Thursday - came and went quick as it was crazy to think that I had already been here for a week. We had normal class, then I spent an hour and a half hearing about the Patagonia's from one of the other students. He was a huge help as I am planning my adventures post this month long Rosario home-stay. Not sure how he dealt with all of my pesky questions, but he did.
Then I took the bus to the Newell's soccer stadium to try and purchase a ticket for Saturday's home match. Turns out they weren't selling tickets (aka "entradas" or "plateas") until Friday, but I walked around a bit and the area is great. It is not like a stadium in the US, remember there are no parking lots in this city. So it is in the middle of a park, but it is more part of a sports complex. There are well kept clay tennis courts and a run down basketball arena outside the stadium, as well as a large picnic table eating area. Those plus the trees, and you really can't even see the stadium that well from a far. After all, it only seats 40K and the concrete is run down like the coliseum. The large park also features a pond with 2 person, foot-pedal, row boats and a cafe with outdoor seating. I sat down at a table and did my Spanish homework while I enjoyed the 75 degree weather and the man soliciting his Mikey Mouse and Princess balloons.
Dinner at home featured Chicken legs and liver with yellow rice.
Friday - Went back to the cancha after class to find a monstrous line for the entradas. After an hour and a half of very little conversation and a lottttttttttt of people watching and red and black (the Newell's colors), I had my $350 upper deck Platea. On my walk home, I got some ice cream (very big here), and picked up Lumi at her cousin's house. The real adventure of the night started when I was in charge of watching the kids while the parents enjoyed some time away. It really was a pretty smooth babysitting sesh if you don't mind the fact that Lumi woke up from a nap crying for mama, uncle Alejandro came over and dropped of his 5 year old son while he rode his bike, Lumi fell and busted her lip running back into the house, Mirko fell and hit his head while the three kids were tearing up the living room, and the parents came back over 2 hours after they said they would. I thought it went well.
Then we casually strolled up late (or on time for an Argentinian) to dinner at Bonavena with the rest of the language school, where I enjoyed a large burger and a Liter of Schneider beer. Some local buddies that I met on Tuesday came and picked me up, and we went out on the town. First to a local kiosk with some outdoor seating, then to a riverside club/bar, then to the late night pizza option: La Malteria (I highly recommend it and will probably go back soon). It was a great night because we compared cultures all night and I got to meet and converse with a lot of their friends (old and brand new). I got home at the very authentically Argentinian hour of 5:30am.
Saturday - Rolled out of bed at 12 to head to the river and meet another crew of locals for some kayaking. We met at one of the spots called La Pulperia on "the island" across the river. It is an incredible place. A very small beach, people were just lounging all over the place and picnic-ing or hanging in the water. There was also a small bar/restaurant 75 meters inland from the water and a sand volleyball court, which I got to play a quick 2 games on. Basically I just hung out with 2 locals, had some "Terere" (teh-reh-reh) and enjoyed the perfect weather.
I was back at the house by 6:30 and already so excited for the Newell's match. Apparently it was supposed to be a great game and very live since it was the first game of the season and Newell's has a rich history of winning. In Rosario, there are 2 main stream soccer teams, Newell's and Rosario Central. The rivalry is actually very heated that arguments break out all of the time. Soccer rivalries in this part of the world are so crazy that they stopped allowing visiting fans at the arenas. So, at the game it was 100% Newell's fans.
It was so different than a game of any kind in the US. 1) no parking lot so no tailgating, people got there no more than an hour early and would go into the stadium and start singing their team's songs. 2) There is no screen in the stadium for replays, scoring, advertisements, or anything. In fact, there isn't even a clock or a scoreboard anywhere, you watch the time on your phone to know when half and final whistle will be. 3) People whistle to show dislike (ex: during the opposing team's lineup announcement, when the visitors were running out, when there was a bad call, etc). People clap to signify approval, didn't hear any "Boos". 4) The rowdy section and drum line was singing their songs literally the entire game, including during/after an opposing goal. There were people in this section that I'm positive couldn't even see the game because of the flag on top of their section, they were just singing/chanting. 5) The concessions were basically nothing. The entire half of the stadium had one 10 meter area with 2 table to buy some hamburgers or hot dogs if they wanted, but zero people were out there during the game. The game really was just a sporting event and people came to watch, it wasn't an event like in the states. There wasn't even a half time show. But it was a ton of fun, and I got to see 5 goals, but Newell's came out on the wrong end, 3-2.
Got home at 10:30, the night was young. I went to Gaby's hostel: The Casa de Don Jaime, where there was supposed to be a "previa" (pre-game) until 1am. Wasn't really anyone there, but I hung out with a few of the locals and residents until we made our way to Moore boliche (<---- aka night club) at 2am. It was next to the river and a fantastic set up with indoor and outdoor options, multiple upstairs areas, and a large VIP section. They played american house music for the first 2.5 hours, and then Reggaeton for the rest of the night. The live band came on for their 30 minute set from 3:45-4:15. It was very energetic and air conditioned and the boliche was probably most crowed at 4:30am, such a different experience. Also, the drinking age is 18, so there were a lot of clearly yougins.
When I got home at 5:45, I had a quick FaceTime sesh with my boy JAD, and as the sun was rising, I figured it would probably be a good idea to get to sleep before the family starting waking up.
