¡Hola from Buenos Aires, Argentina! I have been here for two months now, and I figure it's about time I share with you a little about my experience or put into words what you see in my photos on Facebook. Buenos Aires is a huge city with a culture of its own- one which took this Texan some getting used to. I have compiled a few of the aspects of the culture and will take you through the alphabet of my Argentina. 

Asado: Argentina is known for its heavy consumption of BEEF. One of the first days we arrived, we were taken to a restaurant called "Siga la Vaca" to enjoy the traditional asado, or barbecue. My favorite part of the asado is the choripan, where you make a little sandwich out of a roll and chorizo. 

Beso: The way we greet one another here is with a kiss on the cheek, or beso. Hi and goodbye. My first visit to a church group here was quite overwhelming with around 30 people and I got kisses from everyone! 

Castellano: The Spanish here is a bit different, and took my ear a while to adjust. The y's and ll's are pronounced "shh" and instead of "tú" they use "vos" which for some words is conjugated differently. I love the "castesshhhano." It makes speaking spanish so much more fun!

Dulce de Leche: This is the most dangerous thing about Argentina. It is a milk-based caramel sauce that they put on everything! I used to eat it everyday for breakfast on my toast with sliced bananas on top. Consequently, I think I gained 20 lbs.

Empanadas: If you want a snack or light lunch, grab an empanada or two. They are yummy little meat pies that are usually fairly cheap and hit the spot every time! 

Feriados: The Argentines love to celebrate! There have been many holidays since I arrived. On August 20th was el Feriado de San Martín, a day to honor General San Martín, the liberator of Argentina, Chile, and Peru. We did not have class this day, so we spent our 4 day weekend in Mendoza, enjoying the Andes mountains and vineyards. One of my favorite holidays was Día del Niño: a day to celebrate children? Heck ya! 

Gaucho: The gaucho is the Argentine cowboy. They have a rich history of life in the pampas of Argentina, and their traditions remain and have influence in today's culture. 

Helado: There's probably an ice cream place on every corner where you are guaranteed to find many dulce de leche flavors.

Meigan and Kaitlyn

Intimacy: Love is in the air. Just about everywhere you go you will see PDA (public display of affection). Kissing. Cuddling. Doesn't matter who'se watching, it's happening. 

Jamón: I am not a fan of ham; I prefer turkey. Just my luck- they have many varieties of ham sandwiches in all the bakeries, but you will not find turkey. I found it though, at Subway- you'll find me there on Thursdays, when it's the sandwich of the day.

Kioskos: Kioskos sustain the city. They are tiny little convenient stores or stands located on every block. Here you can charge credits to your phone, charge your sube (transportation) card, and grab a snack. You will find a variety of alfajores (sandwiched cookies layered with dulce and covered in chocolate), an Argentine specialty. Just outside our apartment, there are two right next to each other. Alfajores at my convenience- not ok.

Late Dinner: One of the major adjustments I had to make was dinner time. Every night we have dinner around 9:30 p.m. Restaurants do not even open until 9:00 p.m. I was getting real hungry all the time, but I found out that Argentines actually eat 4 times a day...Thank God for merienda!

Merienda: Tea time! Between lunch and dinner, you have tea or coffee and a snack. Their most popular snack item is the medialuna (half-moon) which is a crescent drizzled with honey. I love this time to go to a café with a friend. I could spend hours, and I do, at merienda! 

Merianda

Norma- I couldn't think of anything for the letter N, but my host mother's name is Norma. I thought I could use this slot to tell you a bit about my home-stay. I live about two blocks from my university in a small apartment with a roommate from another program. Our host mom, Norma is retired, but spends her time painting, taking theatre classes, watching her one-and-a-half year old granddaughter, Tanya, and doing other things to stay busy. She is very cultured and has helped us learn a great deal about Buenos Aires. 

She had her painting showcased in an art show!

Ojo! Ojo is an expression they use here to say "Be Careful!" They couple it with the gesture of pulling the bottom of their eye down with their index finger. Cracks me up every time!

Protests: There seems to always be some demonstration or another going down in Argentina. When I first arrived, the garbage men were on strike, so there would be mountains of garbage on the sidewalks. Students made several attempts to get their visas but were sent back because the visa workers were on strike as well. The subte (subway) shut down for two weeks because the subte workers were on strike. This caused mass chaos in Buenos Aires as the colectivos (buses) were overcrowded and it took hours to get across town. The president, Cristina Kirchner is not favored here in Buenos Aires, and after revealing her proposals, there have been protests in the streets with shouting, clapping, and banging on pots and pans. 

Queso: My lactose intolerance is a huge hinderance here in the land of pizza and ice cream! About half of Argentina is of Italian decent, and they have established many pizza joints here. 

