So today was our first official excursion and it was SOOOOO much fun!!! We left La Plaza de Independencia (dowtown) at 8:30 this morning and left for the camp. We stopped by a beaaauuutiful vineyard and winery on the way down and got to look around and take pictures of the breath-taking views of the Andes Mountains.
We drove from the vineyard to the gaucho which was in the foothills of the Andes. We drove down a suuuper bumpy road (puts Del Rio to shame) for about 45 minutes...Oh my gosh, you know I was like freakin out that someone was gonna get carsick and puke but praise the Lord that didnt happen!!!
Once we finally arrived to the camp it was just absolutely gorgeous...Words cannot even describe the views; it was seriously like Disney movie or somethin! of course we were walking around and taking pictures and just exploring the site.
We went horseback riding through the trails which was totally awesome. Dont worry, took any pictures of that event! One downer is the horseback riding made me miss my little Adam because the last time I rode a horse it was in Missouri with him on the saddle with me for their family reunion. :(
When we got back they had a WONDERFUL lunch that was served to us (it was quite fancy I must say). Lunch consisted of various types of delicious meat, potato salad, vegetables, and a lovely fruit dessert.
After lunch we took a hike up the small mountain... 5 words: BOY AM I OUTTA SHAPE!!! Oh my gosh I was absolutely dying, my friend Drew practically carried me up the mountain. It was quite sad but once we made it to the top it was absolutely worth it. From the top we were able to see more of the snow-capped Andes Mountains.
After that we were just hangin out in lawn chairs and having a good old time. It was a very fun time! Oh my gosh, can I just say how impressed I am that we did not have to plan any of our wonderful day today... go Baylor study abroad program (or Dr. Supp-dawg)!
Well, ta-ta for now! I have a long day of Spanish film classes, history, and TANGO!!! woohoo!!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
First few days of class
Hola!
The first 3 days of class were good, but slightly overwhelming (for some reason Im in the advanced class, I dont even know what thats all about!) but anyway, its summer school so its supposed to be a little intense! My profs are all super sweet so hopefully that will help things.
Last night a big group of us were gonna go to a wine tasting thing downtown but decided to go to a restaurant/winery instead. It was very fun, I have never really liked wine but the wine down here is much better than what I have had back in TX(aka Arbor Mist!) hahaha...The food at this place (El 23 was the name) was incredible!!! I had ravioli with deer meat and a cream sauce (yummy!) but my friend Elizabeth gotta steak and it was the BEST steak I had ever put in my mouth (sorry dad but I think you would agree, I wish I could bring one back for you!) Argentina does have muchas vacas (cows) so I guess its expected that their steak is scrumptious!
On Sunday were going out to the country (el gaucho) and were gonna do some fun things like ride horses and eat asado, I am very excited about that adventure...I will take lots of pix although I prolly wont be able to post them until I come back at the beginning of July!
The next chance I get I will definitely let yall know how the gaucho went!
PS Aarika thanks so much for the warm clothes, they have been sooooo nice to have! I owe you big time!!
The first 3 days of class were good, but slightly overwhelming (for some reason Im in the advanced class, I dont even know what thats all about!) but anyway, its summer school so its supposed to be a little intense! My profs are all super sweet so hopefully that will help things.
Last night a big group of us were gonna go to a wine tasting thing downtown but decided to go to a restaurant/winery instead. It was very fun, I have never really liked wine but the wine down here is much better than what I have had back in TX(aka Arbor Mist!) hahaha...The food at this place (El 23 was the name) was incredible!!! I had ravioli with deer meat and a cream sauce (yummy!) but my friend Elizabeth gotta steak and it was the BEST steak I had ever put in my mouth (sorry dad but I think you would agree, I wish I could bring one back for you!) Argentina does have muchas vacas (cows) so I guess its expected that their steak is scrumptious!
On Sunday were going out to the country (el gaucho) and were gonna do some fun things like ride horses and eat asado, I am very excited about that adventure...I will take lots of pix although I prolly wont be able to post them until I come back at the beginning of July!
The next chance I get I will definitely let yall know how the gaucho went!
PS Aarika thanks so much for the warm clothes, they have been sooooo nice to have! I owe you big time!!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
My first experiences in Argentina
The flight...
Our flight was delayed 3 hours out of Dallas but it ended up being very fun because I made some good friends that were going to Argentina too. Talking to them helped calm my nerves because they were all as nervous as I was! haha... We finally get on the plane at 12:30 am, and it takes off at 1 am TX time. Despite the length of the 11hour flight, it was fairly smooth and I slept off and on for about 5 hours (which is good on a plane for me!) We landed in Santiago, Chile at 11 am their time, thank goodness the time change isnt too significant! The snow capped Andes Mountains were GORRRRGEOUS!!! I got a couple of pix that I will post when I can, but they were easily the most beautiful I have ever seen from a plane if not in my entire life. For lunch we ate at the airport: a sandwich with beef and plastic like cheese (it wasnt so bad if you just didnt think about it! haha) Our last flight was to Mendoza and it was a shoooorrttt, only about 45 minutes.
