I just got this email from a TA from a class that I dropped, called Capitalism, Socialism, and Contemporary Revolutions. I was originally signed up for the class, but when it came down to reading and discussing Marx and Lenin in Spanish or taking a class about Tango, I had to choose the tango. However, it was an awesome experience and I still get the emails. This one read (translated from Spanish):
Friends:
Before the demonstration for the workers of Kraft-Terrabusi to the Ministry of Work and the administrative holiday decreed by the University at 4 o'clock, we will all walk out of class today and convene with the rest of the students to actively support this great fight, whose victory is of interest to all students and workers.
Given that the extent of the demonstration depends on successful negotiations that are taking place right now in the Ministry, we would prefer to not have the 'practica' portion of class at 9pm because we can't predict, even now, if the demonstration will have finished by then.
A little background:
This is a class taught at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), a university well known for its politically charged atmosphere and liberal thinking. Before I came to Buenos Aires many people warned me to beware of classes at the UBA being canceled or teachers not showing up for political reasons, but I didn't really believe them until I went to my first UBA class.
A little story:
During our "testing" period we were allowed to go to many many classes for two weeks to try them out and determine which ones we'd like to take for the semester. This was the first class that I tested at UBA, and my first impression was "This place is CRAZY!" Let me explain:
First of all, the building of Social Sciences, where this class is located, is a nine story high, run down building in the middle of the city. The entrances are covered with handmade papers, fliers, posters protesting a cause or exalting a political leader. When I first walked into the building I was swept into a stream of hundreds of students entering the building, overwhelmed with the amount of brochures and fliers being shoved into my hands by activist groups, and completely confused about where to go. After 20 minutes of searching I finally found the correct room-- I was 2o minutes late and freaking out! Well, I got to class and there were ten other students sitting in desks, no professor present. I sat down and waited. And waited. And, in typical Argentine fashion, the teacher walked in 45 minutes late! I had seen him when I walked in- he had been standing right outside the classroom talking to students!! Here were the notable aspects of the class:
1. For the first two hours of class (its a four hour class: two hours of lecture, two of discussion) students kept walking into class late. They didn't walk in quietly, either. They would walk in, dragging a desk from another classroom because there are never enough desks around and then proceed to greet all their friends in the class!
2. My professor was impossible to understand. The window was open to keep the room cool, but the combination of his heavy accent, cigarette-deteriorated voice, and noise from the street, I had NO idea what he was talking about. I look at my notes from that day and all I have are a lot of question marks and the words "Crisis!" and "capitalismo" ......
3. The first question my professor asked the class is if anyone has medical problems with cigarette smoke. No one did, unfortunately. Second question: if anyone preferred him not to smoke, but he just laughed before anyone could answer and said he didn't care. So, right in the classroom, he lit up his first cig and proceeded to chain smoke throughout the entire theory class. He said he knew that his addiction was the reason he had no voice, but he couldn't stop so why fight it! What surprised me most was that he just threw his cigs on the floor of the classroom when he was done with them. When he left he just kicked the butts and ash under the desk... What?!
4. During the break between lecture and discussion, an Argentine student approached me and one of my friends from the program who was also testing the class. She asked where we were from, why we were in the class, etc. She then asked if we had understood anything from class and we reluctantly admitted that we couldn't understand anything. Well, she shared that our teacher is a very famous revolutionary in the history of Argentina and his classes are held in very high regard on UBA campus and in Buenos Aires in general. Sweet!
5. The professor left after the lecture and the two TA's took over during the last two hours. About ten minutes into class three people stuck their head into the classroom and our TA beckoned them in. They were representatives from an activist group on campus promoting a protest that was happening that Friday in the Plaza del Mayo. They passed fliers around to the students and our TA even chipped in and added some information. Throughout the duration of the class two more groups like this came in and each time, they spent about 5-10 minutes explaining their causes. Our TA's didn't mind at all, even though that took up about 30 min of our two hours. That just wouldn't happen in the US.
