My Love & Hate Relationship.

Love.
So... I wanted to spill my guts about how I feel about a particular thing, which is a constant love in my life while in Argentina... that is...SPANISH or Argentine Castellano, which pronounced, caste-SH-ano, is significantly different from all other forms of Castellano (this means Spanish language). Unlike the Castellano spoken in Argentina other Latin American countries like Mexico, Chile, and Spain for instance, the "ll" makes a "ye" sound instead of a "sh" sound. For instance, the verb llover in most places is pronounced "Yeo-ver" and here in Argentina it is pronounced "Sho-ver".
One can definitely say it's quite peculiar...

Is Argentina trying to copy the Italy???

Is Argentina trying to get massive attention for pronouncing regular Spanish words strangely?

I, believe, now being apart of/ having the Porteño lifestyle (a Porteño is a person that live in Buenos Aires) that Argentina is being Argentina. They are not mimicking anyone or trying to get notice by the world. Within the rich history of Argentina and the mixing of cultures from Europe and the indigenous people this interesting, different, and refreshing caste-SH-ano appeared.

Some other differences in Argentina Castellano from other Castellano is using the Vos from. However, please do not get confuse Vos with Vosotros. When speaking in the 2nd person singular from usually a person would say "Tú" but in Argentina, they use "Vos". In addition, conjugating is slightly different as well.
Examples:Vos comés – tú comes, Vos querés – Tú quieres, Vos hablás – Tú hablas
In Vos, the emphasis is on the last syllable of the verb which is why an accent is added. Also the stem changing verbs like querer, do not change in vos from. I just wanted to share some of my knowledge about this amazing culture I have come to love.

Hate.
Listen, I'm going to be real with y'all. Most days I get so damn fed up with Spanish.
People talking to me in Spanish...
Me trying to talk in Spanish...
Hearing the word "Spanish" even ticks me off!

Sometimes, I will just come home exhausted from the long day of classes. And I'll just want to listen to my music (mostly in English) and drown out ALLLLL the Spanish spoken around me. I hate the fact, I am not able to understand people once I have add a question in Spanish. I also hate the fact that sometimes can't add anything... I said anything...to a conversation if my host parents or any family comes over.
Sooooo infuriating! I hit a wall, so many walls and it feels like I can't climb/jump/grapple/whatever over the dang thing!!!! ughhhhhhhhh!

I hate not being able to speak/understand simple Spanish like if a person were to ask you "Hey! How was your day?" Or "What are you plans for the weekend?" There are some many ways to say one thing it is very difficult to remember all the way. Sometimes I even get lost in the translating in my head and there will be one few word I don't know which causes me to be stumped. Many days, I don't even want to try...or give anything thought toward... that word...
Something I found out while studying here in Argentina, is that when a person has class that is spoken in another language it forces your brain (usually) to focus more since you may not understand. Unlike in English spoken classes, an US breed American would have to been dosing off and not even paying attention (this happens not just with me but a lot of my friend). Now, since my brain is being forced to focus more... it just becomes a huge OVERLOAD.

Then I start to scream inside...
shouting random cuss words...
become just cold and get irritated easily...
I feel overwhelmed and can't help to think...I'm not cut out for this.

Learn.
All this said and done, I try to remember a quote my Aunt Lori wrote in a card she sent me.

"There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there; you most go beyond them." -Bruce Lee

Lesson 101: Sometimes all you can do is "keep on, keeping on" when things like life, homework, relationships, family, friends, work and especially language get tough. One must have that faith that your headed in the right direction and moving forward. That is all one can hope for as well. My love/hate relationship with Castellano may be frustrating A LOT of the time but if I keep on trying something will give and it won't be me.
Now this is when someone says "Mira vos" which is the equivalent to "Well, look at you!" :D

Lujan Zoo...where I can feed leones, tigres y osos! Oh my!

That's right.

I went to the Lujan Zoo which is about 2 hours out from Buenos Aires which is semi-famous for letting a person literally...feed, pet, and play around with the animals. I kid you not!

I met up with some friends: Scott, Caitlin, and Patrick at Palermo Zoo in Plaza Italia then from there we had to go across the street to buy a ticket for a round trip to Lujan and back to Buenos Aires. The ticket all together was 20 pesos (Awesome). Then we waited to catch the 57 bus and got at about 12:15pm. The ride about an hour and 50 minutes but a person also has to work in how many bus stops we take to pick up/drop off people.

Once we finally got there, my only thought....
"Pet tigers, feed an elephant and played around with some lion cubs=
This will be INCREDIBLE"

Jealous yet? Check out the pictures!
First we visited some tigerssssss :^D


Then the sea lions... presh.

King of the Jungle....kind of sleepy = big kitty haha.
Soooo can anyone find Bambi? Yes, we saw deer...lots of them.
I held an egg.... wow.

