La Plaza de Mayo

Here is a monument that can be found in the Plaza de Mayo. Because of the accent here, my two favorite words or phrases to hear are "La Plaza de Mayo" and "La calle." Several people from my program walk around saying these two phrases and they get stuck in your head!

The Flag

Here is a picture of the Argentine flag blowing in the wind. I like this picture because the sky is the same color as the flag!

La Casa Rosada

Here is a picture of La Casa Rosada, the equivalent of our White House. The president only works here, however, instead of living here, as well. They decided to paint it pink because when it was built, there were two political parties that were represented by the colors red and white. To show unity and solidarity, they decided to paint it pink because it was a mix of both parties.

Recoleta

This is the cemetary where Eva Perón is buried. We did not get to see her tomb, but I want to come back another time to see it. The cemetary seemed like a little village because the monuments seemed like little houses on cobblestone streets.

Tour Bus

Here is a picture of the bus that took us on our tour of the city on Sunday. It also took us from the airport to the university. If you look closely, there are babies inside the flowers on the side of the bus. We think it is a funny picture to have on a bus!

May 30, 2007

Today I got up at 9 after more than 10 hours of sleep. I should not be tired, but I still feel exhausted. I took a freezing cold shower. Somehow, seeing my breath when I come out of the shower does not make me feel better! I had my usual breakfast of tostadas with dulce de leche, hot chocolate (Nesquik—which sounds like NES-kwee when Fani says it), and some grapes. Fani gave me an apple to take to school. I worked on my computer for a while and then left at 11:15am. I went to the ISA office for them to copy my passport and to get directions to the tango place for tonight. I also asked Paula about my homework because I had a question that Fani could not answer in a way that I could understand. I got online for a few minutes and checked my email before heading out. I looked for a Guia-te which is a really helpful little book of maps and bus routes, but the book/magazine/newspaper vendor outside ISA was sold out. I stopped at an ATM and took out some pesos. I continued on to UB (Universidad de Belgrano) and arrived a little early. Will was early, too, so we talked a bit in Spanish and then we wrote out our new Argentine vocabulary words with Spanish definitions. For the first 2 hours of class, we read an article about the history of Argentina written by the ex-president of Uruguay. It was interesting, but I wish I could have read it on my own first because I could have looked up more words than I could in class. The profesora had a volunteer read each paragraph and then we would talk about the main idea. When we had finished the whole article that way, we got into groups of two or three and discussed the author’s opinion of Argentina. It was difficult because we couldn’t understand what the teacher wanted us to do. At 2:30, she gave us a half hour break. Will and I met Meagan and Sam (a girl from a different program) at a really cheap empanada place right across from the university. I had three large empanadas (cheese and onion, a vegetable one, and a chicken one) and a glass bottle of Coke for less than $2! We had to hurry to get back to class. I was kind of freaking out because we were going to be about three minutes late, but when we got back, we did not start for another five minutes! I need to remember that we are in Latin America and time does not have the same constraints here! We talked about the difference between the imperfect and the preterite past tenses for most of the rest of the time. This was a lot easier for me than discussing the article because I already knew most of what she was telling us. She put a few examples on the board of the slight difference in meaning when you use the same verb, but in the different past tenses. This was a bit more difficult to understand. She gave us a ten minute break to get coffee because most of the class was dragging (due to late night partying), but several students (including me) stayed in the classroom and talked to the teacher. Paul was asking her about the Southern Cross, but she did not understand what he meant. She told us that there are three stars in a row (Orion’s belt, we believe) that they call the “Tres Marías.” I went to the bathroom and I have to tell you about the soap! It is so funny! They have these metal rods that stick out between every two sinks and these rods swivel between the sinks. On the end of the rod, there is a ball of soap stuck on the end. It is very interesting. I will try to take a picture and post it soon. Anyway, the rest of the students wandered back into class and we did this activity where the teacher gave us each the start of a story and we had to finish the story in three sentences without many details. Then, each group told its story to the class and we were allowed to ask any question we wanted about the story. For example, one story was about buying four bottles of water at a store, drinking them all, and then having to go to the bathroom. People asked which store they bought the water at, how much it cost, who sold them the water, and many other questions. It was really fun. She assigned us homework for the next day and then we left. I went with will and Rachel to a phone store so Will could buy a phone. Having a cell phone here is really a necessity because we do not live close to each other and we are not supposed to use the phones at our homes, so it is really the only way to communicate. ISA had planned tango lessons for tonight, but we had to get there ourselves. It was kind of far away and so they recommended that we take a taxi. Rachel, Heather, and I planned out where to meet so we could catch a taxi together. We stopped by an heladería for some ice cream. I had dulce de leche and white chocolate. It was cheaper than the other places we have gone. We think that we should try every ice cream place in Buenos Aires before we leave! That might be difficult—even for an ice cream lover like me—because they are EVERYWHERE! I headed back to my apartment and changed my clothes and had dinner. Fani didn’t eat, as is pretty usual, but she served me the most food I have ever seen in my life. I felt bad because I had just eaten ice cream less than 2 hours ago, but I could not have eaten it all anyway. She served me three pieces of meat about as big as hamburgers (2 chicken, 1 something else), a salad that consisted of about 4 grape tomatoes cut up and a whole cucumber sliced, an enormous bowl of soup (probably about 1.5 cups), a 4 inch long roll, and a can of fruit cocktail in a bowl! I made sure that she knew I liked it all, but that I could not eat that much food! After dinner, I worked on homework. Fani went to bed about 8:45 and I left at 8:55 to meet the girls. I found them and we hailed a cab. It was not a radio taxi like they tell us to take, but the girls said it didn’t matter. I personally would have waited for the right kind. We got in and drove for quite a while to this bad-looking part of town. We were all getting really nervous, but we eventually made it there safely. The tango club didn’t look like anything much from the outside, but when we went inside, we found the ISA man, Gustavo, and went downstairs. There were tons of Argentine people dancing downstairs. We put our stuff at a table and watched. I was really afraid that someone was going to steal our stuff, so I tried to keep an eye on it. A waiter saw of come in and immediately came over with a drink menu. I can see why Americans sometimes give off a bad impression because the first thing our group did was to order five of the largest bottles of beer that they had. I looked around and most of the people were not even drinking alcohol, but had pop instead. We watched for a while and then they said that they were having lessons for beginners upstairs. We all went up and it reminded me of swing dancing because they were more girls than boys so we had to switch partners a lot. We learned the basic step and then we practiced with each other. It was fun, but there were so many people that we kept running into each other! We stayed until midnight and then the lessons were over. Meagan called a taxi and Michaela, Meagan, and I rode home together, getting dropped off one-by-one. I went inside without any key problems. I wasn’t actually too tired and I couldn't fall asleep right away. I think I drifted off about 1:15am…

