so, i am in my room at home, and i guess that means that the trip is over. the flight was not that bad, except that we were next to this huge beeping thing for alot of the time. (the beeping thing was people calling the flight attendants). so i guess the lesson is never sit in an exit row or near a bathroom.
nicky and i made up a game on the plane, and it made me realize how hard it is to actually create a well balanced game that had a purpose. our game had 9 circles and then a bunch of mini circles where you had to group them around certain enemies and hold certain other 'bases'. it took alot of tweaking to even be playable, so i guess next time i play a bad game i will think of how hard it is to make a good one.
one a more pertinent note, i want to thank everyone for reading. like, and actually thank you. it was fun to do, but the writing is much more enjoyable when people you know read (it also made us feel long distance love, however weird it is that a website can do that). so thank you.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
caturday
i think nicky is doing a write-up of colonia stuff, so i wont go to much into the details of that. except that it was really nice to get out of the city. i dont hate bigt cities but i dont think i am ever going to live downtownish in one for an extended period of time. buenos aires is nice, but it feels cramed to me because there is not much visible sky and also because the buildings have no space in between eachother. every shop, hotel, store, restaurant on a block, share walls with the adjacent buildings. i guess the crampdness makes sense because the city is a walking one.
but anyways, getting out to the short buildinged and open colonia was awesome, and getting close to the sea, however cold, was a nice break.
also, on the way back from the colonia on the express boat, we were getting peeped really hard. it happens here more than any place its ever happened to me in the world. i dont think people are even ashamed of it, its just natural. so like, nicky and i catch people peeping us or the other all the time. guys girls, whatever. its strange, and pretty funny.
also, an overview of the hostel, which we have been staying in. we found some rooms that were not as cold and cheaper as well, so thats been pretty solid. but the people staying here are pretty priceless. one calls herself the breakfast bitch, and i thought it was funny at first, but then it wasnt. because she was serious. she got super drunk the first night, and not funny drunk. just loud and in your face and annoying. so we werent really feeling that. also she is crazy and british which makes it way worse, because you cant even understand what she is shouting at you half the time.
but there are two awesome british couples there as well, who seem fairly embarassed by her and are really nice to us, so thats good too. we impersonate their accents and they do the same, one guy is particularly acute in his representation of american mannerisms and intonations.
ps, alison if you read this you better wait for harry potter, because we didnt watch it and watched some bad jon travolta movie instead. your promise is now public, and if you break it, your mom and her friends will know and you will be grounded
but anyways, getting out to the short buildinged and open colonia was awesome, and getting close to the sea, however cold, was a nice break.
also, on the way back from the colonia on the express boat, we were getting peeped really hard. it happens here more than any place its ever happened to me in the world. i dont think people are even ashamed of it, its just natural. so like, nicky and i catch people peeping us or the other all the time. guys girls, whatever. its strange, and pretty funny.
also, an overview of the hostel, which we have been staying in. we found some rooms that were not as cold and cheaper as well, so thats been pretty solid. but the people staying here are pretty priceless. one calls herself the breakfast bitch, and i thought it was funny at first, but then it wasnt. because she was serious. she got super drunk the first night, and not funny drunk. just loud and in your face and annoying. so we werent really feeling that. also she is crazy and british which makes it way worse, because you cant even understand what she is shouting at you half the time.
but there are two awesome british couples there as well, who seem fairly embarassed by her and are really nice to us, so thats good too. we impersonate their accents and they do the same, one guy is particularly acute in his representation of american mannerisms and intonations.
ps, alison if you read this you better wait for harry potter, because we didnt watch it and watched some bad jon travolta movie instead. your promise is now public, and if you break it, your mom and her friends will know and you will be grounded
Colonia
We went to Colonia yesterday, and had a blast. Something about getting away from the big city felt very good for both of us. The town was had cobblestone streets, lots of greenery and tropical type flowers, a few old Spanish ruins, and houses in pastels just like the Bahamas. I took a lot of pictures, but yesterday my camera phone died so they won´t be up until we run into nikki or get home.
