The Quest

Hola todas! (hello everyone!)

For those of you that didn't know, I lost my camera in Mendoza, Argentina on a wine bike tour, which was about 3 weeks ago más o menos (more or less). So the Mendoza bike wine tour was 45 pesos for 6 hours. There are about 11 bodegas (wineries) on a stretch of road, as in quite a few miles, and you bike to the various bodegas and taste the wine...It was great! Except as I was riding back, my back bike tire went completely FLAT, por supuesto (of course!). So I flag down a policeman in his pickup and he throws my bike in the back and picks up Alicia and Miranda along the way... Maddy was miles down the road with her back pack filled with 6 bottles of olive oil and 3 bottles of wine. Ha! That girl was a mule! Needless to say I got picked up by a police man on a "bike and wine tour",not for a DUI though :) But still it makes a great story...but my camera went missing in action (the point of this story) and was no where to be found.

I've been camera less since this time and well today I finally got one, a red Kodak Easyshare. I bought it on MercadoLibre, South America's EBay, but it's more like a Craigslist. Guillermo is my study abroad advisor and I asked for his opinion/help about how to obtain a camera. It is extremely risky sending electronics from the US...more than likely they'll be robbed in customs!! After shopping around I found the best one and Guillermo said I was good to go. Yes, Cat this person is not scamming you/ will rob you! But to obtain this camera was quite the interesting story. First off, I had to take the subway line all the way to where it ends ( a new part of BsAs I discovered). Got off the subway, was really turned around and well, (sorry mom & grandmother) but almost got hit by a couple of cars...oops. As in I found myself in the middle of an intersection, obviously not paying attention, as it turned green...yeah. Thankfully I'm okay; I haven't ran that fast in awhile nor have had that many Spanish cuss words screamed at me at one time. I finally found the address but was really confused... I paced in front of an office/house/ adjoining whatever about for 10 minutes trying to figure out which door and which doorbell to ring. Of course, I choose the wrong one and I actually rang the bell to a person's house and an elderly man answered and was very nice and told me to go next door. I go next door, walk into this one room office type deal, with a man sitting behind a counter with bars (like the ones in the Memphis's gas stations). Anyways, I slid my money under the counter and I got my camera...ha. I felt like I was doing a deal! I probably was, but I got a brand new camera for half the price! On the way back (still being out of place/turned around) I got on the subway, but in the wrong direction and well rode an unnecessary 4 stops more than I had too. Gah, I was doing so good with finding myself around. But to add humor to this situation, after I got off at my subway stop (FINALLY!) a guy carry two heavy large boxes asked me where a street was and I told him "diez cuadras más o menos" (ten blocks, more or less). He told me he was impressed that I knew my way around as a foreigner...wow, if he only knew.

on the way to go white water rafting

wine tasting. Miranda, Alicia, me, Maddy

now that's what I call "aging"

Andes

the super awesome, hippie rafting company's kitchen we used

Maddy & I being super cute in our wetsuits!

Pictures from Mendoza taken by Maddie & Alicia

Mis Pies tienen DOLOR

...in other words...MY FEET HURT for 2 reasons. 1) I played A LOT of ultimate over the weekend 2) I walked maybe 50 blocks (no not alone...with 2 guys) or more in ZAPATOS ALTOS (high heels) and that was my own fault, but had no idea that I would be walking that much...

Life is good besides torn up feet :) So to update on my life, I've FINALLY have had my first full entire week of class without any random holidays/all facultades have started! geez. It's been ridiculous. Mom thinks I am not in school, but trust me I am! It's just really different here.

First off classes only meet once a week for about 2 hours. I planned a very nice schedule of only having classes Tues-Thurs. So my schedule is:

Tues- Argentina History
Spanish for foreigners (3 hours)
night- Art class (figure drawing)

Wed- Argentina Literature

Thurs- Spanish for foreigners
Spanish Grammar

SO 5 in total, but this is considered a full schedule (see mom!). I was in this god-awful most boring class I've ever sat in my entire life on Wednesdays mornings but I dropped it! I couldn't handle it anymore. Imagine your most boring class, but multiply it by 10! There are no visual aids, no classroom interaction...no NOTHING! it's just an old man standing in front of you for 2 hours talking about Problems of Latin America (sounds interesting, right?) in rapid Spanish and you are suppose to be paying attention the whole time and take notes...its also at 9 in the morning and my mind is working SO hard to conjugate...it was awful and plus you have like a novel of reading to read every week...front in back of microscopic words in Spanish... I wasn't getting anything out of that class. I am here to learn how to speak and understand beautifully...that's the goal. Not having a ridiculous amount of reading material...try to understand it, and then completely forgetting what the last paragraph said because I am looking up some many words in the dictionary!

