Feria de Mataderos

   Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit the supposedly "must see" Feria de Mataderos. This specific feria had been talked up to be one of the best places to buy souvenirs and such, by both Argentinians and my professor. It was supposed to be cheaper than the other ferias such as San Telmo. Unfortunately, I have to say it was disappointing to me. I have been to the San Telmo Feria three times since I have arrived here and I absolutely love it, therefore my expectations for this feria were extremely high! There are a few key differences between the two that surprised me... (not all of them are bad!)

1. The size - San Telmo Feria runs down Avenida Defensa beginning at the Plaza de Mayo and ending at Avenida San Juan; about 11 blocks. The Feria de Mataderos was more centralized than San Telmo with a stage at the intersection of two roads that made up the feria. It totaled about 6-7 blocks, having a considerable smaller selection.  
2. The Selection - It was my impression that the selection would be the same as San Telmo, but it was in fact very different. This is both good and bad! The Feria de Mataderos had a broader span of things than San Telmo, but at the same time had a limited selection of specific items. Food is one example of their broader selection. Many booths were food such as cheeses, sausages, homemade meat rubs, marmalade, preserves, jelly, breads etc. There were also food booths set up for food that was to eat while you were there rather than to buy for later such a churros, empanadas, tamales, humitas, as well as many other regional foods I do not know the name of. Right outside of the Feria de Mataderos there is, what an Argentine described as a "pre-feria" that includes numerous tabled full of decadent cake, tarts, pies, etc that I could not help but to indulge in! Other than the food, the selection of items to buy ranged from leather goods, knives, jewelry, music, shoes, clothes, etc. Like I was trying to explain earlier, they have a broader selection, but in a smaller quantity. For example there are good knives to buy in Mataderos, but there are only like 2-3 knife booths. In contrast in San Telmo there is a good selection of scarves and hats, and there are at least 15 booths that have a selection of hats.
3. The location - The Feria de Mataderos is inconveniently located in relation with the rest of the city! It is about as far west and opposite of the city center as you can get. The trip there is long, and if you take a taxi expensive! 
4. The Theme - The Feria de Mataderos is very regionally distinctive, with food and activities specific to the area. The goucho (cowboy) culture is the obvious focus, with mechanical bulls, pony rides, goucho singers and dances. The culture is fun, making the experience much different than San Telmo.

In general, even though the Feria de Mataderos was disappointing to me, I would definitely say it is worth at least a visit. I do not however think it is a "must see" for Buenos Aires. For small souvenirs  would suggest San Telmo over Mataderos, so don't hold out on the gift buying if you visit San Telmo before Mataderos! Things I do suggest when you do visit is to make sure to indulge in the food! It is unique to the area and delicious! Like San Telmo, the Feria is open on Sundays only! Here is the link to the website if you have more questions about the Feria! Enjoy :) http://www.feriademataderos.com.ar/index2.htm

Money, Money, Money

Like traveling to anywhere else, money is always a concern, but especially in a foreign country! Depending on where you are traveling to, you may be able to use your bank to withdraw money. For instance, last summer I traveled to Italy with my family and my bank had what they termed at "sister banks" where we could avoid foreign fees. I called and checked for Buenos Aires however and there were no "sister banks". It costs about a $2.50 USD ATM charge as well as 3% of the transaction. I am not positive what the transaction fee is if you use it at a restaurant or shopping, but I know there is a better way to get the most out of your money! If you are staying here for a long time you could look into opening a bank account here, but I am not familiar with that process. I do know that CitiBank is VERY popular around Buenos Aires, so you could look into their foriegn fees. However, I do not suggest relying on cash withdraws for money while you're here!
Blue Market Money Exchange
There are two different ways to exchange money in Argentina: legally and illegally. The illegal exchange market is called the "blue market" but it comparable to the US black market. I do not fully understand why it is illegal to exchange this way and I have been having a hard time finding a straight answer online. So far this is my understanding...
The Argentine peso used to be equivalent to the american dollar, meaning $1USD = $1 Argentine peso. This ended in 2001 when the Argentina economy basically collapsed. The banks restricted Argentinians from withdrawing their money and massive deflation occurred. The exchange rate then settled to about 3 pesos to every dollar. For Argentinians this was devastating. If they had investments, the value decreased three fold. Ever since then, the trust in the Argentine peso is basically nonexistent. This makes the desire for the "stable" American dollar pretty high!
The policy of the current president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, also drives this desire. After the crisis she began to restrict the American dollar exchange in Argentina, not allowing citizens to exchange money outside of government agencies or withdraw anything from the bank but Argentine pesos. From this, the blue market peso, Argentina's worst kept secret, was born. While this is illegal, it is the best way to get the most out of your money! It also unfortunately means you must bring all the money you have with you in US cash. Depending on the length of your stay and the amount of money you want to bring this might not be the best option!
There is one way to get around carrying your entire savings on you though! Uruguay has absolutely no restriction on the dollar and you are able to withdraw American dollars from the ATMs! What's even better is that Uruguay is just a boat ride away on Buquebus! If you bring enough money for half your stay, you can take a day trip over to Colonia, Uruguay and withdraw the rest of the money in US dollars to exchange blue market. You do have to at least withdraw $100USD for your withdraw to work and you will still be charged bank fees. However, this is definitely worth the trouble! At the moment the national exchange rate is hovering around 5.43 pesos to the US dollar. Blue market exchange is 8.7 approaching 9 pesos to every dollar. That means that on every $100 USD you exchange you could get about 330 more pesos.

