JDP in MDP

So we went on a group trip to the Estancia, which is basically a traditional ranch.   I was expecting horses, cows and very tr.  When we got there I realized that it was more of a tourist site than a real place to learn about Argentine culture.

There were no horses or cows, just some dogs. There were lots of plants but I have no idea what they were.

There was a pool and a tennis court.  So for a whole day we just chilled around the pool in the grass and played tennis.

The food was the most traditional part of the trip.  We each got chorizo, spicy sausage, as an appetizer.  We then had steak and dulce de leche ice cream as desert.  Everything was really well made.  I especially liked the sausage.  It was the first food I had in Argentina that was decently spicy.

There was also tango show, which was really great to watch but since this was my third tango show of the whole trip, I was a bit over the whole tango thing.

Overall, the trip was a good break from the stress of classes.

So JDP is back in NYC…

I just wanted to apologize to my readers for not updating as often as I should.   Things got so crazy and hectic that I barely had time to call my parents.  I will be filling my blog in on all the things that I did do because I dont want to forget it either!

So since its raining today in Mar del Plata, I’m going to be updating my blog.

So one of the most well-known places to eat in Mar del Plata is called Manolo.  Manolo is famous for its hot chocolate, pizza,  ice cream and churros.  My friends and I have been to Manolo like 49503005930 times so we have been able to try basically everything!

First for the hot (and cold) chocolate.  The hot chocolate tastes like pure melted chocolate, very rich but well worth it.  The cold chocolate (chocolatada fria) tastes a lot like chocolate milk. It was good but I expected something different.

The pizza was alright.  We definitely have better in New York.   The pizza I got was a bit cold and the crust was soft.  Although I didn’t really like what I got,  my friends said that the pizza they got was really good.  Maybe I just got a bad one.

The ice cream with fruit salad was delicious as well but the best thing at Manolo’s are the churros.  Theyre warm, crispy, covered with sugar and AMAZING.  You can order churros filled with chocolate, pastry cream or dulce de leche.   YUM!

Just when this trip began to feel like a vacation, we realized we had to go to classes. 🙁

So we went to classes last Monday and took a placement test.  The written test was alright but the oral one was pretty difficult.  Considering the last time I took spanish was four years ago, I guess it wasn’t that bad but, I still blanked.

Our classes are being held in the Facultad de Derecho, which is the Law School.   It is a 5 minute walk from our hotel, which, if I didn’t mention before, is waaaayyyyyyyyy better the hotel in Buenos Aires. Our hotel is called “13 de Julio,” which translates to “July 13th Hotel.” Argentines tend to name their streets and hotels after important dates in history.  Although this gets really confusing when your hotel “13 de Julio”  is on Avenue “9 de Julio.” Oh, Argentina!

They refuse to talk to us in English in classes but you catch on quickly.  One of our professors speaks really fast though.  I’m still also getting used to the Argentine accent.  They use the “vos” instead of “tu.”  I haven’t even heard of “vos” before I came here! Also, they pronounce the “ll” sound as something like “zjcho.” So. words like “pollo” and “llama” sound really weird.

So every week of classes terminates in a project and out first one was on my favorite subject, food! More about this on my next post!

So things have been pretty busy since we got to Mar del Plata!!

The first day in Mar del Plata we went to the beach.  The weather here is so nice!!  It was really sunny.  After attempting to get a tan, we went and had lunch.  The hamburgers here are really good.  In general, the meat here is high quality.

After going to the beach, we prepared for the New Years Eve party.  It was so much fun.  The restaurant was fancy.  The appetizers were a little weird and we didnt really know what we were eating.  It looked like meat wrapped in meat, but I wasn’t really sure.  The main course was chicken which was amazing!  It had a really creamy sauce.

They served really good ice cream for dessert.  They used alcohol to make it look like it was on fire, which was really cool!

At midnight, we had a countdown and then there were fireworks all around the city.  It was BEAUTIFUL.  The restaurant was on the water  and we could see the fireworks  from all sides around us.  I was so happy that I got to spend the New Year in such an amazing setting with such amazing people!

For our second day in Buenos Aires, we were scheduled to see a tango show. That morning we had to pack up all our stuff, which was a bit stressful because we were not informed of this until 10 am, when we had to go to the Tango Show at 1 pm. It was crazy in Buenos Aires because so many people kept coming in late because their flights were delayed.

After a mad dash to pack up everything I owned, we went to the Caminito Tango Show. The tango show was in the neighborhood of La Boca, which is sort of the ghetto of Buenos Aires. When we got there, we were afraid we were going to get lost because every single building was called Caminito! Luckily, we managed to find our way to the right building. The building was really colorful, painted with blocks of the colors red, blue and green.

We were served empanadas (YAY!) as the tango show began. The ladies wore the most stunning outfits and they were really tall and good looking. (Was I jealous? YES.) Tango is such a beautiful dance but they have to move their legs really fast. I didn’t even know that anyone could move their legs that fast. That was crazy!

After the tango show, the announcer came out and sang a song. I didnt really like him. He  was a cross between the Ken doll and  a cheezy game show host, really fake.

The food was really good and we got steak!! This was my first steak in Argentina and it was pretty good!

After the tango show we explored La Boca.  It was tourist season so there were a lot of street vendors selling souvenirs and tour guides trying to sell us tours.  I guess a few realized we were Indian and had their own ways of trying to get us to take their tour.  One bowed really low and said “Namaste.”  Okay, this was funny but then he says “My name is Shah Rukh Khan.”  We nearly died because there was no way that this tour guide (with a beard and ponytail) was Shah Rukh Khan. Like what did this guy expect us to do? Follow him because we thought he was Shah Rukh Khan?! Well he was wrong. We just walked away.  And then, THIS SAME THING HAPPENS THREE MORE TIMES WITH DIFFERENT PEOPLE!! What is this? One guy just walked up and screamed “Shah Rukh Khan!” in our faces.  I was surprised with the amount of knowledge Argentines had of Bollywood!

