21 Could've been anticlimactic...

But we had fun : P

PB+J Sandwiches, Bruschetta Pizza, Vino

Cake (Gracias a Cristina)



Fuck Sarkis. They wouldn't let us eat only ice cream. They forbid it- even though we'd waited 45 minutes.
So we bought helado elsewhere. Hmph

Then onto the Cantobar. They interviewed me about the us, had all of the cumples sing "La vida es un carnaval" we sang bohemian rhapsody and the lion sleeps tonight, sean won a dance contest with a chair, there was a funny bachelorette party with a very happy bachelorette who hugged me, conga lines, cumbia.... all things good


The night ended with Helado at my new casa. At 6 am. As it should be.

Fiesta de pijamas

Mexican Food the next morning

Oh yeah.

Mi casa es su casa

My Old Casa: Lectures about staying up late, lectures about how much I use my computer, lectures about supposed pen thievery, lectures about "how good it is to have friends and how I should go out more", problems with my being in the computer room where they like to be "alone", no access to the balcon or living room, no cookies- ever, no friends or family coming over for me to meet, no events that we did together, 2 hour long dinners, not allowed to use lights, windows open always letting in cold air.

My New Casa: Met friends, she likes my friends, have cookies and tea, computers are a-ok, music is a-ok, lets me use her hammock, near everything, patient, doesn't hate television, likes naps and sleeping in, doesn't mind my partying within reason, likes reading, bigger room, best view of the city ever, actual conversations, hugged me for queen

Hoyts Cinema 21

International Movies
Coming soon to a theatre near you:

Cumpleanos feliz de Becca (Becca's happy happy birthday)

La muda de Becca (Becca's big move)

Becca tiene un pasantia (Becca has an internship)

Becca va a Colonia (Becca goes to Colonia)

y mas...

Dulce de Leche

I know I always say that Argentines are lovely and Porteños (buenos aires dwellers) are not. However, Porteños really made me smile today:

1. A colectivo driver waited for me! He waited : )

2. A man saw me and the other girls eyeing the desert at the cafe today, so he bought one for us! The waitress brings it over- "un regalo" we blushed and scarfed it down. It was so delicious- rich and chocolately. It really made me smile.

3. The students in my class are lovely. Theyre always asking if I understand and trying to engage me in conversation. Today I found out that one girl is a fan of House and Lost. Haha I appreciated it.

Salta

-23 hour bus ride!
-Humitas y empanadas nom nom

-Met french people at the hostel and played kings with them. Mouse Master!
-Slept in the hostel without sheets... o hostels

-Rafting in the ANDES. Everyone fell out of the raft on my side except me. I was pushed out later.
-Canopy in the ANDES. I got stuck. Needed to be saved. Did not want to make out while being saved to the dismay of my heroe.
-Went to a Pena with group sing alongs and constant toasting- QUIEN DIJO SALUD?

-On the rainy day we took a gondola up a mountain. We couldn't see anything, but we were on a mountain in a foggy cloud. It was nice.
-I bought a rad well made escher style artesan bag
-We went to a mummy museum and saw one of the best preserved mummies in the world- I saw the one on the right
http://www.argentinaevt.com.ar/ar/circuitos/03-001.jpg
-We went to the Salta boliches and were hit on by silly fourteen year olds
-Rocked out to Black Eyed Peas
-Woke up and went to Mass. There was a stray dog under my pew licking my feet. Joey doesn't think I have rabies though.

-Bought my first easter egg
-Cut it close with getting to the bus stop. At the bus stop was the same stray dog!
-Another 21 hour ride home... this time I slept very very well : )

Mendoza

See Map in the previous post:
_13 hour bus ride
-EXXXTREME Bar. I tried Fernet, Gancia, and Caperini, Fruize
_Learned some naughty spanish words
_ Wine and Bike tour : ) it was lovely. 3 vineyards, and olive oil factory, and a liquor factory all with tastings
_Amy tried Absinthe
_Home cooked Asado. I did eat meat :/ but refused morsilla. got my ping pong on

_Mendozan Boliche Alquimio. 4 levels of different music. We like the reggaeton cumbia room and we rocked out til 5 am
_Didn't sleep
_At 7 we ran to the bus station to catch a bus to the Precordillera (the pre mini mountains before the andes mountains)


_ Climbed a mountain
_Saw breathingtaking indescribeable natural beauty
_Taught the mendocinos words such as "boy toy"
_Translated 50cent into spanish
_13 hour bus ride home : )

My Argentina

Where I've been in Argentina :

Travel stories to come !!!

Public Health Care

A Hospital is no place to be sick.
Samuel Goldwyn (1882 - 1974)

So my dumb face didn't buy malaria pills or get vaccinated for yellow fever in the United States. Yay for trying out Argentine Health Care/ NOT Yay for trying out Argentine Health Care.

Yellow fever was easy to obtain. There is a building (a shack more or less) that says "Ministerio del Salud del Gobierno" near one of the universities. Inside there was nothing except a line waiting for yellow fever vaccines. That was it. I showed my passport and had Sarah talk to me and ba da bing ba da bum it was done. Vaccinated. And yes- I saw her take out a new needle.

Malaria Pills. In the US one would need a prescription. Like a true pelotuda I assumed the same applied here. I got up at 6 am to recieve a "turno" to then wait at the public hospital to see someone. I waited and waited and waited for 5 hours. FIVE. I was the second to last person to be called. When I got inside the doctor told me it was his birthday, asked me to be his novia, and promptly informed me that he couldn't write me the prescription. I went home and cried.

Then I talked to Graham about how it works in Guatemala. He thought that maybe I'd be able to simply obtain the pills at the pharmacy sans prescription and told me the name of the drug. He was right. The cost was only 40 pesos (10 US dollars) which is 1/7 of what everyone spent in the US.



So what have we learned:
- The reason the wait was so long was because there were a lot of people from Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru who all come to Argentina to use the free public healthcare. I wonder how this will play out in the US
_ I wonder about malpractice suits here. One needs a specialist for a vaccination that is clearly warranted but the generalist doctor was not able to prescribe me one. In the US we LOVE to sue. I also wonder how this will work out.
_Argentina provides free and easy yellow fever vaccinations... almost no questions asked. Are there any vaccines we should provide for free in the US. And while this was a nice service and I'm grateful on a personal level, is it the best use of funding?
-I wonder hope appointments will be organized in public health care in the US. I imagine a similar turno system will have to exist because it wouldn't make sense to triage non-emergency services.

Pictures courtesy of Sarah Janisch will be added soon... stay tuned kids