So my last two weeks in Buenos Aires were marked by a warm spurt. For some reason, the city decided to have a short summer in the middle of winter, so we enjoyed temperatures all the way up to the 80s! Additionally, there was nice low humidity, so it was always warm and gorgeous, never really HOT. Life was good.

Finals, on the other hand, were very challenging. I rounded out the semester with grades that I’m pretty proud of, but this is due in part to a huge effort to get things done, in part to getting an econ take home test done nice and early, and in part to due to Romina, my history tutor. My history of Argentina exam wound up being a pretty intense 40 minute oral exam 1-on-1 with a woman I had never met. It was fine, but really challenging. In short, this was STUDY abroad, not just some five month vacation from school and chance to get to know another place of the world.

So where has this trip left me since that last little emo / pensive post I wrote? Good question.

It is 9 am Portland time, 1 pm in Buenos Aires on Friday, July 18. My flight was originally scheduled for the night of the 19th. Instead of hanging out and being DONE in Buenos Aires, I am flying home early and will be taking the Foreign Service Officer Exam at 1:30 pm in Portland. Intense. Packing was crazy, saying goodbye was sad, and studying for this exam on top of everything else has been a great effort.

I’ll miss Buenos Aires, but the window for this test closes tomorrow and this was the only exam + flight combination that worked for me.

Ok, so what’s the foreign service officer exam? It’s a test for people who think they want to get involved with diplomacy. Foreign service officers represent the US all around the world doing diplomatic tasks that range from helping Americans get home, working with local groups on local projects, and helping communicate US foreign policy to different parts of the world. It involves travel, and foreign service officers are typically assigned a country for 2-3 years. It’s a job with the state department.

Now I don’t want to put the cart before the horse and say that this is what I’m going to do with my life, but it is something that I really do want to explore. I am a political economics major, something I became quite disenchanted with after a run in with a less than desirable econ statistics class in spring 2007. I think I’m ready to start thinking in that direction again, and Buenos Aires has instilled a bit of wanderlust in me that is pointing my compass in the direction of something that involves international work. One thing is clear: I will not be an economic statistician. A lot of other things are becoming clear, too, really, and that’s exciting but scary.

Let’s see, what else do I have to say that will round out this Buenos Aires blog? I’m going to post the Mendoza pictures, the ones from the trip when I didn’t have a camera. I’ve had them sitting in a “draft” for a while now, not sure how I forgot to post them.

I also have pictures of my home, a few pictures from the Flacso goodbye dinner and party, and a pictures from the last nights out with the girls. There might be a few more, I’ll have to take a look. Expect those by the end of next week, just cause I’d like to get them up and have this thing completed.

On the yespositively.wordpress.com / Stephanie en Buenos Aires front– I will be moving all of these posts to a second blog location, yespositivelyAR.wordpress.com once I have all the posts up. They will remain here, too. You can find the link for the Argentina Files up on the top of the page, if, I don’t know, you want to change your bookmarks or if you decide to take a trip to Buenos Aires and want to use this as a reference. I dunno, maybe you’ve read it, I’m done, and you’re done. Great, thanks for coming along for the ride.

Why? Well– I’m going to start using yespositively.wordpress.com to continue blogging about my normal life, that is, the next three weeks in Oregon with my family, the two weeks of RA training and then all of the adventures that will come this fall. I’ve liked blogging and this style of keeping record of my life, and if you want to keep reading feel welcome. It’s public record, but I understand if “Stephanie in real life” isn’t quite as engaging of a story as “Stephanie en Buenos Aires. C’est la vie.

It’s been a super fun five months and thanks to all of the people who checked in regularly to share it with me. The blog statistics show that it never went a day without someone checking it out, which is an accomplishment since sometimes my writing was a bit sporadic.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. We still have 1:29 till we get to Portland, and I feel pretty rested! Maybe I’ll pleasure read. Whoda thought?

