chau bolivia, hola peruuuu

I know i have been awful at updating this thingy
i was sort of waiting to have photos to post, but internet is slow down here and also, im too busy having fun to spend my days waiting for photos to upload
so i will give a written summary of the past two weeks
today marks exactly two weeks from leaving buenos aires
it feels strange but also really cool to be in this weird in between stage, ive left buenos aires, which was my home for 5 months but i am not yet home
travelling is fun because everyday is different and there is no routine, which is something ive been craving for a while, of course it is tiring and strange to change beds and cities almost everynight but we have seen such incredible stuff
potosi: amazing, we really really loved potosi. it might have been because potosi was where we arrived after 2.5 days of being on a bus but id like to think i would have liked it anyway. it was freezing and rained while we were there....it is the highest city in the world so its allowed to be cold. there were two main things that were interesting about potosi. first is the cerro rico, this is the biggest mine in bolivia and the reason for bolivians wealth early on in its history. we took a tour inside the mines, which are extremely small and claustrophobic. they are still in operation and are the biggest job opportunity in potosi. walking around the mines you see so many young boys. they tell you on the tour that the average lifespan of the mine workers is about 40 years. pretty devastating. the other cool thing about potosi is all of the amazing colonial architecture. at every turn where beautiful colonial churches and buildings. rosa and i feel in love with the small cobble stoned roads and colorful chruces.
uyuni and the salt flats: this was one of the most beautiful natural places i have ever been. it is indescrible the feeling of being alone in these salt flats. the salt flats are something like 12,000 squared km. we took a two day tour and slept in a hostal made out of salt on a volcano mountain island in the middle of the flats. there was no electricity or running water but we loved it. we walked out to the flats alone and just listened to the silence. it was as if the silence echoed off of the flats. in the morning we hiked up the moutain volcano although we did not reach the top, its very difficult hiking at 4000 meters. we did get to see some pretty creepy skeletons that live in a cave that you have to open with a key...it was strange. we also got to visit the isla del pescado which is a beautiful island covered in cacti.
la paz: our next stop was la paz, also our first big city. it was really nice to arrive in la paz because we knew we were going to be spending a few days there so we really got to look around. the city is beautiful, set in a huge valley with housing going up on all sides. the city is so vibrant with such a large indigenous population, everywhere you walk you see the bright skirts of the indigenous women. la paz has a wonderful museum area set in old small cobble stoned streets along with a massive market. the market has a small section geared towards tourists that sells all sorts of llama gear and then the majority of the market selling everyday stuff for the average population. we decided to take a look at the real market of la paz but we ended up getting severing lost and caught in a downpour. eventually we made it out but it was quite the experience. we spent christmas eve in la paz, probably the most ive ever celebrated christmas because i was surrounded by people celebrating christmas. it was a fun night with lots of gringos.
copacabana, isla del sol and lago titicaca on the bolivia side: on christmas day we ventured over to lake titicaca on the bolivian side. this bus ride is beautiful, winding roads through beautiful mountains, crossing a section of the river on a boat while watching the bus crossing on a separate boat and then winding along the coast of the lake until arriving at copacabana. it was interesting travelling on christmas day, the entire 4 hour journey had families lined along the highway begging for money. i dont think that this is an everyday event, i think it was particular to being christmas but it was striking seeing how many families were begging. copacabana is a city created for lake titicaca with very little to see except a beautiful church that i felt pretty uncomfortable in because it was christmas. the next day we woke up early and took the boat to the north side of the isla del sol. we then hiked the length of the island, also challenging due to the altitude and ended up on the south side, where we were greeted at the end with a stunning view of moutain illimani, a rare sight due to the regular cloud coverage.
lima, peru: leav ing bolivia we took 3 buses lasting 24 hours to arrive in lima yesterday to meet becca!! it was soooo nice seeing her, she felt like a ghost because ive felt so separated from reality for so long but of course it was like no time has passed. today we explored the center of lima and then layed on the beach. lima has felt like california, everyone with surf boards and bathing suits relaxing at the beach. its been nice for me and rosa after spending two weeks straight in rain and cold.
tomorrow we head off to cusco in a 24 hour bus, welcome becca! where we will spend new years and then head up to macchu picchu. i CANT wait! everyday feels amazing, this trip has felt so surreal but wonderful.

