La Vida Buena (Feat. T-Joyce)

Spring Break: Part I

2008-05-08T06:47:00.000-07:00

Spring Break Argentina 2008, a brief run-down:

Day 1 (nighttime, Buenos Aires): 12 hour bus ride to Mendoza, Argentine wine Mecca, via Full Cama (bed) bus...interesting traveling experience. Turns out they're actually pretty comfortable, as the chair fully reclines into a horizontal position.
Day 2-3: Mendoza, Argentina--Wine tour on BIKES (!) one day, white-water (more brown-water than anything) rafting in the mountains...landscape reminiscent of California
Day 3/4: Bus ride to Catamarca...NEVER go there...nothing to see or do...crack-house hotel...only had to be there one day
Day 4/5: Bus ride again to Salta, way up in the northwest portion of the country...very nice hotel there for our 3 or 4 day stay
Day 5: Day-O-Fun--Trek out into the countryside for our excursion with EXTREME ADVENTURES aka Jetskiing and Bungee Jumping...kinda sketchy but fun in the end
Day 6: Hangin out, me feeling sick, great fun
Day 7: ATVing in the mountains! Lots of fun
Return flight (finally a plane!) to BA

Pictures below are of Mendoza

Home Sweet Home!

2008-05-08T06:42:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it sure has been a while, but fret no more, I have returned to the RED, WHITE, and BLUE! I must apologize for not posting for, oh...the last few WEEKS, but I have been so busy with making the final video for our program, studying for finals (haha), and enjoying the last savory days of Argentina living! It was sad to leave, but at the same time I was very excited to come home, so that made it easy to deal with. I am so thankful for my experience down there, and will surely never forget all the friendships and memories that were made. But when it all comes down to it, I'm a U.S. boy by birth, and will always call this beloved country home, and for that I am so thankful.

Pictures are coming!

A little sketch...but hey!, you only live once right?!

2008-04-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

During one of our days of spring break while we were in Salta, a really cool area in northeastern Argentina, we went way back into the countryside for this "Day-O-Fun" that one of the girls in our group researched online before we left on vacation, a place that offered a range of cool-sounding EXTREME activities such as jet-skiing, rappelling, zip-lining, and last but not least, BUNGEE JUMPING! This company's website made everything look legit, but when we got there we were quickly shown the error of our thinking.

The zip-line was, I kid you not, like a rock climbers rope that was tied from this bridge to a tree about 50 yards away, super lame; rappelling to these folks translates into "being let down vertically on a rope from a bridge into the lake 40 yards below...a real joke if I've ever seen one, and the bungee jumping...

The bungee jumping platform was on a bridge over this really cool lake, the only thing was that I could have jumped from the platform to the lake and have been fine, kinda like the top platform of an Olympic platform, that's how high we're talking. I said to myself, "Self, this wouldn't even be that cool. The fall is only gonna be a second, not worth the time." I quickly decided against that. But then my friend Bill decided to do it just because, so we all watched as he signed his life away and jumped, literally getting his hair wet in the water, but safe nonetheless, at which point I said to myself, "Self, you can only say you've been bungee jumping in South America once, and if the cord snaps it won't be bad at all, just a really high dive, SO LET'S NUT UP AND DO IT!"

Needless to say, I did it, spent a whopping 67 pesos on it (glad to see they value my life at $20 U.S. dollars, give or take), and actually had a lot of fun. Then we did jet skiing which was really fun, and actually had a good day there. It was so pretty and such a nice day. I'll throw up more pics as they come in. Remember folks, I don't have a camera as mine broke, so I must rely upon other people.

Iguazu

2008-04-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here's the pictures from the GINORMOUS waterfall in the north-east of Argentina called Iguazu, which in a native Indian language means "big waters." This place was a happening spot for tourists from all over the world, and I dare go out on a limb and say we were the youngest ones at the park that day. We had that Wednesday (24th of March) off because it was a holiday in the country, so we decided that this place was a must-see, and therefore got on a plane at 7 in the morning, went to the falls all day, had a sweet jungle and boat tour, checked into a hostel where I was put into a room with a bunch of RANDOM dudes, but thankfully I didn't have to be in there besides to sleep, and the next morning we got back on the plane and headed back to BA. We got back in time for the "asado" (bbq), that we have every Thursday in the backyard of the casas, and in time for class too!!! (whooopieeee!) It was a cool thing to see, and I'm glad I was able to do it.

P.S. I was rocking the Rasta headband all day...that's why my hair looks SO cool!

Updates

2008-04-04T09:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, I don't have a camera, school is getting more and more busy as the semester is ALMOST over (crazy how fast this has gone by), and therefore my little blog has suffered the consequences...SORRY!

