Discos- You Live and You Learn!

Hola Amigos! Wow, have these last two days been packed with adventures or what? I didn´t have school on Thursday or Friday so I needed some plans to keep me occupied for the long weekend. Well, be careful what you wish for! Cause I have hardly had a moment to relax since Wednesday afternoon!

WEDNESDAY: I went to town with Krystal and Virginia. Our plan was that we were going to meet up with some more of our friends at the movie theater and see a movie. It would have been my first time going to the movie theater and I was pretty excited. I was also freaking out because the movie was supposed to be a suspensful on the verge of horror type and the only reason I agreed to see it was cause I wanted to hang out with these guys. Thankfully, the other people ended up not being able to make it so we opted for eating icecream instead. I got to try Dulce de Leche icecream for the first time and it is incredible! I am getting it every time from now on. The States should definetelly get it together and start selling dulce de leche. I am not sure I can move back if I can´t have it. :) Afterwards, we went over to Nicolas Sorrentino´s house who is the boyfriend of Virginia and a class mate of mine. We had pizza together and watched TV. I had also been invited to a birthday party that night for a classmate of mine who has now switched schools. But I ended up staying at Nicolas´s house later than planned so I didn´t end up going. At about midnight, we walked the eight blocks to my house. Stopping on the way to chill on the side walk while Virginia took her bus to her house. It was so cool to be able to walk home! In Deming, walking anywhere is like planning a week long vacation. It takes a lot of planning, and a lot of time. Here though, I can walk home with friends and it isn´t a problem. So Wednesday, I had plans from 6 in the evening until 1 in the morning.

THURSDAY: Vero, a classmate of mine, had invited me to my first disco (boliche) that night. I was going to meet her at Sofi Suarez´s house at 11 p.m. and then us three were going to leave for the boliche at 1 a.m. It was a Costume Party, but since Vero and Sofi didn´t have costumes and it was my first time, I opted for my favorite short dress and a pair of Paula´s blue flats to go with. :) Now technically, you are supposed to be 18 to go into these places since the drinking age here is 18 but all of my classmates start going once they´re 16. But let me assure you, they weren´t drinking while I was there and I wouldn´t drink even if they asked me to. I don´t like the taste of alcohol thank-you-very-much. Once we got there, it was an immediate start to a roller coaster of emotions that didn´t stop until long after I had gotten home. Since there are so many things to tell, I will just make a list for the simplisity of it.

• There were cops waiting at the entrance of the boliche.
• The music was loud enough that I had to talk to people in their ear. This made it kind of awkward for some conversacions later on in the night.
• When I would walk by guys, they would call out to me, asking my name and tug on my hair.
• Some of the more forward ones would even grab on to my waist and start walking behind me. (Later on I asked Vero about this and she said not to worry. You can just ignore them or even dance with them if you want. It is totally normal and fine, just don´t let them get all over you if they´re drunk.)
• I later experienced my first drunk guy and thankfully, my friends were there to show me how to get him to back off. Next time, I will be more assurtive but it was a little overwelming at first.
• I danced with a guy that I don´t know and aparently none of my friends knew either.
• I met a ton of new people and also hung out with some other exchange students that were there. It was pretty difficult though, because when someone would come up to me or ask me to dance with them, I would have no idea if it was a friend that I just met, a friend of someone I came there with, or just a guy harassing me. :)

A ton more happened but I can´t write about that all now. It would just get to long and I still haven´t quite gotten over the shock of things to be able to explain it properly! I will have to save all of that info for Skype sessions! We arrived at Vero´s house at 5:30 a.m. where I spent the night.

FRIDAY (today): I didn´t get out of bed until 12:30 and then I went over to Sofi´s for lunch. I ended up staying there all afternoon and we even went out for icecream with her sister. It was a really fun day. I got home finally at 4 ish and I decided to take a nap. Well, I ended up waking up at 8:30 after sleeping for 4 and half hours. Definetilly not my plan for the afternoon and it is probably going to really screw up my sleep tonight! Next time I will set an alarm. :) I guess you live and you learn!

I don´t have any plans for Saturday and Sunday at this point, but knowing my luck, that will soon change. I also have three tests next week and geography homework that I have to finish. It is kind of pointless for my to study for the tests cause what I know, I already know. Reading over my notes one more time is not likely to improve my chances of getting a better grade! I am impressed how all my classmates can juggle everything. I don´t know how these Argentinians do all this partying! I am exhausted and I still have two more days of no school to go! I am straving and should get off and eat. Just got to keep plugging along!

P.S. I am posting more pictures onto Picasa of last night and my friends also posted some of me on Facebook. The place didn´t have a roof!!