This post might border more on journaling than travel blog, but I felt like I should check in and I haven’t been keeping myself busy with anything specifically Buenos Aires.

More accurately, it’s finals time. I spent Tuesday getting photocopies over town (100 pesos worth!!!) for my UBA history final, and now the task at hand is a political economy of Argentina take home final. I’m nearly done but it’s a little slow coming during the end. I can’t believe that all of this work has to be done in the next 13 days. Then on the 19th I’m back to the US– we’re getting to the end of the adventure, folks. I can’t believe it’s been five months.

People keep asking, are you ready to go home? Are you going to miss it?

It’s really an answer in the middle for me– I’m not leaving on the 11th, like some people in the program who are a bit homesick and are changing their flights, but I’m glad I’m not sticking around and traveling for another few weeks. I LOVE this city and I hope I have the opportunity to spend time here in the future, but I’m also excited about what the coming year has to offer me. And what’s that, you might ask?

After three fun weeks of Oregon summer I’ll be heading back to Georgetown for RA training. I’ll be living in a freshman dorm, taking a fun class schedule, enjoying the friendships that have formed over the past two years, and working in UG, the little coffee shop in the middle of campus. Life will be good. It’ll be fall in DC, there will be pumpkins, brunch, the Eastern Market– there will be parties, and boys, and coffee. There will be homework and reading and extensions on papers because sitting and talking with friends was more appealing than getting the paper done. Hopefully there will be a real Christmas tree in Tiggy’s Henly apartment, a little bit of snow on the ground, and a not too stressful finals season.

Buenos Aires has been good to me– it’s helped me figure out more clearly who I am, but at the same time, it’s made me realize that I’m happy with who that person is– who I am, who I’m becoming. It’s a process and this has been an essential step, but it is by no means the only step and certainly not an isolated step either.

Friendships abroad are a little tricky– shaky because even though everyone abroad wants to have friends and get to know the people in the program, it’s not why we’re here. We’re here to travel, to get to know the city, to work on our foreign language skills, and to soak up another culture. When I pack my bags in two weeks I know I’ll only be unpacking them in Oregon for a 21 day period– then in DC I’ll only have a year.

Then who knows. Eventually I’ll be unpacking and putting the suitcase in the closet, not sure when I’ll pull it out again. Buenos Aires has been a great adventure. But it isn’t the only adventure I have ahead of me.

And that’s exciting.

Last Sunday Jenny and I went to the Japanese Gardens in Palermo– it was a nice fall the day in the city, and even though the gardens were small, it was fun to check them out!

Not too many words for this one– I think the pictures do the trick!

So, I’m not perfect, and I don’t always have my camera with me, so I miss things sometimes… in order to compensate and make this a more complete blog here are some pictures of allover the city, little everyday things.

Here’s a great magazine stand.

Avenida Florida– a pedestrian street with lots of shopping.

Rainy Corrientes.

Here’s a picture of how foggy the city was back when there were all the fires in the campo.

A cloudy sky on a rainy day in Puerto Madero.

The Obilesk at night.

Plaza Francia in the evening– a plaza in Recoleta right near me!

The Recoleta fair back when it was shorts-weather. The pink building in the background is the cultural center. This is practically my backyard– I tend to go there for pan relleno or just to entertain myself on lazy Sundays.

Retiro– a major transport hub in the city, where one can take a bus, train, or collectivo (city bus) to get around.

San Telmo on a Sunday.

A less commercial part of Avenida Santa Fe.

Some folk musicians outside La Rural in Palermo.

Glass bottles at the fair in San Telmo.

Avenida Cabildo in Belgrano.

A very empty Avenida Libertador– the view from the English Tower. Must be a Sunday, when everything in the city is closed.

Some traffic in the city.

Awful traffic jam / accident on Santa Fe and Juan B. Justo. Check out how huge the collectivos (buses) are compared to the cars!