A few updates:

Just got back from the northern part of Argentina, on the border of Brazil, where we went to see the Iguazu waterfalls...it was AMAZING and a blast. Friends took pictures so I'll try and get those from them.
Today I leave for our spring break!! Going to Mendoza and Salta, two areas in the north-west region of the country...it's supposed to be amazing and I can't wait!
I head home on the 29th of April! Crazy
I may or may not contract yellow fever from being in the rainforest...we shall see
I still haven't put up pictures from when my Ma and Weezie were here...sorry, I'll try to soon
As I'm sure you know from my posts, meat is god here in Argentina, and last week the President made herself a victim of great hatred from the lower classes and the people who live in the country when she put a high tax on meat. There was lots of protesting, people blocking the streets banging pots and pans, a fight in the main plaza of the city, and I even took part in the noise-making
Went to a play the other night...everything was in Spanish...I couldn't understand much of it...
I love this country but I can't wait to go home on the same hand
I'll be sure to post after/during spring break!

Love you all!

The EASTER BUNNY

2008-03-25T19:06:00.000-07:00

Video to come...

Casa La Casita

2008-03-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

I'm in a class this semester called "The International Experience," which is short for "we really do nothing and take fieldtrips throughout the city," and it's awesome. Two weeks ago, the week before my Mom and Louise came down, on Thursday (which is the day we have this class on), our group traveled up to the city of Tigre, outside of the city yet still in the province of Buenos Aires, to a humble little place called "Casa La Casita." Casa la Casita is a before-school/after-school house where kids in the area can come before and after school to do their work and hang out, and the whole building and everything is bought and sponsored by Pepperdine. Every Thursday (not part of my class), there is a group of students in our program who go and help out/play with the kids at La Casita for something we call "Service Learning" that is a voluntary part of the overseas experience. Needless to say, our fieldtrip that Thursday was to this special place, where we assisted the kids with Easter crafts, face painting (and other girly stuff), and had an Easter Egg hunt, followed by a game of soccer.

You're probably wondering why I'm telling you this dry and boring story, but here comes my rationale. I HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF DRESSING UP AS THE EASTER BUNNY! It was pretty hilarious, the kids loved it, and I got my a** whooped. What I mean by that is: I had candy; kids love candy; kids can be crazy; they just so happened to be crazy for candy and I was the man with the candy; a heavy pursuit ensued; a dozen kids jumped me whilst I attempted to flee in a bunny costume; I was taken down to the ground; kicked; jumped on; ears stolen; suit muddied; face paint smeared; body dripping with sweat inside the costume; extremely fun and memorable day. I have a video of this part, don't you worry, and will try to get it up soon.

As for now, all I have are these pictures that the kids took with my camera, cause they all loved taking our camera's and showing how good at photography they are (if you can't catch the sarcasm that's unfortunate cause I'm laying it on pretty thick). Anyway, here's an odd assortment of pics, taken by them, the charming young children of Tigre, Argentina. Enjoy, and the video will be up soon.

P.S. Yes, that boy is trying to flip off the camera while simultaneously taking the picture of himself. Darling young boy.

These Pictures are Lame but...

2008-03-22T20:15:00.000-07:00

...I didn't feel the need to take too many pictures with the presence of my Mother and Weezie, the Japanese tourists, cause I knew at just about every change of scenery I would be the subject of a new photo. Therefore, these are the only pictures I took with the fine young gals...more to come, I promise, once they send me their hoard of pictures via internet.

P.S. Notice the picture of Weezie taking my Mom's picture...pretty standard summation of the trip, her making a lot of noise, drawing attention to us as foreigners, asking random Argentines to pose for pictures, etc. It kept things exciting...I love ya Weezie!

Yeah, yeah, I know...

2008-03-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm well aware that I haven't been doing the best job as of late as far as the posts are concerned...I'm sorry, but there's a reason for that. Actually, there are two reasons.

1) As many of you may know, my dear mother and her awesome friend Louise are down here visiting me (which has been great, might I add), and as you also may note, they do not speak the most beautifully sounding Spanish (which equates to "they are pretty poor at the language but give it a valiant effort nonetheless..."), so I have been their tour guide/translator, which has been quite the experience. For those of you who know Louise, she might as well be a photographer in another life, so we're not short of pictures to put up on ye ol blog, it's just that we've been having too much fun for me to put up the pics, AND, we have to pay for internet to use it at the hotel (sorry pops), which has led me to, or should I say forced me into putting off my posts til later. Sorry folks

2) Besides the arrival of these two young foxes, I don't have too much exciting to share with you all either!

