Ultimatemente

Ok, well I finally am getting Portugues, not finally its only been like less than 3 weeks but Im getting it. Its soooo fun! I love the strange mix in my brain right now of all 3 languages. I really feel amazing right now except for I only slept for 3 hours last night and I HAVE to take a nap right now but I just wanted to get this all out before I forgot what I wanted to say. So I went with Jillian and we went to a friends house here in Palermo where she lives with a Brasilian and was having a party at their house. So I started chatting in Portuguese hahaha, it was a disaster but they told me I speak good for only 2 weeks taking a class. haha whatever! Anyway from there we went to say good bye to the Italians who I went to the south with, they took off today back to Italy. I really hope I see them again. It was fun, a mix of Italian, Spanish, English, Portuguese at the table. Jillian speaks Italian and obviously they do too and everyone speaks English and then we were speaking Spanish with the Argentine girls and blah it was fun. Languages are amazing! Then Jill left and my yoga buddy from Canada, the Canadian Argentine came to meet me and we returned back to the party to only find everyone really drunk and then the Argentine neighbor was banging on the terraza and telling us to go to hell and she was really mad. But with good reason because it was late, but again this is Buenos Aires. So then I arrived home at 4 am and had class at 9 eeek. I got like 4 hours of interrupted sleep and ran off to school. There I just love my class, I love the people Im taking it with and I just really feel good about it. Me and a guy from Colombia, Sandro, were chatting during the break about all our travels and blah! It was cool. He works for a hotel and wants to come work in the US with the same hotel. It would be amazing for him. Anyway, then I went to do an hour of practice for Portuguese and the guy who works in the computer lab started talking to me and I ended up chatting with him for an hour or so about everything, really nice guy and speaks Portuguese yay! So then I was running late to pick out my classes but I arrived on time and I have my class for next semester yay! Macroeconomics, Portuguese, a class on Mercosur, and then Globalization in Latin America. Should be a good semester. But anyway, Im really tired and I should nap or else I might feel awful tonight when I go to Jillians house to cook tonight. Tomorrow Im going with my friend Brian to the Museo of Fine Arts de Bellas Artes and then sunday I intend on going to the pool with my Peruvian friends but...its been cancelled 3 times already, we will see. Anyway, school starts real soon. Im really excited. Only one week left of vacay!

Chau
Love Rachel

Mi Finde and Los Ultimos Dias

Well, my life is going great here. Im really happy! On Saturday I went to a girlfriends bday party where I spoke only Spanish thank god because for a while there I felt like all I was speaking was English with Steven, Jannie, and now with Jillian from Salinas o and my friend from Canada. It was good, we stayed up late and everyone went to a bar around 430 am. I got home around 6 am and passed out. Of course I woke up late on Sunday at 130 eeeek. I went with Jillian to China Town where we spoke only Spanish so that she could practice. It was really good! Then afterwards I came home and studied Portuguese and passed out, it was a long day. Lately here its been pretty rainy and stormy, which I like for this city because the humidity is awful! Anyway, so I went to my class this morning and we got a new teacher which I like a lot better than the other. She is from Brasil and is really really sweet and helpful. I feel like I have improved my Spanish by taking this class than my whole time I spent at Belgrano in the first semester. I am really happy! I really feel fluent now, a cuban guy who I met last week told me I am a true Argentine, I talk like one, I act like one, and I drink mate like one haha. Anyway, its good I guess. So news! They have a Portuguese class at Belgrano. Its in the major of the Hotel Business but who cares, as long as its Portuguese right. It goes over grammar and verbs and vocabulary, more vocab in the area of Hotels but anyway its free! And if I dont like it, Ill probably take another session with CUI. I really like CUI, thats where Im going right now, they have another session starting around the 20th of March and its only 130 pesos I think. I really am enjoying the Portuguese class, especially now that I can understand it better haha. Anyway, Im off to do yoga and then study since its raining and I cant go walking around because there isnt a good draining system in the city, the streets are basically flooded.

Love you all!
Love Rachel, the happy wanna be trilinguist

Estan cayendo sobrete de punta!

