WE GOT TWO THINGS IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!A post card from Hannah and a card from Patty and Keith! And if you are wondering we get our mail under our door (mail-person puts in the box and someone puts it under our door).
This is our Gas Heater. Toasty!
viernes, 18 de julio de 2008
WE GOT MAIL!!
WE GOT TWO THINGS IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!A post card from Hannah and a card from Patty and Keith! And if you are wondering we get our mail under our door (mail-person puts in the box and someone puts it under our door).
This is our Gas Heater. Toasty!
A Trip to the ER....
We are both fine. Nothing major happened but we did make a trip to the ER yesterday.
It all started on Monday night...I (AnneMarie) started to have signs of an "infección del urinario." We were still at the school and I had to walk all the way home (about a 20 minute walk). I almost throw-up and the way home!! I stayed home on Tuesday to stay close to the toilet and take my cranberry pills (which someone wise told me to take with on our little adventure). I was doing better but still had pain.
When Tim got home from school that day we walked to the store to try and find cranberry juice. Of course they do not have cranberry juice. It make matters worse they do not have a word for cranberry so that means there is no such thing as cranberries in Argentina. We figured it would be fine because I have my pills.
Wednesday rolls around and I'm feeling pretty good. I think it is time to have class. You should know that I have class 9am to 1pm, Tim has class from 2pm to 6pm, and then I have class 6:30pm to 9:30pm. Wednesday I did not have my morning class because there was an outing for international students. We go to school at 2pm for Tim's class. I'm doing pretty good the whole time he is in class. I even sit in his class room for the second half and learn some stuff.
At 6pm we are hungry so we get some food and find my class room in the library. I'm sitting in class hoping that she gives us a break because I have to go to the bathroom. It is 8:20pm and still no break. I get up and go to the bathroom. I'm doing ok...It hurts but not to bad. I go back to class and she calls a break. This is when everything starts to go down hill...I am really starting to hurt...break is over and she starts class again. I have to go back to the bathroom because the pain is getting bad. I'm sitting there and it has been a long time when a class mate comes in and asks if I'm ok. By the time I get out of the bathroom class is over. Tim and my Professor are talking. I come up to them (I'm really in pain now) and say I need to go home because I have blood in my urine (my professora already knows I have an infection).
This is the funny part about the difference between the cultures. My profesora gets really worried and says we need to go to the doctor right now. So she starts to take us to the school clinic. At this point I'm about ready to die. We start walking. Of course, Argentina being a "hot climate culture," people are not direct. Instead they ask how people are doing and chat before they ask what they really want. Keep this in mind to understand why I was really frustrated. My profesora had to stop and say hi to every every every every one that she knew on the way to clinic...I was about ready to scream!
The school has three buildings and they are all connected in an under grown hall way. We were all in the last building and the clinic was all the way at the end of the second building. The distance is about 1/4 of a mile. It took us forever to walk that distance and when we got to the clinic we had to have a nice chat with the Doctor before we even said what we needed. We where unable to get an examen then or antibiotics so I left Tim with them and ran for the bathroom.
We ended up calling the toilet my throne because of all the time I ended up spending on it! To make matters worse, the light in the bathroom goes on when people walk in. The light goes back off if one one has walked in or out after five minutes....FIVE MINUTES! Which goes to say, I sat in a smelly, small, PIT DARK room with tears because I was sure this meant death!
I convinced Tim to come in the lady's bathroom (by this time it was 10 and no one was around besides the cleaning crew and security). The doctor had given him some pain medicine and anti-inflammatory pills for me. He came in the bathroom and give me the pills. Of course, everyone around wondered why a man was going in the girls bathroom. In about 2 minutes everyone knew why I was in the bathroom and why!!!
At 10:40pm Tim tells me we need to get home...I have no idea how this is going to happen. He talks to one of the cleaning ladies for a while and she ends up calling a Taxi for us but only after asking Tim if we need an ambulance!! ha ha I get off the toilet and we start to walk. I craw into the taxi and we make it home at about 11pm...it was a long day.
The next day we try to go back to the school's clinic but they turn us away and say we need to go to a clinic and get test. Both my profesora and Tim's insisted that I go to the hospital. After finding out about how the insurance works we were on our way. Everything went smoothly and the doctor was nice. She also spoke English. We got antibiotics and I am perfecto today!