In other news, my new digital camera that I got before this trip just broke the other day (I was furious), so my Madre is gonna take it home, meaning I won't have a camera down here the rest of my stay, but don't fret sportsfans, my friends take lots of pictures, and they can't resist taking pictures of my precious face (I'm really not that self-absorbed, it's a joke), so I will still be able to keep you all up to date! Phew, I had you worried, I know.

Signing off for now with this last salutation:

HAPPY EASTER!

Day 4: Penguins, that's about it

2008-03-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

Day's 3 and 4

2008-03-07T14:28:00.000-08:00

Whew, it's been a while friends. Believe it or not, in actuality I really AM down here pursing scholastic endeavors, and that's my legitimized excuse for not having kept you all up to date on the rest of our field trip. My bad...I gotta hit the books every now and then. I digress. Back to the cruise, somewhere after my stomach started feeling better, I believe, is where we last met. The third day of our journey took us through calm waters (praise God in Heaven) that were surrounded by awesome mountains and islands, and we disembarked at this one spot where we hopped back into the little boats, and cruised ashore (with dolphins blazing our trail just feet ahead), and got to do a little nature hike on an island where the indigenous people used to live, but were wiped out by "the Man" (sound familiar America?). The scenery was awesome, and at the top of our hike (the summit, if you will), gave us an incredible panoramic view that my photography skills were unable to do justice to. You'll just have to take my word for it, it was GNARLY!

The next day, after traveling up further through the fiords, we got back into the little boats yet again, and this time forded the ice cold waters (literally, there were chunks of ice floating in the water) to see this awesome glacier. Don't worry, I kept the vibe warm by sporting my shorts, cause I'm a man like that. But seriously, the weather was so nice (which they say usually isn't the cause), and I had no problems with the shorts (except for when our boat driver "accidently" drove us under a waterfall...moron). The glacier was unbelievable, and what made it even more exciting was the numerous times when huge chunks cracked off, accompanied by the sounds of a dozen firing cannons, and plummeted into the water below, sending little ripples through the sea. Don't fret, it wasn't anything threatening, cause clearly I'm alive and well as we speak.

So that's pretty much it for those days...I'll try and throw up the finale sometime this weekend. Hope all is well with you lovely people back in the U.S.! Sing "America the Beautiful" for me if you get the chance...or salute the flag or something like that. Love to all.

Clarification

2008-03-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

I started working on the Day 2 post yesterday, and didn't have time to finish it, so it was saved as a draft, and therefore when I finished it today, it was posted under the Tree posting, which I also made yesterday. What I'm trying to say is that Day 2 is up, it's just located under the Tree post. Good, great, grand!

Yeah, I fell out of a tree, so what?

2008-03-01T09:45:00.001-08:00

Here's a good pic someone took of me seconds before the fall, also right before I was bucked off my high-horse.

Day 2: Cape Horn followed by some of the darker hours of my life

2008-03-01T07:40:00.000-08:00

Day 2 aboard the boat began with an early wakeup call at about 6:30am, and when I say wakeup call I mean the most obnoxious noise blaring over the speakers all throughout the boat (including in our rooms, speakers full blast) followed by a man speaking Spanish telling us to meet up in the Sky Lounge in order to disembark (exactly what I like to hear at that hour in the morning). We had arrived at our first stop of the voyage, Cape Horn, a.k.a, the end of the earth. We were shuttled over to the island aboard small pontoon-esque boats, which made for an interesting time. Here I am, posing like an a**clown (quoting Office Space, of course, as I don't choose to say those words on my own free will and accord, duh Mom). Once again, the weather was nice, and I was optimistic about the day. Details on how that drastically changed soon to come. Read on...

Every semester when the group goes on the EFT, it is custom to take a group picture, all of which adorn the walls here at the casas in B.A. Unfortunately, everybody didn't get the memo to gather for the group picture, so we're missing a few kids. Fret no more, however, for surely enough I was not one of those goblins, and I'm sitting pretty front and center next to my friend Zack and our program director Rafa. I don't think they read this much, so I'm gonna go ahead and say being next to them helps me look good.

Zack, Danielle and I, at world's end. Not much more to that one.

Yes I know, this picture by itself is not very interesting, but that's because what you are failing to realize is that just 500 miles south of there, we come across that ever-useful hunk of land called "Antarctica." Also, you will notice that that body of water over yonder, the southern Atlantic Ocean, is pretty much open water, meaning that it is not surrounded by islands/mountains/protection...essentially, it is very choppy, and in order to get to our next destination, we had to ford this treacherous beast, and I must admit, she had her way with me for a good chunk of time.

