PROMOCIÓN DIRECTA Y HELADO!

(Direct Promotion and Ice Cream!)

Today was perhaps my busiest day this semester.  This morning I went to the eye doctor. Everything was good. After that, I started to seriously study for my History test. I drilled the questions into my cerebellum as much as I could, but I also had to work on a group presentation.  I went to UBP early today to work on it and to study with some classmates.

Finally, it was time.

When it comes to presentations, I like to go first because once my presentation is out of the way, I can enjoy the rest. But today, our group had to go 3rd.  I had angst. However, we did a pretty good job. From there I had to go directly to take the History test. Moment of truth...

It was really easy! Why was I so worried??? I finished in about 7 minutes, and when the professor gave me the answer key, I found out that I did not miss a single question!!!! I GOT A 10!!! With my two test scores being 10 and my 95% attendance, I officially have Direct Promotion for History and therefore am exempt of the final.

Franklin came out a little later.  He got a 9. Pretty good Franklin!  We waited for Elsa and when she came out she got a 9 too! We were all pretty happy. So Elsa asked if we wanted to go get ice cream at Caseratto. Sure!!!  When we arrived, Mimi, Beatriz and Catherine were there. We said hello and ordered our ice cream. It was delicious!!! A very good way to end this busy day. Now I want to relax. But...

I have a Literature exam tomorrow...

INTERNATIONAL FAIR AND MERIENDA WITH CARO!!!!!!!

It's the International Fair!!! I've been looking forward to this day for months! Today I went to UBP early to add some finishing touches to my stand. I wore my Samford polo and HCAS nametag to look official.  I think I looked pretty good! When I arrived I finished my stand and the fair began. UBP Students and people from Córdoba came for information on studying/researching/working abroad. Since I was representing a university, mainly students came by my stand.  I told them about Samford's location, it's schools, our exchange program, the culture, and I would answer their questions too.  I also made a sheet for them to leave their contact information if they wanted more information (I learned that from many a Preview Day with Dr. Ledgerwood!). I enjoyed myself.  As an Ambassador, I really enjoy talking about my school, and the whole fair was really fun.  When I wasn't busy at my stand, I went to visit my friends in "other countries." I visited Japan, where Yui and Kanna were making origami at their Kansai Gaidai University stand;  I visited Elsa, Hiem, Lulu, Audrey and Valentin in France...they had cake! I visited Paola and Edgar in Mexico, and Yassi in Austria.  The Quebec group had delicious food from Quebec at their stand.  Everybody was representing where they were from.

As the fair continued, there were other things happening.  Popcorn for sale. Talks about study abroad and postgrad research, Traditional Mexican Dance. We had fun. Then it was lunchtime.  All of us participating in the fair got a free lunch (Thanks CRI!). After lunch, we went back to our stands.  In the afternoon, things slowed down a lot, and everyone wanted to take a nap.  However, I quickly woke up when I saw Carolina show up in her Samford shirt!  She came to check out the stands for post graduate opportunities and to help me out a little bit too. 

 To finish the fair, the Canadians played music and sang for us.  Very chill. Very relaxing. There were also raffle competitions, but I never win. At the end, there was traditional Japanese dancing.

After the fair, Caro and I went to complete our new tradition: every time we see each other, we have to have a merienda together! So we went to Caseratto and had coffee with cake. We also began to plan a weekend for me to go to her hometown of Villa María to visit. I can't wait!

PARCIAL DE HISTORIA! AHÍ VENGO PROMOCIÓN DIRECTA!!!

(HISTORY MIDTERM! DIRECT PROMOTION HERE I COME!)

Today was the history midterm.  Elsa and I had studied for it so I felt prepared.  When I took the test, I was relieved that it was multiple choice and matching.  I love multiple choice and matching!  I was unsure about only one question, so I tried my best.  When I finished, I turned it in and professor Martinez gave me the answers so that I could figure out my score. I only missed that one question. Meaning... I got a 10!!!!! Great! If I keep this up, I'll have the direct promotion, thus exempting me from the final exam and letting me out of class 2 weeks early! I was pretty excited.

Shopping again with French people! What a crazy day!

Today again, I decided to meet up with Elsa at the the Dinosaur mall. Today she was going to buy a cellphone and a present for Audrey, since it's her birthday today. Hiem came too. What would a French girl like Audrey want? They decided a scarf was a good idea. Elsa told us that there were scarves in the store she bought her flip flops in, and Hiem said she wanted some flip flops too. So we went. When we walked into the department store, Elsa was going directly for the scarves, but Hiem stopped immediately to look at a blouse. And a shirt. And some pants. Dépêche-toi Hiem! (Hurry up!) ;)

We arrived at the flip flop section.  Hiem didn't like them. Moving on. We found the scarves, and they started looking for one that was Audrey's style.  They found some good ones, but not at a good price. So we looked in other places, and they finally found one!

