viviendo

hi!

i'm gonna try something new and categorize all the things i've been up to in these past two weeks.

OBLIGATIONS:
ha. as if..
but actually though last week we did indeed have one very, very important task, all sarcasm aside. IMMIGRATION... gasp. it was pretty rough. cassidy and i had appointments at the same time so we made the trek together, two connecting subte rides and a confusing cab ride away. pros: we got to skip our argentine history class. cons: the warehouse looking establishment seemed to be low on oxygen and smelled of vomit. we waited for an hour, submitted our photo and forms, waited another hour and paid 500 pesos, then another 30 minutes for a little piece of paper. we finally were freed and continued with our duty free life!

HOMEFRONT:

honestly couldn't be better! here at Aguilar 2190, elena, mimi and i are doing great. we have decided to turn over a new leaf and become super organized, put together betches. so far that just hasn't really happened.. well i did clean my room (with a little help from our maid)! also, after scouring my local Disco grocery store, I found PASTA DE MANI (natural peanut butter)!! here in argentina, the magical goo that is crushed peanuts and salt just is not a thing. they do, however, have an entire aisle dedicated to dulce de leche alone! priorities, people. here's the happiest breakfast i've had in weeks: 

except to be honest the pb here is almost a liquid.. eh. As for my original home front, I was so happy to be able to facetime with so many of my homies this week! I surprised my sweet Granna & Papa with a call - Papa got a hipster haircut, you know, the kind with longer hair on top and shaved on the sides, LOL! They were babysitting my sweet puppy Pip so I got to see all three of my favorites! Last night, I facetimed my brother, just in case he forgot what I look like. aren't we cute?? 

and of course, i talk to my mom and dad frequently as well. in a month we'll be chillin in mendoza!! can't come any faster. To continue the chronicles of neely living with her worst allergy, here's a loving family photo of me and mimi... update: she enjoys sitting on my shoulders while i walk around - yesterday morning she scratched me SO HARD that i thought i might become some sort of mutant superhero.. catwoman II? but alas, I remain in the same form, with just a bit of cat DNA in my bloodstream. thanks, cat.

But speaking of communicating with my memphians, I GOT SNAIL MAIL PART II!!!!! my wonderful best friend/neighbor/cousin (?) Hannah sent me the sweetest letter all the way from Fort Worth! When I get letters sent to the house, Miguel the doorman hands it to Elena, who takes it and runs (literally) around the whole house yelling "CORREOOOOOOOS!!" (letters!!) If you liked Blues Clues' 'mail time,' you would LOVE Elena. Who doesn't love mail, though? Be expecting some un-monogrammed letters soon, friend! (why am i so weird)

THE CITAYYY

SPRING HAS SPRUNG PEOPLE. and not a moment too soon. I'm a pretty shitty photographer but check these out - we have a park in belgrano pretty close to cass' house that's full of people playing with their pups, picnicking, and most importantly, drinking mate tea. The beautiful warm weather is finally upon us!!! stay tuned for the purple flowers bloomin on the trees that canopy over the old cobblestoned streets.. ah, basking in the beauty. maybe i'll come home not looking like a total ghost?? o and yes, I am indeed representing all y'all fellow cowboy boot wearers down here. 

  

As for BsAs' economy, take a look at the front page of Clarín last week.

to translate, the exchange rate via the blue/slightly illegal rate has increased to 15 pesos per $1 USD. dang. keep in mind that when we got here it was barely at 12 pesos. this is madness. although i am at the benefitting side of this, I still pray for this city, this country, and all the citizens during this instability. and yes, they are blaming the "vultures" of the USA for not letting them pass go & collect (much more than) $200 post-default. Goodness. If only my friendly neighborhood exchangers would accept ANY of my american bills - they're pretty picky about bills that aren't crispy, or bills that are tainted with any visible tear or pen markings. sheesh.

