Hola!!
I hope this blog finds everyone doing well and enjoying the fall. I am currently a bit under the weather for a variety of reasons. It is springtime here, so the weather is kinda funny... warm some days and quite brisk others, and I have been "hanging" with a bunch of kids. Meaning to say that a bunch of kids have been hanging on me!
A little about the volunteering: I have met many Argentine children from the veishas (shantytowns) with bright eyes and smiles and many others who seek attention any way they can... including spitting on the volunteers. (This may be part of the reason I am a bit ill.. ha) Anyway, I have played a fair share of tag, jump rope, and, believe it or not, chess. I played one game of tag the other day with a handful of quite clever children. All walls were base, so after tagging the little boy I ran to safety at the nearest wall. He then came over, told me that he was taking a timeout, grabbed my arm, and convinced me with puppy dog eyes that he needed to show me something across the room. As soon as my hand left the wall, he of course tagged me and shouted with a giant grin "Estas tocada!" (You're it!) I was only fooled once! Each supply box includes a jumprope and the kids will ask the volunteers to run the rope while they jump 5 at a time and chant different songs. As for the chess game, we had an incomplete plastic set, but the 7-or-so-year-old knew what every piece could do, taught me how to say check mate in Spanish, and would say "oook, si queres hacerlo asi" (oook, if you want to move it like that, i suppose you can) with a tone that said "you have no idea what you're doing, do you?!" after each move I made. It was quite enjoyable!
A little about exploring: The other day I took the train with another volunteer to a neighborhood called Tigre located along the eastern edge of Buenos Aires. Here we walked along the canal, ate helado (ice-cream), and went to a couple museums. The first museum was the mate (pronounced ma-tay) museum. Mate is a popular beverage that people share with one another by passing it around and drinking from the same bombilla (straw). It was pretty neat to see all the different styles of mate containers and watch the video on how it is made. The art museum was pretty standard, but had a really cool balcony to look out over the canal. We finished up the visit to Tigre with dinner at a local Parilla (restaurant with a special grill). We split the Parillada for two for 88 Argentine pesos (approximately 22 US$). With this meal came a plate filled with chorizo (sausage), blood sausage, liver, intestine, rib meat, three small steaks, and a baguette. I tried it all, but Zhan, the other volunteer who is originally from Singapore and is used to eating some more unique cuts, let me have two of the steaks while he amazingly scarfed the majority of the liver and intestine pieces. Oh my was it interesting. I think I'll pass on the Parillada from now on, but it was a good Argetine experience!
As for life in downtown Buenos Aires, it's basically like living in Chicago with shops, bars, and pizza places all over the place but a Chicago where the buildings are much older, you can get a crate of laundry washed, dried, and folded for less than 4 dollars, and people are not required to pick up their puppies' poo poo from the street. Also, pedestrians do not have the right of way. I witnessed an 85-or-so-year-old lady get violently honked at and almost hit by a car... she was on the crosswalk with the "ok to cross" light flashing. Craziness.
It's all good!
Abrazos!
wendy
Friday, September 30, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
R on Parana past Avenida Santa Fe, L on Arenales through el parque, L on Juncal, R on Ayacucho, L on Pena, Destination on R
Hola!
Title = directions to the L.I.F.E. office from my apartment on Marcelo T. de Alvear... sounds easy enough, right?!
When I left you last I was about to head out to do some exploring. I decided to visit El Cementerio de la Recoleta. It is an above ground cemetery where many of the most famous and most wealthy Argentines have been laid to rest. Each person/family/group has its own mausoleum (burial chamber) with statues, engravings, and the whole works. The whole place is surrounded by a tall brick wall and the inside resembles a city with sidewalks in-between the rows and rows of small buildings. It seems like the perfect spot to play ghosts in the graveyard... maybe next week!
Yesterday (Thursday) was my first day of volunteering with LIFE! I met up with the other volunteers (one German, two Australians, and a woman from Scottland) at the office at 2:00 and after taking a public bus and a private bus we arrived at a pueblo called Laferrere at 4:30. While on the busses, however, I watched the cityscape change as we moved further away from downtown Buenos Aires. Downtown BA resembles a modern bustling city very much comparable to some modernized cities in Europe. As you drive away from downtown, the quality of the buildings decrease and the amount of graffiti and trash increase. Upon driving past the area right before arriving in Laferrere, I noticed that the only place not completely littered with garbage was the a)churchyard, b)playground, or c)soccer field. You guessed it! C) Soccer field. No joke, everywhere else was covered with trash.
