who needs to exercise when you can salsa?

I had my first real lesson in salsa last night. Although I have taken some classes that are offered in the Y, anyone can tell you, its getting out there and making an ass out of yourself that really teaches you. And so I did that. I was at a club with a few of the guys that I work with, and Ricardo grabs my hand and pulls me on the dance floor. I should first mention that men in Argentina know how to dance. And they love doing it. I think its terrific. Its quite rare to find many younger males in the US who not only enjoy dancing (because many do), BUT can dance and have Rhythm, and more importantly, not consider dancing to be a thrusting movement of their lower body...ew gross. The men in south america have incredible rhythm, can actually LEAD during a dance (which is unknown to me...I´ve been leading for years now, which makes it difficult to follow) and they love getting on a dance floor and shaking it up. SO, with that said, Ricardo pulls me on the floor during a somewhat fast salsa song. I´m glancing at these other couples around us, and thinking Oh %$!%...they all look professional, and I have two left feet. However, with some instruction I did quite well I must admit. Than a really fast merengue song came on, and we switched partners. Here I am dancing with this guy who could have been on one of those TV shows cause hes so damn good... and the entire song consisted of spinning. Spinning left, right, under both arms, crossing arms...totally crazy! I haven´t spun around like that since I was doing ´spinning bat races´when i was in elementary school. It was sooo much fun. And I certaintly worked up a sweat. i decided after 3 hours of dancing, when I woke up this morning and my calves hurt, that I can just dance every night at a salsa club rather than take my spinning (actual bike spinning) classes.

group showers= great time to learn spanish

I never had the group shower experience. Maybe this is because women tend to prefer to shower in the privacy of their own house, or its just not common like it is for men to stand around in the locker room naked and talk. Apparantly it is though, and I thought wrong. Since I am living at the YMCA, i also use the facilities at the Y (including the showers). The shower room is a giant room with 15 shower heads. My first day I was a little apprehensive. Not because I care about standing in a shower with other women, but because they were all singing and chatting away. Don´t get me wrong. I enjoy singing in the shower as much as the person next to me, but its the singing part that I considered to be private, not the actual showering.

Its now a regular occurance that the old ladies chat it up with me as I´m washing my hair, or lathering up with soap. Getting dressed too. I always heard comedic stories about the strange guy who will come upto you in the men´s locker room, totally naked, and put his foot up on the bench, stretch out and start conversation. It happens in the womens locker room too. I´m in no hurry to throw my clothes on, but I have other things to do instead of stand their clothless with my towel in my hand, and talk about what I ate last night for dinner.

With that said, my conversational spanish is improving drastically due to these ´shower talks´, so I can´t complain. I never knew how friendly the locker room was...maybe I was just attending the wrong locker rooms prior to this trip. We, or actually, I will know when I reach full comfort level, and this is when I can sing freely in the group shower. And it will certaintly be madonna.

sweating like there´s no tomorrow...spinning

I just feel like I should share with everyone that I had my first spinning class. Not only was it the most intense workout I´ve had in...well, in a long time, but I also sweat more than I think I have ever in my life. Definitly not the place to try to pick up guys...unless you´re into that whole touching someones arm, and having your hand slide off because its so wet. Seriously though, all jokes aside, I understand why spinning became the new fad....5 years ago. I guess I´m a little late on the ´newness´of the aerobic exercise, but than again, I´m also a few years behind on fashion, music, and whats ´hot´ these days. I think I shed some excess ´grab flab´on my stomach in just 50 minutes. Maybe my jeans will start to fit me again soon

Another week started at the Y. Lunch was exceptionally fun. The one point of my day where I can sometimes be free of children, and enjoy my food. Today I sat with 6 of the kids from camp who were eating with us in the cafeteria. The 5 year old girl, angela, has taking quite a liking for me, but also hasnt learned that lunch isn´t the time i want to play games. Unfortunately, I had to practically spoonfeed her food to her because she was refusing to eat. I was chipper. But the weather is beautiful outside, so I´m looking forward to a casual stroll through the city soon..

