IC 2011, "I'm dreaming in English!"

I know that it’s been a month since my last blog post but heres the thing. I’ve tried about 4 times to write a blog about IC, but each time I would write, I would read what I had written and I would think to myself, what I’m writing doesn’t nearly describe how cool IC (International Convention) was. So I would start over again, erase what I had written blah blah blah the same old shpeel. But, I’m dying to share with you guys just how amazing IC was so I’ll try my best to describe it.

After 16 hours of flying, we arrived at LAX and were greeted by my mom. That night we were tired so we had dinner at Urth Café (if you’re ever in LA go to Urth Café) and then took a quick stroll on Rodeo Drive. We toured LA for a total of 5 days with my family (my parents, sister, grandma, aunt and two cousins) and went to Rodeo Drive, Millions of Milkshakes, The Grove, the Wax Museum, Kodak Theater, Chinese Theater, Hollywood walk of fame, Santa Monica, Venice, UCLA, Beverly Hills, took a tour of Paramount Studios, took a tour of celebrity houses, saw the Hollywood sign and more. The touring aspect was great! What we saw in LA in 5 days is what I saw in 5 years, aka non stop touring The girls had a great time too and took several pictures.

The day before IC started, all the international kids met up at Universal Studios so they could meet each other. It was great and so amazing to watch Argentine, Israeli, Irish, Bulgarian and Serbian teens interacting with each other and becoming friends, even though everyone speaks different languages and comes from very different backgrounds.

February 17 IC started. I was in meetings all day and the Argentines were busy exploring the hotel with the other international kids and running to the door to meet the next group of kids that were arriving. It was a very chill day, only 150 arrived because the rest (650) were going to arrive the next day. There were a few BBG/AZA business meetings that they attended.

From February 18 – 21 is when the real IC started. All the teens arrived from all over the US, Canada, England, Ireland, Israel, Serbia, Bulgaria and Argentina. It was the biggest IC ever with the biggest international presence, with a total of about 750 teens. It consisted of AZA/BBG meetings, programs about Israel, global Jewry, how to create and implement programs into your communities, dances “boliche style” and more.

For one day everyone did a community service project. There were about 10 sites throughout LA that the teens were assigned to. I was assigned to go to LA Youth Network, a small shelter for homeless youth. This particular shelter is very unique because it only has 8 beds, you have to be between the ages of 13 – 18 and not anyone can walk in because it has very strict rules and regulations. To stay in the shelter, you have to make at least a one year commitment to live there, not smoke, drink alcohol or do drugs, get a job, go to school and study with a tutor everyday.  I had no idea that there were programs like this. We listened to a talk about homelessness in LA and we learned that LA is the homeless capital of the US, with over 55,000 homeless youth. That really startled me, I had no idea because when you think about it, in the US (or at least in Southern California) the homeless that we see in the streets are usually adults, so I never thought that there were so many kids as well. This talk really inspired the kids and it was obvious because they asked many questions. Then, they went to paint the house and a few hours later we went back to the hotel to attend the next IC program.

 Throughout IC, everyone was very interested to meet the Argentine girls and learn about Jewish teen life in Córdoba. I’m not being bias, but seriously the Argentines were definitely the cool kids at IC, las chicas mas copadas. I always saw them talking to people and they always had huge smiles on their faces. I remember one day , Tami (one of the Argentines) said to me, “Ariana I’m speaking so much English that I think now I’m dreaming in English!” That cracked me up.

I know that everyday the Argentines were totally lost and confused, which I knew would happen. They kept asking me, “Ariana why are they clapping their hands?”, “Why are they standing up and screaming?”, “Why do they wear pins?”… I was glad that they were asking questions, which showed me that they were interested to learn more about BBYO. I tried to explain to them as best as I could but the last BBYO event I attended was in 2005 so I had forgotten a lot. I told them that it’s ok not to understand and feel lost and confused. I mentioned how every day in Córdoba I am so lost and confused at Macabi and that’s ok.

One event that was particularly special for the international kids was their induction into BBYO. None of them knew that this was going to happen and they were so surprised and honored to receive their AZA/BBG pins. I’ve never seen so many hugs in my life. Before, these kids were just invited to participate in IC, now they are really a part of it and BBYO.

Overall, I think that IC was a great experience for everyone, both the staff and teens. The teens learned about other countries and Jewish teen life throughout the world, were exposed to new ideas about programming and youth movements and learned about BBYO. I know that throughout IC I kept hearing the Argentines saying, “yea, I think that we could do something like this in Cordoba”. 

My goal is to have a meeting with the Macabi youth department and the two Argentine girls to discuss IC and BBYO such as what they liked, what they didn’t like and what they think we could do in Córdoba that they saw at IC. I would love to create some BBYO style programs here in Córdoba and have the girls help me. Macabi reopens March 12 so I hope to have that meeting very soon.

After IC, we spent two and a half days at my house in San Diego. We went to La Jolla, Target, Carlsbad Outles, the San Diego Zoo and Fashion Valley. The girls also enjoyed San Diego, even though our visit was short. I wish we could have stayed longer because there is so much more to see, but they started school March 1^st.