SCHOOL:

I passed my Argentine history exam!! Yahoo!! Cass and I had another exam on Tuesday in 'History of the Ideas and Processes of Argentina.' Oh, how we studied, and oh, how we ROCKED IT! Leaving that classroom at 9pm has never felt so glorious, let me tell you. We even celebrated our hard work paying off by sharing a bag of peanut M&Ms, which to our dismay only yielded about 8 pieces. My favorite class is on Thursdays from 3-5:30. I love it because our teacher is not only super chill/lets us out early, but also because he takes us to museums and treats us to coffee! This Thurs we went to the MALBA, the modern art museum. We had to pick one piece to write about for homework due next Thursday. I picked this one - it has a real live aquarium in it, which is pretty cool for a piece painted in 1968! it's gotten pretty nasty since i've last seen it... SMH malba workers...

I really liked our museum trip though, because cass/jordan/i decided to lunch beforehand in their adorable yet swanky cafe. a caprese salad and two bottles of chardonnay later... we were extra ready to enjoy the art :) Our professor is such a sweetheart and took our whole class for coffee and sweets afterward.. in the same cafe.. with the same wait staff that just laughed at the three us for returning so quickly.

SOMETHING NEW:

So for the first time in Argentina, I got a mani pedi! Pretty exciting, right?? It was delightfully cheap, just 20 american bucks. It was also kind of terrifying: my nail technician put a POWER TOOL to my feet... as if they were that bad!

See that magazine i'm reading? It's called Hola. It's the biggest, most legit magazine Argies read. I opened it up, expecting to see the lady president doing something lavishly annoying, or maybe even that hunky actor everyone loves. What i actually saw was far cooler: MY COUSINS!! what the f?? Here they are, Rachel, left, and Molly right, sandwiching Molly's pal, business partner, and birthday girl Hilary Swank. Why I can't be as cool as them... argentine magazine, seriously??

Another cool thing we tried out this weekend was Thursday night. After our predictable pregame at ex-pat owned Magdalena's, along with a couple creepy encounters with some older men, our friends Ben and Ponzi joined us to San Telmo, home of the Sunday street fair and the HIP HOP CLUB! It was so cool y'all. I felt like I was in a movie- a mass of dudes dressed as thugs (or maybe they are real thugs, but who's to say) formed a circle for a dance-off. Some of these guys had some serious moves, from smooth footwork to head spins! Definitely a different way to spend the night/morning.

That's just about all the news I've got for y'all today. I'm about to go to spin class (which is pretty much the same anywhere in the world). Keep in touch, people! Love you all!

besos!

happy monday to you and you and you

me again, comin atcha live from my pink twin bed!

I don't have anything really specific to report but I thought I'd update.

This past week flew by so quickly. On Monday we spent all day studying for our Historia de la Argentina midterm, for which I believe I studied adequately, but that remains to be seen. Our classroom on the third floor (really the 4th but their 1st floor is their 0th floor) has white tile floors, cream colored walls that could use a re-paint job, a chalkboard in the front of the room with a table/desk for our professor who really just prefers to wander about the room and lecture. It's fantastically old school. The small, wooden desks are engraved with the clever musings of students past. Above the chalkboard is a small wooden cross. I can almost hear the nuns slapping wrists with rulers....almost. 

Our class is divided; half of the students are porteños and the other half are we Americans. The Argies had a harder exam than we did, thank the lawd.. but they were both in the same format. Profe Nuñez stood at the front of the room and listed three questions/themes for us to talk about. Unfortunately, as a result of the language barrier and his horrible mumbling problem, I mistook "Agroexportador" for simply "portador," which means "carrier," so I can only imagine his reaction to my 3/4 page of complete BS. At least I had the right answer on the previous page... Oops... lo siento, soy Americana...?? 

After that, I once again returned to the life of no obligations. Oh, what a sweet life it is! This weekend, my beautiful friend Nikki came to visit BA with some of her Valpo Chile frandssss. She's the best! We all hung out and explored the bar scene this weekend. One of my favorites was Ferona, a closed-door bar that used to be a big house with a bar/chill-zone on the first floor and a big dance flo on the 2nd. Here's Jordan and I snacking on some carnations for your enjoyment:

On Saturday, I finally met up with Seth Carson, my fellow Memphian, who is here for the semester through NYU! We caught up over a bottle of vino tinto and some queso, of course. No better way to pass the time, amirite? He should consider being a cheese model, no? Love ya buddy.