Wow its raining soooooo hard right now. Super storm so I'm stuck in the house and Im sweating as usual. Tonight Im going to see the Rocky Horror Picture show with a friend from Germany at the MALBA. Should be entertaining. Last night I got together with Jillian my friend from Canada for a night of yoga and healthy cooking. We made mango and quinua salad, beets, carrots, and watermelon for dessert. It was really amazing! Very fresh. Then I got home pretty late and was soooo exhausted I didnt even have the energy to meditate and I slept through my alarm missing my Portuguese class. But that's ok because today was a party. Today I just hung around the house and did some chores, made some hummus, did my Portuguese homework. Nothing too exciting. Next week I choose my classes I believe and then a week later I start school yay! Anyway, I'm really glad that I am in this yoga group because Cynthia, the girl from Canada, is a really great friend. I might head down to her bar tonight if its not raining too heavy. Anyway, I got kickboxing in about an 1 and a half and I would like to read a little in my Buddhism book. Talk to you all soon, on Sunday Im supposed to go to the pool with my peruvian friends but we will see, its been raining soooo much lately.

O yeah I forgot to say, yesterday after class I was asking the front desk for something, the hours to do the computer practice for the portuguese class. And this guy asked me, where are you from because you have a rare accent. I said California, and he said but you speak soooo perfectly Spanish. I responded, well what language are you here learning, he said English but I dont speak like you...he is from Cuba. I said well have you ever lived in an English speaking country. No, he responded, and I said well there ya go, Im sure if you did you would speak like me. It really shows how important it is for me to be here and now that my language is so much better, I can really study next semester on what I want to, like the environment and Mercosur. Anyway just that little thought....

Chau chau
Rachel

Me encanta mi vida

So my Portuguese class is going amazing, its starting to get a bit easier as the days go on, I can actually understand it now but I just need to work on my pronuciation. Its a good class and I get to practice my Spanish with the Argentines because no one speaks ENGLISH yay! I love it! I actually am really glad I took this opportunity to start on Portuguese because it really takes up my whole day, going there, the class, coming home, doing homework then the gym and boom Im back at home and ready for bed. Tonight, I went with Jillian, my long lost friend from Salinas and we went to my Canadian friends house to do yoga and make a healthy dinner. It came out great! I made this mango and mint and quinua salad with almonds. Quinua is like a rice or couscous but better, and then we had carrots, beets, and a hummus I prepared and watermelon for dessert. Super yummy! My friend Cynthia is a really great person, Im so glad I met her, we have so much in common, good food, yoga, and just generally being good people. Oh and also because I went back to veggie, I went to Barrio Chino today to get some soymilk and some other cool products. Its like this huge international market, they even have peanut butter! haha i Love it. I didnt buy but i can still think about it right. I couldve spent all day there. Well tomorrow I think Im going to see the Rocky Horror Picture show with a girlfriend and then Saturday is my friends bday from Ecuador and then Sunday Im going with Jillian to San Telmo to check it out and see if I can get some gifts now for my family. Anyway, all is well, I choose my classes next week and then the week after i finish the portuguese class and then I go back to school. Wow its going by sooooo fast now, I cant believe it.

Well, talk to you all soon I am soooooo tired and still have homework to do. I spent too much time chatting with the girls. Im sooooo happy Jillian is here, she is really a great person, no wonder we were besties forever when we were kids and we NEVER fought. Good person! Off to do homework and then pass out.

Chau chau!

ate logo!!!!!! tchau!!!

La BOMBA!

I met up with my friend from kindergarten the other night. It was soooo amazing, like we didnt miss a beat. Just chatted about what we have been doing lately and whats going on in Salinas haha. I met her boyfriend and friends, they dont speak much Spanish which isnt good for me because I dont need friends that speak English, I need hispanohablantes! But it was still good to talk to her and see her. Then last night I went to La Bomba with my friend Tomas who is from Germany and is heading back home on Monday. Awwww man so sad! But it was soooo great! Its an Argentine percussion band who plays African Tribal Music really amazing and they played for like 3 hours until 5 in the morning! I loved it! And I met two more buddies who only speak Spanish thank god! One Argentine and one girl from Germany who has been living here for 2 years and guess what she lives one block from me! How strange huh? Anyway, she doesnt speak English so thats perfect for me yay! And she is really sweet. So it has been really easy to go out to the clubs and bars and not drink anything, I actually like it better, I can get home at whatever 6 am, go to sleep and wake up feel fine. The only thing that bothers me still is all the smoking here in the clubs. I got a real bad headache last night from it and my chest hurt, but atleast I wasnt smoking so thats all that matters but not like second hand is all that much better for you. I feel really good lately, really healthy, no meat, no alcohol, no cigs, I feel amazing and lots of yoga. I thought that my Spanish was really bad after having Jannie and Steven here for so long and speaking English but after last night I realized I will never lose it no matter how much English I speak, the Argentine asked me how long have you been here? Two years because you speak so well! I said not even a year, so that makes me happy. Anyway, today Im going to practice my portuguese pronunciation haha and start on making my slideshows of my trips for you guys for when I get home. For those who dont know we are going to have one night of pictures per trip so get ready! haha! I started making my scrapbook of my travels here in Argentina, now I will be collecting little memorabilia in the city to put into it, like pictures of the flag, labels of dulce de leche and quilmes, etc. It is going to be great! I pick up my pictures that I had printed out for it on Monday. I have about 20 sections so far: all my trips from Cordoba to Salta and then my apartment, my roommates, the city, the subway, gay pride in Argentina, my birthday, the trips on the buses, mate pictures, friends, the university, and then I made a section for my going away party, the 200th yr anniversary of the South Americas Independence from Spain which is the 25th of May, and then my arrival back to Sacramento. I really like how it is turning out. Gotta find a place to put the picture of my Visa that says Im from France haha I love you Argentina. Anyway, talk to you all soon!

