Cosquin Rock!!

Cosquin Rock is an annual rock festival that is as close to an Argentine Woodstock as I can think of...it's complete with hippies selling hand made jewelry and other hand made goodies on the road to the field, so they could buy tickets to the concert. The aroma in the air was one of sweat and ... cannabis...haha...yes it was mos def what I would imagine Woodstock being like. No worries friends and families, I partook only in the musical enjoyment of the festival...and the entertainment provided by the intoxicated and “affected” people of Cosquin Rock. We took a bus for about an hour to the countryside where there were already a plethora of shirtless and dread-bearing gente lounging under the trees and walking around. When we reached the "entrance" (10 men checking for tickets) after about two or three hours of meandering and such, we were told that no drinks were allowed "inside" (on the road...outside...past these burly men). Most of my friends had just purchased giant cups of sangria which they would now need to drink...sweeet. So we proceeded to shuffle to the side of the giant crowd waiting to get "in" and encountered some extremely interesting borachos (drunken men). Though Argentina may be the exception to the "tiny people of Latin America" rule, they still have their fair share of shorties. These borachos were tiny, loud, and extremely flirtatious. After some attempts to give me a beso, this one tiny man proceeded to "give me his heart." ie: he put his hand to his chest made an exaggeratedly painful face and presented his closed fist to me, complete with the pulsing of said heart. Though I was very much flattered, his combination of drunkenness, 90's jean jacket, mullet and my prejudice against the shorties deterred me from accepting...also I forgot to mention that when friends took a picture of paige, myself, and said boracho, he copped a feel....note the picture
There is the cutie himself, so now looking at the picture myself, perhaps the jean jacket was simply projected because I see it so often here, it becomes a part of every Argentine wardrobe. however, still, hilarious experience and my dear friend Paige rescued me quite a few times from his tiny grip.
I hope that this introduction has been sufficient enough for the tale I am about to tell about tell. As we moved with the masses after downing the sangria, we walked about 2 km to a giant field where there was already a band playing. It was probably around 11:30 and as we moved towards the front in anticipation of Manu Chau (popular Argentine singer, my friends adore him, I had no idea who he was but thought it would be a grand time) who was the closing act of this three day festival. We were jam-packed together in the gigantic crowd (about 14,000 in attendance) only a few rows from the stage and Manu himself. As the band began to warm up, the anticipation or fear in our case was palpable. Then...we were literally ripped apart by the insane mass as the music started. Remember how Jack said would never let go but then went and died on Kate? I was floating away like Jack's corpse, only into a sea of crazies. The look on my face as I was pushed, pulled, and thrown around was probably similar to those of people about to meet their doom in every B horror movie ever made but let me tell you it was panic in its finest form. At one point as I plummeted to the ground and thought to myself: "this is the end, I am going to die in Argentina, stampeded by a crowd of smelly 15-35 year old guys...awesome!" However, arms reached down to pick me up and air was my friend again. As I decided that this was a survivable situation, I fought my way through, still with the same panic stricken look spread across my cara (face). When I reached a place where I could finally breathe, relieved cannot describe my feelings. I audibly praised Jesus and proceeded to the Port O Potties where I waited for my friends who found me about an hour later (oh texting how I adore thee) However, there were a fallen comrade: Paige thought that in a crowd of 14,000, she could definitely find me by going into the beast...though it was a valiant effort, we did not encounter one another and she lost her cell phone. But once I was reunited with my glorious friends, the time we had was filled with dancing and mostly relief on their part that I was alive and safe. We headed back on a bus around 3 and though I had a bleeding foot (a past wound had been stomped open by the other concert goers) we were feeling tired but great. After a 4 am late night/early morning snack at a greasy local eatery, we headed home. All in all, I survived, praised Jesus, had fun with friends and learned something about the crowds of Argentina: they are 10 time more rambunctious than an average American concert and I do not plan on venturing into one again.