Crux del Sur

¨When you see the Southern Cross for the first time, you understand now why you came this way. Cause the truth you may be running from is so small. But it´s as big as the promise, the promise of a coming day..... ¨

Since my arrival in the Southern Hemisphere, I have been searching the sky at night for the Crux Del Sur, the Southern Cross. We´ve all heard Crosby, Stills, and Nash sing their tunes about it, but I needed to see it with my own eyes. It took 7 weeks, but last night, we (the stars and I) became acquainted with eachother. There was so much built-up anticipation in seeing it, that I almost expected some neon blue cluster of stars. It wasn´t quite that tremendous, but in fact, still very cool. There are 2 other constellations that resemble the Southern Cross, so at first I was slightly confused. It really was exciting for me, perhaps because I´ve been asking every local person I meet to show me, and there are always mountains surrounding us that are in the way. I suppose its a bonus of travelling to the southern hemisphere, I get to experience new constellations and galaxies above...how cool is it to know that sailors used these stars as their navigation..? I think its pretty amazing. Since I have no knowledge of astronomy, I may buy a book, in spanish, to teach me a little more. i´ll get back to everyone on my progress.... In Santiago, they apparantly have some observatories, so i may make a trip once I return next weekend from sleepaway camp in the mountains.

This evening there is a huge Tango competition in Valpo with dancers from Argentina. A group of the dancers are staying at the Y with us, and I got a personal lesson the other evening on the balcony from some suave looking guy. I do enjoy the decor that the dancers wear....men in suits with those great top hats....I´m a big fan.

armpit farts...are they really that cool?

As my week is finally winding down, I can now (almost) sit back and relax. Relax, after a week of working 10 hour days with 5-12 year olds, I forgot what relax means. One would normally think that by Thursday, after 4 strenuous and tiring days of running in circles around a gym, these kids would be a little worn down. Thats a negative ghostrider. Maybe I was a little irritable this morning because I went out to la Viña last night, the town next to us. Perhaps my 4 hours of sleep contributed, but in reality, it made no difference.
There are 2 little girls who have taken quite a liking to me. One of them is 10, and she likes me because I can speak English, and I teach her words like ¨head, mouth, chair, and toes¨. Literally, thats it. The other one is 8 I think, and I have no idea why she likes me. I can´t actually communicate with either of them efficiently, and if I was a little kid trying to speak to an older person, and every 7 words that came out of their mouth was inaudible, I don´t think I would continue trying to talk to them. Our conversations are quite funny, because I tend to ask the little kids how I say things in spanish, and they laugh at me. Then, I will get out a really good sentence or two, and I get all excited about my proficiency...only to follow up with a completly botched sentence that makes no sense whatsoever. The ¨confused look¨appears quite often when I talk...but for some reason, they still insist on talking to me, even though I have no idea what they are saying. Trying to console them when they cry is also humorous (not because they are crying, but because my reaction). I can´t exactly find the correct words, so I stick with, ïts ok¨, and thats about it. Or when two kids are fighting, I just tell them to stop, and no more. I´m not so good on the disciplinary action. Although, my coworkers usually come to the rescue in those situations.
My coworkers are also another amusing part of my day. The majority of the workers at camp at 14 and 15 years old. The 2 directors of the camp, are 19 and 21. As far as stafff, the 4 volunteers are by far the oldest people. However, I rely on the 14 year olds to help me with everything throughout my day, and I value their presence.

This afternoon, I was subjected to listening to 6 boys making farting noises with their armpits. I forgot how fascinating it is when you find new noises and uses for bodyparts. I stopped finding it amusing approximately 16 seconds into the game, but had to listen for another 45 minutes. Then I had the 10-12 year olds for a free'time class, where I can do whatever I want... Although I prefer 8 and above, it is so much easier to entertain 5 year olds. Like my sis Lauren said, you can play a game that consists of standing up if you are wearing yellow, and they are entertained. Not so much for 12 year olds, although I have found that many stupid games work with them as well. (Was I so easy to entertain at that age??) So, since it was english and free class, we sang and learned the body parts for... ¨head, shoulders, knees and toes...¨ great song, I must say so myself.
Let me stress though, by far the most difficult thing I have faced with learning spanish, is TEACHING a game to kids. It is so incredibly complicated to explain rules of a game. My experience was teaching 7 niños the HaHa game. The HaHa game might possibly be the most mindless yet rewarding game ever created. It consists of laying on the floor, with your head on another persons stomach, their head on another stomache, etc..so its a big circle of peoples heads and stomachs. The first person says Ha Ha, and their stomach moves up and down when they say it (gravity), and the head resting on the stomach also moves...it becomes a chain effect...great times. However, it was a complete failure when I tried to demonstrate and explainthe game. I should have stuck with ¨stand up if you are wearing the color green¨game.

