Argentina Trip Recap

Just a few months overdue... :) 

But December's work trip to Argentina truly was absolutely lovely. I hadn't been back to the country for FIFTEEN years but siempre tenia ganas para volver (although I had such desire to return). We're eye balling Argentina as a country to take students, so in reality I was sent with a colleague to investigate options for a cultural immersion trip for our graduate students. 

The first three days in country I flew to visit with my prior host families and friends. Truly this was the best idea as I was able to brush up on my Spanish and rebuild some missing vocabulary (although I'm still missing much!), visit and love on some of my favorite people after so many years away, and re-immerse in the culture while learning about the current sociopolitical climate. There were elections about a week prior to our arrival and since Argentina has had tumultuous governance over the last several decades, it's always a good idea to know what's currently going on with politics....

Here's a little back story: When I was 18 I lived in Argentina as an exchange student for a year. I lived with three families (two of which I'm still in touch with and still consider to be my own brothers and sisters). I also attended high school for 3ish months, traveled across most the country for 2ish months (with other exchange students mainly), and then rotated through study programs in a junior college for 3ish additional months. All of my host dads were doctors, I had a total of 15 host siblings, and I'm still in touch with a handful of friends from my schooling also (most of which are also involved in the medical, education, or social justice fields). My first host family was also involved in the beef market, which at the time Argentina was the largest exporter of beef...and I was a vegetarian. Talk about opportunities to learn! :) The total experience was life changing and I still feel like Argentina is a second home for me.

Here's actual a fun picture my host mom sent me from back in the day: :)

So without further ado, here's the nuts and bolts of the trip....and some of my favorite things about the country :)

Here's a picture of my dear host mom pouring the water for afternoon mate:

Mate is such a tradition in the country and can be drunk throughout the day. The loose leaf version is the traditional format, drunk out of cured gourd, and sipped through the communal straw (which also strains the tea leaves). When you go to the grocery store, replace our US coffee selection with rows of mate options (for cheap) and you have the same thing....

This is (half?) of the second host family I stayed with 15 years ago. I was really close to most of the 6 siblings in this family and my host mom. I was only able to connect with two of the siblings in this picture and my brother in Buenos Aires was phenomenal with meeting up and arranging various contacts throughout my time in country. My "baby" sister in this picture (next to me in the photo) hosted us in her home and made dinner....so sweet AND great to spend an evening with them!

So let me let you in on a little secret, Argentina food is heavy sugar, meat, and carb laden. This has only become even more apparent over the last decade and a half that I've been away. I was incredibly fortunate that my last host mom is super mindful of fruits and veggies, as every meals is choke full of them. Truthfully once the work part of the trip started, there were days of NO veggies...or the usual shredded lettuce and a slice of tomato as the only options.....It also seemed that the amount of sugar and overall carbs has increased drastically....which I'm sure comes as no surprise that they also are struggling with very high rates of chronic disease. (It also might just be that now that I'm so nutrition and health focused, I just notice it more now....)

However, this is my FAVORITE Argentine sweet: alfajores. Imagine two short bread cookies with dulce de leche/caramel slathered thickly in between and all rolled in coconut. AMAZING! My grandma in my third host family made this for me because she knew how much I love them. 

And this is a picture of my host dad BBQing or making an asado in their backyard. The very traditional method are actual sides of cow that are cooked on stakes around a fire by the guachos (traditional cowboys) and you can see it here.

A photo op with my third host family: One host sister is getting her PhD in Germany (and already bought tickets to fly home for this coming December's trip) but everyone else still lives in the home town or came home so we could all be together:

On this trip I really developed a love and appreciation for Buenos Aires. This is the famous Bosque (Forest) block in the city, where my brother and I sat and chatted about life dreams and trip needs. The city truly has put in a lot of time and effort to "green" and clean up. I feel like it's pretty easy to get around on foot, the taxis and public transport are reasonable, and it's truly much more modern and prettier than it was 15 years ago. I spent about 48 hours in BA split between two different stops and was able to check out a couple of the different touristy things. Definitely much more of a modern European with a South American twist (and weather).

On the work trip part, we spent a day checking out Iguazu Falls which we know students would love. This is located on the border of Brazil and Argentina and is truly incredible to see. Both my colleague and I had visited before but this way we were able to orient to the logistical needs of bringing students while also exploring other nearby options.