We arrived back in Cordoba February 25^th at 3AM. The day I left California, BBYO told me of another amazing opportunity for two Argentines to go to the US again. The trip is called Kallah, starts March 10– 16^th  and will be in DC. After hours of non stop meetings, talking on the phone, skyping, Gchatting, basically staring at a computer screen for so long that I saw dots, I’m proud to say that one Argentine teen and the Israeli shlicha will be representing Córdoba and will be going to DC. I would have loved to go on that trip but unfortunately my sister will be in Argentina at that same time. I’m very much looking forward to hearing their thoughts and opinions of Kallah, even though I know they will have a great time. Hopefully from that experience they can also help me implement BBYO programs in Cordoba

Not much else has been going on. I still go to the social welfare center every Tuesday and work is still slow because its still summer, until the end of March. Hillel is still officially closed but we have been working because on Monday the Hillel group from Juniata College will be coming to Córdoba for 5 days. I’m SO excited for their arrival, so excited to meet them , speak in English, tour the city with them ( I still feel like I know nothing about Córdoba and I still get lost), do community service with them and just learn about what their Hillel is like at their college.

Thursday night I leave for Buenos Aires because Friday morning my sister arrives at Ezeiza so I’ll be getting her from the airport. We will come back to Cordoba just in time to have Shabbat dinner at Hillel with Juniata College, Hillel staff and members.  I’m so excited to see my sister and have her meet the Juniata College group and show her Córdoba and what I do here. She will do a few activities with the group and then Sunday night we leave to go travel for a week. It will be the 1^st time I’m seeing her since August and my first vacation!  

That’s basically all that has been going on here so far. It seems like the middle/end of March is when work will start to pick up, which I’m very excited for because to be honest I have been a little bored.

The next blog that I write will probably be around March 21^st, after the Hillel group leaves (because I’ll be working 24/7) and after my sister goes back to the US. 

1317!

Picture - "Rikudim" Israeli dancing at 1317

Hi everyone. Sorry again for taking a long time to write a new blog but things have been a bit crazy since getting back to Córdoba (I'll explain more later).

So I left off at the sleep away camp…the camp ended January 13^th and from there I took the bus with the porteños back to Buenos Aires to work at the JDC office with the 1317 program for the remainder of January. I arrived Thursday night, dropped my things off at Zara and Danielle’s apartment and met up with Danielle and a few of my Argentine friends for dinner. The following day, I had a meeting with Martín, the head of 1317 to discuss how I can get involved and help out and he told me that there is not much to do because they planned everything in December while I was working at the day camp in Córdoba. However, he invited me to observe and participate in the 1317 programs that take place Thursday evenings. My first Thursday (January 20th) was a regular 1317 afternoon. Around lunchtime we took the bus from Buenos Aires to a Jewish community center in Tigre, in the province of Buenos Aires about 45min from the city. It was so amazing, there were about 300 kids and millions of activities such as garage band (a room filled with lots of instruments where kids could get together and play music), swimming pool, astro jump, any sport you can think of, pool, foosball, ping pong, arts and crafts, cooking classes, dance classes and more. There were several rotations of activities and each one lasted from 30min-1hour. I had a great time, participated in several of the activities and the kids were excited to meet me because I was from the US, especially because I’m from California where all the movie stars live. The following Thursday was the NONSTOP event, basically a very long Thursday that starts at 10PM and ends at 7AM Friday morning with double the amount of activities. At NONSTOP there was a bungee jump, mechanical bull, sushi class, hair and nail salon, massage parlor, watching of “The Little Fockers” movie, dance party, foam party and more. I had an AMAZING time, I loved being with the kids, the activities were a blast and at 7AM I was still pumped and ready to work and participate in more activities (I worked the bungee jump), but at that time we boarded the buses to go back to Buenos Aires. While I was at NONSTOP, memories of my BBYO experience started to enter my brain. It was the first time since being in Argentina that I went to a teen event that really paralleled my BBYO experience and had familiarity to me. I told Martín and the 1317 staff that I LOVE 1317 and hope to do something similar in Córdoba.

Because there was not much work to do for 1317 except for Wednesday meetings (to discuss how Thursday would be) and Thursday afternoons, I returned to Baby Help to work like what I did last year. I worked with the 3 and 4 year olds and it was such a blast. The kids are so cute and I loved being with them. What I really loved and thought was adorable is that they called me Morah. I felt very old and official and it was kind of cool. Last year when I lived in Buenos Aires I worked with the 2 year olds and of course none of those kids remembered me because they are too little. It was great seeing the Baby Help teachers and other volunteers that I worked with last year. It was just so much fun and so comforting to be there again.

I returned to Córdoba the morning of February 1^st, expecting to enter my apartment and see a new and improved bathroom, with new tiles. However upon entering my apartment and the bathroom, I saw that the same tiles were still there and nothing had been done. Although I was told that someone would come and work on my apartment in January, no one came and no one notified me to let me know that no one was coming, which disappointed me because I expected that something would get done and it didn’t. Oh well, there are worse things in the world right?

I started working again at Hillel but we are only working part time, from 9:30AM-2PM because it is still closed and many people are on vacation. We are ironing out the final details for Alternative Spring Break, which is going to be AMAZING. I’m so excited to meet the Hillel group from the US, show them around Córdoba and learn what their Hillel is like.

Macabi is still closed and will open around mid March. Every Tuesday I’m at the Social Welfare Center but work is slow because it’s summertime so many people (both beneficiaries, employees and volunteers) are on vacation.