I find myself spending a lot of time at home. I love to go out and I love some good 'splorin, but Elena is such good company and with the recent rainy, yucky weather, I've really enjoyed my down time during the day just watching the rain from my bedroom window/door. The only way that those moments would be more enjoyable is if I weren't allergic to the 14 year old feline monster that is Mimí... the dang thing is in love with me!! She waits on me to open my door in the mornings, then waits on my bed while I'm eating my breakfast. When I return, she makes her move. "RAAAYR!!!" is all I hear before my life flashes before my eyes and she is hanging on my neck like a scarf... except this scarf breathes too loudly and has ten claws digging into my skin... más Benadryl por favor? If you don't believe me, here we are just before a catnap... ~besties~

Today I let myself sleep in, as usual, until noon. After I bought myself some new tennishoes aka zapatillas, I hit ze gym. If any of you are looking for a new workout regimen, I highly recommend "Way of Gray." It's a $10 eBook with a month's worth of intense HIIT workouts, along with a healthy food shopping list. I'm happy to have found Sophie Gray on instagram because she's super cute and motivates me to keep moving every time I check my feed. I will refrain from showing my embarrassing post-workout "i wanna die is this the end someone help uuuuuuuuuggg" selfies.. lol. Although being abroad calls for lots of good times and indulgences, it's important to remember that this isn't a 5 month long vacation! (although don't be mistaken, i'm still totally living the dream). 

Cassidy and I met up at Le Pain Quotdien for a healthy lunch. I've been craving avocado toast forever, which is really just not a thing in Argentina (along with brewed coffee, ice water, salad dressing and soft cookies... hashtag sacrifice). Anyway, today I asked the waiter if I could order the serrano ham/tomato/avocado toast without the jamón serrano. Of course he looked at me with a pensive, shocked face and said no, because let's be honest, special orders are sooOooOooOoo American. One way or another, I got my toast (the delicious instagram version):

even if it cost me 90 pesos of "innovation" ...... (proof that foodstagrammers are full of shit):

Today was finally gorgeous after LOTS of lluvia (rain) this weekend. Ever had one of those days when you're walking on the same street, going in the same direction, just like you always do, but it all looks totally different and new?? ...No? Just me?... lol. Well either way, that was definitely me on my way home today. I was walking and thought, when did that cafe get there?? Since when was it two blocks from my house? I love that I'm constantly discovering and falling in love over and over again with this place. It's days like these that remind me how God has blessed me with the most incredibly cool opportunities throughout my life, especially in the past few years. Speaking of which, how cute is the Pope??? I just love him. Coolest Argentine in my book!

translation: Lord, make me an instrument of your Peace.

I hope this post has been a little more pleasant on the eyes with my pics jejeje~~~

For your entertainment, here's my awkward moment of the day: who can come up with a more appropriate caption for this photo because I'm really at a loss for words . . . . ? (frank's is actually a really cool speakeasy that requires a secret password upon entering. snooty mixologists in suspenders making delectable concoctions. more info next time).

Annnnnnnnd that's really about it! I hope you all are having a marvelous Monday!

BESOS Y'ALL

:)

21

hi everybody!
sorry it's been a while.. too busy havin fun!

Yesterday was my 21st birthday. i really cannot believe how quickly time has flown by! unfortunately, due to a tennis ball to the eye, my poor daddy-o damaged his retina the night before my parents were supposed to fly over to me for my birthday week. because of this, they were not able to be with me on my big day, which sucks. howeverrrrr, they are looking into rebooking ASAP so we can taste wine and frolic in Arg's wine country, Mendoza! Slurrrrrrrrp.