Birds’ eye view inside El Ateneo, the theater turned bookstore I’ve posted about before. I think I’ve mentioned this, but I’ve been a bit disappointed at their offerings, even though it is a gorgeous place to visit. Down the escalator one can find a large variety of music and other media options.

The 159– not too useful for me, but a nice picture of just how close the buses get to everything in this city.

Classic — pizza and more.

Avenida Defensa in San Telmo– on Sundays this avenue is full of street vendors.

On that note, I think I might go back to San Telmo tomorrow– it’s totally overwhelming but I need to start doing a bit of souvenir shopping (don’t worry, I’ve been doing some along the way ) and San Telmo is a good place. I’m also planning on going to the Japanese Gardens with Jenny (finally). I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my last month here– I need to make a little list to make sure I don’t miss anything. I’m sure I’ll be back to Buenos Aires, but it might be a while!

When I got up this morning I couldn’t believe it. The same city that had given us nasty weather for two days decided to surprise us with a nice sunny day. I guess I shouldn’t be shocked since a similar thing happened the week before, but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless.

Anyway, I have a list of ten “must see” cafés in the city that I’m trying to get to. On the list are two that are in the Plaza de Mayo area, and I took advantage of the nice weather to check them both out.

Here’s a quick photo I snapped from where I was waiting for the bus. I live in the white building on the corner– the fourth floor (third here, since the base floor is zero), the one with the balcony, is where I call home. It’s the corner of Las Heras (busy avenue with lots of buses) and Azcuenaga (less busy, but gets fair traffic on my corner). I live around on the longer side of the building where the balcony is thinner. There is a lamp and electrics store on the zero floor of the building, so all in all here are only four apartments that each take up one floor of the building.

I took the 61 bus to the Plaza de Mayo where I walked a few blocks on the Avenida de Mayo to Café Tortini. Here are a few shots I took in the plaza. There’s that Cabildo from the tour I took ages ago when it was summer.

Here are a few shots in San Telmo– the two shots on the top are taken from different parts of 9 de Julio, the widest avenue in the world, I believe. It takes ages to get across!

Here’s a nice little mural on the wall of a building on Avenida de Mayo.

So, my mission was to hit up two very different little bar-cafés. Café Tortini is an old old café that mostly caters to tourists, while Café 36 Billares (36 Billiards) is a bit more local, though they do see tourists for tango shows on weekend nights. I got lots of reading done at both places– it was a nice way to spend a Saturday!

The shots are from around the room in Tortini. The café is huge, with lots of tables, a smoking lounge (sealed off) in the back– when you walk in you’re in a totally different place than the street, it’s dimly lit, a bit noisy with the sounds of a restaurant (something I love), and lots of different languages (primarily English and Spanish, but some Portuguese and a few others as well).

There is also a back meeting room (not sure if it’s still in use) and a room for performances of tango. I wandered around and took a few pictures.

Here’s the front of the building. The café is huge from the front also, and takes up a few numbers for its address on Avenida de Mayo

Café 36 Billares is a completely different place– the front is big and fairly empty, featuring a large bar, lots of drink options, and a stage for the shows they have at night– jazz and tango, which start at 20 minutes after midnight on Friday and Saturdays.

The action at 36 Billares is in the back, where there are lots of people playing card games and of course, pool. I believe there is also a smoking lounge though I didn’t wander that far back.

So, I met up with Matt thinking I’d have a café-full day and head to the Starbucks that has recently opened in the Alto Palermo mall. What were we thinking? Here’s a picture of the line that we did not stand in. I’ll have to go back sometime that’s not 6:30 on Saturday night– Argentines aren’t really morning people, I’ll probably head over there at like 9:30 some weekday morning just to say Ive been

There you go– that’s a Saturday of wandering around the city, drinking coffee, drinking cervezas, and in general trying to keep busy and see it all.

Coming soon: Pictures of public transit, the FLACSO building, my home, and hopefully many more.

