Our Team is reunited and we have a new Addition! Nati has arrived in Buenos Aires - she is my ICX counterpart who will be living in Santiago! :) YAYYYY!!!! Lais is also back from her week away in Amsterdam, and brought us back yummy yummy treats!!
ON Tuesday evening a bunch of us went to La Plata, a city 1 hour from BsAs, to have a party with the Local Committee there. We went to an interns house, Felipe, from Brazil, to pre-drink then we headed to a club at 2am. In Argentina, they start drinking at 12, they go to the club at 2, and they stop at 6am when the clubs close! Crazy party life here! I can barely make it to 3am but I am working on it! BUT, while in La Plata, at the club, it was around 3am and I walked downstairs to sit, I was exhausted, and I see Felipe, and a few other of the AIESECers, sitting on the couch with Felipe sleeping. Then all of a sudden, he PUKES on the girl next to him!!! hahahah Ewww, so then me and 3 others help carry Felipe, NOT a light fellow, home so he can sleep. On the way home he pukes on another girl and in the car. I THANKFULLY was missed by the projectile! THANK GOODNESS!!! hahah But all the while, the girls kept saying to me "Welcome to La Plata!" bahahahha. Yes Welcome Indeed :P
Then On Saturday Night we went to a party at "The Andes Way" House.....this is a project that @USAL is putting on, called The Andes Way, they are bringing 25 interns to BsAs, and they are living in one house called "The Andes Way" House. :) It was a great time, lots of people, lots of dancing, and lots of laughs.
And the rest of the weekend I spent lounging around, sleeping, reading, relaxing. It was blissful. :)
Its Monday, and I had my spanish class this morning, it went well. and then I came home, and we all shared dinner and tea&dessert of Dulce de Leche, which is like Caramel, and waffle snacks that Lais brought for us from Netherlands. Yum Yum Yum. Excellent day I do think :)
I am happy again!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Thank You RBC Visa
Turns out - I have to thank RBC Visa - for they have insurance - and Since I bought my camera within the last 90 days - they will replace it for me if I provide them with the original receipt and an incident report.
Life is good with insurance - Bad things happen - VISA came to my rescue. :)
Thank you RBC Visa!
Life is good with insurance - Bad things happen - VISA came to my rescue. :)
Thank you RBC Visa!
Friday, May 27, 2011
What a Week...
What a Week I've had....
I started out the week good! Started my Spanish lessons! Which are going well - Atleast I think. They are interesting and my teachers are really good. I am with Ñ de Español (http://www.eniedespaniol.com.ar/en/home.html). It is really well priced and they are flexible with my hours, and my lessons. I am thus far learning the basics....Verbs....To Be, To be called, To Have.....And lots of nouns along the way.
My foreigner learning Spanish act has allowed me to get away with some funny direct translations including my favourite "Alto Cinco" which means High Five :D yayy
Then the week got really shitty.....I got pick-pocketed! argggggg!! I got my Camera case stolen which had my brand new camera, my Visa, my Debit card, and thankfully only $15 in it! But arggg!!!! wtf. It was at Lunch time on the way to a restaurant - My purse was at my side with my arm swinging over it....and somehow they managed to get into it. But theres nothing I can do about it. It is completely normal and common for such things to happen here! All of my teammates have had it happen atleast once and many of them have had it happen more than 5 :P How brutal that this is just considered "normal" life.....Get a Job...thats all I have to say. But ive canceled my cards and they are sending me new ones....but my camera is lost and Im so sad cause it was the coolest new camera with all these fun features!! :(
And also - ontop of it all, I got sick mid-week and have been battling a nasty cold. My nose is stuffy, and my throat is swollen and very painful...yuck!
But - I slept 15 hours last night....I feel much better, my cold is SLIGHTLY less irritating, but my Anger over my stuff has subsided greatly, and Im now just Blah about it all....
and Today, Friday, Im working at home. and it is now the weekend....I have no plans....But I would love love love to just stay home and read. haha Sounds like a very loser person weekend - but for me - its Bliss. :)
Chrystal
I started out the week good! Started my Spanish lessons! Which are going well - Atleast I think. They are interesting and my teachers are really good. I am with Ñ de Español (http://www.eniedespaniol.com.ar/en/home.html). It is really well priced and they are flexible with my hours, and my lessons. I am thus far learning the basics....Verbs....To Be, To be called, To Have.....And lots of nouns along the way.