I went to this class a couple times before I decided to drop it. I really wanted to stay in it just because the atmosphere was so crazy and interesting, but I couldn't justify doing all the work when I couldn't understand the professor AT ALL. I still get the emails though, and a couple of my friends and I plan on still going to some of the protests.
I love Argentina :)
Iguazu Falls, BIG WATERS
Hola Hola!!
I promise I am making more of an effort to write, these couple of weeks are pretty busy for me because I'm traveling a lot, so I have to spend my week nights and afternoons working on homework. Real fun, I know. Actually, it is really fun because I, being the complete nerd that I am, love libraries and it just so turns out that this great city has a TON of gorgeous libraries. In fact, today I am sitting in the Bibliteca Nacional de Maestros, complete with wireless and located in one of the most gorgeous buildings I've seen in the city. It has high ceilings, walls of books surrounding the work area, and big well-lit wooden desks to work in. I'm in heaven!
However, I did not necessarily write to talk about libraries, I wanted to share a little bit of my adventure to Iguazu Falls with you! This past weekend one of my best friends on the program, Maureen, and I took an adventure up to Iguazu Falls, in the northeast corner of Argentina.
First, a little bit about the falls. The name "Iguazu" means Big Waters in Guarani, an indigenous language of the Misiones Province, where the falls are located. The Igazu River divides Argentina and Brazil, and therefore you can get a great view of the falls from both the Brazilian and Argentine shore, although about 2/3 of the falls are on the Argentine border. In total, the falls consist of 275 falls along 1.6 miles of the Iguazu River. Iguazu currently has the greatest average of any waterfall in the world, and is one of the 28 finalist sites for the New7Wonders of Nature (tbd in 2010/11).
Maureen and I left Wednesday afternoon at 7pm and took a 18 hour bus ride (!!) from Buenos Aires up to Puerto Iguazu. It sounds like an extremely long bus ride, which it was, but the pain was made tolerable by the whiskey, wine, and champagne offered to all passengers over 18 years old. On top of that, there was an abundance of food and movies to keep us entertained the whole time. We arrived on a cloudy, rainy Thursday morning and made our way to HostelInn, frequently called the "Club Med" of hostels, according to their website. It was actually extremely gorgeous for a 40 peso/night (12USD) dormitory, complete with game room and pool. Here's a picture:
That afternoon Mo and I went on our first forest excursion! We took a truck ride through the Paraenese Jungle of Misiones, then we hiked through the jungle to a 2,625 ft zip line. We then repelled down a 72ft rock wall and rode back through the jungle! It was SO FUN! Plus, we learned some interesting facts about that part of the jungle. Approximately 80% of the vegetation can be used for medicinal purposes! While we were walking our guide, Micaela, would pick of leaves and hand them to us. We ate some little round pods that tasted like lemon and are supposed to help your stomach, I can't remember their names. Also, we went through a portion of the jungle that was owned by the Iguazu Army. Our guide asked us to not take any pictures because it was prohibited by the army. They use that area of land to allow armies from other countries to come and, without food or water, learn how to survive off of that specific type of land. Apparently part of the US army was there two weeks ago!
Mo and I spent the night at the hostel. 20 peso all you can eat buffet-- I love the conversion rate here :) We met three guys from Australia and challenged them to a game of pool- girls vs. boys- two on three- and WON! Then we replayed and lost, but thats besides the point. I've never really stayed in hostels before this trip, they aren't very big in the US, but they are so useful for younger, economic travelers. Its a perfect place to meet travelers from all over the world and hear their stories. Maureen and I are thinking of opening our own chain of hostels all over the US...