In that same area at the Zoo, some bears were fighting.... or more playing in their eyes.
I know crazy right?!?!? We ended up getting to feed the bears with our mouths which means everyone gets a wet and sloppy kiss from him.

AWWWWWW...it was really like WOW bear, you gave me a lot of tongue! Are you French?

We only got to do this because my great friend Krissy and Paul told us what time it started!
Sooooooo kudos to them!

Monkeys! This fool tried to take my camera when I was feeding him...trifling haha.

Toucan Sam!!! I didn't know you got locked up... dang.

Albino peacock was quite beautiful. I'm just saying if you don't have color you're beautiful also.

CUBSCUBSCUBSCUBSCUBSCUBSCUBSCUBSCUBSCUBSCUBSCUBSCUBSCUBSCUBS :^D

YES, I said cubsssss so cool. These cubs were right next to the turtle village I didn't get to take pictures of but that was awesome as well!

Next, we got to feed an elephant! Can you say you've done that? Probably not.
Some of my peeps (Myself, Patrick, Scott, and Caitlin...oh and the Elephant). After that we sat around for a little bit before we had to catch the bus back into Buenos Aires!

The Falls rivaled by all!

Hola beautiful world!
How are you today?

I, a few weekends ago, went on an awesome trip to Iguazú Falls or in Spanish: Cataratas del Iguazú.

Can I still you I have never seen something amazing with my eyes and in person?

------- I want to ask you reader, Have you ever just wanted to marvel something beautiful? I don’t mean cars and I don’t mean people! I don’t mean anything superficial.---------

I’m talking about beauty in nature and something so awestruck can leave one lost for words. Well, I went to on of those places haha. A few friends of mine went up north to the where the falls are on a long weekend in August. We thought as our first long weekend of school we should go somewhere we won’t forget. (Yeah I forget this experience)

Iguazú Falls is in the northeast province called Misiones of Argentina. The actually falls themselves can be seen on the Argentina side and the Brazil! (How amazing) To get there a person can go by plane or by bus. Since I’m still a college student (cheaper is better over comfort) we decided to go by bus which was 18 hour bus ride that was 826 pesos so a little passed 200 U.S. dollars round trip.

Yeah… 18 hours is correct.

I know everyone is thinking how terrible to be stuck on a bus that long. Well, we had snacks, drinks, our ipods, a book, and there is even a movie playing at a certain. Lucky for us our journey was overnight so we received lunch, dinner and a little breakfast. Upon arriving at the bus terminal we had to figure out how to get to our hostel.

*side note – A hostel is a cool traveling hotel that is cheap, exciting, and different. A person is paying for a room like hotels but you’re paying for the bad you sleep on. It is a great way to meet traveler who are coming from around the world.*

The hostel we stayed, Hostel- Iguazú Falls, was pretty awesome because they have different theme for each night and we were only staying on was a Saturday with a theme of Samba/BBQ.

Just imagine a bunch of college students coming from different parts of the world together to dance, eat, and drinks = Greatness. Just look at some of pictures and smile for yourself

The next morning we actually went to the National Park Iguazú. It was 40 pesos to get in because we had visas instead of 100 pesos! Then once in we took a lovely train ride to actually get to the falls. As one is walking you will come across furry animal that looks like a mix of a raccoon and anteater haha.

Also while walking our anticipation was so high when we started to hear water I would say “Oh man, Oh man we are sooooo close” hahaha. Once taking our first look at the view… it was just incredible. That is saying the least! : ^)

Uruguay is like Canada?

¿Cuál es la gente pasando?

Well, I'll tell you whats happening with me! A few weekend ago my API group went on an excursion to the Uruguay and to the town Colonia. We took a boat which was really awesome. Its was like a the inside of an airplane but on water. On this trip we learned many things like about the settlement and fights between the Spanish and Portuguese, the stranger farmer man, tried different jams and even visited old ruins sites where castles use to be!



---- this pictures is of me on the ruins where a convent was built in 1694 and destroyed by a fire in 1704. Soldiers of Juan Manuel de Rosas started the construction of the Lighthouse in 1845. The work wasn't complete due to the Great War but finally finished in 1857!




Below is the a picture of just some of the strange collections of a farmer that our tour bus decided to stop at. We were all confused why we came all the way out to this farm but we came to see Colonia downtown... yeah well it was interesting to say the least.








Yep, He won a Guinness World Record for this. Started in 1955... okay I was really ready to leave when we walked in haha.







BUT then we stumbled through the strange collection of pencils, keys chains, and yeah... into a collection room of jams.

Yeah... at least we got to taste them right!
















HAHAHAH picture of me tasting the Dulce de Leche spread!!

Best one for sure!












----this is a picture of Gaby's arm haha... she is pointing to area of Coloina, Uruguay and then Buenos Aires, Argentina.

(Gaby is one of our local leaders in API Baires just fyi)

So, we come to find out visiting Uruguay from Argentina is like visiting Canada from the US.
Super. Simple.