My foreigner learning Spanish act has allowed me to get away with some funny direct translations including my favourite "Alto Cinco" which means High Five :D yayy
Then the week got really shitty.....I got pick-pocketed! argggggg!! I got my Camera case stolen which had my brand new camera, my Visa, my Debit card, and thankfully only $15 in it! But arggg!!!! wtf. It was at Lunch time on the way to a restaurant - My purse was at my side with my arm swinging over it....and somehow they managed to get into it. But theres nothing I can do about it. It is completely normal and common for such things to happen here! All of my teammates have had it happen atleast once and many of them have had it happen more than 5 :P How brutal that this is just considered "normal" life.....Get a Job...thats all I have to say. But ive canceled my cards and they are sending me new ones....but my camera is lost and Im so sad cause it was the coolest new camera with all these fun features!! :(
And also - ontop of it all, I got sick mid-week and have been battling a nasty cold. My nose is stuffy, and my throat is swollen and very painful...yuck!
But - I slept 15 hours last night....I feel much better, my cold is SLIGHTLY less irritating, but my Anger over my stuff has subsided greatly, and Im now just Blah about it all....
and Today, Friday, Im working at home. and it is now the weekend....I have no plans....But I would love love love to just stay home and read. haha Sounds like a very loser person weekend - but for me - its Bliss. :)
Chrystal
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Transition Transition Weekend
So all week we have had long long long sessions of transition. We started at about 11am and went until 7 or 8PM every night...It is all good information but it is SO much to learn and grasp and long days make for a tired Chrystal.
But weekend time. Saturday in the evening we trekked our way to the new house for the 25 trainees arriving this week. the house is HUGE. it used to be an orphanage, which is somewhat creepy cause there are remnants of the kids....pictures and toys....in this gigantic haunted house....ahaha but all the AIESEC;ers from Buenos Aires USAL are painting the ENTIRE house to prepare for the arrival of all the new interns!! We joined them for their Local Committee (LC) meeting, I didnt paint because I want wearing appropriate painting clothes....but we stayed the evening and they had lots of beer and we danced and danced. It was a jolly good time! They were teaching me how to dance again and its just so entertaining cause my body does NOT move the way theirs does. I just cant MAKE it do that. haha But I am attempting it!
Today I am going to the neighbourhood of La Boca, which has all the really really pretty coloured houses to look at. It is major tourista spot but thats ok cause it looks so so pretttttttttttttttttttttttty :D Cant wait!
Adios
But weekend time. Saturday in the evening we trekked our way to the new house for the 25 trainees arriving this week. the house is HUGE. it used to be an orphanage, which is somewhat creepy cause there are remnants of the kids....pictures and toys....in this gigantic haunted house....ahaha but all the AIESEC;ers from Buenos Aires USAL are painting the ENTIRE house to prepare for the arrival of all the new interns!! We joined them for their Local Committee (LC) meeting, I didnt paint because I want wearing appropriate painting clothes....but we stayed the evening and they had lots of beer and we danced and danced. It was a jolly good time! They were teaching me how to dance again and its just so entertaining cause my body does NOT move the way theirs does. I just cant MAKE it do that. haha But I am attempting it!
Today I am going to the neighbourhood of La Boca, which has all the really really pretty coloured houses to look at. It is major tourista spot but thats ok cause it looks so so pretttttttttttttttttttttttty :D Cant wait!
Adios
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Conference Complete - Transition Day 1
Last day of conference went by so quickly. Said lots of goodbyes - including to the current MC. and my team and I were formally introduced - atleast, the half of us that were at the conference!! :D It was very lovely.