ill try to post some photos soon or on facebook might be easier
i hope everyone had a lovely holiday and happy new year! email me and update me on your lives
miss you all
besos

update

hola amigos
sorry for the lack of updates, internet is not as easy in bolivia as it is in Argentina.
I am now in la paz, with better internet but still slow.
we have been to potosi, the highest city in the world, saw beautiful colonial architecture and went inside the famous cerro rico mines.
we then went to uyuni to see the famous bolivian salt falts, they were amazing
we stayed on an island that had a volcano on it, hiked up it one day, saw some skeletons, and went to the isla del pescado, an amazing island full of cactus. when you are on these land masses the white of the salt flats looks like an ocean
it was truely incredible.
i will try to upload photos soon, but its very challenging with the slow internet
besos

chau argentina, sos divina

i am leaving buenos aires in the morning
i am filled with saddness and i dont feel quite ready to leave
but i am also so excited about my travelling adventure
i know its better to be sad to leave than excited to get out of here and i just feel so lucky that i had such a good time.
here are some last photos

i went to montevideo with ben for a day, although we did not love the city, it was nice to look at





the rose garden in los bosques de palermo



another beautiful sunset

rosa, enjoying the terrace

besos and check back often!

9 days left....

my time in buenos aires is quickly winding down
on dec 15th i get on a bus with my friend rosa that will take us to BOLIVIA!!!
i will be travelling for almost 5 weeks through bolivia and peru, so be sure to check here often for updates!!

A list of things i will miss about buenos aires:
1. my argentine family, mati and juan pablo, they have been really incredible and i will miss them a lot
2. the food mainly:
-tartas (quiche like veggie deliciousness)
-milenesa de soja (breaded soy - actually amazing)
-empanadas (so cheap and delicious)
-fernte and coca (my favorite alcoholic drink that is made from fermented herbs and gives you zero hang-over)
-meat (the meat here is in fact as good as they all say, coming from being a vegetarian, eating meat here was truely a treat)
-mate (the most delicious beverage ever, although im sure i will be able to find it in san francisco)
-frutigrans (this delicious cookie)
-paso de los toros (a sparkling grapefruit drink, probably the most refreshing beverage i have ever tried)
-and dulce de leche (the most satisfying thing possible for a sweet tooth)
3. yoga - my yoga class here and yoga teacher (i love you thuy!!) have been a huge part of my life here, an amazing ritual to keep me centered in this crazy busy city
4. my friends! really a lot
5. living in a city, i love wasting my days walking endlessly, always discovering new streets, new cafes, new plazas and parks, its been so refreshing to live here after being in ohio, however, this city is pretty gigantic and im ready to go back to my manageable san francisco
6. my tango class and tango girls! i took tango here and it was so fun, im still very bad but i met a lot of amazing people and it was really fun learning a completely new kind of dance
7. rustico- my favorite cafe, the cheapest food with the best quality, and the nicest guys ever who work there, i went there about twice a week the entire semester and those guys became a very big part of my weekly routine
8. the weather, spring here has been beautiful, even with the huge thunderstorms, i am pretty terrified about going back to 4 feet of snow in oberlin
9. how every block will have at least one: cafe, bakery, fruit/vegetible stand, butcher, grocery store, paper store and kiosk - you never have to walk far for anything that you may need
10. a stress-free life, i have been able to establish a life here that is void of stress, which for me, if you know me at all, is an incredible feat, it was helpful that my academics were not very rigorous, but it was also the pace of life here (very slow) that helped me slow down as well
11. my terrace, every night i sit on my terrace and watch the sun set, sometimes i drink mate, sometimes i read my book, it is the most peaceful place
12. speaking spanish, it has been a really incredible experience watching my spanish improve, i feel like i have gotten to a point where i am a fully functional person in spanish, i can be myself, and even make jokes sometimes, and i am worried about losing this