We went up to the top of a tall lighthouse where you could see the whole city, and the ocean, though very muddy and brown, was nice to have close by. The plazas were calm and relaxed, and Markham and I threw frisbee a fair amount in them while young kids watched on in awe. Young kids are really fascinated by frisbee I have started to notice. Belle Meade, parks in Buenos Aires, Colonia - anywhere we go kids really want to learn how to throw.
At the lighthouse we met a girl named Morgan who is a sophomore at UPenn. She was very nice, but something seemed really off about her. It was like her brain had lag or something, she would answer questions and say things but she seemed like she was in lala land or somehthing because it always took her a while and she just was giving off a weird vibe. She was nice though, and we ate lunch together. In the restaurant, when markham took his jacket and sweater off and was just wearing a tshirt, the big Argentine family next to us was amazed by this and talked about it amongst themselves before asking us what crazy place we must be from to do such a thing.
The boat going to Colonia and back was huge. We didn´t notice that it had started moving until we saw trees going by. It also had a mall inside of it.
We are going to frisbee tonight, and then doing a tango class at a cultural center which should be loads of fun.
I don´t recommend the Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. We saw it on thursday because we´re saving harry potter and Ponyo for after we get back.
We went up to the top of a tall lighthouse where you could see the whole city, and the ocean, though very muddy and brown, was nice to have close by. The plazas were calm and relaxed, and Markham and I threw frisbee a fair amount in them while young kids watched on in awe. Young kids are really fascinated by frisbee I have started to notice. Belle Meade, parks in Buenos Aires, Colonia - anywhere we go kids really want to learn how to throw.
At the lighthouse we met a girl named Morgan who is a sophomore at UPenn. She was very nice, but something seemed really off about her. It was like her brain had lag or something, she would answer questions and say things but she seemed like she was in lala land or somehthing because it always took her a while and she just was giving off a weird vibe. She was nice though, and we ate lunch together. In the restaurant, when markham took his jacket and sweater off and was just wearing a tshirt, the big Argentine family next to us was amazed by this and talked about it amongst themselves before asking us what crazy place we must be from to do such a thing.
The boat going to Colonia and back was huge. We didn´t notice that it had started moving until we saw trees going by. It also had a mall inside of it.
We are going to frisbee tonight, and then doing a tango class at a cultural center which should be loads of fun.
I don´t recommend the Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. We saw it on thursday because we´re saving harry potter and Ponyo for after we get back.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
its been
so right now we are in a locutorio because we just checked out of the hostel. also there is no spell check on this computer so this could get pretty pathetic becuase the little red line has made me dependent, so i think i have forgetten how to spell and type words in the last three years without it.
anyways, we are planning on going into uruguay right now, but arent sure because the weather there is bad and the weather here just cleared up. last night was bearable, not freezing. i plugged the cracks in our doors and windows which helped alottt, but the night itself was warmer anyways than the one before. it was nice to not wake up in a closed room with a breeze on my face.
we are about to go to the california burrito kitchen and figure out the rest of the trip, but we come home pretty soon.
last day-night we hung out with nick carter and since i dont like using the word awesome or cool for stuff that is really awesome or cool, i´ll sayy it was fetch (mean girls, im brining it back). probably the best thing we did was a reallly long dinner at this brazilian place called afuego. unlimited meat, and a bunch of varieties of it as well. combined with great apatizers drinks and friends, it was definitely my favorite meal of the trip. there was a little button that we could flip green or red, and lets just say it was green alot, and there was constantly food coming our way. the sausage and sirloin were incredible.
its nice to now that some things never change between friends though, and even though we hadnt seen nick in a while, by our standards, it didnt slow us down at all, and we fell right back into it immediately.
anyways, we are planning on going into uruguay right now, but arent sure because the weather there is bad and the weather here just cleared up. last night was bearable, not freezing. i plugged the cracks in our doors and windows which helped alottt, but the night itself was warmer anyways than the one before. it was nice to not wake up in a closed room with a breeze on my face.
we are about to go to the california burrito kitchen and figure out the rest of the trip, but we come home pretty soon.
