Author Archives: rkl5023

Home!

And just like that, I’m home. It’s good to be home. As of now, I’m not exactly sure whether I’m defining home as Hershey, the town where I graduated from high school, or State College, my college home. I’ve been to both, and they both have the familiar feeling that defines home. I guess for now I’ll just say home is Pennsylvania.

So far, I haven’t really experienced reverse culture shock (besides the cold that was inevitable after switching from summer to winter). Everything seems so familiar, my memory doesn’t seem to have faded much. In some ways, it seems like nothing has changed. My friends still have the same personalities. My family still lives in the same home. My room is still the middle-school yellow with dainty touches of purple. And yet, I know there are subtle differences that I will notice as I’m home more. It is a little strange to meet friends again that I haven’t seen in six months, knowing that I have missed their lives as much as they’ve missed mine. But I know that in the end, we can catch up with each other’s lives. Although it might take a couple more hours of talking to be on the same page, it’s amazing to know that I can come home from a study abroad and be met by open arms. So many hugs, so many excited greetings, so many times of showing my pictures. It’s so good to be back.

My last week in Buenos Aires helped me prepare for coming home. As I said in my previous post, my boyfriend came to visit. It was incredible to be able to show him where I had lived for the past four months, and then to do a little traveling with him. I readily acknowledge that we are both incredibly blessed to have the resources to do this and to have the families that supported this (especially considering we both missed Thanksgiving). I showed him all around the city and then we went to El Calafate, in the south of Patagonia. I’m pretty sure there is no way I could describe this trip in a length appropriate for a blog, and the picture uploader doesn’t seem to be working, so I guess you’ll have to ask to see pictures.

Well, I guess it’s time for me to say goodbye to this blog. I’m happy I studied abroad, as I learned a lot about myself, but I would caution that you should have a purpose for studying abroad. It’s not for everyone, as there are days of loneliness and questioning why you travelled so far. But, if you have a reason you want to learn about another country, college is a great time to travel. Thanks for reading my blog everyone. Now that I’m home, I expect to see you (friends and family) in person. And yes, I will gladly go through my slideshow of pictures again.

Location: 211 S. Allen St, State College, PA

Home stay families and closure

I am positive that home stay experiences are completely different for every study abroad student. The people are different, the dynamics are different, and the living circumstances are different. That being said, coming to Buenos Aires, although I didn’t have any concrete expectations about my home stay, somehow it still was very different from what I expected.

First, I had an underlying expectation that I would live with more people than just my host mother. Even when I got here and she showed me a picture of her husband, I had this deep hope that in the evening her husband would come home. Apparently she was telling me that her husband had died, but seeing as I barely understood Spanish/her accent, I definitely didn’t get that point. With just me and her, sometimes I wish there were someone else there at dinner for me to interact with. That being said, I have learned to carry on a lively conversation with her and completely appreciate her presence.

Along these lines, in general it’s been a little hard for me to feel like I’m “family.” I think that one of the biggest things that contributes to this is the fact that most of her time is spent in her room. It’s amazing what that communicates. Somehow, I always feel like she shouldn’t be disturbed and find it a little hard to have time getting to know her more outside of dinner.

In general, it’s really weird to mix business and family. For her, she needs me to stay here so IES will pay her and so, in many ways, I am a business investment. The first two months or so, she wouldn’t stop asking me if I was happy in her home and what I was going to tell IES about her. It’s also weird that, even if I’m in my house for dinner, she doesn’t need to feed me. Our meals provided by our home stay are breakfast and dinner during the week and breakfast during the weekend. For the most part, that works out very well, as I’m normally busy during the other times. But if for some reason I happen to be here and make a meal for myself, it’s strange to not be eating dinner with “family” that is in the same house at the same time.

All in all, I am content in my homestay. My host mother is incredibly nice and does everything she can to accommodate me. It’s just a very different situation than I had imagined. This being said, I know every situation is completely different. I have a couple friends in a different program who absolutely loved their host family and became very close friends with their host sister. If I were to do it again, one thing I would seriously consider would be to say that I wanted to live with another study abroad student. At the time I had to decide, I thought it was the easy way out, and was convinced I would make it through just fine on my own. But now I see it would have been kind of nice to have someone else help me navigate through living in a city.