Love Rachel

La Clase Portuguesa

So Jannie has left me, another person to say goodbye to, so so so sad but anyway just means that I am closer to being home, even though I still am not ready to go home yet. Lately has been really great! I have been meeting a bunch of new people and I have started my Portuguese class, o my gosh how difficult!!! But good! I like the challenge. Its hard because its really similar to Spanish and still Im not 100 percent with Spanish like English. The sounds are different but the words are the same. Sometimes I cant tell if the teacher is speaking Spanish with a Brasilian accent or if she is speaking Brasilian Portuguese, but I understand it all so thats good. Just its hard for me to distinguish between the two languages. Im meeting a lot of Argentines in the class which is good and its nice because they too have difficulty with the language. Not as much as me but still its nice to have something in common with them. Im sure if the language was taught to me in English it would be a million times easier. So I also met a new friend on the bus today. A girl from the Dominican Republic, we exchanged information because she wants to learn English and of course I always want a friends that is native in Spanish. She said she couldnt tell that I wasnt from here so thats a plus! So I met her on my way to the immigrations office where I finally got my visa for the year! yay! Except they put that I am from France and was born in France on it, so I have to go back in one month to get the corrected version but anyway, who cares I got my visa! Im so happy! Finally! I really am feeling great now in the city, I feel like I have the language down, the city I know, and the people now respect me because I speak their language and know their culture. I feel amazing! Now time to do more research on environmental studies, I have some ideas in areas I want to try and focus like the Amazon or the South of Chile and Argentina where the glaciers are disappearing. Anyway, I have to do some more research on those two aspects.
So interesting little thing, my best friend since I was 6 years old just messaged me and said she is living in BAIREs, Jillian Mayfrom Salinas, CA. What a small world! We are going to get together tomorrow probably. Anyway, thats all the news for now, Im off to do yoga with my Canadian friend and then some Portuguese homework and bed early, last night I slept awful because I went to the airport with Jannie.

Love you all!
Rachel

Back to the City

Well we're back in the city, I feel so much more relaxed, the traveling took A LOT out of me! And we did way too much in so little time but I'm glad and pleased with what we ended up doing. I got to see a part of Argentina that I have never seen before and have done things that a lot of people that I know will never do or haven't done in their whole lives. I saw Iguazu Falls twice, climbed two mountains in Salta and saw the magnificent view of the entire city at both places, I saw the mountain of the 7 colors in Purmamarca Jujuy and then I saw old Inca Ruins in Tilcara, Jujuy which were amazing. Then we ran over to Jujuy the city and tried "spicy" peanut soup, which was neither spicy nor peanuty but still was good. We arrived back home sound and safe but completely exhausteddddddddddd!!!!!!!!!! We washed our clothes, took showers, and made dinner, chatted with the chicos, ate some ice cream and crashed, we were definitely exhausted. But I feel so good, my little Argentine travels are over but I definitely feel good about it. I am now prepared to travel in Europe and do some backpacking over there with my love Steven. Also, traveling to the North has really helped me open my eyes to the world of the environment and the environmental issues. The people in the north are more knowledgeable about the environmental issues of the Amazon and the tropical forests in Salta and the dry deserts of Jujuy. It helps me appreciate the need to preserve and protect these beauties. I really know what my calling is now in life....protecting what was given to us, the beautiful wonders of our world because they are only given to us once, once we lose them, they are gone forever. When I was in Jujuy and Salta, you can just see global warming in action...the huge gaps of earth where rivers use to flow, cover the entire valley. Plus it is incredibly hot one moment and then the next it breaks out into a thunderstorm, quite interesting. Anyway, enough of that, I will work more on figuring that out this next semester when I take my Environmental Issues class.
So today we are going to get some gifts for Jannie's family and for my parents since both of their birthdays are in this month. Then tomorrow I begin my Portuguese class!!! Yay and I can't believe it, I have one month until school begins then 3 months after that until I am done. I can't believe it! I will have to say goodbye to this lovely country and everything that I have learned but I feel good about it all so far. I don't want to go home right now, but if I were to go right now, I would be greatly satisfied. Anyway, we're off, LOVE YOU ALL!!!!
I love you cat, I wish I was with you for vday! We will celebrate when I get home. Kisses
Rachel

