My Goals in Review

So my 10 goals....let's see how we did shall we....

1. Speak Spanish better.

2.Survive on my Own in a Foreign Country

3.Understand the Fundamental Differences between the Argentine and American Health Care Systems

4. Be able to Prepare a Traditional Argentine Meal

5.Visit Someplace outside of Buenos Aires

6. Get and Work at a Second Internship

7.Swim in the Rio de la Plata

8. Take at least 100 pictures of my Trip

9.Watch/Participate in some form of Tango Dancing

10.Have an Evita Moment

Let's take a look at them one by one now.....

1. I definitely speak Spanish better than I did when I first arrived. More than being able to speak Spanish thought my understanding has improved exponentially. I read a book and half completely in Spanish while I was here. I can understand medical interviews, presentations, and television. My true test came when I had to call the cab company on the phone and speak Spanish. I didn't even blink and was able to get my point across and understand what they told me. That to me is the true sign of knowing the language better. Being able to speak on the phone in the foreign language means you are relying completely on your language skills, no hand gestures or facial expressions allowed. So yes I would say I accomplished this goal.

2. Did I survive on my own in a foreign country? I would say so. I really began acting like I lived in Buenos Aires and like I was going to be there for a long time. People would stop me to ask for directions, would speak to me in Castellano and get aggravated when I didn't get everything they said the first time until they realized I was a foreigner, and I even became a regular at the café by my house. Not to mention the fact that I had amazing experiences in the city working and traveling. I would call this one accomplished.

3. Well I certainly hope I accomplished this goal. I mean I gave a presentation on it on behalf of the US Embassy so I would say that is a pretty good sign that I had a firm grasp on the differences. But in all honesty, my time here not only highlighted the differences (both positive and negative) but gave me a greater appreciation for the healthcare system that we have in the United States.

4. I would say I can definitely prepare a traditional Argentine meal. I mean the trick really is to make sure that you have absolutely no vegetables except for potatoes, a huge hunk of meat, a delicious glass of wine from Mendoza, and a small dessert (flan or ice cream) with either a coffee or some maté. Yea  I think I got that one down.....I won't be cooking this for anyone any time soon, but I could if I wanted to!

5. Did I ever visit someplace outside of Buenos Aires....I went first to Mar del Plata and had tons of fun at the beach. Then I had my Patagonian Peregrination....I won't recap all of that for you, but suffice it to say I made it to the end of the world and back in only 5 days. Oddly enough I didn't go to either of the two places I planned, but I think the trade off was definitely more my style and worth it!

6. So as I have said in the past I definitely did this. I got a second internship, again at some place completely not in my plans, and took advantage of every opportunity possible. I went to an immigration conference, a meeting with the US Embassy, and even other meetings with NGOs in Buenos Aires. Whoever says a co-op is like a normal internship has never met a husky....that't all I'm saying!

7. Okay....this is the one goal I did not accomplish. Quite honestly I am okay with it. I realize that by looking at some of my goals and seeing that they weren't realistic that it is okay to not accomplish everything. I mean I think if I had accomplished this goal then maybe my goal to survive in a foreign country wouldn't have been accomplished because I would have contracted some strange disease from the dirty water of the Rio de la Plata.

8. Yes I have taken far more than 100 pictures while here in Buenos Aires and on my trip. One day I actually took a grand total of 123 pictures.....that is ridiculous! I have never been a picture taker, but I definitely attempted to be better at documenting this trip and I think I succeeded.

9. I did this several times and even got to see an AMAZING tango show. I think just by the virtue of being in Buenos Aires it would have been impossible not to accomplish this goal.

10. What did I do my last full night in Buenos Aires?? I spent it at home cleaning and listening to the Evita soundtrack. I may have ventured onto my balcony once or twice maté in hand....This goal was accomplished time and time again, I assure you!

There you have it a brief overview of the goals I had and my level of achievement on each one. I think its funny that I always tend to have goals in my life or plans for how things are going to work and they always get shot completely to hell. I don't mean I don't accomplish them I just mean it is never in a very orthodox way. Life thinks its mighty funny to see how I'll react in different weird situations and its good to know that even though my experiences might be out of the ordinary they don't necessarily hinder my ultimate goals in anyway at all. 

What the Hell is Maté anyway?

¿¿¿What the HELL is MATÉ???

If anyone has ever traveled to the southeastern portion of South America no doubt you have heard of maté. This is a customary drink and social activity here in Buenos Aires. From the first day I set foot off the plane I heard about maté...in fact within the first hour I was in Buenos Aires I was actually given a maté.


Okay so I realize in just re-reading the first few sentences that I need to go over some things. First of all, maté refers to both the drink itself, the gourd or cup that the maté is served in, and is part of the name of the plant that you put in the cup or gourd. Now that confusion is out of the way let's move on to the fun stuff.