In other realms, this will probably be my last blog post while in Buenos AIres. Tomorrow, my boyfriend flies into Buenos Aires to join me for my last week here. I’m excited to show someone else the city I’ve been living in for the past four months. By the time I get home, I will have been a tour guide around this city, had a layover in the southernmost city in the world, and trekked on a glacier in Patagonia. I guess the next time I post, I’ll have to give a reflection on my whole trip!

Location: ciudad autonomia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Top 10, part 2

As promised, here is a list of the things I will most miss about Buenos Aires. Although I don’t think I will completely know everything I will miss until I go home, I’m pretty sure these things will rank among the top.

Top 10 things I will miss about Buenos Aires

1. People. As I’m starting to realize, people are, and possibly should be more than they currently are, one of the most integral parts of my life. So just as I know there will be people at home I can’t wait to see, I also will miss the good friends with whom I’ve gotten used to sharing my life.

2. Free time. One beautiful thing about study abroad is that I’ve had more time than ever during a college semester. Whether this means catching up on sleep, finding time for an extra podcast, traveling, reading books, or writing my thesis, extra time has allowed me to make the most of my semester.

3. Dance. To be completely honest, milongas (places where tango is danced almost every night) has not been as large a part of my Argentine life as I expected. I really don’t think they’re as big a part of an Argentine life in general as they are portrayed. However, I will miss those times I was able to dance in this city and the simple knowledge that if I had a strong desire to tango, I could easily find a place.

4. Havanna. I don’t know what it is about this place. I’m not a huge Starbucks fan at home, but for some reason I crave Havanna here. I think it’s a combination the coffee being delicious and my ability to sit there for hours reading without being disturbed. The environment only adds to how content I feel reading there for a while.

5. The prices. Everything here is cheaper than in the United States. For a reference: a good dinner at a nice restaurant here is $10. I just started looking at hostels in France, as I’m planning to visit my friend from high school with my month off of classes, and can’t but cringe at all the prices. I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with that when I get back.

6. Spanish. Although it will be exciting to hear my first language again, I will miss knowing that I’m constantly learning. I will miss the challenge of understanding the accent and knowing I can get in a foreign country.

7. Liberal arts classes. Science is going to seem so foreign. What, I have to balance equations and use math? What is that? It’s kind of nice to just have my poetry teacher lecture to me in his beautiful, poetic voice about all the nuances of Juan Gelman.

8. The proximity of the grocery store. It’s really nice that whenever I need more food for lunches, I can just walk down the street and arrive at the closest Disco (a chain of supermarkets here). Very convenient.

9. Mate. I enjoy the culture of mate here, the idea of sharing a communal tea-like drink, sitting, and talking.

10. Warmth. I can’t wait to see snow, but at the same time, I know that as soon as I get home, I will complain about how cold it is. C’est la vie.

Only two more weeks until I head home. Where has time gone?

Location: ciudad autonomia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

Top 10

Not gonna lie, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the day when it would be appropriate to create this blog entry. Now that I have 3 weeks left, I’m going to deem it appropriate. So, without further ado, here it is:

Top 10 things I’m most excited for when I get home

1. People. I cannot even wait to see my friends and family at home. Being away makes me appreciate their friendship even more. Don’t get me wrong, I have friends here, but there’s nothing like the community I have at home. If you’re one of my friends from PA and you’re reading this, know you’ve been on my mind, even though I readily admit I haven’t been the best at keeping in touch.

2. Food. Seriously, all I eat here are carbs and meat. I’m ready for some vegetables and fruit. Bring on the health food!

3. Having motivation to run. Honestly, it’s so much more exciting to go running with trees and fresh air around me than trying to dodge people, stop at traffic lights, and find a park.

4. Not being catcalled in the street. Or looked up and down on the subte. Or just hit on in the bookstore (“You look like Juliet in the balcony” was officially the classiest pick up line I’ve heard yet). Seriously, Argentine guys, I have a boyfriend, and don’t find it all that flattering to be looked at for my body. Especially when you decide to say “I love you” in the streets. To me, that phrase means way more than you’re making it mean, and it’s slightly like slapping me in the face to throw around such important English phrases without thinking.