A list of things i wont miss:
1. dog poop everywhere, literally everywhere you walk there is dog poop
2. waiting for the bus for at least an hour at night to get home from bars
3. the money stress - coins are very hard to come by and extremely essencial for transporting oneself because the buses only accept coins, and breaking 100 bills is sooo hard, sometimes when all i have on my is 100 pesos (which can buy you a lot) i feel like i have no money because they are so hard to break
4. it is impossible to get tap water in restaurants, they will give you unlimited free bread, but tap water - no way, out of the question
5. living far away from all my friends. i never realized how convinient social life is at college, i mean i always knew, but i never truely apprciated it. one of the consecuences of living in homestays is it is very hard to find places to hang out, this usually means getting coffee or getting a beer. im not going to miss having to take 30 minute bus rides to meet up with friends

overall, this has been a truely incredible experience, 5 months of amazing adventures and a lot of personal changes, its been a transformative semester. thank you to everyone who was part of it!
ben master is coming tomorrow to visit me for 6 days, its going to be amazing
besos.
sar

pole dancing

tonight i went to a pole dancing show. my yoga teacher here (who is amazing) also does pole dancing. first i must say that her solo was classy, sophisticated, and sensual in a very appropriate way. many of the other acts were quite interesting to watch. although all these girls were super muscular and strong and could do amazing tricks on the pole, as soon as they got down there was some serious booty shaking. the nice thing about the show was that there were girls of lots of shapes and sizes, all wearing very little clothing but they all looked so proud of and comfortable in their bodies. ive also never seen some many perfectly toned bottoms.
here are some photos of my yoga teacher doing some amazing stuff on the pole
go thuy!!!

less than two weeks left in buenos aires

every day is a bit sadder than the last

i do love you buenos aires

something cute and something funny

i imagine most of you are at home enjoying a lovely thanksgiving weekend with the fam, or like me are in a country that does not really have a translation for the word thanksgiving
i am attempting to write a last big paper but it is proving difficult
a. because it might just be the most beautiful day since i arrived here, 80 and sunny - not a cloud in the sky
b. (this is the something funny) I am writing this essay on a computer lent to me by program because my mother took my laptop home. This laptop i am using has an american keyboard but it is programed as a Argentine keyboard. So whatever the keyboard says is NOT what it will type. For example where the key says ";" it really does "ñ". the most frustrating of these is that the key that says "(" acutally does ")", this is very frustrating when you are writing a paper with many cited quotes. oh argentina...
c. because my mother took my laptop i have no music to listen to as i write, but after tearing apart my apartment i found a delicious bob dylan cd thats really bringing me back to urban school essay writing moods.

the something cute is my new favorite form of procrastination:
www.cutethingsfallingasleep.blogspot.com
i recommend sleepy kitty 30

besos. sar

Thanksgiving in Argentina and time winding down

This has been quite the busy week, in the most wonderful way! My wonderful, amazing, beautiful mother came to visit me, which was the best thing ever. Although the weather was only so-so and many things did not work out as planned (because argentina is confusing and says things will be open when they are not) we still had an amazing time. I now finally have photos of the city, using her swanky and sleek camera, however, they are with her back in san francisco so that will have to wait until later.
Also my favorite holiday happened. Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday for a while, although it is infused with imperialism and colonialization, for me it has always been an amazing day. I like that it is not associated with religion or presents. The only thing you have to do is hang out with your family and eat really good food. Also, in the bluestone tradition we attempt to play soccer against many 6 foot something men who always knock us over. So due to my love for this holiday i attempted to recreate it here in buenos aires. This was difficult for a few reasons, primarily because turkey is nearly impossible to find and if you do its ridiculously expensive. So we ate chicken instead (i must add that it was some of the best chicken i have ever eaten in my life, thank you dani). Second, the sweet potatoes here are white not orange and have a very different flavor and marshmellows, another bluestone tradition, were not even worth attempting to find. So we had a make-shift thanksgiving with chicken and mashed potatoes, my moms stuffing that she brought me all the way from san francisco (she really is the best), ratatouille, mac and cheese, salad, brownies and apple crumble with home-made custard. eclectic.
the other fun thing was that my friend anna has never really celebrated thanksgiving, because she lives in singapore
a funny thing about doing thanksgiving in argentina is that dinner is usually eaten around 10pm here, thanksgiving is usually eaten around 4pm to give the body time to digest. we ate thanksgiving dinner at 10pm, i woke up with lots of food in my belly
anyway, it was a lovely night but it certainly made me miss home and family and all of our traditions
i am currently sipping on some mate getting ready for a long night of essay writing about sexual education in argentina. this is my second to last final. my time is certainly dwindling, i am within the three week marker of leaving buenos aires and i feel like i still have so much to see.
also im very excited to welcome ben master on dec. 7th, so maybe he can help me finish up all my exploring
thats all for now
missing all my people all around the world
beso grandote
sar

