Thursday. Every Thursday is the March of the Madres at Plaza de Mayo in front of the Casa de Rosada. The Madres/mothers are mothers and grandmothers of the disaparacidos (sp) (disappeared) from the dirty war. They still march on the plaza every week as a reminder of what happened and to call attention to the fact that there is still a sense of denial of the disaparecidos. I went to the march today and saw the mothers, carrying their “have you seen..” newspaper articles and pictures. They wear white shawls on their heads and March in total silence. It was an incredible thing to see. Sadly, it has been turned into something of a spectacle and a place where other people wishing to make a political point come and exploits the pain of the mothers. For example, other groups that wish to make a statement come and walk with the mothers with other signs and things. It’s great that they are making a statement but it just seems that the mother’s pain is being exploited slightly. I don’t know that’s just my thought after seeing it one time. The march was powerful for me though just to see and think of what the women had gone through and how terrible it would have been to lose someone I love in that way. I think it’s great that they do march and bring attention to the problem so that people will acknowledge it. I’ve been learning in my Spanish class a little about the war and several other things that have happened in Argentine political history. Its incredible, the things this country has gone through. From dictators and military juntas to corruption and economic problems. In class we also learn just about the culture in general it’s really interesting. There are a lot of stereotypes here that seem to be somewhat true from what ive seen. People are very, very proud to be argentine and very proud of the connection with Europe. I find that interesting. I think the people who are proud of Europe are the people who have lineage connected to Europe and not the people who are indigenous and have been oppressed by the Europeans in the past.

The tomb of San Martin is near plaza de mayo so we went by there too. The tomb is in a huge marvelous cathedral. It’s absolutely gorgeous, like nothing in the U.S. San Martin is extremely famous here because he is credited with freeing Argentina, Chile (I think) and Peru from the Spaniards. He traveled through the continent and fought to free the countries from colonial rule.

Tango! We went to a tango class today. There were too many people to really move around very easily but it was definitely fun and a great experience to have considering how tango is so Argentine. Interesting thing about tango, a lot of people actually don’t know how to dance it. For a while it was not really considered a good thing to do for a lot of people so they never learned. Besides that it’s a little hard! However, now a lot more younger people are learning I guess and it’s a thing that Argentines are proud of. It’s awesome to see street performer’s dace, their e amazing!

Dia de Campo was on Saturday with ISA. We took a bus about an hour out of the city to an estancia which is an area set up in the campo (fields). There was horseback riding, a pool, lounging, etc a very relaxing day overall. And there was food. Mucha Comida! There was a parrilla which is all the different types of meets cooked on the grill. Its called an asado. There was all types of vegetables grilled and meats. My favorite meat was the matambre..muy bueno! And of course, we had the national treat:dulce de leche. Amazing.

Today was an intercambio with students form Buenos Aires. Our group went to a café where it was set up by ISA that we could all meet and talk for a couple hours and practice speaking. It was pretty neat. At first I had a hard time talking and understanding but after a little while it was fine. It was great to meet other students and have conversations in Spanish. I also drank mate for the first time! I’ve had it out of the bag before but that’s really not the same. Mate is like the national drink it seems. Its everywhere, people carry around their own personal mate cups (made out of a gourd, and a bombilla(straw). Mate is a very social drink because it’s normal to share with everyone. So one cup is shared for the whole table. It’s kind of strong but a lot of people put sugar in it, and I like it that way best too.
My host mom is like amazing. She is so sweet and I am so comfortable here, completely content. She’s also a great cook so that’s pretty awesome! My Spanish is slowly improving mainly from talking and listening to her. Sometimes I can understand everything she’s saying and it’s incredible to think of how we learn languages like that. A lot of times there are things that I don’t understand or I only really know for sure 70% of the conversation but its getting better. I’m really getting used to her accent a lot more, it’s easier to understand here than just a random person on the street. The argentine accent is pretty different but I like it. It’s just a different thing to learn and get used to.

Im learning about the city and country and argentine people in general
Heres some generealizations/slightly stereotypical

A lot of people don’t like the president and think that she is almost like a puppet for her husband and other people whoe have been in power in the past.

Dinner is late..everything is later than here but im pretty much used to it so much that it will be odd going back to the schedule in the states

Drivers don’t drive in the lines on the autopistas. Taxis swerve, pass, and turn when they want. They don’t stop until their right up to the car in front of them. They drive fast.

Take care when crossing streets.

Dulce de leche and empanadas are amazing

The longest and widest roads in the world are in Buenos Aires

Carlos Gardel is the father of Tango

Che has a good connotation here with most people

Maradona is like a saint

Futbol is huge but ive met a few people that don’t care for it(I want to go to a game!)

Argentines are proud

Buenos Aires is amazing

Helado.. best ice cream ever…