Meeting my family...
Well, as soon as we landed we were all kinda freakin out because we knew that our families were eagerly waiting around the corner after we picked up our luggage. Everyone was nervous because we were aware that our families know little to no English, and that is just kind of terrifying!!! Well, sure enough Claudia (mi mama) and her friend Flavia were just SO excited to see my nametag as I turned the corner from baggage claim. It was really quite precious and eased my nerves quite a bit. Even though my Spanish is not perfect, I knew that they would love me anyway because Claudia is the cutest thing Ive ever seen (sorry Christian! haha). We loaded up my stuff in Flavias TINY car, and I feared for my life as we drove home for the 1st time (dont worry mom, everyone drives terribly in Argentina so its actually quite safe!) We pull up to their lovely, quaint, CLEAN house and I am feeling even more relieved. Its in a very safe barrio (neighborhood) and its super cute! I meet my sisters, Selene and Julieta, and Julietas friend Pilar, they are all SOOO sweet. We all talk for a while in the living room, they were able to understand what I said most of the time so that was good! I unpack my stuff in my room and then Mallorys mom Susannah offers to take me to the outdoor shopping mall called Palimares.
Palimares...
They pick me up in their car and I meet Susannahs daughters Milagros (12 yrs old) and Valentina (9). They are super adorable and I squeeze in the back and hold on for dear life as we drive to the mall. We arrive and it is SO nice, it looks like its straight out of Malibu, CA! We walk around, speaking Spanish and eating palomitos de maiz (popcorn that tasted like Kettle corn only BETTER!) After walking around SUsannah drives us around some really cool places in town, then takes me home.
1st night home...
I finish unpacking and take a shower, aka drizzle. The water pressure is pretty horrible, but you know, I got clean and thats all that matters! haha, after my shower my mom and I had a miscommunication and she thought I needed food at that very moment (dinner is very late all over Arg), but I really could have waited. Dont worry about it, she brought me a slice of pizza and crackers with ham to my room for a snack! haha, sooo cute but Im thinking, oh my gosh Im gonna gain so much weight here because I had to eat DINNER like 30 min later!! For dinner we had delicious empanadas, salad, and of course red wine (it is a huge part of their culture)! Dessert was dulce de leche... AMAZING! I went to bed shortly after dinner because I was verrrrry tired from traveling and I slept very well in my new bed!
Orientation at the university...
NEVER had I ever been so excited to go to school! haha, after speaking only Spanish for 12 hours, hearing my friends speak English was like music to my ears! haha, we had orientation from 9am til 1 pm, then I came home for lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here, so we had fideos (noodles) con broccoli with ajo (garlic...mmmm!) It was really good! I promise mom, I offer to help with the dishes but my mom Claudia NEVER lets me, she tells me to just relax and that it is her job to clean! haha, daaaang! Monday and Tuesday were national holidays in Argentina, so my mom took me and Mallory (our moms are really good friends) downtown to experience the events of the day! SOOOOOO neat, pictures to come I promise! Many students from Baylor havent left their houses yet, so Mallory and I decided that our moms are just AWESOME and they really want us to experience the Argentine culture.
More posts to come, prob not this detailled because class starts tomorrow so Im sure I will have homework and my blogs will suffer because of it!
Kendra
Our flight was delayed 3 hours out of Dallas but it ended up being very fun because I made some good friends that were going to Argentina too. Talking to them helped calm my nerves because they were all as nervous as I was! haha... We finally get on the plane at 12:30 am, and it takes off at 1 am TX time. Despite the length of the 11hour flight, it was fairly smooth and I slept off and on for about 5 hours (which is good on a plane for me!) We landed in Santiago, Chile at 11 am their time, thank goodness the time change isnt too significant! The snow capped Andes Mountains were GORRRRGEOUS!!! I got a couple of pix that I will post when I can, but they were easily the most beautiful I have ever seen from a plane if not in my entire life. For lunch we ate at the airport: a sandwich with beef and plastic like cheese (it wasnt so bad if you just didnt think about it! haha) Our last flight was to Mendoza and it was a shoooorrttt, only about 45 minutes.
Meeting my family...