its fun to see you at the YMCA

10 minutes from where I´m living in Chile

tengo llegè en Chile.

today was day 2 of daycamp...whoo! I´ve now completed 19 hours of work in 2 days, I feel pretty good about myself, not gonna lie.

The morning began at 930 when I head downstairs. (I live, AND work at the Y...how convenient). Actually, my morning begins around 630am when basketball begins in the gym, which is located directly next to my room, and the basket is somewhat level to my wall. Really nice. So I wake up muuuy temprano porque i head THUMP THUMP as my alarm clock. It works I suppose.

Once I mozy downstairs and help myself to some breakfast in the cafeteria, its time to be overwhelmed by little niños. There are 3 groups, 5-7, 8-9, and 10-12. I prefer 8 and above, the little ones are totally insane.

Today, I didn´t have a particular group I worked with. For the morning, I was in the kitchen with LuLu, and the 3 age groups came to us, and we cooked with them. Well, not actually cook. We made a cake (ifyou would call it such....), or crackers and dulce leche, this disgustingly sweet caramel cream, that is used for everything here. Personally, it makes me want to vomit (not on the person next to me though..I would never), but these southamericans really love it. The first group was the older kids, who meticulously made their cakes, spreading dulceleche carefully and neatly on each cracker. It was a good hour. Next, the middle kids. They were slightly more messy, tending to eat the dulceleche while creating their tarts, and also were more Attention-Deficit-like than the older kids, but it still was a success. THAN, the little niños. What an insane sight. First of all, their attention span lasts for 6 seconds, so explaining them the instructions is totally impossible. In addition, their is caramel EVERYWHERE. hands, shirts, mouths, hair, toes...you name it. It was such a rediculous site for an hour...unbelievable. Somehow, I managed to acquire a layer of caramel that is now residing all over my tshirt and shorts. I also found some wedged in my flipflops. Ha. It happens. The afternoon was a little more subdued as I chose to play sports for the remaining duration of the day. This was good except while we were playing soccer, I landed a hard kick directly to my kneecap...and not only is it bright blue, but also quite painful. I know, its hard to believe, i played soccer. I have no idea what im doing, but its ok because I´m playing against 9 year olds. They still beat me. so now, at 7pm,. the kiddies have finally left, and my day is over. Its a long day here at the Y... but I still found some time to run to the cafe to write a quick blog.

As for Valparaiso, Chile, its a wonderful place. I´m living on the top floor of the YMCA, in a 4 person room that is about the size my bathroom at home. Luckily, I have the room to myself, so I have 3 beds to put my crap on,but still, its tight. The people are all great and everyone is soo friendly here. My world is completly in spanish now...while I was travelling previously, there was a mixture of languages since I was constantly around other international travelers, but now, i´m around all chileans. Its tough at times, especially since i´m at a level of a 9year old...but actually, the 9 year olds are better than I am, because they speak sooooooo fast taht I have NO idea waht they are saying. Imagine a really high pitched voice, rambling off words, and than at the end asking me, sì ??? uh, no, i didn´t understand. I prefer speaking to adults, since I can manage to understand what they are saying, and its not three octaves higher than my voice. Although, if i can learn spanish in Chile, its safe to say I can speak ANYWHERE. Its a well known fact down here that chileans speak the fastest, and are the hardest to understand. They think its ok to not use constinants in their speaking, or say the last 4 letters of each word. It sounds like jibberish, but its the ultimate spanish to conquer....so here i go

uptop are some pics from today that i thought were funny...

don´t cry for me argentina...i´ll be back

i´ve had quite a spree in writing in my blog this week. However, its been a lovely peaceful week of taking spanish classes, and hanging out at the parks, and maybe doing a little shopping on the side. (oops)

i leave in an hour for my bus to Chile. Leaving Argentina for several months, as I will start some new adventures of volunteering, and than travelling up North. I´ve really enjoyed my 17 days in Mendoza, and i hope to return at another time... there is definitly a sadness in moving on from this wonderful city.

