Friday, December 11, 2009
Summer in the South
Well, it has been a week of summer break so far here in Cinco Saltos, and so far, pretty uneventful, and VERY hot. One thing that is a bit interesting, we just set up the christmas tree, and it's a little different, to say the least. Nobody has real trees here, they are all plastic, and it is about three feet tall. A little dissapointing, but thats ok, atleast they celebrate christmas! I must say though, it is very bizarre seeing a christmas tree in my living room, while the weather is easily 85 degrees, and sunny! I am excited for the summer, it seems great so far!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Four days until summer break! For those of you who may not know, since Argentina is in the southern hepisphere, and the seasons are opposite from those of the United States, the summer break is also during the opposite time, meaning i get off school on friday! I get about a three month break, and should go back at the beinning of march or end of febuary, I'm not sure.
In other news, the weekend before last, me and my family took a little trip to a place called Villa La Angostura, It is sort of in the same area as the other place, San Martin de Los Andes. It's about five hours from my house, in the mountains, and on the edge of an enourmous and amazingly beautiful lake, it was very spectacular! We drove up on Saturday morning at three in the morning, and once we arrived, explored the town a little bit, had a little lunch, then took a boat to an island in the lake where we took a tour through an absolutely amazing forrest! I also met two American couples on the boat. One was from Colorado, and the other was from Los Angeles. The guy from L.A. was wearing a Rogue Brewing hat, so i asked about it, and it turns out his dad lives in Ashland! crazy. But of course i didnt think to ask his dads name, oh well. On sunday we drove north through the "lake district" to a bunch of different lakes until we got to San Martin, then drove back home. It was a sort but very nice, and breathtaking trip!
Until next time! Chau!
In other news, the weekend before last, me and my family took a little trip to a place called Villa La Angostura, It is sort of in the same area as the other place, San Martin de Los Andes. It's about five hours from my house, in the mountains, and on the edge of an enourmous and amazingly beautiful lake, it was very spectacular! We drove up on Saturday morning at three in the morning, and once we arrived, explored the town a little bit, had a little lunch, then took a boat to an island in the lake where we took a tour through an absolutely amazing forrest! I also met two American couples on the boat. One was from Colorado, and the other was from Los Angeles. The guy from L.A. was wearing a Rogue Brewing hat, so i asked about it, and it turns out his dad lives in Ashland! crazy. But of course i didnt think to ask his dads name, oh well. On sunday we drove north through the "lake district" to a bunch of different lakes until we got to San Martin, then drove back home. It was a sort but very nice, and breathtaking trip!
Until next time! Chau!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Quinceñera
Last Saturday was my host sister Guadalupe's fifteenth birhday, or Quinceñera, and here, its a HUGE deal. It was nothing like any kind of birthday party that i know of in the states, and it reminded alot of a wedding reception. It was very formal, everyone wearing dresses and suits, and there was over 150 people! It started with her entering the room with her father, everyone stands, and she greets her family standing in the back (including me!). After that, her father made a short speach, and then we started dinner. After dinner, she began dancing with her father, and then all of the men took turns dancing with her for a short time. Once that was finished, they turned on a bit more upbeat dancing music, and everyone began dancing. After everyone had been dancing for a while, they brought out the desserts, and everyone gravitated off the dancefloor, and towards plethora of wonderful sweets they had. It was quite an impressive selecton, i must say. Once everyone had gotten there fill of desserts, they began dancing, again. At about 5 in the morning, the served more food, this time beef, and everyone stopped dancing again and ate, again. Finally, around 6:30am, we got home, and slept for the better part of the next day. All in all it quite the event, and not something i will forget. It was also just really fun meeting all of their extended family, who all live about 10 hours away in another province, Mendoza.
Today is the birthday of Cinco Saltos, which dosn't really mean anything, except i dont have school! Oh ya, and my older host sister, Ana, has the same birthday as Guadalupe, but it was a bit overshadowed this year she is now 19. And yesterday was my host brother Juan and his twin sister Catalina's birthday too, 17 years old. But Catalina is on exchange in france at the moment, so im sure she had a great French birthday!