I have not used the Blue market, because I did not bring much US money, but I know some students who do use it. I also found a fellow blogger, Amber Reeves, who recorded her experiences with it. Here's what she had to say...

"The first time, I walked down Calle Florida and listened for the soft “cambio, cambio.” I talked to a woman at the 200 block of Calle Florida who looked about 19 years old. She was wearing worn out clothing and looked like a local version of a meth head. When I asked, she gave me a quote of 6.00 pesos per US dollar. I said thanks and moved on. A second woman, about 20 meters south, on the 100 block, quoted me 6.10. And she was wearing a business suit kind of outfit, like a flight attendant’s uniform, and talked to me more directly. I said I had $100 USD to exchange to pesos. She led me into a small galeria and beckoned me to go to a guy who had a “legit” casa de cambio. He met me in the galeria hallway and then walked behind his money desk window. He counted out my money and showed me the arithmetic on a calculator and then counted out the pesos. I said thanks and exited the galeria. 

The second time, I walked down Calle Florida with $150 USD. I heard the “cambio, cambio” from these two meaty looking guys in suits who were standing outside of an electronics store. I got a safe vibe from them so I stopped to talk to one of them. He showed me the quote on his cell phone ($6.10 pesos per 1 USD again) and I said yeah, and he asked me to follow him. This time, I followed him around the block on the street into an apartment/office building. I felt like this was kind of shady but I went anyway. He took me up to the tenth floor in an old rickety elevator. We stood in the hallway outside of a door for about 5 minutes. After a few minutes, the arbolito left. I stood there alone. Two people came out at different intervals. There was an electronic lock on the door. Then finally someone opened it and a guy inside beckoned me in. It was an office with a retrofitted money window (i.e. thick glass and bars). I took out my money and the guy behind the window did the same thing as last time--he counted it, tapped the math on the calculator and showed me, and counted out the pesos. I took them and left the building. "

Xoom
For those of you who are not comfortable carrying large amounts of cash on you or with the whole blue market exchange process there is another option! There is company called Xoom that does money transfers at a rate better than the national rate, but not as good as the Blue Market rate. The process is simple and safe, but you must have an American bank account. Simply go to xoom.com and create an account. From your xoom account you put in your bank account information and transfer the desired amount of money. There are different locations all over the city that you can then go a pick up your money. I have been using the location on 1100 block Libertad. You can take the subte to the Tribunales stop and it's about 6 blocks from there or take a taxi to the intersection of Libertad and Santa Fe. Be sure to bring your passport when you go to get your money. They may also ask you information such as your phone number, who sent the money, the amount of money, your phone number, etc. The first time I used xoom the exchange rate was 7.51 pesos to $1 USD and the second time 7.25 pesos. There is a $24 - $30 USD tranfer fee for Xoom, but there are coupon codes that wave the fee sometimes! Try googling for a code. There is also a referral program: if you use my referral link we both get a $15 amazon credit!!! My link is below so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE use it!!!
Referal Link:  http://refer.xoom.com/a/clk/H1kQS

El Cine

     We are in the midst of our week of vacation and yesterday the weather was cold and raining which is perfect movie weather! We had been talking about going to see a movie here to work on our Spanish comprehension and just for the experience. All of the big movies in the US can be seen here. Just for an idea our options were...

Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me 2  3D

Monsters University

Monsters University 3D

World War Z

‎Before Midnight

Man of Steel

Fast & Furious 6

World War Z 3D

Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire)

Barbara
Now You See Me

And at my local theater in the US the options are ....

Despicable Me 2

Despicable Me 2  3D

Monsters University

Monsters University 3D

World War Z

‎Before Midnight

Man of Steel

World War Z 3D

The Heat

White House Down

       Of course the names of the movies are translated into Spanish, which can give a chuckle or two. This is my third time having to type this post, so I apologize, but I am not going to look up the Spanish names again. Movie theaters are not that hard to find in the city. We found one near the obelisk on a Google search. Because we went on a Friday afternoon around 3:30 it only cost us about 18,00 pesos - nothing compared to movie tickets in the US! However I think the prices range from $35,00 - $70,00 pesos at night and during the weekends depending on the time you go and if the movie you see is in 3D. 
       The language of the movie depends on what theater you go to and the movie you see. There are movie theaters that just play Argentine movies! In general the movies that are in English with Spanish subtitles will be listed with "SUB"  or "subtitulada". The Spanish dubbed movies will be listed with "DOB" or Castellano. The cost of the movies whether dubbed or subtitled are the same. If there is one word of advice I do have it's this: if you are going to see a movie on a weekend go get your ticket plenty of time before hand! We decided that we wanted to go to the movies on a Saturday night but all the shows before midnight were sold out! It is perfectly normal for Argentinians to go to the movies in the early morning hours!

Uruguay

                Flag day (Feriado) in Buenos Aires left our group with a 4 day weekend, so our professor suggested we take a trip to Uruguay! The students who went on the trip previous years had gone and suggested it if we had the time. We took their advice, but we learned a lot!

Booking Transportation

        We booked through a company called Buquebus, which I highly recommend! The transportation consisted of a combined ferry/barge ride and a bus ride at a very economical cost - about $765 pesos (roughly $102 - 153 USD depending on your exchange rate) round trip! The agent that assisted us was very patient with our Spanish skills - or lack thereof - and also spoke good English. Both the bus and the barge were very comfortable! The barge seating resembled an airplane set up with a lot more leg room, a duty-free store, spacious bathrooms, a bar and a place to buy food. The bus was comparable to a charter bus in the states with a bathroom and climate control. Some of the buses have wifi, but ours did not. On the way there we opted for a slow barge (3 hours) and then for a fast barge (1 hour) that was slightly more expensive. You are able to take the boat into Colonia or Montevideo at various times during the day. We opted to leave at 12pm on a Thursday night so that we would arrive at 5:30 AM (seemed like a good idea at the time, but I will discuss that  little later). On the way home we took an afternoon bus leaving at 4:30, arriving off the barge in Buenos Aires around 10:30. I have to say that of all the planning that went into our trip, the transportation was the most reliable and user friendly! Here's the link if you want to book http://www.buquebus.com/cache/BQBPreHome.html!

Lodging

      Because the trip to Uruguay was not part of the budget for our program, and therefore the money came out of our own pocket, our goal was to spend as little money as possible. We waited until the last minute to book a place to stay (3 days before we needed a room) so our options were limited. We ended up choosing to stay in a hostel called Montevideo Up, instead of a hotel. The hostel is a decent walk from the city center, but a short bus trip costing $20 Uruguayan pesos ($1.00 USD) will get you to the center of the tourist attractions. Overall, I was very pleased with the hostel. The beds were considerably more comfortable than the ones at my residencia in Buenos Aires and the staff was very nice. With that being said, I do not recommend it for any stay longer than a few nights. Our room consisted of 3 sets of bunk beds and an un-bunked  twin. There wasn't much space in the room and there was one community bathroom (towels not included). It was very warm and cozy, and the price "included breakfast" - consisting of some toast, coffee, tea and a few choices of spread. Here's the link to the Hostel's website although I booked it through hostelworld.com -  http://www.montevideoup.com.uy/

Tourist Attractions

      We did not plan out our trip other than our transportation and lodging at all before we actually got to Uruguay, which was a terrible decision! We ended up walking around the main street for hours enjoying the street vendors. We stopped by an information office on the first day we were there and the agent gave us plenty of information of things we could see. There was an option for a bus tour over 24 or 48 hours. This option did not include an actual tour, just the transportation. You purchase a pass and thee bus would take you to different numbered stops throughout the city. If I remember correctly, audio tours were an option (possibly free of charge) at each stop. The only reason we did not opt for this was because of the amount of time we were there. When we got the information we had about 24 hours before we returned home. Instead we opted for walking to the different attraction on our own. 

