JP interviews on a local radio station!

I was asked by Ceci Castelli, a local DJ on FM Meridiano here in Rosario, to come on the air and talk about economics. She's a very talented interviewer and asked me some pretty tough questions. It was so much fun! I hope I didn't bore her audience too much. :)

After the interview, I saw a protest in the street outside the radio studio. In the picture below you can see a common protest activity -- burning a tire in the street.

Cordoba

The picture above shows the cabildo at night.

Intercity buses are used quite heavily in Argentina, and the system seems to work quite efficiently. Over the weekend I went to the city of Cordoba, a city much older than Rosario and a center of Jesuit activity. The city center around Plaza San Martin is beautiful! Here is the beautiful church at night.

JP

More pictures from our Saturday event at UCEL

Before the festivities began, we waited outside in front of UCEL.

In every group of students I have traveled with, there is ALWAYS somebody who does not like to be photographed (I'm kind of like that, too). In our group, it's Robyn, revealing her camera shyness. Amy is a good friend providing moral support.

Yes, you can actually get college students to wear something OTHER than jeans, occasionally, although it's difficult.

Andrea struck up a conversation with Angel, a UCEL faculty member.

Chau, JP

Saturday event at UCEL

Last Saturday UCEL had their big "kickoff" event for the new semester (early March is like early September back home and is when classes begin!) Here are some pictures from the event. A good time was had by everyone!

Mate in Rosario

Drinking Mate (pronounced "ma tay") is one of the joys of being here. It's a kind of tea that is commonly enjoyed throughout Argentina and other parts of South America. It's very strong, and a whole ritual is involved. Here you can see your humble blogger with Cassie and Eliana. Eliana works with UCEL and has provided amazing support for our group. She is not just someone I work with; she is also a very good friend!

Adapting to our new culture

I think adapting to a different culture varies tremendously from person to person. For me, being used to living in or near large urban areas, I feel quite at home with the size and pace of Rosario. It is a good-sized city, a bit more than 1.2 million, but doesn’t seem gigantic. And I’m used to taking public transportation and taxis to get around.

My biggest challenge has been with respect to communication. Over the last decade or so, I feel like I have developed a much deeper sense of the subtleties of language. Small word changes can have huge changes in meaning. I find fascinating, for example, how language changes, morphs and develops to reflect the broader society. For example, do you notice how often we adopt terms from computer technologies in everyday usage (the first image in your mind when you hear “Spam” is no longer the meat product in the can)? I think it’s interesting that we don’t have “problems” anymore, but instead we have “issues.” In any event, I've grown to appreciate the finer points of English.

When you try to use a new language, the finer points of communication go completely out the window, and you’re left with trying to communicate in very basic ways. You speak simply, use the present tense, and often incorporate hand and facial gestures. It’s hard when you are in your late teens to do this. It’s even more difficult for an ol’ Economics professor. I have had, and will continue to have, many situations where I simply don’t understand what people are saying to me and I am not able to express what I want to say. For a word nerd, that’s a hard thing to accept.

But all is not without hope. UCEL has terrific instructors who understand the difficulties we are facing and they are providing us with excellent support. Moreover, because we’re here a full semester, tomorrow is another day, and if today was tough, we can give it another try tomorrow. And I suppose that’s how language is learned – not in a few “aha” moments, but instead a long, series of small advances, with a pinch of movement here and a dash of retreat there.

JP

Protests

One thing you learn very quickly in Argentina is that there are countless groups that protest here. Sometimes the protests are large, organized and regularly scheduled (for example, the well-known Mothers of the Disappeared in Buenos Aires, every Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in Plaza de Mayo). Often, however, protests just kind of happen. They can be loud and very large, or, as happened on Friday, consisted of 5 people who were banging on drums and blowing whistles as they walked outside my apartment building at 7:30 a.m. It's just one of those occurrences that happen here.

JP

Our first week

Well, we have finished our first week of classes at UCEL. I have to say this has been one heck of a week. I am excited about the next four months, but the first week reinforced for me how limited my Spanish is. I am amazed at people who can learn another language without living in a country where that language is spoken. This will be one BUSY, BUSY semester.

Jim

First week of classes

We are well into our first week of classes. I have to say that UCEL is a very busy place, with a lot of activity. It starts early and ends very late, although the Simpson students only have their Spanish language classes during the day. We have a few students who are taking regular UCEL classes, which take place in the evening.

I'm taking (at least for the moment) all of the Spanish language classes -- Intermediate Spanish, Advanced Spanish, Written and Oral communication in Spanish, and History and Culture of Argentina. This is in addition to the two classes I'm teaching. Yikes, I'm going to be very busy these next four months!

JP