The good news is that I am alive and don't have much to do today besides blog and homework and such. The bad news.... it's a 4 day weekend, and I have been invited to enjoy tonight as well. This argentinian life style is rough.
Then I took the bus to the Newell's soccer stadium to try and purchase a ticket for Saturday's home match. Turns out they weren't selling tickets (aka "entradas" or "plateas") until Friday, but I walked around a bit and the area is great. It is not like a stadium in the US, remember there are no parking lots in this city. So it is in the middle of a park, but it is more part of a sports complex. There are well kept clay tennis courts and a run down basketball arena outside the stadium, as well as a large picnic table eating area. Those plus the trees, and you really can't even see the stadium that well from a far. After all, it only seats 40K and the concrete is run down like the coliseum. The large park also features a pond with 2 person, foot-pedal, row boats and a cafe with outdoor seating. I sat down at a table and did my Spanish homework while I enjoyed the 75 degree weather and the man soliciting his Mikey Mouse and Princess balloons.
Dinner at home featured Chicken legs and liver with yellow rice.
Friday - Went back to the cancha after class to find a monstrous line for the entradas. After an hour and a half of very little conversation and a lottttttttttt of people watching and red and black (the Newell's colors), I had my $350 upper deck Platea. On my walk home, I got some ice cream (very big here), and picked up Lumi at her cousin's house. The real adventure of the night started when I was in charge of watching the kids while the parents enjoyed some time away. It really was a pretty smooth babysitting sesh if you don't mind the fact that Lumi woke up from a nap crying for mama, uncle Alejandro came over and dropped of his 5 year old son while he rode his bike, Lumi fell and busted her lip running back into the house, Mirko fell and hit his head while the three kids were tearing up the living room, and the parents came back over 2 hours after they said they would. I thought it went well.
Then we casually strolled up late (or on time for an Argentinian) to dinner at Bonavena with the rest of the language school, where I enjoyed a large burger and a Liter of Schneider beer. Some local buddies that I met on Tuesday came and picked me up, and we went out on the town. First to a local kiosk with some outdoor seating, then to a riverside club/bar, then to the late night pizza option: La Malteria (I highly recommend it and will probably go back soon). It was a great night because we compared cultures all night and I got to meet and converse with a lot of their friends (old and brand new). I got home at the very authentically Argentinian hour of 5:30am.
Saturday - Rolled out of bed at 12 to head to the river and meet another crew of locals for some kayaking. We met at one of the spots called La Pulperia on "the island" across the river. It is an incredible place. A very small beach, people were just lounging all over the place and picnic-ing or hanging in the water. There was also a small bar/restaurant 75 meters inland from the water and a sand volleyball court, which I got to play a quick 2 games on. Basically I just hung out with 2 locals, had some "Terere" (teh-reh-reh) and enjoyed the perfect weather.
I was back at the house by 6:30 and already so excited for the Newell's match. Apparently it was supposed to be a great game and very live since it was the first game of the season and Newell's has a rich history of winning. In Rosario, there are 2 main stream soccer teams, Newell's and Rosario Central. The rivalry is actually very heated that arguments break out all of the time. Soccer rivalries in this part of the world are so crazy that they stopped allowing visiting fans at the arenas. So, at the game it was 100% Newell's fans.
It was so different than a game of any kind in the US. 1) no parking lot so no tailgating, people got there no more than an hour early and would go into the stadium and start singing their team's songs. 2) There is no screen in the stadium for replays, scoring, advertisements, or anything. In fact, there isn't even a clock or a scoreboard anywhere, you watch the time on your phone to know when half and final whistle will be. 3) People whistle to show dislike (ex: during the opposing team's lineup announcement, when the visitors were running out, when there was a bad call, etc). People clap to signify approval, didn't hear any "Boos". 4) The rowdy section and drum line was singing their songs literally the entire game, including during/after an opposing goal. There were people in this section that I'm positive couldn't even see the game because of the flag on top of their section, they were just singing/chanting. 5) The concessions were basically nothing. The entire half of the stadium had one 10 meter area with 2 table to buy some hamburgers or hot dogs if they wanted, but zero people were out there during the game. The game really was just a sporting event and people came to watch, it wasn't an event like in the states. There wasn't even a half time show. But it was a ton of fun, and I got to see 5 goals, but Newell's came out on the wrong end, 3-2.
Got home at 10:30, the night was young. I went to Gaby's hostel: The Casa de Don Jaime, where there was supposed to be a "previa" (pre-game) until 1am. Wasn't really anyone there, but I hung out with a few of the locals and residents until we made our way to Moore boliche (<---- aka night club) at 2am. It was next to the river and a fantastic set up with indoor and outdoor options, multiple upstairs areas, and a large VIP section. They played american house music for the first 2.5 hours, and then Reggaeton for the rest of the night. The live band came on for their 30 minute set from 3:45-4:15. It was very energetic and air conditioned and the boliche was probably most crowed at 4:30am, such a different experience. Also, the drinking age is 18, so there were a lot of clearly yougins.
When I got home at 5:45, I had a quick FaceTime sesh with my boy JAD, and as the sun was rising, I figured it would probably be a good idea to get to sleep before the family starting waking up.
The good news is that I am alive and don't have much to do today besides blog and homework and such. The bad news.... it's a 4 day weekend, and I have been invited to enjoy tonight as well. This argentinian life style is rough.