Since a lot of programs end this coming week, some of my friends are heading out and it’s making me super aware that I need to be a good picture taker. That said, here are some pictures of the school of Filosofia y Letras (Philosophy and Letters) of the UBA (University of Buenos Aires), where I take my Argentina history class.

These red chairs are in the Che Guevera classroom, one of the largest classrooms at the school. The school is super old and on each floor there is a nice open area– some floors have little book stands or places to guy school supplies, there is a kiosk for snacks and a guy that sells the best pan relleno I’ve ever had on the first floor. There is a nice open area in the middle of the school where kids hang out, smoke, and chat between classes.

One of the issues at the school is the fact that it’s very old and there is not a lot of funding for improvements. The least of which has to do with the chairs, which are in pretty bad condition.

“Esto no es una silla” = “This is not a chair”

The demonstration also featured a large sign that said “No chair was hurt in the making of this piece.”

Here’s the stairwell from across the open air patio.

All of the bathroom stalls are pretty bad at the school, and feature plenty of graffiti.

Well, that does it for the UBA tour. On to another post about some coffee shops around the city

So while Sunday was the paragon of gorgeous fall days, today is about the opposite. When I left the house it was sort of humid but cold and windy, and by the time my bus arrived at Tucumán and R. Peña it was raining large rain drops, windy, and gross out. I ran into my favorite kiosk (because they have pomelo, grapefruit, juice boxes) and caught my breath before heading to Junin, where I went to Onkel’s, my favorite little sandwich place. I then finally went to my Language in Action class, which is three hours long on Thursday. When it was over it was practically dark and I headed to El Gato Negro with Chris, where we read and chatted for a while. He left, I read for a bit, and Matt stopped by. We talked for a while and then headed to our respective homes.

It was wetwetwet, cold, and rainy!

But that’s not the point of my post– the point is that I uploaded a few pictures! Last Thursday my Language in Action class went to two “paisajes” (passages in the city)– to the Plaza Güemes and to Palacio Barolo. I have a few pictures from that and some other randoms. Here we go.

This is the inside of Plaza Güemes– which is this lovely plaza hidden off of Avenida Florida, which is a crazy busy pedestrian street with lots of shopping. Inside you’re transported to another world (See: Cortázar), where it’s quiet and sort of like being in another time and place altogether. In Cortázar’s short story “El otro cielo” (“The Other Heaven”), the protagonist uses the passage to pass from Buenos Aires to Paris of the past. It’s a story we read for the class so we had to visit the passages.

The Palacio Barolo is not from a Cortázar story, but it is a little gem in the city. It’s a building from an Italian architect who was very influenced by Dante’s The Divine Comedy. As such, the floors are hell (inferno), purgatory, and heaven, with the copula representing heaven “el cielo”. Each floor has 22 rooms, important in the book. There are a lot of other subtle references I won’t get into. The building was gorgeous, albeit a bit dark and hidden on Avenida de Mayo. You would never notice it if you weren’t looking!

Here are some shots I took that day with all the fun live music in Recoleta. I can’t believe it was soo gorgeous and sunny just a few days ago!

Jenny, Claire, and I went to a fun Indian place right by Plaza Armenia (the area I had explored the weekend before with Jenny and Matt) on Wednesday. There were protests in the center so our classes were canceled; we went to a restaurant in Palermo, safe from the protesters. It was very colorful– vegetarian place with lots of fresh ingredients and a yummy fruit-yogurt drink called a lassi. They also had a yummy ginger lemonade– which I would like to try to replicate when I get home in late July.

Afterwards Jenny and I walked up Armenia to Avenida Santa Fe in Plaza Italia- we kept walking until Santa Fe turns into Avenida Cabildo (which means “town hall” and is a big avenue in Belgrano). On the way we passed a lot of pizza places and a lot of confeterias (confectionaries– i.e. sweet shops, i.e. lovely places) on our walk. We also came upon a random Chinese restaurant called “Alabama”. Oh Argentina!

