Back Home

Posted on August 2, 2014 by Isamar Aguirre

First off I want to say that I am incredibly happy to have decided to study abroad and to have chosen Rosario, Argentina. I had not traveled outside of the U.S before (well once as a child but I don’t remember the experience) and this study abroad has broadened my horizons and I cannot wait to travel again.

I’ve been home since Tuesday afternoon and things have finally slowed down enough for me to write. Being back home has been more of an adjustment that being in Rosario. For one, it’s summer here. It was a lot easier to go from spring to winter than from winter to summer. Especially since I came back with a cold, and a cold + hot dry weather = nose bleeds. I’ve pretty much had a nose bleed since I got back, not fun and it really makes me miss the winter in Rosario. And two, the vacation is over. I’m working again and it’s a little weird since I hadn’t had a vacation in over a year. Going back to work after five weeks of “vacation” kind of sucks.

I feel like it is more difficult for me to adjust back into my normal routine and into American culture than it was for me to adjust to Rosario. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that when I arrived in Argentina I had no clue what to expect, everything was new and I just immersed myself. But coming home, I had a clear memory of what everything was like. But now that I have a different perspective and notice different things, what I see does not match perfectly with what I remember so it has been a bit more difficult to adapt because things feel more foreign. I feel like i’m not making much sense, maybe it’s the blood loss, so I will update this later.

Finally Home

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Jennifer Hight

Well, after five weeks I’m finally back home in California. I’ve gone from the middle of winter to summer in about two days which is taking some getting used to. And while it is only my first day back, it’s taking some time getting used to everything back in the United States.

I keep looking around everywhere for all the stray dogs from Rosario. It’s difficult to walk down the street and not see four or five of them on every block. The traffic laws are also an adjustment. Drivers let pedestrians walk here, something which doesn’t happen in Argentina. Also, there are stop signs and red lights. It’s wonderful. Another good thing about being home is there is no dog poop everywhere I walk. I love that.

I love that I’m no afraid of the police here. Everyone is wary in Argentina when they see officers in uniform and that affected my image of them also. So to see officials here and not be afraid is…amazing. I was also struck by the lack of shanties on my driver back from the airport with my Dad. People live in gorgeous houses, and I’ve never been as aware as I was returning home.

One thing I noticed and what I find funny is that I’ve forgotten English. I’ll sit trying to think of a word in Spanish, but I know it in English! Even better, it that Spanish grammar is affecting how I talk. So I use double negatives and refer to inanimate objects as he and she. My Dad has been laughing at me.

But the most amazing part of being home is seeing everyone I love. I’ve missed my family, and when I saw my Dad for the first time in five weeks I cried a little. Today I saw my best friend and was ridiculously happy. While I liked all my friends and host mother in Argentina, I adore my family and am happy to be home.

I just want to say I loved Argentina. It was gorgeous, the people were nice, and the food was amazing. But while living there, I realized how lucky I am to live in the United States. And coming back, I’ve learned to appreciate and love my country even more than I did before I left. Plus, I’ve decided that since I had such a good time in Argentina, I’m going abroad next summer to study history. Don’t know where, but that’s part of the fun.

And if you ever get the chance to go to Argentina, stop by Rosario. Drink mate by the river, see the Monumento Bandera, talk to street vendors just because you can. And above all else, just laugh and realize you won’t know what you’re doing but that’s alright. Because most of the fun I had was just going day to day and learning as I went. I wouldn’t change anything I did there for the world.

My last picture in Argentina.

Ezeiza International Airport.

View of my home from the plane heading into San Francisco.

Returning Home

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Jennifer Hight

I’m going to miss Argentina. My host mother was fantastic, I nearly cried saying goodbye to her today. All the friends from my program were hard to wish well. I’m going to miss the view of the river I get everyday walking along the bank, and defiantly the food.

For our last day, we made dessert in Spanish. It was amazing.

I will not miss taxis though. Getting to my hotel in Buenos Aires was a test of patience because of my taxi driver. The man got lost and went past the exit for a good twenty minutes, then had to turn around and come back. So I got charged extra which I am not pleased about.

Vamos Argentina! Party at the monument!

Not to mention flying. Whoever thought showing us the movies Flight a week before we all left is an idiot. The entire movie is about a horrific plane crash so during turbulence all I could think was “oh my god I’m going to die!”

So I’ve realized that while I’ll miss the people in Rosario and the places there, I won’t miss traveling itself at all.