Today is the birthday of Cinco Saltos, which dosn't really mean anything, except i dont have school! Oh ya, and my older host sister, Ana, has the same birthday as Guadalupe, but it was a bit overshadowed this year she is now 19. And yesterday was my host brother Juan and his twin sister Catalina's birthday too, 17 years old. But Catalina is on exchange in france at the moment, so im sure she had a great French birthday!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
im alive!
Havn't been on here in a while (it seems like all the posts start like that, hm.), and frankly its because not alot has been happening. Got back from San Martin just fine and it was great, incredibly beautiful! I thought my 6 hour bus ride was long, until I found out that there were two exchange students from Tierra del Fuego, 40 hours by bus. wow. While there we had various meetings, and other boring events, but also went to tango and salsa classes, and had a boat ride and a picnic on the most beautiful lake I have been too! Other than that it's been pretty much the same around here, although my birthday was last week. For my birthday i had a party with the kids from Interact, and other kids from school, it was really fun, except, as some of you may have seen on my Facebook, i recieved the majority of my birthday cake on my face. sweeet. Then on my actually birthday all three of my host families, and another family that is friends with mine, came over, and we had pizza and cake. I recieved a wonderful birthday package, (thanks to everyone involved on that!) one the items was the new book by Dan Brown, The Lost Symbol, which i strongly recommend! Also, Argentina is going to the world cup! they beat our Uruguy to do that, and hopefully they can make it all the way! Also, if anyone has any good recipes, and they happen to have them in the metric system, feel free to leave them in the comment box, because im looking for some good grub to cook! chau!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
So I got back from Trelew, Chubut, on Sunday, and I'm off to San Martin de Los Andes tomorrow morning. Trelew was more of the same flat farmland, but San Martin is in the mountains! It will be the first mountains i have seen in Argentina, and the Andes no less! I'm going for the Orientation Conference for all of the exchange student in my district. It is from Thursday to Sunday, and have absolutely no idea what we will be doing, like always. Well there hasn't really been any fun exciting things for me to tell you about, but it's life as usual. I dont seem to able to upload photos on the blog, the internet is quite bad here, but i have some on my facebook if you want to see some of Argentina. http://www.facebook.com/chad.bernard
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Oh the joys of internet!
So for the last week and a half or so, my home has been without internet. We have absolutely no idea why, but when the repair guy finally came, he fixed it in about 30 seconds. Anyways, that's why I haven't posted.
On the topic of less than advanced technology, Argentina is a very modern country in some ways, and very ancient in others. Some examples are:
The house keys look like they would open the door to a medevial castle.
Not even the very wealthy people have clothes dryers, or dishwashers. (But they may have a mercedes)
Ford Falcon's are one of the most common cars on the road. But there is also an abundance of brand new Ford and GM vehicles, that do not exist in the U.S. apparently, the most popular car in Argentina is the Chevy Corsa, it is sort of like a Honda Civic. And also, these funny little Ford KD's (I think thats the name, i dont remember) that look like a smart car.
The milk comes in bags.
This morning, I saw the garbage truck. It was a very large wagon, being pulled by a horse down the street.
Well thats all i can think of now, here are some other things i've been doing.
There is a lake very close to the city, about 20 minutes, and many people have lake houses there. There is also a few resteraunts and stores and that sort of thing. Last weekend it was students day, which meant everyone went to the Lake on friday night, and came back Monday. Except me and my brother, we weren't allowed to stay the night, and i think for good reason. It was just a couple hundred houses full of teenagers and beer, and not an adult in sight. This is Argentina.
I also made french toast for my family and they loved it! except syrup dosn't exist, so it was just butter and powdered sugar.
Other than that its all been pretty much the same around here. Until next time!
On the topic of less than advanced technology, Argentina is a very modern country in some ways, and very ancient in others. Some examples are:
The house keys look like they would open the door to a medevial castle.