5. English. Seriously, reading for classes in English is going to seem a little easy. It will be very nice to not second-guess whether I heard the professor right.

6. Proper Sidewalks. Sidewalks that don’t have dog poop all over them and aren’t tilted at a different angle every 10th step will be really nice. This city is honestly very dirty, and that is very much reflected in the sidewalks.

7. Snow. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but something in me know that it should be fall, going into winter. I just can’t quite seem to adjust to the fact that it’s supposed to be approaching 80 degrees right now.

8. A normal time schedule. I’ve started to get used to the Argentine time schedule, where everything just starts later in the day, but I still think I will readily embrace following the sun (more or less) in order to dictate what my schedule should be. No more of this meeting people at midnight!

9. Having most things run smoothly. All these strikes are kind of hard to keep up with. Along with all the holidays. *Side note: Wednesday Argentina decided to create a new holiday. For 3 weeks from now. That’s right, everyone, change your schedules, because Argentina decided not to work on November 22.

10. Living with (or near) my friends. Although I really can’t complain about this too much, it’s definitely a little hard to live a half an hour from most of my friends. I’m excited for when I can just pop into their rooms or walk down the street or bike up to the dorms.

Watch for next week’s Top 10 Things I Will Miss About Buenos Aires! Unless I get a better idea for a blog post, that is.

Location: buenos aires, argentina

Redefining my life

IES Abroad, the study abroad group I am traveling with, currently has the theme “Your world [redefined].” It is completely true that in studying abroad, I have been given the opportunity to redefine my life. Not so much because it is in another country or because everything is so different, but just because it is a new start. I’m living in a city where I can decide to go to bars every night or dance at milongas. I can decide to stay out until 6 in the morning or I can immerse myself in my work. In a way, this was the cause of my biggest fear before studying abroad. I was afraid I would forget who I was, forget what I truly cared for at home, and come back as someone no one would recognize. I was willing to change in small ways, to learn and live in a new country, but not to change who I was completely.

I’m so happy that now I can truly say I don’t think I had anything to worry about. I still get more pleasure from church community and good discussions than I do from any attempt at staying up late I might make. I have learned to immerse myself in books, growing my desire to learn that has existed from before my study abroad. I still find immense joy in dancing, even though my opportunities to dance may have turned out very different than I had thought they would be. My convictions that I had before studying abroad still stand, with a little added knowledge of Spanish and another country. If anything, my convictions have been tested and strengthened. I am blessed to have had this chance to reaffirm my values.

For this reason, I can finally say that I think study abroad was a good decision for me. At the beginning of my trip, I was having a hard time adjusting, missing home, and having a hard time justifying this trip. Don’t get me wrong, I still miss the people at home and, in some ways, can’t wait to be home. But at the same time, I can see some of the value of my study abroad, knowing that I’ve grown in so many ways. I know even more will be revealed to me after I’m home, and I still have a little less than 4 weeks in this country to get all that I can out of this experience. While this is in no way the end of my trip, I still feel like time is winding down and I am in the position now where I can start looking back at how I’ve changed. Or not changed.

Location: Libertad, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Who do I believe?

This past Thursday, I ventured out to Plaza de Mayo (the area with a bunch of government buildings) to see the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo. Every Thursday, these elderly ladies walk a small circuit around the center of the plaza, wearing scarves on their heads and holding signs with the faces of their children who were some of the desaparecidos. The desaparecidos are the people who literally disappeared in the late 70s and early 80s during a corrupt government.

Or so this was what I thought when I went to see the Madres. There seems to be no question that this atrocity happened; the government admits there are more than 9,000 desaparecidos unaccounted for and some people have admitted to the public the ways they tortured people during this period of history. However, there seems to be some disparity when it comes to verifying the truth of the claims of the Madres. When I came back and told my host mother I had gone to see the Madres, she told me she thought they were all awful liars, pretending to have lost children, while really their children are in Spain and they’re receiving money from the government. She told me that her husband’s sister lost children during that time, but never joined the Madres because she didn’t believe they were telling the truth. But at the same time, yesterday when I went to church, the pastor mentioned the Madres as the social conscience of the nation.