What do you need to have maté....a list (with pictures of course):


1. Most importantly you need a maté. Traditionally a maté is a gourd that has been hollowed out by the person who owns it. Think about the small decorative gourds in the US around Halloween and Thanksgiving....now think about scooping one of those out like a pumpkin, letting it dry, and then using it as a cup. Now many people here in Argentina and Uruguay still use a gourd that has a metal tin around it or just a straight up gourd. Others have gone the way of technology and now use a plastic silicone version of the gourd. I, of course, use the more technologically advanced silicone maté that many of the other college students in the area tend to have. Below is a picture of my maté.

2. The second most important tool you will need is called a bombilla. For my Spanish speaking friends who have not read my previous blog post and are confused I redirect you with this link bombilla. The bombilla is very important and serves two main purposes. One is to actually allow you to drink the maté. Basically its a metal straw with a strainer on the end. My brother seems to think  it resembles a pipe, but it is NOT in fact a pipe and I wouldn't ever recommend smoking out of anything metal anyway as I imagine it would get very hot. I always think its better to see it so a picture of my bombilla is attached below.

3. The next important thing you will need is yerba maté. Remember since you are in Argentina and Uruguay its pronounced sssshhhhherba(I realize this is not proper phoenetics, but I'm a nursing major not a linguist so I'm sure you can all figure it out from what I wrote). This is the plant that is used to create the maté drink. What is really interesting to me is that the plant is actually part of the holly family. I realize this is probably really boring, but if you have ever had maté and you know that yerba is a type of plant from the holly family then the taste of the maté is sort of what you would expect a holly tree tea to taste like. I digress. The yerba you are about to see was actually found in my apartment when I moved in. I of course was a little startled when I first moved in and found a tin full of dried greens in my apartment as I didn't know what it was but I am now thrilled to have gotten so much free yerba. Below is the tin and the yerba inside.

4. The fourth important thing that is required for maté, here in Argentina, is hot water. Not boiling water but hot water. I say here in Argentina because apparently people in Paraguay and some parts of Bolivia will have a cold maté. What is funny about this is if you ask any of the local Argentines or Uruguayans they actually make a face of disgust when they say...yea but they drink it cold. Almost as if they don't really know how to drink maté properly. And one last picture....this is just of my tea kettle heating up some water.

Now let's say you want to prepare some maté. You have gathered all of the above supplies and often a group of friends to enjoy the experience with you but what do you do first. Well good thing you're reading my blog because I'm going to go step by step in case anyone wants to try and be a copy cat (FYI this is the way I was taught by someone from Uruguay and Buenos Aires).

Step 1

Fill your maté with yerba. Not all the way. Its easy with a silicone yerba because you just fill it up to the line on the side. I was taught almost 3/4 of the way full. Like so:

Step 2

Put your hand over the opening of the maté and shake gently. This gets all of the yerba dust and not goodness out of what you will be drinking. It also coats the inner part of your maté giving you, according to my teacher, a better taste.

Step 3


Sort of hard to see in the picture below, but you actually angle your maté to create a slope within itself with the yerba. In this way you have sort of mound on one side and should almost be able to see the bottom on the other. You insert your bombilla into the lower side so its at the bottom of the maté. Its also important that you make sure that the bombilla is in the right direction. There should be a slight bend in the bombilla. When resting against the side of the maté that bend should bend toward your mouth. If you have a silicone maté this is pretty much idiot proof, but for everyone else just do what seems comfortable.

 Step 4


Add your heated water to the yerba. Now its important to make sure that the water is warm-hot but not so hot that you burn or destroy the yerba. If this happens you will know the minute you taste it that the water is too hot. Here in Buenos Aires I have yet to see anyone serve me maté when the water was too hot.

Step 5


Drink your maté. Yes it is that simple. Put your mouth on the bombilla and sip your maté. If you are from Uruguay keep going till you get that nice slurping sound. Make sure you finish all of the water in a maté before you pour more water in and pass to the next person you have invited over to have some. And keep going until the maté is stripped of its taste. According to everyone here if the proper person is serving the maté, whihc means heating up the water and pouring it into the maté for everyone then it will probably last until everyone is done. Here are the many faces of consuming maté. I know they are ridiculous they are basically for my own amusement.

Phase 1- Uncertainty
Someone has just handed you a gourd filled with green stuff and water and told you to drink out of the same metal straw as everyone else. Really???

Phase 2- Giving in to Peer Pressure
You decide since everyone else is doing it you might as well give it a try. Hesitant you give it a taste and you're a little unsure of what exactly it is you are tasting.

Phase 3- The Decision
Do I actually like this weird taste? Yea I guess its not bad....sort of like drinking tea but a little more.....woody?

Phase 4- The Drinking Phase
This is when someone has decided they like it and there is plenty of water in the maté. You just keep sucking it down with no real understanding that it is not a 7-Eleven Double Gulp.