Breakfast in Argentina usually is just the coffee and the media lunas (crossiants) but as we were desperate for healthy protein and veggies...we had Spanish omelets also made with some fruit juice thrown in. This also was the first meal I ate after getting completely knocked out the day before. I'm rarely sick when I travel (knock on wood) but the afternoon/evening before with a pounding headache, shakes, and eventually losing all fluid/food externally :) That's just how it goes though and luckily it was over by noon the next day :)

I don't want to share too much about some of the work parts of the trip (as I try to keep a lot of work stuff off the blog), but here are a few pictures of the some of the stuff we were investigating and working on collaborating: Rural health clinic, traditional herbs, mate production, medical care & public health options 

We also went to Cordoba, which is the second largest city in Argentina and reminds me a lot of what Buenos Aires used to be... Here we were checking out a separate collaboration. As an institution we're investigating partnering with a variety of already established organization and one organization has a sub-contract here. We came to check out what that option looks like and how it works in one of the other host countries. So we spent three days exploring a variety of social work options and hospitals and also engaging in cultural courses offered to students. 

This particular photo is of the Cathedral in Plaza San Martin...right before those amazing clouds soaked the city (and us :)): 

And right next to the Cathedral is part of this building: Where "subversives" (aka those with more socialized or "left" ideals) were held, tortured, and killed during the Dirty War. Historical accounts include stories of individuals going into church/confession and being led out the side door into this other building, but people were also rounded up directly out of their homes and streets. This period of Argentine history is one that was rare to have talked about when I was here 15 years ago (it was still too recent and it seemed there was still much fear regarding discussion on it), but now it is more openly discussed and there are several museums (like the one below) to make these places accessible, to stimulate dialouge, and to offer memorials to those lost in such a period of human rights violations. 

Back in Buenos Aires, I had approximately 24 hrs to re-investigate the historic cemetery, do a walking touring of many of the governmental and historical buildings, go on a date to a closed brewery opening (the micro brewery scene is just getting started here), and engage in another collaborative work meeting with a holistic healing center.

Since it was Thursday, I was also able to see the madres de los desaparecidos (Mothers & Grandmother's of the Disappeared) protest in front of the Casa Rosada (the "white house") where they have been protesting once a week in the decades since the end of the Dirty War. They still want answers and to raise awareness...and there is another piece to this whole story. Many of the women who were taken were also pregnant or became pregnant. It is estimated that 400 babies were taken and placed in "adoptive" homes. Part of the protest these days is to continue to pressure the government to continue to search for these babies (now 40 yos or so) and disclose additional information. (The newly elected president was not in favor of allocated energy and resources to continue the search....)

And there you have it, 13ish days in a country that I adore. Four days for play, nine days for work. Multiple work contacts arranged, amazing views explored, culture enjoyed, heart wrenching history engaged with, incredible sweets and drinks enjoyed, and an amazing amount of people interacted with. Altogether it was pretty incredible to be back in this lovely country. It's currently projected that I'll take a handful of students down in December of this year to explore the culture/history of Buenos Aires and deeper engage with many of the indigenous, rural, and more traditional health issues of the north, while also enjoying a day or two in beautiful nature settings. Keeping my fingers crossed it all continues to come together as hoped and planned!

Revisiting Old Thoughts & Placing into Action: November Challenge

Wednesday evening as I was packing up my stuff after lecture, I had a student approach me to ask a question. I'd been wanting to touch base with him after a disclosure he'd had in a previous assignment and as much as my job is to *just* teach my students, I always desire to help them be as successful as possible in all aspects of life. This student had had a falling out with his family and was facing homelessness, and while he's connected to case workers and has a good understanding of the local resources, it was still heart breaking to learn in our conversation that night that he was indeed spending his nights on the street until he was able to gain government housing or access into a shelter.