That does it for now. Google “Alphabeat” for a fun Danish pop group, or download the Weepies’ “Hideaway” CD if you don’t have it already. That’s what I’m studying to lately.

Here’s a little ode to coffee I put together. I’m totally addicted, and I’m going to miss the cute presentation when I get back to the states. I do not miss paper cups very much, not very much at all.

It’s completely gorgeous out– it’s a bit cold, but it’s a sunny fall Sunday here in Buenos Aires and there are so many people at the fería!

I’m sitting in the subpiso (basement) of Aroma, a chain coffee shop in Recoleta with the idea that I’m going to get my paper for my history class written– I already have a good start and it’s due Tuesday, so I don’t have much of a choice.

However, I was compelled to blog, and usually when I’m compelled to write something the computer is far away and the moment is lost.

I walked into the little area in front of the cemetery to the little band thats usually there playing Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass– I walked past that and one of the booths at the fair was blasting “Down on the Corner” by CCR. Love it– the fair is pretty touristy, but it’s fun to see an international crowd all enjoying the day together. If I didn’t have a computer I’d be sitting outside with everyone else, but admittedly its a bit cold for sitting still out there. At least for me. Walking around it’s just fine.

I took a few pictures at the fair that I’ll post later when I have the cord to do that. For now I’m off to get that paper written.

Chau and Happy Fathers’ Day!

So, the package from the states came, and now I have a camera and a need to make up for lost time. I’ve been sick this week, which is super lame, but now I’m left with just a cough and a big pile of reading. Reading, as we know by now = blog updates. Let’s see what I’ve been up to this week.

This first cluster of pictures is from the UBA Laboratorio de Idiomas (Language Lab). The stairs lead up to a hallway that eventually leads to my classroom, the one with all the desks. Downstairs there is a small cafe that features cheap to go (crummy) coffee and lots of snacks to choose from. There is also a neat art exhibit downstairs in the large room adjacent to the information desk area.

This is a picture of the cafe Thesis that is inside the Flacso building. I’ll take some pictures of Flacso soon enough. For now here’s the front counter and crazy Ruth, the seemingly manager of the small cafe.

Friday night I went to Kafka with a bunch of folks to hear Nati (Julia’s porteña friend) and Melanie (a Flacsita) sing. They sang CCR, the Eagles, Norah Jones, Allison Krauss, James Taylor, and other things up that ally. Kafka is a really cute little wine bar on Paraguay in Microcentro– I actually wound up talking with one of the co-owners (an American) for a while on Friday night. It turns out he works at a vineyard in McMinville Oregon and owns 1/4 of this restaurant. I didn’t get the whole story, but it sounds like a pretty good deal to me. See bottom right my short hair and Hannah dressed patriotically. Top left there’s Nati, her (much older boyfriend and former music instructor), and another man accompanying on violin.

Here’s the view of the walk home on Las Heras, which I do everyday. My door is a bit further down from here. More pictures of my neighborhood soon, and in daylight!

Matt and I went to El Galeón, a nice resto-cafe off of Plaza Italia in Palermo in Saturday for lunch. It was a nice (yet cloudy day). I haven’t eaten a ton of meat in this country, but this steak was good! He had a filled milanesa, filled with ham and with a cream sauce on it. The little potatoes with my meal are papas noisette, they’re yummy and sort of like fat french fries.

Matt and I strolled down to Plaza Armenia on Costa Rica and Armenia to meet up with Jenny after we wrapped up lunch. Sugar is my favorite bar in the city– it’s in Palermo Viejo and is owned by a couple of Englishman. They host the expat connection on Wednesday nights and usually serve a pretty English speaking crowd. It’s always lively and there are always locals, too– it’s a nice comfortable mix with a friendly bilingual staff and cheap drinks. Man, that sounds like an ad. Anyway, the plaza was very nice and there was a little fería where I bought a new big bag to lug my books around in– the backpack looked a little touristy and my old bag was stolen!