Fútbol, Policia, y Yo (Soccer, Police, and Me)

Over my sixteen years, I have heard many stories of the crazy soccer games that happen in other parts of the world. Where refs are in danger, fans screaming, and general caos the whole entire game. It´s not so much that I didn´t believe the stories were true, but it is just hard to imagine something when you have never experienced it. Well last night I went to my first South American Soccer game and got to experience it for myself. Now before I go into my story I want to remind all you worry-warts that I completely trust my family and know that they would never send me to a place that could be potentially dangerous to me. Also, remember that when writing, I tend to point out only the dramatic parts, which makes it more interesting, but will also tend to dramatize the actual situation. Okay, now that that´s over with I can get on with the story.

This was a small game in San Juan with a San Juan club team playing against another club from a different city. As far as I can tell, it wasn´t for any important position or had any effect in some competition. Keep this in mind when I describe what happens cause I can only imagine what a professional play-off type game would be like. Unfortunetly we arrived late because Federico (Paula´s boyfriend) told us it started at 9 but it started at 8. There were two different places to sit. One on one side of the field were the Crazy Fans were sitting. And the other side for all of the normal fans (although in the U.S. they would also be considered crazy) sat. Sofia and I sat with the normal fans. Instantly, I noticed the giant barbed wire fence towering 15 ft tall infront of us so we couldn´t get on to the field. Other than that, it took me a while to notice all the other cautionary measures they had taken. There were approx. 25 police men spread out through out the stands and then another 30 crowd control personal lining the edge of the field. What I mean by crowd control are those police officers with batons, giant black shield like things, and helmets with clear plastic over their faces. When I asked Sofia about them, she said they were to protect the refs. Later on in the game I got to see kind of what she ment.

About three quarters through the game there was no score and we were getting restless. Suddenly fireworks started shooting out of the crazy people stands. They began setting off smoke bombs that sent blue and white smoke swirling across the sky along with white streamers. Then to my horror (although nobody else was worried) the paper in the stand caught on fire!!!! There were three different fires burning the in stands and the people just kept on singing their crazy song and watching the game!! At a closer look, I could see the people around the fires began stomping them out but it took them a while to finally smother them. It was baffeling and still is why nobody seemed worried, but then again, these guys were too focused on the game to pay any attention!

Finally with only about 6 minutes left in the game, our team scored. I had been prepared for this and couldn´t wait to see what the fans were going to do. Instanly, everyone jumped to their feet and started screaming. People litterally jumped off the stands and clung to the chain link fence off the ground! They were shaking it back and forth and screaming something in Spanish which I couldn´t catch. The air was pulsing with adrenaline. I swear, I have never felt anything like that in my life. It was like you had no idea whether to scream for joy or duck and run cause a bomb was going to go off. It was the weirdest sensation.

The game ended and our team won. Everyone began cheering as our team filled off the field. Then I noticed the crowd control matching on to the field where the refs were. The made a circle around the refs and accompanied them off the field. Once they got close to the fence, they put up their shields like an umbrella over the refs as a shower of plastic bottles and curses pummled them. I even saw a man soak one of the refs in water from his cup. I felt bad for the refs cause they were just doing their job, but at the same time, I could feel some of that frustration at some of the calls I personally thought were incorrect.

Over all, it was incredible and I can´t wait to go to another one. For all you soccer fans out there, this is something you can not live your life without doing. I have to give these Argentinians some credit; their fans have got spirit! I bet a million dollars I could go to the smallest soccer game here and you would still have people on their feet screaming like there´s no tomorrow! All I can say is - WOW!

Coca Cola Has Taken Over

In the U.S. I would say it was popular to drink soda. Since there are so many kinds, I can´t narrow it down if asked to but I would say Coca-Cola products are in the top five. Well here, it is number one. There is no question that Coca-Cola is considered the best thing ever here. During breaks between classes, what do people drink? Coca-Cola. After school when we are hanging out, what do they drink? Coca-Cola. During dinner, what do they drink? You guessed it! Coca-Cola. It is not surprising that everyone can function on so little sleep when they are constantly chugging caffeine multiple times a day. But don´t be confused. This isn´t the Coca-Cola in the can that you find all over the U.S. This is the real stuff in the bottle. The kind that you keep on your dresser table just to say the you actually had one before. :) Well believe it or not, they just toss them in the trash like it´s not a big deal! Anyways, I like Coca-Cola but it is not my favorite. I am also not used to the caffeine and have been careful with only drinking little bits at a time so I can slowly get used to it. Thankfully, the second most popular soda is Sprite which isn´t caffeineted and I happen to like very much. It even comes in an awesome bottle like the Coca-Cola! Even so, you will stand out like a neon sign if you have a Sprite in your had at school. I have only seen one person so far willing to break out of the status-quo and brave the dangerous waters of the soda popularity.

