Long awaited update!

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Hello everyone! I know it's been a little while since I've created a blog entry but there is a good reason for that.....my computer broke! (On top of many other things that went wrong over the last couple of weeks.) Two weeks ago I was basically in an awful mood because it rained non stop for seven days, my computer stopped working, I caught a cold and was sick for a week, I don't really like the place I am living in now, and my project (the reason I came here) was NOT going how I expected. However, things are MUCH better now and I am looking forward to spring/summer here. So here is a recap of the past couple of weeks:

Volunteer Job.....

My Spanish classes ended and I could finally start working with the non profit cooperative organization which I was looking forward too. I showed up on the first day with my organization coordinator Katrin (who is from Germany and very nice) to meet with the director. She had scheduled a meeting with us but also with 5 other people at the same time. There were students from the University of Buenos Aires and a doctorate student from Oxford to learn about the organization. It was good to be able to learn a little bit about when the cooperative was formed and how it currently operates but it was a little overwhelming at first. The director, Cristina, then told me to email her to set a schedule.......which she didn't respond to for a week and a half! Basically the organization has no money and wants help to figure out how to make money and grow but the director is so busy because she does everything herself.....and doesn't respond to emails or my phone calls! This was extremely frustrating for me because I basically had a lot of free time for 2 weeks which I am not used to. However, I worked with Katrin to find a different organization to work with and have a meeting Thursday with an organization called Sagrada Familia. They have a website www.sagradafamilia.org and a better volunteer structure so this project should work much better. I have learned though, that will many things in Argentina, disorganization and slowness is generally the rule. So I have had to readjust many of my expectations.

My computer........

Well I was trying to watch the MTV music video awards on my computer because I wanted to see the Britney Spears performance (yes, please make your side comments and jokes now) when my computer froze and I had to force a shut down. When I tried to restart, it keep giving me a fatal error and said my hard disk was damaged. I spent about 2 hours crying a little and trying to get at least safe mode to work so I could save files. I was finally able to get windows to start and saved my files but it was running at snails pace. So I had a friend here reload windows on my computer (which is now all in spanish) and it works much better. However, I have to tilt it slightly forward or it freezes a lot....I'm thinking there is something wrong with the hard drive that I will have to fix at some point.

Weather......

Spring started last friday. Which is "primavera" in spanish and a HUGE party day apparently. However, before that I guess it rains A LOT. It seriously rained nonstop for 7 days and I was getting annoyed.

Apartment.....

My currently place is in a neighboorhood that is about an hour commute to my english teaching job in the mornings. It is also not the most comfortable place in the world and I often feel trapped in my room. Therefore....I spent two full days looking at about 10 different places and finally decide to move to a different place. I will be renting a room from a 50 y/o women who is super nice and the location is much better. It's a little more expensive then what I am paying now but I can always move again!

Sickness......

I had a cold the same week it was raining. But after some rest and de-stressing I feel better. I also bought cough syrup with tastes 100 times better than anything I have ever had in the states.

Other things....

Otherwise, I have made a lot of good friends here. However, I do miss my friends and family greatly from the US. I didn't quite realize how challenging that aspect of my adventure was going to be. I have learned alot about myself in just the last month and just how important certain things are in my life.

The people I have met here have been a mixed bunch...Colombians, Brazilians, Argentines, and...Norweigens! Go figure that I meet like 10 Norweigens in Argentina. There are actually a lot in my same program and all of them are super nice. The last weekend I took a day trip with my favorite Norweigen, Linda, to a place called San Antonio de Areco. It is basically a little town about 2 hours from Buenos Aires with Gaucho museums, etc. It was nice to get away from the city for a day and relax but there wasn't as much to do as we expected. My friend Leo from Colombia also had a primaver party on Sunday that was fun.

I signed up for more Spanish classes since my expectaction of instantaneously becoming fluent in Spanish is not really coming to fruition 😉. I also am speaking in English much more than I should be.

Other than that, I have been eating a lot of meat....which is plentiful and cheap. Hopefully everyone in the states is doing well! And I'm glad that I'm not in a hut in Africa without electricity!

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Comments

[Meg]

thanks for finally updating and the call out. for the record, i'll have electricity about half the time.