Buenos Aires, Week Nine

Last week was incredibly cold here. For a couple of days, it couldn't have been more than 35 degrees and it rained the entire time. I didn't wind up doing that much outside of the office on those days, but I did get to catch up on some much-needed rest. It hasn't rained lately, but it has still been freezing outside. The summer sun is definitely one of the things I'm looking forward to most about going home. Other than that, I'm not ready to leave. The time has really flown by, and I can't believe that I've got just over two weeks of work left. With that said, I'm really pleased with the way my trip has gone thus far. I've learned a lot at work and I'm having a great time with all of my new friends.

My workload has picked up considerably since the middle of last week. I've begun work on another application for funding from INADI (el instituto nacional conttra la discriminacion, el xenofobia, y el racismo). This application is entirely in Spanish, so it has been more of a challenge. I've also been contacting scores of other organizations and embassies (the Japanese Embassy, the British Embassy, a Spanish organization called MAPFRE, and the Italian Embassy, to name a few)and researching new potential supporters as always. It definitely feels good to be working hard and accomplishing a lot.

Outside of work, I haven't been too terribly busy. I've finally started to buy souvenirs for myself and my family, so that has kept me occupied. I'm not sure if I'm going to be traveling outside of Buenos Aires anymore because I've got such a short amount of time left to spend in the city, but I still hope to continue exploring the great expanse that is Buenos Aires. The city has really grown on me over the past few weeks, and I'm starting to see exactly why everyone here loves it so much. A lot of my friends have left recently, and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to deal with it in two and a half weeks. I'm excited to get back to the States and to start school again, but I feel like I'm going to miss this place for a long while after I come home...

In other news, I got the internship with GIEU that I had applied for a couple of weeks ago. My interview (via a poor Skype connection with no video) must have gone well, and I signed a contract for the job yesterday. My job will basically be to help GIEU in their recruitment process until applications for the program are due in November. I'm excited about the opportunity, and I think it will be a good experience for me as far as work goes.

Buenos Aires, Week Eight

My eighth week in Buenos Aires... Where has the summer (or winter, rather) gone? Time has definitely been flying by, and I can't believe that I've got just a little under a month left until I return to the States. There is so much that I still want to do, but I don't think I'm going to have enough time to do it all. I guess that means I can always come back!

At any rate, my work week was cut short again last week because I traveled to the wine region of Mendoza on Thursday evening. Monday through Thursday were fairly relaxed, and the office was less crowded because of a new work schedule (used to prevent the spread of the Swine Flu, of course). By the end of last week, I completed my "Cooperation Plan", a huge collection of information about various organizations and networks and the funds that they offer to NGOs. I believe that my boss and I will finally be taking on some new applications in the final weeks of my internship, and the prospect of doing something other than research is exciting. In all, I feel very comfortable in my office, and it's such a shame that I'm going to have to leave just when I am beginning to find my niche. I guess I'll have to make the most out of these last four weeks.

My weekend was great (outside of having to take two fifteen hour bus rides in two days). We left Buenos Aires for Mendoza on Thursday evening from the Retiro Bus Station (which is definitely not the ideal place for a bunch of tourists to hang out) and arrived Friday morning. After checking into our hostel, which was only $10 U.S. a night, we rented bikes and rode around the wine country all day (stopping to tour two wineries--La Bodega Rural y la Bodega de la familia Tomasso--and a chocolate factory on the way). Talk about a great day. That night, the guy at our hostel cooked a huge asado (Argentine barbecue) for all of us. After having more than my fair share of everything beef--lomo, chorizo, stomach, and even intestines--I hit the sack. On Saturday, we took a day-long trip to the Andes, and it was breathtaking. We saw Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas, hiked around the snowy peaks of the cordilleras, sledded to the best of our abilities, and visited a historical site of the Inca civilization. Before returning home on Sunday, we strolled through the city of Mendoza a little bit and spent the afternoon in their largest park.

I had to go to work almost immediately after we returned on Monday morning, so I was thoroughly exhausted to say the least. I've been able to catch up on sleep, so the week has gone fairly well so far. It feels great to be back in Buenos Aires after a long weekend of traveling! As for the rest of the week, I am going to continue my Spanish classes and try to fit in a few touristy activities here and there. I've also got a Skype interview for an internship with GIEU, a Michigan program that I participated in as a freshman, tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully that goes well. Until next time...

Buenos Aires, Week Seven

Last week was a short work week because Thursday the ninth was Argentina's Independence Day. Many businesses, including my office, also closed on Friday. The Swine Flu outbreak was the official reason that everything was shut down, but I really think that most people used it as an excuse to go to the Mar de la Plata for a nice long weekend (just my opinion).

My shortened work week went pretty well, but I didn't have a huge amount of work to do. I spent most of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday researching various funding opportunities. My work has mostly consisted of this kind of research since I submitted our last funding proposal, and I'm kind of getting tired of it. I briefly met with my boss this Tuesday to discuss the pros and cons of each of the opportunities. Hopefully we will be able to work together more frequently in the coming days to start narrowing down our options. As of now, it looks like we might be applying for aid from several of the following organizations: The Finnish, New Zealand, Italian, and Canadian embassies and the Soros Foundation. I enjoyed formatting and translating the applications which I dealt with in previous weeks, so I hope to be doing more of that next week.