As a now single, female instructor, I didn't feel that I could offer to house him in a spare bedroom and the student continuously repeated that he wasn't looking for sympathy or a hand-out, just a conversation about the reality of working with him to ensure his success in the course. I verified that he had two warm sleeping bags to at least attempt to protect him against our 30-40 degree nights and asked about socks, coats, and access to food. So at the conclusion of our conversation, the student vanished into the night.....and I headed out into the elements in my leather boots, wool hooded trench, and scarf before piling into my gas guzzling cross-over to stop at the store to buy more food when I already have full cupboards and then heading home to my huge house that I've fretted over rearranging and redecorating twice in the last six months and yet is only currently housing one person...all the while thinking about how much excess I take for granted, how far I've come from my years embracing the simplicity movement, and feeling guilty about my current state of always wanting more or something different even when I have SO much already and when so many others are just trying to get by on so little.

Thus this is where my mind has been the last few days--still contemplating my student's reality, still wondering how I got back to here, still pondering how I can re-bridge the gap, still asking myself how I can do or give more, still trying to figure out how to live in one world yet also in a way as to not so negatively impact others and the decline of the world/planet.

Some of these thoughts surfaced again the next day when I also discovered that one of my former veteran students/employees is also facing homelessness--granted he has more choice & resources ahead of him than my other student, but still disconcerting.

And some of these thoughts were also brought to light back in late September when I attended Women at the Center hosted by Oregon Environmental Council and Population in Action, when I was again reminded how much our current levels of over-consumption, toxicity, and over-population are truly not sustainable. I was saddened to learn that Anna, based on her size and breed, uses and consumes more resources than 5 citizens from third world nations. I was forced to again see the negative projections that the future holds based on our levels of consumerism. I watched this film and heard the overview of this report based on the state of the world. Regardless of whether or not you believe in climate change, I would think that you can't help but agree that the world has been changing...and that we live in a world of inequities--inequities that those of us that "have" frequently turn a blind eye to. We tend to take our lives for granted...and still want more to fill it. And in this, I have absolutely not been an exception.

The last few weeks but the last week especially, I've spent many moments thinking about my current levels of consumerism (even as I still awaited my Iphone 5 on order, enjoyed my new blue-ray player that replaced my dead DVD player, and made another trip to Target....sigh...FAIL). I've tried to think through why I'm making the spending/credit decisions I am. I've wondered if I should give up Pinterest and/or FB. I've looked around my house and asked myself to be settled with the furniture I have now (that in it's current arrangements meets my needs). I've asked myself to think less about wants and to recognize that I have my NEEDS met. I've reflected again on the old adage to "live simply so that others can simply live." I've again thought about advertising for a housemate. I've asked myself how I let myself stop seeing the world and instead only focused on seeing myself....

In the last three months, I've again started to pray for God to remove suffering from people across the world--even if just for a few moments at a time. Today I sent another donation to the gospel mission. I still have a full bag of clothes to pass on. I'll recycle the old DVD player rather than throw it out. I frequently share how I can.....But all these things are minimal, especially when I'm still living a life of ME, ME, ME and I WANT, I WANT, I WANT. I'm reading Flower Patch Farm Girl consistently this month about her series on Going (even though sometimes it's also waiting to hear & see just where God wants you), and I'm wondering how I can USE MY LIFE to do more, to be the reality of what I want the world to be.....

Today a line of Jason Marz's stood out to me "I like the way you think, but I hate the way you act...." I was again reminded of needing to THINK but yet to also follow through on those thoughts via my actions. I imagine the next several months to be a period of reacquainting with myself--the old version, the current version, in order to determine the version I want to be in the future. And part of what I need to be doing during this process is again remembering how much I have and yet how little I truly need. I need to remember to be settled in myself and in my soul rather via the way the rest of the world would like to view us all. I need to reread old posts like this one from my former self on living simply.

So, in terms of actions and in a way to re-explore the notion of simplicity and less consumerism, I'm thinking about making November a buy-nothing month. No new gadgets. No books. No clothes. No new house goods. I'm stock piled on feminine products, bathroom goods, clothes, canned foods, bedding, etc. I'd grant myself permission to buy fresh fruits & veggies. I'd grant myself permission to potentially buy plane tickets for December. And because I honestly feel like I NEED to be social to keep my mental health up these days, I'd also grant myself 1-2 social events/meals out each week. I'd prefer to keep it to one out, but we'll see.

There's so much more I should and need to be doing...but this might be a place to start. Buy nothing, be mindful, focus on gratitude, PROVIDE where and how I can, APPRECIATE, enjoy, reacquaint, settle in, and GROW--all sound like great words and great actions for November.....