 

They were planning to go eat sushi with the birthday girl.  They invited me, but I was already booked. So we parted ways.  I went home, ate a quick lunch and went to UBP.  I was going to meet a professor from the architecture program. She had asked around if there was anyone willing to give English classes and my name popped up. So we chatted and organized for our classes that will start next week.  I also saw Carolina! She was on campus today because there was an HR event today. We started catching up, but when I saw my classmates walking by, they reminded me that I had class. Caro and I decided to meet up later and have merienda (afternoon snack).

After class, I was hanging out with my friends, when a bunch of journalists came to take pictures and interview Keisuke.  I have no idea why, but they were doing a story on him! It was so funny watching them take him aside, put him in poses and take pictures! What a crazy day! but it's not over yet...

Keisuke (his back is turned) "studying" for the journalists.

Test Prep and French Power!

Today in History we played a review game because we have a test next week. On Monday, the professor gave us a study guide and told us to look over it for the game. Today, we made groups and competed in a quiz show type of game.  The professor read us the question, and we had to raise our hand first to answer and gain a point. However, if we had the wrong answer, we would lose a point!

Elsa, Keisuke and I were a team.  We called ourselves the Napoleons (Elsa's idea!). We started out rough, but soon enough we were on a roll!  Elsa knew a lot of the questions and she got us in the lead! We had our usual class break and when we started up again, the professor said we couldn't use our notes anymore, but that there was no more wrong answer penalty. As we played on, I helped keep us in the lead.  The Napoleons won and we got a box of chocolates.  We split it among ourselves and class was over.

Professor Martinez is a really good teacher. I hate history, but he makes it interesting.  He's engaging and personal, objective and sincere. And he didn't leave the other teams just watching us get chocolate.  He bought smaller goody bags as "consolation prizes"so that everyone had chocolate. He's really good.

Tango Lesson Number One

Today was a good day at school.  I studied with Elsa (direct promotion, here I come!) and then I took an easy "quiz" in Lit. In culture we had a good conversation about the geography of Argentina. and then I went home.  Here's the good part.

I got ready and went with Sofia to a Tango lesson.  There's a place that gives free lessons! So I went, and I loved it! I met some of Sofia's friends, and I made some new ones of my own.  Since I'm such a novice, I went off to the side of beginners and we learned the basic step.  It was similar to what I learned in Buenos Aires, but different. Ẃe practiced and practiced and practiced the basic step.  I was the only beginning guy, so I danced with most of the beginning girls.  I was finally starting to get the hang of it when it was time to go! So I'm going to practice with Sofia and go back next week. It was so fun!

It's incredibly late, but now I'm finally caught up. Happy reading :)

Culture Post 3: The Police of Córdoba

Today we had an interesting class. We always have to bring current events to class. One of them was about the police. That started a whole class conversation about the police. The police aren't so good here. Remember when I got lost and the police didn't help me? I said I had an appreciation for the police back home? Well, now I really appreciate them!

The police chief is currently being investigated for dealing drugs. The police don't really prioritize the safety of the civilians, and they work with an unbelievable racial profiling system. If one looks non-European (indigenous, mixed, etc) or if one wears baggy pants or a cap, he or she runs the risk of being arrested.  There's an incredible distrust of the police here. 

And that distrust was strengthened last December.  Apparently, the police wanted a 100% raise, so they went on strike (they are not legally allowed to, but they did anyway). With no police, chaos abounded. There were looters, people setting fires in the streets, uninhibited violence and crime for the two days of strike. The governor was in Panama at the time, but came back to try and stop this, he sent a Tweet on Twitter requesting help from the Federal Police, but who checks Twitter at 4 am? Over in Buenos Aires, the authorities saw what was happening on the news, but they cannot legally send the Federal Police unless asked to, and they would call to ask if Córdoba needed reinforcements, but the vice governor said chief of police said no. The police finally returned when the governor, who had initially refused the 100% raise, gave them a 300% raise. Later it was found out that the police had organized the looting and crime behind the scenes to make their point. 

I'm sure that the Police in the US have problems, and that when I return, I'll notice them.  However, I was shocked to learn how distrusted and unpopular the police are here. 

