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!

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!