Beautiful Buenos Aires
Third day in Argentina, and I love it! Everything is very, very different here, but let me give you a glimpse of what I've been through since liftoff...
(check out downtown Toronto! What a sweet pic!)
Before anything, this is the email I sent to my fellow CEEDers a couple of days beforehand...
Hey y'all,
It's so good to hear from those of you already on your CEEDs - WOOT WOOT! It just hasn't registered in my mind that I'll be in your shoes in 3 days... only 3 days!!
Here's my contact:
Email: xxx
MSN: xxx
Skype: xxx
I'm just scared I won't get picked up from the airport 'cause Argentina's got their LDS this weekend... yikes. Just putting all my faith in those general members that aren't going...
Anyway, I like random updates! I'll let you guys know if I get stranded at the airport or not...
See you!
Irene
And FO SHO did I get picked up. Oh no, not by members here, no, literally everyone was at the conference. I was picked up by an old alumnus by the name of Nicolas - who used to be the old MC VP F of Southern Cone! Super awesome.
From the airport, we went for breakfast at one of the oldest cafés in Argentina - Café Tortoni - opened in 1806. It was soooo beautiful inside - it was like eating inside a museum! But not only was it awesome, it was an ok price... $3 for coffee, and 2 Argentine croissants (smaller, cuter, and glazed with sweetness!) in a very beautiful cafe...
Later on Nicolas dropped me off with another alumnus - Luciano, a past MC VP ER - and he gave me the most explicit tour of downtown! I don't think I've ever learned so much history and politics in a day! I also got to meet his wonderful family as well, some which came from Italy, and some from another town in Argentina. I could not believe how hospitable they were! I am so glad I got to try Asados (bbq - Argentines' most important type of meal) on my first day for lunch. Argentines eat lots and lots of meat - especially cow meat, and they have every part of the cow. So in stead of assuming that pastries and stuff have chicken in it like we do, it's beef! We went to this beautiful restaurant called La Estacion (the parking lot) - the restaurant definitely doesn't deserve the name it has...
After that it was all touring, being a tourist, café... their coffees don't come in the huge North American cups we get... they're in the most darling expresso cups! And last stop of the day was a very Bohemian street that really never ends with tons of vendors lined up on both sides selling all handmade stuff... perfect place to go for souvenirs before leaving this lovely place...
Nicolas then picked us up to drop me off at the trainees' apartment where I'm staying at the moment... still not sure where I'm staying yet! Pity 'cause I'm really looking forward to cooking... and I can't 'cause I may be moving any time. But I think the trainees are really, really awesome! Take a load of this, 1 of the 3 girls here is an old AIESEC member from McGill who got here only 2.5 months ago! Also a good friend of Erika as well - dude, it's such a small world. The other two are from Bulgaria and Germany. So awesome 'cause they're just like a little family :) And check this out, this is their "hand wall" ;)
Yesterday I got to check out the AIESEC office and have my first Micky Dees meal! Breakfast, which I hate usually, was really good! Our English muffins taste like rubber, but here they have this really thing toasted bread with whatever ham and cheese you want... so good!!! But MD prices are almost the same here... almost $5 a meal...
I also had another Argentine kind of food called "Empanadas" which is like pizza pocket things with UNprocessed meat and eggs in it... 1 empanada is 2 pesos, and 2 really fill me up - that's dinner for $1.33 Canadian, kids. I love this place!! The pastries are .60 pesos too, so that's 20 cents Canadian, for dessert...
Such a long post, but it's sooo sooo good!! :P Let's just go on a little more since, if you've come to this point, a little more wouldn't hurt.
Randoms:- Got a total SHOCK when I found out they don't recycle plastic - I buy a 1.5 litre bottled water everyday... I really wish I bought a self filtering bottle before I left :'(
- In Toronto, no one understands why I act like I own the roads - it's pedestrians first, guys. Here, it's cars > EVERYTHING ELSE. I nearly got killed 2 times already...
- So I can't speak Spanish at all, and no one speaks English here (so far), besides the AIESECers I've met so far. I think that's enough said.
That's it for now...
See yall soon!
Irene
Pre-departure
Here I am sitting in the computer room, messy with my stuff just being EVERYWHERE.
I have no freaking idea how to pack for 3 months worth of life.
Some of the things in the fort surrounding me:
- checklists: TONNES OF THEM! Been making checklists almost every day of this month, FOR each day, and writing them every hour OF each day... etc...