Direct Promotion! Here I come!!!

Today in class, I got my first grade back. I got a 10! (remember, grades are on a scale of 1-10 here) I'm so happy! I've got to keep up the good work.

International Fair Planning Meeting

Today I went to school early because there was a meeting that I had to go to.  In early October, there will be an international fair at UBP.  Each of the universities that have a bond with UBP will have the chance to be represented as students and people from the community come learn about the study abroad options they have. So today's meeting was about that. But only 5 people came! So we went through the meeting quickly and the CRI decided to have another meeting tomorrow! Alright.

The rest of the day was normal.

Breath Marcos, Breath

Uuug this week is going to be busy. Tomorrow I have to go to finish the process for getting my student visa, Wednesday I have another appointment, Thursday I have a Skype appointment, Friday there's a volleyball match. All of that plus class and homework... whew!

I have to breath and relax. Haha a month ago today I was running around the airport teeming myself to breath and relax! (More nostalgia tomorrow) 

That's it for now. Gotta get some homework done.

Special classes about different cultures

Today was a good day. An interesting day. I had to to go class early today because the daily schedule was modified for some special classes today.  As a student in Argentine Popular Culture, I was required to go to these classes, but they weren't bad.  The first one was an Andean Instrument class.  The instructor had a table full of instruments from the people of the Andes. He explained to us a little about each- what they were used for and how to play them, and he even let us play some of them! Some instruments were used to communicate with others.  Some are used in ceremonies and when they are played together, they represent the unity of man and woman. He told us that most of these instruments were often played while standing in a circle, also representing unity. I love Andean music, so I enjoyed this class.

Then we had a short recess, and came back for a class on Pueblos Originarios (Original People, the indigenous people of Latin America.) The speaker was a member of the Ticas community from the native tribe of the Comechingones. She told us a bit about her people, some of their customs and about a ceremony that was going to take place on Saturday.  The Ticas are very connected with nature.  On the longest night of the year, they have a festival where they say goodbye to the sun, ask it to return, wait all night and celebrate when the sun rises again.  Their chief is called a najuán, which in their language means a servant leader. The flag of the Pueblos Originarios is a square flag, made up of tiny squares of many colors.  From tribe to tribe, the color pattern changes, but the flag is the same.  The ceremony this Saturday is called Pachamama, and they thank Mother Earth for providing for them and sustaining them. 

After this talk, we took a picture and that class was over too. 

At that point, many students were finished.  But since I'm also in Argentine Literature class, I had one more class to go to.  But it was not bad at all. We watched one of my favorite movies- La Historia Oficial.  It's so sad! I might talk about it in a later post. After this class, I was finished too. It was a good day. I learned a lot.

Back to Normal

As mentioned before, I took a taxi with Weston and Lucile. Once I got home, I went to sleep for all of two hours.  I had slept on the bus, so I was fine. I spent that time uploading pictures and writing this blog. O and homework.  I did my homework. Soon it was time to eat lunch. Hamburgers. So much for being a vegetarian!!!

After lunch, I went to UBP. Classes were good. We conversed and got into groups to play a game that builds vocabulary. Then in History of Latin American Civ we finished unit 3, about the revolutions and independence of many Latin American countries. I like this class. It's crazy because I usually don't like history, but I like this class.

O yeah, between classes, I was brushing up on my Japanese and trying to speak to the Japanese transfer students.  We all laughed because I am terrible at Japanese! But I learned a couple of things. Elsa, Tatsuki and I went to the bus stop and we all went home afterwards. I did homework, ate dinner, voilá. Pretty simple day, but good.

Chance meeting!

It's the end of the school week for me, since I don't have class on Fridays. Yes! ! ! Well before lit class, I was talking to Tatsuki and Weston outside and as I look out towards the outdoor eating area, who do I see waving at me? It's Caro! ! ! We started towards each other and met half way to greet each other. She introduced me to her grandfather, who was eating with her, and he took a picture of us. It was about time for class, so I said goodbye and went about the rest of my day. But the day's not finished yet...

Another day

Today was another good school day. The classes kind of flew by, and although I generally don't like history, I'm really enjoying the History of Latinamerican Civilization class I'm taking. The professor is easy to listen to and his classes are interesting.

Today I was invited to eat out with everyone, but I said no thanks because I had a lot to do at home:

-I need to watch my money. It might be a while until I get anymore sent to me.
-I needed to do my homework. Direct promotion here I come!z
-I needed to start packing. Tomorrow I'm going to Buenos Aires
-I needed to video chat with all my friends in the US for church

So after I did these things, It started getting late. So I'm going to go to sleep soon. Starting tomorrow, the posts should get pretty interesting. But for now, good night.