So that is the long story of how we ended up at the hospital yesterday....
It all started on Monday night...I (AnneMarie) started to have signs of an "infección del urinario." We were still at the school and I had to walk all the way home (about a 20 minute walk). I almost throw-up and the way home!! I stayed home on Tuesday to stay close to the toilet and take my cranberry pills (which someone wise told me to take with on our little adventure). I was doing better but still had pain.
When Tim got home from school that day we walked to the store to try and find cranberry juice. Of course they do not have cranberry juice. It make matters worse they do not have a word for cranberry so that means there is no such thing as cranberries in Argentina. We figured it would be fine because I have my pills.
Wednesday rolls around and I'm feeling pretty good. I think it is time to have class. You should know that I have class 9am to 1pm, Tim has class from 2pm to 6pm, and then I have class 6:30pm to 9:30pm. Wednesday I did not have my morning class because there was an outing for international students. We go to school at 2pm for Tim's class. I'm doing pretty good the whole time he is in class. I even sit in his class room for the second half and learn some stuff.
At 6pm we are hungry so we get some food and find my class room in the library. I'm sitting in class hoping that she gives us a break because I have to go to the bathroom. It is 8:20pm and still no break. I get up and go to the bathroom. I'm doing ok...It hurts but not to bad. I go back to class and she calls a break. This is when everything starts to go down hill...I am really starting to hurt...break is over and she starts class again. I have to go back to the bathroom because the pain is getting bad. I'm sitting there and it has been a long time when a class mate comes in and asks if I'm ok. By the time I get out of the bathroom class is over. Tim and my Professor are talking. I come up to them (I'm really in pain now) and say I need to go home because I have blood in my urine (my professora already knows I have an infection).
This is the funny part about the difference between the cultures. My profesora gets really worried and says we need to go to the doctor right now. So she starts to take us to the school clinic. At this point I'm about ready to die. We start walking. Of course, Argentina being a "hot climate culture," people are not direct. Instead they ask how people are doing and chat before they ask what they really want. Keep this in mind to understand why I was really frustrated. My profesora had to stop and say hi to every every every every one that she knew on the way to clinic...I was about ready to scream!
The school has three buildings and they are all connected in an under grown hall way. We were all in the last building and the clinic was all the way at the end of the second building. The distance is about 1/4 of a mile. It took us forever to walk that distance and when we got to the clinic we had to have a nice chat with the Doctor before we even said what we needed. We where unable to get an examen then or antibiotics so I left Tim with them and ran for the bathroom.
We ended up calling the toilet my throne because of all the time I ended up spending on it! To make matters worse, the light in the bathroom goes on when people walk in. The light goes back off if one one has walked in or out after five minutes....FIVE MINUTES! Which goes to say, I sat in a smelly, small, PIT DARK room with tears because I was sure this meant death!
I convinced Tim to come in the lady's bathroom (by this time it was 10 and no one was around besides the cleaning crew and security). The doctor had given him some pain medicine and anti-inflammatory pills for me. He came in the bathroom and give me the pills. Of course, everyone around wondered why a man was going in the girls bathroom. In about 2 minutes everyone knew why I was in the bathroom and why!!!
At 10:40pm Tim tells me we need to get home...I have no idea how this is going to happen. He talks to one of the cleaning ladies for a while and she ends up calling a Taxi for us but only after asking Tim if we need an ambulance!! ha ha I get off the toilet and we start to walk. I craw into the taxi and we make it home at about 11pm...it was a long day.
The next day we try to go back to the school's clinic but they turn us away and say we need to go to a clinic and get test. Both my profesora and Tim's insisted that I go to the hospital. After finding out about how the insurance works we were on our way. Everything went smoothly and the doctor was nice. She also spoke English. We got antibiotics and I am perfecto today!
So that is the long story of how we ended up at the hospital yesterday....
martes, 15 de julio de 2008
Cerveza si o no?
Ok so on request of what it is like to buy food here. I have a funny story. Yesterday, I went to this grocery store while Anne stayed home. I was going to go pick up some orange juice and when I got there I decided to buy some of the local beer too. It is about 3 pesos or 1 dollar for a 1000ml bottle (it is actually quite good, not cheap tasting).