What I am really looking forward to and am absolutely ecstatic for is that my sister will be coming to visit me in mid March for a week. I am excited to show her around Córdoba, what my life is like here, my work sights and what I do and to show her the city. Also, this is probably the only time I will see her during my time in Argentina so I’m very glad that we will be spending some time together.

Tonight I have a meeting with the 2 Argentine teenage girls, their parents and my colleagues from Macabi to discuss final details of the BBYO Los Angeles trip. I am SO excited to go back to the US and I’m even more excited for the girls to have a BBYO experience, meet Jewish teens their age from all over the world and that they get to know my cities, Los Angeles and San Diego.

The next blog that I will write to you will either be from California or in Córdoba after coming back from California. Be prepared, because I’m sure that blog will be very long.

Hope everyone is doing well, is not freezing too much on the east coast and I’m really hoping that I’ll have more visitors…

Villa Gesell!

I still need to upload my pics from Villa Gesell, but for now you can look at this.... http://www.mazcue.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/villa-gesell.jpg

I know, it has been forever since I have written a new blog. But I have a good excuse. While I was at sleep away camp in Villa Gesell, I had no computer or telephone access, so I had no way to use the internet or make any phone calls. Now I’m in Buenos Aires (I’m working in the JDC office for the 13/17 program until February)  and I have some computer access (I left my laptop in Cordoba) so that’s why I am finally getting around to this so late. Mil disculpas!

There are many ways I could discuss my Argentine sleep away camp experience but I think what you would most enjoy is reading about the differences between Argentine camp and U.S. Camp. Oh where to start….

1. For U.S. camp, you have to send in your camp forms months in advance, so they can read your profile and your medical records. For Argentine camp, everyone turned in their forms the day of departure to the camp.
2. My sleep away camp in the US always had boys and girls side. In Argentine camp, the boys and girls shared a tent without any counselors. The counselors slept in a separate tent close by.
3. When I found out I was coming to this camp, I mentioned how I was a camp counsellor for a summer and that I taught arts and crafts and archery. They told me that my skills were not necessary and at first I couldn’t figure out why. The activities were lectures based on the topics of peace, Zionism, Israel, domestic and sexual violence and Jewish identity. There were 4 lectures a day, each one being around an hour to an hour and a half. There were no sports, no art, no boating, which is something that my camp had. 
4. Timing. At camp in the US, it is a very set and confirmed schedule. Activities go on in rain or shine. Many times the activities started late. For example, the activity after lunch was supposed to start at 3PM but frequently it started at 4:30PM.
5. Communication. My camp in the US always had many foreign counselors from all over the world. Throughout the year camp would update us about who was coming to camp and from where, and then there would be a little paragraph about them so people would be able to get to know them before camp  started. When I arrived at Argentine camp, many people had no idea I was coming, including some of the camp leaders. Many were confused as to why I came to the camp and what my objective was (I am the FIRST American to come to this camp) and many people asked me if I flew from California to Villa Gesell and then was planning on flying back to California when camp ended. Needless to say I was surprised that some people didn't know that I was coming and to be honest this was not the most comforting for me.
6. Leadership. At my US camp, the director was about in his 40’s and all the counselors were around college age, between 19-25 years old. At Argentine camp, the counselors were between 17-20 years old and the head Rosh, the camp director was about 22-23. I was one of the oldest people at camp.
7. Food. At my camp in the US, we had a dining hall complete with plates, cups, silverwear, and in case we didn’t like the food they were serving, there was always the option of salad bar or BP&J sandwiches. At Argentine camp, we had to bring our own plates, cups and silverwear. 

-         More about food: It is the US camp legend that the food is terrible so every camper brings a suitcase full of candy, cereal and basic foods for survival. I obviously thought Argentine camp would be the same way, so I brought with me tons of crackers, oatmeal, rice cakes, survival food. Everyone thought I was crazy, why would I need to bring food if they were going to serve us food? What I didn’t know is that the camp hired a catering company, so the food was edible and actually really good!!!

-         Kosher: Every meal was  unkosher, something that I am not used to at camp. Milk and meat was  served together and the meat was not kosher. My camp in the US was always 100% kosher
8. Shabbat. Every Friday night we would say kiddish, make hamotzi and eat challah, have a traditional dinner with chicken, matzaball soup and side dishes, have dessert and then sing zsmirot and classic American songs. At Argentine camp, the only slightly Jewish/Shabbat festivity that was done was that we sang one Israeli song (that I didn’t recognize) Friday night. Saturday at my camp in the US we always had services and then the day was dedicated to us, we could do whatever activity we wanted, no structure because Shabbat is a day of rest and then at night we all came together as a camp and said havdallah. At Argentine camp, Saturday was like any other day and havdallah was not said.

There are many more differences that I could write about but I can’t remember now, but I think you get the idea. It was an interesting experience and Villa Gesell is great! I really bonded with the 15-16 year olds from Cordoba and other cities so I feel like in terms of my work that was a success. I really enjoyed seeing more of Argentina, and I will probably never have this opportunity again. The camp was definitely a huge learning experience for me, extremely eye opening and bursting with social and cultural  differences and it was extremely interesting to view and be surrounded by this very different camp mentality 24 hours a day.

