Uruguay

Last weekend I went to Uruguay with friends from school.  We took a very plush one hour ferry ride across the Rio Plato to Colonia, Uruguay and spent the day walking, walking, and walking some more.  Colonia is a small, coastal, tourist town that is very quaint.  We had a great time developing friendships and cultivating new ones.  We walked 7 km to see a bull ring that was only used once.  It was built to hold 6,000 people, but 9,000 people showed up on the first fight.  It wasn't built well enough, so after the first fight, the infrastructure was so bad that it could never be safely used again.  It seems like such a waste, but it was a beautiful structure.   

After a day in Colonia, five of us took a 3 hour bus ride to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.  We showed up at our hostel to find a clean, friendly place full of travelers.  After a quick dinner for our vegetarian friend, we returned to the hostel where they were having an asado.  Now, growing up in San Diego, I have had my fair share of carne asado and man is it fantastic, but I must say this asado was so good, albeit different.  We shared a few beers, had perfectly cooked steak with chimichurri, potatoes, and salad.  I sat next to a guy from Guadalajara, Mexico who is a music producer.  He "forced" my to speak Spanish to him despite his perfect English and was very patient as I searched for words and butchered his language.  We met people who were halfway through their trip to travel the world and experience all that the world has to offer.  I'm so jealous of and inspired by everyone who gets to travel the world... but I suppose if I'm really honest, I'm one of them too. 

The following morning we took a 4 hour tour of Montevideo in Spanish.  I was proud to say that I understood 90% of what was being said (when I was listening).  After our tour, Cyr and Daiver, my extended relatives picked me and 2 of my friends up for lunch and another tour.  We went to a small, family owned Italian restaurant for fantastic pasta.  Even though I haven't seen Cyr and Daiver in 10 or 11 years, it was like we picked up where we left off.  And in case you want to know what I looked like 11 years ago, apparently I look exactly the same.  :-)  After a long cup of coffee at the bus station and great conversation, we took another 3 hour bus ride back to Colonia where we had another hour long ferry ride back to Buenos Aires and then 2 short bus rides to a place where we could catch a taxi.  It was a very full weekend and I was exhausted when I returned, but after a long shower, I became overwhelmed with the goodness of people and life.  I'm here, on the other side of the world, and I'm so lucky to be doing this.  I had spent the day with family who aren't "real" family and am beyond blessed by their generosity.  I get to learn a language that I've loved for 15 years and get to meet some of the coolest people ever.  I have a family and friends who adore me and I'm seriously one of the luckiest girls alive.  

Parillas and Tango

Well I'm into my second week here and life is really "coming together," so to speak.  I started a new class last Monday and I am having to speak much more Spanish than I have had to speak in the past.  It's making me work and that's a very good thing.  I am finding that it is relatively easy to understand what is being said to me, especially if they speak slowly to me, it is still creating sentences that is causing me some trouble. But I'm finding that as I walk around, I am thinking of how to say what I want to say or what I'm thinking in Spanish.  I'm trying to translate everything I want to say into Spanish.  This part of Argentina speaks with some pronunciations similar to Castalonian Spanish, so there are words that I'm not understanding purely because the accent is different.  I am confident that I will be able to speak well by the time I leave. 

Argentina is certainly known for its steak and its steakhouses called Parillas.  Every Tuesday, the school does a group dinner at a different restaurant and last Tuesday we went to a Parilla that was delicious.  The steak is more tender and juicier than most steaks you can get in the States and for a much smaller price.  Last night I went with about 15 people to another Parilla called The Steak of Jesus. One of the dishes is: Spaghetti con Jesus y fruta del mar.  The English translation on the menu was: Spaghetti with Jesus and seafood.  I don't know what Spaghetti with Jesus means, but we had a good time musing about it.  We ordered a variety of meats and vegetables and only had 8 bottles of wine between 13 people; I had bet that we had gone through at least 10.  But I was wrong. After our decadent dinner we went to one of the famous Milongas in Buenos Aires.  The Milonga is the Tango with a bit more passion and freedom.  We watched couple dance all night who were amazing.  I have not yet taken any tango classes, although I think I will start next week, but I did go out and dance with one older gentleman who spoke no Spanish and smelled of very bad body odor.  Despite that, I'm ready to return to Milongas and Tango shows because it was truly beautiful.