Week Five: Now It’s Time to Leave

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Jennifer Hight

This last week in Argentina was incredibly hectic. All of my finals were on two days, so I slammed out two tests and turned in a term paper. While happy it was over, I found myself sad that I would be leaving Argentina in the next week.

Also, Mat, his friend and I all had an adventure after finals on Thursday. We all got asado to go but realized there was no where to eat it seeing how it was 8:45 at night. So we hunkered down on a street corner and started to eat the best barbequed steak and chicken I have ever had. We had no silverware so it looked pretty silly. Half way through we realized people were giving us these dirty looks and then Mat and I remembered something. In class, that morning, our teacher told us it was culturally unacceptable to eat in the street. …But we still did it anyways.

It was made even more bittersweet in our final Spanish class. Five out of eight were there and we made sweets with the teachers. It was nice to just sit and talk, but also hard. The majority of my class is there for ten weeks and I had to deal with knowing I would probably never see them again.

For our last day, we made dessert in Spanish. It was amazing.

However, they did offer for my 21st birthday this next year to head down to Eugene (where they all go to school) and will take me out drinking. It’s an on going joke with us that they’ll take me out for drinks because I don’t drink…

I’ll miss them, it’ll be hard to go to Spanish next year and not see them sitting there begging the teachers for how to ask where the toilet paper is… (this was the first thing we learned)

All of us together on our last day of class.

Following this we had the goodbye dinner. The majority of kids turned up and it was again wonderful but emotional. After spending ten weeks with the same 26 people, it’s hard to think that I probably won’t ever see them again…

The goodbye dinner with my friends Isamar and Karina.

On the left is my Grammar teacher and the right is my Conversation teacher.

Of course this weekend was for hanging out with my friends. We celebrated Isamar’s birthday and watched the Peruvian Festival. It was fun, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I won’t be here next week to see what’s happening at the river.

Festival for Peruvian heritage in Rosario Argentina.

My last day was also fun. I hung out with Naomi and Karen, and two of Naomi’s friends came and met with us. It was a good group and we looked at the stalls and had fun walking by the river. Afterwards I headed home and picked up some flowers as a gift for my host mother.

Dinner tonight was another adventure. Monica was out with friends so around 8 I went to a restaurant I wanted to try and got some food to go. When I came home, Monica was there. Turns out she came home to cook me a pizza and wanted to know why I had bought this food. I of course, in my terrible Spanish, explain it was because I thought she was out eating with friends. I then declared the food a present and we split it. Tomorrow we’ll be eating the pizza for lunch, which I look forward to.

My last day in Rosario.

Week Four. The end is near, noooooooo!

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Isamar Aguirre

Week four is just ending and in about 8 days I will be on a plane back home. I still can’t believe that time has passed so quickly.

This past week has been great, just like the rest. The week started off with tango lessons and some pizza. The tango lesson was super fun, and all in all quite a success. I managed to not fall on my face and I had a good time, so I will call it a win.

Friday and Saturday were spent in Buenos Aires. Despite a few bumps in the road (like a 5am Friday morning, 7am construction outside the hotel, tiny hotel rooms, getting ripped off for lunch), I had a great time. We visited a lot of historical sites. We visited La Recoleta, the Boca Juniors stadium, el caminito, la casa rosada, el museo de Evita Peron, and la plaza de mayo. A lot of the things we learned about I already knew but it was to see the local perspective on the topics. There are things, like Evitas death, that I definitely want to research more about. But the highlight was the delicious dinner with an amazing tango show. We got to see amazing dancers, musicians, and singers. It was interesting an interesting experience to see a real tango show. From beginning to end, the tangos and songs told a story.

For Saturdays lunch we got to wander around a less touristy town and we found a great meal and I finally tried the traditional Argentine parrillada. Not only was the food delicious but the service was great.

Today was a pretty relaxed day back home in Rosario. Had a good lunch and walked along the river and bought some presents for my family.

I apologize for the flipped images, I can’t turn them. tomb in la recoleta Continue reading →

Week Four: Nearly Done with Classes

Posted on July 19, 2014 by Jennifer Hight

It’s been a busy week here in Argentina. On Saturday we watched Germany play Argentina in the finals of the World Cup. I was really hoping that Argentina would win, but sadly that didn’t happen.

The rest of the week was pretty fun though. We learned how to tango, and by learn I mean I managed not to seriously injure my partner. The two of us managed to end up looking semi-decent by the end of the lesson which is a big success seeing how neither of us can dance. We also learned how to make empanadas in my Grammar class (favorite Grammar class ever!)

