Jessica Brophy: Education Abroad Blog

Well, since I wasn't able to get to a computer the last couple of days, I figured I would take some time now to tie up the loose ends on my blog.

On Thursday, we woke up bright and early to head to La Estancia (the ranch). Apparently this is the first year that they have gone to the ranch, so they were not sure how it was going to go. When we got there we were greeted by empanadas and refreshments and immediately felt at home. The ranch was a huge home placed on a large field (about 800 acres if I remember correctly). There was a pool and horseback riding available to us. It was a gorgeous day, around 85 degrees. We spent the morning in the pool and riding the horses. For lunch there was a huge barbeque with, you guessed it, lots of beef! They just kept bringing it out and I have never been more full in my life after that meal. It was very good! It was nice to get away from the hustle bustle of Buenos Aires for the day. Since it was our last night in Buenos Aires, most of us all went to dinner together for the last time. We really have been getting to be a tight knit group and it has been a great class to go with.

On Friday we woke up early again to go paint a children's shelter/daycare. Right when we got there, the lady in charge asked us if we were going to be back on Monday to finish painting. When she said that, we knew we were in for a treat (not really...haha). We painted the ceiling of the place and it was almost 90 degrees. We managed to do it despite being exhausted. We met for one last gathering at the Fundacion where Charlie, our professor, kind of said his farewells to us. It was pretty sad knowing that all of us will never be all together at the same time again. We really had a great group and I will never forget all the memories we created together. We went back to our homes for one last meal. We had a broccoli pasta that our host mom made. We headed to the airport around 6:30 PM for our long, long flight home.

Once we landed in Dallas/Fort Worth we had 1 hour to go through customs and get on our next flight...that's right only an hour. You could imagine the stress as we were at the back of the plane coming from Buenos Aires. We all weaseled our way through the plane to get to the front as fast as possible. We literally sprinted to customs and it went pretty smoothly for most of us...only a few got searched. At around 7 am, 30 minutes before the final call, we were in the back of a long line for security. It seemed to take forever and ever to get to the front. As we got there, they called final call for our flight. A few of us in the front sprinted to the gate and pleaded with the staff at the counter to wait for the other 23 of us. The lady said that the couldn't wait! When we got on the plane the flight attendant assured us that they would wait, and they did. We had a round of applause as Charlie got on the plane...he was the last one to make it.

All in all, this trip was amazing. If any of you reading this blog are in Carlson and deciding what study abroad program to pursue, I highly recommend this one. Charlie was the best professor I have had at Carlson, by far, and he made sure that this was an excellent trip for all of us. I will never forget Buenos Aires and all the people that were in our class...we made memories that will last a lifetime. This experience was one that I would have never had if it weren't for this program.

Thanks for reading my blog!

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We have been so busy this week that I have hardly had time to sit down and update my blog! This week is flying by and it is hard to believe that we only have two days until we have to return to freezing cold Minnesota! :(

We have been doing many site visits this week to different companies. They have been interesting for the most part, but we have been lacking on sleep so sometimes that makes it hard to get up so early. On Monday, we got to see Ball canning corporation. We got to see them make aerosol cans, such as Lysol and bug spray. That was pretty neat! We´ve been having some great dinners out lately. I love the steak here! When they say they have the best beef in the world in Argentina, they really mean it! You can get a huge steak for less than 10 dollars! The most I have spent for a meal here is around 15 dollars, and they have all been really pretty nice and fancy.

One scary thing is that I almost got pickpocketed yesterday! I was walking on a busy street with three other girls from our class and a woman bumped into me and quick unzipped my bag before I could even notice! I turned around quick and caught her just in time before she got my passport, wallet and camera. I am SO lucky that I had a quick reaction.

We are going to a ranch tomorrow, so that should be a nice break from all the academics. We will be leaving on Friday afternoon, so only two days left!

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Today we went to Iguazu Falls and I have to say that is the most beautiful place that I have ever been in my entire life. It is possibly going to become one of the natural wonders of the world by 2011...It was amazing! We took a boat right under the falls and we were absolutely DRENCHED. My jeans are still soaking wet, and I´m sure they won´t dry for awhile. It was a lot of fun though, and we got some spectacular pictures. Tomorrow we are going on the zipline tour through the rainforest...should be a lot of fun. Don´t have a whole lot of time to write on here but just thought I´d leave a quick update. Unfortunately, I got very sunburned today, even though I put sunscreen on 4 times...the sun is so strong here! I will write more later when we get back to Buenos Aires tomorrow!

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We have been so busy that it has hard to update this blog! So I will attempt to update you on the last four days.

Tuesday: our first full day here, we took a bus tour of the whole city. The city is HUGE....77 square miles! It makes Minneapolis (and Duluth especially) seem like a tiny little city...there are 13.5 million people living in Buenos Aires, so that is no small number.