     The architecture of the city is beautiful, especially in the old part of town where the main road turns into a pedestrian only road. Here you will find many stores and restaurants, along with numerous street vendors. I'm not sure if the vendors are there everyday, but they are definitely there every Friday and Saturday. 

      The other thing I would suggest would be to watch the sunrise. The unique thing about the location of Montevideo is that you can see both the sunset and the sunrise on the water.  There are piers that you can walk out on to get a panoramic view that is absolutely breathtaking! 

Money, Money, Money

     When we first arrived in Uruguay we did not exchange money because we thought the peso was the same or that Argentine pesos would be accepted. We were extremely wrong! The Uruguayans HATE the Argentine peso! The Argentine peso is also very weak in the exchange market for Uruguayan pesos so we lost a nice chunk of change exchanging. The US Dollar however is extremely strong, and virtually accepted everywhere. It is actually popular for Argentinians to travel to Uruguay to withdraw American dollars and exchange them in the Argentine blue market. The best advice I can give for money in Uruguay is to keep your american dollars and exchange as little as possible! One last note: if you use the ATM to withdraw money you must withdraw at least $100USD for the transaction to take place! 

First Impressions

First Day in Buenos Aires!

Travel

Wednesday my plane landed at 8:30 am and after about 15 hours of travel with maybe eight hours of sleep between the night before and the plane ride, I was honestly just ready for an entire day of sleep. However, the day was just beginning in Buenos Aires! I flew into the international airport in Buenos Aires, which is approximately 45 - 60 minutes from my residencia in the neighborhood of Palermo. Our program's driver drove us to the residencia, so I did not get to experience a taxi, but I have a feeling it is much the same. All the cars here are tiny, tiny, tiny (thankfully the way they drive!). The roads are laid out in a standard block grid system, but they are full of one way roads, making navigation by car a pain. There are no marked lanes, so the number of lanes are determined by how many cars can cram into the width of the road. On our way to the residencia this ranged from one car to two cars, a moped and a row of parked cars. They drive bumper to bumper and only have two speeds: stop and accelerate.  Surprisingly we only almost got into an accident once on the way home when we almost rear-ended a car taking a left turn. We did however arrive safely! 

The Residencia

So, to my understanding the schools and universities in Buenos Aires do not have housing on campus like in the United States. Because of this students stay at  residencias that are not connected or linked to any one school in particular. At first I thought that the off-campus housing only thing was weird because of the scarcity of it in the United States. However the more I thought about it I compared it to the numerous off-campus apartments students rent, making it seem similar to college back home. I also like the idea that I get to stay with people who are studying all types of different subjects at numerous different schools in the city. With this being said, my first impressions of the residencia were not exactly satisfying, but hey it's only for two months!

Entering the residencia we were greeted by Graciela, the house keeper, who likes to speak rapid Spanish with a thick Argentine accent. Only two of us had arrived (the other two students' flight was canceled due to maintenance issues), but it took all four of us - me, Jessie, Graciela and our profesora - to get our luggage to our floor. There is no elevator in the residencia and the stairs and halls are slightly narrow. We were all suppose to be rooming with native Argentinian students, but upon arrival we were informed that two of the girls were rooming together and the other girl (and the one guy) would have a native roommate. Personally, I'm funny about my things, so I volunteered to room with someone from JMU. After getting this dilemma sorted out we were ready to see our rooms

I had looked a pictures on the residencia website, so I already knew a little bit of what to expect of the room.(Have a look for yourself http://www.residenciasmaster.com.ar/en_galeria.php) I envisioned a room decently smaller than my dorm at JMU, with two beds, some shelves and its' own  bathroom. Apparently my expectations were falsely set too high by the website. My door barely opens without hitting the bathroom doorway and the row of cabinets beside it. Once you walk in the door to the room, you have to step into the bathroom to then shut the door and walk two steps to the set of bunk beds on the right with a maybe 2'x2' table on your left with one chair beside a window. And this is for TWO PEOPLE. 

Okay, so granted I am spoiled to my own room at home and living on of the biggest dorm rooms back at JMU, I still can't imagine living in this tiny space with someone I can barely talk to because of a language barrier.  Again, I am thankful it worked out for me to room with someone from JMU! 