Jujuy y mucho mas

We are in Jujuy how amazing! We went to Purmamarca and saw the amazing mountain of the 7 colors. Wow so many colors and we tried the quinua y the humitas, which is a tamale wrapped in corn husk with corn, milk, and I dont know soooooo good. Very delicious, they eat more spicy food and healthier here in the north, I like it! Last night we celebrated the Carnaval at a little bar and listened to traditional folk music. It was soooooo amazing! This couple sang the coolest folk music and played a guitar and a bass drum. The woman had a voice so lovely that I could´ve listened to it alll night long and fallen asleep to it. It was amazing! I met a bunch of new Argentines that are from Buenos Aires, so more friends from the city. Then we came here to Tilcara and went to the Pucara of Tilcara which is an old Inca ruins. It was amazing! I can´t hardly explain, the pictures as well can´t explain how amazing it is as well. Then tomorrow we are headed back to Jujuy to try some Spicy Peanut Soup, that Jujuy is famous for. I hope its good. Then today, we are staying in a room with an Argentine, and we are all going to cook together. So. we headed to the market and on the way back I bought the book that Chavez gave to Obama because I was without a good book. Then on the way back I ran into two friends from Buenos Aires and right now we are chatting with them in our hostel. I have had such a great time here! I really love Jujuy, its amazing but now I´m ready to go back to the city and relax a bit. Its been a really heavy trip but worth it. Everything worked out well! No problems, no missed buses, everyone really helpful and everything really lovely and it was a great trip. I don´t want Jannie to go but I need a bit of a break from traveling and planning.

Bueno, les amo a todos!

Rachel

Salta salta salta

How beautiful! We are in Salta, today we are leaving however. We spent two nights in Salta and now we are on our way to Jujuy to see the mountain of the 7 colors and maybe the first Argentine flag. The mountain is in Puma Marca and then on Sunday we are headed back to Buenos Aires at 430 and arriving at 130 the next day in the afternoon. Then we are going to see a tango show for little miss Jannie and then she is off and me back to my everyday life. I have met a lot of great people on this trip! I had a really great time as usual. I am sooooo lucky in my life to be able to see everything that I have seen so far here in this beautiful country. Salta is green green green! Sooooooo green! I love it, we walked in the San Lorenzo Park yesterday and all I saw was green, the day before we climbed 1070 steps to the top of a mountain to see the entire city. This place is really beautiful! I could live here one day haha, I know I say that everytime after I go somewhere. Anyway, we need to get going, I will be glad to be back to the city and start my portuguese class and then school, going back to a normal set schedule. Bueno, entonces nos vemos y hablamos luego! Hasta Jujuy!
Chau
Besotes
Rachel
ps HAPPY BDAY RACHEL

Iguazu por la segunda vez y Tucuman

Well I did it, I went to Iguazu for the second time. Not as impressionable as the first but still amazing. Then from there we got on a bus and went straight to Tucuman...a 24 hour busride, wow how annoying. And the workers on the bus, what pervs, no jk but one was definitely a little more forward and wouldnt leave me alone. Anyway, now were here in Tucuman and Jannie is wiped out. We are getting on each others nerves a bit because I want her to understand it all and she only speaks English so she expects me to do all the plans, but I dont want to be the travel tour guide, I´m trying to enjoy the country as well. I feel like I´m working. But I need to be more understanding because she is all new to the country and yes doesn´t speak Spanish. Anyway, we will work it out. So tomorrow we are headed to Salta, the desert, and then from there we are headed to Jujuy. We won´t make it to Chile, no time but I think what we are going to do will be great. I´ll have to get back to Chile another time. I will have travelled to all the parts of Argentina that I wanted to after this trip. I will probably not do anymore Argentine traveling, maybe some more Peru, Bolivia or Chile traveling but Argentina I´m doneeeeeee! Yay. So, the next couple of days should be exciting since I haven´t done any of it before. I´ll write more probably when I get home on Tuesday, then Jannie is off.

Talk to you all soon
Love Rachel