Looks like Argentina is more progressive that the United States

This week, the Argentine Congress ruled it unconstitutional to refuse marriage rights to a couple of the same-sex

"La Justicia le dio el sí al matrimonio gay: en un fallo iné-dito, una jueza declaró inconstitucional el impedimento para que dos personas del mismo sexo puedan casarse y ordenó al Registro Civil porteño que celebre la unión de la pareja homosexual que inició la demanda. La sentencia es de primera instancia y previsiblemente será apelada por el gobierno de Mauricio Macri. No obstante, crea un precedente que excede el ámbito judicial y brinda un espaldarazo insoslayable a la campaña para instaurar esa figura en el país en un momento donde un proyecto en ese sentido se debate en la Cámara de Diputados."

"The Justice gave a yes to gay marriage: in an unprecedented decision, a judge declared it unconstitutional to impede two people of the same sex to be able to get married and ordered the Registro Civil porteño to celebrate the union of the homosexual couple who initiated the lawsuit. The ruling is the first instant and it is foreseeable that there will be a fight by the government of Mauricio Macri. Nevertheless, it creates a precedent that surpasses the judicial field and supports an unavoidable recognition to the campaign for founding this image in the country in a moment where a project with this meaning is debated in the Cámara de Diputados"

I didn't do the best translation possible but you get the idea
There is not yet a law that allows gay marriage but it has been declared unconstitutional to deny the right to marry for same-sex couples
YEEEEE
Get on board United States!

UPDATE: The mayor declared that he is not going to fight this ruling

a heart in my lunch

today i was eating lunch at one of my favorite spots
its called Inka
it is peruvian food
it has this amazing lunch deal thats 13 pesos ($3.40)
with this lunch deal you receive a wonderful soup that always has noodles and some type of meat and carrots and potatoes, a fresh juice that takes like some mixture of apple cider and barley tea, and then your choice of one out of three entrees.
it is always delicious and absolutely absurd the amount of food you get for your money, i usually leave feeling like ive accidentally robbed them

anywayyyy i was eating there today with my dear friend sonia
sonia got her soup first which today had chicken in it
this was very exciting because usually it is some very ambiguous meat type thing
when my soup arrived the type of chicken i had looked like the neck or the spine, whatever it was it was slightly unnerving but ok because i just sort of avoided it
and then
i spooned some broth and carrots and what appeared in my spoon was a HEART
A HEART
A CHICKEN HEART IN MY SOUP
it was terrifying, i could see the pulmonary artery
i hid it beneath my bowl but i had a hard time finishing that soup knowing it was flavored by a heart!!!

La Marcha de Orgullo, Gay Pride in Buenos Aires

Yesterday was the 18th annual gay pride parade in Buenos Aires. I was expecting something small and endearing but when I arrived to Plaza de Mayo it was packed with people. There were people giving speeches, booths of all sorts of organizations, floats with people dancing on them, more naked trans people than I have ever seen in my life and just so much love. I felt like I got into the subway in buenos aires and got out in the mission district during gay pride weekend in san francisco. It felt like a totally different community, a community that is hidden during everyday life in Buenos Aires. Once we started marching there was music and dancing and singing and, clearly, I was in heaven. I felt my faith in humanity being restored. That is until my wallet got stolen and my friend's camera got stolen. For me it was not such a big deal as I only had 40 pesos, but it was the principal of it all, that during this wonderful march of gay pride and love and community someone was out there stealing!
Anyway, here are some photos, there are more on facebook.
Enjoy!