Here's the pony-show procession to get to the Cape Horn monument. If you haven't already noticed (which if you have eyes like me, that's probably the case-see: John Joyce for thanks), we're all sporting some pretty classy lifevests, a requirement when disembarking the boat. The walk there took longer than expected, due to the fact that most people who take this type of cruise tend to be in their later years of life, so the going was a bit slow with these forefathers of ours leading the way. Pretty much, the age gap on the cruise was incredible, as you would be hard pressed to find someone inbetween the ages of 20-60. These poor folks had to deal with us for what probably seemed like the longest 3 nights of their lives. They were troopers, no doubt.

Me and Zack embracing. Yep.

Ah yes, one of my favorite pics of the entire trip. As you can see, the lifevests came equipped with extra safety measures, including the crotch strap to ensure that just in case all the other straps fail, this one is bound to keep the lifevest nice and snug on the torso. Every time we were forced to wear these heinous things, I made sure all my straps were buckled, including the booty floss, and tightened it as far as I could to preserve the jewels while at the same time ensuring a big old, and completely visible, wedggie. The girls really loved it, enough to take this picture for me. Charming, I'm aware...thanks Mikey.

Day 1: Ushuaia

2008-02-29T11:34:00.000-08:00

The journey began on Saturday when we all flew out of a local national airport in Buenos Aires and headed due South to the southern-most city in the world, a little place I like to call Ushuaia. The flight lasted three hours, and after passing a good amount of that time by watching the always-entertaining "Dave Chapelle's Show," I looked out the window to note that we were descending upon a tiny strip of runway on a small island surrounded by mountains, pretty much a hit-or-miss (a.k.a. hit or die in the ice-cold water below) type of landing, and thankfully our pilot pulled through in the clutch. We arrived at about 7:00pm and headed straight for our hotel, which was an amazing place, situated right on the water, where we checked into the rooms, ate dinner, and hung out around the hotel that night. The next day, Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, and then it was off in the Land Rover Destroyer squadron through the surrounding wilderness of Tierra del Fuego. We had an AWESOME time, I was in a car with seven girls and a dope driver (dope=cool/nice/awesome), the sun was shining (I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt), and we got to see some pretty amazing sights. Observe...

This was taken when we arrived at our hotel in Ushuaia, Los Cauquenes Resort and Spa (www.loscauquenes.com), and what you're seeing is the view from the back porch. The hotel was awesome, I got to sleep in a bed in which I wasn't able to feel the wooden planks beneath the mattress, and the shower was powerful and had hot water. Not to mention, the breakfast made an attempt to serve bacon, although it wasn't really cooked fully, but I didn't complain. Good experience to say the least.

Our first stop in the brigade of Destroyers was at an overlook of this cool lake, Lago Escondido, I believe, and as you can see, the weather was phenomenal. The scenery reminded me of home, and the mountains in Colorado. Our driver, Bismarck, was the only driver that spoke conversational English exceptionally well, and I had some cool conversations with him while we were in the car, including talks about the Bulls of old, as he used to play basketball himself. He said if he were to go to the U.S., he'd go to Colorado first (he's a hippie outdoorsman), and then to Chicago next to see the United Center.

Me and a few of my lady friends (there's really too many to count!) at the scenic overlook. As you may be able to tell, the two girls on the outside are twins, and the one on my far right (in the picture on the left) is one of our R.A.s. All three of these lovely ladies rode in my car, and without a doubt, we had the best car in the group. Also, notice the flower in my right ear. That's a little hippy trick I learned from working at summer camps in the mountains of Colorado.

Not quite sure about this one actually. what I will say is that throughout the day, and at various other times throughout my stay down here, I've been pioneering the bringing back of the wearing of coats/sweaters/sweatshirts around your waist. It's a really catchy look if you ask me. Watch out for it's return any time now.

Me trying to be artsy in my photography. Turns out it's not all that great, but I find it good enough to include in the post. Take that Norman Rockwell.

Here's our group and the lineup of the Destroyers parked on the shore of the biggest lake in the region, which seemed to stretch on for ever. The rocks were really flat, so we spent a good chunk of the time skipping rocks on the water...mindless entertainment. One of my friends accidently threw his girlfriend's camera into the water while trying to skip a rock, as it was tied around his wrist and somehow came loose. That was unfortunate. To get to this spot, we did some serious off-roading, serious enough to the point where we had to get out of the trucks and leave it up to only the driver.

We then drove to a different area of the lake where we parked the cars and got out to walk to a campground where we would eat lunch and hang out. As most of you don't know, I'm in charge of filming and putting together a final video for the whole trip (which also entails receiving a steady flow of pesos...solid), so I had the camera with me the whole time. During the hike to the campground, I thought it would be a good idea to climb this tree and take an ariel shot of the group walking. Being the outdoorsy Colorado macho-man I am, I started scaling this tree, thinking it would be nothing. Out of nowhere, I lost my footing, and slipped off the trunk of the tree. In a heat of panic, I reached out for the small branch nearby, which held my weight for, oh, 1 second, and then decided to snap, sending me falling 10feet below onto the ground by the water. I popped right up, as I knew everyone was watching, and played it cool...