Monday we all got the day off to recuperate and relax. We slept til noon and then cleaned cleaned cleaned the house! Yikes was it EVER DISGUSTING! But now its all lemony fresh!! mmm
Today, Tuesday, is the first day of transition between the new team and the old team. It should be great fun :D
Adios
Monday we all got the day off to recuperate and relax. We slept til noon and then cleaned cleaned cleaned the house! Yikes was it EVER DISGUSTING! But now its all lemony fresh!! mmm
Today, Tuesday, is the first day of transition between the new team and the old team. It should be great fun :D
Adios
Sunday, May 15, 2011
LDS 2011 - Day 2
Busy busy busy busy BUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSy
Woke up to the LOVVVVVVVVVVVVELY sounds of fog horns blasting to tell everybody to get up. Aint that a nice alarm eh?!?!?! haha And EVERYBODY, Including me, were just exhausted. The party the night before was amazing! Just danced and danced. I didnt drink too heavily as others did, but I had a blast. Turns out Im not as bad a dancer as I though! haha People taught me to samba! :) YAYYYY! haha And funniest part about Southern Cone AIESEC....They have something called the "kissing competition" - You have to kiss as many people as possible and take pictures and whomever kisses the most wins.....delegates are worth 100 points or something but MC - aka me and my new teammates - are worth 1000 Points. hahah This, made the night very entertaining for me. I was generous and gave out about 15 kisses. But I dont think they win....They each only got 1000 points....But I got 15,000 Points total. Cant beat me Im the gingerbread mean!!! :D hahah
During the day I only had one session to run - on Overcoming Gaps: Strengthening your Plan. It went over well - I ran the session in English - clearly - and I hope that everybody got the message that I was trying to transmit. They did their work in Spanish which is perfect, cause I want THEM to grasp the concept - not feel the need to work in English to include me - that isnt the point of my session. So Lais, my boss, helped with running the sharing portion since they all shared in Spanish. A few people came up and said the session was great - I really appreciate that feedback. I really want to be successful here - even with my current handicap of being Uni-lingual. haha.
Soooo since I only had one session - I was lucky enough to be able to sleep a lot of the day. So I went to my room and napped - I woke up - and 3 other members of my team were there napping - apparently we all had the same idea! haha :)
OH OH OH OH so one thing here - They have a food called Duche de Leche. It is like a think caramel sauce. They eat this sauce with EVERYTHINGGGGGGGGGGGGG! hahah Snacks, dinner, dessert. It is FABULOUS! as well alll know I'm a HUGEEEE Sugar fan! :D
Another thing about Southern Cone, everybody is really really warm and close. They are always touching, leaning on eachother, they give kisses when they see people, just very close. So I've felt very loved so far! My teammates are really amazing, and they are being really really kind to me with speaking English and including me. So I am very happy here so far! :D haha I hope things continue this way - but perhaps a little more Spanish on my part!! :D
Party last night wasnt as uppity.....oh ps. The parties dont START until past midnight. like the pre-drink starts at 1AM....haha Its very different...cause 10PM is my bed time...but I stayed up, but it wasnt that busy, I guess everybody was exhausted from the day and the night before, so there werent as many people. So at about 1:30 I went to sleep. So thankful cause today is a long day again - and I have 2 sessions today; Financial Management and Crisis Management :) Perfecto!
Adios Amigos!
PS. Funny fact about one of my teammates - she studied in the USA, and she took an English class - so shakespeare - and they did a play - but because its not "english" like we speak - she played the part of the butterfly....who was silent. :D haha Had to share - its cute.
Woke up to the LOVVVVVVVVVVVVELY sounds of fog horns blasting to tell everybody to get up. Aint that a nice alarm eh?!?!?! haha And EVERYBODY, Including me, were just exhausted. The party the night before was amazing! Just danced and danced. I didnt drink too heavily as others did, but I had a blast. Turns out Im not as bad a dancer as I though! haha People taught me to samba! :) YAYYYY! haha And funniest part about Southern Cone AIESEC....They have something called the "kissing competition" - You have to kiss as many people as possible and take pictures and whomever kisses the most wins.....delegates are worth 100 points or something but MC - aka me and my new teammates - are worth 1000 Points. hahah This, made the night very entertaining for me. I was generous and gave out about 15 kisses. But I dont think they win....They each only got 1000 points....But I got 15,000 Points total. Cant beat me Im the gingerbread mean!!! :D hahah
During the day I only had one session to run - on Overcoming Gaps: Strengthening your Plan. It went over well - I ran the session in English - clearly - and I hope that everybody got the message that I was trying to transmit. They did their work in Spanish which is perfect, cause I want THEM to grasp the concept - not feel the need to work in English to include me - that isnt the point of my session. So Lais, my boss, helped with running the sharing portion since they all shared in Spanish. A few people came up and said the session was great - I really appreciate that feedback. I really want to be successful here - even with my current handicap of being Uni-lingual. haha.