Anyway, when I walk up to the cash register with my orange juice and beer, the cashier takes the beer and looks at it and then looks at me and says something that I don't quite catch. I thought he asked if I had ID, but then he takes the bottle Argentine beer and puts it back on the shelf where the beer is and starts pointing to bottles of Heineken and Bud Light. It seems like he won't let me select any of the local beers and I can't understand what he wants. About this time, a local sees us talking in the isle and asks in English if he can help. I ask him if he speaks English and he says yes, but then when he tries to help he speaks only Spanish (he really didn't speak much English). Anyway, after a long time of the two of them speaking the same phrase over and over again explaining what I need to do, I finally guess that they are saying that I need to return any of the beer bottles that are local. I ask them if that is what they are saying and they confirm it, but the cashier says that I need to bring it back tomorrow.
Being a 1000ml of beer and me being a light drinker, I am thinking that there is no way I am going to be able to finish the beer by tomorrow, so while I am paying for the beer, I go into another drawn out conversation with the man trying to determine whether it is necessary if I return the bottle by tomorrow or if I can turn it in later because I actually don't want to drink the whole bottle tonight. At this point a lady, who has been waiting in a different line (who I can actually understand) jokingly says in Spanish, "who cares when or where you drink the beer. That's not important. Just bring the bottle back when you are done." Thank you! Finally!! Oh good times speaking Spanish with people who have strong accents!
BTW gas is about 2.20 pesos per liter, Anne and I often buy amazing grande (eight slice) pizzas for 18 pesos, and pedestrians don't have the right of way but sidewalks are quite safe.
Anyway, when I walk up to the cash register with my orange juice and beer, the cashier takes the beer and looks at it and then looks at me and says something that I don't quite catch. I thought he asked if I had ID, but then he takes the bottle Argentine beer and puts it back on the shelf where the beer is and starts pointing to bottles of Heineken and Bud Light. It seems like he won't let me select any of the local beers and I can't understand what he wants. About this time, a local sees us talking in the isle and asks in English if he can help. I ask him if he speaks English and he says yes, but then when he tries to help he speaks only Spanish (he really didn't speak much English). Anyway, after a long time of the two of them speaking the same phrase over and over again explaining what I need to do, I finally guess that they are saying that I need to return any of the beer bottles that are local. I ask them if that is what they are saying and they confirm it, but the cashier says that I need to bring it back tomorrow.
Being a 1000ml of beer and me being a light drinker, I am thinking that there is no way I am going to be able to finish the beer by tomorrow, so while I am paying for the beer, I go into another drawn out conversation with the man trying to determine whether it is necessary if I return the bottle by tomorrow or if I can turn it in later because I actually don't want to drink the whole bottle tonight. At this point a lady, who has been waiting in a different line (who I can actually understand) jokingly says in Spanish, "who cares when or where you drink the beer. That's not important. Just bring the bottle back when you are done." Thank you! Finally!! Oh good times speaking Spanish with people who have strong accents!
BTW gas is about 2.20 pesos per liter, Anne and I often buy amazing grande (eight slice) pizzas for 18 pesos, and pedestrians don't have the right of way but sidewalks are quite safe.
lunes, 14 de julio de 2008
Nuestra Casa
Outside our entrance to our apartment
Where we hope to get mail :)Still are not quite sure how we get mail
The kitchen! with the impossible stove ;)
All our cloths fit! No worries there.
domingo, 13 de julio de 2008
Witnessing
Some of you might have heard that traffic is very interesting here...I quiet enjoy it because I do not have to drive. In fact my favorite thing to do right now is to take a taxi places.
Let me explain...there are no lanes of traffic the cars make their own lanes. They weave in and out of each other all the time with varying speeds. I have to sit in the middle of the back seat to prevent throwing up! If my mom was in the car she might have a heart attack :).
Ok so yesterday, Tim and I where discussing the traffic and how we think there are no accidents because everyone drives crazy. Then behold we are on the widest street in the world, Aveido 9 de julio (about 18+ lanes), sitting in the back seat of a taxi when we witnessed our first accident...the car in the "lane" next to us went into reverse and hit the car behind him...Tim and I where awestruck when the man driving the car in reverse did it to ask the Taxi driver directions. The man in the car that was hit got our and started to yell. I was ready for a fight but the guy was like, "your car is fine, it is fine, get back into your car" the other guy listened and Tim and I laughed about it.
