportation everywhere
-my bed a.k.a. the cloud from Heaven
-sheets that stay on my bed
-my bathrobe!
Chao for now!!
Ryan
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Uruguay!!
The weekend of the 8th, some friends of mine from church (Las Gringas de Barrio Norte) and I took a two-day trip to Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay!!
Saturday morning we boarded a ferry and set off for Colonia. Thankfully, I was able to wake up, get ready, finish packing, hour on the bus, find the port, and make it there an hour early to check in. We took Colonia Express, and I was a bit worried after reading all the horrible reviews about it, but it was the cheaper company so we gave it a go. Everything went fine though, and it only took an hour and half to get from Buenos Aires to Uruguay.
Upon arriving in Colonia, we found our hostel and checked in, then had to do my probably least favorite part of traveling- changing money. It is always the biggest pain in the butt! I had three currencies in my wallet at the same time which was annoying, but most places would let you pay with Argentine Pesos, Uruguayan Pesos, or American Dollars, so it worked out.
After finally figuring out the money situation, we got a late lunch in the historical district at a place called El Torreón. It had a crazy awesome view, and the food was good but SUPER expensive. We were just stingier for the rest of our meals.
After dinner, we enjoyed the sunset, and took a bunch of pictures by the water:
After eating, we all had to go change more money, since we spent it all on dinner. The place we went to the first time was closed, so we had to go to the casino, haha. We got some food at the grocery store for dinner, played cards, and went to bed early. It was really cold in our room though, so we pushed all the bunks together and made a giant cuddle puddle up top to keep warm.
Sunday morning when we got up it was raining, so we had to rearrange our day a little bit. We spent the morning wandering around town some more, and in the afternoon we rented bikes and rode 5 km up the beach.
We biked to Plaza de Torros which is an old bull-fighting area I think. It was blocked off, but we climbed through the fence.. living on the wild side.
Overall, it was a great trip. It was fun to get out of the city for the weekend, and enjoy the peace and quiet of Colonia.
Check out the video Sydney made of our weekend:
Saturday morning we boarded a ferry and set off for Colonia. Thankfully, I was able to wake up, get ready, finish packing, hour on the bus, find the port, and make it there an hour early to check in. We took Colonia Express, and I was a bit worried after reading all the horrible reviews about it, but it was the cheaper company so we gave it a go. Everything went fine though, and it only took an hour and half to get from Buenos Aires to Uruguay.
Upon arriving in Colonia, we found our hostel and checked in, then had to do my probably least favorite part of traveling- changing money. It is always the biggest pain in the butt! I had three currencies in my wallet at the same time which was annoying, but most places would let you pay with Argentine Pesos, Uruguayan Pesos, or American Dollars, so it worked out.
After finally figuring out the money situation, we got a late lunch in the historical district at a place called El Torreón. It had a crazy awesome view, and the food was good but SUPER expensive. We were just stingier for the rest of our meals.
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| Seafood ravioli |
After dinner, we enjoyed the sunset, and took a bunch of pictures by the water:
 |
| Five little monkeys swinging in a tree |
And we can't forget this Photo-shopped beauty by Karissa:
After eating, we all had to go change more money, since we spent it all on dinner. The place we went to the first time was closed, so we had to go to the casino, haha. We got some food at the grocery store for dinner, played cards, and went to bed early. It was really cold in our room though, so we pushed all the bunks together and made a giant cuddle puddle up top to keep warm.
 |
| Classy casino. I got yelled at for taking this picture, oops |
Sunday morning when we got up it was raining, so we had to rearrange our day a little bit. We spent the morning wandering around town some more, and in the afternoon we rented bikes and rode 5 km up the beach.
 |
| Sydney's paparazzi |
 |
| Started in Centro and rode all the way up to where the yellow dot is |
We biked to Plaza de Torros which is an old bull-fighting area I think. It was blocked off, but we climbed through the fence.. living on the wild side.
Overall, it was a great trip. It was fun to get out of the city for the weekend, and enjoy the peace and quiet of Colonia.
Check out the video Sydney made of our weekend:
Chao for now!!