School life

Today we had to go back to school.  In any country, it's hard to do after a long weekend! But it was a good day. In Argentine literature, we read stories that were banned during the military dictatorship, and we analyzed and discussed why they were banned.  In Popular Argentine Culture, we talked about current events and once again, the important links between language and culture. Afterwards, I came home, and worked on homework for tomorrow. (aiming for that direct promotion, remember?).  As I imagined, school days will be a little uneventful, but I'll keep you posted. Chau for now.

A different perspective

Thursday, August 14

Today, a classmate came it late with a bit of a bruise under her eye.  She was robbed on her way to the university my a motochorro (motorcycle theif).  It was sad news, but she was happy to be ok.  The professor took the opportunity to talk to the whole class about being careful and trying to camouflage ourselves so that we don't seem like foreigners or 'easy targets'.  I was warned about this by the person who came here before me, so I wasn't surprised; I was just sad for the girl who was robbed.

As far as class goes, it was very interesting today.  We looked at a little history of the last Argentine dictatorship so that we could have a context for the literature and cinema we were going to read and watch.  I had studied this a little in the United States, so I had a vague idea of what was going on.  However, what interested me was learning this from Argentina's own perspective, rather than from a distance like at Samford.

One of the biggest differences was talking about perhaps Argentina's lowest point of history- Los desaparecidos (the disappeared people).  During the military dictatorship, enemies of the de facto military government and millions of innocent people related to them were spirited away into clandestine detention centers and were tortured and killed. Many of the kidnapped were pregnant, and their babies were given to other families-no questions asked. It was terrible. In order to distract the public eye from this, the government used the World Cup as a nationalistic movement.  When the Cup was over, they picked and old scab and started a war with Great Britain over the islands off the coast (Las islas Malvinas vs Falkland Islands), all to keep this "Dirty war"(as it was called in the US) under wraps.

In my previous studies, this was called the Dirty war.  However, I asked the professor and he said that this is a bad label.  He told me to be careful with the word 'war.'  He said "war is when I can kill you and you can kill me.  We both have the power to fight.  This was not a war."  And that's true.  It's interesting how much a name or label can affect your perception of something.  I think I will like these classes.

Second day

Tuesday, August 12

Today after my daily devotional ( you can read these here), I had breakfast and kept updating this blog like crazy (I'm almost caught up!) When the time came, i went to Luisa's (the store next to our house) and bought a notebook for class. I got on the bus and went to school.  There were flags today! To welcome all the students back, I suppose.

My first class on Tuesdays and Thursdays is Argentine Literature. In this class, we will explore important "axes" (as in axis, not axe) of Argentine history through two lenses- Literature and Cinema.  So we will read important literary works and watch notable movies concerning the Argentine dictatorship, the 19th century, Eva Duarte, and Contemporary Argentina.  Sounds like a good class.

After that, there's a 15 minute break and then my Popular Culture of Argentina class starts. In this class we're going to explore culture and and what that word entails (a definition we looked at today said culture is "anything humans have added to nature") and then we will start to look at Argentina through this lens.  Also an interesting sounding class.  I think I'll like this semester.

Afterwards, around 5:15 pm, Elsa, Hiem and I set out for the bus stop. No protest today. Everything went well as we all got to our homes. Sophia is back! She had gone to the waterfalls of Iguazu for the weekend, and she says the view was indescribable. As we had dinner, we conversed about her trip and about my weekend.  After all of that, I talked with my family online for a while and went to sleep.

(At this point, I might or might not write a daily post, since it will probably  be routine from now on. I will definitely write about noteworthy things, so don't forget about this blog, but don't panic if there are no new posts each day.... However, if you still want a daily post from Marcos, you can visit my devo blog as that one is daily.)

First day of School!

Monday, August 11

Today was the first day of classes! I have two classes on Mondays and Wednesdays: Advanced Spanish II and History of Latinamerican Civilization. I start class at 3:45 pm and end at 7. I was a little nervous on the way to school because it had been a whole weekend since I last used the bus. But everything was fine.  I got there a bit early to pay the university for the host family and insurance.  Then I went to the library where it was warm (I don't know if I've mentioned that it's winter here) until it was time for my class to start.

