Showing posts with label Starbucks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Starbucks. Show all posts

Thursday, June 3, 2010

El Commandante

6/3/10
I woke up and got ready for school. I got to campus and bought myself a croissant since I missed breakfast. In class, more about Borges. I want to read more of his works some day, so I put his collected fiction my long amazon wish-list. After class, I headed home. There I ate lunch. I headed to Starbucks after to work on my History essay. I had planned to write about the School of Americas, but based on my thesis I couldn't find too much sources besides the basic information, and I didn't know what else to write about it. So I have gone to my backup option, Che. This way, I can find more sources and use quotes from books I used in a previous paper I wrote.

My friend Devin and I went for cupcakes. After, I went back to working on my paper but also talked to Abbey. I eventually had a quick bite to eat since I am now off to a birthday dinner.

On my way home in 17 days!!! AHH!!!!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The Parade/Editing Photos

5-25-10 continued
I hung out for a bit. Then Andrea, Chelsey and I headed into the madness that was downtown. We got off at Nueve de Julio. We walked around. I bought an Argentine flag. We met up with friends and walked around. We sat in Starbucks and kind of relaxed from the insanity of the big day. We finally headed into Plaza de Mayo for the parade. After like 20 min, not much was happening so some people headed back, leaving Tracey and I there. We watched it for like 30 minutes or so. It was really disorganized in a very comical way. I got video. I will put all my videos up when I get back stateside since the internet is bad and I can also edit them. We then headed home.

I relaxed and edited photos till bed.

5-26-10
I woke up and edited more photos. I then ready for school and ate lunch with friends. I went to class. My economics class was alright. Next week is our last class class which is really weird to think about. So much left but so little time. In Spanish, we went over imperatives. It was good to review it since I haven't learned that in like 3 or 4 years. I headed. I chilled for a bit and edited photos. I got money from the bank. I ate dinner with friends. We caught up on things.

I started the process of uploading photos, we shall see how long it takes. I went to Starbucks for a hot drink with Chelsey since it is starting to get cold here. No me gusta. Then I hung out and talked to friends.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Writing an Essay

4-27-10
I woke up and went to breakfast. I talked to some of the friends including people who are in the same literature class that I am in. We talked about the paper due on Thursday. I decided that in my best interest I would skip my class today in order to have more time on my paper. After getting showered and ready, I headed to school. At school, I tried to find a book the library that my teacher said would help with the paper. But alas it wasn't.

It was lunch time, so I ate with my friend Cassi and Lucilia. We talked about homework, trips (Lucilia gave me advice on my plans on Salta) and more. I also pulled up some websites to help me out with the paper. Eventually, I went back to the library and wrote some of my paper. Then I couldn't get a strong enough internet connection so I moved onto Starbucks and wrote nearly two out of the five pages by the end of it. I was planning to write more tonight but the internet back at the residencia wasn't that great. I am planning to wake up tomorrow morning and writing a good portion before Spanish since I don't have economics tomorrow.

I emailed my uncle and I am pretty sure now I have a job for the summer. I also emailed some people who posted on Craiglist about weddings in the Seattle area over the summer. So we shall see about that too.

I am currently fighting a cold

Sunday, January 17, 2010

"Have you been to Greece?"

I am currenty doing this at an internet cafe with a working keyboard.
So back to day 5
Since I posted about that, I took pictures and videos of people dancing. I then headed to bed but felt relatively lame doing so since everyone in the hostal seemed to be going out but I was tired and had an early morning in front of me. The Floridian girls who I met turned out to be just as lame as I was becaue they had to catch a bus in the morning. I struggled to sleep but finally did.

Day 6 (1/16/10)
I kept waking up during the course of the night, from people coming in from a wild night or the person in the bunk next to mine having the worse snore EVER!!!!!!! I woke up a bit earlier than I had to in hopes that Abbey would be online but she wasn´t but I took care of sme emails. I got my stuff together and a bottle of water before the cab picked me up.

I got to the airport with no problem at all. Checked in and got through the security. Stopped in a store to buy some postcards. They had a lot of books in English I considered but I resisted. They also had a Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and a Ruby Tuesday in the airport. Legit. I went to my gate and wrote my postcards that I plan to send tomorrow. I then boarded and then fell asleep for most of the flight despite a movie that I wanted to see was showing. I woke up and read and filled out the forms. I got through passport control no problem because I didn´t have to pay an entrance fee (though I will prob have to pay an exit fee from what I hear). I exchanged some money and grabbed my ba. I met up with the driver I orgainzed through my hostel.

The city reminds me a lot of California. It is right on the coast. I can´t wait to explore it. The hostel is in a neighborhood called Miraflores which isn´t the center but I don´t mind. I plan to go there on Monday. The hostal is a pretty cool building with lots of rooms and games and movies. I talked to some people. I relaxed and went on the computer in the lobby. Turns out the keyboard is broken so I have to point and click every key which is better than nothing but still a pain. Luckily Abbey was online when I was. We skyped voice to voice because they have a headset for it.

