It's been sooo long!

I feel like I have a million things to write about... even though I'm home now! :/

I was really sick with the flu during the last week of my vacation, and because of the pressure changes while flying I have an ear infection. Not fun. Oh well, I'll get over it, and maybe even catch up on my blogging.

This blog will be all about lists!

Memorable things I saw in Argentina that I wasn't able to blog about:
-The zoo
-The morgue
-My last day/birthday

Things I wish I could have done in Buenos Aires
-See La Boca
-Watched a legit tango show
-went to casa rosado during the day
-went to more museums!

Things I will miss about Buenos Aires:
-Being able to walk EVERYWHERE
-dirt cheap taxis!
-Freddo's Ice Cream!!!!
-Speaking Spanish regularly

Things that I am sooo thankful to have again:
-Vegetarian food options!
-family, friends, my dog
-my bed
-English! everywhere!!!
-space. and things aren't teenie tiny here.
-people who pick up "los regalos de perros".
-people who drive well.
-BREAKFAST TACOS.


As I mentioned, I have an inner ear infection, and a mild case of jet lag... so I'm going to go to sleep.
I hope you all enjoyed reading my blog! Expect at least 1-2 more posts! :)

Buenas Suerte y buenas noches a todos!!!
<33Regina

Alright.

I am dead tired.
Really, I don't even know why I'm about to post right now instead of sleep, hahaha.

The past few days have been CRAZY. I don't even know where to begin.

I guess you all should just know that I am having an awesome time, and the longer I spend in Buenos Aires, the more chill of a birthday party I want. Hahaha.

Yesterday I went to a hip hop dance club! Holy smokes, BsAs [and the rest of Latin America, I've heard], knows how to party. We went to a friends' house, then out to the club around 12 or 1 AM.
It was actually kind of weird because they we having a dance crew competition or something there before the dancing happened.
After watching that for a few minutes, they had a female rapper doing her thing. It was actually God awful. I'm pretty sure my dog could rap better than she did... :/
Anyway, after a few badly rapped songs, the actual dancing began. It was awesome! Too crowded to move and you couldn't really hear anyone outside of a foot radius of your face, but the music was amazing!
They mixed bassnectar with "teach me how to dougie", played booty work by T-pain and Hot Toddy by usher. I was really feeling this place!!!

There was a downside, though. For one, our group seemed to never be in the same place at the same time, so there was mass confusion. :/
We all went off looking for missing people and things like that, so that was funny/bad.

Also, the guys here are VERY pushy. I didn't like that at all... But everyone was alright, and that's what matters.

Side note: it seems as though every foreigner knew that the hip hop club is the place to be! We ran into some friends we met a night or two before, and then I saw another guy that I thought left for another country [whom I've had classes with, hahaa]... it was a LOT of coincidences.

Oh my goodness, I forgot that I went to go see the Flower! I honestly don't know what day that was or anything... but after going to see it, we ran into some people our age playing a strange sport called "slacklining", and I dared a friend to try it. He did and it seemed REALLY fun, so pretty much everyone else in the group decided to try it as well. :)
I didn't bring my camera, but I think I took some pretty nice photos on my friends' cameras. :)

Man, I can't believe that I dont know what day I went to the flower on....
Part of me thinks it was yesterday... but I dont know, because it feels like it was already a week ago or something. blegh.

The whole "going-to-bed-at-6AM" thing is really tiring and drainging.

Alright, time for some shut eye.

Buenas Noches!
<33Regina

Harry Potter: All good things come to an end, I guess.

I need to get all of my feelings out about Harry Potter ending, and since the only memorable thing about yesterday was seeing the final movie, this blogpost will be dedicated to the boy who lived. :)
Don't read this if you don't like Harry Potter. Hahaha, you've all been warned.


Yesterday I saw the last Harry Potter movie. The moment was so entirely sad for me. I know everyone has been saying the same thing, but I really feel as though my childhood is over.

Reading books has always been a positive experience for me, and I feel that I've found friends in all the characters in the Harry Potter series. I remember the first time I heard about the Harry Potter series... I was at a school book fair in elementary school, and I remember thinking "What's so cool about this??? It seems dumb.".
But I read the first book and knew that this series would hold a special place in my heart.

I have so many memories attached to this book series.
I remember my Mom reading the books to Daniel and I as bedtime stories... eagerly waiting for the book to come out... going to a midnight premier...