May 29, 2007

Today was my first day of classes. It was a busy, but good, day. I got up at 9 after 10.5 hours of sleep! After getting ready and having breakfast (tostadas with dulce de leche, hot chocolate, and grapes), I read for a while in my room. Two of Fani's grandchildren and one of their friends were coming for a visit today so Fani was tidying the house. They were supposed to come at 12 (I think), but they came at 11am. I got to meet them. There names are Camila, Valentina, and Florencia. Florencia is their friend and she speaks better English than I speak Spanish. It was hard for me to understand them because they all tried to talk at the same time. Camila mumbled and Valentina scarcely said a word. We had ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread in the kitchen. I got ready to leave and Fani said something about them coming with me. I did not understand, but I waited until they got ready. We all left together and then I asked Florencia (in English, I'm afraid to say) what was going on. She said that they were going to go shopping. I think Fani sent them with me so she did not have to go downstairs to let them out. (The doors here must be opened with a key, as well as locked with one.) They walked with me to the main road, Cabildo, and then they went left as I turned right to head to the university. I got to the tenth floor a little early and sat and waited. In just a few minutes, other students started appearing. No one wanted to be late for the first day. The elevators at the university are very funny. They only stop at every fifth floor. When you are riding in them, they go so fast that they make your head spin. Our profesora showed up five minutes late. We started class by each answering nine questions about ourselves off the board. When we had finished writing, she mixed up the papers and passed them out again. Then we had to introduce the person whose paper we had. I could tell she was doing this to test our ability to conjugate verbs because we had to change the verbs from first person to third person rapidly in our minds. After many detours, we finally finished that exercise and we talked a little about grammar mistakes that had been made. By this time, it was 2:30 and she gave us a half hour break. It wasn't really enough time to get food, so I ate my granola bar and looked for the computer lab. The paper that the ISA people gave us had the wrong floor listed for the computer lab, so I never found it. I ended up going back to class a little early. After the break, we had three more people in our class that they were considering moving up to our class. I think two of them are going to stay, but one wants to move back down. The time after the break was very interesting because we talked about the difference between tú and vos (what is used in Argentina). We also talked about certain vocabulary words that are used in Argentina, but not in most other Spanish-speaking countries. We went down to the bookstore at 4:30 and bought our textbooks, our cuadernillos, for 15 pesos or $5. They are actually just 100 pages of worksheets and readings stapled together. We went back upstairs and did an exercise in our book and then it was time to go. I went upstairs to the twelfth floor to use the computer. I stayed until 6:05 and it was almost dark. I am not really a fan of walking home in the dark, so I tried to hurry. However, I caught up to other people from my program and they were going to get ice cream. I was not really in a hurry to return to my apartment (other than the darkness factor) so I went with them. We went to a heladeria (ice cream store) pretty close to my house. I had frutilla (strawberry) and frambuesa (raspberry). It is so delicious! We sat around and talked (in español, finally!) for about an hour. We are kind of crazy eating ice cream in an open-air shop in winter! We decided to walk to a grocery store nearby because Heather and Rachel needed to buy some things. We walked around and looked at stuff. Then we stood outside by a fountain and talked. People wanted to make plans for tonight (bars or movies), but I am so tired that I did not really want to do anything! Will and I headed back to Cabildo and then I headed back to my apartmento alone. There are actually a lot of people out at 7:56pm! I got back and talked to Fani briefly and then she gave me dinner. I had soup, as usual, gnocchis (because people in Buenos Aires always eat them on the 29th of the month?), and chocolate mousse for dessert. Fani cleaned up and went to bed. I worked on part of my homework and decided to wait until the morning to take my shower because it is freezing in here. (I will probably regret this decision in the morning!) I really cannot stay up past 10:30 which is quite pathetic! Every night about this time, I am so tired that I cannot even stay awake to read in bed which is one of my most favorite things to do in the whole world!