...saying, "Oh I'm fine, I'm fine, don't worry, that was nothing!" I looked down at my arm, and turns out the tree got the best of me. I just laughed afterwards at how humorous it must have been to see me falling from that tree. What a schmuck. Anyway, I only sustained minor abrasions, and am completely fine (no, I'm serious this time). Plus, chicks dig scars.

This is the view from where we stopped to eat lunch. It was awesome cause the guides had found this spot the night before and went ahead and had everything set up for us when we got there. We had a nice little Argentine BBQ in the middle of the woods on a beautiful day, with steak and chorizo, Coke, water, wine, and bread, and I was content. It was incredible. My arm was a bit irritating though.

Somehow this picture got put out of place, but just go with it anyway. After our long day in the wilderness and in the Destroyers, we had an hour to kill before getting on the cruise boat. Therefore, we decided to walk around the city of Ushuaia, and sure enough, found an Irish bar just two blocks away. Me and my good friend Claire, a fellow individual blessed with Irish-blood, decided that we needed to take a picture next to this overwhelmingly creepy gremlin (supposed to be a leprechaun I think) sign that says you're in the southernmost Irish pub in the world.

Here's the group of ladies and I outside our car during one of the stops. Bismarck was a trooper for putting up with us the whole day, but I'm sure he loved it, and was definitely glad to have me in the car to balance out the excessive amounts of estrogen. He was a crazy guy, and some of the stuff he told us about isn't suitable to be posted on this family rated blog.

The crew once more, with Bizzy B in the middle, outside of where we met to board the ship. Awesome day.

View of the incredible sunset while we were leaving the port in Ushuaia aboard the good ol' boat (stories to come later). I've received calls from photography agencies wanting to sponsor me for my framing of this shot. I haven't found an offer that is suitable to me yet.

Our home for three nights, and the sight of Stomach Explosion Fest 08 (room 204). Enough said.

Journey to the End of the World

2008-02-29T07:59:00.000-08:00

I finally arrived home at 3 AM this morning after a long day of travel yesterday, a return trip from our week-long journey to the end of the earth and back. It was an amazing time, and there is so much that I have to share. I figure the easiest way to do this will be to add separate posts for each day of the field trip, so that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Call it a travel journal, call it an excursion flow-chart, call it whatever you may, but regardless of the name, the truth remains: it will be the most riveting thing you've ever read.

I'd start with the first post now but my stomach has ulterior motives right now...spelled out in ink that looks like "lunch."

Have no fear, I will return and blog my little heart out, but I just wanted to put this up so you all know I'm still alive. I know it's been killing you for the past week, and I appreciate your compassion and concern (hahaha)!

Educational Field Trip

2008-02-23T06:04:00.001-08:00

In a few hours we will be leaving the beloved city of Buenos Aires and heading down to the southern-most city in the world, Ushaia (I think I spelled that wrong), and then on Sunday, we're gonna jump on a cruise boat that will take us through the fiords of Chile...pretty exciting stuff I know, curb your enthusiasm. Needless to say, we have everything planned out by travel agents, we're staying in some pretty nice places, we get fed three times a day, and best of all (it's beginning to sound redundant), the school is paying for it all! I'd love to give you the itinerary right now, but I don't feel like digging it out and typing it up. I'm not sure if I will be getting internet down in Cape Horn, but if I do I'll keep you all posted. If not, which I'm assuming because they still haven't invented the wheel down there, I will post extensively upon returning to civilization. Wish me luck, as I only have one pair of jeans, sweats, and two thin jackets...but I'm a man so I'll survive!

Maximo and Catalina

2008-02-20T07:30:00.001-08:00

Every Monday night my entire "family" down here comes over to our house (the parent's house) for dinner. The Pistani's have 5 children, one daughter, who is the oldest, and 4 younger sons, with the youngest being 23, and he lives here with me. It's definitely a cool tradition, and it goes to further emphasize the strong value placed on family and time spent together. This is a video of Maximo and Catalina, the kids of Luciana, the oldest daughter. They're pretty funny, annoying at times, but cool to have around.

Tribal Music and Dance on Vimeo

2008-02-19T10:08:00.001-08:00

Tribal Music and Dance on Vimeo
Originally uploaded by tannerjo

Here's a link to a different video site I belong to...the quality will be better

Tribal Music and Dance

2008-02-19T09:46:00.001-08:00

I went to this fair with three girls (both a good and a bad decision) one of the first weekends we were in Buenos Aires, and while they were shopping extensively, something I had no desire to do, I snuck over to where I was hearing this cool music, and saw this completely foreign, unknown, yet very cool martial arts/fighting dance thing going on. It was awesome.