As a tribute to my past 6 plus weeks in Argentina, I will quickly recap all that I will miss, in under 4 minutes, because I have to go pack my bag and catch a cab to the bus station. ..

-I will miss the 4 dollar complete dinners of Bife de Lomo.
and speaking of bife de lomo, i will miss the fantastic steak which I have managed to consume an equal amount of steak to my total body weight. Is that bad?
-Vino. Ahh, of course I will miss the wine. Perhaps even more because I have spent over 2 weeks in wine country, where the wine flows like water. ALthough, Chile has pretty good wine too....
-Ice cream. My new love for icecream that I have developed while in Argentina. They even have icecream taht is made WITH wine. Unbelievable.
-Chocolate. I don´t even like chocolate, but I do here...

I should probably move on from food and drinks...since their is certaintly more that what i consume that is so wonderful

I will miss pronouncing double L´s with a shhhh sound. llevar= shhhevar. calle is caaaashe. Tambien, no pronouncing my S´s at the end of words. Good times. Now i have an entirely new dialect to learn in chile. Sweet.

I will CERTAINTLY miss the incredible busses that run though the entire country of argentina. they are phenomenal, and have brought a whole new meaning to 20 hours on a bus.

Chau to all the wild dogs who I have befriended in argentina. Those mangly muts are the cutest wild bastids I have ever seen, and soo sweet. Minus the rabies of course (kidding). Every city I go to, i manage to find a new friend who follows me around. (maybe its cause i feed them) mom and dad, i may be coming home iwth some new friends.

and since my time is running out, and i really must go... i will miss the phenomenal locals that I have met in all the cities that I have been to. I now have much to look forward to upon returning to Buenos Aires at the end of my trip, since I´ve met a number of great people from there-
so don´t cry for me argentina...the truth is, i never left you. because when i have money one day (and a job...) i´m coming back and buying una casa.

pics

i have an affinity for stupid signs

the only jew i met who lives in argentina

like i said...stupid signs

Aconcagua.. highest mountain in the americas.

we made it to thebase.

fairytales

Hubo una princessa, ella estaba muy trist porque ella no tuvo un principe. La princessa fue al rio y ella pedio un milagro. Ella queria la llevarde a otro ciudad. La princessa estuvo muy lindo, pero muy perezoso. Despues tres kilometers, ella veo un viejo chico. El viejo hombre dijo la princessa, la reina madre es buscando para tu. La reina madre no quieria su hija buscar un chico en el otro cuidad, porque la reina la digo cuando ella besara un sapo, el sapo sedilla en principe. THE END

today was a good day. after my second day of intensive 4 hour spanish classes, I had to makeup a fairy tale, on the spot. Above is what I madeup. When translated, it makes little sense, but both my teacher and I found it very amusing.
I am learning the past tense. I don´t ever remember learning this in highschool. I would rather only speak in the present and future, and notbother withthe past. It seems like a waste, andwho cares what you have already done? Well, thats not true, buts its slightly a pain...hence, my fairytale is all past tense, because i was practicando.

I also ate icecream for both lunch AND and dinner. YUM. I accompanied the latter meal with a salad. And i went running this morning, so I feel gooood.
This afternoon, I purchased ´the hobbit´ in spanish. It will be my newest endeavor to read, and actually comprehend what is going on (which is doubtful, but I´ll try)
My time in Mendoza is dwindling down. Its a little sad to think I have to leave in 3 days, but I can always come back ;-) I might just do that in 2 months when it is harvest season for the vino...sounds too good to pass up. I tried to put pictures up, but, it is apparant that no computer in the greater city of mendoza will accept anything plugged into the computer, and it will not recognize the drive. SO, ya´ll gonna have to wait a little longer.

how to spot an israeli in South America.