The night of January 31st I return to Cordoba to slowly start getting into the groove of things again, aka work will be starting up mid/end of February. February 11 or 12 I'll be going to Los Angeles and San Diego with the 2 Argentine girls. I don't know who is more excited, them or me!

Felíz Año Nuevo!!!!

El Río, "La Playa Cordobesa" where I went last weekend

Today was my last day of camp, what a relief! The kids played "war" with water guns and divided up into teams. Each kid had "5 lives" aka 5 times that they were able to get  wet. Whoever survives for the longest amount of time without getting wet wins, as well as their team. Last week at camp every day was boiling hot with a lot of sun. This week it was gloomy and rained almost every day (luckily not today but there was no sun).

I'm embarrassed to say this, but I went to Walmart to buy a few things for sleep away camp. I wanted to go somewhere where I could find everything in the same place, instead of running around and going to 10 different stores. I bought an air mattress, some clothes (from what I heard, the camp seems to be very primitive and I don't want my clothes to get ruined) and snacks for the long bus ride (we are taking the bus from Córdoba to Villa Gesell, which I heard is a 12 hour bus ride).

This morning I went to the center of the city to buy some last minute things for sleep away camp (I leave monday). I woke up really early because I heard that many businesses were going to close at 12PM.

So in the last blog I mentioned how I had no electricity for 2 days. Sunday night I had no running water and monday morning when I wanted to shower after my swim class there was no hot water. So yea, if I find a better apartment (and hopefully with a roommate) I am moving!

I had my last swim class today which was sad, because I really enjoy it. Todays workout was very difficult, 8 sets of 100 IM, then 4 sets of 200 of each stroke (EX: 50 butterfly kick, 50 butterfly arms, 100 butterfly full stroke...). I can't even remember the rest of the workout but it killed me, butterfly is so difficult! An interesting cultural thing - I live 2 blocks from the swimming pool and everyday I would walk to the pool in flip flops, my bathing suit (not a bikini, a regular swimmers bathing suite) and a towel covering me. The other day, my instructor asked me why I walk around the city in a towel and I explained to her that I live 2 blocks from the pool, and whats the point in getting dressed up if I'm just going to change into my bathing suite? She said that that it is socially unacceptable to walk around the city that way, even if it's just 2 blocks. You bet that today I came to the pool fully dressed. In California I always arrived at the pool that way and it was totally acceptable. But this is Argentina and in general Argentines dress much nicer and put together than Americans.

More quilombo in Argentina, but don't worry, it's just the usual. This is my first time in Argentina around new years (last year I was in Peru) and apparently every year around this time, all of the banks run out of money. Why do they run out of money? Because Argentina is a cash society. People don't trust the banks (Argentina had a huge financial crisis in 2001) and they literally would rather put money under their mattress instead of in the bank ( I know people whose parents do this). So the problem is that now is the high season to go on vacation which means that people are taking out money from the ATM very quickly to spend it on traveling and vacation (which of course is payed with cold hard cash, no credit card or check) and the banks can't keep up. Also, I guess now is when many people get their paychecks so there were long lines at the bank with people waiting to get their paycheck, except that it's cash and I'm guessing they are going home to put it under their mattress...When I heard about what's going on with the banks, I ran to the ATM and was lucky that I was able to withdraw money. I watched many stories on the news that senior citizens were not able to receive their paychecks or their social security check (in cash) and were waiting in the banks for hours in the boiling heat without AC. I also saw many long lines at the banks with frustrated people, because the banks had no more cash. It's moments like this where I think to myself how lucky I am to live in the United States (although I do love Argentina) and although we are in crisis, I can withdraw money anytime I want.  

I've also been hearing rumors that costs will go up, for everything in Argentina (I do remember this, that after new years the prices rise for everything thanks to inflation. I remember when I studied abroad in Buenos Aires in 2008 the starting rate for a taxi was 2.60 pesos and now it's 5.60 pesos...yay inflation). Being that today is the last day of 2010, many people have bought tons of things and have stalked up because January 1, 2011 the price will rise. This phenomenom will also affect the "cospel" the Córdoba bus token, which I knew but for some reason I briefly forgot the consequences of this. Today I went to 5 kiosks to buy bus coins and no one had and at first I couldn't figure out why. Then I remembered that people probably stalked up on cospels and for that reason there are non left, until 2011 when the price will rise (before it was 2 pesos for 1 cospel and I heard it will rise to 2.20).

Tonight is New Years and I was invited to have dinner with the Sefardi family and then later I'm sure I'll linger on over to some party. I'm sure it will be a good time, because Argentines know how to have fun and party!

Happy New Year everyone!!!!!!

Verano!

Las sierras Cordobesas, "The Cordoba Mountains"

As promised, I have finally uploaded a picture from the Cordoba mountains. This is a picture of a maze that I did with a friend within the mountains and it was quite difficult!

Not much is going on at work because of summer but this is what I have been working on...

Hillel: The Hillel House officially closed on December 14th so nothing is going on there until February/March. I still am technically working though, but only through email because we need to finish planning Alternative Spring Break for Juniata College that will be coming in March.