Let me explain...there are no lanes of traffic the cars make their own lanes. They weave in and out of each other all the time with varying speeds. I have to sit in the middle of the back seat to prevent throwing up! If my mom was in the car she might have a heart attack :).
Ok so yesterday, Tim and I where discussing the traffic and how we think there are no accidents because everyone drives crazy. Then behold we are on the widest street in the world, Aveido 9 de julio (about 18+ lanes), sitting in the back seat of a taxi when we witnessed our first accident...the car in the "lane" next to us went into reverse and hit the car behind him...Tim and I where awestruck when the man driving the car in reverse did it to ask the Taxi driver directions. The man in the car that was hit got our and started to yell. I was ready for a fight but the guy was like, "your car is fine, it is fine, get back into your car" the other guy listened and Tim and I laughed about it.
viernes, 11 de julio de 2008
EVERYTHING IS IN SPANISH!!
So I'm trying to start this Blog thing and because I'm in Argentina...the website is in Spanish!! I can only figure out what I think it says...
Ok so our internet is having issues at our apartment so staring this has been long delayed!! We promise to put pictures up asap and to tell you all about our time here.
Tim is currently in class and I'm in the library (my class is at 09:00 and his is at 14:00) We have class everyday (Monday to Friday) four hours long!! I have not started because of the holiday on Wednesday and today there was a bicycle outing that, we slept in instead of going, that took place at 09:15.
I think that Argentina is a place everyone should go some day....I can not even explain to you what a great experience it is! It is nothing like home (other then the McDonald's and Burger Kings on ever other block). The Spanish is so different then "Mexican" Spanish that we use in the States. We kept thinking that people where speaking French...but not it is just the dialect! Their y's, ll's, and v's are different and it makes it very hard for me to pick up on what they are saying. Tim is doing amazing with his Spanish! I really do not know what I would do without him here!
There is so much to tell you guys about the city but I want to wait until we have pictures to show as well. We are waiting until we have lived here a little longer. The problem with taking pictures and carrying a camera is we look like tourist and can be targeted. Just give Tim a couple of more days and he will warm up :).
I made breakfast for the first time this morning! It was incredibly hard! Everything is gas but on the stove there is not really any temperature difference only little dots that I'm not sure what they mean. So it does not say high, medium, low but has big dots to little and then little to big. It took me about 1 1/2 hours to cook potatoes and scrambled eggs that would only take me 1/2 hour in the States.
Oh...the neighborhood we live in is called San Telmo. It is walking distance to pretty much everything and has easy excess to the bus and subway. And a little intresting fact is how many American movies and TV shows (like the Office and Lost) they have in English with Spanish subtitles.
We love you guys!
AnneMarie and Tim
Ok so our internet is having issues at our apartment so staring this has been long delayed!! We promise to put pictures up asap and to tell you all about our time here.
Tim is currently in class and I'm in the library (my class is at 09:00 and his is at 14:00) We have class everyday (Monday to Friday) four hours long!! I have not started because of the holiday on Wednesday and today there was a bicycle outing that, we slept in instead of going, that took place at 09:15.
I think that Argentina is a place everyone should go some day....I can not even explain to you what a great experience it is! It is nothing like home (other then the McDonald's and Burger Kings on ever other block). The Spanish is so different then "Mexican" Spanish that we use in the States. We kept thinking that people where speaking French...but not it is just the dialect! Their y's, ll's, and v's are different and it makes it very hard for me to pick up on what they are saying. Tim is doing amazing with his Spanish! I really do not know what I would do without him here!
There is so much to tell you guys about the city but I want to wait until we have pictures to show as well. We are waiting until we have lived here a little longer. The problem with taking pictures and carrying a camera is we look like tourist and can be targeted. Just give Tim a couple of more days and he will warm up :).
I made breakfast for the first time this morning! It was incredibly hard! Everything is gas but on the stove there is not really any temperature difference only little dots that I'm not sure what they mean. So it does not say high, medium, low but has big dots to little and then little to big. It took me about 1 1/2 hours to cook potatoes and scrambled eggs that would only take me 1/2 hour in the States.
Oh...the neighborhood we live in is called San Telmo. It is walking distance to pretty much everything and has easy excess to the bus and subway. And a little intresting fact is how many American movies and TV shows (like the Office and Lost) they have in English with Spanish subtitles.
We love you guys!
AnneMarie and Tim
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