City Tour via my new best friend, Big Blue the Bike

2008-02-17T08:33:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I had no set agenda, and after waking up at 1:00 in the afternoon (rough, I know), I said to myself, "Self, why don't we go explore the city." And that is exactly what I did. I set off from my house, with no defined destination in mind, and aboard my new best friend, Big Blue the trusty bicycle, I headed off into the unknown. I rode through a cool park with a rose garden and a lake in the middle, went past the zoo, down to a fair in Recoleta, cruised to the downtown area, and rode through the narrow streets full of stores, shops, people, etc, and ended up going to a friends apartment where we spent the rest of the afternoon. I had an awesome time, got to see a lot of the city, gained a stronger sense of direction in this enormous city, and saw things/places I haven't yet seen here in my busy 2 week stay. The scary thing is, after hours of biking around, I had only scratched the surface of a small area in proportion to the rest of the city limits.

Uruguay...check that one off the list

2008-02-12T07:08:00.000-08:00

Well, last weekend I experienced my first traveling expedition within South America as a group of friends and I decided to venture across the Rio de la Plata and explore the land of our friendly neighbors to the north, Uruguay. Don't ask me why we chose to do such a thing, for I feel it was a combination of anticipation to travel, a last minute premonition, and most likely a rash decision. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the trip, it's just that it was a lot of traveling for a short stay that wasn't anything all that special. Don't get me wrong, we had fun and made the most of the situation, but not without a handful of obstacles along the way. Observe...

The journey started in Buenos Aires, at the subway station right by our school's casa. We were about to get on a train that would take us to another subway line we needed to connect to in order to get to the port where our ferry was waiting to take us up to Uruguay (the ferry was cool, by the way, a glorified airplane if you will) when our friend Danielle somehow managed to let her cell phone slip out of her hand, onto the floor, off the ledge of the platform and under the oncoming subway. When the train passed and picked our jaws off of the floor, we found her phone safely nestled away from the tracks, yet out of our reach. Thankfully a worker helped us retrieve the phone and we were shortly on our way (a little late, might I mention).

So we arrive in Colonia, Uruguay at about 10:00pm, and hope to catch a bus to Punta del Este, a hopping beach resort up the coast about 5 hours, but are disappointed to hear that the next bus doesn't come till 6am, so we pass on that offer, purchase tickets for a bus to Montevideo, the capital city, at 8am the next morning, and find a hostel just up the street for the night. It was my first hosteling experience, probably won't be my last, and I don't know what to think about it. Here's our room.

Fast forward to the next day as we wake at the crack of dawn to catch our bus to Montevideo. The ride lasts about 2-3 hours, due to countless stops in the middle-of-nowhere-Uruguay, and we're finally there. The bus station was in the ghetto, and our first impression of Montevideo was surely suspect. My friend Zack, shown in this picture, put his feelings into his own words, but they don't merit repeating on this family-rated blog. Anywhoo, we got a taxi to the beach, where they said there were nice hotels, and after an extensive search for hotels, we finally found the right one. This is us at lunch, which has nothing to do with what I just said.

Here's me and Danielle outside of our lunch spot on the beach, a place that seemed like a good place to eat, but was a bit more pricey than we had hoped. Figuring out the check took a good 20 minutes, as we constantly came up short on the final amount, for as we would come to find out, paying for things in a large group is a nightmare. That grew to be the theme of this trip. Zack would always remind us that it doesn't really matter, for the money down here, whether it be the Argentine peso or the Uruguayan peso, is just "monopoly money" anyway.

A view of the beach area where we were at. Don't let the picture deceive you, for the weather was really nice for us most of the day. In Uruguay the rain comes and goes like you wouldn't believe. After we finished eating, we went back to the hotel, got our suits on, and ventured to the beach, where we were met by our dearly beloved friend, the sun.

View from our hotel room...not much more to it.

Zack in from of our hotel, the sight of yet another money blunder, as it took about 30 minutes to settle the 2 room bills. For starters, the minibar in one room got cleaned out completely (3 cokes, 2 bottles of water, a beer, and a sprite or something), which caused problems with money flow, and a phone bill was also racked up on top of that, so we ended up paying the last part of the bill with coins, I kid you not. The receptionist at the counter was laughing at us, as he should have been.

The beach was definitely the highlight of our trip. We all had a blast swimming in the scummy, opaque, and probably toxic ocean water that was surprisingly warm (another warning sign we utterly disregarded). Nevertheless, despite the inherent risk that we signed ourselves off to by setting foot in the water, we had a good time and stayed there most of the afternoon. I was digging this guy's suit. Great pattern.