Social welfare center: Things are very quiet there. For now I have been organizing the files of the beneficiaries, taking out old information/documents and putting in new info. Last tuesday I didn't go to work because I had a meeting with the 2 Argentine girls about the trip to Los Angeles. I felt a little guilty about missing work but we achieved a lot in that meeting, and it was the only time they had to meet up.

Macabi: I am working at the day camp there, being a counselor "madrija" for 15 kids between the ages of 9,10,11 years old (the oldest age group at camp). Camp starts at 3PM and ends at 7PM. Basically the schedule is set so that for an hour the kids play sports, the next hour is instructional swim, the next hour is sports again and the last hour is free time in the pool. The structure of this camp is very different from what I am accustomed to. When I went to day camp in the U.S., we did sports and swam in the pool but there were also other activities such as art, theater, cooking, creative writing, mad science ect. This day camp seems to be more focused on sports and when I mentioned the idea of jewelry making I got very weird and surprised looks. I'm having a good time at camp and the kids are great but I'm not going to lie, I often get very frustrated and annoyed because this age group is not my specialty.

Argentina:
- The weekend of December 10th I went to Buenos Aires. I went because I had to renew my visa so I went to Uruguay for the day (it's easier and cheaper to get to Uruguay from Buenos Aires rather than Córdoba). It was FREEZING cold and RAINING in Buenos Aires and Uruguay (I heard it was beautiful weather in Córdoba). Upon my return to Córdoba, I went to a meeting at Macabi which was basically a summary of how the year went. Each department within Macabi gave a presentation about how they thought the year was for their department, challenges, successes and goals for next year. It was an interesting meeting, with lots of people and it was great to learn more about how Macabi functions, to put names to faces and to meet new people.
- Being that it's very quite in Córdoba, both in the city and with work, I thought to myself, hmmm I wonder if I could go back to Buenos Aires next weekend (December 17th). I double and triple checked with all of my jobs to make sure that there was no work, meetings or training and everyone said no so I left again for Buenos Aires the night of December 15th. I wanted to go back again because I felt like I had no time to see my friends (due to my trip to Uruguay) and it was so cold the previous weekend that I felt like I hardly was able to go out and enjoy the city, "no tenia ganas de salir". Plus, I usually have to work weekends so I wanted to take advantage of this free time. It was great going back and I did everything that I wanted to do that I was unable to do the previous weekend, and the weather was glorious!!! I went to the JDC office and had lunch with Zara (a JSC fellow) and met some of the staff (who are great by the way), I briefly met Martin who I will be working with in Buenos Aires for 13/17 program in January, I tried chocolate ginger ice cream which is amazing and my new addiction now (thanks Zara). When I'm in Buenos Aires in January I swear I will eat that ice cream every day!!!
- More protests in Córdoba, I think about the same things as before but I'm not sure (the new education law about teaching religion in public schools). My bus route was cut off by the protestors so I had to walk a little more than I normally would (but only an extra 2 blocks). The other day in the center of the city I saw people chained to bike racks going on a hunger strike (about the education law). You may think that this sounds a bit nuts but the truth is that if these kinds of things were not going on, I would be a bit concerned, because this is Argentina and Argentines love to protest. It's not dangerous at all to walk through the protests (don't worry mom). For me personally, I always think its so interesting to watch the protestors. I get to learn more about Argentina and political and social problems, learn their methods of communication, and watch all different types of people gather together that normally would not associate with each other.
- Friday and saturday the electricity kept going on and off in my building (that's why I am writing the blog today instead of friday). I have no idea why I lost electricity but I heard that during the summer electricity throughout the city could be shut off for a few hours due to the fact that too many AC's are running at once and the power can't handle it. I'm assuming it had something to do with that. Everything is back to normal now
- Yesterday I went to the río, aka the Córdoba beach. Córdoba is not on the ocean but there are many lakes and rivers where "la gente Cordobesa" often go to soak up the sun and go swimming. It was so beautiful, so natural, a laid back and calm atmosphere, filled with families making "asados" (Argentine BBQ) and swimming "en la naturaleza". I have never been to a río before and I REALLY enjoyed it. It was so beautiful, so calm and relaxing and I loved people watching. I took many pictures and I will put one up in the next blog.
- As I've said before, it's summer here and the city definitely feels empty, especially in my neighborhood because before it was filled with university students and now many of them have left to go home. Many businesses are closed, there are less taxis (the other day I waited 10 minutes for a taxi and before all I had to do was walk outside and there would be at least 5) and many businesses have shorter hours. I heard that in January even less is open in Córdoba so luckily I won't be here for that (I'll be working at the sleep away camp in Villa Gesell for 2 weeks and then in Buenos Aires for the rest of January).
- For my swim class I got moved up from the basic class to advance. In the advance class, the people really do swim...a lot and don't stand around and talk to each other (which I prefer, because my thinking is that yes I do like to talk and socialize but I came to the pool to go swimming and get a good workout!). I am the slowest swimmer in the advance class but that doesn't bother me at all.

That's about all that has been going on for now, nothing too exciting but verano es así. I hope to go back to the río next weekend and do more walking around and exploring of Córdoba :-)

Januca!

                                            Celebrating Januca in Buen Pastor, Córdoba, Argentina
                                                                   "Chanukah for everyone"

Hola a todos. My gramma told me that when I write in pink (although it is the best color ever!) it is hard for her to read so now I will write in black. This is all for you gramma!

