School is very different here, as you can imagine! My younger daughter, who is 10 years old and in the 5th grade, will be with me during this semester here in Argentina. My older daughter, who is in High school, is going back to NY to begin sophomore year. We all decided it would be better for her not to miss being in her school for various reasons. I wish she could stay though, if only to solidify her Spanish!

But, happily my younger daughter has adjusted quite easily to the new school. In NY she has 17 students in her class, and here her class has 41 students!! She says the kids do not talk or answer questions much in class. The teacher talks and writes things on the board to be copied into notebooks. It is quite a change from what she is used to. She has made some nice friends and the teachers have been good to her, trying to make her feel at home.

When we walk into the school, all eyes are on us as the americanas, but it is not in a mean way...they are just curious!

All in all, the adjustment has been okay for her so far.

What I have noticed is the lack of new materials here and the poor conditions of the public schools. The buildings all need a freshening up with a good coat of paint! The schools seem to have little patios in the center, with Palm trees and orange trees. If the buildings were painted, it would look gorgeous...sort of like the patios of Sevilla (wishful thinking)... but, unfortunately, is seems like the government leaves this part of the country for last...that is what I have been told.

My classroom is absolutely sad! No chalk, erasers, nothing on the walls, very depressing atmosphere. It is amazing to think these students are motivated to study. My classes are all at night, from 6:30-11:30. My students are mostly all primary school English teachers or soon to be English teachers. Most of them work during the day at least 2 jobs--a morning shift and an afternoon shift, since most of the schools have two sessions. I am so blown away by their determination to learn English. It is very inspiring!

Any other questions, just let me know!

Esperanza, about the connection between Italy and Argentina, someplace I read, maybe on this board, that about 25% of Argentineans have at least one grandparent that is/was Italian. This makes Argentina the country with the largest Italian-descent population, obviously, outside Italy. Also, most Argentineans working legally in Spain do so with an Italian passport. Interesting, right? I suppose this is more noticeable in Buenos Aires.

Jujuy sounds more of a rural town, so I hope you enjoy every minute of this new lifestyle before you go back to the big apple. I think what you are doing is really awesome since learning English from a native Speaker is generally unaffordable for most people in Latin-America. Good job!

I also looked up some pictures of the region you are staying at and it looks like and old charming town. I hope “failed development” never gets to towns like Jujuy. In Mexico for example, a trip to the country side used to be really enjoyable, you could see from the highway little towns where most houses where made with adobe and painted all in white with red weaved shingles (I don’t know how to say “tejas”). Now most poor people use that horrible gray-color block and don’t paint or finish the walls. Little towns are now all gray and looking unfinished and without any charm. Old towns like the ones I describe above, have now political, corona, pepsi, and coca-cola advertisement on almost every wall. It is really bad. Just those towns on the United Nation’s world heritage list escape that terrible destiny.

This is what I am talking about. What could be gorgeous and picturesque town turns into this:

I leave for my first trip to Buenos Aires November 14 where I'll be through December 8. Am finding the prices to be considerably less expensive than Europe. Just reserved an air-conditioned one bedroom apartment in a modern building in the Palermo District (which I'm told is one of the nicer sections of BA)for a total monthly rate of $600 USD. Also plan to attend two weeks of Spanish language classes at the IBL School there. Twenty hours of classes per week (ie 4 hours a day--five times a week) will cost approxiamtely $100 USD per week. Both the school and the apartment rental agency, Adelsur, (which advertises on this website) were recommended to me by Martha Berman, an Argentinian Spanish language instructor at Instituto Cervantes in New York City. Finally hoping to spend one of my weekends in Argentina visiting the Iguazú Falls.

September 21, 2005
Happy Spring from Jujuy! Happy Fall to all of you in the Northern Hemisphere!

Yesterday was the beginning of the Fiesta Nacional del Estudiante! Today throughout the country all students are off!