Another view of the beach...definitely not a white sandy beach like you'd find in Mexico or something, but it sufficed. It wasn't crowed either, probably because the sand was coarse, the ground rock hard, and the water dirty. Just throwing that out there.

Thank You For Smoking

2008-02-11T17:26:00.000-08:00

Yeah the movie is good, but in the context I'm talking about, I'm relating it to a whole different thing: this country called Argentina. Pretty much everyone smokes...all the time...regardless of age...and time...and consideration of the health of others. It doesn't bother me, but I just thought I'd throw it out there cause it's way different than in the U.S. The tobacco industry must love this "Southern" America.

Also, dogs poop all over the streets and sidewalks which is always good. It's the perfect combo, the aroma of dog sh** and cigarette smoke. Excuse my French, but that's how I feel. If anyone would like I could take a little snapshot of a fresh pile next time I'm walking around. Let me know, cause I'd love to.

Comments

2008-02-11T17:25:00.000-08:00

Abs, I took your advice and changed my settings so that anyone can post comments, regardless of whether you have a Blogger account or not. I didn't even know it was set up that way...sorry!

Beef, it's what's for (breakfast/lunch/dinner)

2008-02-11T17:06:00.000-08:00

Well, scratch breakfast off that list, for the poor souls down here simply have not yet discovered the joy that comes via a plate of bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns. Too put it more frankly, breakfast sucks here. It's nonexistent. During one of our first orientation meetings down here, they broke the tragic news to me to not expect to ever see bacon or eggs on my plate for breakfast. Knowing this in advance, I went into my first breakfast experience prepared, or so I thought. Then I rounded the kitchen corner, sat at the table and muttered something completely incoherent in Spanish to my homestay mom, and was was utterly dissappointed to find that a bucket of crackers would have to suffice my churning stomach until 1:00 in the afternoon, when the population of this country STARTS to think about lunch. Weak sauce.

But that's besides the point. What I meant to say is that beef is god down in Argentina, and I have been a "worshiper," so to speak, ever since I stepped foot off the airplane from the U.S. I can't do it justice in electronic print...EVERYDAY!!! But you won't hear my carnivorous self complaining...I feel like a young child being served cake every day for every meal (menos breakfast lest we forget). But the thing about it is, the beef (carne, so they like to say), is never marinated, spiced, or nothing. Bland. Again, I'm not complaining.

Another cool thing that pertains to food (sorry if I'm boring you but if you haven't already noticed, I'm a pretty big fan of food) is that every Tuesday night, we have a short gathering called "Convocation" in which we talk or listen to a speaker, and then afterwards we go out to dinner on a group, to various restaurants every week, and the best thing about it, IT'S ALL ON PEPPERDINE'S TAB (which roughly equates to Dad's tab, essentially)!!! Call it "abusing the system," but last Tuesday we went to a relatively expensive restaurant called "Kansas" that serves American food, and our table (along with all the other Pepperdiners, 60 in total), ordered whatever our little hearts so desired. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! I had a chicken caesar salad, a huge rack of ribs with a baked potato, and one of every appetizer. In addition, on Thursday's we always have an "asado," which means a BBQ in our native land, in the backyard of our school's casa. Once again, all you can eat, on Pepperdine's bill. I love it.

Needless to say, food is a big part of my life, and I've been doing just fine down here in B.A. Mom, you'll be proud to know I've been trying tomatoes because these people are obsessed with them. They still give me chills, but I'm trying.

Como se dice "Super Bowl" en espanol?

2008-02-07T14:50:00.001-08:00

So a big group of us "gringos" went to a restaurant/bar called "Drink Gallery" last Sunday to watch what should soon be considered a holiday in the United States, our beloved day of eating, drinking, eating some more, doing nothing, munching out, sitting on the couch, gathering with friends and eating more food to celebrate an event simply known as "the Super Bowl." God Bless America. Drink Gallery is cool cause it definitely is an American bar, run by Argentines of course, that made us foreigners feel at home through its array of typical "college dorm posters" decorating the walls, classic rock and roll hits bumping at high decibel levels, and waiters and bartenders who speak our precious language (rare, I know). Needless to say, we felt at home. The game was AWESOME, one of the best I've seen in a long time, as I was one of the few people there who actually PICKED the Giants to win (I have it recorded on paper), although most of the crowd was cheering for them anyway. My friend is a huge Patriots fan and was absolutely IRATE when they lost...which made me happy. It sucked that we didn't get any of the commercials, so I'll have to watch them online if I so desire. My favorite part of the night, besides the Giant's unprecedented victory, was during the halftime show when Tom Petty struck the first chord of "Free Fallin" and the crowd (at Drink Gallery) went nuts. By the time the chorus came around, the whole joint was in the midst of one great big sing along. AWESOME! I'll say it again, God Bless America!