Honestly, I'm so happy that they ended the series during the summer. If you know me, you know that I share the same birth date with my favorite character, Neville Longbottom. Our birth date [July 30th] is the day before Harry's, and perhaps you all remember... or maybe not... but I've had several Harry Potter themed birthday parties and cakes. Hell, I had one of my cakes say "Happy Birthday Neville & Harry!".
I'm pretty sure I will always associate the Harry Potter series with my birthday. :)

I also remember reading the books during summer breaks, while I was at math camp [oh goodness, I'm living up to every nerdy stereotype right now. oops.], or while I was on vacation. It's actually pretty funny... while my mom drove my brother, grandmother and I around the Swiss Alps in 2001, I listened to the cd of the fourth book because I get motion sick when I read in cars. I also remember waiting to read the last book until I got it for my birthday. My mom actually purchased me my own book, so we wouldn't have to fight for the chance to read it. As in, my house has two copies of the final book, hahahaha. My summers have always been loosely defined by Harry Potter, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I guess since HP has been with me since I was eleven, the same age that Harry was in the first book, I feel as though the characters have grown and matured at the same time that I have. I am already thinking about different ways that I can share Harry Potter with my future children, and I hope that they love the series as much as I do.

Going through so much of my life with Harry Potter [and everyone in the books!!!!] right by my side really makes me feel as though my childhood is over, now that the series is completely over. Yes, I wished I got an owl when I was 11, that Hogwarts was real, that one day I'll get to experience the magic... [This really sounds creepy as hell, hahahaha] but I am so glad that it's ending on a high note. :)

I don't know if J.K. Rowling knew how much her book series would mean to millions of people, but I'm so thankful for her creation of it.

I know this wasn't the most eloquent read, but I hope I captured just how much my life has been affected by Harry Potter, and what the final movie meant to me.

Being able to see the final movie in Buenos Aires only made my trip that much more memorable.
Side note: the only reason I did NOT want to go to Argentina this summer was because the final Harry Potter movie was coming out. Is that dedication or what?!?!?!?!? Hahahaha

Alright, this blog has taken me entirely too long to write.
I hope everyone has a great day, and that you check out the last Harry Potter movie if you haven't already!!!!
:)

<33Regina

I'm guessing you've realized that I've been having an awesome time, right? ;)

Yea, the past few days have been sooo much fun! It's so difficult to describe something that's super fun, you know? But I'll try. :D

Side note: Sorry my blog has been sucking so much lately!!! hahahahaaha

Sunday: El Tigre
-bus and train ride
-shopping!

Monday:
-Class
-Bomba de tiempo

Tuesday:
-Class
-Going to Pallermo Hollywood

Sunday was very enjoyable, but it was a lot like last weekend, just at a different place. We went to a nearby city to go shopping... everything was so cheap!!!! I had a blast, mainly because I loveee to shop! Typical girl, right?
The most challenging part of the day was waking up suuuper early and catching a bus. I don't really care for buses [although I love the idea of public transportation lol], and we've come to an agreement that mornings just aren't my thing... so yea, not the most ideal morning for me, you know?  Hahaha :)

Anyway, we took the bus to a train station, then took a train to the actual town. We decided to go this route because the train travels by the ocean and is more scenic in general. This was a bit of a fail because by the time we got on the train, there were no more seats... so my view was out of a window COVERED in graffiti. Normally I like graffiti, but because it messed up my view, I wasn't too happy about it. Haha.

I didn't really see anything in the town besides the INSANE market. I was in heaven without even seeing half of the market! Oh well. I had fun. :)

Here's something interesting/gross: I was actually charged to use toilette paper at one bathroom in El Tigre. What?!?!? And it was gross. ugh. Thank goodness I brought my travel lysol.


Monday:

I was placed in a new class on Monday, which I'm not too entirely crazy about. It's a lot more difficult than my other class because the teacher actually doesn't know English... so it's a curtousy to speak in Spanish around her, and we're not allowed to speak English more than 4-5 times a day. She keeps track. Ugh.
At least I will learn more Spanish in a less amount of time, right? :)

The best part about Monday was going to a concert called Bomba de Tiempo!!!!! It was seriously INSANE! <3
Basically there were 15 percussionists lined up onstage playing various beats for 2 hours. We were only there for about an hour, but I can't wait to go again! I had sooo much fun!!!! There was a guy conducting the percussionist, which was pretty darn amazing. I don't know, if you have any musical background or appreciation for percussion, THIS is where you'd want to be. It was phenomenal. It was a lot like a huuuge drum circle. :D
I had a really hard time not dancing hahaha.
Oh, they also brought out the funkiest trumpet!!! I wanted to buy a cd soooo bad, but they didn't sell any at the concert. Booo!