Soooo since I only had one session - I was lucky enough to be able to sleep a lot of the day. So I went to my room and napped - I woke up - and 3 other members of my team were there napping - apparently we all had the same idea! haha :)
OH OH OH OH so one thing here - They have a food called Duche de Leche. It is like a think caramel sauce. They eat this sauce with EVERYTHINGGGGGGGGGGGGG! hahah Snacks, dinner, dessert. It is FABULOUS! as well alll know I'm a HUGEEEE Sugar fan! :D
Another thing about Southern Cone, everybody is really really warm and close. They are always touching, leaning on eachother, they give kisses when they see people, just very close. So I've felt very loved so far! My teammates are really amazing, and they are being really really kind to me with speaking English and including me. So I am very happy here so far! :D haha I hope things continue this way - but perhaps a little more Spanish on my part!! :D
Party last night wasnt as uppity.....oh ps. The parties dont START until past midnight. like the pre-drink starts at 1AM....haha Its very different...cause 10PM is my bed time...but I stayed up, but it wasnt that busy, I guess everybody was exhausted from the day and the night before, so there werent as many people. So at about 1:30 I went to sleep. So thankful cause today is a long day again - and I have 2 sessions today; Financial Management and Crisis Management :) Perfecto!
Adios Amigos!
PS. Funny fact about one of my teammates - she studied in the USA, and she took an English class - so shakespeare - and they did a play - but because its not "english" like we speak - she played the part of the butterfly....who was silent. :D haha Had to share - its cute.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Leadership Develop Seminar 2011 - Day 1
Yoooooooooooooooooooo!!
So the LDS 2011 Conference in Buenos Aires has officially begun!
Woke early this morning and headed to the hotel which is in the country side. Made some doggy friends outside the hotel - I love dogs. They needed a mention.
We had a great presentation by ClickOn.com.ar about Leadership and Time Management. I really liked it - AND bonus - the presentation was in English.
Wait - did I forget to mention - this entire conference is in Spanish? See - I do appreciate this fact - but it will be MUCH more useful in a month from now when I understand more Spanish - cause right now all I hear is every 50th word - not useful for comprehension and participation. So I find myself daydreaming a lot.
BUT there are lots of dances and I can do those! And Ive had the opportunity to talk to a fair few people and I enjoy meeting them very much. It excites me for my year here :)
I do feel left out at times - but I know it is not anybodies fault but my own - I should of tried a lot harder to learn more Spanish prior to arrival. But - its ok - Gives me time to reflect on my ambitions and the challenges I have set for myself. I dont feel lost - I feel I can be successful - I just need to stay focused and really let everybody around me know I appreciate all their work accommodating me by speaking English, which might be hard for them, while I learn Spanish!
But I need to rush - its sum up the day time and then PARRTTTTTTTTTYYYYYYYY
So the LDS 2011 Conference in Buenos Aires has officially begun!
Woke early this morning and headed to the hotel which is in the country side. Made some doggy friends outside the hotel - I love dogs. They needed a mention.
We had a great presentation by ClickOn.com.ar about Leadership and Time Management. I really liked it - AND bonus - the presentation was in English.
Wait - did I forget to mention - this entire conference is in Spanish? See - I do appreciate this fact - but it will be MUCH more useful in a month from now when I understand more Spanish - cause right now all I hear is every 50th word - not useful for comprehension and participation. So I find myself daydreaming a lot.
BUT there are lots of dances and I can do those! And Ive had the opportunity to talk to a fair few people and I enjoy meeting them very much. It excites me for my year here :)
I do feel left out at times - but I know it is not anybodies fault but my own - I should of tried a lot harder to learn more Spanish prior to arrival. But - its ok - Gives me time to reflect on my ambitions and the challenges I have set for myself. I dont feel lost - I feel I can be successful - I just need to stay focused and really let everybody around me know I appreciate all their work accommodating me by speaking English, which might be hard for them, while I learn Spanish!
But I need to rush - its sum up the day time and then PARRTTTTTTTTTYYYYYYYY
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Arrival and Work Work Work
I have arrived!!! :D
Helllllllllllllllllllllllllllo Buenos Aires!!