Carlos Paz

Procrastination is applicable to all areas in my life...including blogging. My apologies as this is the first blog in about a month. four jam-packed, action-filled weeks which shall probably take about four blogs to describe. Sooooo, I will create a blog for each week, or event depending upon my memory so all your poor eyes won't disintegrate trying to read one endless blog that takes five minutes just to scroll down.....let me begin...A month has allowed my english to deteriorate into a garbled mess...while my spanish is improving only fractionally. However, I will continue to attempt to post my experiences, unintelligible or otherwise....
One of the most glorious days I’ve had was last Friday when a tour van-ful of “gringos” headed to town of Carlos Paz, about an hour outside Cordoba. We arrived at the lake and....well, I would bet that mercury content would have immediate effects...probably giving one superpowers...or kill them...either way, we were not really keen on swimming in the Lake-O-Toxic. There was an ice cream man riding his motorcycle who offered to take us to the place that people can actually enjoy swimming, so we headed to the most magical river EVER. After purchasing something delicious, never certain of the names...or never remember them..but it was amazing and sweet. Anywho, Paige and I immediately headed to the water where there were probably fifty people having adventures of their own. We walked to a part of the river where swimming was a possibility as was jumping off rocks....which we immediately did. The majority of our day was spent attempting to climb up the slippery rocks, jumping, diving, and cannonballing off said rocks, and Paige even tried to teach me to synchronize swim...I can do the “oyster” It was the most fun I think I have had thus far and it only consisted of friends, water, and a warm day. After our bodies turned into prunes, we went to the grocery store and bought supplies for an “asado” which is basically lots of grilled meat, and Argentine meat...delicious. We had dinner at our friend’s family’s cabin and his dad made us some grrreat dinner...then ICE CREAM. The prevalence of Grido (ice cream shop) is equivalent to McDonald’s in the states...but ice cream is way better than gross hamburgers...So we had scrumptious ice cream all together and thus ended the day of awesomeness. It is funny that it was so simple: bus, river, friends, food= good times...

Last week or so of Lost, lomas, y lindo Cordoba.

From Saturday: Okay so I am not really watching Lost live. However, I am watching an illegally made, rented DVD of the first four episodes with my host family. You heard me correctly; their video store continually creates copies of current season five episodes and adds spanish subtitles...oh illegal technology, how i love thee! I could continue to watch them online, however because this experience has been glorious to say the least, I am going to wait and watch this fantastic show with my fellow Argentine "Losties." I love the excited gasps and the predictions (the ones I can actually understand) and even the arguments...this is going to be a great season. All the while, my host dad and his friends are singing boisterously whilst drinking in the "party room." Occasionally I can hear the bar next store and its blaring music but the main soundtrack to our Lost party is a group of middle-aged men with a guitar, probably remembering their “glory days” ha, it is great.
However, I must also tell you a story that was not so great, well it was a bit hilarious actually. My friends and I were at an Empanaderia for lunch and my friend Molly had eaten half her sandwich and was a bit full. We were talking for probably twenty minutes as she contemplated whether to box it up or maybe give it to one of the many stray dogs when a homeless man appeared out of no where. We think he had been watching us because he asked Molly (in spanish, of course) if she was eating her sandwich, if he could have it. She didn’t answer because she had no idea what to do...taking her momentary silence as a yes....he legit grabbed the sandwich and bolted about thirty feet away where he sat and ate it....Molly was stunned...Maritza and I were supressing/releasing laughter as we thought...wow...he just swiped her sandwich...it was a sizable meal...we are taking half of plate here. So the moral of the story is....answer quickly or lose your lunch...also he was literally the only homeless person we have seen...strange but somewhat entertaining. And yes, it is sad when the condition of a person deteriorates into a sandwich stealer, I am not downplaying that...this was simply an entertaining encounter with an Argentine.
Later that day (Friday) we had a tour of “Cordobas Misterios” which was not really mysterious...actually it was because the tour guide probably held guiness world record for fastest talker ever....so we had no idea what she was saying...and would have to ask our friends to translate...it was basically a two hour tour of really old buildings that sometimes have strange things happen in them...very exciting I know...but we did get to see some more of the city. That night we had our first “boliche” experience and because they don’t go to clubs until 2 or 3 usually, we first went to a bar where I had Dr. Lemon Vodka...pretty much Mike’s hard lemonade...yeah I am a girl and can’t handle hard liquor..what evs! ha Well, we got to the boliche and as we were waiting outside, we could the hot mess of bodies inside...lightshows and booming music....awesome!! We were told that guys here are really bold and will try to dance with you however Zen, the boliche is a gay club so it was great because there were hardly any creepers leering at the ladies or trying to get in our “dance circle.” Most of our group went so it was fun to have so many people on the dance floor although I wish I knew some of the words (spanish) instead of pretending to know all the parts that the crowd shouted...ha Anywho, buen experiencia and had lots of fun. We stayed until about 5:30 and I went to bed around 7....let me remind you this is normal! Well, it’s now Saturday night after my fantasmaglorious Lost experience so adieu for now!