The next day we woke up early and went to IGUAZU! The first sight we saw was the Garganta del Diablo, the most impressive part of the falls. It's a U-shaped part of the falls, and there is so much water you can't even see the bottom of the falls because it's covered in mist. There is no way to verbalize how you feel when you see it: all you can do is register the power of the water pouring over the cliffs. Here is a picture:
This doesn't even capture the falls because it's such a close view. Plus, when you are standing right next to it and you can hear the power of the water pounding over the falls, feel the mist blowing onto you, and smell the fresh air, its a completely sensual experience. Next we walked around the balconies to see the other waterfalls. Luckily, for this part of the day it was sunny and hot and gorgeous. Another picture because words can't begin to capture it:
The balconies extend all the way along the watefall and each stop is such a different view of the waterfalls. All these are on the Argentine side- being an American makes it expensive to visit the Brazilian side. Because of reciprocity policy, it would cost me 150$US to get a tourist visa to enter Brazil, so it's not worth it just for a different view of the falls. We got to see a different view during the afternoon when we went on the Gran Aventura: we took a speedboat ride up 4 miles of white water rapids on the Iguazu River and then went as close to the base of the waterfall as you safely can go! Mo and I, being the macho girls we are, decided we didn't need ponchos-- we were going to get wet anyways! Well, boy did we get wet. We were soaked by the time we reached the waterfalls just from all the waves on the river. Plus, by that time the sun had gone away and the sky looked like a storm was pending... The people behind us kept commenting that the falls were going to kill the foreigners haha. Well we plunged into the falls and everyone started chanting "otra vez, otra vez!" so we went in again! Then we went under Garganta del Diablo. Here is Mo and I on the boat in front of the falls, before we had to put our cameras away:
This is the boat in front of us going in... ahhh!!
After that, we were soaked and freezing cold so we headed home to the hostel, where we ate buffet and played cards with a British couple. I love traveling :)
It was such an awesome adventure- totally "vale la pena" (worth it)!
I promise I am making more of an effort to write, these couple of weeks are pretty busy for me because I'm traveling a lot, so I have to spend my week nights and afternoons working on homework. Real fun, I know. Actually, it is really fun because I, being the complete nerd that I am, love libraries and it just so turns out that this great city has a TON of gorgeous libraries. In fact, today I am sitting in the Bibliteca Nacional de Maestros, complete with wireless and located in one of the most gorgeous buildings I've seen in the city. It has high ceilings, walls of books surrounding the work area, and big well-lit wooden desks to work in. I'm in heaven!
However, I did not necessarily write to talk about libraries, I wanted to share a little bit of my adventure to Iguazu Falls with you! This past weekend one of my best friends on the program, Maureen, and I took an adventure up to Iguazu Falls, in the northeast corner of Argentina.
First, a little bit about the falls. The name "Iguazu" means Big Waters in Guarani, an indigenous language of the Misiones Province, where the falls are located. The Igazu River divides Argentina and Brazil, and therefore you can get a great view of the falls from both the Brazilian and Argentine shore, although about 2/3 of the falls are on the Argentine border. In total, the falls consist of 275 falls along 1.6 miles of the Iguazu River. Iguazu currently has the greatest average of any waterfall in the world, and is one of the 28 finalist sites for the New7Wonders of Nature (tbd in 2010/11).
Maureen and I left Wednesday afternoon at 7pm and took a 18 hour bus ride (!!) from Buenos Aires up to Puerto Iguazu. It sounds like an extremely long bus ride, which it was, but the pain was made tolerable by the whiskey, wine, and champagne offered to all passengers over 18 years old. On top of that, there was an abundance of food and movies to keep us entertained the whole time. We arrived on a cloudy, rainy Thursday morning and made our way to HostelInn, frequently called the "Club Med" of hostels, according to their website. It was actually extremely gorgeous for a 40 peso/night (12USD) dormitory, complete with game room and pool. Here's a picture:
That afternoon Mo and I went on our first forest excursion! We took a truck ride through the Paraenese Jungle of Misiones, then we hiked through the jungle to a 2,625 ft zip line. We then repelled down a 72ft rock wall and rode back through the jungle! It was SO FUN! Plus, we learned some interesting facts about that part of the jungle. Approximately 80% of the vegetation can be used for medicinal purposes! While we were walking our guide, Micaela, would pick of leaves and hand them to us. We ate some little round pods that tasted like lemon and are supposed to help your stomach, I can't remember their names. Also, we went through a portion of the jungle that was owned by the Iguazu Army. Our guide asked us to not take any pictures because it was prohibited by the army. They use that area of land to allow armies from other countries to come and, without food or water, learn how to survive off of that specific type of land. Apparently part of the US army was there two weeks ago!