- crap to return: being as frugal as I am, there's lots of stuff to return still from NLDC ie. the white dress, flower-clips...
- hand sanitizer, wipey things...
- post-its like EVERYWHERE - with checklists on some too
- spanish books
- cords, chargers, random clothes, adapters, converters... ughhhhh!!!
Seriously, I'm an extremely organized person, really, but this is an exception! I am already getting nervous and fidgety seeing my crap being strewn all over...
The pink luggage should have been filled today. It's already Friday, and it's fully... empty. Oh dear.
NLDC Debrief
More like May recount...
IAT trainingAll I can say is that we're a productive team - in terms of work. I'm so glad that I'm not the only extremely indecisive Finance person out there... took us half an hour to decide what to eat, and that was around 9:30 PM...
CEED prepSo grateful for it! Much more prepared now to go - incredibly glad that we got a chance to speak with people from the country we're going to! I can't wait until the debrief to hear stories from everyone else... as well as the profit each of us made...
NLDCDay 1: Did my first audit ever! Global village was awesome - awesome meaning free swiss chocolate, wine and quesadillas. Some of the roll calls were ingenious
Day 2: Something I've been trying to figure out for a long time - building my brand - we got such awesome externals, really... one of the many really good sessions of the conference. The BOD!! So many AIESEC babies out there and many waiting to be born
Day 3: Apparently acting sustainably meant acting strictly with some sort of extremely cynical humour... but definitely got some really good sales notes from GSK! Absolutely did not know some of us had such great acting skills, but seriously what a day of discovering everyone's artistic talents that day + night
Day 4: Wasn't there mentally for demonstrating integrity, but if you've got your morals straight it's just a classroom with a mean teacher right... went through the most brutal session of any conference I must say... 4 hours straight in a very very cold room - thing is that I'm now doing what we were taught involuntarily... oh so me, so
hypocritical... Thank god we had a really warm night at the beach! Probably 'cause we were running around the whole time - as John said, "omg, you and Tova are like everywhere!" - nearly 2 albums worth of "everywhere" on facebook...
Day 5: Albeit the last day of conference isn't ever a good one, I'm always looking forward to Day 5 of NLDCs... must be the sadness, gifts and tears thing. Had my first breakfast in days... and went through what I usually never understand but this time understood it all... all of it...
this is the stage I'm in - oh consideration! It was a good Last Day, really. Everything came together...
I understood it all... thank You for the shoes, 4 months of your precious term and this wealth of knowledge that made a part of my $285 worth it plus a future that holds richness I know not of...
thank You...
Randoms: Oh dear, definitely the conference of the Ass Dance! Finance opening the door to shaking butts and laughing so hard our cramps lasted ages... mucho smiles during reflection time (smiles are a reflection of some sort!)... short shorts on most nights... getting into the worst case scenario with the white dress and washing out
all of the red wine (I owe Tide To Go's inventor my life)... and ten albums. It's not my fault people want to have their picture count up to 1500... they like taking pictures, I like taking pictures, and we *click* (pun intended) Save it as an attachment, send it to bestfriends@aiesec.net and you always get the junk mail that goes straight to the trash can anyway ;)
No conference withdrawal at all, but definitely tiredness and getting free 168 bubbletea, oh yeah, you heard right. Thought I was the only disgrace over here well NOPE looks like other asians can't even count change...
Afterwards it was stepping out of yours truly's comfort zone dear god - wasn't too bad as - thank god - I am so open minded, I dare to say. Don't think I've gone in a bar feeling so uncomfortable but
safe... Good times though really, plus another night out with the cream of the crop just to send me off... with an expensive bill, too...
Thanks to everyone (people, corporations, gov't and the like) for making this crazy month a blast, an emotional rollercoaster and a semester in itself really... I loved it and now I'm
so ready to write another chapter in volume 19...
Ten-day conference
So my ten day conference has officially started!!!
May 2-4: IAT Training!!
May 4-6: CEED/CIL training
May 7th: Auditing!!!
May 7-11: NLDC 2008 baby!
So far it has been awesome! First day of IAT training - we went through to the whole first session of the next/second day! Very very productive, with the best minute keeper in the world! (We love your minutes Laurie!)
Looking forward to everything else... and everything!!! What a crazy busy weekend and week... it makes me so joyful to receive texts and calls randomly from friends saying that they've arrived in town... EEP so excited!!
:D