Last night there was a MEGACONCIERTO across the street from where we are living. The concert started about 9pm and ended after midnight. Supposedly the performers were very well known Argentine singers. The music was very good but it was too loud. It was so loud that everything in our apartment was trembling. My daughter slept through it all, however. She is amazing! I was up reading (or trying to). From our window we could see the stage, if you looked through the trees. In the real winter there is probably a better view. But, at midnight there was a fireworks display that I was able to see perfectly. Although it was a simple display, it was pretty! And then the loudspeaker was announcing the beginning of Spring and of the Fiesta. They sang the official song of the Fiesta and another song that is popular, Color Esperanza!

Saber que se puede, querer que se pueda
Quitarse los miedos, sacarlos afuera,
Pintarse la cara Color Esperanza
Tratar el futuro con el corazón.

My daughter and I went away last weekend since we both had Monday off. (Yes, Monday and Wednesday! It is amazing how many holidays Jujeños celebrate. Even the jujeños I have met, are in awe of the amount of holidays there are.
) We went south to Salta, one of our new favorite cities here…and then took a day excursion to the Ruins of Quilmes and the wine region of Cafayate.

The Ruins of Quilmes are hillside ruins of a pre-Colombian fortress. It is considered Argentina’s most impressive archaeological site. Quilmes can date back to 1000 A.D. and it was taken under Inca rule in the late 15th c entury. The Quilmes Indians resisted the Spanish but they were finally defeated in 1667. The Spaniards imported the survivors (about 2000 of them) to the province of Buenos Aires where their legacy is known because of the beer factory there. Argentina’s most popular beer is called Quilmes.

We also went to a small winery to taste some of the wine of this region. The best wine of this area is called Torrontés. It is a white wine, that is similar to a German white. It was very good! The harvest is not until February, so the countryside was not as beautiful as it could be, but you could see the vineyards as we were driving around.

BTW: arthurg...you are going to love Argentina...it is a beautiful country and the people are so friendly and so hospitable. The price you got for the apartment sounds good! I am paying $400 a month here in Jujuy for a very large apartment.

Thanks, esperanza. So far the few Argentinians I've been exposed to via email have been great. The people I've been dealing with at the Adelsur Rental Agency and the IBL Language School in Buenos Aires have been very very helpful.

Since my daughter and I were both off from school on Thursday and Friday in celebration of the Student Festival. So, we took off to Cordoba, the second largest city in Argentina.



We traveled the way Argentineans travel—by bus. We took an overnight bus which left at 7:30pm on Thursday and arrived in Cordoba at 8am on Friday. We reserved seats for a "coche cama" which is a glorified first class, I guess. The seats were comfortable and wide. They extended back quite far and they did have a good section to put your legs up.

Our hotel, The Amerian Park, was amazing! We were on the 7th floor with a great view of one of the major intersections of the city, across the street from one of the best shopping malls, El Patio Olmos. This mall is housed in a gorgeous old building, so from the outside you would not know it was a fancy "American style" mall.

When we opened the curtains of the hotel room and saw the view,we were so happy. It was a perfect "city-scape". It reminded us of NY.



Cordoba is about half way from Jujuy to Buenos Aires. According to the guide books, it has the most impressive colonial remains of any Argentine city. These buildings are in the historic center of the city, and they are considered part of the UNESCO world heritage site. Much of the intellectual heritage of the city is owed to the Jesuit order. They settled in Cordoba in the 17th century. The buildings and churches are beautiful! There are a little over a million people living in Cordoba and it is a very busy city, but in the area we spent most of our time in, the historic area, it is very manageable and pleasant. One of the most important Argentine universities is in Cordoba. One of the things that makes Cordoba so lively, is the student population. I love seeing all the bookstores and cafes! Although it is not Buenos Aires, (or New York), it is a vibrant city.



My daughter and I went walking through the old section of town and then we took a double decker bus tour as an orientation to the city. Of course we were on the top level, so it was fun ducking our heads under the tree branches as we were visiting the city. We were able to see the University area, which reminded me of the Ciudad Universitaria in Madrid. It is a sprawling complex. We visited the major park of the city, and saw the mini amusement park it houses. We went down all the major avenues and we saw all the important churches and business buildings. All in all, it was a great way to see a lot in a little amount of time.