I'm writing to you today because tomorrow I go to Buenos Aires/Uruguay (to renew my visa) and I don't know when I'll have time to write so better to be safe than sorry and write now.

Bueno, where to start....

Hillel:
- Last week we had dinner at Martíns apartment, the President of Hillel. The president of Hillel, Buenos Aires happened to be there too having dinner with us. The dinner was nice and the apartment had spectacular views of the city. I was very lost during the dinner though, because most of the conversation was about the players/movers and shakers within Hillel Argentina/Uruguay and also about the politics that go along with that. Being that I don't know anyone within that group, I did not have much to say.
- I FINALLY finished translating the 37 page document. What a relief!!! Now I can start my summer vacation ;-)
- Basically Hillel has come to a close until February. I am going to the office today but only for 2 hours. There are no more activities.

Social welfare center:
- I have been given a short document to translate, basically a pamphlet that explains what the social welfare center does and their programs.
- Elsa and I thought of a great project for me to do for next year (March). In the past, the social welfare center had events for the beneficiaries such as birthday and holiday parties and day trips such as Córdoba city tours and trips to the Córdoba mountains. The idea was that the beneficiaries could meet each other, become friends and realize that they are not alone. In other words, that there are other people out there that are having the same challenges, people that understand them, want to help and support them. Unfortunately, a few years ago these events were canceled due to lack of funds. My project for next year is to create a blog (in English) for the social welfare center, translate the pamphlet, translate the "master plan" of the events that Elsa has already written out from before, and talk to organizations, communities, individuals in the United States to see if in any shape or form they could help us. I'm very excited for this project because I will be learning more about Argentina and its social problems, I will be developing job skills (translating, communication, grant writing ect.) and it's all for a good cause. I will be starting this in March but if anyone has any ideas or could give me a head start in who to contact for financial help that would be very much appreciated :-)
- I think I mentioned this in a previous blog, but I've also been thinking about if there is somehow a gateway between me, the beneficiaries and teen programming. Maybe in March I could start a "big brother big sister" program for one of the kids of the beneficiaries. I could be a "big sister" and hang out with the teenager in the city, help with homework, whatever, lo q sea. I talked to Elsa about this and she told me that she doesn't know of any teens but maybe Dolores, the social worker who works in the social  welfare center and who is in constant contact with the beneficiaries and their families, could help me out with this project.

Macabi:
- December 4th was the last day of activities at Macabi. It was a boiling hot day and we were outside all day putting together the stage, chairs, lights, sound system, projector, lifting heavy things...basically doing everything to set up for the ceremony/graduation for the madrijim school (I am very sunburnt). We worked all day, starting from 11AM until around 5PM and in the end we created a beautiful setting to have the ceremony (someone said that it looked like a wedding). However, around 5:30-6PM, it started to rain so in 15 minutes, we disassembled what we worked on all day and moved it into the multipurpose room. Never the less, we were absolutely PISSED at mother nature.
- I called Damian to see if there would be any training or any meetings for the day camp which starts December 20th. He told me that there might be and that he would call me tonight...I hope he does...
The camp is only weekdays (not weekends like regular Macabi activities, or in other words, not saturday) so if there is no meeting/training I would love to take advantage of having no work on saturday and go somewhere for the weekend (December 17th) and then come back and start camp. I'm thinking of either Mendoza or possibly Buenos Aires but I can't even think about making plans until I hear back from Damian.