Ryan
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
#thirdworldprobs
Hey guys!! Sorry I’m been kind of MIA recently. I was pretty busy with end of the semester stuff-projects, papers, exams, etc.- but
I officially finished everything today!! Got all my grades signed and turned in and NO MORE SCHOOL, until July 15th.... Also, my internet was out in my home-stay since Friday morning and it just now got fixed #thirdworldproblems.
It got really old having to go to a cafe every day and buy something to use WiFi. My life is so rough! Haha, jk. It was just super inconvenient. I had a paper to write for class, so I went to a cafe for an hour and a half and just copied research off the internet into a Word document. Ended up being like almost 40 pages that I had to sort through, and read later at my house. Then when I was done with my paper, I had a mini-freak out when I realized I couldn't email it to myself to print it off at school. Megan had a flash-drive though she let me borrow, so she saved the day.
Also had quite a few boring evenings. 6 whole days of going to bed early because I had nothing better to do, and playing FreeCell on my computer for hours straight. Luckily, I have like 1 movie on my computer, so Megan and I watched The Amazing Spiderman after dinner one night.
I do promise to catch you all up with life here. Coming Soon:
-gringas in Uruguay
-me eating, eating, and eating
-Casa Rosada tour
-Souvenir Haul
Chao for now!!
Ryan
It got really old having to go to a cafe every day and buy something to use WiFi. My life is so rough! Haha, jk. It was just super inconvenient. I had a paper to write for class, so I went to a cafe for an hour and a half and just copied research off the internet into a Word document. Ended up being like almost 40 pages that I had to sort through, and read later at my house. Then when I was done with my paper, I had a mini-freak out when I realized I couldn't email it to myself to print it off at school. Megan had a flash-drive though she let me borrow, so she saved the day.
Also had quite a few boring evenings. 6 whole days of going to bed early because I had nothing better to do, and playing FreeCell on my computer for hours straight. Luckily, I have like 1 movie on my computer, so Megan and I watched The Amazing Spiderman after dinner one night.
I do promise to catch you all up with life here. Coming Soon:
-gringas in Uruguay
-me eating, eating, and eating
-Casa Rosada tour
-Souvenir Haul
Chao for now!!
Ryan
Monday, June 10, 2013
Good Eats: Part II
This edition is going to be a mix of new and old, places I've already talked about and places I have yet to discuss.
First up, Muu Lecheria. The fact that I have been here 3 times obviously means that I like it. No matter what time of the day it is, I always order breakfast food and coffee, so I have no clue what the rest of their menu is like but I don't really care.
Second, Brioche Doreé, a French bistro, which I have been to twice. Definitely not considered "fine dining" as they are usually found in bookstores and mall food courts. I like it because it is fast and well priced for a drink, meal, and dessert. But let's be honest, the dessert is why I go...
Last, but definitely not least, a'Manager in Palermo Soho. Clarissa picked this place out for lunch one day after reading a post about it on a Buenos Aires food blog called Pick up the Fork. It did not disappoint. It was so long ago that I'm not entirely sure what I ordered. I think it was chicken with tomato, apple chutney, caramelized onions, and some sort of mustard...? Maybe, don't remember. Whatever it was it was really good, and I could tell that all the ingredients were fresh :)
Chao for now!!
Only 12 more days left eek!
Ryan
First up, Muu Lecheria. The fact that I have been here 3 times obviously means that I like it. No matter what time of the day it is, I always order breakfast food and coffee, so I have no clue what the rest of their menu is like but I don't really care.
Second, Brioche Doreé, a French bistro, which I have been to twice. Definitely not considered "fine dining" as they are usually found in bookstores and mall food courts. I like it because it is fast and well priced for a drink, meal, and dessert. But let's be honest, the dessert is why I go...
Next, this Armenian bakery near my house called Medio Oriente Panadería y Confetería. It's close, cheap, fast, and SUPER yummy. I usually just get their empanadas (pictured), or if it is the weekend their shawarma-since they only make it on the weekends unfortunately :(
Only 12 more days left eek!