Learning to Tango with my class partner

And this weekend the whole group went off to Buenos Aires. It was a long trip, I got to wake up at 5 to leave the house. Not much fun there. The hotel we stayed at was pretty lousy also, it was small and cramped and the bathroom didn’t work. None of us were to pleased about that.

We were excited though to go to La Bombonera, which is where Boca Juniors plays. Boca Juniors is one of Argentina’s top two soccer teams housed in Buenos Aires. Even though sports are pretty boring to me, I found it interesting to look around and see it.

Visiting the Bombonera in Buenos Aires

Afterwards we had lunch in the Boca Barrio, where Boca Juniors is originally from. It was a lot of fun, and I got asked a strange question. This man walked up to me and asked if I was from Sacramento because he recognized the symbol on my hat. My hat has a Decepticon symbol so me and the two students I was with were really confused. It wasn’t until later we realized he thought it was a Sacramento Kings hat.

Visiting the Boca Barrio.

After visiting Boca, we all went to the National Cemetery in Buenos Aires. It is huge. You need a map to find anything in this place, including the exit. It is about two city blocks of mausoleums, there are street signs to help you orient yourself when walking around.

I managed to find Evita’s grave which was cool, before getting myself lost by taking a side street. Luckily I found my way out so that they didn’t have to send security to come get me when it closed…

One of the graves in the National Cemetery in Buenos Aires.

After that trip we went to a tango show. This was a full three course dinner that was very well made. Following that was a two hour tango performance with dancing, singing, and instrumental scores. It was a beautiful representation of the history of tango and I wish I had managed to get more pictures of it.

Dinner and a tango show.

This morning was not pleasant. I shared my hotel room with two other girls from the program, and one went out to party last night. She came back at 4 am drunk, which was not the problem. The problem came after that. She took my house keys for my host house and gave them to the consigner because for some reason it made sense. So I woke up this morning and panicked because a) my host mother is out tonight so I needed those keys because no one was there to let me in and b) if I lose them, every key in the building needs to be changed.

Luckily I got my keys in the morning, but the panic at 8:40 in the morning was not a good way to start the day.

After that excitement we took a tour of the city. Below I have one of my pictures of Plaza de Mayo which is the most important plaza in Buenos Aires. On one side is the presidents building, and on the other is the national cathedral which was incredible to see.

This is also the plaza famous for the protests during the Dictatorship when the Madres de Mayo were searching for their lost children.

Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, surrounded by many important buildings and where the Madres de Mayo demonstrated.

After that we were taken to a tourist side street where we got lunch and explored. That’s where the picture with the plastic guy came form. Apparently he’d a character in a comic strip here, but I’ve never heard of him before.

Me with a comic strip character.

The day finished with a tour of the Evita Peron museum. It was a beautiful building with interesting exhibits. But what really caught my attention is the fact that Evita is like a saint here. It’s one thing to hear about it, but another to encounter. All in all, a very good trip and I’ll be sleeping in tomorrow for the first time in three weeks!

Portrait of Eva Peron.

Week Three: Vamos Vamos Argentina! Vamos Vamos A Ganar!

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Jennifer Hight

On Saturday Naomi and I went to Independence Park, which is two blocks over from my house. The entire park is about ten city blocks put together and was gorgeous. While just walking around looking for stuff to do, we ran into these little guys!

Little ponies I saw in Independence Park

After walking around for a while we found the Argentina Municipal Museum. They were so excited two Americans wanted to look at their museum, they even took us to a special exhibit that’s usually closed to the public to show off! They have Meradona’s jersey there along with some old jerseys of Messi which I was enjoyed.

Outside of Rosario’s soccer museum

After the soccer museum, we met up with Katerina who wanted to try Argentine McDonalds. Here, it’s considered pretty high quality food, and their McCafe was an actual café! Overall it was pretty interesting to see how different it was compared to the McDonald’s in the US.

Somehow Argentine McDonald’s looks better than McDonald’s in the US…

I got to watch Brazil loose amazingly to Germany. When I turned on the tv, I had to double check the score to make sure I was seeing it right. Losing 7-1 in the semifinals? An incredibly embarrassing moment for Brazil. And while they host the World Cup on top of it! We all felt pretty smug that the US has only lost by 1, whereas Brazil was destroyed.

On Wednesday I played soccer in the park with a couple kids from the university. I turn out to actually be pretty good! Afterwards we all went to a bar to watch Argentina play the Netherlands to advance to finals.

Watching the Argentina game!