Argentina:
- I love Argentina. Yes, there are many "quilombos" in Argentina but the language, history and culture is just so rich and I constantly love learning more about it.
- I briefly went to a Chanukah party at Chabad. I was probably there for about 20 minutes because shortly after we had the Hillel dinner at Martíns apartment. In those 20 minutes I did manage to eat some Chanukah gelt, the only Chanukah food I ate during the holiday :-(
- There was another Chanukah party in Buen Pastor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paseo_del_Buen_Pastor) which was opened to the public. The setting was beautiful with lots of lights, water fountains, palm trees and lots of people, most being goys. The Rabbi of the Centro Union said a few words about the story of Chanukah and later the menorah was lit. What was interesting about the menorah lighting is that one representative from each of the the major religions in Córdoba (Christianity, Islam and Judaism) lit a candle as well as the mayor/governor of Córdoba and other important people to the city. When I saw this, I thought to myself, wow what a great way to really tie everyone together. What a great way to really show friendship, unity and peace. I guess you could say that the diversity of "gente" lighting the menorah really struck me and was a bit powerful. After the menorah lighting, a famous clesmer band from Buenos Aires played for about 2 hours. The music was great and it brought me back memories of when my family went to visit my Aunt Lori in New York City and we went to a clesmer concert. The music was great and people were really into it (even the goys). I was just waiting for the black hatters to jump out from behind the curtain and start dancing and make le'chaims...that never happened.
- I went to another Chanukah party at the Sefardi temple. It was more low key but still nice. There was a dinner and then 2 guys from Buenos Aires put on a small show and played the violin and piano.
- I've been investigating taking a Spanish or Portuguese class for the month of December but it's impossible. Starting December 20th, I need to be at Macabi at 1:30PM for the camp and I end at 7PM. I already have swim class from 9-10AM and theres just not enough time for me to shower, get ready, eat and go to Macabi (it's a 20 minute cab ride). I'll look into taking a class in March when the new year starts and I think that during that time there will be more options too.
- Yesterday was another holiday "Día de la Virgin"which I'm assuming has something to do with the Jesus/Marie story. You guessed it, I had no work. That day I took advantage of my free time and walked around the city (many places were still open). At night, there was a free jazz concert done by a Córdoba band in Buen Pastor. The jazz music was different than what we are accustomed to in the United States. It was all drums, a bit of singing and some piano. I was waiting for Bill Clinton and Paul Neustein to break out with a mean saxophone performance but that never happened. I still enjoyed the music though and it's always nice to note those cultural differences.
- After the jazz concert, there was another free folklore (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exY6xn-lNgI) concert (typical music from Northern Argentina) in the Plaza de la Independencia. I really enjoyed that concert, probably more than the jazz because it was very Argentine and people were dancing traditionally to the music. Of course at the end of the concert, there was a mini rally "protest" because apparently fairly recent there was a protest in Buenos Aires (theres always some kind of protest in Buenos Aires) and a 23-year-old was killed so in Plaza de la Independencia there was a rally about security and human rights. No one knows who killed the 23-year-old, if it was the police or an individual.
- The Christmas tree in Plaza España was lit last night, inconveniently at the same time as the jazz concert was going on. There were constant helicopters roaming around in the sky making tons of noise, filming the lighting of the tree so several times the band stopped and waited for the helicopters to go away (they never actually did, they were constantly coming and going). At the end there was a great fireworks show.
- Tomorrow I'm going to BUENOS AIRES! You have no idea how excited I am!!!! I REALLY miss my friends and "the big city". I'm actually going because I need to renew my visa so saturday I'm taking a boat to Uruguay and I'll return to Buenos Aires at 10PM. My friends have already sent me emails telling me that they planned the whole weekend and how they are SO excited for my arrival. This is something that I still don't have in Córdoba, a really tight nit group of friends and it will be nice to be in Buenos Aires and having that feeling again of familiarity and friendship. I feel like I arrived in Córdoba at the worst time (and everyone has told me that), just at the start of exams and what worries me is that by the the time I make a really good friend(s) I'll have to leave shortly after, because I'm only here for a year...Pero bueno, I'm probably thinking about this way too much and everything will work out and will be more comfortable through time and summer is not the best time for that, and I know that.

Ok I feel like this is really long and I don't know what else to say. Have a great weekend everyone!
If you want to  listen to "cuarteto" (musica cordobesa) and see pictures of this beautiful city and witness some of the rich culture, check out this youtube video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOfCVGgIEqw

SOY CORDOBÉS!

Almost 2 months!!!!

Sorry again guys but I forgot to upload the pictures from the sierras. Hopefully I'll remember sometime next week and post a picture in the next blog. I just looked at the calendar and it has almost been 2 months since my arrival here, I had no idea (I got to Córdoba October 5, but I arrived in Argentina September 22)!


Heres whats been going on...


Hillel: 
- So it turns out that this weekend we are not going to Buenos Aires. It was just to difficult and very short timing, because we had our end of the year party and then we would have had to go directly from the party to the bus to go to Buenos Aires. Also, bus and flight tickets were very expensive (obviously they would be, booking last minute is always more expensive). I hope there will be more weekend events in the future because I would love to see what Buenos Aires does. 
- Last night we had our end of the year party which was great! We rented out part of a "boliche", a night club and shmoozed, had pizza and beer and just chilled and hung out. We rented the boliche until about 2AM and then we went to the other part of the boliche and joined everyone (the public) and went dancing. I left at 3AM because I had my swim class this morning at 9AM (which I'll explain later) and I'm sure that people probably stayed until 5AM...
- We had a meeting the other day to discuss the year, what were success, challenges and what we need to improve on. I obviously had very little to say being that I arrived in Argentina at the very end of the year (basically Argentina closes from December-February/March). I did think of an idea though for next year (of course I thought of it after the meeting). Many people have been telling me how they would love to take an English class because they would like to learn, or they used to speak it very well and their English is getting rusty and how they would like to practice with me. So I'm thinking, I know that the JSC fellows in Ukraine do a program called "American Coffee" and it's basically an informal English conversation class. Many people come to Hillel and just sit, chill out and watch TV. Maybe I could incorporate American Coffee into this down time? 
- No news with spring break. I am making leads on scheduling a horseback riding day trip. Now I just need to talk to Yanina about prices. 
- I have translated 34 out of 37 pages of that very long, difficult document!!!! I'm quite proud of myself because I have never done anything like that before. It will probably be done by wednesday or thursday!!!!


Social welfare: No news there but all is well. Apparently in the summer there is less work so I need to talk to Elsa about when I should come in December. 