May 28, 2007

Monday was the day of our big placement exam. I got up at 8:15 again and had breakfast at 9. I had tostadas with dulce de leche and hot chocolate again and also a banana. I left at 9:25 to meet Diana at 9:30. On our way, we met two other pairs of girls who had walked together. We got to the university early and I thought we were supposed to meet at the front door, but other people said that the paper said the third floor. We all walked up to the third floor and then someone looked at her paper and she said that the paper did say “meet by the door” so we all walked down. We stood around and waited. More ISA people came but no leader. About ten minutes late, Marina came and took us straight up to the third floor. It was some tour! :) We stood around on the third floor and waited for them to open the doors. There were lots of people there from other programs, too. At last they let us in and we sat down. They passed out the exam. The directors at ISA had told us not to study and that it would all be written. Well, the first thing the professors wrote on the board was not to take the test if you did not know any Spanish or if you had not studied! I had studied anyway. We had received a practice test in our information packet, but the test today was about three times as hard as that one! After I took the test, I was hoping that I would not be placed in a beginner class! They sent us out in the hall to wait for about a half hour. Then, the professors came out one by one and called a list of names. They started with the students they thought were in the lowest levels according to the written test and then they gave them an oral exam. I stood around and waited for a long time before they called my name. A group of eleven of us went in together and they just talked to us in Spanish and asked us a bunch of questions. When this had finished, we waited some more and then the rest of the students came into the room and they announced who was in what class. There is one beginner class, four intermediate classes, and one advanced class. I am in the highest intermediate class. Only five people out of about sixty or seventy are in the advanced class. I was very pleased with my placement. Diana is in the advanced class and she only got 26 out of 45 questions right on the exam. I wonder what I got!
After that, we were supposed to go back to the ISA office, so we did. I walked with a girl named Michaela. I met her on Facebook before we actually got here. She arrived yesterday because she missed her flight here. At the ISA office, we had a short meeting and talked about classes and they told us that we are having a meeting on Friday after my class to talk about our excursion to El Tigre. My class is the latest one from 12:30pm to 5:30pm Monday through Friday. I am kind of disappointed that my class is not earlier because it gets dark here about 6 and so I will want to head home straight after class. Nothing is open very early around here so it will be hard to do touristy stuff in the morning. Oh well, maybe next session I will be in the advanced class from 10 to 3! I hope so!
Michaela, Diana, and I went out to explore the city after the meeting. We took the Subte (subway) for the first time to Palermo where we found a restaurant to eat lunch. We each had an empanada. Mine had cheese and onion in it. It was very good. We walked back to the subte and rode to the Plaza de Mayo because Michaela had missed the tour from the other day. We walked around there a long time. A man on the street was trying to get people to come shopping at his store. Diana stopped to talk and the man told us that we should go out with him and his friends. He said that he knows some Argentine princes for us American princesses. It was just a bit awkward! We kept walking and stopped at a store and bought some postcards. We wandered back to the subte and rode to the ISA office. I checked email but did not have time to post to my blog. I left at 5:30 to walk home before it gets dark. I greeted Fani and told her about my day. Then I took a shower and started writing this entry. Fani came and told me it was time for dinner. I had the usual soup (I am starting to like it more and more), cucumbers, a fried egg thing, milanesa?? (I don’t know what it was… some sort of meat patty), and flan (which I do not like). She had to go downstairs to receive a delivery. While she was gone, the phone rang. I was not about to answer it, but I tried to tell her when she came back that the phone had rung. She asked who it was and I tried to tell her that I did not answer it. She understood, but they must not have left a message so she tried to call about three different people to see if they had called her. I typed up some emails and this blog to send and post tomorrow when I am online. I talked to my mom for the first time since I have been here. Most of the students were hitting the bars to celebrate a girl´s birthday at 10:30, but that was when I went to bed! I have been super tired since I have been here, but I have been able to get lots of sleep so that is good.