Gosh, my description doesn't do the concert justice at all. I wish I could bring the experience back to the US with me. :/
Great news: their music it on itunes!!! :D

After the concert, my group of friends and I went to an after party with a live band. It was a reggae cover band, which was a-okay with me! :D
It wasn't the best quality, especially when the singer was attempting to sing in English without really knowing the words in English... Trust me, I laughed a LOT over it, hahaha. Oh well, at least she has a cool enough band to actually be in a club and get people hyped! So yea, that was a great night. :))))


Tuesday:

Class was super nondescript, so I will just skip that... hahaha.
In the evening, I hung out with a lot of my friends from the program. We started off just socializing at a friends' apartment, then we went to a barrio [section of the city] called "Pallermo Hollywood" and went to a bar.
I've never really seen the appeal of a bar, but I finally understand: tourists and creepy old men congregate to socialize. Just kidding. A bit.
But yea, it was really super fun and I made friends with the bartender, which was very interesting considering the massive language barrier. :)
I enjoyed hanging out with so many of the ECELA program students. :D

It's finally hitting me that this is basically the only time we'll ever be together, and that thought it making me quite sad. I've made so excellent friendships on this trip, and although I've only been here for 2.5 weeks, I definitely feel like I've been through a LOT with these kiddos. :)
I know I will be more than ready to go home [when the time comes], but it will be rather sad to leave such a cool group of people.

Alright, enough Debbie Downer moments, hahaha.

I knowwww I need to blog about today, but I watched the last Harry Potter movie tonight, and I feel like that needs it's own post at the very least.
And I am sleepy... so yea, I'm skipping blogging... again! So horrible!

Buenas noches!!!!
<333333Regina [to make up for all the love you guys haven't been getting on my blog. sorry!]
:)

SO much has been going on!

I am so tired though. I need to take a break and give you all an epic update tomorrow.

I need to tell you about Sunday [going to El Tigre] and today as well! Tonight I went to Bomba de tiempo. It was AMAZING. Really, I can't believe I went to something so awesome. :DDD

Just so you know what Bomba de Tiempo is... here's a link!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrKm5xUQtNo

As a percussionist and a decently musical person, I was mesmerized by it!!!
More about it tomorrow! Argentina sure knows how to wear a girl out!

Buenas Noches!
<33Regina

I totally need to blog about yesterday. Oops!

Yesterday was incredible! If you read my other post [probably not...], then you know that we visited a hospital in the countryside! It used to be a hospital for people who have leprosy, but now it's a hospital that has a lot of clinics in rural areas and also house people that need long term care, palliative and hospice care.

-Woke up entirely too early
-tour
-my goof.
-incredible food!!!!
-play soccer with Argentine kids
-play more games
-go home


Our day started at 7:30 AM. As in, on a Saturday.... of my own free will... I had to wake up at 6:30AM and get ready. Oh my goodness. I was a zombie, hahaha. I really was not a happy camper. Blegh.
But I am SOOO incredibly happy I went to the hospital... It reminded me of working at the Reddix Center in SA. Everyone was so caring and happy! More on that later.

We got there and they gave us a nice overview of what the hospital's history and what they do there now [two very different aspects, haha], then they gave us a tour!

Side note: alright, so I get to the place, and I had eaten breakfast from burger king, so I had a bag of trash.... I ask the first person I see if they could point to the trashcan for me. Instead of pointing, he just said that he wouldn't mind disposing my garbage for me. I was so embarrassed already, because they were sooo hospitable! They gave us more breakfast and everything, and he was going to take my trash!? haha
So after the workers begin talking, I realize that I didn't hand my trash to just anyone... I handed it to the person who oversees the ENTIRE hospital. Oh. My. Gosh. I was so darn embarrassed! I mean, it was beyond amazing that he was that humble about his position, but still! That's incredible!
When I talked to my friend/someone who works for ECELA, she pointed out that a situation like this would never happen in the U.S., and I have to agree. As much as I enjoy the U.S., someone with a job as high up as his wouldn't even have the time of day to speak to us.
Also, the lady who spoke to us before [who is in charge of 5 different hospitals] also came with us. I felt incredibly honored that they would spend their Saturday with us. How amazing is that?!

