Liz Olsen

LizO2011

Liz Olsen

Daniel and I got married on July 2, 2011. We decided to start our new life together with some adventures, and then settle down later. We bicycled from Seattle to Clearwater, MN this summer. We took about six weeks to cover 2,500 miles. We learned a lot about ourselves, each other and the different areas we rode through. We saw Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Devil's Tower, the Badlands, Deadwood, prairie dogs, bison and lots of road. It was a great adventure for us!

We came back to Seattle after our bike trip and are now leaving for Argentina. We hope to spend our time here learning Spanish, teaching English and experiencing a different culture and country. We are not independently wealthy, but are willing to live in close quarters and on a very small budget! Daniel just finished school, so he has not started working and has some time. I am a teacher on leave this year, so we decided to make this our "honey-move" way to start our marriage. So far it's been great for us!

I'll write as often as I can about our trip. Thanks for reading 😊

Love to everyone back home!

Thanksgiving

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires » Buenos Aires November 27th 2011

LizO2011

Happy Thanksgiving! Daniel and I spent Thanksgiving night skyping with family back home. Thanks to everyone for saying hi and putting up with the challenge of trying to hear us, when there was a room full of people back home. I have gotten a lot more classes recently, so my schedule is pretty full. I still spend a lot of time on the bus, which I actually enjoy. As a bit of a voyeur, I love people watching. In Buenos Aires, there are about 14 million people in the city, almost half of the country's population. The city is very dense, about 10 square miles. So, it makes for great people watching. Riding the bus is a great way to see the regular happenings of the city. I see people carry amazing things on bicycles - ... read more

The Argentina Adventure continues

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires November 15th 2011

la Bichy ahora (cola)

LizO2011

Our adventure continues. . . We've been here for almost six weeks now. We're now able to navigate the city relatively well in bus and subway. We know about most of the foods that everyone has recommended to us, though we haven't tried some of the Christmas goodies that are starting to show up. So, we're relatively adjusted to life here. I have been getting more classes, so now my schedule is almost completely full during the week. Daniel is also looking for more work, and has continued to volunteer at La Fabricicleta, the community bike shop. They let him pick one of the donated bikes, which he has fixed up and is riding home as I write this! Having a bike is a huge step in making Argentina feel more like home, so I'm very ... read more

One month and going strong!

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires November 2nd 2011

Costumes at the Japanese Gardens

LizO2011

Hello and Happy Halloween! I hope you're all doing well. I've been following the Occupy Seattle movement a bit and am proud of the demonstrators! Halloween is not really celebrated here. I had a job teaching four groups of teenagers about Halloween, U.S. slang and what it's like to learn Spanish for my students back home. I did the class with a great guy from the U.K. The institute where we taught does a Halloween party with games and costumes for the younger kids, but then brings native speakers to teach them about their countries. I loved being around teenagers again; I had missed their energy and spirit much more than I had realized. One kid said he and his friends tried to go trick-or-treating here. Since it's not something that people do, they didn't get ... read more

El Cementerio de Recoleta

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires October 24th 2011

An especially impressive one

LizO2011

The Recoleta Cemetery Last week, we visited the Recoleta Cemetery. It is a special cemetery for all of Buenos Aires' famous, rich, politicians, etc. . . Each family has a sarcophogas with the remains of their loved ones inside. Many have glass windows, so visitors can peek in and see what's there. Some are very well cared for, others. . .not so much. We saw the sarcophogus' of presidents, governors, generals, famous people and Evita Peron is also buried there. It's like a little city, with different "streets." We wandered around for a couple of hours, left to have lunch and wandered around a bit more. Enjoy the pictures!... read more

Presidential Elections, a new friend and a new student!

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires October 24th 2011

Halloween!

LizO2011

This last weekend was a good one for us. On Saturday, we had tea with a high school friend of my great aunt Nora. Nora lived here when she was in high school and maintained several friendships with people from here. We met Ana at her house and stayed for quite awhile. We were having such a good time chatting, hearing about Argentina, her life and discussing politics, money and more. We are planning on getting together again soon. Yesterday was the presidential elections here. We have been watching ads, seeing posters and hearing opinions about the different candidates since we arrived. We wandered around town yesterday and even slipped into a school where the voting was happening. It is required by law to vote here, so they have a very high turn out and need ... read more

2+ weeks and counting!

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires October 20th 2011

LizO2011

¡Saludos de Buenos Aires! I had an idea to focus my rambling posts into categories. I´ll try it out and see how it goes. I´ll also write an update about what/how we´re doing, just so you know that too. The Food Here... I have been surprised by the food here. There are some delicious dishes that we have discovered, homemade pastas are very common and yummy for example. Pizza There is a pizza chain called Ugi´s that has a large cheese pizza for between $14-17 pesos. At 4 pesos to the dollar, that´s an inexpensive pizza. The cheese is a bit different and the cook has to spread it around the baked pizza with a special spoon. Empanadas We discovered the empanadas on a visit to the neighborhood of San Telmo. They are great little, and ... read more

Buenos Aires - getting more settled in

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires October 15th 2011

El Caminito

LizO2011

Wow! We've been here for about 10 days now and are a bit more settled in. I've found some work, though not enough, so we're still looking for more. We've been living in a neighborhood called Almagro. It's a nice area with very few tourists. We're staying at a long term hotel called Hotel Mitre Suites. It's a family hotel with basic rooms and breakfast included. We've gotten to spend a lot of time in the neighborhood, so we know how to get around on the subway and are getting to know the bus system. Last weekend, my friend Pilar picked us up and took us to her house in Zarate, about an hour north of the capital. We stayed there through the weekend, and since it was raining (people here don't usually go out much ... read more

We made it!!

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires October 5th 2011

LizO2011

Saludos a Todos desde Buenos Aires! We arrived in Bs As this morning, tired but excited.After getting through immigration and customs, we evaded the overly anxious taxi drivers and found a cheap, local bus which is much more in line with how we travel. The bus ride took about 2 hours, but we got to see lots between the city and the airport. Once we got to our neighborhood, we figured out how to get to our hotel and took a much needed nap. Our hotel is ... basic, but adequate. It's low key, which is good because Daniel's got a cold and is sleeping a lot. We wandered around a bit tonight, to get acquainted with the area and got some food. Since our first meal in Argentina was from McDonald's, we wanted some real ... read more

We're getting ready to go!

North America » United States » Washington » Seattle September 26th 2011

LizO2011

Hello! After spending about a month in Seattle, we're getting ready to leave for Argentina on October 4th. We will arrive in Buenos Aires, head to our hostel and hopefully start exploring! I have several language schools that I might be able to work with, and Daniel will be finding a language school to start on his Spanish! We've spent this last month working (Daniel got a temp job as a messenger downtown) and I've been a chauffeur in the mornings and evenings. We've been trying to see as many people as possible. It's been nice to stay in one place for a bit, but we'll be ready to head out soon. I'll write more soon, but just wanted to get the blog going. Love, Liz... read more

Joined	September 22nd 2011	Trips	1
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