My First Full Day in Buenos Aires

Let me just start by saying that communicating in Spanish is exhausting. I have been up ten hours and I am ready for bed! However, I have a bit of time because we are not eating dinner until 8. I am going to go to bed soon after that or I won't be awake for tomorrow!
Anyway, I got up at 8:15am and I felt more tired than I had the day before! I got ready and spent some time reading my Bible (the English part :) and then Fani gave me breakfast at 9. I think the granola bars and dried fruit I brought are going to have to be part of my morning routine. My breakfast consisted of hot chocolate and tostadas (the cracker-ish things I ate yesterday) with dulce de leche on them. It was not very filling and I am a big breakfast person. I left the apartament at 9:25 and met my friend Diana at 9:30 at an intersection on the way to the university. Unfortunately, we missed the road where we were supposed to turn because there was not a sign and we did not recognize it. I thought we had gone too far, but we weren't sure. We kept walking until we went by a big government building that I know I had never seen before. Then we looked at a map and we had walked way out of our way and were already late! We were supposed to be there at 9:50 and it was 9:55! We used Diana's phone to call Marina, one of the ISA directors. She said that she would call Gustabo, the leader who was taking us on the tour, and tell him we would be late. We turned around and found the road and made it to La Universidad de Belgrano. The bus was waiting out front. We hurried in and sat down, but the bus did not leave for another fifteen minutes because we were waiting for some other people!

Our tour was very quick and confusing. Gustabo does not really speak English and so the entire tour was in Spanish (hard to understand) on a bus (very loud) over a microphone (very crackly). Overall, I did not get much from the tour other than the gist. That is all I seem to be getting everywhere so I suppose I should get used to it! We saw some Catholic churches and even went inside two that were in the middle of mass. It was a weird experience and not one that I particularly liked because the people were in the middle of worship and we came in to stare at the building. We went to the Plaza de Mayo and the Casa Rosada (the Argentine equivalent of the White House). We went to La Boca which is an area of downtown where they have lots of tango places and little stores. We had a half hour there to walk around and see stuff. I took some pictures there. Finally, they dropped us off somewhere and we could go to a restaurant for lunch and then leave. I went to a steakhouse place with five other people. I had a "tortilla de papas" which was kind of like an omelet with eggs and potatoes. It was good. After we sat and talked and got change for three people, we decided to walk to an ice cream place near Trevor's apartment. We walked about twenty minutes and he couldn't find it. He stopped at his building and buzzed his "mama." She told him how to find it. We were only about 50 yards away! We went to the bathroom and got ice cream. We weren't very hungry so we got the small size of cone. They let you have samples. Because I couldn't really understand the flavors on the menu very well, I asked for fruit flavors. I think the man was hitting on me because he gave most people two samples and he gave me seven! I am partial to free samples of ice cream! I finally decided on a scoop of strawberry something and blueberry/raspberry (??). It wasn't really ice cream but more like sorbet. It was really good. We sat outside at two little tables and ate it. There were dogs in sweaters at the next table. I have never seen a city with so many dogs! It is not as cold here as I thought it would be. In the sun, it is very hot (T-shirt weather), but when you are in the shade and the wind is blowing, it is downright chilly (winter coat weather)! Fani is always worried that I am going to be cold.

Our little group broke up after ice cream and everyone headed home except Spencer because he had to go to the store to buy clothes for tomorrow since his suitcase didn't make it. Diana and I walked home together because we live about 4-5 blocks apart. She studied in Chile last year and said it is a lot colder there and that the people speak a lot faster. That made me think of Tammy!! It will be so much fun when she gets here! :) We almost got lost again but we made it back before dark. I had trouble with my key to get in the front door and a man was on the inside watching me. It was a bit embarrassing, but not too bad. Fani welcomed me and asked about my day. I told her what we did. We are going to eat dinner at 8. I am so tired. We spoke in English a lot today but my brain is still on Spanish overload! I feel like I have to concentrate every second and I still can't understand as much as I want to! We have our big placement test tomorrow. We will see where I end up. Profesora Barr thinks I will place into advanced, but we will see. The test is written so I might end up there. However, given how little I am understanding everywhere else, a lower level class might not be too bad! I am so much better at reading and writing Spanish than I am at speaking and understanding it!