It's super weird and sad not being with my family on my birthday, but I have the next best thing - Elena. Although I've only known her for a month and a half, we have become so close and I feel like she's been in my family for my entire life. She put together a mini Ladies' Night for us, Cassidy and Jordan, my babes. Seriously I'm so lucky to have made two awesomely wonderful, caring friends that I can hang out with when we get back to the US of A as well! :) #blessed, yall.

feliz cumple! 21 años! que sigas siendo tan buena y linda. un gran abrazo, elena //// happy birthday!! 21 years! Here's to you staying  just as wonderful and beautiful forever. A big hug, Elena. (tears)

This weekend has been so fun - we started celebrating on Friday - we went to one of our favorite spots, Magdalena's Party. It's an ex-pat owned brunch spot by day and a fun bar by night. We love it not only because they speak English and have decent drink specials, but also because they are the only ones in this country that understand what a vodka soda is! (whitegirls of the world, you may now gasp!) Weirdly enough, we ended up sitting with two Argentine men who were super nice and interesting.. one owns two hotels in the city and we ended up going to check out the terrace on the roof of his Palermo b&b. Not too shabby. Free cider didn't hurt either. Although Triste (hotel owner's nickname) kindly offered to throw me a party on the roof, we didn't make that one happen. Y'all should have seen their faces when we told them we were 20... and then ours when they told us they're 30 & 34.. LOL.

Anyways, after that lovely immersion experience we got home at the average hour of 05:00. Saturday was the real celebration. In preparation I bought myself PLATAFORMAS!!!! They're so beautiful... :')

I was going to take my parents to a puerta cerrada (closed door/secret restaurant) for dinner and decided to keep the res and bring bae 1 and bae 2 instead. This one is called Casa Felix. It's owned by a couple and the restaurant is actually their apartment decorated so adorably with colorful, rustic antique furniture and lit by lanterns. They focus on fresh, local ingredients (even herbs from their garden) and serve pescatarian (did i spell that right) dishes. Kind of refreshing in the country of carne, carne and more carne. Good lawd was it good. But demasiado! There were like 10 courses, más o menos. Not to mention some damn good wine pairings. I guess the three of us like food sometimes..

So after the fantastic meal we shared, we set out for Sugar Bar, home of the 75 peso jarra (pitcher.. tryna teach yall some español you're welcome) of vodka lemonade. Splendlidly deadly. Sugar bar (another American spot but I promise we go to cool argie places too) (i use too many parentheses) (sorry) is in Palermo too, just like every other establishment to which we give our business. It's dark in there, with some red lighting.. very punk rock. They play AC/DC music videos on a projector, which of course the inner rocker in me loves. jeje. We sat at a table with all of our guy friends from Tulane who never fail to make me laugh until tears form. Although turning 21 without my family and closest friends was daunting, I had the best company I could have asked for!

Although this morning was a bit of a struggle bus situation, the evening made up for it x10000000 because of LADIES NIGHT III :) ! We had malbec, yummy salad, the best empanadas you will put in your mouth in this entire country, and of course a cake. Actually 2 cakes, thank you friends. The 4 of us got along swimmingly, even Mimí joined the party for a while. Before Elena brought out the delicious tres leches cake, she cut the lights and played a birthday song sung by the minions of Despicable Me!! The cake was adorable - she decorated it with chocolate covered espresso beans, some sparkly decorations and a neon-rainbow"21" candle. When she brought it out, she sang "Happy Birthday" in English. Of course, my heart melted. In that moment, I really thought I was going to burst into tears. That woman would walk to Patagonia and back for me if I asked her to. In that moment I was just so overwhelmed by her love and so happy that she filled in the shoes of my sad mama 5k miles away! Like I said, Ladies' Night just can't be topped. I'm in good hands, y'all.

I know in my last post I mentioned a parilla and never posted about it but i didn't take any pics so you'll have to wait til next week when my lovie friend NIKKI comes to visit from Chile!!!!!!! Yay!!! This week will be super wonderful after we get through our first midterm on Tuesday.. pray for us. Much studying to do! Weeeeeeeee.....


