Yoga Adventures in Buenos Aires

Check out my latest post for Elephantjournal.com on my Yoga journey!

One Semester is NOT enough.

I don't want to leave. 

One of my friends told me when I first started talking about study abroad that going for a year is critical. It takes roughly 4 or 5 months to get used to actually living in this other place, and then the rest of the year you can actually enjoy it. 

I'm finding this to be very true. We are nearing the 4 month mark and I am finally feeling like this is a place I could potentially connect with. When I first arrived, I was ecstatic. But, it was the kind of happiness you get from a good vacation. When it became more and more clear that this was much more than a vacation, I started to get moody. Some days this loud, dirty city really got to me. Other days I'd be enamored with it. But either way, my extreme feelings were ephemeral and I was pretty certain I'd leave Argentina with an averaged-out apathetic view. There have been some days where I've been really out of touch with what I'm doing here. I'd spend too much time on my computer researching things I want to accomplish next semester at home. I'd sit in the park and brainstorm organizational processes and ideas for my various student groups next year, or I'd just obsessively check my facebook and look longingly at pictures of hikes people posted. There was a good chunk of time where my mind just wasn't in Buenos Aires. 

This has changed. I still get extreme feelings over the typical things that bother/enchant me. But any chance of me leaving with apathy has disappeared.I have recently realized that there is SO much more to this city and this culture than I could ever understand in 5 months, and part of this tendency toward apathy has been a result of not being intimate enough with the culture and feeling more like I've been on a vacation for too long (except not, because class has actually been pretty stressful).  I realized over the weekend that I'm not a lost cause when it comes to getting something truly remarkable out of BA. Amy came to visit from Sao Paolo and we went out to various bars around the city. Each night I had a conversation with a different local and each one shed some light on aspects of the culture that I felt out of touch with. After exchanging numbers with a few people, I got really excited about the potential of further connections and investing in some friendships. But, then it dawned on me that there is not a lot of time left for investing. By the time I get comfortable enough with new friends to feel like I have my own life here and I can learn something intimate about the culture, I will be heading home. 

I want to stay for a year. I do. And I would beg my parents to help support this if it weren't for the commitments I have already made at CU (the vice-chair position with CEB, my Puksta Scholarship). I'm starting to contemplate what it means to make sacrifices and choices at this age and I'm really struggling with what would be the best thing for me to do--even though I really have already made the decision to leave. 

It's just that...I don't want to. 

Romanticized

It's amazing how media distorts or at least affects the way I view Buenos Aires. When I watch film of the city or see photography or hear tango music, I feel a bit more connected with it than when I'm living my daily life here IN the city. That's kind of absurd.  But all the stress and chaos seem so tranquil when it's through an artistic lens. 

National Geographic does a cool online publication called "Glimpse." 

Mission: To encourage you to care about other cultures, change the way you think about the overseas experience, andchallenge you to explore real life abroad

Study Abroad students, expats, an other young people who spend an extended period of time in a foreign country take pictures, video, and write, write, write about their experiences. I considered applying to be a contributor but I had such a weak portfolio of photos I'd taken and pieces of writing to share that I couldn't really get my act together in time. 

I was perusing the most recent edition of the newsletter and the front page had a link to a correspondent in Buenos Aires. Naturally, I peeked through her writing and photos and I really enjoyed it. I had sort of nostalgic feelings for Bs As in spite of the fact that I'm in the midst of it. 

But, I realized something weird about photography in this moment. This woman had a great way of conveying daily images of the city and making them appear so raw. Yet all great photos I see always have an element of glamour to them, even if there is nothing glamorous about the ideas they convey. 

 

I look at them and think, ooh what a cool city I'm in. Even though many days I really struggle with appreciating it. The thing is, I'm not a city person. But I love the idea of being one. I love the idea of cosmopolitanism and strutting through city streets and all the images that "the Paris of Latin America" elicits. I love reading through BA fashion blogs and recognizing the locations and thinking of Buenos Aires as a big culture hub. 

