Home

Home today with tons of great memories and new friends :)

Night at La Pena

On my last night in town, I ventured out with a friend that I knew from UW. First he came over to dinner at my house with my family where my host mom prepared the nicest meal for his company. There were 3 separate plates at each setting, many drink options, formal appetizers and cloth napkins! I seriously felt like I was bringing my boyfriend over to meet my real family! They were all on their best behavior and he was charming them all! My family sat in the living room for 30 minutes just chatting with him before we went into the dining room, with him cracking jokes in Spanish and all of them laughing hysterically! I hadn't seen them have as much fun the whole time I was there! Dinner went equally well and afterwards they had a sing along where my host sister sang and played her guitar for the first time since I'd been there. Next my friend started playing some popular American songs on the guitar and the whole family started singing along! Since my host mom didn't speak english she danced and clapped instead but it was seriously so cute! If he was my boyfriend he'd be in for sure! After what I'm almost positive was my family's favorite night with me...thanks to my friend, we headed out to a jazz club. It was fun but we weren't really feeling it so we headed to a Pena place. It was so cool! It was a completely local spot where there was one person with a guitar at every table and people circled around singing along and having a good time. It was so fun and it was a perfect last night because it finally felt real that I was in Argentina. Some of the other events felt like they could have happened anywhere but finally I felt like I was seeing another side of their culture. I loved it and left feeling so fortunate for everything I had experienced.

OMG Tango Porteno!

This was seriously my favorite thing that we did in Argentina. It made me realize how much I miss watching Broadway type performances. It was a dance performance mixed with some play-like scenes and orchestra performances. The orchestra was positioned above the stage so you could see them play while watching beautiful dances in elaborate costumes dance below. It was amazing! My favorite part was one dance routine where 9 couples danced in lit up vertical squares that flashed at different times. It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!! And to make things even better we got to sit in VIP seating because Florencia (one of the program coordinators) is amazing and we got a delicious 3 course meal while watching the show! Ugh it was so cool! Not to mention the stage was huge, the carpets were red and there were over 40 employees just lining the doors in tuxedos ready to help with whatever they could. Definitely not something you would do every weekend but a really fun one time experience!

La Estancia!

Today was so fun! We had to get up super early (not so fun) and load the bus to head out to the countryside. When we got there it was basically like a ranch. There were lots of open fields and horses. Then we entered the lodge where all of our mouths dropped open when we saw the huge tables full of food and drinks! We sat down to find carrot salad, eggs, tomatoes, bread, regular salad, wine and potatoes. Soon after we tried a little of everything, the servers started offering rounds of various parts of the asado. They came around 7 different times during the course of the meal, each time with a new piece of meat for everyone to try. It was literally like eating a 15 course meal! When we had all eaten and drank to our heart’s content, dessert was served. It was equally delicious of course. Then came the dancing! First there was a traditional folk performance done by a man and woman and then guests from the audience were selected to dance with the professionals! It was so funny! They had no idea what they were doing but everyone was having a fabulous time. Then one man came up and asked Lisa to dance because his wife had been called up. He was super old and was like “It’s okay, I can trade my wife for three dances with a woman who is 15.” We all started laughing…it was Lisa’s 21st birthday that day.
Once our food babies had worn off we headed outside to watch horseback riders pull out pins with metal spikes. It was a really cool trick! Then we got to ride horses ourselves! We didn’t do any tricks but it was a very fun day.

Friends :)

Tigre

Today we went to a market in Tigre. It was such a cool town with so many shops and booths and restaurants. We lucked out and the weather was great while we were there. We shopped around all days and stayed to watch the sunset over the amusement park in the distance. It was one of the prettiest nights of our stay in Buenos Aires.

Two Random Memories

Tonight my host parents thought I was asleep but I had to go to the bathroom to finish getting ready for bed. When I did I looked downstairs to see that they had pushed all the couches and tables out of the way in the living room, turned tango music on low volume and were dancing together! Keep in mind my host parents were both in their early 60s! It was seriously the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!
The tia that lives with the family is the most lovely woman I have ever met. She is 88 years old, completely able to get around and hold great conversations. Today I came down and she was sitting on the couch ready to get picked up by another relative with her hair done beautifully and perfectly done make up and fashionably dressed. As she left she told me to have a great day and that she would see me the next day. She referred to everyone, even me, as “querida” which is similar to “dear one” or “desired one”. It was absolutely my pleasure to get to know her for the 5 weeks I lived with the family.