I also began to take additional Spanish lessons last week at a hostel in the middle of town. So far, I have found them very helpful (and affordable). The lessons are one on one, and I get to do a lot of talking. My teacher usually chooses an interesting historical topic or current event and lets me give her my opinion on what happened/is happening. I really don't get many good opportunities to have more in-depth conversations with my coworkers, so I really appreciate the opportunity to speak with someone else for a solid two hours in Spanish. In all, I can notice that my Spanish is improving, but I know that I've still got a ways to go as far as speaking goes.

After taking it easy in Buenos Aires on Thursday and Friday, I went to Uruguay for the weekend with a bunch of people from my residence. First, we went to Colonia--a picturesque little town about an hour away from Buenos Aires--by boat. After spending the day strolling around the town, we took a two hour bus ride to the capital, Montevideo. We mostly did sightseeing during our short trip, but I really enjoyed the place. Colonia was a great change of pace, and Montevideo reminded me of a smaller, quieter Buenos Aires. This weekend, I've got plans to travel to the wine region of Mendoza with a few friends. I had to take a day off of work because the bus ride is between 13-15 hours, but I've heard that it's really worth it. We'll see!

Buenos Aires, Weeks Five and Six

I've been really busy over the past two weeks, so I haven't gotten the chance to sit down and write in a while. Everything has been going well at work, though, and I'm really starting to feel like Buenos Aires is home. This Sunday marks the halfway point of my trip, and it has dawned on me that time is flying by and I still have so much that I want to accomplish, do, and see. A couple of people from my residence moved out this weekend, and having to say goodbye to them was tough. I guess it shows just how close I've gotten with everyone who I've made friends with. With that said, I want to make the second half of my trip even better than the first six weeks.

I've had plenty to do at work to keep me busy over the last two weeks. Last Tuesday, we submitted the first application for funding that I had been working on (the IADB World of Solutions application that I mentioned in my last post). Everyone in the office seemed very proud of the work we had done to get it turned in, and I felt a real sense of accomplishment when I submitted the final copy to my supervisor. Since turning in the application, I've done a lot of research on potential funding options for my company. Among the organizations I've read about or contacted via e-mail to find out more about their funding programs are the Italian, German, New Zealand, Canadian, and Finnish embassies, the Soros Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and many more. I've found it pretty interesting to read about all of these organizations and their programs, and I think I've been able to learn a good amount about NGOs aside from the ways they try to find funding. In the coming week, I am going to be having several meetings with my supervisor to decide which grants are the most logical to apply for. I'm looking forward to interacting with my supervisor a little bit more, as I have been doing mostly individual computer work since we turned in the last application.

Outside of work, a lot has been going on in Buenos Aires. A week or so ago, midterm elections were held for about a third of the seats in the National Congress and Senate (Buenos Aires was the main province that went to the polls). These elections were particularly important for the country because they basically served as a referendum for the nation's Peronist President, Christina Fernandez de Kirchner. Kirchner's husband (and the former president of the nation), Nestor, actually lost his bid for a congressional seat by a wide margin. The rest of the Kirchners' party did not fair well, and the results will likely severely hurt the President's chances of governing the way she would like to and winning reelection. Something I didn't initially know about the elections was that voting in Argentina is compulsory. Essentially everything was shut down the night before elections and even the sale of alcohol was suspended from the night before polls opened until the night after they closed.

Speaking of closing things down, a swine flu scare has forced the closure of many schools as well as some shops, businesses, and other venues. The province of Buenos Aires officially declared the H1N1 outbreak a national emergency, and it seems to me as if the entire city has gone into panic mode. People in the streets donning masks appear in greater numbers every day; hand sanitizer dispensers and vendors are popping up all over the place; the subte (subway) is no longer packed wall to wall with businessmen, tourists, and families; nearly every discussion at work has something to do with the "gripe". Thankfully, I have felt totally fine since recovering from the cold I had been dealing with a week or two ago. My office has not been affected and I haven't had to take time off of work, but more and more cases are reported every day. Hopefully flu season won't be just like this during the winter in the United States...

I haven't done as many cultural activities over the past few weeks as I did when I first got here, but I think it's just because I've really begun to settle into a working routine. I have been to a couple of street markets, fairs, and local restaurants, but I think I'm beginning to feel much less like a tourist and more like your typical expatriate. There are still several places that I would like to go, however: a real tango show, the Recoleta street fair, the Japanese Gardens (they're supposed to be very nice, believe it or not), etc. I did actually do some exploring and I found a cheaper Spanish school to take additional lessons over the next few weeks. I really want to focus on improving my speaking skills (I get to read and hear a lot of Spanish at work, but there really isn't too much verbal communication that goes on in the office for extended periods of time). Other than that, I've just been getting to know my housemates more (we had a great Fourth of July last night) and making some travel plans (we're heading to Uruguay next weekend and the wine region of Mendoza after that. This week is Argentina's National Independence Day (July 9), and there should be plenty of reason to celebrate the short work week. I can't believe my trip is already halfway over!!