Macabi: 
- I am getting SO excited for International Convention! Everything is falling into place so nicely and almost everything is planned! Heres the itinerary (we still need to work out some details). So the 2 Argentine girls and I would arrive in LA either the 12th or 13th of February, stay with my mom and Morgan (my 16 year old sister) in a hotel in LA and go touring until the 16th, when International Convention Starts. We will be at International Convention until the morning of February 21 and then from there we would go to San Diego and stay there till February 24 or 25 (we still don't have flights). The girls will be coming to my house in San Diego and we will go touring!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited, because I'm living here in Córdoba seeing how their community functions and how "la vida cotidiana", everyday life is and now they can see how I grew up and what my life is like in the U.S. 
- I had a meeting about International Convention with the girls and their parents. The parents told me they wish they can come too and thanked me numerous times for my hospitality, for being so responsible and for keeping and taking care of their needs and their daughters. Guys, I feel like an adult, It's kinda scaring me haha. 
- Tomorrow is the last day of activities at Macabi. It turns out that we will not be making jelly donuts which I'm a bit bummed about. I have no idea when or why it was decided that we were not going to make them, no one told me, even though I asked many times...So because we are not making the donuts I thought of a few other ideas such as playing Chanukkah songs, doing a hebrew word search to find words associated with Channukah and giving the kids gelt at the end of the day. Basically I was trying to think of ideas that the kids could take home with them and do during the holiday. I have no idea if any of my ideas will be implemented at Macabi tomorrow and again I asked many times about this...
- Tomorrow night is the closing event for the Madrijim students, where they receive their diplomas for graduating from the school and then in March they get to be Madrijim, aka lead activities every saturday for a group of kids. I will be attending that event. 
- So it turns out for the month of December I will be in Córdoba. I will be working at the day camp and then in January I'll go to the province of Buenos Aires and work at the sleep away camp in Villa Gesell, a beach town. I'm excited for the sleep away camp, to meet Argentines (and some my age!) from all over Argentina and to learn what camp is like in Argentina (it seems to be very different than my camp experience in the U.S.). From what it sounds like, I'll be working at the canteen, doing administrative work and helping the Madrijim and the Roshim with whatever they need. The camp is from January 4-13 and afterwards I'm going to work in Buenos Aires for two weeks, doing the work that I was going to do initially before I learned about the day camp in Córdoba. 


Argentina: 
- It seems like the whole world is studying for exams, aka my social life is nothing to brag about. And soon many people will be leaving Córdoba to go home to their provinces. Everyone has been telling me that my "vida Cordobesa" will really start and take off in March when the new calendar/school year starts. I really hope they are right, because although I'm really liking Córdoba, being here and the work that I'm doing, socially it has not been the best, because right when I got here is when people started studying for exams. 
- Next weekend I'm going to BUENOS AIRES! I'm really going because I need to go to Uruguay to renew my tourist visa and in order to do that I need to take a boat from Buenos Aires to get there, so I figured why not make a weekend out of it. I'm SO excited, because I REALLY miss my friends and the city. Seriously my plan for Uruguay is to get there, eat lunch, take a nap on the río de la plata, eat dinner and come back to Buenos Aires. I'm going to Colonia, Uruguay and I've been there about 6 times so I've done all the touristy things. I  come back to Córdoba monday morning. 
- So as I mentioned in the previous blog, from what everyone has been telling me, summer time is really dead here, so I've been trying to think of activities to do to fill my time. Yesterday I joined a swim club and I will be doing a masters swim class 3 days a week. I went today for the first time and it was a good workout but interesting, different than my experience swimming in the US. In total about 5 lanes were being used. Everyone was swimming and working out, but sometimes, ok many times, for example someone in lane one would stop in the middle of the pool to talk (really more like scream) to the person swimming in late five. So these two people would be stopped in the middle of the pool, on opposite sides of the pool, talking and starting conversation with other lanes!!! I felt like it was as if they were drinking cafe in the pool, and squeezing in sometime to work out. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not complaining or think they are lazy, I thought it was hilarious! I have never seen or heard of this happening in the U.S. (I used to swim a lot back in the day) and what they were doing totally coincides with the Argentine culture. I really enjoyed the workout and I will be swimming every monday, wednesday and friday. 
- In addition to swimming, I still need more activities to do so I'm looking into taking a Spanish or Portuguese class and some dance classes (either tango or salsa). 
- There is a possibility that I may be moving. I really like my apartment, its very nice and in a great location, but I've just had so many problems with it and it's not fair to me or my colleagues that I've missed/arrived super late to work waiting around for the handy man. The water in the bathroom has been leaking ever since I got here and no one knows why (people have hypothesized but someone has yet to figure out why) and basically for me that drew the line and thats when I decided that I would like to move. I will be looking at apartments probably in about 10 days or so, when everyone will be gone and if I see an apartment that I like better, hopefully I'll be moving. Honestly it's not the end of the world if i don't move, I'll just probably have to miss more work some point in the future waiting around for the handyman, which I don't want to do but if I have to I will. 
- I've said this before (I don't know if I mentioned it in my blog but I've definitely said it to family and friends) and I'll say it again, I have NO idea how Argentines are so skinny! On one of the main avenues by Hillel (Av. Estrada) there are about 5 ice cream parlors in 4 blocks and they are always jammed pack with skinny people eating ice cream. Cordobeses LOVE ice cream and could sit for hours eating it (the porteños do this with café), and everyone is SO skinny! Being that I am trying to adapt to the culture, I too have been eating quite a bit of ice cream (the many flavors of dulce de leche are just to die for). Being that it's summer, I don't know if thats the best idea (bikini season) but its so hard to think like that when the ice cream is so good! 


Anyways I think I basically summed up the week and whats been going on here. Every day I'm more Cordobesa, and I'm liking it :-)