Once arriving in Laferrere, we walked with our supplies (games, worksheets, pencils, and crayons) about a half a mile on dirt roads between shanti houses. Some were made of brick with tin roofs others a bit different... all falling apart. The place where we set up the work area is the house of an elderly couple. We set up two homemade wooden tables and two benches in the courtyard and waited for the kids to come. Around 4:45 they started trickling in. Four girls and three boys between the ages of 5 and 10 arrived, greeted the volunteers, and sat down at the tables ready for worksheets. Depending on their ages, they did math and language worksheets of different levels and a bit of coloring. All the excitement, however, took place on the back of the worksheets where they were drawing detailed pictures of the volunteers. They weren't half bad. The kids are dolls laughing and playing and teasing one another. One boy, about 9 years old, finished a math worksheet with no problem so we gave him a more difficult one. Even though he didn't want to do it, I tried to convince him in Spanish of how smart he was and how he could show us his brain power. Reluctantly, he gave it a try until the hot chocolate and cookies arrived. All the cookies with frosting disappeared in no time. It was so wonderful to see their shining faces and hear their giggles. The program leader, David from Germany, told me that our goal is not to make them A+ students, but rather to give them a break from life and allow them to laugh and play. They are oh so sweet!
I am planning on going to a different volunteer site today, so there will be more news to come!
A few housekeeping items:
Let me know via email (wendy.nh222@gmail.com) if there's anything you would like me to write about!
If you have tried to text me at 7124800736, I have not received it as the lady at U.S. cellular was mistaken and I cannot text while I am here. I can, however, receive and send texts for free from my computer at the number 1-224-202-9589 using the program HeyWire.
If you have tried to Facebook chat me and I have not responded it is because I was not there. Also, it does not show who sent the message, so I cannot get back to a mystery person!
Abrazos!
wendy
Title = directions to the L.I.F.E. office from my apartment on Marcelo T. de Alvear... sounds easy enough, right?!
When I left you last I was about to head out to do some exploring. I decided to visit El Cementerio de la Recoleta. It is an above ground cemetery where many of the most famous and most wealthy Argentines have been laid to rest. Each person/family/group has its own mausoleum (burial chamber) with statues, engravings, and the whole works. The whole place is surrounded by a tall brick wall and the inside resembles a city with sidewalks in-between the rows and rows of small buildings. It seems like the perfect spot to play ghosts in the graveyard... maybe next week!
Yesterday (Thursday) was my first day of volunteering with LIFE! I met up with the other volunteers (one German, two Australians, and a woman from Scottland) at the office at 2:00 and after taking a public bus and a private bus we arrived at a pueblo called Laferrere at 4:30. While on the busses, however, I watched the cityscape change as we moved further away from downtown Buenos Aires. Downtown BA resembles a modern bustling city very much comparable to some modernized cities in Europe. As you drive away from downtown, the quality of the buildings decrease and the amount of graffiti and trash increase. Upon driving past the area right before arriving in Laferrere, I noticed that the only place not completely littered with garbage was the a)churchyard, b)playground, or c)soccer field. You guessed it! C) Soccer field. No joke, everywhere else was covered with trash.
Once arriving in Laferrere, we walked with our supplies (games, worksheets, pencils, and crayons) about a half a mile on dirt roads between shanti houses. Some were made of brick with tin roofs others a bit different... all falling apart. The place where we set up the work area is the house of an elderly couple. We set up two homemade wooden tables and two benches in the courtyard and waited for the kids to come. Around 4:45 they started trickling in. Four girls and three boys between the ages of 5 and 10 arrived, greeted the volunteers, and sat down at the tables ready for worksheets. Depending on their ages, they did math and language worksheets of different levels and a bit of coloring. All the excitement, however, took place on the back of the worksheets where they were drawing detailed pictures of the volunteers. They weren't half bad. The kids are dolls laughing and playing and teasing one another. One boy, about 9 years old, finished a math worksheet with no problem so we gave him a more difficult one. Even though he didn't want to do it, I tried to convince him in Spanish of how smart he was and how he could show us his brain power. Reluctantly, he gave it a try until the hot chocolate and cookies arrived. All the cookies with frosting disappeared in no time. It was so wonderful to see their shining faces and hear their giggles. The program leader, David from Germany, told me that our goal is not to make them A+ students, but rather to give them a break from life and allow them to laugh and play. They are oh so sweet!
I am planning on going to a different volunteer site today, so there will be more news to come!
A few housekeeping items:
Let me know via email (wendy.nh222@gmail.com) if there's anything you would like me to write about!
If you have tried to text me at 7124800736, I have not received it as the lady at U.S. cellular was mistaken and I cannot text while I am here. I can, however, receive and send texts for free from my computer at the number 1-224-202-9589 using the program HeyWire.
If you have tried to Facebook chat me and I have not responded it is because I was not there. Also, it does not show who sent the message, so I cannot get back to a mystery person!