Anywaysssss, I'm super thankful and humbled by all yall's well-wishes and embarrassing pics (lol) today and I send ALL of my love and care from my little casa to yours! I'm one lucky gal.

besos xoxo

IGUAZU FALLSSS

Buenassssss~ this is essentially a play-by-play of my iguazu weekend - specially designed for my family members who truly want to read every detail but lack the internet connection on both ends to facetime. Que disfrutan! (Enjoy) :)

It is currently 10:35 AM on a gorgeous day in Cataratas, Argentina. I'm sitting on a charter bus about 19 hours out of Buenos Aires. Cassidy, Jordan and I took a long weekend trip to see the world famous Iguazu Falls, one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world. We signed up to travel with Argentina For All, an organization that takes big groups of international students and porteños to the falls. $2450 pesos ($199 USD) bought each of us a seat on the 20 hour bus ride both ways, two nights in a very homey hostel, free entry to Club Casanova for two nights, and last but not least, free breakfasts (three large croutons and coffee..lol). I would say it's a good deal, but for those of you who might be interested in following our lead, take the trip privately or through a different group- ours was pretty disorganized and inefficient. Logistical flaws aside, it was an incredible experience and I urge all travelers in Argentina to take the time to go see the falls.

Friday: We had to be on the other side of town around 3pm. Poor Jordan and Cassidy thought I had slept through all my alarms or just vanished because we couldn't communicate since all forms of communication had mysteriously failed us. The wild goose chase for the missing person ended when Cassidy ninja-ed her way into my apartamento and whisked me away to the magical Subway across the street to grab sandwiches before our departure. 

We then picked up Jordan and cabbed to the buses, where we quickly realized that we Americans were vastly outnumbered by loud, friendly Spaniards, hilarious Germans, lovely Danish girls and of course some Frenchies. Most are about our age. There were actually about ten other Americans on our trip, who unfortunately were simply the most obnoxious humans I've ever met. I was actually really glad though because that gave us the opportunity to exit our comfort zone and fraternize with people from other places. The bus ride ended much more quickly than I had anticipated and we were dropped off at our hostels. Because there were 250+ of us we had to stay in different places. At Hotel Raíces, each room (cabaña) sleeps 5, so the three of us had to very quickly recruit two lucky ladies to share a living space for the weekend. We lucked out with Katie and Sarah, two of the sweetest, most adorable German girls I have ever met. First of all, their English is truly amazing. Katie speaks impeccably. I was pretty mind blown that they came to Argentina to learn their THIRD language, but as it turns out, most people from other countries are bilingual (judging by the people on this trip).

Saturday: We arrived around 11 AM, so we hit the ground running. And by running I meant sitting because all of the 200 others headed to the Brazil side of Iguazu. We Americans have to jump through many hoops to get the visa to cross Brazil's borders, along with paying a super expensive reciprocity fee, so we sat that one out. (I will definitely make my way to Brazil this semester though, mark my words!) We instead walked about the tiny town and lunched with one of our program leaders, Barry. Although we certainly enjoyed ourselves, it was a little disappointing to not be able to see the falls until day two. BUT the wait was definitely so worth it! That night, all 250+ of us walked parade-style to Casanova, a local boliche. Terrified of a hangover, we went home "early," at about 4 AM. We laughed because the next day we overheard the Americans boasting about how they'd stayed out til 4:30. Nerds!!!

We woke up a few hours later for our crouton breakfast and hit the road to Iguazu National Park. This area is much farther north than BA, so it's SUPER warm and sunny and wonderful outside. Without a cloud in the big blue sky, the day could not have been more perfect to see the falls. We arrived at noon and spent about 5 hours in the park. It's pretty massive so we took a cute little tram closer to the falls. We freely explored the upper trails for an hour where we were standing right at the top of the falls and could watch the tons of water cascading down hundreds of feet. 

It's just so incredibly cool. The air was super fresh as well, which is a refreshing change of pace from being in a big city with lots of smokers. After we enjoyed an authentic Argentinian lunch (aka a ham and cheese sandwich.. They can't get enough of the stuff), we set off for our Grand Excursion. The excursion was the best part by far- I'm so happy we bit the bullet and paid up because it was such an experience. We rode in a big ATV on a tour of part of the park while a guide with a microphone excitedly discussed the wildlife, etc. They dropped us off at the falls where we descended many stairs to board a big speedboat. It drove us through the murky rapids first, stopping for several photo ops at every angle of every waterfall. Finally, as our guide says, we got "the shower of the lifetime." (Broken English gets me every time lol).. But seriously y'all they drove us under the waterfalls several times and greatly enjoyed every second of the spectacle we made- we tourists were screaming in terror and delight all at the same time as we were soaked to the bone in some super fresh (but demasiado chilly) agua. 