Overall, it was a great trip and first chance for some of us in the program to get away from the city life that is Buenos Aires. What can you do? oh... yeah get on a boat and go to Canada... I mean Uruguay.




^^^^ Fun Fact: In this restaurant, I was swarmed by some kids from Uruguay who apparently haven't been to exposed to many darker skinned people. So many of them decided to ask some of the API students if I was from Jamaica and proceeded to ask if I will take a few pictures with some of them. Number one reason: the hair

Only day I felt like a celebrity. Maybe I should go back...

Chau peeps, keep it real

My race only defines a part of me

Hola todos!

I know I have been slacking (to say the least) in keeping yall updated on my adventures here in Argentina. I want to speak about some of the negatives about being a foreigner in a new city specifically a person of color. Here is an up-date for you…

I’m African American.

I’m Black.

I’m a Negro.

Yes yes yes. It is true. I have darker pigment than most people especially here in Buenos Aires. Since I’m naturally kissed by the sun there are a few reactions I have experienced while abroad and I think it is important to share with my peeps.

1). Stares. I kid you not when I say I get stared at by everyone. Everyone being men, women, children, grandma, grandpa, people working in the stores, people on the bus, people on the subway, people in the bank, people in the supermarket… the list goes on.

2). Long stares. These are the ones that get to me the most. I’ll catch someone staring at me…smile or say hola! (you know something nice). When the moment has passed what do people keep on doing STARING. Did I not just catch you staring at me and you looked away thinking (dang it he saw me staring). But, no they have the audacious to keep on staring!

a) There is an urge inside that makes me want to say “Hey, if you take a picture it will last longer!” in Spanish of course.

b) I also have the urge to give them the stink face like some give me.

3). People down here just love my hair. My locs and my skin color are the two things that compel wide eye stares. It is one thing to ask to touch my hair and asking how I do that I’m totally okay with because really in Argentina there is a very low percentage of dark skinned people. However some people love my hair so so so much or find it so so interesting that some have even asked “Hey, Can I have a piece of you hair?”

WAIT A MINUTE…

Thoughts

Do whattttt?

You want a piece of my what?

My hair?!?!?!?!?!

What will you do with it? I mean really? Are you going to sew it into your head? Or will you make earrings out of it? Are you going to frame it?

Needless to say, my friend Kathryn and I left that supermarket fairly quickly haha. I just wanted to clearly say that my skin color/my race is only one branch of this tree or it’s only one piece to the puzzle. Do you understand?

My race only defines part of this whole that is Jameson. There is my two cents.

Fun Fact: A lot of people think I’m from Brasil which is cool but… when I tell them no I’m from the United States haha ALL cool points go out the window.

One of the most marvelous places of the dead.

Sí... mis amigos... I said marvelous places of the dead.

We visited La Recoleta Cementerio on July 28, 2011. This cemetery became the first public cemetery of Buenos Aires. The credit due for the creation of this beautiful cite was the Governor Martin Rodriguez and his minister Bernardino Rivadavia. There are 4,800 vaults...wow is an understatement. A lot of relevant Argentine history rest in peace in Recoleta, for instance, politicians, military men, priests, and poets just to name a few.
Look at the long ally! This mausoleum is huge and just incredible to walk around!

This vault is the resting place of Luis Federico Leloir, who was a scientist that won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Also was the first Spanish speaking scientist to receive this outstanding award. His resting place was one the biggest in this cemetery! Just look at size compared to me?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!?!?!? locoooooo!

So for the picture above is a interesting one. It's not fact that I'm standing next to the rest place of Evita (María Eva Duarte de Perón) who was just so much for this country. But it's the fact I was not sure if a person is suppose to smile or not when taking pictures...next to someone tomb.

Yeah...well I did!
Some of my API peeps (from left to right) Erin, myself, and Caitlin then Kathryn is taking the picture!

This is Kathryn^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. After the walk through of the cemetery, we went to the grocery store to buy food because we decided to do a picnic dealio = Best idea. We brought hot bread, cheese, ham, yogurt, nuts, and grapes. That day was very nice for Argentina being in the winter season.

Stay hot and classy Texas.
Besos

My room and a little cookin too

Hola friends and family in the states,

Well, there has been so much that has happen and I haven't even been here for two weeks yet! So, my host family is awesome Rosario and Frederico treat as one of their own children. I'm very thankful for them and letting me stay in this apartment. So here are some photos of our place and my room. In most of the apartment down in Argentina have rooms where are smaller and on bathroom that doesn't have shower. This is where the live-in maid would sleep and so forth.
I wish I some windows but all its all good!



This the picture ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is the living room. We have a nice patio and that is also were Rosario does here gardening and put the laundry to dry. Below is the dining table and actually my first dinner here with my family. It was a breaded chicken with cheese and tomatoes on top then on the side had some cooked potatoes; very tasty to say the least. And it is called Milanesa con tomate y queso :)