A few things about our group... it is really weird because we have not really had any time to get to know each other. Unlike Tammy's group who had the first few days together traveling and sightseeing, our group was taken straight from the airport to our host families. I was still meeting people today. I think we should have played the name game at our meeting yesterday. Because we don't know each other at all, we tend to stick with the same people or those we live near. I hope we have a chance to get to know each other better soon. I am such a people person that it is hard for me because every conversation starts out with, "What's your name? Where are you from?" I like to have deeper conversations than that!

Well, I guess that pretty much covers today. Oh, one more funny (I guess) thing. Today at breakfast, Fani was talking a mile a minute and she was telling me a story about herself (I think). I could not understand much of the story, but I think she said she got run over by a bus (that's not funny, of course). She said she was lying on the ground with people on top of her (I think) and she was screaming and crying (or someone else was) and they took her to the emergency room (I think) and they thought her teeth and bones were broken (or else she did), but they weren't (I think), but instead she just broke her nails? She was all dramatic when she was telling this story and I could not follow her at all! It was actually quite pathetic. I think she likes talking to me, but it is nerve-wracking for me because I am the sole member of the audience and so she stares at me for a response and I feel incapable of making intelligent comments because of my lack of understanding. Maybe it will all start to click soon. (I think that is wishful thinking :)

Estoy en la Argentina!

Well, I made it! I was supposed to leave Indy Friday at 2pm, but my flight was delayed and we didn't leave until 5:25pm! That meant that I got into Dallas at 7pm their time and my flight started boarding at 6:50pm! I had to run through the airport, find the Skylink (the airport shuttle train), and run to my gate. I made it! I got on the plane right as they said to put our seatbelts on! The flight was good and I was able to sleep for over 5 hours. It was a 10 hour and 15 minute flight. I didn't get to meet any of the other people from my program on the flight because I arrived so late. I was supposed to have a 4 hour layover there! Thank goodness for those four hours or I wouldn't have made it!
I got my suitcases and made it through customs and found the ISA people and exchanged money. We waited for other people to arrive and then took a bus to the University. Our moms were waiting for us. Fani is very nice and I cannot understand anything she says! Well, I can catch about three words out of every sentence. I am doing a lot of smiling, nodding, and saying sí. Fani called someone on the phone and she was talking about me and how all I say is "Sí, Sí, Sí." I think I am going to learn a lot or die. It is frustrating because I can almost catch what she is saying, but not quite. For example, she either told me that she uses the same bathroom as me or she doesn't. That was not very useful to know because I would have figured it was one or the other! I brought her apple butter and peach butter from northern Indiana. She liked the apple butter, but she didn't understand what fruit a peach was. I looked up the word and told her "melocotón" but that is not the word they use here and so she didn't understand. I then tried to describe the fruit. I couldn't remember a word for "fuzz" so I used the word for hair which I knew would confuse her and it did. I went and got my jumbo dictionary and found the other word "durazno" that is used here. Then she understood.

Fani and I took a taxi from the university to our apartment. We live on the third floor which is equivalent to the fourth floor in the US, just like in India and Hong Kong. I have my own bedroom which is nice and has a hardwood floor. I have a bed, a nightstand, a closet, a desk with an ancient TV on it, and a small white shelf. My room has a balcony, too. Fani gave me some hot chocolate after a confusing conversation about coffee dislikes. She also gave me some cracker things with dulce de leche which is like caramel and quite delicious, or "muy rico" as they say here. I unpacked all my stuff and arranged my books on a wall shelf. I took a shower which was interesting because I couldn't understand Fani's directions about using the shower. I survived and managed to get hot water, too! I unpacked more while Fani rested and then she fed me some food that was made of bread on the outside and cheese on the inside. Then we left to go to the ISA (International Studies Abroad) office. It is supposed to take 20 minutes walking to get there from my abode, but we left at 2:15 to get there at 3 because Fani said she is a slow walker. We ambled down La Pampa which is my street and then turned right on the main road of Cabildo. Fani warned me about crazy drivers, but they are nothing here compared to India or Beijing.