Ryan
Friday, June 7, 2013
Lately
I promise I've done more than just eat these past couple of weeks...
-I've been doing quite a bit of shopping. Checked out Calle Florida and wasn't that impressed, but found a really cool mall over there. I also have visited both San Telmo and Plaza Francia three times now. I don't know what I am going to do without the weekend ferias. I go looking for gifts for family and friends, but I usually just end up buying a bunch of stuff for myself... Hey I need presents too! :)
-Went to see Great Gatsby with some friends from church, and of course we got ice cream afterwards at McDonald's. Dulce de leche soft-serve is the bomb
-My host mom's daughter and her family came over for dinner. The son-in-law is actually American, and the little grandson is a cutie pie.
-Helped set up for this outreach/evangelism thing my church was doing with one of their partner churches in Villa Crespo.
-Went to the Natural Science Museum one afternoon. They had a geology section with a giant room full of rocks which made me really excited #nerdalert. The theme seemed to be "lots of dead things in large rooms". For example:
-I also finally went to La Bomba de Tiempo with some friends. La Bomba de Tiempo is this percussion group that preforms every Monday night at the Konex Cultural Center which is super classy... I think it was an old factory or something like that.
Despite all the stoned people, crowds, and smoke I still had a lot of fun dancing like a weirdo with my friends. But seriously THE SMOKE. My clothes and hair smelled SO BAD afterwards from being in that room for 2 hours. I went to get some ice cream after too because why not? Even though the mall was closed, the food court was still open :)
-The rest of that week the weather was pretty yucky and raining, boo.
-Last week I went Parque de Agronomia with my Latin American Literature professor and my class. Well only 6 of us showed up because it wasn't mandatory, and it was early on a Friday. It was really enjoyable though. The park is not a really touristy part of the city, but it's huge and also contains the School of Agronomy and the School of Veternary Science. We walked through the park for a little bit, went by Julio Cortazar's house in the nearby neighborhood, and read a short story by him that mentioned some streets that we walked by.
-Later that day I took the bus an hour outside of the city to go to Sydney's choir concert at this benefit thing. They sang beautifully, and it was fun being a mini-fan club.
-After the concert, Sydney and I hung out with a bunch of people from church at one of their apartments. It was really funny looking up each other's houses ("mansiones") and universities on Google, and playing Dance Central. We (the American girls) taught a group of Argentines, Chileans, El Salvadorians, Brazilians, etc. very important pieces of American culture-the Cha Cha Slide, the Wobble, and the Cupid Shuffle. We also taught them how to play Big Booty and Waa the next night at church.
-My semester is winding down so I have lots of final projects, papers, and exams. Spent this past week doing lots of studying, staying up late, and drinking entirely too much coffee.
-Wednesday I went Che Flores for dinner since I won a coupon ages ago for a free dinner for 2 people. I brought Clarissa along because she is leaving to go home this weekend :(
I really haven't been able to do too much else during the week since I've been busy with homework, but tomorrow I'm leaving to go to URUGUAY for the weekend. I totally just discovered that my paper I thought was due Wednesday is actually due on Monday, so there's that...
I did get to watch my baby sister's high school graduation via live-stream today though! Bummed I couldn't be there is person, but at least I got to watch it.
Chao for now!!
Ryan
-I've been doing quite a bit of shopping. Checked out Calle Florida and wasn't that impressed, but found a really cool mall over there. I also have visited both San Telmo and Plaza Francia three times now. I don't know what I am going to do without the weekend ferias. I go looking for gifts for family and friends, but I usually just end up buying a bunch of stuff for myself... Hey I need presents too! :)
 |
| #casual |
 |
| Florialis Genérica- The sculpture moves closing its petals in the evening and opening them in the morning, although this mechanism is currently disabled (broken) |
-Went to see Great Gatsby with some friends from church, and of course we got ice cream afterwards at McDonald's. Dulce de leche soft-serve is the bomb
 |
| photo credit: Clara |
-My host mom's daughter and her family came over for dinner. The son-in-law is actually American, and the little grandson is a cutie pie.