R: aRchitecture- I'm getting creative here. It was difficult to find something for R, but I had to mention the beauty of some of the buildings. I'm no expert in art or architecture, but I definitely appreciate the different European style buildings and churches. With my surroundings being all-building, it's nice that a lot of them are BEAUTIFUL. 

Soccer: Fútbol is an insanely popular sport here! They treat it as if it were a religion. You are known by what team you support, and from what I've gathered, the city is divided into two categories: River fans and Boca fans. But besides devotion to any particular team, soccer is a part of life here, and if you go to any park, there will always be a game going on, or you'll see a father playing with his kids. 

Tango: The dance of Buenos Aires. It is a very intimate, sensual dance and incorporates incredible footwork. I have had the opportunity to go to a couple shows AND take a Tango class at the University. I'm getting my full dose of Tango while here, that's for sure! 

Unwanted attention: Piropos are comments from men in the streets. "Linda, hermosa, bonita..." They look you up and down and stare. I'm sorry, but I feel objectified when I walk down the street. Apparently, the women here love the piropos. For me, it's attention that I don't want.

Vino: Wine is very popular here. I had the opportunity to travel to Mendoza, the wine country of Argentina. We did a wine and bike tour where we went from bodega to bodega on bikes. Our path was laced with the Andes mountains in the distance. Once we arrived to the bodegas, we did some wine tasting, sampling Argentina's signature wine, Malba, made from a grape that is only grown here in Argentina. 

Walking: When I arrived in Argentina, I observed that the people were all in good shape, and wondered "HOW?" They eat carbs all day long and don't eat until 10 at night. Well, here in the city, we walk EVERYWHERE! The city runs on public transportation, and you will find yourself walking a lot! I laugh at myself when I think of how back home, I've driven to friends' houses less than a mile away. 

X- Extranjera-I am the foreigner here. Texas A&M sees many international students come through College Station. I never imagined I would be in their position, thousands of miles from home, not totally proficient in the language, and overwhelmed by cultural differences. I am, however, thankful for this experience, and I'll be coming home a changed person. 

Yerba Mate: Mate (mah-tay) is the traditional Argentine drink. It is a loose leaf green tea that they drink out of a gourd and a metal filter straw. You will see it in the hands of Argentines everywhere throughout the day. Mate is known as "a drink among friends," meaning that they share the mate gourd and pass it around. Bring your own if you're sick! 

Zoo: When we were in Mendoza, we had the opportunity to go to the zoo. Everything seemed pretty much like any other zoo until we got to the monkeys. Just before the entrance, there was a stand with the sign "Galletas para Monos." We got to feed crackers to the monkeys! There seemed to be about 100 monkeys in this one habitation and they were very aggressive, fighting over the food, and going nuts! I thought...this would never fly back in the states. There is another zoo here in Buenos Aires, which is famous for allowing visitors into the cages of lions, tigers, and bears, o my! They allow you to pet them and feed them, but don't worry, they're domesticated. Smells like a lawsuit to me.

Un mes en Perú

This was saved in my drafts from last summer in Peru-

Last Saturday the group went to Machu Picchu. It's only 35 miles away, but took us 3 hours by car and 2 hours by train through the mountains. It was an unbelievable sight- and my favorite part about it- the llamas! Yes, everything else was fascinating too, but I was really looking forward to seeing these llamas since I arrived in Peru. Unfortunately, our guide did not show up, so we had an impromptu guide that spoke poor English and said the words "well" and "please" every 5 seconds. He also only gave us half the tour, so we wondered around guideless for the remainder of the tour.

-That was as much as I had written...

From what I remember about last summer, other major events included Cindy contracting staff infection and having to return home to the states early. My 21st birthday the following week, and the sad goodbyes as we concluded with week #4. A whole month living in an orphanage in a foreign country definitely changed my life. I praise God for such a wonderful experience, and still praisin' for the opportunity to study in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where I am in this moment. More blogs to come!

Dos Semanas en Peru

Wow. It's been two weeks already- halfway there! It's tough to find time to blog, but here I am on a Friday night finding time to do so. It's really wonderful to have time alone because alone time is difficult to come by here at Casa de Aguila. In fact children are hovering over the computer as I type. yessica jalixto mahacacuantos(8 yrs) ( that's her wanting to type her name) is sitting here with me by the computer taking tons of pictures on my camera and running up the battery. These kids are fascinated with technology. They walk around with my iphone in their hands, playing Justin Beiber over and over again. I think they have "El fiebre de Justin." Everyday our friend Yazmin (14 yrs) comes over to our house to just be with us. Our Spanish is horrible and I don't think we're that interesting, but she loves being in our presence. Last Friday, they didn't have school, but our Spanish class meets from 2-5, so she went to class with us! She has been a good friend, and I hate to leave her at the end of the month!