So now I’m left very confused. Who do I believe? What is the truth? I would like to believe that these elderly women wouldn’t march every Thursday for 33 years for a lie. I would like to believe that they wouldn’t deceive a nation if they knew there was another truth. But yet, my host mother was so convinced she was correct. I’m left without answers, just as clueless as when I went to see them. I can’t help but think back to when the strike was beginning with the universities. I heard that strikes happen all the time and that this is just the students’ way of not going to class; someone else heard that this truly was a monumental strike and had been building for years. It’s hard to know from just one study abroad what is true and I think I’m going to come back with a somewhat biased opinion of Argentina. But I guess an opinion of some sort is better than none? Maybe?

Location: plaza de mayo, buenos aires, Argentina

A new normal

After writing my blog post last week, I was somewhat astonished that I hadn’t had more to say about my trip to Chile. Why couldn’t I think of any fun story to tell or an anecdote that would surprise my friends and family at home? After wondering about this for a while, I finally realized that my life in Buenos Aires is becoming normal.

When I first arrived in Buenos Aires, I didn’t think this life could ever be completely normal for me. Living in a city? Eating dinner at 8:30 at night? Writing emails in Spanish? Walking across one of the widest boulevards in the world and riding the elevator to the 12th floor every day? This couldn’t be normal.

But now, I noticed the other day that the doorman (who is there most nights) recognized me from about a block away. Part of my dream the other night was in Spanish. It’s normal for me to explore the city on weekends with friends. It’s normal for me to see kiosks, eat alfajores, and go to a church where everything is in Spanish. Life here is becoming normal.

I didn’t think I’d have to experience culture shock when going back to the United States, but now I’m starting to wonder. Is it possible that eating at 6 will feel foreign and seeing the faces of my friends and family will be a treat? How could it be that I’ve adjusted to this life? I guess it’s a good thing that I’ve started to adjust and call this home, for now. It keeps me sane. But I’m expecting that after I go through the culture shock of adjusting to the United States again, I will once again treasure my life in the United States.

In other news:

The garbage collectors went on strike for the last two days. Believe me, garbage collectors are the last people you want on strike. Just imagine lots of garbage bags in the streets.

I went to the Evita Museum on Saturday. In my opinion, she’s a little overrated, but it was good to see the museum and I learned a lot about her generosity.

Location: Carlos Pelligrini 1069, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Spring break, part II

Now that I’m back in Buenos Aires, I think I can honestly say I am incredibly happy our program offered a spring break week for us. At first, I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt about it, since it seemed to be an obligatory time to travel far and spend lots of money. However, I now realize that getting away from the city for 10 days gave me a chance to clear my head of the routine in Buenos Aires and start to appreciate this city again. Not only that, but I got the chance to see some truly amazing places in Chile and Argentina. So, here’s the a recap of the second part of my trip:

We returned back to Santiago for a day on our way home. We stayed in a very good hostel and went to the top of Cerro San Cristobal, a large hill in the city, at the top of which is a statue of the Virgin Mary. TThe view from the top was awesome, although very similar to what I posted before when we hiked up another hill in the city. On our way down from this hill, we found a small hiking path to go down. I’m pretty sure there must have been another, more common way down, because the way we took was slightly dangerous.

After crossing the border back into Argentina late at night, we stopped in Mendoza. One day we went whitewater rafting and ziplining in the Andes, and this is the gorgeous sight that we saw. Although it was our most expensive day of the trip, it was very much worth it. Mendoza itself was a very small city with only a couple streets. It is quite interesting that, although this town is incredibly well known, it is known for everything around it, not the actual town.

Now, it’s back to studying in Buenos Aires. Only 6 more weeks in Argentina!

Location: Mendoza, Argentina

The sights of spring break, part I

As I sit here in a hostel in Santiago, I can’t help but realize how much more I’ve seen in the last week. I’m so happy I got the chance to head to Santiago and Vina del Mar with some of my friends. Here are some highlights of what I’ve seen so far. I’ll plan to elaborate more on my thoughts when I get back and have had a little more time to reflect on them. These are more just initial reactions.

