Weekend

Hello Everyone!

This weekend was very relaxing.  On Friday, we all went to the home of Thomas Videla Dorna and watched the Argentina vs. Bolivia futbol game.  Though it ended in a tie, it was a very exciting game, especially when Bolivia took the lead.  Right now, Argentina is hosting La Copa America 2011, or the American Cup.

It is a soccer tournament much like the FIFA World Cup, but only among countries in the Americas.  It is very intense as the countries involved are very competitive when it comes to soccer.  Colombia is currently in the lead as all other teams have tied.  Padraic and his host family were able to go to the Brazil vs. Venezuela game on Sunday (a 0-0 tie), which was interrupted by a dog that ran onto the field as it wanted to join in on the game.  This Wednesday, Argentina faces Colombia, a game we will all be sure to watch.

The weekend continued with an attempt to go bowling as a group. Though that never came to fruition, it gave us time to relax and spend time with our host families.  They have been very welcoming and have fed us very well.  They have also forced us to speak Spanish, as many of them speak little to no English.  Dinnertime conversations have been a great example of this. 

Tonight we leave for Cordoba, which is to the northwest of Buenos Aires.  In 1599, the Jesuits arrived in Cordoba, and since then, have had a profound impact on the area, including establishing a university and a church which today are some of the oldest in South America.  We will be sure to visit these sites as we have a lot planned for Cordoba.  Considering what is in store, it will be well worth the eight hour bus ride!

Paul Peterson

Excusions: Cattle Market, La Boca

Dear Friends and Family,

This past week, was very eventful!  On Wednesday, three of us were lucky enough to travel to see a cattle market.  It was easily the biggest amount of cows I have ever seen.  There were over 7,000 cows for sale and they had every type of cow possible.  They were all sold within half an hour!  As we were walking, we were almost taken out by about a dozen angry bulls.  We learned that cows are sold 8 pesos per kilo (8 pesos is roughly equivalent to 2 dollars).  Now to the most important part of the trip: the asado. We had amazing meat for BREAKFAST and it was wonderful!  Sadly only half of the group was able to go which put a damper on the trip, but it was still very fun!

On Thursday, the crew traveled to La Boca, which is a neighborhood of Buenos Aires.  

La Boca is a neighborhood where many immigrants came to Argentina during its history.  It is most noted for its colorful houses and the birthplace of the tango.  The houses in La Boca are so colorful because when immigrants came to Buenos Aires, they did not have much money and they could not afford paint for their homes.  As a result, they would buy leftover paint from ships coming into port and would end up with any color they could get.  So each house has its distinctive color.

In addition, La Boca is very famous for the tango, which is the most famous dance of Argentina.  Even though Mr. Smith desperately wanted to tango, we did not today.  There was much shopping and acting like foolish tourists.  Many shop owners tried unsuccessfully to hustle us because we were tourists but we were the stronger men and we prevailed!  

After our glorious win, Mr. Smith and Ms. Basin treated us to churros and hot chocolate. 

Our last stop on our adventure was Boca Juniors Stadium, called La Bombanera.  Boca Juniors are the "Yankees" of Argentina soccer.  Their stadium is one of the biggest soccer stadiums in South America. 

Overall, it was a great day!

Stay tuned for more!

                                                                               Padraic Slattery

Castles, Futbol, and Asado!

Hello Everyone!

This past weekend was absolutely amazing! On Saturday we went to the Basilica in Argentina and a museum that displayed modes of transportation used previously in Argentina.  The Basilica was quite beautiful and very large.

The picture does not do a great job of portraying the size of it.

The museum held various modes of transportation from lavish carriages and airplanes to steam engines and mourner carriages.

After our adventure, we visited a castle that has been in Tomas Videla Dorna´s family for over 100 years and the property itself for about 200 years! 

The castle was absolutely amazing! Despite it being built in the 19th century, it had a very medieval appearance, with knights in armor, stained glass windows, priceless artifacts, etc.  I can safely say that the first fifteen minutes of the trip were spent in pure awe marveling at the sheer size and elaborate style of the castle.

 After taking a tour of the castle, we sat down together and had a wonderful lunch of traditional Argentine Asado (BBQ). The Argentine grill would put almost any proud dad to shame.  It was a brick oven in a sense, like the kind you see at Bertucci´s Pizzeria, but altered specifically for asado. 

There was grilled beef, chorizo, peppers, and a few other delicacies that you would not find in the U.S.  In most cases, you would put a slice of meat in between two slices of bread and eat, hence the choripan ("chorizo" = meat, “pan” = bread).  The food was to die for, and I would say everyone had at least four sandwiches some of us pushing seven or eight =). After all was said and done, all of us joined together in a friendly game of soccer. 

It was a nice bonding experience. There were a lot of laughs, some tears of joy and laughter, and good company.

                                                                                Anthony Norman 

City Tour

On Tuesday, the Boston and Los Angeles exchange students visited the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina's main square. 

After viewing the large fountains and beautiful scenery, the students learned of the significance of the area.  For example, the white shawls painted on the ground represent the "Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo," a group dedicated to remembering those lost in the Dirty War under the military dictatorship of the 70s and 80s.