There were some amazing looking costumes





I was very very happy:





"No to transphobia"



A christian group in support of gay rights:



Marching in front of a church...



The crowd:



Besos :)

The rest of my semester...

I have been getting very down lately cause I feel like my time here is vanishing so quickly and before i know it im going to be getting on a plane to go home, which is not something im looking forward to.
However, there are many things im looking forward to before I have to get on a plane
here is what the rest of my time looks like
I have 2 weeks of classes left
Starting the week of november 16th i have soooo many finals (including my tango show! we are doing a casino scene and i am the owner of the casino!)
November 20th- my mom comes! 5 days!
Around decemeber 4th, 5th, or 6th - Ben master comes! many days here!
December 7th - final exam in my Universidad de Buenos Aires class, a little scary cause its an oral exam in spanish, and my research paper for my gender class is due, but this is very exciting because hopefully starting tomorrow I am going to be helping with the organization that is creating programs to implement a law on sexual education i schools in argentina
December 14th- last presentation
December 15th- Rosa and I get on a bus and start our journey
December 15th-28th - Rosa and I travel around northern Argentina, Bolivia, salt flats, la paz, and lago titicaca where we cross over into peru
December 28th - Rebecca Dewitt arrives in Peruuuu!!! We meet in lago titicaca and then go to cusco and hike macchu picchu, rosa goes home sometime in the first week of january and then becca and i travelllll
January 15th - I go home

So although i have very little time left, my remaining time is going to be so amazing
When my mom leaves she will be taking my laptop with her because I dont want to backpack with it through bolivia and peru so I may be less available in the cyber world but I will try to keep this blog updated at least

besos.
ps. gay pride parade is this saturday! get excited about some photos....

A day in el campo

This weekend Mati turned 29! So we went out to her cousin's farm. This farm was about an hour outside of buenos aires. This farm was beautiful, they have horses, cows, and chickens. They sell their cows as meat, the are producing some of Argentine's amazing meat.
It was soooo lovely.
Here is some of the meat we ate for lunch



Some of their cows



Old machinery they used to use on the farm



The beginning of a beautiful sunset



Then I got on a horse and rode in the sunset



This is what it looked like at its best

Some more music

so i made this mix for jack but i figured i would post it for all of you
its some more of the current music ive been listening to
enjoy!
HERE HERE HERE

besos.

Happy Birthday Elana!

happy birthday to my life partner
yaya 21!!!
check her out: elanalevin.com
a tribute to our lives together...













I love you,
happy 21st birthday

A Little Bit of Hurt

If you keep up with Elafant-itis, then you surely have already been blessed with this masterpiece of music.
This gem of musical perfection was just too good, I had to put it on my blog.
Here is a photo of the album cover to wet your appetite:



Here is the link
When you download it, it will only show up as two tracks because its Side A and Side B of an old LP, the individual track names are handwritten in the photo above.
I am currently listening to this wonderful music, sitting in my house on a cloudy day drinking tea and i couldn't feel any more cozy

lots and lots of flowing water

This weekend I visited Iguazu falls. It was one of the most awe-inspiring, magically, enormous, places I have ever been. There was so much water flowing through the falls last weekend. It was very challenging to capture this wonderful place through photos due to the immense noise of the crashing water, the constant movement, and the enormity of the falls in general. I couldn't help but think about the first people to stumble upon these waterfalls, it must have seemed like the edge of the earth. Being close to these falls made me feel so small. The beauty of these falls is nothing humans could ever create. I had an amazing trip. It was incredibly relaxing, our hostel had a pool! And it was a needed break from the city.
Some photos:

One day we went on a hike away from the huge falls and ended up at this waterfall



Then we went swimming in the waterfall, I went in too but I had to get a photo



This is devil's throat, the most incredible part of the entire park



This looks like the edge of the world to me, a gigantic water black hole



A view from the top of one of the waterfalls



The other section of the park that's not devil's throat



We got very close to this waterfall but my camera was getting soaked so I couldn't capture the moment



A nice rainbow



Another view of most of the falls



Group photo!



