http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/The Ziggz/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from The Ziggz en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:14:54 BST Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:14:54 BST Just so nobody complains I am warning you right now that this is a LONG entryhellippero s que vale la pena leerlo.Planning ahead we bought our Buquebus tickets the day before our trip. The blessing in disguise of the day was the fact that the earlier boat was booked and we were forced to choose the 1130 Buque Rpido. Kelly and I made it to the Buquebus DockPortTerminal with barely enough t http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Uruguay/East/Punta-del-Diablo/blog-286162.html Saturday was an even earlier start as we headed out to a hilltop Pachamama memorial and then to the HUGE salt flats. There is no road through the salt flats but the idea is to drive around on them wherever you wanthellipthis is where having rented a car and being on my own with a couple other people would have been FUN. The salt flats were pretty similar to those in Utah except much bigger and http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Jujuy/Purmamarca/blog-275272.html In case you donrsquot want to read the whole thing herersquos the highlights Intensely precise indigenous flute players Multicolored mountains A night out at a bar in Tilcara Argentina Numerous giant cacti PingPongDrinking games with the bus driver Incredible stars lying next to llamasOk now onto Jujuy Tilcara Humahuaca La Quebrada Los Salares y Purmamarca. If all those names http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Jujuy/Tilcara/blog-275271.html Irsquom back in Buenos Aires after a great weekend in and around Tilcara Jujuy Province in Northwestern Argentina. Besides being overwhelmed with city life I was more than bogged down with schoolwork and ready to get out of the city for a bit. Having never lived in a big city I experience new things every day without exception. Unfortunately I have not been able to write them all down and w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-275270.html Pesach started Saturday night and Ilana showed up at my house right on time at about 800. She had just come from a Boca Juniors soccer game. We drank a little wine to get in the holiday spirit and headed over to the Jabad on El Lazo literally right around the corner from my house. We walked inside and up the stairs. Entering into the seder hall I dumbly held the valuable entry tickets in my ha http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-271390.html There is a filthy cloud over the entire city possibly due to the current agricultural conflict. The farmers usually burn their soy fields after harvesting but this year they decided to do them all at oncehellipsome 70000 hectares. It is disgusting and has already been this way for 4 days. I thought it was misty outside the other day and then heard from one of my teachers what it was. Today I http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-266900.html We got up early ate breakfast packed lunch and headed out to the lsquoPiedras Preciosasrsquo mines of Wanda yes a town called Wanda. Our tour guide was fairly informative but I really had to probe to get him to spill the beans on where most of the real mining gets done. There was only one miner in the cave we went into so we knew there must be some other mines hidden. He said they were i http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Misiones/San-Ignacio/blog-264528.html I didnrsquot sleep much this weekendhellipand early 745 classes on Monday and Tuesday didnrsquot help. So I spent 6 hours after my first two classes today sleeping in a park. I meant to go to my last class but it just didnrsquot happen. Even with that long nap I donrsquot think Irsquoll have trouble getting to sleep tonight. Tomorrow is a more relaxed day and by then I should be ba http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-264483.html I am listening to Bersuit Vergarabat as I write this. They are an Argentine band that I am going to see tomorrow at Quilmes Rock the biggest Argentine rock festival. Back to the junglehellipToday was great I got separated a bit from my mom and Sharon but we each had our own adventures so it worked out great We started out together on the Macuco Trail a lesstraveled section of Iguazu Nati http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Misiones/Iguazu-National-Park/blog-262858.html I have REALLY been slacking on my blog but I guess it gives you time to catch up on your reading Although no new blogs recently I have been doing a ton going out at night getting used to my classes loving the differences between UCA and UBA and hangin out with my momThis is being written from the balcony of my apartment that I grow to love more and more every day. My mom and Sharon have be http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Misiones/Puerto-Iguaz-/blog-262845.html Today I had class at Flacso from 1153. Afterwards I went to an awesome restaurantbutchershop and got a Morzipan 2.5 pesos and a glass of wine 1.5 pesos while I read La Critica 2.5 pesos. Morzipan is a blood sausage in a sandwich and La Critica is a new independent daily newspaper that mostly examines what the government has been up to and what they did wrong. It is amazing how much conte http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-258221.html I have finally started all of my classes...and they all seem like they will be a lot harder than I had planned. On Tuesday I arrived at UCA just after 745 AM for my Creativity class with a new profesor. I switched to another professor who I heard was much younger and better. I heard right. We do almost all of our assignments with Adobe Creative Suite programs which I love I'm very excited to l http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-258205.html TransportationBusesCity The bus system in Buenos Aires is private and incorporates about 40 different companies. This is the main problem with making upgrades to the whole system as a whole. Because of this quilombomess the easiest and seemingly only way to seek payment is in coins. Most bills are too tattered to go into a machine and a electronic payment card system would require maneuve http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-255822.html Friday after I wrote the last blog I tried to rest up as much as I could until the concert. I ended up waiting over 30 minutes for the bus and it eventually came. The concert started late like most things in Argentina so I didnt miss anything. I saw Santiago and Leandro and Lucas outside we drank a little Fernet Cocacola and went inside to wait for the show. Front row. The place was act http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Mar-del-Plata/blog-255484.html Today's orientation didn't start until two so I leisurely slept until one. That was great but from two oclock on...I have been running full steam ahead. I got into all the classes I wanted for UBA and started to thin down my selections into something that resembles a schedule. Registration for this program is so confusing because we have four different schools to schedule classes with. I am tak http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-253852.html Today I had orientation at the Universidad Catolica de Argentina UCA. It was pretty hot today but due to UCArsquos dress code I was in pants and shoes w socks. No shorts and No flip flops As this was a new bus and a new part of town I arrived about a half hour late But just on time according to Argentines. Carolina a staff member was waiting outside for all of the people who were show http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-252109.html Walking around the many parks near my house the only sport being played is soccer. It is impossible to walk into a park holding a frisbee and expect to find someone to play with. That being said read on.Today after orientation I walked with a couple friends from the program from Georgetown to Boca or so we thought. After about 15 blocks I decided to take a look at the map and didn't see an http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-252002.html You may or may not have heard but Buenos Aires has a major water evacuation problem. The other day it rained just over half of what normally comes down in the entire month of February. This may have been fine however it all came down within a two hour period. There is an underground river in Buenos Aires that helps with drainage in the case of rain however the system is very sparse and only http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-251995.html My program of 120 is divided into 5 groups. In total there are about 20 males and 100 females. So when I wasnt around for the first part of orientation and showed up on Monday many were surprised The other girls from Boulder had decided that I just didnt come to Argentina for some reason.Today I took the Oral and written spanish placement exams. After that we had a lunch break and were su http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-250715.html I am sitting in the computer lab of FLACSO my programs building.Sunday February 24thI woke up around 11 just in time to shower and wake up enough for the welcome party the family had set up for me. Around 1 PM Olgas children arrived with their families. Her daughter Natalia is divorced with two kids. And her son has a wife and two kids. Her sons family had just gotten back from spending 20 http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-250707.html