After getting our luggage to our rooms, Jessie and I received a tour from Graciela of the rest of the residencia. It includes a kitchen, computer room/office, a dining room, two patios and numerous more dorm rooms. By this time it was already 11:30, so we decide to unpack a little, eat, then take a nap. 

Our meal (which was delicious after a day of airplane food) was accompanied by the other students talking (in English so the staff didn't understand) about how the found hair in their food and cockroaches in their rooms. Needless to say, the first impression left a lot to be desired!

My not so good start with the shower.... oops

Before I go in to the anecdote, let me start by explaining the layout of our bathroom. It includes a shower,  a sink, a mirror and a toilet all wedged in a 6' by 4' area. There is about a square foot where the door is to stand  in front of the sink, with the toilet to the right of the sink, and then the shower, which it like the showers in the US cut in half. I will try to get a picture of it but I am not sure I have enough room! In meeting some of the students at the residencia most bathrooms here are that size. After all my traveling, I was in much need of a shower. While taking the shower I noticed the shower head was pointing at the curtain, so I decided to try to move it. Well, when I assumed it was movable, I was mistaken. The whole damn shower head broke off in my hand, leaving my with a stream of water like a water hose pointing even further out of the shower!  Just my luck!

City Exploration

Following a much needed nap after the shower incident, Jessie and I decided to explore the city some and look for somewhere to buy toiletries. Toilet paper is not included in our room, and to my understanding is not always provided in many public restrooms either. i also didn't pack shampoo, conditioner, etc to save weight in my luggage. We didn't have any trouble navigating the city! Determining when to cross the street was the biggest struggle, but we found it easiest just piggybacked off the locals! The town we are staying in is full of small shopping boutiques, specialty stores, restaurants and bars.
 After our exploration we met out profesora for dinner at a pizza and beer place. Here you eat pizza with a fork and a knife which was different for me. I couldn't eat the all of my pizza without picking it up just some of it! Eventually I will get used to it. After a dinner of beer and pizza Jessie and I had a few beers at a local bar which was very enjoyable, but also made me realize how tired I was. So we headed back to the residencia and called it a night!

Overall, my first impression of this city was nice, but the residencia left me a little leery. I am excited for more adventures and will be writing again soon!

Me and Commitment or should it be commitment and I…??

      In the culmination of my whole “I should do a blog” idea I had to reflect on my commitment to similar ideas in the past, ranging from reading plans, journal keeping, eating plans, workout schedules, food diaries, etc.  Needless to say, I have only kept up with one of those plans I have ever made. That was my half-marathon training schedule, and that was only because I knew the 13.1 mile race and my running partner (my dad) would be keeping me accountable. In reflection, I think my downfalls stemmed from the goals I set for myself; they were mostly really intense plans that required a lot of time and energy on top of what I had already committed myself to do. Because of this, I am a little nervous about keeping up with my blog consistently. I do not want to commit myself to any unreasonable goals, but I still want to be accountable. bog is a new thing to me that I don't want to turn into something stressful. So, these are my (very reasonable) goals for my blog…

• Blog at least once a week while in Buenos Aires (Does not include blogs prior to landing!)

• Blog a minimum of 12 times in the 8 weeks I am there

• Have someone other than my mom consistently read my blog (Love you Mom!)

• Stay accountable to my goals

Alright, there they are. This is my promise to keep my blog goals. Please feel free to hold me accountable, harass me if I slack and give me feedback! I hope everyone who decides to follow my blog enjoys my experiences as much as I do!

Me? Blog?

       Before I start any standard blog posts I want to talk about why exactly decided to blog. I got the idea to blog while researching packing essentials (which was just about a week ago - my procrastination at its' best!). I stumbled across a blog from a student who studied abroad in Buenos Aires for 5 months. Reading her experiences helped give me a better idea of what to expect of the city, which I honestly am not that knowledgeable of. Hopefully my blog will find the eyes of a future study abroad student and be as helpful as Study Abroad Bryant. 

      My goal for this is blog to serve as a way to keep everyone at home up-to-date on my experiences as well as help me remember everything once I return home. I have written in journals in the past and always appreciated the comfort of a physical book to hand write my thoughts, but let's face it, handwriting things is time consuming and, in my case, sometimes illegible. I have never blogged before so this will be a new experience to accompany on my adventures abroad!