1. Driving through the Andes. I honestly think this might have been my favorite part of my study abroad yet. I know it might sound a little crazy to say my favorite part was riding on a bus for 20 hours, but it allowed me to wake up to the sight of the Andes Mountains, one of the most spectacular things I’ve seen in my life. When we crossed the border to Chile and got out of the bus for a little while, I managed to snap this picture. In my opinion, it was completely worth the long bus ride to see the mountains (plus, we didn’t have to pay to get into the country!). The second picture is of the second tallest mountain in the Andes, according to the Columbian sitting next to me.

2. Santiago, Chile. This city was our first destination, and to all of us from Buenos Aires, the city seemed incredibly green and incredibly clean. I loved this city and all the people we interacted with were friendly. We had lunch at a fish market, enjoying delicious fresh food. These are a couple panoramas I took when we were up on the top of a hill, in a park in the middle of the city. I love the fact that you can see mountains from the center of the city.

4. Vina del Mar. This city is incredibly beautiful, being situated right by the beach. One of my friends has a twin sister studying abroad here, so she was able to show us around. We were able to see a couple art museums, walk along the beach with ice cream, see one of the Easter Island statues and taste Chilean empenadas (very different from Argentinean empenadas). Also, we had the interesting experience of having school children (from the north of Chile) take endless photos of us because we were white. It was the closest I’ve ever felt to having paparazzi.

6. Valaparaiso. This city, right next to Vina del Mar, provides a slightly more industrial feel, with a port. We visited Pablo Neruda’s house (a famous Chilean poet), and rode up ascensors (cable cars that go up the hill). This is the view from the ascensor at the top.

All in all, Chile has so far been a welcoming country with delicious food and a culture that reminds me more of Peru than of Buenos Aires (the open-air fairs show traditional art with bright colors). Tomorrow, we’ll explore Santiago one more day and then head to Mendoza. What a crazy spring break!

Location: 506 Monjitas, Santiago, Chile

The Effects of Living in a Big City

If there’s one thing I wish I would have considered a little more before my study abroad, I’m pretty sure it would be the fact that Buenos Aires is a large city. According to wikipedia, although Buenos Aires doesn’t have as large of a population as New York City (3,050,728 vs. 8,391,881), it has a higher population density (38,862/sq mi vs. 27,532/sq mi). I know many will argue with me that New York has many commuters which would skew this number, but either way, I think the statistics show that there is a definite similarity between Buenos Aires and New York City. And this affects my everyday life in more ways than I could have originally imagined.

I think the biggest thing I’ve noticed, and this may have to do with constantly speaking Spanish as well, is that I need more sleep. In State College, I never had a problem consistently getting 6 or 7 hours of sleep and continuing on with my life. But here, if I get 6 or 7 hours one night, I may make it through the day, but will need to make up for that sleep later on. I know they’ve done numerous studies showing that city life is exhausting and now I can whole-heartedly agree.

Another thing I can’t escape is the noise. Whether it’s construction downstairs in the apartment building or loud noises from protests, there is constant noise. The only place I’ve been so far that has been completely quiet was the National Library. And, in my opinion, that building is just slightly depressing in general (if you want to see what I mean, google image search for Biblioteca Nacional Argentina). I’m amazed the noise hasn’t drove me nuts yet. My parents can surely attest that excessive noise and I do not get along well.

I’ve also benefited in some ways from the big city. It definitely provides entertainment and there is constantly something going on here. I’ve benefited from the tango festival, multiple museums, and the zoo.

However, taking into account all of these factors, I’m starting to realize that the city isn’t a place where I want to be for a long time. I’m thankful for this realization and, honestly, cannot wait for my spring break to Chile (in a couple days!), when I have the chance to get out of big cities and enjoy the countryside. It’s quite interesting that one of my friends has a twin sister in Chile, who can’t wait to explore Santiago with us, but all of us from Buenos Aires really aren’t excited about Santiago–we want to get out of the city.

Location: Carlos Pelligrini, ciudad autonomia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

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