We proceeded to walk around Palermo Viejo (and Palermo Soho, which is like two streets over). We found a Pastelería (sweet store) that sold delicious looking (but expensive!) cakes and other sweets. There are also tons of clothing stores and shopping and eating opportunities around there. The streets were nice and crowded with tourists and locals alike.

So on April 28 I decided to keep track of all of my expenses for the month, and the numbers are in. Between April 28 and May 31 I spent $353 US, which is roughly $1060 pesos. Not bad considering I replaced a cell phone and a bunch of other things in the meantime. I also went on a trip with Flacso (paid for by Flacso) that didn’t factor into that at all, though there is some souvenir shopping in there somewhere. Additionally, I did not go out a lot. The breakdown is roughly the following*:

Transportation (cabs) $42
Communication (phone + money for phone) $135
Food (lunches, dinner occasionally) $402
Drinks (mostly coffee, some tea, some beer) $287
Souvenirs, misc. $194

*prices in pesos

This does not include the $10-$12 I spent every week on taking the bus. That’s just sort of random and I think is about two trips a day on MTF, three trips on WR, and randomness on the weekend.

So, that’s not awful, and thanks to George Bush, the tax stimulus, and my normal tax refunds, I can survive another month and a half here and not starve to death. I have a bit of end of the trip souvenir shopping that I need to budget for, but I’m done traveling, and the coffee : beer ratio is bound to lean more to the coffee side since caffeine is a lot more helpful when it comes to getting readings done.

I got my package from my parents today after like a month– it was in customs for a zillion years and I had to head to Retiro (the huge Argentine Mail center) to pick it up.

The good news? I have a super cute little camera from my parents, an iPod shuffle on loan, I’ve replaced my cell phone, my pea coat is here now (it’s cold out!), and my favorite pajama pants. Life is good– the robbery certainly put a shadow on a significant part of my trip, but I guess it’s time to move on, replace the bag I used to carry around, and enjoy the last month and a half of my time here. A lot of people are really getting ready to go home, but I’m torn. I’m thrilled for the fall and for senior year, for being an RA and being close to my friends, and I’m excited and nervous about being a real person in the real world a year from now, but part of me wonders where I’ll wind up, and if anything international is in my future.

I guess I’m getting a bit introspective because that’s what I do when I love lots of reading to do… but nevertheless, it’s good to ask questions. I feel like I’ve become a bit more independent, been reminded that I need people, grown up, and I’m getting to know myself better in the process. And we’ll see– about this time last year I was getting to know that I loved the service industry a lot more than I loved government and politics, my previous love. Restaurant management, the whole industry, etc, are still really on the horizon, but it’s good to think about what else is out there. A lot of people live here and work for NGOs and teach English, and while I’m not sure it’s for me, it’s good to talk to those people and learn about the possibilities.

I’ve had so much volatility in the last 7 or 8 years that I guess I’m just looking forward to somewhere I can unpack and feel like it’s for good. I just don’t want my desire for stability and a home to overshadow what ever it is that I should be doing in the next decade. There’s no rush, but part of me really craves stability. Time will tell, and I know all of this is all healthy, and I refuse to get all angsty about it. I guess it’s all just good to think about.

Anyway, now that I have a camera I’m going to try to make up for lost time, but I have to finish this book for my Argentine History class first. The paper is due the 10th, so expect a bit more action after then.

I can’t believe it’s almost midnight! I sat in El Gato Negro (great historic coffee shop, pictures next time I go) for like four hours and read today. By the time I got home it was late and dark– I watched the Sex and the City Movie (shadily, online, but the quality was good and the movie was fabulous), ate a (great) dinner of lentil soup with yummy carrots, potatoes, sweet potato, corn, and random veggies, and spicy chorizo in it with some nice carne, did the math on my monthly expenses, and here I am, at midnight, thinking of a little reading and a 1am bedtime followed by an 8am wake up time. Lots of reading this week!!!

So that’s it for now– pictures of something upcoming, maybe in a day or two.