In case you didn’t know, Argentina advanced. We lost it in the bar, everyone was jumping up and down hugging each other and screaming. Then we went with everyone else to party in the streets. There was basically a parade of people heading towards the Monumento de Bandera where a massive party was taking place. We all joined in the party, dancing and chanting along with everyone else. Even more amazing they set off fireworks!

There is no better time to be in Argentina than during the World Cup! This is the first time in twenty years they’ve advanced to the finals so it’s very exciting! I can’t wait until they win!

Vamos Argentina! Party at the monument!

Well, today was a bit difficult. I had three tests today and was pretty fried once all was finished. So afterwards I went to the Cathedral in Argentina to pray for good grades. Just kidding, I’d been planning on heading inside since week one.

It was gorgeous, a wonderful experience. They just recently celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Cathedral which was great to learn about while there. I was quite pleased we made it all the way down to see it.

Image from the Cathedral in Rosario.

And tomorrow I get to go see the other religious site of Argentina-the soccer stadium!

I found a video on youtube that explains my feelings on the entire World Cup. It was done by John Oliver, so not only is it informative, it’s also pretty funny.

Week Two: One of the Best and Hardest Things I’ve Done

Posted on July 4, 2014 by Jennifer Hight

So this week was rather exciting. Our site offered a ride on the Panema River, which I took them up on. It was cold but rather exciting to be sailing and seeing all the different houses around us. Some houses were really well maintained while others were beginning to fall apart. Once again I was stuck by the difference of wealth inside the country. While on the boat Alex and I met a kid who spoke fluent English. He had a lot of questions about America’s political system so we had an hour discussion with him. It was interesting.

On the Panema River with Alex and Naomi.

Houses on the river.

The next day Naomi and I went to a flea market, and in the afternoon we met up with Alex to get a coffee. While walking to meet Alex I ended up on tv. This guy came up to me and asked me if it was alright if he asked some questions. Hoping to practice my Spanish I agreed. Next thing I know, I’m in a Messi jersey giving an interview on how wonderful the Argentine soccer team is!

On Tuesday we all went to a sports bar to watch the Argentina game, and went nuts when they won. But that was nothing compared to the USA game that night. It was the single most patriotic thing I have participated in ever, no doubt made even more so by being in a foreign country. We sang the national anthem twice, chanted USA every couple of minutes, along with another chant of “I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!” And yes, the all caps was necessary. We were that excited. Of course, the US lost and the bar owner gave us all free shots for mourning. It was amazing.

Watching the US game with the other Americans.

And of course, today is the fourth of July so we all went out to a bar to celebrate the independence of our country. The national flag monument here is lit up red white and blue, but I didn’t take a picture because to get there I would have to walk through a very sketch part of town. It would not have been safe, so instead I went with my friends to a restaurant and had a steak for America.

Celebrating the 4th of July!

However, not everything about this week was happy. Yesterday we went to the Memorial Museum for the Disapeared during the dictatorship that was only about 20-30 years ago. It was hard to get through the museum, the pictures of the missing are haunting. The hardest part for me was to look at pictures of children who had been killed/kidnapped during this time. Many of them still have not been found. We heard a story that happened about a year ago of a young girl who lived in Spain. At age 24, an old man came to talk to her and she learned something shocking. Her parents were not her biological parents. Her mother and father were two of the disappeared (it is used as a noun here) and the grandfather knew her mother was pregnant. The people who raised her tortured and killed her real parents before kidnapping her and fleeing the country. How do you live with that information?

The children of the Disapeared.

Even worse, in the building across from our university, they used to torture and execute Argentines during this time. When I look in the windows for the basement I can see the torture rooms, it is chilling to walk by this reminder every day. I can’t fully explain how horrifying it truly is to be constantly reminded of this when I go to class. Once again, I’m struck by the differences between the US and Argentina. It’s hard to think any country could do this, and their motto “nunca mas” reminded me heavily of WWII. (It means never again). Not only that, but the burning of un-approved books and the concentration camps also pounded this in.

In this building, they tortured and killed many Argentines. I see it every day on my way to school.

So while I am in a beautiful country, I am constantly reminded of the horrors it committed on the way to and from school every day. And I think this experience will make the biggest impact on me from my time in Argentina.

“These crimes only exist in a society that refuse to see”-quote from the Memorial Museum.

First week in Rosario.

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Isamar Aguirre

I can’t believe tomorrow will mark one week in this lovely city. This week has been exciting and different. It has been a slight challenge to become accustomed to the different dialect of Spanish spoken here, even considering that I am a native speaker.