When we got to the office, one of the directors hooked me up to a computer and I checked my email and started posting this blog. Then we had a group meeting. There are about 30 of us. It is weird because we have not really had a chance to meet or do anything together other than sit in a meeting. The man (whose name I cannot spell right now) spoke in English for the orientation which was good because my mind is so tired. He told us a lot of safety info and other stuff that we have heard or read before. After the meeting, I walked to the University of Belgrano with four other girls to see where it is compared to the ISA office. After that, we walked down Cabildo because four of the five girls live on a road off of it. We walked further than La Pampa, but two girls backtracked with me. They turned off on their road and I found mine without any trouble.

I got into my apartment building without any problems and made my way to the tercer piso (3rd floor) and unlocked the door. When you unlock the apt door with a key, you have to lock it with a key from the inside. I said hello, well actually hola, to Fani and she asked me how it went. I told her about it and what I did. I am meeting Diana, a girl from my program, tomorrow at 9:30am to walk to the University together because we have to meet at 9:50am to leave on a tour. I am sad that I am not going to get to go to church this weekend! I really want to find a church here!!! Fani asked me when I wanted to eat dinner and I didn't care so she went ahead and fed me. She served me soup with something I couldn't understand and rolls. I thought that was all I was having, but then she served me chicken and vegetable ravioli with cheese inside. I was so full by this time because I wasn't really very hungry to begin with! However, she brought out chocolate mousse next and I ate it all up! It was very good! Fani talks to me the whole time I eat and she says a lot really fast. I can understand her if she keeps her language simple, but she gives me too many options and jumps around between stories. Luckily, she does not seem to expect too much of a response. I just smile when I think she is saying something happy and look sad when I think she is talking about something sad or bad. I laugh when she laughs and say "Uh huh" and "Hmm" a lot. I am learning a lot of the same coping skills that English Language Learners use to get by. If Fani asked me a question about what she had been saying, I would have no clue how to answer her. I can usually get the gist of the topic but I cannot understand any of the details. Unless it is something really important, I just let it slip by. After dinner, Fani sent me out of the kitchen and I journaled for a bit. Now I am going to bed because I am quite tired. It is hard for me to believe that 24 hours ago, I had barely left Dallas!

Back Home Again in Indiana (at least for a little while!)

Hello Everybody!
I wanted to let you know that I made it safely back home from Alaska on Thursday. I have been unpacking and now I am repacking, as well as finishing up my online class. I head out for Argentina on Friday and I will be posting to this same blog while I am there, so be sure to come back and read my updates about Argentina!

Back Home Again in Indiana (at least for a little while!)

Hello Everybody!

I just wanted to let you all know that I made it safely back home from Alaska on Thursday. I have been unpacking and now I am working on repacking, as well as finishing my online class. I leave again on Friday for Argentina and I will be posting updates to this same blog, so come back again!

Sea Lions!

Here are the sea lions! This was the first day that I ever saw sea lions in the wild. They were really loud when we started getting close to them. They were also kind of upset. One jumped off the dock and came toward us. They were all barking. I have a video that I can show you when I return, if you wish!

There were about 20 sea lions sitting on this dock. There was also a sea lion in a cage at the end of the dock. Our host dad said that it is for research purposes.

Ship Cannery

Here is a picture of a cannery that is built out of a ship. The real cannery burned down during fishing season and so they pulled this boat ashore and used it to can the fish. Now they have built on to the ship and they use it as a permanent cannery.

Touch Tank

Here is Aaron trying to sample the seafood from the touch tank!

Here are some pretty starfish that I held in the touch tank. The water was freezing cold because it is pumped straight from the ocean so our hands got very cold. It was a really neat experience to hold these creatures. I took a group of third graders to the touch tank yesterday. We had to walk over a mile to get there because it is on Near Island. I walked with a chubby boy who was very slow and had a hard time getting there. We eventually made it though! On our way back across the bridge, we saw four sea lions eating fish that had fallen from a fishing boat.

My Favorite Sign

This is a picture of my favorite sign in Kodiak. We saw many of them as we drove through the mountains. The best time was when we saw one 180 degree turn-around sign right after another! The road must have made an S-shape.

Campfire

However, the wood was wet, the ground was wet, and the air was wet so we did not have much success with a fire. The boys made a valiant attempt, but to no avail. The fire you see in this picture is the result of lighter fluid, not an actual fire. The choice was either cold hot dogs or ones that were slightly warm and tasted like lighter fluid. We ate the marshmallows raw.

White Sands Beach

After our long day on Saturday, we drove out to the end of the road the other way with hot dogs, buns, and marshmallows with the intent of having a cookout. It was very wet and misty.

