News from the southern half

Hey All,

Well, a lot has happened since the last time that I wrote.  Two weeks ago, I spent the weekend at the Gaia Ecovillage with the sustainability class.  It was a vegetarian, permaculture community, dedicated to living lightly in their environment.  They constructed all of their buildings and living spaces using natural building techniques, such as cob and straw bale construction, and utilized both thatched and living roofs.  Three wind turbines and two sets of solar panels provided all of the energy that they used. They also had several solar cookers, a solar oven, wood-burning clay stoves, and a clay oven.  All of the water was heated using a solar water heater, and all of the toilets were dry composting toilets.  Really cool!  I spent two days and one night there, and although I love being in Rosario, it was really nice to enjoy the fresh air and have a quiet nights sleep.

            In the next two weeks, I am taking all of my midterm exams, so I’ve been studying hard, but I’ve still found some time to recreate.  While I was walking around a couple of weeks ago, I saw a poster for the Rosario ½ Marathon, so I went and registered for it, and I’ve been busy training for that.  I will be running the race on the 10^th of May, and I’m really excited to dabble my feet in the international running scene.  Things can be so disorganized here; it’ll be interesting to see how an event of this magnitude ends up going.  I’m also really excited to have a new running shirt, because I only brought one with me, and it’s getting pretty smelly.  It’ll be nice to have another…

            Yesterday, the whole group went on an adventure!  We had tickets to go see a soccer game at one of the local stadiums.  One of the Rosario futbol teams, Newell’s Old Boys, was playing River Plate, a team from Buenos Aires, and it was one of the craziest things I’ve ever scene!  We got there around 3:30 in the afternoon, but the game didn’t start until 5:00, so we sat around and watched the second string players.  Once the actual game started, however, all of the fans stood up and were singing and yelling and jumping up and down, and they didn’t stop until half time.  There were banners and flags, and everyone was wearing the Newell’s colors, black and red.  We were sitting (standing) in one of the plateas, which isn’t the general section, because I guess that section is pretty dangerous, but we could see what was going on.  When Newell’s scored the one point of the game, the fans were setting off red smoke bombs and yelling and screaming and singing!  There was so much energy in the stadium; I don’t know how to begin to describe it.  It was definitely an experience.  The Argentines are serious about their futbol! 

            I haven’t really done much personal travel since I’ve been here in Rosario, aside from my impromptu trip to Buenos Aires, but all that is about to change.  The weekend after I take my midterms, I am flying down to Patagonia, to go see Perrito Moreno, the largest glacier in Argentina, and one of the only stable glaciers in the world.  The gateway city to Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, where Perrito Moreno is located, is the small town of El Calafate, which should be nice and cold and wintry.  They have a local brewery there as well, and I’m pretty excited to try their microbrews.  The wine in Argentina is amazing, just as I knew it would be, but the beer definitely leaves something to be desired.  It should be really fun.  A little mountain town in the Andes, glaciers, scenery, and hiking; it doesn’t get much better that that.  My friend Stephanie and I are traveling together, and we are planning on taking a trek on the glacier, as well as getting some good panoramic shots from the viewpoints and hanging out in town.  I can’t wait to take some photos; it should be pretty epic!  (Life is sweet!)

            Oh, this is new!  I was out walking around this last weekend, and I met a young woman who was looking for a conversation partner, so we are going to meet up once a week or so, and speak English half the time so that she can practice, and Spanish for the other half so that I can practice.  Or some other similar configuration…  I thought it was a cute little story, and it’s going to be really helpful for me, I think. 

Not too much else is going on here; I’m just going about my daily routine, for the most part.  School is good, I’m learning a lot, and I’m enjoying the company of all the people I spend time with.  I’ve watched some good movies, and I’m enjoying my temporary residency in a large city. 

That’s all for now, and I can’t wait to see you all again when I get home in June!

Until next time, 

Love, 

Sarah

P.S. Emma and Rachel and Gail (I can’t remember if you’re getting these…), I love my spork that you gave me, I use it every day!