Drinking mate in the morning as we walked towards the falls



The mate water available for the public, this is how many people drink mate in this country, they have to have a gigantic thermos of hot water



that was the trip!

Penelope Cruz

On friday night I saw the new Almodóvar movie called Los Abrazos Rotos, or Broken Embraces.
It was fantastic. I cannot really put into words how fabulous this movie was, from the filming, the colors, the story, the cinematography, the acting - it was all very amazing
and i understood it all in spanish!
I would like to point out, however, the perfection of Penelope Cruz.
I decided that she is the most beautiful woman in the world, i already knew this but this movie solidified my opinion. Here is a photo of her beauty:
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2027194368/tt0913425

and here is the trailer for your enjoyment:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1943339545/

i have no idea when this movie comes out in the US and around the rest of the world, but keep your eyes out cause its a winner

Kraft!

There is a pretty heated debate going on right now in buenos aires protesting the Kraft company

i stumbled upon a huge protest accidentally on monday evening and since been very interested in what is going on. You should read the article but here is how i see it:
July: high levels of swine flu invading argentina, very contagious disease. Kraft employees do not have enough hygienic supplies (soap, paper towels, etc.), employees ask for more supples. Kraft says no. Employees protest, they do a sit-in i think and effectively shut down the factory. About 150 employees get fired.
August: factory still closed cause of protesting but Kraft will not re-hire the employees they have fired
September: Monday was supposed to be the day that kraft reopens their factory, HUGE protest that I accidently ran into. At this point the protesters are no longer just former employees, now they are political groups also, socialists, the workers party, etc...
Yesterday they were supposed to decide about whether or not they were going to re-hire the former employees but i cannot find any news on it today

read about it here:

pretty interesting stuff

Sarah and Ben Master Do Mendoza...

This past weekend I flew to mendoza to meet my wonderful friend ben master.
Mendoza is a city on the west side of argentina, very close to chile. its much smaller than buenos aires, more mellow, all the streets are lined with trees which is very nice. We were taken care of by a wonderful familes whose daughter is actually living with my parents in san francisco. pretty lucky connection.
One night they made us a gigantic grilled dinner and ben got to taste argentine meat. We sat in the park and drank mate, we went on a bike/wine tasting tour, and we went to the biggest party of the year: Fiesta Grossa which literally translates to Awesome Party.
It was pretty awesome cause there were about 5000 people there and the music was all old cumbia and salsa and ben and i were probably the only gringos in the entire place. But the party took place outside on a rugby field and it turned out to be a freezing night with a significant amount of rain. and of course we stayed until about 5am cause thats how they party down here, even in freezing rain.
Overall it was a wonderful weekend, so nice to see ben and hard to say goodbye
here are some photos









ps. happy kol nidre everyone and have a good yom kippur, I will be fasting all the way down here in argentina

Jujuy!

This week i went to the province called jujuy. its in the north of argentina near bolivia and chile.
Here is a list of my favorite aspects of the trip, not in any specific order:

1. We saw the most beautiful lightning storm I have ever seen. Because we were in a tiny town there was no light pollution so we could see the lightning bolts so clearly. There was lightening for about an hour before it started raining and we just sat outside watching the lightening. I have never seen anything like that in my life.

2. I ate llama, it was delicious... (this one is just cute)



3. The colors in the mountains.






all of the mountains looked like this with tons of colors, driving through this province was beautiful.
4. the salt flats, although there were sort of brown because its a very windy time of year, they were still very impressive




5. I went to the highest altitude I have ever been at: 4170 meters (which is 13,681.102), it was super cold up there and we had to chew a lot of coca leaf to not get a headache but it was beautiful.





6. We saw some archeological sites which old graves and nice cacti







7. We saw lots of live music, danced a lot. There was this one instrument that was insane, it made a very low droning noise



8. We went on this beautiful hike, some of the mountains literally looked like they were from mars or something.





Those were just some highlights of a wonderful wonderful trip. I am leaving again this thursday to go to a city called mendoza where I am meeting my friend ben master. it will definitely be another beautiful adventure...