Almost a Month!

With the help of Larry and Natalie, I think I may have successfully uploaded my first picture onto my blog...THANK YOU! I'll upload more in the next posts. 


I can't believe almost a month has gone by! Whenever I'm walking outside, I'm always laughing and smiling, because I still can't believe I'm here, I'm SO lucky. I'm sure that the Argentines think I'm crazy (because everyone walks outside with a serious and stern face) but no me importa. 


There were two cool events at Hillel this week. There was a Truco tournament, an Argentine card game (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truco). I played with my friend Nico, who tried to teach me how to play but I still don't fully understand the game. There are many rules and how they count up/earn points I don't get. Never the less, I had a fun time and I'm going to keep practicing and hopefully before I leave Argentina I'll understand the game and play like a pro. There was also "college day" where high school seniors came to the Hillel house for the first time and spoke with Hillel members about different majors that they could study in university and what each major entails. This was a cool event for me because I got to know people more (what they are studying and why) and I also met a lot of new people. 


Not much is different at the Social Welfare Center. I was told that November is a busy month and I will have a lot of work to do. It's the month where we need to ask the recipients for their information (social security number, passport number, telephone, address...) and they pick up their resources...and there is a lot! I only went to work there on tuesday because wednesday was a holiday (which I'll talk about in a little bit...keep reading!)


At Macabi everything is the same. I had a meeting with Damian, the director of Macabi about what I should be doing, what will happen in the summer, how Macabi functions ect. I think the meeting went well and we both agreed that for now, the best thing for me to do is observe. He told me that because it's the end of the year, people are tired, want to finish the year and are eager for summer to start. He said that in February/March they will start to have meetings and develop programming so he said that would be a good time for me to really start. I guess he's right, and it's true, everywhere I go people are talking about summer. 


Although nothing too exciting happened at work, it has been quite an interesting week in Argentina. Wednesday was a "holiday" declared by the government, because it was national census day and they wanted people to stay home. Government officials went from door to door giving out a census (this happens every 10 years), basically asking questions about economic and living situations (married, single, how many bedrooms, how many bathrooms, how much money do you make...). Someone came to my door and afterwards I felt very Argentine. 


That same day, Nestor Kirchner, the previous President of Argentina and husband of the current president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, past away at 60 years old due to heart problems. It's a good thing that Wednesday was a holiday, because when his death was announced, I felt as if everything shut down. The only thing to watch on TV were news alerts about his death, all the flags were lowered, and it was the only thing that people could talk and think about (I talked about it with my Argentine friends). That night there was an honorary ceremony for Nestor in the Plaza de la Intendencia which I attended. There were people from different political parties and people from all over Argentina gathered together to share their last thought/memory of Nestor. People were marching and singing, I'm assuming patriotic songs or songs that were somehow related to Nestor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7f43c3RfaY). Many people gave speeches which was followed by a roar of clapping and whistling (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04J_kOQ_u5E). For me, this was a really cool experience, being an American and witnessing this ceremony, watching people from all colors and backgrounds coming together to mourn. 


Friday, I had the pleasure to speak with Esther, the JSC fellow in Estonia (http://estinestonia.tumblr.com/). It was great comparing notes with her, about our feelings of being lost, confused, not understanding, cultural differences, work, the great food, discovering new places in our cities ect. Friday night I had shabbat dinner at Chabad (I know what you are all thinking...). I had dinner there because a guy from NASA was in town and was giving a lecture about his job and what he's doing in Argentina. He went around the room and asked us (we were about 50 people) if we knew that Argentina has a space program; one person raised their hand. He went around the room and asked us if we knew that Argentina has satellites in space; one person raised their hand. Apparently, the Argentine space program is run in Cordoba and the satellites are launched from here too! Right now he is working with the Argentine government to develop a satellite that will go into space, trying to find new planets and to look for life. Also, together they are building a satellite that will circle the earth to test the ocean, soil and air to find more information about global warming. Did I mention that this guy is an Orthodox Jew that doesn't speak a word of Spanish?! The lecture I thought was quite interesting, and what was even more interesting is that out of the whole group, only one person (who was an astronomer) knew about Argentina's space program! The rabbi and his wife were very nice and welcoming. They are Americans, from Crown Heights and the rabbi is good friends with Rabbi Smoller. 


That's basically the highlights from my week. So excited to start again!