Bienvenidos

Greetings Family and Friends,
I am so terribly sorry that it has taken me so long to get this blog up and running. I had realized that moving to a foreign country would bring forth several difficulties, but never imagined how consuming they would be. It has taken me a full six weeks to work out my class schedule (harder than it sounds), obtain my visa, procure an apartment, and settle into living in Buenos Aires. Since I have been so remiss in my updates I would like to take this opportunity to give you a quick run down of the past month and a half.

Buenos Aires: The city is amazing. I would say the closest US city it resembles is New York. It has theater, musicals, a wealth of culture, and it seems a new restaurant starts up every day. The center of the city is called the "Micro Centro" and most things seem to gravitate towards that area. There are around 44 barrios (neighborhoods) that are part of the Capital Federal (the name for the city) and Buenos Aires itself is one of the many regions (equivalent to US states) that make up the Republic of Argentina. Buenos Aires is a port city located along the Rio de la Plata (River of Silver) and adjoining the Atlantic Ocean. The weather systems are actually pretty close to that of Tidewater Virginia, with four seasons and a noticeable amount of humidity.

The People: Simply amazing. Everyone I've met has been so outwardly friendly and helpful that it's been hard to believe. I came down here knowing literally nobody and somehow my social circle has expanded rapidly. Whenever a problem has presented itself there always seems to be some sort of connection and the problem is resolved. The youth are also quite agreeable. In most of my travels (through Europe) the intrigue of America seems to be worn out, but here that is not the case. I think this is due in large part to South America (especially Argentina) having a close connection to the United States. People down here have been following the election near as close as those in the states. Newspapers have stories every day and each person I meet inquires about the election.

The School: The education system functions very differently here. I am enrolled in the University of Buenos Aires, which is a public school here. In Argentina public school is completely free, which also means that it is in incredibly high demand? The public schools are considered the best here, hands down, and the curriculum is quite demanding along with admissions process. Since university income comes from the government, they lack a lot of additional support systems that I simply took for granted. The classrooms are very simple: desks and a chalkboard, that's it. No computers, no LCD, nothing. I have to admit I kind of like in the old school sort of way. Additionally, every cost is passed along to the student. Even something simple like a class syllabus needs to be procured by students. The way this usually works is there is a Photocopier near the school that has the syllabus "on file." They also generally tend to have class readings on file, and you go there and tell them your class and professor and they make all the photocopies for you. Most of the readings are excerpts or texts, but photocopied, so it's quite cheap, though I'm unsure how well it abides by copyright laws.

Setup: Attaining my Argentine visa was quite a difficult process. Visas for most countries are procured through the embassy in one's own home country. Argentina, however, must be done in country. It's actually so confusing that my university and the consulate gave me conflicting reports as the where I get it and what I need. After tracking down all of my necessary information from the US, I had to get that officially translated into Castellano and Argentine background check down here. After three trips and many hours in Immigration, I have at last obtained my visa. Another great difficulty I faced was finding housing. The housing market down here only operates on two levels: for locals and non-locals. The local lease here is for a minimum of two years and requires a guarantia, who is a property owner that guarantees rent will be paid for the two years. The rest of the housing market is filled with temporarios, short term leases that usually come furnished. These, however, are usually meant for tourists and those who are here anywhere from 1 week to 3 months. The two year apartments are much cheaper and often offered in pesos but without furniture, whereas the temporarios usually come furnished but are priced in dollars and usually include a rather large foreigner premium. The problem is that as a student who is here for a year, I don't really fit either mold. After many weeks of searching my roommate (Patrick Beary, another Rotary Scholar) and I happened into a place that somehow broke from the mold. It was another situation like I mentioned before, where a friend of a friend was a broker. Due to such "close connections" they allowed us to have a two year lease with an escape clause after ten months. The negotiations and contract signing were all a bit stressful since they took places in spanish, but in the end, it's worked out quite well.

Overall I would say that I have never taken to a city quite so easily. Despite my difficulties the experience thus far has been amazing. Now that I am finally starting to have some free time I look forward to finding ways that I can better myself and those in need of assistance.