I got off the airplane. I was well rested cause it is only 1 hour ahead here and I got about a 12 hour sleep on the plane (thank you GRAVEL) haha! Lais, my MCP, or boss for non-AIESEC'ers, was there with a Welcome sign!! :D Very very great to FINALLY meet here after months of speaking virtually and planning for my arrival! :D I gave Lais a Stuffed Moose in a Mountie outfit as a yay Canada gift :D haha
We came straight to my new office with ALL of my 50KG of luggage....yes I brought 50KG of clothes....Im cool eh???
The ENTIRE conference team was mid-meeting! So I joined in! And to distract them from me butting in mid-meeting I handed out Maple Creme Cookies! YUMMMMMMMMMMM!!! Then I got straight to work....We worked late into the night. Finally went to my new apartment where LOTS of people are staying currently.
Lais, Olivia, Oscar, and I, half of my new team, who are in BA (Buenos Aires) currently, had a "feelings" talk - and as we know, I am not much of a "feelings" person - so I struggled but it was nice to have private time with them to start creating our team dynamics!! :) I think it is a great start to a new amazing year!!
This morning I woke up early....7AM here...6AM EST....worked for about 1 hour but because nobody else was really up, I went back to bed....I realized Jetlag was hitting me so I got in 2 more hours of sleep. Yayyy....It should only take me a day or two more to be adjusted.
Today we are again preparing for the conference - LDS - Leadership Development Seminar - and I am SUUUUUUPER (what up Rochelle) excited to meet everybody in the region to start the year off Right! I completed all of my trainings (powerpoints) last week before my conference in Canada, but upon arrival yesterday I was informed that I would need to also create the trainings for the External Relations track since the person in charge has quit the conference team. Sooo Lots of work to complete in one day! But I KNOW I can I KNOW I can!! :D
Well I should go and work! I will update again soon on how to conference is going! It will be a LONG 4 days of excitement, learning, meeting, and drinking!!
Adios!!
Helllllllllllllllllllllllllllo Buenos Aires!!
I got off the airplane. I was well rested cause it is only 1 hour ahead here and I got about a 12 hour sleep on the plane (thank you GRAVEL) haha! Lais, my MCP, or boss for non-AIESEC'ers, was there with a Welcome sign!! :D Very very great to FINALLY meet here after months of speaking virtually and planning for my arrival! :D I gave Lais a Stuffed Moose in a Mountie outfit as a yay Canada gift :D haha
We came straight to my new office with ALL of my 50KG of luggage....yes I brought 50KG of clothes....Im cool eh???
The ENTIRE conference team was mid-meeting! So I joined in! And to distract them from me butting in mid-meeting I handed out Maple Creme Cookies! YUMMMMMMMMMMM!!! Then I got straight to work....We worked late into the night. Finally went to my new apartment where LOTS of people are staying currently.
Lais, Olivia, Oscar, and I, half of my new team, who are in BA (Buenos Aires) currently, had a "feelings" talk - and as we know, I am not much of a "feelings" person - so I struggled but it was nice to have private time with them to start creating our team dynamics!! :) I think it is a great start to a new amazing year!!
This morning I woke up early....7AM here...6AM EST....worked for about 1 hour but because nobody else was really up, I went back to bed....I realized Jetlag was hitting me so I got in 2 more hours of sleep. Yayyy....It should only take me a day or two more to be adjusted.
Today we are again preparing for the conference - LDS - Leadership Development Seminar - and I am SUUUUUUPER (what up Rochelle) excited to meet everybody in the region to start the year off Right! I completed all of my trainings (powerpoints) last week before my conference in Canada, but upon arrival yesterday I was informed that I would need to also create the trainings for the External Relations track since the person in charge has quit the conference team. Sooo Lots of work to complete in one day! But I KNOW I can I KNOW I can!! :D
Well I should go and work! I will update again soon on how to conference is going! It will be a LONG 4 days of excitement, learning, meeting, and drinking!!
Adios!!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
LEAVINGGGGGGG
Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again... :D
Bye Bye Canada! Hello Argentina! :D
I don't know when I'll be back again... :D
Bye Bye Canada! Hello Argentina! :D
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