Mo and I spent the night at the hostel. 20 peso all you can eat buffet-- I love the conversion rate here :) We met three guys from Australia and challenged them to a game of pool- girls vs. boys- two on three- and WON! Then we replayed and lost, but thats besides the point. I've never really stayed in hostels before this trip, they aren't very big in the US, but they are so useful for younger, economic travelers. Its a perfect place to meet travelers from all over the world and hear their stories. Maureen and I are thinking of opening our own chain of hostels all over the US...
The next day we woke up early and went to IGUAZU! The first sight we saw was the Garganta del Diablo, the most impressive part of the falls. It's a U-shaped part of the falls, and there is so much water you can't even see the bottom of the falls because it's covered in mist. There is no way to verbalize how you feel when you see it: all you can do is register the power of the water pouring over the cliffs. Here is a picture:
This doesn't even capture the falls because it's such a close view. Plus, when you are standing right next to it and you can hear the power of the water pounding over the falls, feel the mist blowing onto you, and smell the fresh air, its a completely sensual experience. Next we walked around the balconies to see the other waterfalls. Luckily, for this part of the day it was sunny and hot and gorgeous. Another picture because words can't begin to capture it:
The balconies extend all the way along the watefall and each stop is such a different view of the waterfalls. All these are on the Argentine side- being an American makes it expensive to visit the Brazilian side. Because of reciprocity policy, it would cost me 150$US to get a tourist visa to enter Brazil, so it's not worth it just for a different view of the falls. We got to see a different view during the afternoon when we went on the Gran Aventura: we took a speedboat ride up 4 miles of white water rapids on the Iguazu River and then went as close to the base of the waterfall as you safely can go! Mo and I, being the macho girls we are, decided we didn't need ponchos-- we were going to get wet anyways! Well, boy did we get wet. We were soaked by the time we reached the waterfalls just from all the waves on the river. Plus, by that time the sun had gone away and the sky looked like a storm was pending... The people behind us kept commenting that the falls were going to kill the foreigners haha. Well we plunged into the falls and everyone started chanting "otra vez, otra vez!" so we went in again! Then we went under Garganta del Diablo. Here is Mo and I on the boat in front of the falls, before we had to put our cameras away:
This is the boat in front of us going in... ahhh!!
After that, we were soaked and freezing cold so we headed home to the hostel, where we ate buffet and played cards with a British couple. I love traveling :)
It was such an awesome adventure- totally "vale la pena" (worth it)!
Casa del Nino
Hola! Feliz lunes!
Sorry, I'm feel pretty awkward blogging but I think its a good way to force me to reflect (I dont write in my journal like I promised myself I would). Plus, I like to let everyone know what's going on!
One of my classes here is called Service and Learning. It's a two part class: first part is called theory, an hr and a half that we spend in a classroom discussing volunteer work, solidarity, what it all means internationally and how it relates to our lives. The second part is a "practica," when we go into the community and actually volunteer with an organization for the semester. The organization I picked is called Casa del Nino. It's an organization located in a pretty poor neighborhood outside of Buenos Aires where kids from the ages 4-14 can go when they aren't in school. There are classes, lunch, and a playground for the kids. Along with two of my friends from my program, Carolyn and Sarah, we teach a class for the oldest age group every Monday morning. We are just starting to get the program underway, but our theme for the class we teach is "International Culture." Each week we pick a different country to teach the kids about. First week we did Italy, and to accompany our lesson we taught the kids how to cook Almond Biscotti! Not only was it delicious, but it was a good icebreaker to get to know some of the kids.