last day-night we hung out with nick carter and since i dont like using the word awesome or cool for stuff that is really awesome or cool, i´ll sayy it was fetch (mean girls, im brining it back). probably the best thing we did was a reallly long dinner at this brazilian place called afuego. unlimited meat, and a bunch of varieties of it as well. combined with great apatizers drinks and friends, it was definitely my favorite meal of the trip. there was a little button that we could flip green or red, and lets just say it was green alot, and there was constantly food coming our way. the sausage and sirloin were incredible.
its nice to now that some things never change between friends though, and even though we hadnt seen nick in a while, by our standards, it didnt slow us down at all, and we fell right back into it immediately.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Hostel Livin
So yesterday Nikki abandoned us to adventure in Colonia - luckily, before she had left, she helped me find some hostels. The weather was miserable yesterday with insane amounts of rain. We ended up staying at a hostel called Tango Backpackers Hostel or something in Palermo. The 6 person room smelled really funky and there was a guy in it sleeping at 2pm so we just dropped our stuff off and went looking for food.
Later that day we came back and read (Markham is now immersed in Enders Shadow) and met the guy who had been sleeping in our room for the last 24 hours. Supposedly he was feeling really sick and has a cough, and he said the smell had been here for a while. It smelled like propane or mold or medicine, Im not sure which. Anyhow, we told the front desk we wanted to switch rooms and they upgraded us two a 2 person room for no charge, which was sweeet.
We grabbed dinner and some delicious menta granizada ice cream (mint chocolate chip)before making it back to the hostel where this gorgeous blonde girl asks markham and I to go party with her and other hostel people. So we meet a lot of random people (Ireland, Holland, England, Austria) and then ended up playing Farmers Bridge with some girls from Holland.
Everything was going fine (one of them cheated accidentally and then the other two started calling her German - that is what they call cheaters), until two ´"cool dudes" from california came over to "hang out." Thus began the bropocolypse. Though they were what one might call nice, there was no stopping them. I wont go into it now, but they were pretty ridiculous.
Anyhow, we went out clubbing with a lot of people from the hostel, a brazilian woman tried to give us dance lessons at the club, and then we went to sleep around 3 at the hostel. It was cold, very, very cold during the night. And loud and windy. But it was fine.
Later that day we came back and read (Markham is now immersed in Enders Shadow) and met the guy who had been sleeping in our room for the last 24 hours. Supposedly he was feeling really sick and has a cough, and he said the smell had been here for a while. It smelled like propane or mold or medicine, Im not sure which. Anyhow, we told the front desk we wanted to switch rooms and they upgraded us two a 2 person room for no charge, which was sweeet.
We grabbed dinner and some delicious menta granizada ice cream (mint chocolate chip)before making it back to the hostel where this gorgeous blonde girl asks markham and I to go party with her and other hostel people. So we meet a lot of random people (Ireland, Holland, England, Austria) and then ended up playing Farmers Bridge with some girls from Holland.
Everything was going fine (one of them cheated accidentally and then the other two started calling her German - that is what they call cheaters), until two ´"cool dudes" from california came over to "hang out." Thus began the bropocolypse. Though they were what one might call nice, there was no stopping them. I wont go into it now, but they were pretty ridiculous.
Anyhow, we went out clubbing with a lot of people from the hostel, a brazilian woman tried to give us dance lessons at the club, and then we went to sleep around 3 at the hostel. It was cold, very, very cold during the night. And loud and windy. But it was fine.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
yoyo
so, we are leaving in a little more than a week, which is pretty quick, and we move out of our apartment tomorrow. nicky and i are going to go travel around a bit, which should be pretty solid, not sure other than that. also nick carter is coming down here so it should be pretty sweet to meet up with him for a few days before we leave.
also iguazu was incredible and i dont want to just copy everything that nicky said but he left out a pretty funny story. after our first day at iguazu falls we went to wait in line for the buses which come every thirty minutes, the line got pretty long and we were on the border of whether we could get the last seats or have to wait a whole new thirty minutes. anyways a little before the bus arrived about four or five people cut the line, and we werent very happy about it. so we started yelling 'ladrones de sillas!! ladrones de sillas!!' and pointing at this one couple that was about thirty years old. the guy seemed to think it was pretty funny, but i havent seen anyone in recent memory as pissed as this girl was. she stared us down for the whole ride back, nicky didnt stop yelling it for a while as well.
also, yesterday we played our second day of ultimate here, no injuries this time and the place was nicer, but the best part of the day, apart from all of their players worshipping us, was the music. close to the fields there was like a 60 person dance troup, playing the drums really really lound and dancing a capuera type of beat. so it made the point feel super epic and strangely important. also, argentinian players a pretty bad, so they honestly thought we were the best players ever. like actually ever.