Today...Wednesday!

“Let me go home
I’m just too far from where you are
I wanna come home”
Michael Buble is crooning in the club next door to a song that would immediately make me cry normally. However as I miss my home, family and all my friends, today was a great day. I even had a conversation with my host mom for like an hour and I think I was mostly coherent!! Anywho, the day was great not only because my spanish seems to be improving bit by bit but because I really enjoy these people I am surrounded by: my host family, my friends in the program, my professors. Today we had to do ten-minute presentation which sounded like death to me...five minutes may be doable but seriously, come on now! I chose a delicious called Dulce de Leche to spend my ten minutes talking about...and of course I had to bring in some of this gloriousness. DL as I shall call it, is like caramel times a thousand degrees of awesomeness. You can LITRALLY (I am aware this is an incorrect spelling....however it must be pronounced like this for emphasis) put it on any bread, cake, cereal, cupcake, ice cream, fruit and it will create an explosion of amazing in your mouth. So yeah I rambled on about its magic and I think I made it just under ten minutes. The whole morning was spent on these projects and I think I legit learned some good stuff about Argentina....I want to go to Mendoza on a bike tour of the vineyards now....and to Patagonia..basically I am completely ignorant of my new home’s history and it was nice to be enlightened just a smidgen. We had a delightful lunch in the cantina and sat outside in the 97 degree heat for a bit and wanted to take collective naps in our classroom as we had all stayed up wayyyy too late doing our projects in addition to the two other essays we were assigned...she is a toughie. However, nap time did not occur but there were like seven or so of us who were all laying in our chair beds just spouting off random movies we loved as children, shows, music....all that is nostalgic pop culture...it was fantastic! If you are not a creeper and actually know me...movies=wonderful and integral part of my free time. They are some really great students in the program and I am pumped to share this experience with all my new friends...wow that sounds uber corny but seriously, when you leave all you know and go someplace strange and new, it helps to have some cool people...entonces (so then) I am happy. Our afternoon class was also grand because our flipping awesome professor Hugo brought in mate (traditional hot coffee/tea drink) and some scrumptious bread which we put dulce de leche on and enjoyed learning about mate...seriously it was muy divertida (very fun). Also it was a great day because I took a great nap and only got sleep paralysis for a bit...ha and we had these soy pizza things for dinner and delicious hand made french fries....mmmmm. Lastly, I am happy because my parents booked their flight so they are definitely coming May 1st- 10th....YES!!!! Well, I will try to be more consistent and cover more than one day but until my next post, abrazos! (hugs)

I made it!