                                             (right before we drove right into that waterfall ^)

My favorite part was walking back up the steps carved out of the cliff and covered in moss. Not only was it a fantastic view, but it was also the perfect spot for the perfect selfie (we had far too many efforts in vain earlier). We then headed home, ordered some brilliantly cheap empanadas (empanada delivery for $3 USD/person = yes) and prepared for our second night out. It was supposed to be a costume party-scratch that-it WAS a costume party.. There was just one too many sexy sailor costume for us to hop on that train, but we went out and ended up having a lot of fun dancing to the YMCA, among other other classics. The rude wakeup call at 7:30 was nothing once we had our gourmet crouton breakfast and immediately boarded the bus to continue our slumber. 

~~~~~

It is now 5:35 PM. After only 3 hours of driving, we stopped at San Ignacio to see the ruins of a super old Jesuit church. The detour turned out to be three hours long. I don't think I'll ever get completely used to the way Argentines use their time, but the ruins were quite spectacular.

We are finally back on the road heading south! I'm seated next to Mona, the most beautiful and kind girl I've met here so far. She's from Denmark which is pretty cool because I knew less than nothing about her country until she sat with us on our porch last night and told us all about the culture and the very happy citizens. I've really enjoyed learning about other people, their homes and their cultures, especially outside of the Latin American perspective that I'm so accustomed to learning. 

We're supposed to get back around 6am. I can't wait- I miss my Elena! This weekend has been a combination of wonderful, strange and downright hysterical. We faced some frustration, but even more laughter. I'm glad we went with a group for our first trip, but from now on I believe we will fly solo. Next stop: Mendoza with my awesome parents who are visiting for my 21st birthday next month! Woohoo! Good times are all we've got down here y'all. I hope that was detailed enough for you, Mom, Dad, Jack, Granna & Papa! (You too, Brad).

 ~~~~~~~~

Update: my ankles are covered in poison ivy but it's all good because Argentine pharmacies basically dole out anything you could possibly need OTC. Somewhat concerning, but hey, I lucked out. Just a few blocks from my casa, the farmacía was full of friendly faces and an extremely kind, helpful woman who supplied me with all the medicine I need. Phew. It's always something....

More to come in a few days - we're going to our first parilla tomorrow! om nom.

Besitos!

las rubias y el machismo

Hellllooooooo friends. I wrote this a couple weeks ago - meant to post earlier but I want to tell y'all about my experience here as a young, blonde (rubia) white girl. Please don't mistake my thoughts for a negative mess; I don't want to sugar coat anything. 

Let me set the scene:

Cassidy and Neely walk from the subte station to the bar, restaurant, boliche, university, shoe store, etc. Approx. six blocks to the destination.

Cassidy asks a profound, interesting question.

Before I have time to think, a fellow pedestrian is piercing us with his grotesque stare, making strange kissy-noises and deeply cooing, “Ayy ay ay, que liiiindasss…" accompanied by a few grunts and an "ooooh yeaa." Simply horrifying, but we shudder and shake it off. And so do they. It's almost like they are programmed to do it without a thought. 

With some thought, I honestly answer Cassidy’s thought-provoking question as we pass the 152 bus stop.

What an interesting question, Cass! I for one belie——HONKKKK HONKKKK——…. The city bus has honked its bellowing horn as the driver licks his lips.. We keep walking.

Taxi drivers flash their brights, cyclists whistle, men ages 2-92 clap and holler. Even the SUBTE itself honked at us on our way out of the station. Walking anywhere in this city will never be boring. That’s for sure. The other day I was eyed by an elderly man, I'd say about 85 years of age. His eyes were hungrier than a drunk freshman waiting on her Boot Pizza. It did not feel great. 

I can’t help but wonder, “Who raised you people???!!!” That’s just the thing. Machismo is everywhere. It is one of Latin America’s oldest, and still pressing, issues. 