The last weekend we went down to the thermal baths in Cconoc, and I decided it wasn't worth getting in them because the water was lukewarm and getting out was brutally cold. Mary, Bailey, and I just hung around and took pictures while everyone else got in. The mosquitos here are terrible! At one point I looked down to find about 50 mosquitos on one leg. The bites(picaduras) last quite a while, as I am still experiencing pain a week later. I have tons of bites, and get more and more everyday even after dousing myself and bug spray. I guess they love that fresh blood because none of the people here seem to have bites. Pray that I will be healed from the bites and will be kept from getting more because they are so painful, and keep me from going to sleep at night. I'm not going to miss the insects here, that's for sure! We have found so many spiders in our beds and in our clothes, and one day we found a brown recluse hanging from its web in front of Cindy's face. That was terrifying!

Every morning we have breakfast at 7, and then work at 8:30. Last week I was in the kitchen, but this week we were down in the field digging holes to plant posts for a fence to hold the horses. We can not use post hole diggeres because there are giant rocks in the ground that we have to dig around. Instead we use these 30 pound iron rods to jab in the ground until a perfect 2-foot hole is formed. This task seemed impossible with all the boulders we ran into. I kept referring to Matthew 17:20 and having faith to move a mountain- The bible is so applicable in theses circumstances, ya know? On Wednesday we took a break and drove up to the villages in the surrounding mountains to tell them about the eye clinic we are having in a few days. Our first stop was a visit to an older Quechuan man with liver cancer. Luz (the nurse @ CDA) has been occasionally visiting him and checking on his health. He lives with his daughter and her husband and kids, and their living conditions are unbelievable. We entered the house made of mud and dirt and there were cuy (guinea pigs) everywhere and meat hanging from the ceiling. Yes- they eat guinea pigs here in Peru, and they were not contained, but running around the house. Greg, the missionary here, was telling us all about the health conditions and how hygiene is foreign to them. Their work is primarily agrarian work, and when someone is not able to do their job, as when one becomes older and helpless, they are not valued any longer, and are neglected. They literally don't feed them or give any attention to them, so they will die sooner and be out of their hands. I could not bare to hear this, and began crying. Fortunately, this family has been taught the value that God has for each and every one of His children, and they love and care for this man. I don't believe he was a Christian, and so Greg presented the gospel right there that he would accept Christ; however the gospel was presented in Spanish and the man did not understand it because he speaks Quechuan, but he prayed the prayer in Spanish anyway. This whole experience was wearing on my spirit, and the sadness lingered with me the whole day. You truly have to rely on God and trust Him to do what he is going to do- to know that you can do nothing to save these people is terrifying, but God is in control, and He is sovereign- I can't say anything more.

Tomorrow we are off to Machu Picchu, and I can not be more excited! Pray that the trip goes well and that there are opportunities to witness and glorify the Lord.

Los dias primeras en Peru

Estoy aqui en Peru! By the grace of God we made it to Cusco early Sunday morning after traveling all day and night. We spent the night in the aeropuerto in Lima, but we hardly got any sleep. The lack of sleep coupled with altitude sickness had us feeling pretty lousy when we arrived, but that didn't stop us from taking in all the beauty that Peru has to offer. It was an hour and a half drive up the mountain from the airport to Limatambo, and it is CRAZY to see how differently people live from us. Many live in small homes built from clay, and you see stray dogs about every five seconds. We arrived to CDA and the orphanage is actually a lot nicer than the homes in the other villages. One girl was telling me that the kids that are not orphans that go to the school are jealous of the orphans. Life is tough for them here, but they are well taken care of at CDA. We have running water, but in order to take showers, we have to make a fire to heat up the pipes- and we didn't quite get it right the first time. Sorry, but I can't deal with ice cold showers! I can learn to do without right? =) Our diet consists of rice, potatoes, green vegetables, and occasionally a hint of meat on our plates. For breakfast, we have bread, which is really hallow and some sort of interesting concoction in liquid form. My favorite part of this trip is sitting down at meals and talking in Spanish with the teachers and farmers employed by CDA. They are so kind, and are willing to help me as I try to perfect my Spanish. Of course, I love talking with the kids too, but they are a little bit harder to understand because they don't exactly speak Spanish well either. I am unable to upload pictures on the blog because it takes too long to upload them, but trust me when I tell you that it is so beautiful! The houses are all bright blue and white with clay red roofs. It is so green here in the mountains and there are beautiful red poinsettia flowers in front of most of the houses. Yesterday was 4th of July, so us Americans celebrated with a huge campfire down by the river, just off campus. The stars are beautiful! I could NOT get over it! Even with it being cloudy, you could still see so many! It's supposed to be the dry season, but there's been light rain since we've been here. It's starting to clear up, and when the sun's out, you can FEEL it! Everyday, we have our volunteer work (today I was helping in the kitchen) and in the afternoon we have Spanish class, which is where I should be heading now! Hasta luego!

Amy