On Mother’s Day and Politics

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mothers in my life! Although I miss my mother’s presence everyday and always will, I am so grateful for the presence of the strong, beautiful women in my life. All of you help me and inspire me everyday to be the woman my dear mother raised me to be. Thank you for guiding me, laughing with me, sharing with me, and loving me. You truly help me honor my mother, and the wonderful woman she was, by helping me be a person of whom she would be proud. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Today, apart from being Mother’s Day in the US, was also election day in San Juan. This was a special election, in which the citizens of San Juan voted on whether or not to let their governor, José Luis Gioja, run for another term. The problem is that with two terms under his belt, Gioja has already reached his term limit as prescribed by the constitution. Rather than accepting that his constitutionally appointed time as come to an end, Gioja and his supporters have decided to push for a constitutional amendment that would allow him to serve for one more term. Today, the people of San Juan voted on whether or not they wanted that amendment to pass.

Since my arrival in San Juan, the city has been plastered with posters featuring Gioja’s friendly face (more often than not, the message of these posters have been superimposed by a spray-painted “NO!”). And, almost everyone I’ve spoken with (which is a small sample, to be sure) agrees that Gioja has been a very good governor, and in general has really benefited the San Juan Province. I even personally had the opportunity to see Gioja speak last week, when he came to my street corner. (Like, literally on my street corner, a block from my door). From his speech, and his way of being, I can see why people really like him. He is friendly and comforting like a beloved grandfather, yet passionate and dedicated like a good politician. Regardless, I can’t help but be bothered by the idea of changing the constitution to benefit one leader. While Gioja appears to be a good politician and leader, the fact that he is willing to compromise the integrity of his constitution gives me pause.

Now, I hesitate here to give such a strong opinion on this, since, obviously, I am not Argentine, and this is not an issue that will effect me. I can certainly sympathize with the people who voted to allow for a third term. I imagine all of them are people who have seen their province improve over the last 8 years, so it only makes sense that they want to continue with Gioja. And, of course, the purpose of a constitution is to reflect and change along with the needs and will of the people. But it all just seems too easy to me.

Anyway, that’s more or less my description and two-cents on an issue I’ve found really fascinating here. I’ll stop here, since I am not too familiar with all the ends and outs of the issue, and, as such, would like to avoid possibly putting my foot in my mouth. Whatever happens, though, I hope it works out for the best!

Until tomorrow, my lovely readers!

A long awaited update…

So, I’ll be the first to say that I’ve been neglectful of this blog. I’ll also be the first to admit that I’m not the best at keeping up blogs. I could give some vague excuses such as “Its difficult for me to write about something right away, I need time to process….” The only problem is, once I’ve had the time to “process”, I’ve also often lost the excitement to write. Anyway, enough with my lame excuses, as I now vow to heed the words of my ever inspirational boyfriend: “Hey – you need to update your blog! Two entries only? Weaksauce, try harder.” He’s right, two entries only is indeed weaksauce. And I will try harder. (Love you, babe ;).

My plan to make up for my negligence is to update this blog everyday for the next four days, starting today (this being my first entry). I also want to do this because I don’t want to put all of my adventures over the last month into one really long blog entry.

First, just a general overview: I’m having a great time here! I know I’ve already said this in my first two blogs, but I love pretty much everything about my job here. The students and professors I’m working with continue to be wonderful, and I’m having so much fun teaching. In particular, I’ve been teaching a lot of writing. Mainly, I’ve been teaching workshops on all sorts of writing, and have been meeting with students during office hours to help them with their work. Its been really rewarding to teach something I love, and getting to know students better during officer hours has been a blast.

I’ve also been making some great friendships here, and am very grateful for how open, friendly, and inviting the people have been. Making the pilgrimage to the fascinating Difunta Correa (thanks Carolina and Ana Paula!) and camping in San Martin de los Andes (thanks, Ana Paula!) have been some of highlights of what I’ve been up to. Don’t worry, I will be describing these two adventures and posting pictures in my coming blog entries! Eating some delicious Mexican food (this was last night, actually), checking out some cool local bars, enjoying mate, and frequenting the wonderful vegetarian restaurant across the street from my school have been the type of day-to-day activities that have been keeping life here very enjoyable.

It has also been interesting to learn about the local politics here, as well as to live through one of the major news events of our time (bin Laden’s death, of course). I’m going to dedicate an entire blog entry to exploring what I’ve learned about the politics here (disclaimer: I, of course, am no expert!) As for the bin Laden news, I must say it was strange to simultaneously feel removed from it (since I am abroad and away from other Americans, as well as 24 hours news channels), and somewhat connected to it (due to Nate’s proximity to the whole event. Please note, this is not to say Nate had anything whatsoever to do with it…he was just closer to the event than most people.). This is actually the second time I’ve been abroad when a major event took place at home, since I was in Spain during Obama’s election in 2008. While I would love to be at home and absorbing the atmosphere of the news, it’s nonetheless fascinating to see how people outside of the US react. The Argentine people I’ve spoken with seem to be, in general, skeptical of the news, and unwilling to trust what the news and politicians are telling them. I think this reaction makes sense, and I’ve enjoyed discussions about Argentine and American culture that have arisen as a result of the news.
So, there you have it, a general update on what’s been happening here. And, as promised, I will be updating my blog again the next few days to come! Hope all is well!