History lesson: Machismo is just what it sounds like: it's a strong sense of over-macho-ness. Centuries ago, "ser macho" or to be macho was the only thing little boys aspired to be. It was an embodiment of bravery, strength, courage, wisdom and leadership. 

    If my Latin American history serves me right, I believe machismo became quite the sensation during the colonization of Latin America. Caudillos, who were the macho-men/military dictators, often got their way through violence and authoritarianism. Machismo has been prevalent ever since, but lest we forget the equally important Marianismo, which is essentially the role a woman wa supposed to take on: in short, she must be as much like the Virgin Mary as possible. If she was unfaithful or non-devoted to being the perfect homemaker and mom, her community would hate on her big time. If a married man, on the other hand, sleeps with half the town and doesn't come home often, he would be celebrated as a strong, macho man. Ain't that some shit. (pardon)

Therefore, machismo has a lot to do with male superiority; in the late 20th century the word was used by Latin American feminists to express their disapproval with the aggression men show towards "their inferiors," las mujeres (women). Essentially, my point is that machismo still exists and is carried not only through the grotesque voices on street corners, but also through "ladies' night discounts" at bars, restaurants, theaters, etc. (not that I can hate on a discount, ammirite).

I never considered myself to be a feminist because at an all-girls high school, I always felt strong, smart and capable. But in the real world, women really do have to demand the respect that they deserve. Being here has made me incredibly thankful for the way things are at home; although in some situations I am discouraged by the words of my peers, I am not harassed at every corner of the street while wearing jeans and a turtleneck. 

When I arrived, I really didn't have that period of "culture shock time" that many people must endure when traveling to different countries. The catcalls are really the only bothersome aspect about being here, and I would consider that to be a successful transition, especially for a rubia like me.

Coming here, I knew that there were going to be plenty of blonde people because many Argentinians have German in their blood, but I didn’t realize how different I look from the others. Claudia, Elena’s daughter, asked me at our second ladies’ night, (roughly translated and paraphrased), “So do you ever sit in the sun? Can your skin allow it? What unique eyes you have. Your hair too. Is that natural?” News to me that I’m ~exotic~ but of course I’d take that compliment any day. 

For the first time in my entire life, I feel singled out for the way I look. It’s the strangest feeling and has been an immense reality check for me. Because I am such a gringa, I feel like the locals are inclined to speak English to me from the get-go, or at least have lower expectations for my Spanish speaking abilities. This theory of course is my biggest motivation to really kill the game and make them question my nationality with my flawless Castellano (argentine dialect) - Disclaimer - my Castellano needs work but I'm learning a little bit every day! Knowledge is power, you know.

Chao y'all 

party like it's 1999?

Hola boludos (bitchez),

Sorry I haven't posted in a while- I've composed a few notations over the past week which I will now post- happy reading and special thanks to my dear friend brad for nagging (motivating) me to keep posting :)

Something I've realized during my (almost) one month here in BA:

This is the nineties.

The longer I’ve lived here the more I believe it.

Imagine you’re walking down a street, let’s say calle Santa Fe, the 5th avenue, the St. Charles or even the Poplar avenue of BA. You look up. Dated (yet still wonderful) apartment buildings decorate the skyline. 

You look to your right. Shops selling red velvet bellbottoms, high waisted pants, belts and graphic tees. 

You look to your left. Clusters of high school girls wearing bright scrunchies on top of their heads. 

And finally, you look down. Every female age 8-88 is wearing your favorite pair of 90s platforms. And they’re rocking it. 

Flipping channels, Friends is on at least two channels at a time. It has become a little game of ours to point out “the little things” that allude to decades past, especially the 1990s. Honestly though, what makes this place so unique is the eclectic mix of old and new. Just don't be surprised when I come back to the states with a pair of plataformas for every season! 

With throwbacks on my mind, I bought myself some stationary with full intent to send some snail mail to my friends/family/homies/boludos in the northern hemisphere. We'll see if they make it over there! Feel free to send me your address if you'd like a postcard from my next getaway. I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. (We sure did!) Back to the weekly grind- will post about our extraño weekend at Iguazu very, very soon.