We decided that their are several key factors when identifying an Israeli traveler in South America.

1. They usually have grown out facial hair and longer hair (males). This is because they just got out of the service in most cases, and they´re L I V I N

2. They tend to wear T'shirts of places they´ve already visited in South America. IE. Cusco, La Paz, ETC.

3. They ALWAYS wear either Tevas or Crocs on their feet. I stress, ALWAYS.

4. They travel in groups of 47.

5. When carrying their backpacks, they routinely use the bag covers over their packs.ç


I´m sure when I run this past the next israeli that I meet, which will probably be tomorrow, they will also agree, and perhaps even have an additional characteristic to add.

Currently, I´m sitting at the internet cafe watching the GIANTs and Eagles playoff game. Its quite exciting, i must say...watching play by play via computer. However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and at least I HAVE an internet cafe so I can be in the ¨know¨.
I still have high expectations, as I always do for all my teams (which often these expectations are crushed, but I continue to support), as there is 1 minute and 48 seconds remaining... Phili has the ball on the giants 20 yard line, tied score...20/20.

Last night, there was a ´full moon party´up in the mountains, including a 2am rafting expedition. The river was wild when we arrived, and I used good judgement and didn´t do the late night rafting, just enoyed the party in the mountains.

Eagles timout...21 seconds remaining, third down, still on the giants 20- I don´t like the way this looks...but after watching Dallas and the fumbly hands yesterday...it may not be so bad.

Tomorrow, I begin my intensive spanish classes for 4 hours a day. Oh, it may be please some of you, at least it pleases me, that I woke up and went running today and yesterday.

field goal with 2 seconds left....JERKS. good season guys.
Now the giants can fall in line with my other teams that had such a fantastically terrible end of season... Florida State, Yanks.
Maybe next year guys.
Now I can put ALLL my extra time and energy into spring training... just 2 months away.

and now, i return to my hostel to drown my misery, by reading a book.

drag queens and sore butts, oy vey

I´m gonna do a quick recap of my past 3 days, since I think my recent experiences have been noteworthy...actually, if I don´t write it here, I may forget, so this is actually my personal journal, although I keep it PG rated.
hm, today is...thursday I think. I guess we start on our our journey to Aconcagua a few days ago. 3rd highest peak in the world, next to the Himalayas, and the highest in all the Americas... its a spectacular site. So, we hopped in a car and drove to the mo untain to observe it ourselves. 6972 meters, over 20,000 feet, definitly not shabby looking. I considered taking the 22 day trek to the top, but there were several factors that I first considered. 1- I have no trekking experience, certaintly not to this degree. 2- I haven´t ever experienced Altitudes of such extremes, and it doesn´t seem like fun. 3- I passed the cemetary on the way to the mountain of all the climbers who have died in attempt of trekking to the top, at least one a year. 4- I doubt my physical capabilities, which is hard for me to admit, but I felt it was an appropriate time to be honest wtih myself. SO, I settled for a 1 hour trek around the base with some friends, where we had a beautiful view of the top...so Now I feel fulfilled.
Aw, I did title this Drag queens, so I should mention that evening as well.
I was with 2 guys from my hostel, and we had an urge to go out clubbing and dancing. We heard about some bar, La Reserva which was supposed to be fun, so we grabbed a cab and headed down around 230am. As we pull up, we realize this is no ordinary club, its a gay bar. Not even just a gay bar, but a dancing dragqueen show as well. I´m wtih two big tough guys, and I´m thinking, no way will they want to do this, but suprisingly, they thought it was hysterical, so we went in. My first surprise of the evening was not the manly looking females that were standing around, but that the female bathroom, had a urinal in it. And as I´m awkwardly staring at this contraption and visualizing how I am supposed to squat in this, 3 men....ahem, women, walk in the ladies bathroom. Granted, they were wearing makeup, were large chested, and dressed quite scantily clad....however their huge muscles and deep voices through me for a loop. OK, no big deal, its not like their interested in what I´m doing in there, so I don´t really care. I get back to my seat, and the show begins. TOTALLY unbelievable. I´m thinking about the Birdcage the entire time, as the two guys and I are clapping and hollering for the 6 dancers that are prancing around on stage, dancing and singing in their drag costumers. It really was a site. After the first show, we go outside and start chatting with dancers, who are the funniest guys, i mean, girls that I´ve spoken to in ages. They were thrilled my 2 straight buddies I was with were so enthralled with the show. I on the other hand, was mostly ignored by everyone in the bar for the evening, as being a legitimate female, their was no use for me! The only time it bothered me was when I attempted to get adrink at the bar, and I stood there for 20 minutes because all the cute little guys around me were getting served first. Role reversal I guess...
and Finally, the wineries.
Yes, I finally made the bike trip to the wineries, and itwas all I could have expected. Minus of course, my poor little butt which is so sore I can barely sit on a chair. Oy. Seated shorts are needed next time, note to self. We took the bus from the city to the town and rented bikes. From there, we biked about 30 kilometers, stopping off every 20 minutes or so at a new winery, getting a tour of the vineryards, and of course, having a little taste of the specialty. Ah, it was lovely. And, we were smart, and started at the farthest wineries and worked our way back to the rental site. Definitly a good idea to not ride too far once I had several tastings. However, I am now inspired to start makin gmy own wine in miniture barrels upon my return home, because I know allllll the secrets now....ooooh.
i have tons of pictures from the past few days, just need a computer thats not so ancient that it can upload them.