Week 1

So, I’ve officially been in San Juan for just over a week, though the days have been really blurring together! I guess it always feels that way, when you’re in a new place. I’m definitely still working on getting my footing here, and haven’t yet made contacts to go out with and such, since I’m living alone and haven’t had enough time at school yet to really get to know people. That said, I’m not lonely in the least, the peace and quiet after the hectic month leading up to my departure has actually been really nice. I know meeting people and going out will come in time, so for now, I’m just enjoying my down time! Plus, its fortunately coincided with Nate being on land for an entire week! Our time zones and free time aligned in such a way that we were able to skype pretty much everyday for the past week. It was very nice, especially since it’d been two months since I’d talked to him last.

Anyway, here’s a (categorized) list of highlights from this week:

On the home front:
1. After a few days of wondering at it, I finally figured out how to turn on my TV! A small (and ridiculous) victory, to be sure. But, a victory nonetheless! Its imperative to my Spanish practice that I’m able to watch things like the dubbed version of the Disney movie “Enchanted”.

2. I managed to plug, and then some how bumbling-ly fix, my kitchen sink. Of course, it wasn’t until yesterday, when I finally managed to get my land-lady to take a look at it, that the sink proved to be actually fixed. It really is funny how things magically fix themselves just when you go to show someone else the problem.

All things Spanish:
1. I’m surrounded by people who can speak English. I need to stop taking advantage of this.

2. I had two significant Spanish run-ins yesterday. In the first one, a woman at the bus stop starting chatting with me about the bus schedule, etc., then proceeded to tell me about her father’s heart condition, and how he’s all but given up his will to live. She told me about her mother, who was an amazing woman, and who died of cancer some years back. I proceeded to tell her about my mother. It was a nice conversation. She, or course, did most of the talking, but I managed quite well.
My second Spanish run-in was at the grocery store, where, for some reason, I had an amazingly difficult time understanding my somewhat impatient cashier. Now, I have to ask myself: how was I able to carry on a moderately complex conversation with the woman at the bus stop, but unable to comprehend simple questions at the grocery store. I really have no idea, but I’m working on it!

3. I bought a book in Spanish. I’m watching Spanish TV. I’m writing emails to old Spanish friends to practice my writing. Spanish, it’s ON.

School, school, school
1. I LOVE my University and the professors I’m working with. So far, its my absolute favorite part of being here.
2. I taught my first lesson on Personal Narrative Writing on Monday. It went really well, and all my activities went off without a hitch. I’m excited for a year of planning lessons and working with students :).
3. Sitting in on US history lectures taught outside of the US has been quite an interesting experience. I’ve never really heard US History taught from an outside perspective. I’ll keep you posted on what comes from it.

Okay, that’s all for now! Hope all is well!

Safe and sound in San Juan

After the blur of tourism, bus rides, orientations, new people, and quillmes cerveza that was Buenos Aires, I find myself here in what will be my home for the next 8 months: the slower paced city of San Juan. Its only my third day here, but I’m already starting to feel quite at home, thanks to a very charming little apartment, and some very welcoming people.

I landed in San Juan on Wednesday night at around 9PM, and have since really hit the ground running. I started at the University where I will be teaching (Universidad Nacional de San Juan), on Thursday at 9AM, and was promptly given a schedule of the classes where I will be assisting. To be perfectly honest, as I landed on Wednesday, all I was hoping for was a day to sleep in and adjust. But, after meeting all the great professors I’ll be working with, and sitting in on a very interesting class, I must say I’m grateful to have started so quickly. And I’m so excited to be here!

To understand my excitement, let me sum up my job for you: I’m getting paid to teach and discuss writing, American culture, and literature (all things that I love) to students who are genuinely interested, with faculty that are really happy to have me there. PLUS, I’m working just 18 hours a week. This set up really can’t be beat! On top of that, the faculty are really helpful and run some great classes. I’m only working with advanced students, so all of my classes are well beyond basic grammar and structure. The first lesson I teach will be on Monday, and will be about writing a Personal Narrative.

So far, I’m really enjoying San Juan, as the people are so kind and welcoming. I had the opportunity to witness this first hand today when I got hopelessly lost in the bus system on my way home from work! Long story short, I ended up taking three different buses, walking half a mile, and finally being assisted by a man who gave me a ride on his motorcycle! I know, I know, I shouldn’t ride on motorcycles with strangers…but, he knew where I needed to go, and I was getting pretty desperate! But, sometimes you can just tell when people have good intentions, and it was broad daylight, and I was already close to home. Regardless, I promise I will not make this a habit. Anyway, all along the way, I had bus drivers and just people in general helping me figure out where I needed to go. Since I knew that I’d eventually make it home safely, it ended up turning into a pretty decent adventure, filled with excellent opportunities to practice my Spanish skills! Plus, I got to see a whole lot of San Juan! (which is a bigger city than I thought!)

I’ll leave this here for now. Below, I’ve posted some pictures of where I’m living. (In just 3 days, I’ve already managed to make it look lived in! My bedroom, in particular, is quite messy, especially since I’m still unpacking.)

Front room