*disclaimer: all dialogue actually occurred in spanish but has been translated for blogging purposes.
i don't even know where to begin. i've been here for two weeks and have been putting off the creation of this blog solely because i have no idea how to put into words what i've been experiencing over the last 16 or so days. for the first time maybe ever, words fail me.
for starters, let's say that this country is very different from anything i could have expected or foreseen.
poverty and the economy.
the country ranks somewhere between 21 and 23 in terms of national GDP and 46 in terms of human development. the dollar, additionally, is worth 4 pesos. numbers, however, never quite prepare you for real life experiences. i, of course, expected some measure of poverty but had very little idea how it would manifest itself.
as in any developing country, the dilapidated houses and pot-hole filled roads are a staple. what the numbers didn't tell, however, was that the poverty far from defines the nation or its people. from the minute i stepped off the plane, i was greeted with warm hearts and open arms. i'm actually surprised at myself for expecting any different. my experiences in other poverty-stricken nations - namely Honduras and India - have very much been identical to my time and interactions with argentines.
still, i have been struggling for quite some time to garner some kind of understanding of how the economic system works here. universidad nacional de córdoba, where i am studying, is free not only for all argentines but also for citizens from all of the neighboring countries. there are approximately 110,000 students enrolled in the university. in a time where my tuition at a public school in the states is continually increasing (32% increase in the last quarter alone), i simply cannot fathom how a country which a much lower GDP can afford to educate so many students free.
when i went to get my student visa, i talked to the immigration official for almost thirty minutes about this very topic. in his estimation, the ridiculous visa fees and reciprocity fee to exit the country, coupled with a thriving tourism sector and considerable taxes (though very similar to tax rates in the states), allows the state to funnel a lot of revenue to social services - namely education and health care.
as a student of the university, i am also granted an extensive insurance plan. for 10 pesos, or $2.50, i can have a doctor perform a house call. prescriptions are 60% covered and the insurance extends to psychiatric care as well. this plan, of course, is also available to all the students enrolled in the university.
the math doesn't add up for me, though, and when the actual semester starts, i'll be taking a class called "the social and economic issues of latin america," where i think i'll be able to attain an actual understanding of the economic system here (which is replicated in much of latin america).
to read about argentina's sick cycle of economic downfalls, read here.
politics.
the country is in the midst of presidential primary campaigns which i believe are held in october. i also think i will be here for the election of the next president. moreover, the province of córdoba is also holding gubernatorial elections. needless to say, i've come in a very politically charged time and it is very reminiscent of the 2008 elections where i was extremely interested in the political proceedings but could not participate because i wasn't of age. i'm very excited to follow the campaigns here.
from the ginormous billboards and ads plastered all over the city, it seems as the socialist party is the most well known (or maybe just the best organized so they have their name out more often). raised in american society where i was taught to inherently be wary of socialism, i'm beginning to think that with free education and such an extensive health care system, there might be something to this socialism. additionally, i saw one of their ads supporting a woman's right to choose in terms of getting abortion legalized here and so, of course, my allegiance has begun to swing towards the socialist left here.
weather.
the other most striking thing as i got off the plane? the fact that it was 32 degrees outside. thirty. two. degrees. i realize now that i am very much a socal girl through and through. i don't know that i've ever felt 32 degrees in my entire life - i mean, i've only ever seen snow once. to leave LAX at 94 degrees and walk into the middle of winter here was, to say the least, a shock. i haven't transitioned to the cold weather very well and keep the mini heater in my room lit almost always. it is, however, a live flame and i definitely lit my hair on fire this afternoon when i bent down to light it ): kind of surprised it took me over two weeks to hurt myself with it..
the cold front last through august and spring should begin sometime in september. i'm kind of excited to see the change of actual seasons for once (:
classes.
i've been taking an intensive spanish language class for the last two weeks and it will last for two more. by intensive language, they mean intensive. the class lasts for five hours a day, four days a week. there are weekly tests and homework assignments every night. i grumble about the work load but there is no denying that my spanish is improving dramatically. i think it's a very steep learning curve for the first four weeks and will probably plateau out by the time actual classes start.
i'm taking the CELU (or spanish as a second language proficiency) exam this coming thursday and if i pass with an intermediate or advanced score, i'll be certified as a fluent spanish speaker (: wish me luck!
the university is in the middle of their winter break at the moment so the campus is pretty much deserted. i can't wait to see what it's like when all 110,000 students are back on campus for the start of the semester.
i will be taking four classes at the international center, taught by UNC professors but geared towards international students for whom spanish is a second or third language. depending on my CELU score, i might be able to enroll in one class at the university where i will be integrated with argentine students. because those classes have no wiggle rooms for international students, most people end up dropping that class because its simply too difficult. i have my fingers crossed for myself..
social life.
as many of you know, i was terrified of making new friends here. i came without knowing a single person and as per my mom's brilliant suggestion, i talked to a few people from the program over facebook before i came but that it did little more than break the ice. there are quite a number of students who knew each other before they came to argentina as their colleges had contracts with the program. i, however, found this program on my own since the UC system doesn't really have any direct exchange programs with latin american countries.
