A Series of "Lasts"

Well my Argentine adventure is coming to an end, but not without it's last surprising (or not so surprising) moments...

Saturday night I enjoyed a delicious dinner of fish and guiso (similar to a casserole, but not really) for Maria's birthday with the family before heading to Bora Bora with all the cousins for one last night filled with dancing until the wee morning hours. Sunday was spent sleeping and recovering with a traditional locro (soup) and staying warm by the fire. 

Tuesday night the electricity went out for a few hours in Santa Rosa and all the surrounding towns. Not to worry, you can still drink mate with the help of a friend's dual purpose cell phone (comes with a built in flashlight) and of course any planned party still takes place. :-) 

I couldn't leave without taking my last cumbi (like a 15 passenger van) to Corrientes at 4:30am the next morning to re-live all of my previous trips between Santa Rosa and Corrientes from my other exchange year. 

While in Corrientes, I was able to visit my old host family where one of my host sisters now has a 6 month old baby. I also had my last helping of homemade  gnocchis (noodles made out of potato) at a friend's old host family. It was fun to catch up with everyone and talk about the good ol' days ;-)

The rest of the days were spent in all of my favorite spots: Cabana for a ham & cheese panini with a peach smoothie, walking the centro (open air shopping area) eating chipacitos (bite-sized cheese bread) from La Reina and enjoying ladies night at Cristobal with a delicious pizza with hearts palm and salsa golf - mm!

In addition, I had some new experiences which included going to the police station (no worries - I wasn't arrested or harmed in any way), watching Argentina play in La Copa America, getting a hair cut (more on that later) and eating at *gasp* McDonalds. In all fairness, I only broke my rules  because I was told it has a distinct taste since they use Argentine beef ... However I don't frequent McD's enough in the States to really know.

My final trip to Santa Rosa/Corrientes ended with a customary stop at the Lezcano's house to say goodbyes and snap a few pictures with the adorable Pilar. I flagged down my last Apipe remis (taxi)  and I was off to the (bus) terminal. 

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but I really hate goodbyes and leaving the familiarity of a place that I feel so much a part of... But who knows, someday I will probably be back and will be able to go to all my favorite spots once again :-)

Coffee

For anyone that's a fan of coffee, one may be disappointed when ordering coffee in a cafe in Argentina. For those of us who are addicted to americanos, forget about it...unless you break the rules and go to Starbucks. Which by the way has super ugly international travel mugs this year -sad!

Most cafes serve the following: café, jarrito, café con leche, lagrima, and café cortado. Let me translate that in terms you can identify with...

Café - essential a shot of espresso

Jarrito - double shot of espresso

Café con leche - coffee with hot milk 

Lagrima - mostly hot milk and a little bit of coffee

Café cortado - coffee with a little bit of hot milk

Or in a series of bad translations that I recently stumbled upon...

Café chico - coffee guy (small coffee)

Café grande - great coffee (large coffee)

Lagrima - tear coffee

Depending on the coffee shop, coffee may mean regular coffee or espresso. American sized coffees do not exist and you don't see people getting their coffee to go. (extremely rare and most places don't even have this option) However, coffees generally come with a shot glass of water for when you finish, and accompanied by a mini alfajor or cookie complementary. At certain coffee chains, you can get something similar to a flavored latte, but this is rare and usually seasonal.

Katie's Rules for Studying Abroad

Maybe it's just me, but I have a set of unwritten life rules I follow. I'm not sure when/where I came up with them, but I have accumulated them over the years. Some are silly (like never painting my nails black or dying my hair), but others are more serious (like never smoking).

Studying abroad is no different. I have a set of rules I abide by and thought I would share a few:

• Speak the language
• It drives me crazy that people go to another country to experience and learn their culture and language, but end up speaking in their native language. You can do that at home! Not to mention the fact that you are making yourself a target when walking around the city.
• Make friends with the natives
• Branch out and meet new people. Get out of your comfort zone and hang out with students who aren't from your country. I guarantee that your experience will be so much better than you could ever have imagined!

• Refuse to support American chains
• Don't go to McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, Starbucks, Walmart, etc. You traveled over 5500 miles (if you're from the Chicago area) to study abroad and can eat/shop at these places any day you want for the rest of your life.
• Become a native
• Follow their lead -- go to the hole-in-the-wall restaurants, dress like they do (unless they look absolutely ridiculous :-P), drink mate, arrive late to everything, learn the local dialect, master the public transportation system, go to non-tourist places, learn how to cook their national dishes, attend cultural activities.

Mate - like green tea

Learning Truco - Argentine card game

• Join extra-curricular activities
• There are multiple sports teams, volunteer organizations (Rotaract, anyone?), church groups, clubs or whatever else you might be interested in. Think of your study abroad as an extension of your university experience back home. Nobody wants to go straight to class and then home - make the most of the short time you are abroad!!