Córdoba!

Hi friends!
I did something really spontaneous this weekend...decided Friday morning to go to Córdoba Friday night with Meagan and Genevieve! We took the night bus and arrive 9 hours later in this central Argentinian city at about 7 in the morning. We spent Saturday in Alta Gracia and Villa Belgrano, two towns outside the city. In Alta Gracia we visited Che Guevara´s childhood home, where we met one of his childhood friends Don Enrique Martín, who happened to be stopping in and told us stories about Ernestito before he became a revolutionary. Turns out that Mr. Martín has met Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, when they came to the museum in 2006 to learn about the young Che they never knew. How cool!

In Alta Gracia we also stumbled upon a couple from our hostel from London and met another couple from New Mexico and joined up for empanadas and to see some Jesuit Missions. We took another bus ride into the Central Sierras to Villa Belgrano, a German settlement where they host Octoberfest every year. We came upon a strange touristy castle gone petting zoo that was closed but the owners let us come in, chase the peacocks and take pictures of all the kitchy carved decorations. Very bizarre. After that we went to a microbrewry and a chocolate shop...when in little Germany... We returned to the city after a long and horribly bumpy bus ride, cleaned up and went out for CHINESE FOOD. Something we've been lacking and dreaming about for 3 months now. We also explored the main drag of bars in Córdoba, which were hoppin with students, as Córdoba is home to 7 universities.

On Sunday we went North two hours to La Cumbre, a town that is said to have an English influence. It was truly quaint! We ate on the lawn of an old house turned restaurant and admired the friendly stray dogs, half expecting someone to start a croquet game. The food was wonderful...fish! Another thing we haven't eaten much of in Mendoza. The service was amusing...after our 2 hr long lunch (lots of great chatting) we started wondering were the waiter went. When I went in to use the bathroom, I found all the staff eating family style at a huge table, watching a soccer game...rather THE soccer game: Boca vs. River (they call this match of rivals el Clásico). How Argentine. With the rest of the afternoon, after a ride from a friendly Córdobesan couple and a taxi ride with a funny old man, we arrived at the start of the Camino of Artesanos, a long country road with a view of the Sierras, dotted with shops selling handicrafts, wine, and food and enjoyed the walk and the unusualness of it all.

We barely made it back to the city in time to catch the bus back to Mendoza. But all is well that ends well! We got on the bus, were served good wine with our sketchy bus food, watched You've Got Mail in Spanish subtitles, and slept through the night back to Mendoza.

As for my life in Mendoza, spring has sprung here and the city smells like flowers. I am so content walking place to place. I've been spending a lot of time in the Medical School, assisting anatomy lectures, tutorials, labs (with cadavers...very cool for a premed student), and breaks in the courtyard with my classmates. I've also been volunteering once a week in the hospital in labor and delivery. Last week I saw my first birth in Argentina!

The days are starting to be numbered...I don't like to think about how much time I have left or that 3 months passed so fast! But each day continues to be full of new experiences, always something interesting. Today I went to my firstpremire division soccer game! Its high time to start doing the things on my Mendoza list that I've always said I wanted to do here. For now, I'm looking forward to something familiar this weekend: HALLOWEEN!!

Happy Halloween!
Jennie

Santa Fe or Bust

Hi everybody!!

As the time here goes faster and faster, these updates are coming slower and slower...you'll have to bear with me and wait for more details when we next meet, my friends.

Since we talked last, I passed my first exam (history of political ideas), finished my class in the Med school (Doctor-patient relation), and went to Uruguay for SPRING break (strange, I know).

Here's the Uruguay run down: went with my two friends from my program, Caroline and Cati.
Spent 2 days in Buenos Aires. Saw The Eva Peron Museum (soooo chic and intriguing), the Botanical Gardens, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Beautiful Art), walked the neighborhoods of Palermo Soho and Palermo Hollywood, ate great Lomos (juicy steak sandwhiches), and went dancing in el Museo, a club housed in an enormous warehouse built by Eiffel.

Took a ferry to Colonia, Uruguay. Danced in the mid-cruise salsa show becuase Cati volunteered us. Saw the ruins of this colony that switched hands between the Spanish and Portugeous. Strolled the cobblestone streeets, smelled the flowers, browsed some odd little museums, ate icecream and watched the sunset on the beach. Stayed for one night.

Took a bus to Montevideo, Uruguay. Stayed in a hostel with our friend Max from UNC, who had been living there for the last 2 months waiting to find a host family. Walked the Rambla (along the beach), walked across almost the entire downtown, saw where they played the very first soccer World Cup, saw some historical momuments and churches, went to the Port Market and ate Uruguayan asado (which is exactly the same as Argentine asado, but they argue over this), went to a concert, and went to a Uruguayan-made movie. Cati parted ways with us to go see Iguazu Falls. Caroline and I went to Punte del Este, were the Argentine celebs go for summer vacation, and passed the day simply sitting on the beach in our jackets. Returned to Montevideo and stayed an extra day because we misread the bus ticket as one in the afternoon instead of one in the morning (they use military time down here). Spent that extra day on the beach eating Chivitos (another version of steak sandwhich, only enormous and with all the toppings...think the Uruguayan version of Chipotle) and spent more time with our new hostel family (Max and his awesome friends from around the world).

Took the overnight ferry (the same 1:00am one we were supposed to take the day before) back to BA with our hostel friends because they were just staring a trip. Took a bus to Rosario, Argentina. Say the enormous display of patriatism that is the Monument to the National Flag, walked the town, walked along the River Paraná, went out with a Colombian girl and a German girl we met in the hostel and had a wonderful conversation in english and spanish. Stayed one night.

Took a 2 hour bus to Santa Fe in the next morning. Mistake. It rained, everything was closed because it was Sunday and provincial and local election day, and for some reason no one could understand our spanish there even though they seem to have the same accent as in Buenos Aires. The church we wanted to see, one of the first colonial churchs, was under construction, and we lost heart in the cold and rain before attempting any other historical sites. We ate a good lunch in the onlyopen pub we found and revived ourselves with warm mate and candied nuts from the streetvender when we had to go back out into the cold. We accomplished one mission which was to try the special Santa Fe version of the Argentine cookie called an alfajore. We found the right bakery, but we found the Santefesino alfajore entirely disappointing. We took the bus back to Mendoza, and to our suprise passed through Rosario again. How ironic. At least we had comfy leather seats on the bus, good movies, and even wine.

Since then I have been enjoyed Mendoza, trying to soak it all in and take advantage of all opportunities. Since my med class finished I started a new volunteer role at a public hospital in labor and delivery and the maternity ward. The director of volunteers is a cute old nun-like woman who toured me around ever so slowly and prayed for me after. It was incredibly sweet. And I have to mention that we wore hot pink medical coats. I also went to the anatomy labs with my med school peers and saw my first cadaver. I'm going to try and spend as much time as I can joining in on their anatomy lectures, labs and tutorials because I can and because the students I've meet in the med school are now my friends.

This weekend we have a long weekend and I have been relaxing...can't get myself to do any schoolwork! I'm starting to realize how fast time is passing and I'm getting the antsy-listless feeling of missing all my homes: minnesota, north carolina, and Argentina (even though I am still here)...sounds familiar, huh? Kind of like exactly how I felt about leaving Minnesota when I wrote my first blogpost in July... hmmm, this looks like a pattern. The cost of making more friends and more homes is that you can't be in all of them at once. Wish I could. I'm with you all in spirit!

Hasta Luego, until next time,
Jennie