Instead of following one of the guides, we decided to stay and watch another tango show. This was outside and had a more intimate feel to it. The tango was really good and I enjoyed this show better than the first one that I saw.

After buying some souvenirs from La Boca, we went back to the dorm and got ready for our six hour trip to Mar del Plata. The trip was really long but I was really glad to finally get to Mar del Plata. Also, I have to add, that the stars are really bright. You can see the different constellations!!! Now, it was time for a good night sleep to prepare myself for the coming days in Mar del Plata.

Hi everybody,

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while the internet in Buenos Aires was really bad. Currently I am in Mar del Plata!! Here’s an update on what happened during the first day in Buenos Aires:

Our flight was on Tuesday night at was delayed by two and a half hours. We got to Ezeiza airport around 1 pm on Wednesday and reached the hotel at 3 pm. The hotel wasn’t too amazing, so I was glad that I didn’t have to spend a long time here. In addition to this, my room was one the few that did not have air conditioning. After resting for a while we decided to explore Buenos Aires. I noticed that there were lots of cafes and pizzerias. We went to a cafe and I got an empanada, which has become one of my favorite snacks of all time. For those of you who don’t know, empanadas are triangle shaped dough shells filled with whatever you want. Most empanadas are filled with beef or chicken and some can be sweet. I ordered tea with my empanada and I was pleasantly surprised by its high quality. I’ve noticed that they take their coffee and tea very seriously here in Argentina. (Starbucks aint got nothing on this!)

Buenos Aires reminds me a lot of New York because the city was really busy.  Its also tourist season so everyone you see on the streets is not Argentinian.  The weather here is amazing!! Its hot but if you go outside there’s a really nice breeze.

After getting food we continued exploring Buenos Aires. Some streets had been closed off which made the city into a mini court with street vendors selling knock off sunglasses, bags and fake Lacoste polo shirts. We also crossed avenida 9 de Julio, which is the longest avenue in the world. While we were walking we heard music and loud drums, thinking it was a parade we got closer to see what it was. We were wrong. We were moving closer to a very loud protest. We weren’t sure what they were protesting but we did see what looked like the Argentinian version of a SWAT team and the group kept igniting these really loud fireworks that made us all flinch each time one exploded. Not wanting to get caught up in a bad situation, we promptly left that area and found some new a places to explore.

We ate a pasta dinner at at a restaurant near the hotel. I had the gnocchi, but it wasn’t as good as I expected it to be. The gnocchi was in this weird sauce that didn’t match it. After dinner we all so tired after our flight and from all that walking that we went straight to sleep.

Hey yo, what’s with all this snow
Making me wait til tomorrow
To get on my plane?
I think I’m gonna go insane
thinking bout this flight
I cant even sleep at night

so im thinking its a conspiracy
by that rapper dude B.o.b
He’s the one who caused us all this pain
by making wishes outta all the airplanes
and rite now, i dont care about the critics
so im gonna change the lyrics
to “can we pretend that stuck cars
in the white snow, are like shooting stars
i could really use a wish right now”
Because my street aint plowed
and theres no way i can get out of the house
unless you expect me to fly out on a cloud…

And whats with all these airports, like JFK
What in the world were they doing all day?
They knew about this blizzard weather
but didnt bother to make things better
You know they couldve planned it
So that less people were stranded
but no now everyone’s stuck
and theyre all outta luck
Cuz the mcdonalds is outta food
and you know that aint good

So what’s with this snow
Ruining our plans, you know
Stopping our flight to Argentina
and to Egypt for Simmi and Albina
But we’ll get there eventually
even as our frustration grows exponentially
Soon, we be rocking Buenos Aires in style
and Albina and Simmi will be chillin by the Nile
And soon all of this will be just a memory
about how we survived the blizzard of the century

My flight got cancelled because of the snow,
Now I have to wait two more days to go.
I will miss the tour of Buenos Aires and the tango show,
But this does mean I have more time to pack though.

I should be on a flight to Dallas right now if it weren’t for this snow.  This morning, I woke up and began to get ready for my flight at 2:20 pm, which I hoped was early enough that it wouldn’t be cancelled.  I was wrong.  It was cancelled.  So then, my friends and I tried to reschedule to an earlier flight at 12:25 pm.  This also got cancelled.  Then, we tried to get on a flight tonight  at 10 pm that was flying directly to Buenos Aires.  At this point, I wondered how this flight wasn’t cancelled when the snow was supposed to get WORSE as the day went on.  Right after this thought, I was informed that this flight was also cancelled.  So then we tried to get on the direct flight for tomorrow. Can you guess what happened next? That’s right! This flight was also cancelled.  As of now, I am booked for the direct flight on Tuesday.

This whole experience was pretty depressing.  Since I will be arriving so late, I’m going to miss the city tour of Buenos Aires and the Tango Show.  Oh well, at least I don’t miss the bus to Mar del Plata.  Lets just hope that this snow clears by Tuesday so my adventure can begin!!

I gotta go but
Its gonna snow,
And then they might
cancel my flight

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Why must the first legitimate snow storm of the season happen on the day of my flight?! The National Weather Service issued a Blizzard Warning for the New York Area. I nearly had a heart attack when I heard that some other students’ flights have already been cancelled.  Hopefully this does not happen to me and I will be able to reach Argentina safely.  SAY NO TO SNOW!!!

Also, I haven’t started packing yet. (This is not my fault completely. I was unable to pack due some unforeseen circumstances.) —-> I am so STRESSED.  This means its time for DESSERTS!