After touring and seeing their really awesome hospital [alright, it's in the middle of nowhere and is very modern, with surgery rooms and monitors... everything! they've basically made their own community, with schools for children, therapy centers for patients... and everything is absoloutely free and patient based. How incredible.] we were treated to lunch.

So I was fully ready to just eat peanut butter and jellies for my lunch, but they brought the most wonderful food for us! There was cheese and meats, bruchetta, red wine, white wine, traditional northern Argentine soup, champagne and dessert! Everything was so wonderful! They actually made separate side dishes for vegetarians. It was so accommodating, I have no idea how they did it. Seriously, they made us feel like royalty. I hope we lived up to their expectation, especially considering how wonderful they treated us. :)

After they wined and dined us [for real. If you had a glass of wine, they wouldn't wait until you were finished to refill you, hahaha. I normally don't care for wine, but this was delish!] we were ready to tour the school. The children of the patients go to school together just a few feet away from all the hospital part.
As expected, I really liked the school! They teach them very practical and interesting skills like how to host a radio show, build houses, and promote values through futbol callejero and other sports.

Futbol Callejero is basically street soccer. The hospital made their own version of the game, where there are a lot less rules and you play short games that end with both teams discussing what went on during the game and how they felt about it. I really think this is a great teaching strategy for these kids. Not only can the kids let our their frustrations in a positive way, but it promotes exercise and being open about feelings. I was so happy to think about all the different strategies they are employing to help these kids be as positive as possible during a very stressful time in their lives. I wish I could come back and volunteer with them. That would be rad.

These kids were beasts at futbol! I mean, it's kind of a given, but wowwwww. They could headbutt, balance the ball on their faces and overall amazing motor skills. I was blown away. I hope our youth look that skilled while they play little league sports. These kids would have pulverized us in a game if it was just us vs. them!

Luckily, it was not! :D
We were split pretty evenly with the kids, thank goodness. The only downside was that we didn't really know who was on our team and stuff, haha. There was a bit of confusion, but overall it was a really good game! :DDD

Futbol was good, but there were more games to be played!!!!
We went over to a place called Pena La Alegria. This is basically where the patients go to work on fine motor skills in a creative way. They paint, draw, do origami and a lot of other fun things [like dancing!]. This place was a ton of fun! We danced with the doctors and patients, played a bunch of games that involve tossing things? I don't know what theyre called, but it was a blast!

Eventually it was time to calm down and have refreshments and reflect on the day. They served us a lot of hot chocolate and pastries and asked us how we liked their facility. I know it was super cheesy, [I even admitted it as I said it], but I said that you could really tell how hard they've worked to build a program like theirs that fosters a sense of community and has a lot of love. I really liked that about it, because it didn't feel like a hospital. Everyone seemed to know each other and genuinely care about one another. It was a beautiful thing to see. :)
It honestly reminded me of working at the Reddix Center, because it was easy to tell that the staff truly enjoyed their work and the residents enjoy living there as well. I would definitely go back if my allergies would chill out.

Side note: I thought I didn't have any allergies in the woods, so I was incredibly happy!!! Turns out I really did, but I didn't feel them until after a few hours. Then my throat/eyes/nose started hurting, and I haven't felt well ever since.... at least it didn't affect me while I was there. That would have been a bummer, hahaha.
I hope I'll get over it soon though, because I have things to do and places to see! :D :)

That was essentially my day yesterday.
It was, hands down, the best day of my trip thus far. I cannot believe how much fun I had! I felt like I smiled the entire day. What a great experience. :)
I hope I accurately described everything and how much I enjoyed it. :D

Peace out!
<33Regina

Today was the best day of my trip so far!

However, I am much too tired to blog about it right now. I'm sorry. :/

I will tell you what I did, though!
We went to a hospital in the countryside, that used to be for people with leprosy. The staff was absolutely AMAZING. I wish I could work in an environment so nice and caring. :)

We were there the entire day, which I honestly thought would be wayyyy too long to spend anywhere... but actually, it was the best experience I have had in Argentina. :)

I will blog in depth tomorrow, because this deserves the best blog post ever! :)

Buenas noches y tener suenos dulces!
<33Regina