-markham
also iguazu was incredible and i dont want to just copy everything that nicky said but he left out a pretty funny story. after our first day at iguazu falls we went to wait in line for the buses which come every thirty minutes, the line got pretty long and we were on the border of whether we could get the last seats or have to wait a whole new thirty minutes. anyways a little before the bus arrived about four or five people cut the line, and we werent very happy about it. so we started yelling 'ladrones de sillas!! ladrones de sillas!!' and pointing at this one couple that was about thirty years old. the guy seemed to think it was pretty funny, but i havent seen anyone in recent memory as pissed as this girl was. she stared us down for the whole ride back, nicky didnt stop yelling it for a while as well.
also, yesterday we played our second day of ultimate here, no injuries this time and the place was nicer, but the best part of the day, apart from all of their players worshipping us, was the music. close to the fields there was like a 60 person dance troup, playing the drums really really lound and dancing a capuera type of beat. so it made the point feel super epic and strangely important. also, argentinian players a pretty bad, so they honestly thought we were the best players ever. like actually ever.
-markham
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Iguazu Falls
We got to the bus station about two hours before the bus left because we wanted to make sure we could get tickets. When we are about to buy tickets, they ask us for our passport numbers. Before we'd left, we had decided not to bring passports b/c we didn't want to loose them and we weren't going to go in to Brazil while we were there. So we made up passport numbers (Nikki's suggestion, apparently she does it for everything). I felt so Jason Bourne when I did it. And just as he is entering the first fake passport number on Markhams thing, he calls Markham over like there was a problem. Turned out he was just curious about how Markham spelled his name. He then asked us what nationality we were, and after we told him US, Martin (our traveling companion) said he was UK, the guy then laughed, and said whatever. He didn't care about the passport numbers at all.
Traveling cama (they have semi cama, cama, and cama ejecutivo prices) was awesome. The seats were like mini beds, and they provided pirated movies and disgusting alcohol during the trip, which was around 17 hours.
We get to the Puerto Iguazu, the little town near the falls, and then eventually find a hostel with the help of this random guy named Fabio. Anyhow, we checked it out, and it was fine.
The falls were amazing. We paid for the truck/boat tour, which was recommended in the book Mr. Shofner gave us, and it was really worth it, minus the truck part which was average. The boats went up rapids, and then close to the garganta del diablo where I saw the best rainbow of my life, and several double rainbows. We then went to the other falls and the boat went under the falls where we got completely soaked. Markham and I were prepared, having brought extra clothes, but Nikki didn't have any to change into, and Martin hadn't even brought a raincoat. Martin was pretty funny at the time, I am amazed at how little he complained. Anyhow I had some extra boxer shorts which nikki just ended up wearing as shorts, and markham gave martin his jeans to wear for the rest of the day.
That night we ate some delicious food (I had some bife de lomo for 33 pesos which was sweet). The next day we went to the top of the garganta del diablo, where there is a series of metal bridges that take you over the river right above the falls, which were awe inspiring. There was also a really funny sign warning you about boa constrictors jumping on people from the trees, so I kept a lookout for the rest of the group. We also learned and played a british game called "Shit Sticks" where you race sticks down a river from one side of a bridge to another.
That's about it. Now we are back at school, had a miserably long and boring exam yesterday for our certification (Markham and I both passed the test, which was on the level we just started that lasts 2 weeks, B2.) Tomorrow we get to watch a movie in class, I think it's called Nine Kings or something. Sandra will cry when we leave.
Traveling cama (they have semi cama, cama, and cama ejecutivo prices) was awesome. The seats were like mini beds, and they provided pirated movies and disgusting alcohol during the trip, which was around 17 hours.
We get to the Puerto Iguazu, the little town near the falls, and then eventually find a hostel with the help of this random guy named Fabio. Anyhow, we checked it out, and it was fine.