Rachel, Michelle, Lisa and I all had to figure out how to take the bus on our own...what an adventure when you don´t speak english! They have no bus schedules here...they just come whenever, so that is pretty hard to get used to. Whenever we leave, we have to leave at least an hour in advance since the traffic is bad and the buses aren´t super reliable. After the tour, we had a guest speaker and learned about the history of Argentina. We had the night to explore, and our school is connected to a very large, ritzy mall. They have many of the shops and restaruants as we do! We had Subway the first day, and that was quite a chore to order in Spanish. You take being able to be understood for granted! We are still trying to communicate with our host mom. It´s hard when we sometimes don´t know what she´s saying... on the way home we to an adventure on the subte (subway). It is very similar to the light rail in Minneapolis, but obviously underground. It is so busy and it has been very hot, about 85 degrees every day, it´s gorgeous. It´s fun to go exploring and finding little restaurants. We went to a small pizzaria in Palermo, the neighborhood where we live. We also found the best ice cream place ever...Freddo. It´s very simliar to coldstone, and the ice cream is much richer here...better than kemps! :)

Wednesday: Wednesday, we had our presentations and then we had dinner at our host mom´s house with Josh and Pat, two others in our class. It was fun because Josh is fluent in Spanish...so our host mom loved talking to him. The typical meal has been empanadas, kind of like pastries filled with meat and vegetables, and steak. We are planning on taking a trip to Don Julio...the best steakhouse in Argentina. They are noted to have the best steak in the world, and I think it´s true! We went to Shamrock, an Irish pub later in the evening. People stay out so late here...the night life hardly begins til 12 midnight, as we eat at 10 pm!

Thursday: Today we had a speaker in the morning and then a free day the rest of the day. Amanda, Feyln, Rachel and I went to the famous and oldest cafe in Buenos Aires, Cafe Tortoni. I ordered a hamburger, and was surprised to see that when I got it, it didn´t come with a bun! Their hamburgers are simply put on a plate, and covered with meat and cheese and lettuce and tomato. That has been the hardest thing so far...ordering food. Sometimes all you so is say si(yes) smile and node and hope you answered the question! We took tango lessons in the evening with 14 from the class. That was pretty fun, and some of us were better than others...I took lots of pictures and videos of the class so that should be fun to look back on. We went to bed earlier today because we are going to Iguazu Falls tomorrow. A national landmark...it´s possibly going to be on the list of the top natural wonders of the world...they are voting for it now, and they will find out in 2011.

Friday: We got up kind of later today, around 10 am. We went around the town to look and then took a taxi to the airport at 1. We flew to Iguazu and just arrived at the hotel. It´s beautiful! A 5 star hotel with a gorgeous view. The rooms are really nice too. We are on our way to go out to dinner and out for the night. There are only 7 of us on this excursion, so it will be quiet...and It will be nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Whew! Hope that wasn´t too much to read, but I wanted to catch you all up...Leave comments if you´d like! I´d love to hear from you!

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We finally made it to Buenos Aires! The flight was long and we are all tired but that has not stopped us. We made it to the Buenos Aires airport around 9 in the morning on Monday. Bea, our cordinator was there to meet us and ready to take us back to the Fundacion to meet our host families. Rachel and I got the traditional Argentine hello, a peck on the cheek from our hostmother, Gloria.

Rachel and I know minimal Spanish, and Gloria only speaks Spanish...so it should be interesting to communicate with her. We are learning and getting used to it already though! There´s a supermarket within walking distance from our homestay...so that nice.

On our first night we had a little siesta, as we were really tired...and had our first meal here. They seem to eat a lot more than us. Gloria served us empanadas, a pizza (with some interesting toppings such as an over easy egg) and some meat. It was good, but we will definitely be looking forward to American food again.

We had our orientation and went as a group of 26 of us with Charlie, Bea, and Carola. It was a very nice dinner...3 courses and all you could eat pretty much. We definitely have gotten some stares though, and it seems as though we really stick out here as tourists.

We also had to experience traveling to and from the Fundacion (school) on our own. They have very different ways when it comes to transportation. For example, you have to stand in the street a bit and wave to get a bus, they do not stop otherwise...it was good to figure this out. We are about 4 miles away from everything else so we have had to experience traveling in taxis as well. We are really being immersed! The city is HUGE 77 square miles and it makes Minneapolis seem absolutely tiny compared to Buenos Aires.

Well, back to our lecture about Argentine and South American history...more to come.

Thanks for reading!

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Well, I just spent the last couple hours finishing up packing for the trip and it has finally hit me...I'm flying off to Argentina in just over 12 hours!! It seemed as though this day would never come, and now it is finally here. We are going to Buenos Aires, Argentina with our Managerial Accounting class. There are 26 students going along with the instructor of the course, Charlie Caliendo. Just thought I'd write a quick note before I left. I'm anxious to get to the warm weather and to meet my host family, as well. It should be a great experience and I'm excited to share it with you all!

Thanks for reading and adios until I arrive in Argentina!

Jess

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