Here's to World Enough and Time...

I'm really trying to ignore the fact that my semester in Argentina is almost halfway over but it's staring me in the face.

To borrow some imagery from "The Time Traveler's Wife," it feels like I've been at the top of a roller coaster. The first two months here I was kind of chugging up hill, getting used to things and just having a relaxing time. Now I'm at the final two months, and every day goes by faster and faster and my mind is screaming, "hurry up and experience everything, because the ride is almost over and you don't know if you'll ever be back again."

Happy happy thoughts.

Anyway, my midterms start this week and after that I'm off on Spring break! I'm going to Chile to explore and unleash my nerdy side (thought: do I have a nerdy side, or am I just all nerd?). I really want to try and visit all of Pablo Neruda's houses. There are three: one in Santiago, one in Valparaiso, and one in Isla Negra. I think I can do it.


If you didn't know, this is Pablo Neruda. He was the winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature, a Chilean diplomat, nominated to the seat of the Chilean presidency...and one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. Neruda HANDS DOWN bitchslap Shakespeare is my favorite poet, and I've been spending a lot of time this semester learning to read his poems in their original Spanish.

Know this man. Love this man.

If you love me, you'll begin to read Neruda's poetry. I recommend starting with his first book, "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair." It's really been freaking me out down here how few people from my program know who Neruda is. It's also really depressing. I want his memory to live on.

And on a light note...after Chile it's back to Argentina to visit Bariloche, the chocolate capital of Argentina. Located in the north of Patagonia, it is also a city apparently populated by avid gnome collectors. Good times shall be had.

Turning 21 and other things of some importance

So people are actually reading this thing...and asking me to update it? Definitely not the type of response I was expecting, so thanks everyone for reading it and encouraging me to continue!

Not that I would stop without your support...I like to think that I´m kind of a big deal.

Fun Fact: Briana googles herself quite a lot.

Anyway, here´s a quick Argentine update.

My 21st birthday was on Sunday! And I have no pictures of my birthday party from Saturday night! I was just too lazy to take any. But anyway, it was awesome. Here is a very faithful re-creation of what occured, brought to you by Google Image search. Not appropriate for minors!

My friends down here and I went to my favorite pizza restaurant in Buenos Aires, Romario´s. It was very tasty.



During my dinner, I began my first drink as a 21-year-old. It was a chopp of Brahma Beer. It tasted very legal.


Afterwards, my friends and I took a cab to a really funky club called Tazz in Palermo.


We drank cosmopolitans...


And tried to crash a private party. We didn´t know what it was when we tried.


Anyway, around 2am some of my friends got tired and went home. We had a field trip early in the morning, so they wanted a good night´s sleep.


Me and my friends Amanda and Sarah J on the other hand, decided that sleep was not a necessary tennet of attending a field trip. We stayed at Tazz for a little while longer and danced.


On Sunday morning, we went with IES to the town of El Tigre...we were very very tired. I was happy it was my 21st birthday, but I just wanted to curl up in a little ball and sleep.


Yes, I know you guys expected my 21st birthday to look like this:


But I´m classier than that.

Sure, watching too much TV is bad for you. And breathing in too deep will make your lungs explode.

Hey, I don't know if this company exists in the United States. If it does, has anyone seen this music video? It's my life right now.



I love Argentine television a little too much. There is a television in my room here and that's something I'm definitely not used to. There's always been one in my dorm at Ithaca, but because I had a roommate that's not one that I could turn on whenever I wanted, to whatever channel I wanted. Also, I finished all the books I brought during my first week here and don't want to spend money on more.

Anyway...Argentine television. First of all, the censorship seems to be nil. Know those special "call a sexy friend" type commercials that come on after midnight in the States? Here they're on ALL the time. On every channel. That's right, Disney Playhouse. I'm looking at you. There seems to be an abundance of Christmas-themed ones lately...

And exercise products! Belly busters and other weird torture devices abound. I feel like in the United States we have transcended these products...and take lots of pills instead.

Different channels too. No NBC, ABC, CBS yada yada yada. There's some national stations, like Cronica TV and Telefe. And then there's the Universal Channel, the Warner Channel, and the Sony channel. They all have pretty decent selections, lots of familiar shows.

Sports stations? Bajillions. All soccer, of course.

Telenovelas abound. Love love love. And the music channels are glorious! Again, very little in the way of editing. Music videos that typically aren't shown after midnight in the United States, like say oh, Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" and most of the Prince catalog are shown at like 8am here.

I've always been a bit of a couch potato, but this is getting ridiculous.

"You are going to MENDOOOZZZZAA. Understand? Get on the bus that says MMMMEEEEENNNNDDDOOOOZZZZZAAAAAAA."

I came, I saw, I conquered the vineyards.

The title of this post comes from our friendly neighborhood bus ticket salesmen, who was smart enough to realize my friends and I are all idiots.

So here is a brief account of my brief visit to Argentine wine country.