For lunch we had delicious steaks (what else do you eat when you are in Argentina??). After a relaxing siesta, we went out walking and then we went window shopping in the shopping mall. For dinner we found a Mexican restaurant…so we had to try it. It was not as good as the one we had found a few weeks ago in Salta. The sauce seemed like supermarket bought tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. Oh well. We learned our lesson to stick with the basics...STEAK!



On Saturday, we took a half day tour to a town nearby, called Villa Carlos Paz. This town is in the Sierra Chica at the outlet of the Rio Suquia (or Rio Primero—they number their rivers in Cordoba). Because it is so close to Cordoba, it is a weekend destination for cordobeses. In the 1890's they built a dam to store drinking water for Cordoba, and at the same time developed the Lago San Roque where Villa Carlos Paz was built up. It is very much like upstate New York. It seemed like the Finger Lake area to me. There are hills, like the Catskills and there is a lot of tourism. There are amusement parks, bowling centers, lots of hotels and restaurants. It was strange to see the difference between Jujuy and Cordoba. It is obvious that Cordoba is a wealthy area. Jujuy's scenery is just as beautiful, perhaps even more beautiful, yet the government doesn't seem to develop or promote tourism there.



The tour we took stopped at various places on our way to Villa Carlos Paz. One of them was a factory of Alfajores. Alfajores are the typical cookie in Argentina, and of course, Cordoba has its own variation of the recipe. Alfajores are simple cookies that are filled with dulce de leche (of course!). Sometimes, they are then dipped in some sugary mixture or chocolate covering.



We also went up the mountain in Carlos Paz on the Aerosilla, or chair lift. From the top we were able to see a panoramic view of the surrounding area. Here is where I realized it looked like the Finger Lake area of NY.



When we got back to Cordoba it was lunch time, so we searched out a Chinese restaurant. Well, the Argentinean version of a Chinese restaurant, at least. It was an all you can eat buffet, what is called "Diente Libre" here. The food was okay; just okay. It was a bunch of steam tables with food that resembled Chinese food, but did not taste like it. There were no spicy or hot dishes, and the spices they used were not Asian. I guess the painting of the Great Wall of China made it a Chinese place. We will have to wait until December for Chinese food. Oh well.



After our disappointing lunch, we relaxed at our hotel, with our amazing view as a back drop! Then we went walking to the weekly artisan fair that is in another section of the city. We had a lot of fun strolling around the stalls of crafts and jewelry as well as antiques. It was an area a little like Greenwich Village and so we felt right at home. We did buy a few little things too, so it made it even more fun.



At night we ended up eating in the Irish Pub in our hotel. It did have an Irish Pub atmosphere, but the food was Argentinean. All in all we had a fun little mini vacation to Cordoba. I am glad to have been able to see it.



On Sunday we had to take the day time bus back to Jujuy. It was a 14 hour trip back. Happily, we got the front seats on the top level, so we were able to see the countryside as we were driving home. The scenery was pretty, some rolling hills, but mostly flat land. It was green though. There were flocks of goats and sheep and we even had to stop at one point for the flock of sheep to cross the road.

All in all, it was an interesting weekend away to another region of Argentina.
Til our next trip...

Esperanza,

Does Cordova seem like a place to spend 4/5 days?

I have read good reviews but the comparison is always with BA and BA always wins.

Small town atmosphere?
How about the climate?

Thanks,

JA

Yes, I think you would enjoy Córdoba if you like University towns. The surrounding area is nice for day trips too. I hear that the Villa Belgrano, which is a town south of Córdoba, is a German town that is spectacular. Their celebration of Oktoberfest is well-known throughout the country.

Esperanza,

Thank you for your reply about Cordoba. I think that I may try BA first (Nov. or Dec) and depending on how things go, then make the jump to Cordoba.

I've just returned from Seville and frankly the hassle with the airport and the long flights leave you a bit exhausted. Maybe age is a reality.
Thanks again,

JA

If you'd like to see some really nice pictures of Buenos Aires, check out the following website which my niece just alerted me to:
www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=231482
(I leave for BA November 14.)