Subte Fun

This Blog is for aunt Michelle...as requested a video of what it is like to be on the Subte (Subway) when it is packed from corner to corner. This video is not even as bad as it can get.


The great part about this time was that I almost lost my arm!! I went into the subte sideways (well I was pushed in) and my arm got sandwiched between everyone behind me. As people pushed me further in, my arm did not get pushed along. No harm done just a nice Indian Burn.

Jardin Japones

Yesterday we went to a Japanese Garden in Palermo (on of the neighborhoods in BA). It was really beautiful there and they had very exotic plants. My favorite was the flower on the vine below. I'm not sure what the flower is called because there was no sign but it was beautiful.

There were tons!!! tons!! of Koi!! And they were huge! I have never see them so big. They were stalking us.They even had a little pond for the baby koi.

There was a water fall off of the middle island.

The inner Geisha in me really came out and Tim could not hold back his Samurai skills.

We were crafty and took this picture of ourselves by balancing our camera on a giant rock. It is my favorite We decide that it was a must to have one of these in our backyard when we have our own house.
And finally a little video of the garden from the top of the middle island...

Elections!!

So you all should know that we have officially voted! The Embassy here had a little voting party yesterday for all the American citizens to turn in and fill our their absentee ballots.

It was really neat seeing so many Americans that were abroad coming and voting. I over heard one of the workers say that there were over 500 people that turned out to vote. This picture of half of the line waiting to get inside.

We could not take a picture of the Embassy (the outside or inside) for security reasons...this picture was taken through the gate when we where waiting in line (do not tell) :)

It is also funny how many people that we have run into that ask who we are going to vote for. Obama is very popular here and it is always entertaining to hear people from other countries talking about who the next Americas president should be! It just shows how much people follow politics in the States. I just pray that God will have his hand in who ever the next president is. I'm sure at home things are crazy with all the commercials and election fun.

Well anyway it was really exciting and fun for Tim and I because it is the first election that we have voted in. I missed the last one because I did not turn 18 until the next month and Tim forgot to register. What a great first time experience to do it abroad!!!

Cataratas

Iguazú!!!!!!



So we thought that the zoo was the highlight of being in Argentina...well we have found something that has surpassed it...Iguazú Falls! You can tell by the videos that it is amazing how powerful nature is. There are over 200 falls here! And there are 4 big ones; the one in the videos is the biggest one and the picture below is of some of the smaller falls.

This picture was taken on a bridge that was over a little waterfall. The picture is looking down on the fall.

Everything was really green and jungle like.

The ground had so much clay in it that the mud puddles were orange!

The best part of the trip was we got to see a monkey! I was hanging from a tree and picking on a bamboo tree. So COOL! It is so different than seeing monkeys at the zoo. Unfortunately we did not see any toucans. This was probably do to the fact that the sky was exploding with rain. We even got some thunder and lightning.

If you click on the picture it is easier to see the monkey (he is sitting where the branches meet on the center tree)

We where sad to not be able to make it to the Jesuit Mission ruins but we will some day. We just did not have enough time. We got there too late on Friday, spent all day on Saturday at the falls, and left early on Sunday morning. Who knows we might end up living permanently down here someday.

Another little thing about the rain on Saturday was that we got drenched! We figured that we did not need to buy the 4 peso plastic ponchos to stay dry...ha we were wrong! When we sat down to eat for lunch I had my own little waterfall under my chair. There was not a dry spot on me.

Starting out we were nice and dry (Tim's hair was damp from taking a shower).

And ending with us all wet. (crying on the inside)

Sorry...AGAIN!!

We want to make it up to you all for the times we have not blogged. Midterms went well and we still have two more to go (they are spread out more here than in the States).

We have had some great times this month. We saw a Tango show, found some American fast food, and went to the Zoo. I have written blogs about all of the events and pictures of course. The next three blogs are about such things.

Enjoy!

Love You all!!
The Kuhnaus in BA

Lions and Tigers and Bears...OH MY

Ok I have had the highlight of highlights in living in BA...We went to the Zoo on Saturday!! Yeah we were of the minority of adults there without kids...


I just have one word about the zoo: Amazing!!


They have a POLAR BEAR. We had never seen one before. And both decide that getting one as a pet was a must.
The architecture in the place was amazing as well! The place was built in 1876 (opened the next year) and by looking at some of the buildings it feels like your watching a old move where they go to the circus. It sure puts Boise's and Seattle's zoo to shame! (I have never been to the one in Portland or San Diego so I can not judge).