But maybe it's a function of living in the least glamourous barrio in Buenos Aires or maybe it's the fact that I'm coming face to face with big city authenticity. Authentic Buenos Aires means grit. There's piles of trash, poor people begging for change with dirty children on their laps, sweaty old people on the subte, polluted air, etc, etc, etc. That's what sticks with me every day. Sure, I can flip through pages of articles on Peronism  at the Rosedal or sip espresso at the Tea Connection  and feel super fancy again. But unfortunately, when I think of Buenos Aires, I think of the grime.  

Today I had a lunch with a fellow American from who grew up in the West and has a grand appreciation for the outdoors. He studied abroad last semester in Buenos Aires and did not enjoy the experience. He left the program before it was over and moved to the coast where he worked as a bartender and surfed every day. He will still manage to get credit for most of his classes and leaving the city was the best thing he did for his Spanish and for his sanity. 

I find that idea fascinating. I don't intend to do anything like that, at least not at this juncture. But the problem with studying abroad is that you have to focus a bunch of time to school (woah, really?). And the truth is your language skills are going to improve way more outside of the classroom than reading a bunch of esoteric economic policy articles. You are also tempted to spend a great deal of time with Americans...who speak the language just as badly as you do. You have obligations and rules and structures that don't permit the most authentic of experiences. Also, most solid universities are in big cities and big cities have a culture that doesn't necessarily represent the country, especially Buenos Aires. The Porteño culture is very European. In my mind it's almost comically so. Going outside of the city is almost like going to the real continent, culturally--of which I don't actually have a lot of experience. I've been in more touristy situations. It's difficult to get away from that. 

But in reality, I do like my program and I think they do a good job of facing these issues. Someday thought, I would like to just up and leave and create a life that truly does lend itself to real and natural immersion. It's scary, but I think I would benefit a lot from it. 

Maybe I'll go to Spain where I can earn some euros!! 

But to be fair, I have had enough struggles in spite of the fact that I've got a really big support network...so I guess I have to keep in mind that it's just one step at a time...

Life. Bs As.

So, I've shared a bit about the trips I'm taking and complained about various elements of the big city. But lets talk about life. 

Well, let's see. First, it turns out I actually am STUDYING abroad. I forgot about that! It is not a lot of fun to spend so much time in class and so much of my free time reading esoteric economic texts that I would barely understand in English much less in academic spanish, but it's an interesting experience. It's keeping me from going out too much at night and compromising my health or wallet. 

My number one favorite thing about Buenos Aires is the cafe/bar scene. Almost every afternoon, I buy myself a coffee or a snack in one of the bazillion cafes around the city and just watch people, read a bit, or just think. I used to be married to the idea of going out to eat as a social, communal activity. But, I'm spending a lot of time in these cafes alone, and I thoroughly enjoy it. I get a different glimpse of the city in each one. 

Roommates: Ines and Ros. 

Ines is tight with a lot of the staff at FLACSO (the institution we study in) and she hosts a student each semester. She lives alone and enjoys singing, cooking, chatting, eating,  and drinking lots of mate! She works as a lawyer and as a tutor in Argentine history and Spanish conversation. She's very social and brings lots of friends and family to the apartment. She's a very affectionate and amicable roommate and understands that in all things domestic, I'm completely useless. (I do keep my room relatively picked up--compared to home--but Christina, the house cleaner, still hates me I'm pretty sure). She cooks for me when I'm hungry and seems to genuinely enjoy it.  Ines is very relaxed and likes to lounge the same way I do. We can be found watching shitty Argentine reality shows in bed with a box of delivered empanadas or eating milanesa at a record pace!! 

Ros is pretty different from Ines.  She is a vegetarian theater student from Spain with limitless energy and sort of bohemian outlook on life. She is very active, cosmopolitan, and conscious. She actually kind of reminds me somebody I might find in the Pacific Northwest, except spicy! I like talking with her about her outlook on life, especially health-wise, because she lives in a style that I aspire to embrace but don't have the self control!! Although, she does smoke cigarettes. Of course, they are the hand rolled from all natural tobacco ;)

The program. 

I like it. I've made some pretty good friends, although I don't spend all my time with Americans, which is good. 

I've made some local friends as well, but they are sort of in and out (sometimes my fault, sometimes there's--we'll leave it at that.) 

Echo-Village!

The trips I've taken outside the city are beginning to have a common theme: OUTSIDE. 