And that goal is coming along rather well. Ultimate is helping a lot with the Spanish! I actually made a joke yesterday, IN SPANISH...It's really difficult to be sarcastic (and I love being sarcastic and popping a joke when ever I can) in a different language. Anyways, yesterday there was an ultimate hat tourney (you put your name in a hat and it is drawn out randomly to pick teams...way fun) anyways, after the great exhausting day of ultimate, it was time for the Team picture... My friend Felipe told everyone to say "CHEESE" but I said , "QUESO" (cheese in Spanish) and my mouth formed this huge O and looked really funny. I guess that's why they say "Whiskey" instead of "Queso" in Spanish to make you smile..ha. This probably doesn't seem that funny (one of those situations "you had to be there"), but trust me it was. I'm glad I made a funny, finally! :)

But for the high heel pain. I met up with my friend Ben and David to go to our friend Piña's...Ben said oh just a few blocks...so I wore my heels that were just sent from the US (thanks mom) because I had no idea how the night would go, which of course went as I thought...going out to an boliche (dance club) and to a random Argentinean house party. Needless to say it was a good time, but lots and lots of walking and blisters to show for it.

That's my randomness for now. Hope everyone is happy and well.
Love, Cat

Ultimate- the family around the world

Buenos Aires has officially messed up my sleeping situation. I cannot tell you the last time I've been to bed before 2 am...It is now 3:15 on a Sunday night (granted, I don't have class tomorrow, but need to be productive) and I am not really THAT tired to be sleeping right now...obviously; also it could be my stomach digesting the most amazing, delicious steak I think I may have ever encountered. Ahh. My friend's boyfriend is visiting her from the States and we took him out to eat tonight to one of the best parrillas (steak houses) in town, Desnivel....and what is even greater about this place is how inexpensive it is for the quality of food. From sharing between five people- 3 plates of mashed potatoes, 3 liters of wine, and a 12oz individual steak grilled to perfection (*they don't even asked how you want it cooked, they just bring it out as if they can read you mind...needless to say, I'm a med-rare person and this was PERFECTION) cost me about $12.43 US dollars. Incredible. And this is of course is done with all Argentinean fashion...late. We didn't leave the restaurant until 12:15 and just spent the time talking amongst ourselves and enjoying each others company.... I think this might be one of the things I am going to miss the most here, dinner time and how it is such an appreciative thing. Yes, there is fast food, McDonald's are everywhere, but its not something people go out for dinner ...and plus they are SO EXPENSIVE here...more so than in the US. Plus I never eat there anyways, EXCEPT I did one time at the Kosher McDonald's, yes, there is an actual KOSHER McDonald's (apparently only 2 in the world) three blocks away from where I live. I live in one of the largest Jewish Orthodox neighborhoods in Buenos Aires and possibly in the world, excluding Israel. Buenos Aires has a huge number of Jewish Orthodoxes. It's really random, especially for this being such a large Catholic country.

NOW to get to what this blog is ACTUALLY about....ULTIMATE! Yes, ultimate frisbee that is. I have been playing for about 3 years or so competitively. In order to fully understand what I am explaining one would have to play or just been there as a spectator to gather the feeling of family... In other words, ultimate frisbee players are by far some of the coolest/nicest people you could ever come in contact with, especially when you are new. If you play ulimate, you are automatically in, as in.... I automatically like you no matter how much you suck, but if you come out and throw a disc and have a good time then I like you. Needless to say everyone is friends with everyone. It's like a family. You travel together, you play the most fun sport ever together, and it's just constant sharing 24/7.... Of course I'll get your beer tonight and give you some extra centavos for the bus (you have to have correct change for the bus and they only accept coins...Problem, there is an EXTREMELY large issue of shortchange and you are CONSTANTLY struggling looking for coins). Everyone is so nice and welcoming. I've been experiencing this feeling from Utlimate for the past 3 years now. It all began when I joined the Big Orange Screw my freshman year at UT and it has grown into a beautiful relationship from there. My best friends at UT are from Ultimate, whom I miss dearly, some of my best college experiences have been with those people, and I have had the opportunity to travel and do some of the coolest things with my best friends from tournaments....ummmm can I just say, MARDI GRAS!!! My point being, I moved to Buenos Aires without knowing a soul, went out to Ultimate, and have met SOME incredibly AWESOME folk....From all over the world. There is a plethora of Argentineans, Colombians (a lot!), a few Germans, Danish, Fiendish, and Americans. I'm meeting some awesome people and really enjoying the time and experiences I've had with them and look forward to the next 3 months! I am actually enjoying Ultimate the most I've ever had in a while. It is almost unreal to think I've already been here for 2 months! And the other great plus to Ultimate, it is GREAT speaking practice!
PS. All the ultimate lingo is pretty much the same. What a universal sport.