The falls were amazing. We paid for the truck/boat tour, which was recommended in the book Mr. Shofner gave us, and it was really worth it, minus the truck part which was average. The boats went up rapids, and then close to the garganta del diablo where I saw the best rainbow of my life, and several double rainbows. We then went to the other falls and the boat went under the falls where we got completely soaked. Markham and I were prepared, having brought extra clothes, but Nikki didn't have any to change into, and Martin hadn't even brought a raincoat. Martin was pretty funny at the time, I am amazed at how little he complained. Anyhow I had some extra boxer shorts which nikki just ended up wearing as shorts, and markham gave martin his jeans to wear for the rest of the day.
That night we ate some delicious food (I had some bife de lomo for 33 pesos which was sweet). The next day we went to the top of the garganta del diablo, where there is a series of metal bridges that take you over the river right above the falls, which were awe inspiring. There was also a really funny sign warning you about boa constrictors jumping on people from the trees, so I kept a lookout for the rest of the group. We also learned and played a british game called "Shit Sticks" where you race sticks down a river from one side of a bridge to another.
That's about it. Now we are back at school, had a miserably long and boring exam yesterday for our certification (Markham and I both passed the test, which was on the level we just started that lasts 2 weeks, B2.) Tomorrow we get to watch a movie in class, I think it's called Nine Kings or something. Sandra will cry when we leave.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
pics
cama bus. seats recline really far and are pretty cushy. complimentary wine and whiskey, but it was apparently pretty bad tasting. markham loved the cama.
waterfalls #1
closer up
where we are about to be in 5 minutes
devils throat far away
three musketeers
devils throat from the boat
post boat ride. soaking and freezing. but happy.
nicky is going to be the next art wolfe.
devils throat from the boardwalk above it
devils throat falls
martin on the right, english fellow who joined us in iguazu
markham is so happy to be back to his cama
Monday, July 13, 2009
we're alive!
we have returned from iguazu, had a great time, the waterfalls were wonderful, and we're starting our final week of school! Lots of great pictures.
pictures and more details and stories will be forthcoming within the next day :)
pictures and more details and stories will be forthcoming within the next day :)
Friday, July 10, 2009
iguazu
we are about to go to iguazu falls and will be out of contact, so if we dont post or contact anyone by monday night, then try and come save us or something.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Pictures from el fin de semana
looking good
pre boliche
boliche
sleeper courtesy of markham
tsk tsk nailbiting
kitty!
eva peron's grave
Pictures and Weekend Plans
We went to the Recoleta Cemetery on Sunday which was amazing - it was like a city full of tombs and mausoleums - there were little narrow streets and loads of cats roaming around, which nikki loved. Anyhow we took a lot of pictures. Other things that have been going on... classes have been pretty normal; we have the same crazy teacher. I love the ice cream here - the raspberry is delicious.
This weekend we are planning to go to Iguazu falls which lies on the borders of argentina, brazil, and paraguay. We are traveling on comfy buses that leave at night and get us there in the morning. Anyhow, I'm pretty excited, and we are definitely bringing cameras.
Nikki will post pics from the cemetery and party soon.
This weekend we are planning to go to Iguazu falls which lies on the borders of argentina, brazil, and paraguay. We are traveling on comfy buses that leave at night and get us there in the morning. Anyhow, I'm pretty excited, and we are definitely bringing cameras.
Nikki will post pics from the cemetery and party soon.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
weekend
in school we have been writing stories as our main practice recently, just comprehension and writing practice. nicky's and my stories were on the same grammar level as everyone else, but they were definitely way more creative, so i think we get some sort of credit for that. anyways, our teacher loves us and thinks americans are the best.
sadly, laura left buenos aires because of the swine flu.
we had a dinner party for our class and a few other students at the apartment on friday night. (nicky will probably put up pictures to this). we left to go out to clubs at like...2 in the morning, and we got there early. there was a live techno/electronica band which i thought was awesome but the nicky's didnt like. all the other europeans and brazilians we were with liked it though. turns out nikki is an even worse dancer than nicky, so i felt pretty comfortable when compared to them. i left at like 5, so my internal body clock got pretty messed up, considering we usually go to fleep around 1.