However, one thing I really wanted to teach the kids was how to work in a garden (I have no green thumb, and I strongly dislike gardening usually, but kids should like to work in the dirt, right??). We worked it out with Sylvia, our coordinator, and she said that although they don't have space at the Casa del Nino for a full garden, we could create a flower garden in front of the building (where there are these scraggly weeds right now) and put some spices in pots in the classroom. So, this week we took a field trip with the kids to the nearest garden, which actually turned out to be the community center! Sarah and I were talking about how different it was to go on a field trip in Argentina- all we had to do was round up the kids, walk six blocks through the town, and go into the community center. If we were in the US it would have been a three week process, complete with permissions slips and matching t-shirts!
The cultural center was so cool though. It offers free classes for kids or adults in any area of life they need. For example, when we arrived, a group of adults from the town were in the garden learning how to plant spices for their own gardens. We met one of the teachers, a student from Buenos Aires who came to live in the town and now teaches ceramics and music class in the center for kids. The center donated a couple plants and spices to the Casa del Nino, so we now have some plants to start our garden! We didn't start planting this past week, but one important thing we did was get the kids acquainted with the Community center. The majority of the kids in the class had never visited, but it is such a good resource for them to learn skills and play with other kids.
This upcoming Monday we are going to start planting-- I'll bring a camera!
Sorry, I'm feel pretty awkward blogging but I think its a good way to force me to reflect (I dont write in my journal like I promised myself I would). Plus, I like to let everyone know what's going on!
One of my classes here is called Service and Learning. It's a two part class: first part is called theory, an hr and a half that we spend in a classroom discussing volunteer work, solidarity, what it all means internationally and how it relates to our lives. The second part is a "practica," when we go into the community and actually volunteer with an organization for the semester. The organization I picked is called Casa del Nino. It's an organization located in a pretty poor neighborhood outside of Buenos Aires where kids from the ages 4-14 can go when they aren't in school. There are classes, lunch, and a playground for the kids. Along with two of my friends from my program, Carolyn and Sarah, we teach a class for the oldest age group every Monday morning. We are just starting to get the program underway, but our theme for the class we teach is "International Culture." Each week we pick a different country to teach the kids about. First week we did Italy, and to accompany our lesson we taught the kids how to cook Almond Biscotti! Not only was it delicious, but it was a good icebreaker to get to know some of the kids.
However, one thing I really wanted to teach the kids was how to work in a garden (I have no green thumb, and I strongly dislike gardening usually, but kids should like to work in the dirt, right??). We worked it out with Sylvia, our coordinator, and she said that although they don't have space at the Casa del Nino for a full garden, we could create a flower garden in front of the building (where there are these scraggly weeds right now) and put some spices in pots in the classroom. So, this week we took a field trip with the kids to the nearest garden, which actually turned out to be the community center! Sarah and I were talking about how different it was to go on a field trip in Argentina- all we had to do was round up the kids, walk six blocks through the town, and go into the community center. If we were in the US it would have been a three week process, complete with permissions slips and matching t-shirts!
The cultural center was so cool though. It offers free classes for kids or adults in any area of life they need. For example, when we arrived, a group of adults from the town were in the garden learning how to plant spices for their own gardens. We met one of the teachers, a student from Buenos Aires who came to live in the town and now teaches ceramics and music class in the center for kids. The center donated a couple plants and spices to the Casa del Nino, so we now have some plants to start our garden! We didn't start planting this past week, but one important thing we did was get the kids acquainted with the Community center. The majority of the kids in the class had never visited, but it is such a good resource for them to learn skills and play with other kids.
This upcoming Monday we are going to start planting-- I'll bring a camera!
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