Probably the coolest part was how close the animals were to everyone. The cages were open with big motes surrounding the island where the animal was. The elephants could almost touch us with there trunks.
If you ever have a chance, and are in BA go to the ZOO!!

Subway eat fresh...

Some of you may know but we are in major withdrawals from Taco Bell!! Sadly BA does not have Taco Bell. They have some great Mexican restaurants but nothing compared to the artificial cheese and questionable hamburger of Taco Bell...hey I would even settle for a Taco Time :)

Anyway we needed something to cope with our culture shock. Let me tell you that when you have been away from a native culture for a long period of time you start to miss the strangest things. Also you should know that culture shock sucks. I spent some time really mad at my inability to speak audible Spanish. I kept telling Tim that all I wanted to do was go home. The funny part is we do not have a home in the States and what I really was saying that I just wanted to go to Taco Bell.

With McDonald's on every corner and Burger King on the other corners it just did not seem like they could get the job done....That was when I went online and in a desperate attempt to find a legendary fast food joint I found SUBWAY (of all things). We hopped on the Subte and were off to find the place.



We both got 30 cm of Turkey goodness (FYI turkey and chicken lunch meat are unheard of in these parts). Let me tell you it made our day! Thank-you Jared Fogle.

Want to Dance?

For everyone that does not know, the Tango started in Buenos Aires. It is a very big deal here! It actually started in a neighborhood very close to ours (our house is on the border of San Telmo and La Boca): La Boca in the Caminito area. This area is really neat with different colored buildings. We have not gone yet but we will post pictures when we do...it is on our list.

This is what the place looked like before everyone got there. The stage is on the right (can not really see it because the pic is really dark).




The beginning of this month we went to a Tango show and dinner. It was our second one. The food at this Tango was a lot better then the first. The first show was when we first got here and it was with the study abroad program that we are here with. You all should know that Argentina has great food if you eat beef and carbs; their beef is amazing (and I do not eat beef very often). Not only was the food better but the show as even by far the best. They even had gauchos (they are a kind of Argentina cowboy that would get together and have music competitions, dances, and knife fights) that did a couple of a little numbers.


We went with a group of Seattle Pacific University students that came down for a couple of weeks with Dr. Nuesh-Olver. It was great to see them and to be around something so familiar.

Bear With US..

We are currently having midterms...we have many things we have to blog about but no time. Just wanted to let you know we are doing well and miss you all! And will be blogging soon!

M.I.A.

OK...Ok...OK...

I guess we should start posting more blogs....For there is not an episode to watch of Smallville until Thursday...it is ok, go wipe your tears....

On a interesting note...SPU is in Buenos Aires!! We have hung out with them a couple of times and will be watching a Tango show with them on Thursday.

I'm not sure how much you all know about BA but there is a famous cemetery in the Recoleta neighborhood. Famously wealthy people are in the crematories. It was really neat seeing all the amazing architectures of the little building that are staked up on top of each other.


The highlight was seeing where Eva Peron was. If you do not know who she is, google her! She is known as the mother of Argentina. Juan and Eva Peron were able to hold the liberal and conservatives under one party "Peronist" which is a rare thing for any country. You can tell how much the people love her because of all the flowers that are on the tomb (Eva's was the only one so brightly decorated).


Another interesting fact about the place was all the cats. There are 30 plus cats that live there. Some one comes in and feeds them...The care takers are not to happy about this...In fact we saw a brush-in with one of the care takers and a guy feeding the cats. It was rather funny because he said (in Spanish) "Do not feed them because I do not want to pick up their s*&#" (Lets make this PG for everyone)...Tim and I laughed...I have a video of part of there conversation:




(you guys have to love us because it takes two tries and about two hours for us to post videos!) The last people you see are the guys arguing about feeding the cats.

I guess he did not know that cats are the guardians of the underworld...

¿Por qué no hay los comentarios?

So every day at the break of dawn, we wake up and run to the computer to see if anyone in the world loves us and reads our stories, but lately the days have grown long and silent. We spend hours on end moping around the house wondering if perhaps a power outage due to solar flares has plagued North America for the past week or maybe an electromagnetic pulse weapon has disabled all of the computer networks and phone lines leaving the USA nothing more than a third world country overnight (like in that show Dark Angel). Surely that would explain why no one has commented on any of our recent blogs. Until we hear from someone, I guess we'll just have to keep doing what we have been doing (which is really watching a season of Smallville every two days).
If anyone is out there, we send our love and hope that you are fairing well in the post apocalyptic USA and question how you actually read this.

Love Tim & AnneMarie