After we chatted for a while, I walked to the beach. There I met two Canadian couples. They were very nice and I explained my journey and its possibilities. They said Bolivia, if you are smart, isn´t that bad. So that is a possibility but I will touch on that later. I took some pictures (will upload some to Facebook sometime, though they will be better if I can play with them on photoshop first, if you can wait). I then walked around and bought a water bottle and walked to my hostel. I met an Australian, some Greeks (who asked everyone if they had been to Greece, it was a running joke by the end of the night) and a man from near Rome. We talked about our respected journeys and shared advice. I then read my book.

After reading I napped for a bit. I got up and ran into an American couple, a Canadian and a half American half Peruvian boy and we all went to dinner. It was a lot of fun. I got a frozen lemonade and streak and rice and vegetables. I love South American food. We headed to the hostel but made a stop to buy some beer. We hung out with most of the people in the hostel, playing games, taking photos, talking about our trips, singing to the radio playing random American music. Then I headed to bed.

Day 7 (1/17/10)
I woke up at various times this morning but pretty much slept till ten which was amazing. I got up and talked to the Australian and Italian guys. I then hopped online and so did Abbey we had a great Skype date where we talked about her wild night (wish I could have been there, though I had fun). My mom called me for all of five seconds but then she got on Skype. After Abbey and I said bye. I talked to my mom about things. We tried to figure out what to do with my month of whatever. We discussed some volunteer work and we looked at places. I found one in Cusco I liked and would enjoy. It would be working with children which I love. I emailed them seeing if I could volunteer for 2 weeks from like the 25th to the 7th. Then I can get to Mendoza and get back to Buenos Aires from there. It would eat up 2 weeks which would be nice and I could help and play with kids. So I hope I can do it.

I then said bye to my mom and heading into the Miraflores area. I bought an orange from a nice lady but she turned me down when I asked if I could take a photo of her. :(. It would have been a good one but I had to respect her wishes. This will be difficult. I continued to walk around and take some photos on both my D80 and my Holga. I walked through a park and then stopped in an internet cafe to type this. Now to continue walking and get some food. Post sometime soon.
Paz

Thursday, January 14, 2010

What to do for a month in South America

1-13-10/Day 3 (continued)
After I left the Starbucks, I went back to my hotel to hang out. I read and finished my book, leaving me with a few books to read though I am thinking of borrowing a book from my hotel. I watched some tv and then went out for a quick dinner. After I relaxed for a while, before hanging out in the lobby with some of the night staff and their friends. I got to practice my Spanish, which I have not lost much of which is nice. After a few hours of hanging, and chatting, I went to bed.

1-14-10/Day 4
I woke up this morning around 9ish but still wifi (still not working, no real surprise there). I very briefly talked to Abbey but she had an emergency to take of so she had to go. I then booked a flight from Lima to Cusco, due to its relatively cheap price and it is much safer. I realized that if I stay in Cusco for five days, which is what I am thinking, that still gives me roughly a month of unplanned activities. I really am unsure about what to do with this time. I am thinking Bolivia but I am going to plan it, if I go, either in Chile or Peru to make sure it is safe in La Paz. I don´t want to go if it is too risky, obviously. I miss my life in the US, but I will not let it comsume me. I guess I just wish I had a travel buddy. It would make this a lot easier but I will meet people like I have already and then when my program starts it will be fun too.

I went to figure out what happened with my phone. When I got to Movistar, they couldn´t figure it out at first but they eventually did. They told me to wait 30 minutes so I grabbed a quick lunch and went to the bank. When I returned, my phone was working. Me and the ladies at Movistar were very happy about this. They even gave me ten extra pesos on my phone for which I gave them a hight five each and many graciases. I then headed back to my hotel. I then headed back to Starbucks to use their wifi. There I checked and sent out emails, uploaded photos my facebook, wrote a possible article for the Guilfordian, talked to some friends and booked a hostel in Cusco, apparently very near the center but also close to the airport. I am now planned till the afternoon of the 25th. No idea what to do from then on. I want to go back to Buenos Aires for a little bit and I might go to Patagonia with a friend but besides that, I have no plans. So if you got suggestions, let me know. I headed back and started to pack but I took a break to post this.

Agenda for the next few days
Santiago tomorrow for the night, Lima: Saturday-20th, Cusco: 20th-25th. So don´t expect a blog entry every day, but occasionally and same with photos. I might do mini things to show I am alive and well but don´t expect a lot

Check my photos on my flickr, www.flickr.com/jsinclair88. You will see the Argentina labeled album. Remember, any is for sale and enjoy