for the fourth we just ate bugers and corn. we also tried to go get some real american patriotic movies, but they didnt have anything we were looking for (independence day, remember the titans, mr smith goes to washington). so we got hp 5 to get ready for the 6th! also two pierce brosnan movies.
the nicky's tried to claim that hermione is not attractive, which is just crazy talk. she said b-, which is just crazy. that type of talk gives girls complexes. ginny is a creatch though....
also, wimbledon looks awesome!
sadly, laura left buenos aires because of the swine flu.
we had a dinner party for our class and a few other students at the apartment on friday night. (nicky will probably put up pictures to this). we left to go out to clubs at like...2 in the morning, and we got there early. there was a live techno/electronica band which i thought was awesome but the nicky's didnt like. all the other europeans and brazilians we were with liked it though. turns out nikki is an even worse dancer than nicky, so i felt pretty comfortable when compared to them. i left at like 5, so my internal body clock got pretty messed up, considering we usually go to fleep around 1.
for the fourth we just ate bugers and corn. we also tried to go get some real american patriotic movies, but they didnt have anything we were looking for (independence day, remember the titans, mr smith goes to washington). so we got hp 5 to get ready for the 6th! also two pierce brosnan movies.
the nicky's tried to claim that hermione is not attractive, which is just crazy talk. she said b-, which is just crazy. that type of talk gives girls complexes. ginny is a creatch though....
also, wimbledon looks awesome!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
dog
random and short post. firstly this city is has alot of dogs, definitely more than any other first world city i have ever been in, but not a ridiculous amount.
anyways we were walking back to the apartment and by this dog walker. one dog was standing around the corner when we turned and the wind was in its face, blowing like crazy and it just stood there like a statue, really defiant. nicky and i stared at it for a while and then it just dropped its pose and walked by us.
i cant really do it justice, but it was probably the most epic moment of the dogs life.
anyways we were walking back to the apartment and by this dog walker. one dog was standing around the corner when we turned and the wind was in its face, blowing like crazy and it just stood there like a statue, really defiant. nicky and i stared at it for a while and then it just dropped its pose and walked by us.
i cant really do it justice, but it was probably the most epic moment of the dogs life.
To the Sea!
Today we watched a movie in spanish called Aparencias (Appearances) about a man who likes a woman who has a boyfriend - she thinks he is gay, so he pretends to be gay to hang out with her. It was weird, a couple funny moments, but overall meh.
After class, we went to the Ecological Reserve with Frederic (german in our class), Martin (english guy in our class), and 3 brazilian girls from our classes. Before we entered the reserve, they had some really cheap and delicious hamburgers (4 pesos, with a ton of crazy toppings - mini french fries, and a lot of other stuff I didn't know). Anyhow it was a lot of walking - but when we got to the Rio del Plata - which seemed like the ocean, it was quite beautiful. (Sorry I didn't have my camera)
Anyhow, the swine flu is getting pretty serious down here. The minister of health resigned because of his lack of action, and the mayor of Buenos Aires has cancelled classes at all the schools and universities for the next two weeks to keep people from going out and stuff. Several brazilians have gone back to Brazil (but they think their news over exaggerates the situation). Also Maddy Hamilton is going back to the states on Saturday because of the swine flu. We think most of the fear is exaggerated, and it doesn't seem that bad.
After class, we went to the Ecological Reserve with Frederic (german in our class), Martin (english guy in our class), and 3 brazilian girls from our classes. Before we entered the reserve, they had some really cheap and delicious hamburgers (4 pesos, with a ton of crazy toppings - mini french fries, and a lot of other stuff I didn't know). Anyhow it was a lot of walking - but when we got to the Rio del Plata - which seemed like the ocean, it was quite beautiful. (Sorry I didn't have my camera)
Anyhow, the swine flu is getting pretty serious down here. The minister of health resigned because of his lack of action, and the mayor of Buenos Aires has cancelled classes at all the schools and universities for the next two weeks to keep people from going out and stuff. Several brazilians have gone back to Brazil (but they think their news over exaggerates the situation). Also Maddy Hamilton is going back to the states on Saturday because of the swine flu. We think most of the fear is exaggerated, and it doesn't seem that bad.
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