Updates from Argentina

I've already written briefly about asado in a previous post. So far, I think my favorite thing about Argentina is the food. And in terms of food, it doesn't get better than this (unless you're vegetarian).  Asado starts out as cuts of various Argentinian meats bought from a carnicería. Different types of beef and pork are staples. This includes sausage, chorizo, achuras, riñon, and more.  Some Argentine families cook asado every weekend, others do not. I am very fortunate to be a part of one of the former. On Saturday or Sunday, my host dad or host brother usually oversees asado. The process starts by lighting a wood fire in the halfpipe grate on the right. Then, the meat is laid out on the flat grill and seasoned with salt and other spices. Once the fire has been burning steadily for a few minutes, a poker is used to dislodge red-hot embers from the logs, which are scooped up and spread underneath the grill. The process of adding embers underneath

Because I'm one of the more well-spoken exchange students here in Paraná, I was part of a group of them who were invited to each create a slideshow about our country and present it to a school group. Being me, I put it off until the day before we were supposed to present. With the help of my liaison, I slapped something together, which you can see for yourself here (although bear in mind it is in Spanish):  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1RvewZ7Oa2kZqMoBwUFWraq1JShXrnmEevTLWsuQMITs/edit?usp=sharing If you don't have time for that, don't know Spanish, or just don't care, here's a summary: Slide 1: Our flag and what it represents Slides 2-3: Maps Slide 4: The climate in Chicago Slide 5: Population, languages, and religions Slides 6-8: Holidays Slides 9-11: OPRFHS Slide 12: Youth Culture Slide 13: Popular food This is me and the other exchange students comparing flag sizes (mine's the biggest): Because I was the last to finish my

1. Dinner is much later This is true in many Latin American countries. While in the US my family likes to eat earlier than usual (6:30, usually), my host family likes to eat later than usual. 10:00 is pretty normal here, but we eat between 11-12. But it's always delicious. 2. Ways of greeting people While in the US handshakes are common ways of greeting new people, here, people greet each other with a kiss on the cheek (except between guys who aren't familiar with each other, in which case a handshake suffices). 3. School schedules In the US, school usually goes from around 8-9am to 3-4pm. Here, school is split into two schedules. Half of the students attend in the morning, while the other half attends in the afternoon. I am in the afternoon half, so my classes start at 1:30 and go to 7:30 most days. Also, we have a short recreo (recess) in between each subject. 4. Students and Teachers The biggest difference is that students stay in the same classr

Okay. Some stuff has happened. Wednesday and Thursday of this past week was Estudiantina at my school. Estudiantina, for those of you that are unfamiliar, is essentially a party/fun-fair at school, when we don't have to wear our uniforms and play games instead of attending classes. It's a fun time.  Some student made the sign above in case any students forgot and arrived in their uniforms and carrying their books. On Wednesday, it was mostly party games like musical chairs, egg balancing, and cup stacking, along with friendly soccer games. Someone also brought a pack of water balloons, and things kinda got out of control. I'm not sure if you can tell, but everyone in the photo above is soaked. The water balloons got used up early, so it turned to squeezing water bottles onto people's heads, which then escalated to buckets and hoses. Then came Thursday. So, on Thursday, the main event was stage performances, which ranged from singing and playing guitar to

Okay, so, the food. It's amazing. It's much better than food in the US, and way cheaper too. For example, a basic hamburger here costs about 40 pesos, which translates to about one US dollar. And because Argentina has one of the best beef industries in the world, it tastes amazing too. I actually told my family last week that when I went back to the US, I would definitely miss them very much, but I would probably miss the food more.  That's a picture of one of my first breakfasts here. In case you can't tell, that's a dulce de leche pastry with hot chocolate. Bread and bread-based foods are a staple here, common at almost every meal. My host mom has a favorite panadería where she likes to buy the best pastries.  Those are photos of asado, being cooked and then served. Asado is a traditional meal that happens every Sunday, where different kinds of meat are grilled for lunch or for dinner. One of my favorites is chorizo, a type of sausage. And I must say, asa