Funny Sign

Okay, check out this hilarious sign! On the Coast Guard base, the runway intersects a road and so they have this sign to warn drivers. When I took this picture, we were hoping to see a plane, but didn't. However, we went back to the base for a tour on Sunday and the lights above the stop signs were flashing and we saw a plane taxiing down the runway and across our intersection! It was quite a sight!

Chiniak Post Office

Here is a picture of the adorable Chiniak Post Office. It is out in the middle of nowhere and is only open three days a week for 2 hours each time!

Chiniak School

Here is a picture of Chiniak School. It has two classrooms, a kitchen, bathrooms, and a small gym. I was surprised by how much technology the school has. They have a Smartboard and a computer for almost every student plus a library with more than 3,000 books!

Rock Climbing

Here is a picture of me climbing the rock wall at the Baptist Mission.

1995 National Teacher of the Year

Here is a picture of Elaine Griffin and me. Elaine was the 1995 National Teacher of the Year. She teaches in the one-teacher Chiniak School. She was a very sweet lady who loves to teach. Everyone has been teasing me that she reminds them of me.

World War II Bunker

Here is one of the World War II bunkers that we saw on Saturday.

Deer

I took a picture of a deer since we don't have any of these in Indiana!

Village School

Here is a picture of me standing by the sign for the Chiniak School. Chiniak is at the end of the road on Kodiak Island and they have a tiny village school here. One teacher teaches all the students K-10th grade! This year, they have 10 students. Wouldn't that be a fun teaching job?

Cows

Here are some cows we saw by the side of the road as we drove to the end of the road on Saturday.

Big Weekend

Our weekend was very busy with no access to the internet until now. On Friday, we went out to eat with a woman from the Baptist Mission who told us about a volunteer opportunity for summer camp counselors in Kodiak if any of you are interested. After that, we went out to Fort Abercrombie and saw some bunkers from WWII and a pretty view. Saturday, we got up and met Heather (the Baptist mission woman) at a coffee shop and then went to the mission to rock climb. I made it to the top of both the easy and hard parts of the wall. We were going to go kayaking with her, but it was too cold and rainy. Next, we stopped by a sandwich shop and got some sandwiches for the road. We drove out to the "end of the road" with the secretary from Main Elementary. We had to trade our rental car for her mother's because the roads are so bad. They have these broken places in the road called "frost heaves" where the road freezes and buckles and then cracks and breaks. They are like potholes on steroids. We saw a one-teacher school out at Chiniak and met the 1995 National Teacher of the Year. The school is from K-10 and one teacher teaches all 10 students. After that, we drove out to some WWII bunkers on this end of the island. We got to go inside and walk around. Then, we drove to the Coast Guard base and went to the commissary and bought hot dogs, buns, and marshmallows. We drove to the other end of the road to White Sands beach and the boys tried to build a fire, but it was raining and the wood and everything else was wet so it never really got started. I walked around and found a bunch of big shells. We ate hot dogs either raw or warm with the taste of lighter fluid and then we left for home. Sunday, we slept in and went to church at 11am. After church, we took Joyce out for a Mother's Day lunch at a chowder house. We saw a big sea lion swimming around because the restaurant was right on the water. I took a video. Then, we had a tour of the Coast Guard base from the husband of one of the teachers at Main. Her husband is a Rescue Swimmer. We got to see the helicopters and even sit inside of one. A lot of the people he knows were in the movie The Guardian. We then went back and changed clothes and Katie, Tyler, and I went hunting for beach glass. We found a lot and it is really pretty. It was rainy all day. We went over to the principal's house for dinner and had King Salmon, Halibut, and King Crab for dinner and lots of ice cream for dessert. We came back to the Nussbaums' and had Salmonberry pie. It was a very busy, but fun weekend. I will try to get pictures up soon!

Amazing Animals!

Yesterday was an amazing day for us because of all the creatures that we got to see, hear, and even touch. After school, we went to the fishing research center to visit a touch tank. The touch tank is basically a tank filled with ocean water (very cold) and animals that would be found in a tidepool. I got to hold starfish, sea cucumbers, and other cool critters. I will post some pictures later. I touched a sea anemone and felt its sticky tenticles. We also saw some big fish and an octopus. Later that night, our host dad took us (just the girls staying with him) for a boat ride. It was 37 degrees outside and we froze. We all wore our pretty rainboats. We saw about 20 sea lions sitting on a dock. We got kind of close and they started barking at us and a few even jumped in the water at us. They weren't too happy. I took a few pictures and a cool video of them. We also saw tons of Bald Eagles. They are everywhere here... sitting on lightpoles and flying through the air. Out in a kelp forest, we saw three sea otters. It was awesome to see all these animals that we do not get to see in Indiana. I will post pictures as soon as I can so check back soon!