When coming here, I was told that you should expect things to be more expensive here than in the U.S. Franco, when he arrived in the States, said that he had waited to buy his electronics here because they were cheaper back in Argentina. Well that might be true for electronics but not for everything else. Clothes seem to be about the same here as I would pay back home but maybe a little cheaper. In terms of food though, it is CRAZY cheap here. Today, I paided 1.5 pesos for a bottle of Coca-Cola. Since 4 pesos is one dollar that is equal to aprox. 40 cents. 40 cents!!! That is crazy!! I told every one else that we often pay 10 pesos for a soda and they thought that was a rip-off. Anyways, I am not going to go broke buying sodas. :)

Pictures are Worth a Thousand Words

have finally managed to begin uploading my pictures to where my family and friends can see them. Unfortunetelly, it literally takes Picasa hours to upload them and so it was a long process. I still have more to upload and some to get off my family´s camera but I need to find a long block of time when I can use the computer. Make sure to visit the link and check out the photos! You know they say "A picture is worth a thousand words"!

https://picasaweb.google.com/112725819304297041100/SanJuanArgentinaFirstMonth?authkey=Gv1sRgCK_InOLSx6njLw&feat=directlink

School is Different

School is a funny thing. I never really liked school because, well, school is school, but at the same time school has always been the place where I get to hang out with my friends. The same is true here. I don´t like school because it means I need to spend six hours trying to understand Spanish. Today during break I was so exhuasted that I was minutes away from sleep when the bell rang. At the same time, I love the interactions that happen at school between me and my classmates. It is so fun to see who acts like who back in the states, what kids seem to get into trouble, what I talk about with other people; each day is just so different from that last that I can´t help but be excited when I think about going again. It is also interesting to start seeing the big and small differences that make this school so much different from Mount Baker in Deming. Let me give you some examples:

1. We only have one class room and we never have to leave it.
2. Every morning we begin by having every age group line up in the gym and say prayers.
3. We can´t eat anything in class; only during breaks.
4. This kids have been in the same class with each other since they were four.
5. Because of #4, all of these kids are friends with there whole class. Back home, I have so many different classmates in different classes that although I might know every one´s names, I probably haven´t even spoken to half of them. Here, everyone knows everyone and it makes it really fun in terms of interactions during class and break.
6. When a teacher is sick or can´t teach, we don´t have class. If it is the last period of the day like Literature for me the last two weeks, we just get to go home early. If it is a class in the middle of the day like Religion today, we had a woman come in and play memory games with us until our next class.
7. If you miss school because you are sick, you need to take your note from your parents and get it stamped at the "Centro Civil" before you can bring it to school. I still don´t really understand what the stamp is for. Also, you only have to have it if you are sick. Not if you went on vacation or had an appointment.
8. This last one is probably the largest difference from Mount Baker. What we wear to school. Technically, we have three different options of what to wear depending on the weather, which are dirty, and whether it is a P.E. day or not. The first outfit is the one that you can see me in in the picture on a previous post. It is a white shirt with a redish blouse over it, a checkered skirt, high maroonish socks, and black shoes. The second outfit is similiar but instead of having the skirt, you can wear grey wool pants. The third outfit is maroon sweatpants and a white t-shirt with the school´s emblem on it. For P.E., you are also aloud to wear blue short and a completelly white t-shirt but you can´t wear that to school. With any outfit, you also have the option to wear a maroon/redish jacket or sweatshirt. Right now, I have every piece of clothing except for the jacket. Which has been unfortunate because these last couple days have been cold in the mornings and I have had to go without one.

I need to leave for the center now. I am going to go meet up with other AFS girls and hang out!!

Late Night Tacos - Or Should I Say Early Morning?

Last night was a blast! Like I had said before, Krystal had invited me over for tacos with her and some of her friends. Turns out that we she actually brought all of the taco stuff with her and we went to this boy Nicolas´s house. There, we were joined by another ten people (about have boys, half girls). I knew some of the people from seeing them at school but most of them were new to me. Unfortuntelly, I can remember almost none of their names. :) I usually am really good with names but here they sound very different from how we would say them and it is hard to tell what is a name and what is a Spanish word! Anyways, I can only remember Krystal, Nicolas, and another boy named Matias. I have found that I am able to remember boys names here better than girls. Then again, many of the girls are named Juli and Sofi, I just can´t remember which ones are which! I often feel bad not being able to remember, but then again, I think they can understand. They never pronounce my name right and so everyone just calls me "Jenny" here.