Well, as soon as we landed we were all kinda freakin out because we knew that our families were eagerly waiting around the corner after we picked up our luggage. Everyone was nervous because we were aware that our families know little to no English, and that is just kind of terrifying!!! Well, sure enough Claudia (mi mama) and her friend Flavia were just SO excited to see my nametag as I turned the corner from baggage claim. It was really quite precious and eased my nerves quite a bit. Even though my Spanish is not perfect, I knew that they would love me anyway because Claudia is the cutest thing Ive ever seen (sorry Christian! haha). We loaded up my stuff in Flavias TINY car, and I feared for my life as we drove home for the 1st time (dont worry mom, everyone drives terribly in Argentina so its actually quite safe!) We pull up to their lovely, quaint, CLEAN house and I am feeling even more relieved. Its in a very safe barrio (neighborhood) and its super cute! I meet my sisters, Selene and Julieta, and Julietas friend Pilar, they are all SOOO sweet. We all talk for a while in the living room, they were able to understand what I said most of the time so that was good! I unpack my stuff in my room and then Mallorys mom Susannah offers to take me to the outdoor shopping mall called Palimares.
Palimares...
They pick me up in their car and I meet Susannahs daughters Milagros (12 yrs old) and Valentina (9). They are super adorable and I squeeze in the back and hold on for dear life as we drive to the mall. We arrive and it is SO nice, it looks like its straight out of Malibu, CA! We walk around, speaking Spanish and eating palomitos de maiz (popcorn that tasted like Kettle corn only BETTER!) After walking around SUsannah drives us around some really cool places in town, then takes me home.
1st night home...
I finish unpacking and take a shower, aka drizzle. The water pressure is pretty horrible, but you know, I got clean and thats all that matters! haha, after my shower my mom and I had a miscommunication and she thought I needed food at that very moment (dinner is very late all over Arg), but I really could have waited. Dont worry about it, she brought me a slice of pizza and crackers with ham to my room for a snack! haha, sooo cute but Im thinking, oh my gosh Im gonna gain so much weight here because I had to eat DINNER like 30 min later!! For dinner we had delicious empanadas, salad, and of course red wine (it is a huge part of their culture)! Dessert was dulce de leche... AMAZING! I went to bed shortly after dinner because I was verrrrry tired from traveling and I slept very well in my new bed!
Orientation at the university...
NEVER had I ever been so excited to go to school! haha, after speaking only Spanish for 12 hours, hearing my friends speak English was like music to my ears! haha, we had orientation from 9am til 1 pm, then I came home for lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here, so we had fideos (noodles) con broccoli with ajo (garlic...mmmm!) It was really good! I promise mom, I offer to help with the dishes but my mom Claudia NEVER lets me, she tells me to just relax and that it is her job to clean! haha, daaaang! Monday and Tuesday were national holidays in Argentina, so my mom took me and Mallory (our moms are really good friends) downtown to experience the events of the day! SOOOOOO neat, pictures to come I promise! Many students from Baylor havent left their houses yet, so Mallory and I decided that our moms are just AWESOME and they really want us to experience the Argentine culture.
More posts to come, prob not this detailled because class starts tomorrow so Im sure I will have homework and my blogs will suffer because of it!
Kendra
Monday, May 24, 2010
Mis primeras dias de Argentina
Hello followers (sounds a little creeepy but whatever!)
I am typing this post on my family´s computer in Mendoza Argentine. The keyboard is a little different, so if I have some crazy symbols please forgive me!
Well, first of all the trip down to South America was delayed and LOOONG with little sleep but it¨s already worth it. I abosolutely LOVE my familia: Claudia is my mom, and Selene and Julieta are my sisters and they are absolutely WONDERFUL!!!! Despite our language barrier we have hit it off and I seriuosly can already see an improvement in my Spanish which is just awesome! I actually found myself thinking in Spanish when I woke up this morning.
Class doesnt start until Wednesday because today and tomorrow are national holidays in Argentina. Today Im going downtown with my family to participate in all the fun activites. I will give more details when I have more time on my next post but I just wanted to let yall know that I am happy and safe.
Besos
Kendra
(I am trying to get used to kissing ones cheek when greeting them! haha, its weird but EVERYONE does it here)
I am typing this post on my family´s computer in Mendoza Argentine. The keyboard is a little different, so if I have some crazy symbols please forgive me!
Well, first of all the trip down to South America was delayed and LOOONG with little sleep but it¨s already worth it. I abosolutely LOVE my familia: Claudia is my mom, and Selene and Julieta are my sisters and they are absolutely WONDERFUL!!!! Despite our language barrier we have hit it off and I seriuosly can already see an improvement in my Spanish which is just awesome! I actually found myself thinking in Spanish when I woke up this morning.
Class doesnt start until Wednesday because today and tomorrow are national holidays in Argentina. Today Im going downtown with my family to participate in all the fun activites. I will give more details when I have more time on my next post but I just wanted to let yall know that I am happy and safe.