Not even the very wealthy people have clothes dryers, or dishwashers. (But they may have a mercedes)
Ford Falcon's are one of the most common cars on the road. But there is also an abundance of brand new Ford and GM vehicles, that do not exist in the U.S. apparently, the most popular car in Argentina is the Chevy Corsa, it is sort of like a Honda Civic. And also, these funny little Ford KD's (I think thats the name, i dont remember) that look like a smart car.
The milk comes in bags.
This morning, I saw the garbage truck. It was a very large wagon, being pulled by a horse down the street.
Well thats all i can think of now, here are some other things i've been doing.
There is a lake very close to the city, about 20 minutes, and many people have lake houses there. There is also a few resteraunts and stores and that sort of thing. Last weekend it was students day, which meant everyone went to the Lake on friday night, and came back Monday. Except me and my brother, we weren't allowed to stay the night, and i think for good reason. It was just a couple hundred houses full of teenagers and beer, and not an adult in sight. This is Argentina.
I also made french toast for my family and they loved it! except syrup dosn't exist, so it was just butter and powdered sugar.
Other than that its all been pretty much the same around here. Until next time!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Last Week Or So...
Hey, sorry about not posting in a while, but I'll try to fill in some gaps.
So first of all, it has been a crazy couple weeks, very busy, and tons to do. Last Monday was my first day of school, and it is VERY different. The teachers switch classrooms, and we stay in the same one, and the say ends at 12, everyone go's home to eat lunch, and on mondays and fridays we go back at 6 for gym.
As for the food, we have eaten meat atleast once a day, every single day! And the extent of their vegetables is usually potatoe salad or carrots. They also drink gallons of sodas. It's not the healthiest, but it sure is delicious!
To try and offset the overload of calories, i also started Team Handball. It's probably not what you think, cause we dont really have it in the states. in a nutshell, its kind of like basketball, except instead of a hoop, there is like a soccer goal, and a goalie. It is super fun, and I'm definitely going to keep playing.
I have been able to meet my other host families as well, because they are all very good friends of eachother, and they seem really great too! I went to a motocross race with my third host family, because my second host families kids race motocross. The son is around 13 i think, and the daughter is 7! It was so comical watching her going down the track, doing a solid 5 mph.
All in all, it has been an overwhelming, but very fun last few weeks. I hope to post more often, so look again soon!
So first of all, it has been a crazy couple weeks, very busy, and tons to do. Last Monday was my first day of school, and it is VERY different. The teachers switch classrooms, and we stay in the same one, and the say ends at 12, everyone go's home to eat lunch, and on mondays and fridays we go back at 6 for gym.
As for the food, we have eaten meat atleast once a day, every single day! And the extent of their vegetables is usually potatoe salad or carrots. They also drink gallons of sodas. It's not the healthiest, but it sure is delicious!
To try and offset the overload of calories, i also started Team Handball. It's probably not what you think, cause we dont really have it in the states. in a nutshell, its kind of like basketball, except instead of a hoop, there is like a soccer goal, and a goalie. It is super fun, and I'm definitely going to keep playing.
I have been able to meet my other host families as well, because they are all very good friends of eachother, and they seem really great too! I went to a motocross race with my third host family, because my second host families kids race motocross. The son is around 13 i think, and the daughter is 7! It was so comical watching her going down the track, doing a solid 5 mph.
All in all, it has been an overwhelming, but very fun last few weeks. I hope to post more often, so look again soon!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
First Days
The first days in Argentina have been quite overwhelming, to say the least. I arrived in Buenos Aires on monday, at about 8 am. we spent the next couple of days in Buenos Aires, because my host sister was also going on exchange to France. We went to the shopping center and ate some wonderful food. After that we began the 11 hour drive to Cinco Saltos. We made a stop in Bahia Blanca, and i got to spend a few hours with Nacho, the exchange student who stayed in my house last year. Then we continued, arriving in Cinco Saltos around 3 am last night. today i woke up around noon, and my 3rd host parents were at the house. My 3rd host father made a wonderful asado (barbecue with many kinds of meats.) Cinco saltos is a wonderful town of about 30,000 people. my host family seems to know every single person in town, and i am meeting new people all the time.
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