Excerpts from my "pre blogging days" ...ie a few days ago when I got on a plane and came to Argentina: It is difficult to say good-bye for me to everyone and everything I love but to say "ciao" for half a year: nearly impossible. If I had one of those magnets with all the different emotions, there is no way I could choose a single one...sad, happy, excited, scared, nervous, etc. However, my bags are packed and I am leaving on a jet plane...I sort of know when I'll be back again (mid july to early august...in case you were wondering) As Karen (my friend in the same program) and I got on our first plane to Panana, it became real...we are really going to Argentina! 

The plane ride from Panama to Argentina was an event in itself. The man across from us passed out for about ten minutes and it seemed as though the entire plane was surrounding his seat or trying to catch a glimpse of the "drama."  This was accompanied by the glorious stylings of High School Musical 3, playing on our screens, oh and a ridiculous lightening storm beneath us. For those of you who remember that fantastic film Fantastia, the part when Zeus is lounging around on clouds and whipping lightening bolts....exactly like that...entire sky lit up and the possibility of being struck entered by head quite often. Even after the intelligent Karen told me we were far above the terrifying storm below, I did not trust her logic...however we landed without problem and guess what??? Gabriella and Troy stay together because he can go to Berkley to play basketball and do drama....awww, I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.  When we gathered our ginormous suitcases and went out to meet my family, it was about 545 am and we had been traveling for more than a day so needless to say we were beyond exhausted and I had already cried once because I saw a  tearful reunion between what I assumed was a girl with her parents....6 months!!!

The Tortis are probably the best family I could have asked for. They are so friendly, helpful, patient, and really relaxed. Sole is the older sister and she is fluent in English so that has been a blessing. Pia is 17 and really great and then their is Jero who is 14 and hilarious. We both love Lost and I am planning on watching some episodes with him until he catches up! My host mom and dad are awesome and have been nothing but kind towards me. Their house is fantastic because not only do they have a pool but they have wi-fi!! I am hardly removed from technology here (I may actually better equipped with this newfangled cable television and a wireless network that doesn't kick you off every five minutes....hey there eastern's wifi...what are you doing? oh not working...that's cool...tangent...sorry!) Did I mention they also have a German Shepherd (Catalina) and a cat (Lady) who just had three kittens?!?! they are literally the size of my hand and so flipping cute. I just love how much life there is in this house whether animal or person.

We had orientation on Saturday and there are 20 kids....16 girls and 4 boys! Everyone seems really ready to learn some Spanish and though I have been breaking the rules and speaking in English at times, I am pumped to actually be able to understand "telenovelas"...or just any person speaking to me in spanish...oh and to be able to respond coherently...it's gonna be glorious!!!  I am certain that I will make some great friend both American and Argentine There are a few things I have learned thus far about the lifestyle of an Argentine....and I quote, "Party till the sun comes up"...literally. People go out around 12 or 1 because they eat around 10 or 11....did I mention the sun not setting until at least 10?? Actually Juan-Jo (my host dad) told me this is their daylight savings time...let me tell you, they use it well. Bars do not even close until 7 and then all the tired party people return to their homes and sleep till 2. Even during the week we eat around 1030 or 11 which is heresy to many geriatrics in the states...or Laur who eats at 430 in the afternoon...old lady. 

In general, life is good. I miss everyone terribly and sometimes cry when I think about not seeing anyone for so long but I have realized that I need need need to live out each day fully.  I don't want to look back and regret that I took this wonderful place with these wonderful people for granted. I am almost completely over my terrible cold that not only caused me to cough up my lungs constantly, blow my nose every two minutes, give me an awful headache and left me with no voice...and when I say no voice...I don't speak lightly...I literally mean I had no tone, only wheezing and Karen had to be my interpreter at times...ordering food or drink on the plane was fun as was orientation and my initial conversations with the Tortis. That most likely added to my frustration the first few days but praise God, I am better and life is better! I will try to update this whenever I can or whenever something humorous interesting or even terrible happens....pictures coming soon...when I start taking them!  Love you all!

Peace

Kelly