Well folks I have to apologize deeply for I haven’t been able to keep up with this blog as frequently as I’d hoped when I first created it, but I am getting much better at managing my time here in Buenos Aires (getting adjusted to the schedule and pace of things here sure was a challenge!), so I will be posting much more frequently from now on.
I can’t believe it’s been two months since I first embarked on this journey to study abroad in BA, and I have to admit, these last two months have been the toughest, scariest, but also the most rewarding and enriching experience I have ever survived. I can feel myself changing here, learning new Spanish vocab everyday, becoming more street smart, and making new friendships to maintain until my departure next year. I am so thankful I took the risk and agreed to study for a year here, because now I have the confidence to navigate my way around the city and to keep exploring new places knowing that once I make my niche here, I can continue it next semester and continue learning.
In the past month, my experience abroad was profoundly altered by the death of one UW Madison classmate at the start of September. After reading all about his death via random facebook status updates and posts, I felt extremely sorry for the community this student was a part of. This student was part of UW Madison’s First Wave program, an enriching scholarship program at the university built to nurture creativity, social justice, and community by means of hip hop (that’s just a fraction of what this program does, check them out! ). I am so thankful part of my Madison experience included close friends who were part of this program and my deep sentiments continue to go to the First Wave community.
Even though I am abroad, I was incredibly inspired by the work ethic, passion, and soul of this student, so much that it really made me reflect about my own purpose in life. I spent a lot of time this past year at Madison working and studying so I could make it to Buenos Aires, and upon landing here, it’s been a struggle just to loosen up more and actually take time to enjoy life. I started reflecting deeply on the last time I was truly happy at Madison, and I remember being on my bhangra crew (aka Indian style dance fused with hip hop dance crew) and was taking classes I truly enjoyed. As a result, in the course of a month, I have begun to take frequent hip hop and art classes at my university’s arts institution for the public. Being a classically trained ballet dancer before college and having never taken a formal hip hop class before, this was definitely a risk. I remember entering the Buenos Aires dance studio feeling the same excited but completely nervous feeling as I had felt four years ago when I first tried out for the bhangra team. If I had stayed locked up in my dorm room that freezing cold Madison winter night in my freshman year instead of lacing up my sneakers and getting myself to that audition, my life would never have been the same. That’s exactly what Buenos Aires is: taking risks and exploring new places knowing nothing about what I’m getting myself into and then riding the bus home in complete shock at the vast amount of things to do, people to meet, and places to experience in the city. (I haven’t even traveled outside of the city yet minus a service trip because there’s so much to experience!)
I have always been artistic, but I never felt like I got to take advantage of the art classes offered at the university, with the exception of my screen printing “urban graphics” class in which I discovered my passion and artistic style of choice in graphic design. I always had the unsettling feeling that I had discovered something so beautiful about myself in my love for graphic design but I never got the chance to embrace it and to build from it. Well, all the creativity that was never released seemed to take shape once I started my journey in BA. Just yesterday, I started a new journey on my program in BA: course title: “Urban Styles:Aerosol” Classroom Location: The bottom of the bridge on the corner of Bulrich & Libertador, BA (can you guess what I’m going to be doing? ) Yep, it’s a course dedicated to graffiti art. Growing up in L.A. , I fell in love with the murals of the city but I never thought I could take my painting skills to emulate the beautiful images of my hometown. Buenos Aires is covered in graffiti, both good and bad, and most definitely political. I remember being completely lost in the city streets the 1st month of my program, and what always gave me peace of mind was that I could stumble upon a random mural that would make me feel closer to the inhabitants of Buenos Aires. I got tired of wishing and wanting more, and I took initiative and bought my first cans of paint and I fell in love with the first class. I promise to take lots of pictures for everyone (and to never discontinue my passion for art and dance again).
Now for the work. To graduate this coming May 2013, I am finishing my degrees in International Relations and Latin American Studies as well as my Gender and Women’s studies minor. My courses include : 1) Theories of Cuture for Peace and Human Rights 2) Systems of Latin American Politics 3) Gender, Diversity, and Minorities in Argentina 4) Advanced Castellano (the Spanish spoken in Argentina) 6) Methodologies for human rights (though NGO’s in Buenos Aires).
I know I wanted to take it easy this semester with school, but these are truly my dream courses as they are classes I could never take in my university in the U.S. I am learning a lot through each of them, specifically about the interesting political system in Argentina that transitioned to democracy in 1983. After years of dictatorship, human rights in Argentina is a huge topic and there are a huge number of Argentine NGOs fighting hard to advocate for justice. I am lucky enough this semester to be working at the organization Amnesty International, where I am focusing on my research on human rights that focus on gender and women’s rights in Latin America. Argentina is a very interesting case in that, although the country has a female president, Cristina Kirchner, there are still a huge amount of human rights violations against women in the country, such as the large amounts of violence against women cases both in the city and the rest of the country. There is even a quota system that dictates how many women are supposed to be in political power (30%) and yet the legislation does not actually end up being pro-women’s rights (abortion is also illegal here amongst a high sexual violence rate). I guess it’s not enough to just place women in affirmative action programs granting them positions of political power. In Argentina, gender equality is definitely a topic women are not afraid to talk about, and neither am I.
With all the discovering that goes with a study abroad program, I am finding balancing my academics to be very challenging. Back in Madison, I was extremely studious, and could pass up any Saturday night out in order to study and perform well on my exams. My move to Buenos Aires has therefore been very healthy for me because I am realizing that life is a balancing act, and in order to for me to stay happy while abroad, I have to strive to engage in as much as possible and meet as many people as I can. I get frustrated when people add to the misconception that academics while studying abroad is easy. Sure it’s easy, if you’re taking easy courses or staying close to your English-speaking group of friend because you know you’re about to move back to America in four months. However, if you’re trying to take advantage of all the city has to offer and meeting new people while managing a full course load of challenging classes that are completely in Spanish (while being the only American in the class with lectures that make you completely lost and exams you don’t understand) then it becomes a completely different experience. I am on the latter of the two experiences, and it has so far been very challenging to stick the work ethic, drive, and ambition I maintained in college in order to also experience what Buenos Aires has to offer (not to mention all of Latin America as I am trying to organize a trip around the continent for my December months of vacation). No, I don’t have an Argentine boyfriend that I and am not completely ecstatic all the time during my process, but this experience is my own unique experience, and I have to take time to appreciate all that I have learned and witnessed in my journey so far. After these exams are over, I have promised myself to deeply celebrate my birthday and to continue learning as much as possible while abroad, knowing that tomorrow is not always guaranteed.
Thanks to all the people in my life that encouraged me to go this far and continue to support my sometimes overly- ambitious and crazy, but totally possible, dreams. Let my experience inspire you to take initiative to change your life for the better (or to help somebody else), and to not just live vicariously through me. This blog is meant for me to share my reflections and to stimulate you to live to the fullest, so stand up and live!
saumyainbuenosaires 