TL; DR: La Semana Pasada CondensadaThe Past Week in a Nutshell

I arrived a week ago, and I'm already behind on my updates. My bad - sorry.

TL;DR version:
To misquote the wonderful Frank Sinatra, "My kind of town, Buenos Aires is." This city is HUGE, the food is SO GOOD, pizza, a city tour, wonderful people, a wonderful host family, castellano porteño, late night adventures, Evita Perón, a bit of culture shock, and the celebration of 25 de mayo in La Plaza de Mayo was one of the most amazing things I have witnessed in my entire life. Las Madres De La Plaza de Mayo are the sweetest people ever, and they succeed because of the kind of love the fight with. Classes be cool, and I miss dancing. Empanadas and all of the other delicious food, corner coffee shops with delicious capuchinos, helado/gelato (the non dairy version of course), and friendships in the making. 

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This city is everything and nothing that you expect, and that alone has made me love it dearly. It reminds me of New York in a way - the big apple with so much energy and life, so many people from lots of different places, and crazy traffic. The more I am here, the more it makes me want to live there. 

Que he hecho?

1. Orientation
2. Palermo
3. Late night shenanigans
4. Eat a lot
5. City tour (touristy version) - La Boca, Puerto Madero, La Plaza de Mayo, Recoleta, a cemetery town full of rich dead people who suck and also ironically Evita.
6. 25 de mayo in La Plaza de Mayo - The celebration of the revolution of 1810. 
7. Classes - school version
8. Interning with Las Madres de La Plaza de Mayo (**website in Spanish**)
9. Eating well
10. Taking public transit
11. Walking A LOT
12. Figuring out geographically, how Buenos Aires works
13. Classes - tango and salsa version
14. Learning all of the porteño culture (Note: porteño refers specifically to someone who is from Buenos Aires)

So, there is a lot I need to tackle and write about, and I'm gonna do this in parts. So, stay tuned as I compile my thoughts and make them comprehensive! However, I will say that #6 on the list is one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life. It was a day of celebration of revolution - social movements fighting for their own social causes, "un pueblo, unido, jamás será vencido," activism, rock concerts, dancing, the past, presidential campaigning, fireworks, and hope. There is such a strong civil society in this city and this country - people know and want to know what is going on, and they are going to fight for what they think is right. At the end of the day, Cristina Kirchner (the president) spoke, essentially calling for a united country. As she danced off stage, "Nada Más Queda" played as the most amazing fireworks show I have ever seen lit up the Plaza. Though I could only grasp a bit of what went on that day, I could tell by the feeling in the air that it was special, as is its country and it's history.

He Llegado

Though it still hasn’t completely hit me, I’m here in the Big Apple, and the adventure is underway. 

After a long flight through the night where sleep was not existent, we exited the plane to begin a long venture through the airport. After you go through customs, you pick up your bags, and then you have to go through another security check point. No problem! Except when the line is so long and not structured that no one in the airport knows whats going on…but we made it out, greeted by some of the program organizers, and headed on buses into the heart of the city towards our host homes. 

So far, all I have seen of the city is what I saw on the bus ride, but it’s incredible. There is an aura about the city that reminds my of NYC. Whenever I see or even drive past NYC, I can feel the magic radiating from it: it’s culture, it’s mystery, it’s history, it’s people, it’s restlessness. Maybe it was either the lack of sleep or the constant lingering of the smell of beef in the air causing this, but I swore I could feel a different but similar kind of magic driving through our neighborhood. 

What am I doing here?
For the first 5-6ish weeks of my journey, I am studying and interning abroad through UGA en Buenos Aires. I’ll be taking a Latin American Film course at La Universidad de Palermo in the mornings and interning with Las Madres de La Plaza de Mayo in the afternoon. Being able to work with Las Madres, an INCREDIBLE organization, is a dream of mine and I still cannot even fathom that it is going to happen. Study abroad was something I was iffy about doing in the first place because I did not want to be stuck in a UGA bubble, but I don't think that's going to happen here unless I actively try to do so. 

I’m living with a host family about 5 blocks from the university. They are incredibly warm and welcoming, seem really down to Earth, and I’m excited to spend time with them and get to know them better. The even compost - how awesome. 

After this program is over, I will be in the country/surrounding areas for a bit over 5 weeks. What am I doing then? Well, I’m not quite sure. Bolivia, hopefully, Salta, Patagonia, maybe WWOOFing at some point? If you have any suggestions for afterwards or even while I’m here in Buenos Aires, I would love to hear them and talk to you! You can Facebook or email me.