Our Bedroom

Here is where Katie and I are sleeping. I sleep on the mattress next to the wall. We also have part of an attic up there with a real dead bearskin in there and a reading nook with a bunch of children's books. Unfortunately, we do not have any extra time to spend in there, but it is a cool place to stay.

Spiral Driftwood Staircase

This is the staircase that leads to the loft where Katie and I sleep. If we don't fall down and kill ourselves before we leave, it will be a miracle! It is a very cool place to sleep. Our family collected all the driftwood themselves before building this awesome creation.

First Day of School

I set up my camera on timer so we could get a picture of the three of us girls before we left for school on Tuesday morning.

Mountains

The best part of Kodiak so far is the beautiful mountains! I have taken about a million pictures because the mountains are just so pretty. The mountain that is the emblem of Paramount Pictures is found in Kodiak.

Plane to Kodiak

Here is the picture of the plane we took to Kodiak Island. It was a really nice plane and it was a pretty empty flight so we were able to spread out. I sat next to the window and took lots of pictures.

Kodiak Bear

Here is a Kodiak bear in the Anchorage airport. (He isn't alive anymore... )

Puffin Inn

Here is a picture of the tile in our shower in the Puffin Inn. I would not have even noticed it, but Katie told me to go check out the shower. In my sleep-deprived state, I stumbled into the bathroom and stood staring at the floor of the shower, not seeing the puffins. I could not figure out what was so special about the shower, then I saw the puffins. I would have liked Anchorage better if we could have spent more time in bed. I only slept from 12:04am until 4am! It was not enough. We made it to the airport at 4:30 to catch our flight at 6am.

Snowman Cloud

Here is a cloud that looks like a snowman. We saw him between Indy and Dallas.

Flight to Dallas

Here is a woman named Roxanne that I met on the flight to Dallas. We talked the entire time. She lives in Seattle and works at a plasma center. It was really neat to get to know her. She is a funny person. We looked at the clouds together and I took many pictures of the clouds. We had a lot of fun together!

Our Group

Here is a picture of our group at the Indianapolis airport before we left. The people from left to right are Caley, Joyce (our leader), Aaron, Katie, Richard, and me.

Main Elementary

The plan for our trip is that we are in the classrooms during the day and then we have class with the principal after school. We each have two different classrooms that we work in. I have a second grade class and a third grade class. I am switching off mornings and afternoons. The children in my classes are adorable. Most of them are Filipino. We are not allowed to take pictures of the children due to confidentiality concerns, but let me assure you that they are precious! Most of the classes only have 1-3 Caucasian children in them. One of the white boys in my third grade class is from Russia and he loves to talk! We also are going to help with the after-school program today and next Tuesday. The after-school program targets students who did not pass the state assessment or just barely passed. The students get help with homework and get to do all kinds of cool educational activities like going to museums and riding horses.

Traveling to Kodiak

Hello, Everyone!
As most of you know, I left for Kodiak Island, Alaska, on Monday, May 7, 2007. We were supposed to leave at 2pm and were delayed until 2:40pm in Indy. We got into Dallas/Fort Worth later than we should have and hurried to our gate. However, upon arriving at Gate C16, we found--to our dismay--that our flight to Anchorage was delayed for 2 hours. I looked at our itinerary and realized that this would make us miss our connecting flight to Kodiak Island. Our leader, Joyce, went up and talked to the airline people and they said that since we were delayed due to mechanical difficulties, the airline would pay for us to stay in a hotel in Anchorage and we would fly to Kodiak the next morning. That sounds nice except for the fact that we arrived in Anchorage at 10:45pm (or 2:45am on Indiana time) and had to be back at the airport at 4:30am to catch the flight! We called the hotel and they came and picked us up and took us to the hotel. We stayed at The Puffin Inn. We got to our room at 11:53pm and I was in bed at 12:04am! I did not even open my suitcase at the hotel! The same man was still driving the shuttle (sad sign of our sleep deprivation)! We had some trouble with the new tickets, but 15 minutes before the flight was boarding, we received our new tickets. We tried to hurry through security and all of us were "randomly selected" to participate in a special security screening (which means they had to search us and all of our carry-on luggage). We rushed to our gate and went right out to our plane. The flight to Kodiak was amazingly beautiful. I took lots of pictures which I will try to post later. (I am writing this from a school computer right now.) The plane descended almost into the water before landing on the runway that literally starts at the water's edge. Needless to say... we are all exhausted!!!!