Besos y'all 

getting my life together

Hola friends & fam,

My first week here in BA couldn't have been more perfect. Yes, it really is a dreamland in which I can do basically whatever my heart desires. However, classes begin this week, and yes, I really do have to go to class! If I've learned anything it is that I've taken my Tulane academic advisor for granted (s/o to my homie Monique Dupas). Signing up for classes has been quite a feat. There are no consolidated syllabi and finding the classes you need to fulfill certain credits is "to dream the impossible dream" (don quixote reference anyone....?) Lol. I digress. After Cassidy, Jordan and I spent about three hours at Starbucks, then another 4 hours in a school cafeteria (yo no sé), we found four of five classes. Phew. Life is just sooooo hard. Either way, classes begin on Tuesday at the University of Salvador, yahoo! We're taking an Argentine History course that will hopefully answer the embarrassing amount of questions we are always asking each other about the people and events that preceded our arrival. We're only going to have class on Tues, Weds and Thurs. (Viva la long weekend!!!!) As for tomorrow, I have a mountain of things to do to get my life in order.

First priority, Megatlon! Cassidy and I joined our friendly neighborhood gym that offers everything from machines to saunas to spinning to "kangaroo bounce class" (to be continued). Even with the always advantageous peso exchange, it's $ un poco caro to join for 6 months. I don't think I've seen a woman there who hasn't had just a touch of plastic surgery.. definitely some prime people watching. I'm glad we joined though; it's important to try to stay healthy in the midst of all the fun we've been having.. certainly wouldn't be a bad idea to work off the 8:30am pizza my friend Griff and I wearily, deliriously devoured after we had all stayed out til far past sunrise. Never an average night here in BA!

Tomorrow is also laundry day. It is laundry day because I have no more socks. Or pants. Or shirts. Here, most people don't have their own machines and instead frequent their neighborhood laundromat. From what I've heard, you bring your bag of dirty clothes to them - they wash, they fold, you pick up and pay. Simple.... right??

Tomorrow is going to be especially productive in the daytime because a) it gets dark before 6:00 and b) we are having Ladies' Night part II (!!!!!!) in honor of housemate and friend Felice, who is very sadly leaving us on Thursday to embark on her next big adventures. Ladies' night just can't be topped. Elena's other daughter from Costa Rica will be attending as well, so we'll have a full house! My friends on the other hand are going to a drum line which happens every Monday at dusk. Very much up my alley.

Yesterday we walked by the Government House, aka the Casa Rosada. We didn't go in but plan to when we have time. We did in fact take a tour of el Teatro Colón, BA's opera house. Boy, is it magnificent. The grandeur, the details, everything. Simply exquisite. It's a must-see for those of you who are coming to visit BA in the future - maybe even try to see an opera or a ballet while you're at it (cough cough mom n dad)! I've thoroughly enjoyed being a tourist here. No shame. Next on our list is the Recoleta Cemetery where Evita Perón is buried. RIP girl.

Today the three of us went to San Telmo, a simple yet somewhat lengthy commute via el Subte. San Telmo, from what I gathered, is a tad ghetto. Each sunday in San Telmo there is a giant market, where vendors set up booths and tents and put all their little treasures on display. There were a lot of copper and silver items, old records, trinkets, jewelry, lace, etc. It was marvelous. Walking down the streets of San Telmo felt almost surreal. The buildings are old, gorgeous, ornate European structures, coated in layers of graffiti. The juxtaposition was fascinating, yet a little depressing. It was almost like we were looking at modern-day ruins. (History lesson: in the late 1800s the yellow fever epidemic wiped out thousand of porteños, many of which lived in San Telmo. The situation was so dire that ports were closed and tenements were padlocked up, eventually leading to the abandonment of the area and ultimately causing the once very wealthy neighborhood to crumble.) Don't get me wrong though, San Telmo actually is really cool and there are plenty of shops and cute little restaurants to try, too.

It's been a weekend full of cultural enrichment and good times. I'm looking forward to starting (or attempting to start) a solid routine this week. I send all my love to my loved ones in the USA. Besos, y'all.

Nelly