I played Ping Pong with a girl and was embarrasingly beat. Thankfully, I was much better at cards. I learned how to play a card game called "Mosquito". It was really fun and I was pretty good at it. Or should I say, I was good until we played it after dinner. Then, I lost twice in a row!! Everyone was a good sport about it and we laughed so much when it looked like I was going to lose a third time. Thankfully, I pulled through.

We didn´t end up eating dinner until about 12:30 at night. Or is that concidered the morning? :) They were fantastic tacos and I enjoyed actually eating so late. I wasn´t starving then so I think that is a sign that I am adjusting to their insane eating times.

The whole night was a blast and I didn´t end up going home until three in the morning. I will have to get used to that fact that when we are getting together for "dinner" it really means partying for six hours into the night! This morning, I didn´t get up until 12:30 I was so tired. Tomorrow is school again; it will be my first full week attending school. The first week when I was sick I only made it two days. Last week, we didn´t have school Monday or Tuesday so I only had three days. This week I am having five! I hope my brain can hold out. Although school is really fun, I get mentally tired really easily from all the Spanish. I love speaking Spanish and it is a beautiful language to listen two but when you are in class and trying to understand it for six hours five days a week, your mind can run out of gas really quickly. I have decided to keep taking English cause otherwise I would have to switch to a class in Spanish. I figure I deserve one easy class out of my eleven. :)

I guess you guys have had a time change over in the States. We haven´t had one yet (I don´t know if we even do!) so now it is only a four hour difference in time. Thankfully, my mom let me know that before I missed my Skyping session with Isabel! She should be signing on any minute...I got to go!! :) Take care!

P.S. Oh! Yesterday it was freezing here!! Like, I was in my tennis shoes, pants, longsleeve, and sweatshirt and I was still cold outside. Hallelujah!

P.E. is P.E. No matter where you are

Today I had my first official P.E. class. Although last week I technically had it, all we did was go over the rules and what time to be here (all of which I didn´t understand until Maria translated it). Today though, we got to practice our basketball dribling skills. Thankfully, I happen to be "okay" at this and did fairly well. The way P.E. works here is that you have school in the morning and get out around one, go home for lunch, and then come back for P.E. from 4:30 to 5:30. At first I was worried that it would be really bad because I am not yet completelly accustomed to the heat but all the other girls there were as hot as I was. There are only girls in my P.E. class. I guess they decide that although we have class with the boys, we can´t have P.E. with them. For that I am kind of glad because back in the States, it seems like there was always this kind of rival going on between the sexes. You were always trying to show the other one up. I know quite a few girls in my class (it also only has 14 students) which is nice because they all talk to me and even some of the six years that I don´t know help explain to me what is going on. Generally, my first P.E. class was a success although P.E. is still P.E. no matter what country I´m in and I don´t like P.E.



Anyways, yesterday it looked as though my weekend would be filled with lots of sleep and lots of time to kill. As of today though, my schedule is becoming booked. People here aren´t much for planning ahead. :) Tonight, I am going to a play with (I think) my sisters and two other AFS students. I don´t know much about it except that it is obviously in Spanish so I will therefore understand very little. Oh also, it is set far in the future after our era has died out and we have started the process of developing technology all over again.



Tomorrow: Morning- Going shopping with Paula and her boyfriend for school books and school shoes. Afternoon- Going to the center to have smoothies with Cati, Charolette, and Maria who are all AFS students. Night- Having tacos with Crystal and her friends. Crystal is a sixth year (remember- that is a senior in high school since high school here has six years) girl who grew up in the U.S. but moved her with her mother two years ago.



At this point I don´t have anything going on on Sunday, but judging by the way things keep coming up, it won´t be that way for long.



During all of my time here I keep noticing things that I won´t to mention on my blog. Of course, once I actually get here, I can´t remember most of them. In the future, I think I will just put random facts or observations into my blog when I think of them. Such as now.



Random Observation: I was told before I came here that Argentinians eat lots of Mayo. As stereotypes go, I figured this was just another one of them. Turns out, they do eat mayo on almost everything. Whether it is on their rice, salad, meat, noodles, bread- they have mayo with it. At first I didn´t eat mayo. I mean, in the States I never ate it and I couldn´t see why it made it so much better. Until today. I put it on my bread with some breaded steak- oh! It was like making a perfect thing even more perfect. From now on I am going to try mayo on whatever they have it on. Even if it seems crazy. :)