feliz año nuevo

I didn´t make a new years resolution. Probably because resolutions are usually made while sitting at a table with your friends or family, and around the time of midnight, you make your newest vow on how to change your life for the better. Well, I was thrown into the pool 5 minutes prior to new years, so I missed the opportunity to sit around and relish over this notion that I´m actually NOT perfect, and need to do something new.... why would I want that?

Actually, when I first arrived in Mendoza, I was struck by how beautiful the people are... seriously. Both men and women...they are all perfectly fit, and not South Beach plastic surgery style fit, just actually in shape and good looking. So, this inspired me to join the gym next to my hostel, where I have (believe it or not) been running and exercising almost everyday...and taking classes with intimdating names like ´bodyhard´.

So although I have no resolution, I am trying to lessen the excess fat which sits so nicely on the side of my stomache. I guess I could just cut out the icecream that I eat everyday, but that would totally ruin my experience of South America. Icecream is a staple of the countries I´ve been to, and I´m certaintly not going to deprive myself of experiencing the bliss of eating Kilos of deliciosness with a friend.

Since I have no resolution...I will make a list of things I´ve learned in this past year, so I can benefit from my experiences for 2007.

1. Toilet Paper goes in the basket next to the toilet...not in it. get used to it.
2. Pedestrians NEVER have the right of way, regardless of what street signs may say.
3. When ordering any complete meal in Argentina, be prepared for a slice of Ham and Cheese to accompany whatever food you got...including Hamburgers, steak, and lasagna.
4. Tooth paste is called creme del dente. sounds like soup, but don´t order it.
5. Embarazado is not embarrased, its pregnant.
6. Although it is important to try new food, a line must be drawn when it includes tongue, hoof, or unidentifiable seafood.
7. Biking is only fun when you have a car to drive you back when you get lazy.
8. Despite criticism for bringing too much underwear on my trip...it allows me extra time without doing laundry. Good move all around.
9. Border control doesn´t like it when you are friendly to them. Don´t smile, approach as one would approach the soup nazi. Be careful, or NO entry to argentina for 90 days.
10. The bus attendant expects you to tip him when all he did was serve you stale coffee during a 10 hour trip.
11. Taxi drivers lie. So do boys.
And finally, for the conclusion of what I´ve learned in late 2006....
12. Book exchanges in hostels will without doubt ALWAYS have at least one Norah Roberts, and Danielle Steele book. NOTE TO SELF...DON´T SUCCOMB AND SWAP YOUR BOOK FOR ONE