as everyone was telling me before i left though, i made friends really easily and we've been sharing many first experiences together. we are definitely that group of foreigners who stand out in the crowd. i am quite literally the only indian in this entire city and regardless of where i go or who i am with, i draw stares because i look nothing like anyone else here. a lot of my friends blend in really easily here because argentines are so diverse looking. drawing upon a lot of european influence plus some indigenous/interracial marriages with citizens of neighboring countries, the skin color rangers from tan to extremely fair skinned. you'll find hair colors of all types here and the eyes. oh. my. lord. their eyes are freaking gorgeous. i don't think i've ever seen so many brightly colored eyes in one place ever. they kind of just make me melt (:
but as you can probably tell, an extremely tan girl with very distinct almond-shaped eyes and nose and dark hair stands out in the crowd. i don't necessarily mind the curiosity - it just has made me extremely self-conscious of my heritage. most people i talk to who ask about my origins are very sweet though and have nothing but compliments to hand out. i'll take it (:
the nightlife is poppin` in this place. the constant refrain amongst my friends and i is that we haven't figured out how argentines stay alive because they don't sleep and they don't eat. bars and clubs don't open until 1 or 2 am whereas last call in the states is 2 am. so everyone goes out at 1 and no one gets home before 5 or 6 am and during the school year, almost everyone has classes in the morning. still, you'll find people out at all hours on any given day. and as for the food, lunch is usually around nooon and they don't eat dinner until 10 pm. i'm used to fairly late dinners but with 10 hours in between meals, snacking is abundant. you'll very rarely find argentines who snack more than a late afternoon tea, though, so we still haven't quite figured out how argentines survive. us estadounidenses are struggling for sure.
the clubs are pretty fun. i've never been to one in the states so i don't have much to compare it to but i have to admit, the drunk boys get old very quickly. i'm hoping once we're more settled here, we'll either figure out a way to carry ourselves better in the clubs or we'll find something else to do rather than go dancing every weekend.
notable experiences.
1. what is the one thing argentina is known for? SOCCER. and by some freak stroke of amazing luck, copa américa was held here in córdoba! we went to the brazil v. ecuador game. my bets were on brazil and sure enough, they scored the first goal and i got all excited. the section over was a solid wall of green and yellow and they went wild but no one near where i was sitting was cheering. when ecuador scored the next goal, my section erupted and i realized one goal too late that i was sitting in the wrong section. my allegiance switched over pretty quickly haha. but in my heart, i was still rooting for brazil and of course, they won (:
2. the bus. córdoba has a pretty extensive public transit system but as is common in most developing countries, it runs on an internal clock unbeknownst to the general public. there's no timetable on which the bus runs. and really, it only stops when it feels like it. we tried to use the bus to get to the game but two of the buses we needed to take went right past the bus stop and even though the drivers saw us flagging them down, chose not to stop. we finally managed to get one to stop and made it to the game in time though (:
and so, after a semi-successful first bus experience, i thought i'd be sly and take the bus home from school once. i live thirty-ish minutes away from the university on foot and i was exhausted after getting little sleep the night before so i wanted to take the bus. i got on the right bus and we traveled down streets that i recognized. we're moving west towards my house but i know we're about 10 blocks north so i figured the bus had to turn left at some point to swing closer to my house. in córdoba, however, the street names change every 20 or 30 blocks and so i didn't actually have any idea where we were because i didn't recognize any of the street names. we finally turn on the street i live on but i had no idea how far we were from the house so i didn't get off. i figured that much like home, the bus would have to loop around at some point and then i would get off. well, we just kept getting further and further away from the center and town and all too quickly, it was too late for me to get off the bus and attempt to walk home. we were in a residential area and so it wasn't even like i could get off the bus and hail a taxi to get home. besides, a taxi from that point would have been pretty expensive. i started tracking our path on the map of the city i had so i could figure out where to get off and find my way home. an hour later, we were no longer on the map and i was the only passenger left on the bus. i finally sucked up my pride when the bus driver beckoned me over and i told him i was lost. he asked where i needed to go and i said downtown and he goes, you do realize we passed the center about an hour ago. oh yes. i knew very well how far i was from home. he took pity on my poor soul and after showing me where i should have gotten off, he went off his route and pulled up right next to my house and dropped me off. i told you - warm hearts and open arms (:
3. food. my family is wonderful at making sure there are solid vegetarian meals available. i eat a lot of pizza, pasta, tartas (which are kind of like casseroles mixed with a pizza), and potato and egg pancakes. after two weeks of zero spice, though, a friend and i were seriously craving mexican food. we walked about ten blocks to a place i had found online only to find out it no longer exists. so we walk back the way and pop into an italian restaurant but they serve no vegetarian food. so we ended up at a place called jonny b. good's which is supposed to be an american restaurant. let's just say that the concept of american food (or really purely ethnic food...) doesn't exist here and we paid a whole lot of money for a whole lot of nothing. we're learning the hard way, i guess.
i really am having SUCH a wonderful time, though. it's hard to imagine that i'm going to be here for another five months. time is passing by so slowly which is giving the homesickness a lot of time to settle in. i miss people from home almost to an excruciating degree but my novel experiences and time with friends here are an inexpressible comfort. i think once we figure out how to meld our own cultural identities with the reality of fully immersing ourselves in another culture, i'll feel a lot more comfortable. until then, suffice it to say that everything is much more difficult in argentina, in spanish, and extremely entertaining, awkward moments rule our lives.
*for pictures that accompany many of my experiences, click on the link on the right! and send me mail!!
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