G-G-G-G-G-G G-Unit!

2008-02-06T08:52:00.000-08:00

I forgot to throw this up the other day after our bus tour around a small portion of the city. We were in an older, historic part of town in this plaza where there are many commemorative statues, old buildings, and places of historical importance, and now-a-days, there is a lot of graffiti in this area, particularly political graffiti. I had fun looking at the different taggings on the walls, amused by the things that people said, and in general by the political ideology (radical) of the artists. Then I stumbled upon this BRILLIANT work of art, and couldn't help but looking like a Japanese tourist, pulling out my camera and capturing this hilarious inscription that will forever remain on this building in the city. East coast RAISE UP!

Mi Casa

2008-02-05T03:26:00.000-08:00

So my homestay father has been a vet for thirty years down here in Buenos Aires, and like my cousin Abby was telling me, that is a vocation that brings in mass amounts of flow (which translates into "money," "cash," "dollar bills" for you older folks, no disrespect intended). Even more, as one of his sons, a brother of mine down here, was telling me last night at dinner, Juan (the dad) has been working as a vet for thirty years now, and teaches classes for vets at a local University, so he is very experienced and one of the best in his field. All that having been said, I live in a fairly nice house, surely on the upper end of the spectrum for living in the city down here. Having talked to a bunch of my Pepperdine homies down here (again, "homies" roughly translates into "friends"), most live in apartments, and some have very small rooms to live in. One way or another, I was lucky enough to be put on board with this family, and have a very nice, large (so to speak in terms of life down here...) room, and my own bathroom down those crazy spiral stairs. Yeah baby!

As for explaining the pictures above, as I failed to put captions next to each one...

Spiral stairs leading up to my bedroom--essentially I live in what feels like a belltower, in a very modern section of the house that is disconnected from the kitchen, living room, and the parents' room. Me and my broski Agustine (21 years old), live over in this section, and it's pretty cool.
View of what looks like run down projects/crack houses out my window--okay so my view isn't beachfront, but I'm not complaining. There are may tall buildings around our house that are currently under construction...the AWESOME thing about that is the clinking and clanking that begins promptly at 7am every day (note the sarcasm here, as you obviously can't hear it).
View from my bed--pretty self explanatory, but I might add that my bed is rather narrow, which is fine, and rather uncomfortable, which is not fine. I'll stop short of saying that it is like a prison bed, because 1) I can't say I've frequented prison lately, and 2) It's not all that bad...but my back is a little sore.
Desk--not even necessary to put a picture of this up, cause quite frankly, who cares, but I did anyway
Another view of the room and the back-breaker

That's all for now folks...thanks for reading.

Hola a Buenos Aires!

2008-02-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

Greetings and salutations from the southern hemisphere of our lovely sphere (A.K.A globe/earth) where I write in the bustling city of Buenos Aires, Argentina! So it's been a few days since I've been down here, and the reality of the fact hasn't quite settled in yet. In the last few days, less than a week's amount of time, I have endured a 14 hour trek aboard a lovely LAN aircraft, eaten more meat than I have in the past 2 months (that being my Christmas break), watched the Super Bowl in a foreign country for the first time in my life, inhaled more second-hand smoke than one should in an entire lifetime, learned how to navigate the area close to my house and school, served as a passenger in taxis more than I have in my entire life, went to bed at 5:30am the other night, and clogged my host family's toilet, to name just a few occurrences.

From the time my host family picked me up at our school's "casa," (actually we have two adjoining ones, both millions of dollars, a sight worthy of it's own posting, which will surely come later) to the time I returned to the casa later that night to go out to a bar with the group, not a lick of English was spoken. Coming into this semester, I was fairly confident with my Spanish-speaking abilities, but I was quickly dethroned from my high-horse once I was forced to mumble out incoherent, poorly conjugated, scrambled sentences to my host family. Over the past few days, my confidence has grown, and I'm starting to catch on to the odd accent/dialect that is spoken here in B.A. I have Spanish class for the first time in 10 minutes, and with class everyday, immersion in the city, and constant practice, I'm sure my Spanish will improve. Needless to say, it is a whole new experience, a challenge to be sure, yet quite entertaining at the same time.

There is so much more that I want to say, but time will not permit me to meander in the blogosphere any longer, as Spanish 252 is beckoning me. I promise to throw up some pics and more postings later, after my class hopefully, as I have a lot to share!

Much love to my peeps in the U. S. of A. and any other supporters worldwide! TJ Out!

Christmas Time!

2008-01-03T11:06:00.000-08:00