Phase 5- The Slurping Phase
You have been drinking for a little over a minute and you begin to hear that all too familiar slurping noise. You are running out of water.

Phase 6- The Realization Phase
You finally realize that now any amount of drinking is not going to result in more maté. There is nothing left but the left over wet, green, yerba, mush. Also part of this phase is asking for a refill which will naturally be given to you by any kind maté server. You can now repeat steps 4-5.

Phase 7- The Depression Phase
You have finally run out of hot water. You literally can´t be served any more maté  because you no longer have the necessary fluid to get the yerba goodness into your body.

That was fun wasn't it! Yea so I hate pictures of myself and this is my small attempt to push myself outside of my comfort zone while here in Buenos Aires.



Step 6


Clean out you maté. I have actually cleaned everything out on a piece of paper so everyone can see what everything looks like when all is said and done.

SO I am no expert, but this is a great way to spend time with friends and enjoy a nice treat from South America!

Goals

                             What are my Goals for this Trip??

Before leaving for my trip I think its only appropriate that I come up with a list of my goals for the duration of my stay in Buenos Aires. When I am back in the states, in time for Christmas, I will review just how my trip stacked up and how I did in achieving all of my goals. So without further ado, here is a list of my goals:

1. Speak Spanish Better!!!

       This is by far the most important goal to me for my stay in Buenos Aires. As a nursing student I encounter a great number of my patients that solely speak Spanish and if I could simply communicate with them without the use of a translator. I know this seems trivial, but it really is my major purpose in heading to South America. I want to be a nurse prepared to deal with as many situations and different types of patients as possible and that means learning Spanish. (The fact that I get to visit a really cool country is just an added bonus)

2. Survive on my own in a foreign country.

    I know it may seem that I have goals 1 and 2 mixed up but I don't. When I say survive, I don't really mean survive. I'm not really concerned that I'm going to be kidnapped, raped, and left for dead in a foreign country, especially one like Argentina. The goal isn't to avoid being a character in the next version of the movie Taken, the goal is to survive as a local or citizen or in Argentina's case a Porteño. I want to assimilate into the culture enough that I surviving just like every other person around me, with friends, colleagues, and strangers. I want to be asked for directions by a lost tourist.

3. Understand the fundamental differences between the Argentina Healthcare System and the American system

    After going abroad last summer to Singapore and Bali I realized just how different medical systems can be around the world. A simple procedure in this country may be a monumental advancement in another. I expect that the Argentine system of medicine will be fairly similar to the American system, but I am going to keep my eyes and ears peeled for any difference.

4. Be able to Prepare a Traditional Argentine meal

   Again I realize this may seem trivial, but I really want to be able to cook an Argentine steak and make the traditional side dishes. I want to serve the meal with a traditional Argentine wine. I want to make a traditional dessert and serve it with a cup of mate. I want to be able to come back to the US and make the same meal for my family and friends and I want them to enjoy it. Silly, but true!

5. Visit someplace outside of Buenos Aires

    I know it probably seems like I'm just getting greedy here, but I want to feel so comfortable in Buenos Aires that I can head to Uruguay or to the Iguazu Falls and enjoy the break from the city. I want to feel so at home in Buenos Aires that all I want to do after visiting one of these places is return to my home...but not here in the states....my home in Buenos Aires (sorry mom and dad).

6. Get and work at a Second Internship

    Now this one implies a couple different things. First it basically assumes I will attend and enjoy my first internship at Hospital San Isidro (Duh!). The second thing about this is I really want to find a second internship where I am doing more public health work. I want to see Argentina's stance on public health crises like HIV, other sexually transmitted infections, and drug addictions. How do they deal with them? Is there any secret I can bring back to the US...can I bring any knowledge to them? This is lofty....but so are most of the goals.

The next four are actually just small little things that I really want to do.....no judgement!

7. Swim in the Rio de La Plata
 
   Is an explanation really necessary on this one? How about a picture?
                                                                                   

8.Take at least 100 pictures of my trip

   I am traditionally one of the worst picture takers in the history of the world. I always forget my camera, I never really want to be in pictures, and I really have absolutely no artistic vision at all.

9. Watch/Participate in some form of Tango dancing 

    Why? Because I'm going to Argentina and I think anyone who goes to Argentina should have to do this....sort of like how you have to get leied if you go to Hawaii.







Last and certainly least.....

10. I want to have an Evita moment

     I know, I know.....don't even say it. Doesn't everyone secretly want to have one of these though? That moment where you're standing alone on your balcony in the middle of Buenos Aires, Argentina and singing quietly (or maybe belting) Don't Cry for Me Argentina or another song from the show. Okay so this is probably the most ridiculous thing on this list but I'm alright with that. I can't save the world the whole time I'm gone.