I've never considered myself an "outdoorsy" person, but this has changed once I realized how much it sucks to not have immediate access to nature. I'm looking forward to honing some outdoor competency when I get back to Colorado. I want my friends to impart on me the knowledge I blew off growing up because I'm finally ready!!!

Anyway. I made a trip up to Tigre, an area an hour north of Buenos Aires where a river delta divides a number of islands in which many retirees have beautiful properties. It's kind of got the Bayou culture going on. Actually, it reminded me of a river version of the Adirondacks. 

I met Leo Jara a few days after I'd arrived from a friend of a friend of a friend. He had just started this project called Echo-Village and is now in the process of turning it into an NGO. This is the basic premise: create a incredibly cheap, environmentally and economically sustainable model of alternative living for the families all over the world facing the current social, economic, and climate crisis. 

It has begun with the small property in Tigre where Leo built a small one room cabin with his one two hands for next to nothing. It's a very basic building.

 He hopes to create a number of these small cabins to fit families on the property and eventually take the model to different parts of the world and adapt it to the different social and ecological situations. Right now it's a bit of a destination for young backpacker type tourists who find out about it through couch surfers. Hopefully it will gain enough to traction to become a destination for students who want to study ecological and sustainability issues and gain credit and others who are serious about the movement. 

My trip had the simple objective of checking out the scene, contributing a little manpower to a day project, and basking in the glorious early fall river town weather! I was joined by my friend Kevin from the program and a couple of American expats who teach English in the city. We ended up having our way with a couple machetes to clear some land. 

Here is Leo gettin' the job done. 

The river is actually very clean, there is just A LOT of silt. I forgot a bathing suit so I swam in a tshirt and canvas workpants. It was quite the work out. Amazing though, I haven't been swimming in ages. 

Here is Jessica with the homemade pizza that was cooked in a homemade mud oven! 

YOGA on the riverbank!!!!

Photo Credit: Jessica Cartwright

Mendoza-San Rafael

The program organizes two trips for all the study abroad kids to go on together. We were originally supposed to head to the more tropical-ish north of Argentina, but there was threats of the mosquitos that carry Dengue running rampant so the destinations were changed. It's really too bad because I've had a few friends venture north on their own without a problem. 

Nevertheless, the first trip we went on was fabulous. We flew to Mendoza city, the part of Argentina famous for having the best wine in the country. We took a bus a couple hours outside of the city to a more remote area called San Rafael. We stayed in a gorgeous lodge alongside a big river at the foot of a mountain. It looked a lot like Western Colorado. We hiked a bit, played on a zip line, visited some wineries, and ate and drank A LOT. 

One thing I really enjoyed was having some free time in the afternoon and sprawling across the grass on the river bank, stretching and doing yoga poses with the girls, or attempting to meditate alone with the sound of the river flowing next to me.  I was also thankful again, to have some outside time away from the city. Truly, the only way to survive city life is to have a property in an idyllic outside location. I finally get the vacation-home thing. It's not just pointless luxury, it's mental health!!

I took some photos that are not recoverable (see previous post), but fortunately in this day and age, I have access to most of the pictures everyone else took! 

Abby at a Bodega we visited

Group Hiking

Mary, Abby, and I on "EXTREME" day. 

Inside one of the Bodegas. 

photo credit: Mary Coleman, Jack Butler. 

It's been too long...

I lost my camera, ya'll.

I left it in a cabinet in our lodge in Mendoza. When we called to ask if the cleaning ladies* had picked it up, the response was not surprisingly, "we have no idea what you are talking about." As Javi says, this is Latin America's version of "the free market." 

*karmic disclaimer: I'm not accusing the cleaning ladies, but I do know that my camera is somehow in the hands of somebody related to the establishment...

It's been a tough couple weeks. We are about at the halfway point in the semester, and my classes are getting real. I was ambitious with my academic choices here and I'm getting to a point where I just pray I pass the semester. It would be a big shot at my parents' wallet if I am unable to receive any credit for this semester because I thought I was more capable than I am. I've been studying harder and spend nearly three hours a week with various tutors. I hope I can get myself together, it's been pretty stressful. 

I've actually got an exam in an hour, I should probably go finish my review :)