Afterward, the students visited the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral

which contained such sites as a mauseleum dedicated to famous Argentinian General José de San Martín (below)

and an extravagant central altarpiece.

From there, the group ventured to the House of Congress and was able to see the extravagant public library as well as the congressional meeting room. Here, the students were told of the voting process, learned of famous first lady Eva Perón (below), and were even able to sit in the three vice presidents' chairs. 

On to another great weekend!
                                                                                         Nato Miller

First Weekend!

Hola folks, Ma, and Dad,

I`m here bringing you guys news from the City of Good Air.  On Friday, our second day of school, we attended a Flag Day ceremony at Colegio del Salvador and we had Monday off for the actual holiday. There, students from various grades presented the Argentinian flag and the flag of the school. This was followed by a recital of their beautiful national anthem. After this, we listened to speeches from members of the faculty which were incredibly passionate.  Unfortunately, I understood only the bare minimum.  After the ceremony, the whole fifth year class, their equivalent to seniors, took group pictures. 

Then came the expected cries of ``FUTBOL!!`` and everyone rushed to the gym to cram in one more game.  Then the students of the intercambio - exchange students for all you gringos out there - had an art class together where we worked on our artistic abilities while listening to Pink Floyd.  School was dismissed soon after and we all went our seperate ways for the weekend, where I was introduced to the passions of Argentina:  food, dancing, and, of course, futbol.

I´m going to start with the food because well, that's right Maff, it is amazing. Since my first night here, I have been blown away by the cuisine down here and I am going to miss it very much when we come home.  On Friday night, I went out to a local restaurant with my host brother Mateo, his brother Facundo, and his father Horacio.  They introduced me to empanadas which are like hot pockets jacked on steroids. Ten times more tasty and most definitely more healthy. The real treat came on Sunday, though.  I finally had the dessert I had been hearing all about - panqueque con dulce de leche. 

Now if your thinking there is no way it can taste better than it sounds, well you´re wrong. This was a tiny bite of heaven. I was so lost in its taste that I didn´t realize the heat of it until my mouth was completely burned.  My only question is, why isn´t this in the States?

Now on to the dancing.  As my little sister likes to remind me as much as she can, I am not a good dancer. Never was, never will be, and that's just how things are. So, needless to say, going out to dance I was a tad bit nervous. Somehow, we ended up dancing at a club and it was a lot different than I expected.  I won´t go into describing dances in America, but all of you who know, know, and those in ignorance I´ll let you remain there.  People were just dancing as they stood, laughing, talking with other people, and just having a good time.  So without caring about how I looked, I ended up dancing like a fool until we needed to go.

Last and certainly not least football.  No, not touchdown and interception football. This is the greatest sport in the world football.  On Saturday with my host family, we went to the last River Plate game of the regular season.  This was a big one because they needed to win this to make sure they wouldn´t be forced into playoffs to avoid being knocked down to the second division.  And if that wouldn´t be bad enough, River Plate has the most prestigious history in Argentinian soccer, so this would be equivalent to the Red Sox playing in Triple A.  We got to the stadium and the place was literally jumping.  As a safe guess, I´ll say there were about 66,000 people there, all jumping and singing in the same tune.  It was amazing.

Unfortunately they lost in the last minute of play. It was devastating.  Keep in mind this was a team I had barely heard about before, did not know any of their players and, after a ninety minute game, I was a fan completely devastated that we had lost in that fashion.  Now I am not a convert to futbol - I´ve been playing it since I was five. The only thing that could possibly make me love this sport even more would be to see the best player in the world play live. Oh wait, I did, as if one soccer game per week wasn´t enough, Monday night we went to see the Argentinian national team play against Albania.  Now, some of you may have heard of a little guy who goes by the name of Leo Messi. 

I wish I could compare him to another athlete in another sport but there hasn´t been another one in my lifetime.  He was magic; he could do no wrong.  Argentina scored four goals that match and he had two assists, one goal, and started the play for the last one. And this isn´t a rare occurance for him, this is expected stuff. So as we walked out of the stadium with people singing I started thinking to myself, "Why would I leave here again?"

                                                                             Brendan McAdams

Arrival in Buenos Aires!

We’re finally here! After our final goodbyes, a delay in Miami, and hours upon hours in the air, we are finally here. I am glad to say, with confidence, that the lengthy trip was worth it. Upon arriving at the school, we were greeted by the smiling faces of our host families, and some delicious food, including dulce de leche. Fortunately, that was not the last we saw of that wonderful Argentinean cuisine. After returning home with our host families, we unpacked, and, at least in my case, slept. Later we ate dinner, enjoying local dishes such as milanesa, and after that, some dessert (with more dulce de leche, of course). Last, we crowded the computers to find the score of the Bruins game, and we all know how that turned out for Vancouver. The next day, we woke up for school, and what for most of us (sorry Nato) was a pleasantly short commute. At the school we were given a tour, and after meeting some teachers and exchange students from Los Angeles, we attended our first class. For me, it was chemistry. I am not sure if this is a good or a bad thing, but chemistry makes just about as much sense in a foreign language as it does in English. After class we played soccer, and I am proud to report that Team USA is 3-1 so far. Well, that is all for now. We miss you all and will continue blogging on Monday. ¡Hasta luego!

 John Maffeo