Besos
Kendra
(I am trying to get used to kissing ones cheek when greeting them! haha, its weird but EVERYONE does it here)
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Bye bye America, helloooooo Argentina
Well, here are some of my thoughts/happenings as of lately... Sorry ahead of time that my blog is so scattered!
BIG NEWS first and foremost: MADDIE SAGE AND KYLE NIEMAN ARE ENGAGED!!! I am just SO stoked for both of them and so excited to be a part of Maddie's bridal party! The next few months of planning are going to be so much fun and I just can't stop thinking about how wonderful their life is going to be together! It's so crazy that it happened this week because not only will I be out of the country for the next 6 weeks, but before I left for CO, Maddie and I had a nice long talk about marriage and engagements and I had NO CLUE Kyle would be proposing today! So cool :)
So I will be staying with Christian's wonderful family in Colorado until Saturday... I will be very sad to leave them (especially my sweet bf Chris), but 6 weeks is not long and I will be in ARGENTINA for goodness sakes! We have had a very good time here in CO relaxing, eating lots of good food, doin some good ol fashioned shopping, and of course getting manicures! I have enjoyed my stay here very much (as I always do) and am so thankful that I genuinely enjoy spending time with Christian's family!
I will arrive in Argentina on Sunday morning and am just beside myself with many emotions: sad to leave family and friends en los Estados Unidos, scared of the language barrier in Argentina/having to write many essays in Spanish for a GRADE (my grammar isn't the greatest), but oh so very excited for the many new relationships that will develop!! My Argentine family has contacted me via email and Facebook, and seem SOOO nice. Their English is not very proficient, but I am glad because it will force me to use my ever so proficient Spanish skills (yeah right!) while I'm living with them. I already miss my parents and sis, so I hope my Argentine family will be warm and welcoming to help me get through any homesickness I may have.
Well, good night all! Un abrazo y besos (hugs and kisses en espanol)
Kendra
BIG NEWS first and foremost: MADDIE SAGE AND KYLE NIEMAN ARE ENGAGED!!! I am just SO stoked for both of them and so excited to be a part of Maddie's bridal party! The next few months of planning are going to be so much fun and I just can't stop thinking about how wonderful their life is going to be together! It's so crazy that it happened this week because not only will I be out of the country for the next 6 weeks, but before I left for CO, Maddie and I had a nice long talk about marriage and engagements and I had NO CLUE Kyle would be proposing today! So cool :)
So I will be staying with Christian's wonderful family in Colorado until Saturday... I will be very sad to leave them (especially my sweet bf Chris), but 6 weeks is not long and I will be in ARGENTINA for goodness sakes! We have had a very good time here in CO relaxing, eating lots of good food, doin some good ol fashioned shopping, and of course getting manicures! I have enjoyed my stay here very much (as I always do) and am so thankful that I genuinely enjoy spending time with Christian's family!
I will arrive in Argentina on Sunday morning and am just beside myself with many emotions: sad to leave family and friends en los Estados Unidos, scared of the language barrier in Argentina/having to write many essays in Spanish for a GRADE (my grammar isn't the greatest), but oh so very excited for the many new relationships that will develop!! My Argentine family has contacted me via email and Facebook, and seem SOOO nice. Their English is not very proficient, but I am glad because it will force me to use my ever so proficient Spanish skills (yeah right!) while I'm living with them. I already miss my parents and sis, so I hope my Argentine family will be warm and welcoming to help me get through any homesickness I may have.
Well, good night all! Un abrazo y besos (hugs and kisses en espanol)
Kendra
Sunday, May 9, 2010
choosing a blog name
After LOTS of brainstorming with family and friends (Molly Bland), I finally decided on a name for this darn blog! (You'd think I was tryin to name a 1st born child!) I will be studying Spanish in Argentina this summer so I thought a blog was the next big step. I hope yall enjoy reading it and checking out all of our adventures in South America!
I will be leaving for Ft. Worth on Saturday to stay with Maddie, then on Sunday afternoon to spend the week with Christian's family in Colorado. I'm lookin forward to that, but for now am thrilled to be home! Today was Mother's Day and we the best weekend with the coolest mom everrrrrr. I am just so thankful for all the sacrifices she makes for us, she truly is a remarkable woman of God. We went to the nursery in Midland and bought some things to pot in our front yard. I've decided I want to have a green thumb and that I really enjoy gardening and such. (I really am quite domestic I must say--except Aarika could teach me a few things bout cookin!) This week Andra and I will be working out with mom at 5 AM!! whoaaaa, that's gonna be rough but we just have to, we've pretty much let ourselves go! haha
Welp, time to continue watchin Sweet Home Alabama with Ange (I just love her!)
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