I did not post upon arrival because I was having computer issues, so I will describe what my arrival was like. When I landed at the Buenos Aires I was a bit overwhelmed and confused. But everyone was informative and I was able to find the bus I was looking for. There I found 15 other students that were all headed to Rosario and were in the same program that I was. They all seemed to know each other so I was a bit shy at first, but it didn’t take long to make friends. Rosario is a big city with tons of traffic, but it grows on you. It’s funny that I don’t feel like I expected to feel. That is, I wasn’t nervous or afraid, instead I feel like i’m family in a familiar city. I guess this is because people from the program are nice and my host family is awesome.

My host family is an older couple who are possibly the nicest people I have ever met and incredible cooks. Every night at 8 we have dinner and talk. They are very proud to be Argentinian and love their city. Just last night after dinner they showed me pictures of Argentina and told me of all the beautiful places I must see while here. They are also interested in knowing what Salem and Oregon are like.

In my short stay here I have seen beautiful architecture and other sights. I have visited el monumento de la bandera, Parana river, and several plazas (which are very abundant here). I have seen stunning artisan work and have enjoyed delicious local cuisine.

I am excited to learn and explore Argentina and hope that five weeks is enough to fully experience Rosario.

My first week

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Jennifer Hight

Well, the first week in Argentina is complete and I made it through! Quite honestly I spent most of the time exhausted from jet lag and classes but over all it went pretty well. Classes aren’t difficult, but long. The hardest class I have is Spanish grammar level 2 and that is only difficult because she explains it in Spanish so we don’t know what’s happening. It’s getting better, but still.

My first day in class was one of the worst things I had ever faced in my life. I woke up with a mild fever, more like a summer cold, and a pounding headache before walking to class. At first I thought it was just dehydration, but after chugging bottles of water at the university and it not getting better, I realized what it was. The smoke from Rosario (smog and cigarettes) was causing the headache. Once I realized what caused it, I could live with it. For our History of Soccer class we went to a sports bar to watch the game on the tv there. Argentina was playing Nigeria and it was a huge deal.

Kids were let out from school early to get there to watch the game. People were painted white and blue, flags were everywhere, and you could feel the excitement in the air. Even though I felt like I was going to puke, when Messi scored the first goal I was out of my seat screaming with everyone else in the bar. It was chaos. And when Argentina won, the owner set off fireworks.

Watching Argentina win while checking how the USA is doing during the World Cup.

After that, a couple of the students and I took a walk down Cordoba street before heading back to the university for evening class. The next day we had class, and out grammar teacher took us on a two hour walk where we be-friended two stray dogs who joined our pack of kids. Then, the mature adults we are, we decided to play in the park with the dogs before heading back for soccer class. This time we had a lecture then watched the end of the Germany/USA game. We were going nuts, about 20 Americans screaming at the screen while these poor Argentines were trying to eat lunch.

Today we had a fun excursion after class. We were given a walking tour of Rosario, told the history around Cordoba street, and showed where the pedestrian walking streets were. Not only that, but we also walked to the National Flag Monument (Monumento de Banderas) where the Argentine flag was originally created. We passed by a cathedral, which I am going to return to take pictures of soon, and walked through the Monument which leads to the river. It was gorgeous, a massive project. To give a rough estimate, it was about the size of the Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Me at the National Flag Monument in Rosario.

I went home after that because the day was over, and found out that we were having a fiesta tonight. It turns out today is my host mother’s birthday and her family came over. I met her son, daughter-in-law, brother, niece, nephew, and nephew’s girlfriend. Her son also brought his daughter, so it was the entire family there. There was a ridiculous amount of food and it was all amazing. We had empenadas, tostitos, and pizza which is apparently a treat in Argentina. After we had chocolate tarts with champagne and they kept trying to give me whiskey.

During the entire fiesta, the nephew kept asking me questions in English which I had to respond to in Spanish. This is what the night resulted in, he has decided when he and his girlfriend get married they will honeymoon in San Francisco. They announced they would stay at my house for five weeks because I was staying here for five weeks. I told them they needed to talk to my mother, because it wasn’t my house. My host mother chimed in saying my father wouldn’t like me living with strange Argentine boys even if they were married. The nephew’s plan? Show up to my house in drag and pretend to be a girl. I’m pretty sure this entire thing was a joke, but don’t know enough Spanish to be entirely sure.

The highlight of the night was when I was trying to explain what a forest fire was, and all they got was forest. Next thing I know, the entire table is yelling “Run Forest run!” while I try to figure out what just happened.

My host mother (Monica’s) birthday party.

WOU Students Abroad

Category Archives: Argentina