-Helped set up for this outreach/evangelism thing my church was doing with one of their partner churches in Villa Crespo.
-Went to the Natural Science Museum one afternoon. They had a geology section with a giant room full of rocks which made me really excited #nerdalert. The theme seemed to be "lots of dead things in large rooms". For example:
-I also finally went to La Bomba de Tiempo with some friends. La Bomba de Tiempo is this percussion group that preforms every Monday night at the Konex Cultural Center which is super classy... I think it was an old factory or something like that.
 |
| photo credit: Google Images |
 |
| photo credit: Karissa |
 |
| photo credit: Google Images |
-The rest of that week the weather was pretty yucky and raining, boo.
-Last week I went Parque de Agronomia with my Latin American Literature professor and my class. Well only 6 of us showed up because it wasn't mandatory, and it was early on a Friday. It was really enjoyable though. The park is not a really touristy part of the city, but it's huge and also contains the School of Agronomy and the School of Veternary Science. We walked through the park for a little bit, went by Julio Cortazar's house in the nearby neighborhood, and read a short story by him that mentioned some streets that we walked by.
-Later that day I took the bus an hour outside of the city to go to Sydney's choir concert at this benefit thing. They sang beautifully, and it was fun being a mini-fan club.
-After the concert, Sydney and I hung out with a bunch of people from church at one of their apartments. It was really funny looking up each other's houses ("mansiones") and universities on Google, and playing Dance Central. We (the American girls) taught a group of Argentines, Chileans, El Salvadorians, Brazilians, etc. very important pieces of American culture-the Cha Cha Slide, the Wobble, and the Cupid Shuffle. We also taught them how to play Big Booty and Waa the next night at church.
-My semester is winding down so I have lots of final projects, papers, and exams. Spent this past week doing lots of studying, staying up late, and drinking entirely too much coffee.
-Wednesday I went Che Flores for dinner since I won a coupon ages ago for a free dinner for 2 people. I brought Clarissa along because she is leaving to go home this weekend :(
 |
| Christa had a coupon too, so that's why she's there |
I really haven't been able to do too much else during the week since I've been busy with homework, but tomorrow I'm leaving to go to URUGUAY for the weekend. I totally just discovered that my paper I thought was due Wednesday is actually due on Monday, so there's that...
I did get to watch my baby sister's high school graduation via live-stream today though! Bummed I couldn't be there is person, but at least I got to watch it.
 |
| Go Broncos!! |
Chao for now!!
Ryan
Bucket List Update
So remember me telling you about how I made a Buenos Aires Bucket List? Well, there are 31 things on this list, and I've actually gotten 15 of them done so far. I only have 2 weeks left though, so I don't know if I'll be able to finish it. I'm not going to stress about it though because there is no way I can finish the list AND get all my classwork taken care of.
It's hard though because a lot of things are only open on the weekend and I only have so many weekends. Or, for example, I tried to go get tickets to see Fuerza Bruta last weekend, and they are all sold out till mid-July. Seriously, ALL of them. They do 6 shows a week. If I had known it was that popular, I would have gotten tickets earlier. Oh well.
I am enjoying what time I have left, but I am definitely ready to come home. If you had asked me 2 weeks ago if I was ready, I would have told you "No way!" As my flight gets closer though, I get more excited to come home. I'll probably be home for 2 weeks, and then will be like, "Okay that was fun, I'm ready to go back to Buenos Aires now!" Haha :)
See you all very soon!
Ryan
It's hard though because a lot of things are only open on the weekend and I only have so many weekends. Or, for example, I tried to go get tickets to see Fuerza Bruta last weekend, and they are all sold out till mid-July. Seriously, ALL of them. They do 6 shows a week. If I had known it was that popular, I would have gotten tickets earlier. Oh well.
I am enjoying what time I have left, but I am definitely ready to come home. If you had asked me 2 weeks ago if I was ready, I would have told you "No way!" As my flight gets closer though, I get more excited to come home. I'll probably be home for 2 weeks, and then will be like, "Okay that was fun, I'm ready to go back to Buenos Aires now!" Haha :)
See you all very soon!
Ryan
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