My first class, Advanced Spanish II, sounds like a good one.  It's a class in which we can primarily converse in Spanish.  There will be some grammar review and some evaluations, but communication is the priority.  I like these kinds of classes. We reviewed the academic standing requirements and that was that.

Next I had History of Latinamerican Civ class.  I took a class kind of similar to this, but I'm interested to take it from another perspective. The professor opened by telling us that he used to hate history.  However, he became interested in it when he realized history is not just things dead people have done, but it is a way to develop one's way of thinking-an exercise to see what human beings are like.  He quoted someone I don't know, saying "It's not what you think that's important, it's how you think."  Then we started Unit 1; learning about LatinAmerica's categorizations, the difference between ethnicity and race, and other things.  I think it will be an interesting class.

After all of this, the sun had set and it was just starting to get dark.  Elsa and I went to towards the bus stop together. On the way, we saw a manifestación,  or a protest.  I fire had been lit on the road, and there were a lot of people with posters there obstructing traffic and protesting.  We walked by quickly so as to not get involved and we eventually got on the bus and went to our homes.  Once home, my host mother said "oh those are normal.  The first one is interesting, but next time you'll say 'not again!' "

It's been a good first day of class, all things considered.  Let's see what tomorrow brings.

The Semester, miUBP and Visas

Wednesday, August 6

Today I had to process a lot of information at the university. We had three meetings today. The first one was about this semester- the guidelines and they system.  In order to do well here, good grades are not all that matter.  Attendance is very important. A student's academic standing depends on both elements.  There are four types of academic standing here- Promoción directa, Promoción indirecta, Alumno regular and Alumno libre (direct promotion, indirect promotion, regular student, and free student). Each of these categories have criteria based on grades and attendance, and incentives as well.

Direct promotion is for the student who has at least 95% attendance and test grades of 8 or above on the grading scale of 1-10. This is the best academic standing category, and the incentive is the student does not have to take the final exam.
Indirect promotion is for 80% attendance and at least 7s on tests, and the incentive is that the student only needs to take the oral part of the final.
Regular student  is for 75% attendance and average grades, no incentives here.
Free student is for less than 75% attendance and for poor grades (below 4). You don't get credit for studying here if you're in this category.
As you can guess, I'm shooting for the direct promotion!

After talking about all of this and about some of the classes offered here, we went to the computer labs and were introduced to miUBP, the online portal for the school. That went by quickly, and afterwards, we went back to talk about the process of getting student visas.  It's quite a process, and I'm not really looking forward to it, but oh well. We're all going on Friday to start the process together.

After all of this, I went home. My host mother told me about a place that unlocks phones, so I got ready and set off downtown...

Luna de Miel

(Honeymoon)

Tuesday, August 5

I woke up. I ate (two slices of bread and some Nesquick- breakfasts are really light) Pretty soon I'm going to take my lunch, charge my Red Bus card, and go to UBP...

Going to UBP was fine, even though I got off too soon and had to walk a block or so to get there. Once I did get there, I went to same place as yesterday and waited for my interview.  These interviews with the professors would place us in our respective Spanish classes based on our skill.

Then we had another talk with the professors. This one was about cultural guidelines and the professors' expectations. The Canadian group was here, as well as some students from the US. One of the interesting things we talked about was the chart of our emotional well being on this study abroad experience.  The professor noted that this chart was supported by many psychologists and that, in general, most every student abroad goes through this.

Llegada=Arrival

Regreso=Return

1- Anxiety/Excitement before arriving

2- Luna de Miel/Honeymoon phase- everything is fantastic, amazing, incredible

3- Culture Shock- struggling with the culture, low moments, frustration, homesickness,

4- Adaptation- You learn how to live life.  

5- Anxiety/Excitement before leaving

6- “Honeymoon”/ Euphoria to be back home

7- You’re going to miss Córdoba

8- Readapt.

If this is the case, I'm still in the honeymoon stage. Everything is amazing and new for me. And I'm loving it. When the talk was over, there was a half hour pause for lunch and then we met again to talk about the trips the university is offering. UBP offers 2 trips- one to Buenos Aires for a weekend and one to the North of Argentina for a weekend. Both sound so nice! But they're so expensive. We'll see what happens. My french friends (we're friends now) and I started talking about organizing our own trip to Bariloche in the south or to the waterfalls of Iguazu at the Argentina-Brazil border. Once again, we'll see what happens.

That night, I had dinner with Sophia, Jero, Juan and Patricia (host father and mother). It was nice to eat all together, it reminded me of home. Afterwards, I came to my room and started typing up a guide for the next Samford student going on this trip. That's all for today