I had taken quite a few pictures in the past few days and for some reason, my camera has lost them. They were there last night and now they're not.  So that just means that I will have to go to more Parillas and more Milongas to show y'all the beauty of Argentina.

After a fantastic night of friends, laughter, wine, and culture, I woke up this morning unable to swallow very well and fighting the flu or a cold or something.  So unfortunately I didn't make it to class and have spent most of the day sleeping.  We are going off to Uruguay for the weekend, so I'm trying to save my energy for that trip.  I am hoping that my camera will work and pictures from this weekend can be uploaded for the next blog.  I am looking forward to getting out of the city for a couple of days, seeing other places, and experiencing different food and scenery.  

Back to bed for me....

Marissa

La Primer Semana

Well y'all,

It hasn't been quite a week since I've been in Buenos Aires and I keep thinking that I should update folks on what life has been like since arriving. And (un)fortunately, it hasn't been all that different than my life in Chicago. Except that everyone keeps speaking Spanish to me. And I keep saying, bien, bien (good, good). Since arriving, I haven't felt great. I don't know if I am fighting a cold, still recovering from traveling, lazy, or minorly allergic to something, but I've had inflamed sinuses and been exhuasted still. It's good thing that I now live in a city where Siestas are expected and common. Plus, they don't eat dinner until at least 9:30 or 10 at night, so you return home at 12 or 1 and have to be at work (or school) at 8 or 9. You need a siesta to make that lifestyle!

I'm in my first week of classes at the immersion school and so far it's been great. I've moved to one different class and my teacher would like me to move to the next one next week. But right now, I'm enjoying the review so I can really remember how to create sentences, re learn lost vocabulary, and make sure I'm confident with the basics. The problem is that I can understand so much more than I can create, so it's sometimes hard to respond or express what I would like to say, but I know what I'm expected to say. I'm confident that by the end of the 3 months, I'll be a Spanish-speaking expert. I've met some really cool people-- mostly Americans, Brits, Aussies, and Danish folks. Quite a few are taking a year off of work or before working to travel the world. I am kind of jealous when I hear that: taking a year to see as much of the world as possible. I've always wanted to do that. Don't get me wrong: 3 months here is fantastic, so I will have to do parts much more slowly than the others. But I will "see the world" in due time.

My apartment is great. Perfect for one person. I've tried to uploaded a couple of pictures here so you can see where I live, but it isn't working.  Perhaps another day. I feel very safe in my building and my neighborhood. In case you're wondering, I have access to Coka Cola Light and Coka Cola Zero. Also, I have lots of Law and Order, E! TV, Vh1, and the Hallmark channel. I won't die while here. And I'm doing just fine. It's been great to connect with those with whom I've connected and look forward to remaining in contact with the rest!

Christening

So this is the first blog into the blogosphere, and while I've contemplated blogging for a bit leading up to my trip, I was always stymied by what to call it. For many of you, that may not be of any concern, but my preoccupation with being "unique" left me paralyzed and unable to act by the desire to impress y'all with my creativity and witty-ness. And once I had a couple of titles that I liked the gods were really against me. It turns out that humanity isn't oh so creative. Every title that I had thought of was already taken. Including, but not limited to:

Imnotcreative.blogspot.com
Fairenough.blogspot.com
Insertwittytitlehere.blogspot.com
Seriously.blogspot.com
Randomramblings.blogspot.com
Randomings.blogspot.com--even a nonexistent word has been taken!

So despite my best efforts to impress and make you all laugh, I have come to embrance my christened name: marissaannegostanian.blogspot.com. I'm grateful to my parents' creativity to allow me to have a name different enough that allows me to enter the blogosphere. So thanks, Mom and Dad.

This blog is designed to keep you all abreast of my Argentinian Adventure that starts on Thursday. But it may stick around past December. Could you really be that lucky? I don't know. Only time will tell.

I hope that this will give me space to process, express, and reflect on my time abroad and convince my mother that I haven't been kidnapped. Although perhaps my kidnappers will still make me blog for ransom purposes. And if anyone knows of a protestant church in Buenos Aires, please pass that information along to me.

Here's to adventures and opportunities and the internet!