I spent the past 4 days in San Juan, capital city of the province of San Juan. Honestly, if I could choose any place to live in Argentina long term, I feel pretty confident about saying it would be San Juan. I'm not sure how much I would like the hot hot summers in San Juan (up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit,) but the fall/winter there is definitely to my liking. There is practically 0 humidity, so San Juan doesn't exhibit the bitter cold bite of the air in Parana, and it fairly warm and sunny this time of year. Also, the city is just the right blend of urban city and small town. It has a nice, relaxing (re tranqui) pace of life, while also offering a cultural scene and sufficient public transportation.
Because of 2 serious earthquakes during the 20th century, San Juan consists of only modern buildings. Everything constructed before the earthquakes was destroyed. I can only speak of the places I visited, but from what I've seen, San Juan is a pretty prosperous community. The civic center, public university, and the school of music here are beautiful and big. I've heard that the school of music here has the largest auditorium and organ in South America! I went to the auditorium on Friday to listen to a string quartet play Dvorak, and it was incredible. Sitting so close up to the musicians made it possible for me to see every movement and discern every sound produced. With most music, I don't care whether I listen to it at a concert or on a cd, but with classical music I've realized that it really is especially beautiful and moving to experience it in person.
One interesting tidbit about San Juan is that it is the birth place of one of Argentina's most notable national heroes, Sarmiento: president, inventor, and founder of education.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
My Journey Westward
Ok, so I haven't written in a loooong time, but here's the deal: I've been busy doing many, many things in Parana! I will write on that later though. Right now the main topic of focus is my journey westward. Because of the May 25th Independence Holiday and the exam boards I have a full 2.5 weeks to travel, and my trip westward is already afoot.
Last thursday morning, I took a bus from Parana to Rafaela to visit my friend Agostina and her family. We hadn't seen each other in about a month since my last visit to Rafaela. Her and I watched a really funny Argentine movie called Un novio para mi mujer about a man who hires a Senor Flores to seduce his wife because he's too chicken to tell her he wants a separation. One highlight of the trip was the acto or celebration at the university in celebration of Argentina's bicentennial on May 25th. I could hardly stop myself from laughing out loud when a stray dog wandered wandered down the aisle behind the national flag during a very solemn procession. I just can't get over the presence of stray dogs everywhere here in Argentina, even inside school auditoriums!
On Friday night, I took an overnight bus to Cordoba to meet up with 4 other Fulbrighters. My bus was delayed by about 3 hours unfortunately, but thankfully the rest of the trip went pretty smoothly. I couldn't tell how beautiful Cordoba was the first day I arrived because the weather was pretty overcast, and truthfully, nothing looks good when it's cloudy and cold out.
We really had an action packed 4 days in the nation's 3rd largest city: a trip to Che Guevara's childhood home in Alta Gracia, a typical Cuban meal at the restaurant nextdoor owned by a woman who met Che in Cuba, a hike to almost the tippy top of a sierra in La Falda (the place where Hitler is rumored to have visited once although this is debatable), an interpretive dance/military procession/fireworks spectacular in honor of the bicentennial at midnight on the 25th, a visit to the two largest Cordobese art museums and one of the oldest Jesuit missions in Argentina, and a three-person bicycle ride around a lake.
Now after a 10 hour bus ride, I am further northwest in San Juan with another Fulbrighter: Matt. I am pretty excited to be visiting him in San Juan, the birthplace of Sarmiento, as well as the province where El Valle de La Luna is located. I've heard that this is one of the largest sites for dinosaur fossils in the world!
I will post another entry later with a run-down of my stay in San Juan. On a parting note, my first observations in San Juan: it was very difficult to navigate my way to Matt's apartment from the San Juan bus terminal as there are no real signs indicating bus stops, street names, or house numbers. I basically had to ask every single Argentine I saw in the street this morning at 7am "Where is bus 12a?" I'm pretty proud of myself for actually finding his apartment considering the fact that Argentines always give you directions when asked, but 9 times out of 10 they have no idea what they are talking about. I have been sent on many a wild goose-chase because of that. I have to ask one of my Argentine friends what's going on.
Also, interestingly, the Argentines of San Juan do not use the "shh" sound. I can't get over it nor, now that I've adopted the shhh into my speech can I stop using it even though no one else here speaks this way. Oh regional linguistic diversity!
Until next time!
Last thursday morning, I took a bus from Parana to Rafaela to visit my friend Agostina and her family. We hadn't seen each other in about a month since my last visit to Rafaela. Her and I watched a really funny Argentine movie called Un novio para mi mujer about a man who hires a Senor Flores to seduce his wife because he's too chicken to tell her he wants a separation. One highlight of the trip was the acto or celebration at the university in celebration of Argentina's bicentennial on May 25th. I could hardly stop myself from laughing out loud when a stray dog wandered wandered down the aisle behind the national flag during a very solemn procession. I just can't get over the presence of stray dogs everywhere here in Argentina, even inside school auditoriums!
On Friday night, I took an overnight bus to Cordoba to meet up with 4 other Fulbrighters. My bus was delayed by about 3 hours unfortunately, but thankfully the rest of the trip went pretty smoothly. I couldn't tell how beautiful Cordoba was the first day I arrived because the weather was pretty overcast, and truthfully, nothing looks good when it's cloudy and cold out.
We really had an action packed 4 days in the nation's 3rd largest city: a trip to Che Guevara's childhood home in Alta Gracia, a typical Cuban meal at the restaurant nextdoor owned by a woman who met Che in Cuba, a hike to almost the tippy top of a sierra in La Falda (the place where Hitler is rumored to have visited once although this is debatable), an interpretive dance/military procession/fireworks spectacular in honor of the bicentennial at midnight on the 25th, a visit to the two largest Cordobese art museums and one of the oldest Jesuit missions in Argentina, and a three-person bicycle ride around a lake.
Now after a 10 hour bus ride, I am further northwest in San Juan with another Fulbrighter: Matt. I am pretty excited to be visiting him in San Juan, the birthplace of Sarmiento, as well as the province where El Valle de La Luna is located. I've heard that this is one of the largest sites for dinosaur fossils in the world!
I will post another entry later with a run-down of my stay in San Juan. On a parting note, my first observations in San Juan: it was very difficult to navigate my way to Matt's apartment from the San Juan bus terminal as there are no real signs indicating bus stops, street names, or house numbers. I basically had to ask every single Argentine I saw in the street this morning at 7am "Where is bus 12a?" I'm pretty proud of myself for actually finding his apartment considering the fact that Argentines always give you directions when asked, but 9 times out of 10 they have no idea what they are talking about. I have been sent on many a wild goose-chase because of that. I have to ask one of my Argentine friends what's going on.
Also, interestingly, the Argentines of San Juan do not use the "shh" sound. I can't get over it nor, now that I've adopted the shhh into my speech can I stop using it even though no one else here speaks this way. Oh regional linguistic diversity!
Until next time!
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