After a lovely 15 hour bus ride sitting next to an even lovelier man named Max (forever known as "Christian" by my friends because of his very nice fitting Christian Dior pants), me, Brenna and Sarah J arrived in Mendoza. My other friends Jenny and Sarah W arrived much later in the evening.

First afternoon was national holiday. Everything was closed. The end, onto day two.

We traveled to the town of Maipu, where we traveled to different vineyards and farms for taste tastings. First up was Historias y Sabores, which makes their own chocolate, spreads, and liqueur. For ten pesos I got a shot of chocolate mint liqueur, four pieces of chocolate, and four spreads to taste test.

The chocolate mint was a little strong, but still tasty. I preferred Brenna's chocolate coffee shot, which I took a little sip of. The spreads and chocolate chunks were heavenly.

Next up: the wine.

We went to a little vineyard, where a young man taught us about how they make wine, and for 15 pesos let us have a little sample. And by little sample, I mean two huge glasses. I tried a young chardonnay and a fully aged cabernet, and took samples of people's malbecs. Very tasty.




Instead of Bienvenidos, which means welcome in Spanish the sign says Bienbebidos, which means "good drinks."

Did I mention we did this all on bikes?

The next day...I jumped off a cliff.



I spent the afternoon paragliding in the Andes. Don't worry; I wore a helmet.



It was SO much fun. I really didn't want to leave the sky, or Mendoza for that matter. I wish I was there longer. The landscape reminded me a lot of Israel and I got a little...would you call it homesick since Israel isn't my home? Israel-sick, maybe?

Anyway, Mendoza=great time. 15 hour bus ride home with the movies being "Shooter" and "Bad Boys"...not such a great time.

It`s going to be like Sideways, only Happy and Full of Hope

So I`m off on my first big trip out of Buenos Aires, and it`s about time! I`m loving this city more than life, but Argentina`s an awfully big place and I need to see it all.

So I am going to see it all. On a 15-hour bus ride to Mendoza.

That`s right...this lightweight`s going to wine country.

Mendoza is essentially the Napa Valley of South America, the home of the tasty tasty Malbec. And oh, do I intend to taste as much of it as I possibly can.

My friends and I are planning a bike tour of some wineries, but I have the feeling that they might just strap me to their bikes and drag me home by the end. Or leave my drunk sorry ass in the dust. I´m hoping to re-create the scene from Sideways where Paul Giamatti dumps the tureeen of wine over his head, and I think my friends are too classy to stick around for that.


Here`s to you, classy friends.

So I am leaving tonight, Wednesday night, and shall arrive some time Thursday afternoon. Don`t feel bad for me and the long bus ride/think I`m a crazy idiot; we got a nice bus with reclining seats, DVD players and meals. I`ll basically be incommunicado while I`m there, as the internet situation in the hostel is questionable. Then I`m leaving 7am Sunday morning, and will be back 11pm Sunday night.

Have a nice weekend everyone! Much love!

24 de Marzo-33 anos del golpe genocida

I know, I'm a little behind with the whole "March 24" thing. But I figured you guys would like to see my pictures of the day.

March 24, 1976 is the day in which the "democratic" (and I say it in quotes because it was super corrupt) government was overthrown by the military in a coup. It was the first day of the Dirty War, in which over 30,000 innocent people would be labeled subversives and disappear. In a nutshell.

And now, every March 24th, the people of Argentina declare a national holiday and march in the streets. They have a HUGE human rights rally, and remember those they lost. I was lucky enough to attend this year's event, and here are just a few of my pictures of the day.


I would estimate that about a million people showed up for the rally in Buenos Aires. It certainly felt that way. The event was held on Avenida del Mayo, and the rest of the streets were desolated.






The "parade" line ended at the Casa Rosada, which you may remember from a previous entry as the official government house, and where the human rights organization Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo walks every Thursday. At the end of the line were the Madres on a little stage, and they gave a speech about human rights, remembering those who disappeared, and getting justice.

Also ending at the stage was a HUGE banner that stretched across the parade, covered with photos of the 30,000 who disappeared. The banner was carried over the heads of people down the middle of the street, and at the stage it was folded up.

Mas picturas!

I'm in a cafe with wifi, so I'm finally able to post a few more of my pictures! Huzzah! This is by NO MEANS all I've done in Argentina, and by no means all the photos I've taken. They're just the ones I've saved to my computer...so it's really just a smattering of my trip thus far.


The cemetery in Recoleta. These are all HUGE mausoleums dedicated to hundreds of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Buenos Aires. It's like a city of the dead. Very eerie, especially when walking past it at night. This is also where Evita Peron is interred. But that's another picture for another day.



The symbol of Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo, painted on the ground in Plaza de Mayo. A reminder that even when they're not walking, they're working for their cause.



La Casa Rosada, aka "The Pink House." This is not where the President lives, but where the government works. The original paint used to make the building pink was supposedly bovine's blood.


The view from my window in my apartment. Jesus.