Abrazos!
wendy
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Todo Nuevo pero Todo Bien!
Quick title translation: It's all new, but it's all good!
Hola!!
After traveling for only 20 hours, 47 minutes and 5893 miles (according to my flight details), I have arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina! Although Monday started off a little shaky when the airline attendant informed me of the chance that I could be denied access into the country since I didn't have proof of ongoing travel, all turned out well. (It might have been all those Hail Marys and my mental repetitions of the phrase, "I will be let in without problems, or I will scream and kick and bite until they give in." Just kidding, but the uncertainty did keep my mind occupied during for the near 21 hours of travel. Once arriving in Buenos Aires, the driver for my first program, L.I.F.E., picked me up at the airport. On the way to my new residence my alarm from the previous morning went off and notified me of my 24 hours of being in a semi-awake state. Needless to say, I was exhausted and a bit delirious but very happy to be on land. I arrived at my new place at about 5:30am local time, which is 2 hours ahead of Central Time (3:30am), and was greeted by my host mother, Gladys. After sending a quick email to my parents informing them of my safe arrival, I went to sleep in my new bed and was out for a good 8 hours, thank goodness!
My new place is an apartment right in the city. I live on floor lucky #7. I have my own bedroom with a single bed, desk, and bathroom. The floor of the bathroom doubles as the floor of the shower, but the water is hot, so no complaints here. I have WI-FI right in the apartment and a beautiful city view from the deck. I live right across the street from a book store and very close to restaurants and shops galore.
After my much needed nap, I ventured out to find the office of my first volunteering program. I live only 9 blocks from the office and will thereby walk there each day. As today is the first day of primavera (spring), the days are growing longer and I will always be walking in the light to and from the program each afternoon. At 4:30 today I will go to orientation and find out what I'll be doing for the next month! I'm so very happy to finally be here!
My host family is made up of a mother, father, grandmother, son, daughter, and daughter-in-law. Last night just so happened to be the daughter-in-law's 30th birthday, so I got to join in on the celebration. My host mother, being a typical Latin American woman, thought I ate like and bird and thereby served me helping after helping of potatoes, salad and MEAT. I wasn't about to deny her cooking or let her think I was birdlike, so, no kidding, I bet I had over 2 pounds of pork, chicken, and beef without trimming any of the fat. Thank goodness it was delicious, but wow was I full!
Well, I'm off to do some exploring before orientation! Thanks for reading!
Abrazos (hugs)
wendy
Hola!!
After traveling for only 20 hours, 47 minutes and 5893 miles (according to my flight details), I have arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina! Although Monday started off a little shaky when the airline attendant informed me of the chance that I could be denied access into the country since I didn't have proof of ongoing travel, all turned out well. (It might have been all those Hail Marys and my mental repetitions of the phrase, "I will be let in without problems, or I will scream and kick and bite until they give in." Just kidding, but the uncertainty did keep my mind occupied during for the near 21 hours of travel. Once arriving in Buenos Aires, the driver for my first program, L.I.F.E., picked me up at the airport. On the way to my new residence my alarm from the previous morning went off and notified me of my 24 hours of being in a semi-awake state. Needless to say, I was exhausted and a bit delirious but very happy to be on land. I arrived at my new place at about 5:30am local time, which is 2 hours ahead of Central Time (3:30am), and was greeted by my host mother, Gladys. After sending a quick email to my parents informing them of my safe arrival, I went to sleep in my new bed and was out for a good 8 hours, thank goodness!
My new place is an apartment right in the city. I live on floor lucky #7. I have my own bedroom with a single bed, desk, and bathroom. The floor of the bathroom doubles as the floor of the shower, but the water is hot, so no complaints here. I have WI-FI right in the apartment and a beautiful city view from the deck. I live right across the street from a book store and very close to restaurants and shops galore.
After my much needed nap, I ventured out to find the office of my first volunteering program. I live only 9 blocks from the office and will thereby walk there each day. As today is the first day of primavera (spring), the days are growing longer and I will always be walking in the light to and from the program each afternoon. At 4:30 today I will go to orientation and find out what I'll be doing for the next month! I'm so very happy to finally be here!
My host family is made up of a mother, father, grandmother, son, daughter, and daughter-in-law. Last night just so happened to be the daughter-in-law's 30th birthday, so I got to join in on the celebration. My host mother, being a typical Latin American woman, thought I ate like and bird and thereby served me helping after helping of potatoes, salad and MEAT. I wasn't about to deny her cooking or let her think I was birdlike, so, no kidding, I bet I had over 2 pounds of pork, chicken, and beef without trimming any of the fat. Thank goodness it was delicious, but wow was I full!
Well, I'm off to do some exploring before orientation! Thanks for reading!
Abrazos (hugs)
wendy
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