Spend a week in Argentina- check

I can't believe Candida and I have already had our 1 week anniversary and then some since we've arrived in Buenos Aires. Time has flown by, but at the same time I feel like we've seen a good amount of the city and had many fun experiences. Last Friday we went to the largest Boliche in B.A. and it was fun, except the dance floor did not get crowded until 2/2:30 p.m. This really is a city that never sleeps. And also the city where your clothes reek of smoke and I mean reek.

Saturday Afternoon we went to La Boca- it is highly touristy and the buildings are painted in bright colors and at a first glance it seems like such a fun place. Sadly the surrounding areas are so full of poverty it is almost a shame to see the difference between the highly tourist areas and how it almost masks the poverty and crime around it. Saturday night we went to a parilla (pronounced parija- Argentinian's replace the j/sh sound for double ll and y) and most everyone ordered steak. First of all it was huge, delicious and came with at least 10 different sides. Needless to say we were all in major food coma's shortly after.

Sunday was wet and rainy, but Candida and I made it out to church, which was just wonderful. I really missed it last week so it was so great to meet with other members of the body. And, as a plus we saw some cool grafitti on the way home-hence the new profile pic :)

Today I started my internship- or rather met the coordinator and some of the students I'll be working with. Two days of the week I'll be helping out in an English Classroom and the other two I will be tutoring advanced level english students. I'm excited for the tutoring as I'll get to design the lesson plan and help them practice english in whatever form I choose. It'll be fun working with the high school students and I'm excited to get to know my coordinator better as well, she's so sweet! Praise God for such a great work environment with students who are eager to learn :)

Grace and Peace

~Shreya

Buenos Aires- city of "cool"

My title is the first sentence of Candida's book about Argentina and my my how true it is. I am a big fan of Argentina and that is only after two days! Yesterday we went to Santelmo, this area of B.A. that is close to downtown. On Sundays they have markets with lots of touristy items as well as antique purses, trinkets, clothes, ya know the goods. I think this is my favorite place so far (okay so I've only been here 2 days, but still, some things you just know) and to top it off we met some really sweet people who are involved with a church and ministry in argentina- talk about an answer to prayer! :)

We started off with fresh squeezed oj and then walked around for hours looking at all the cool stalls. I regretted not changing more money into pesos, but Candida and I have decided to make this a regular sunday event- especially since the church is just 10 mins away! Interestingly enough, most of the vendors don't like to bargain which is a slight bummer. We also stopped by a cafe to enjoy some vegetable pie that consisted solely of spinach, pizza and yummy empanadas. Check out my pics on fb too if you would like to see more of what it looked like!

Today, we went shopping and then went to this tour of a palace built after Dante's Divine Comedy. The 9th floor and above were designed like "heaven" and the floors below were like "hell". I'm pretty sure the tour guide thought he came up with the best line ever when he said "see you in hell" when he sent us back down to the 8th floor. The view from the top was wonderful as you can see in the pictures and you could even see a tiny bit of Uruguay. We walked around the Congress area, took some much needed touristy pics and then jus walked the 45 mins back home. I love that we get to walk around the city because it is so beautiful and there are a million and one interesting/cute stores to look at :)

Hope you all are doing so well!

grace and peace

~shreya

The adventure begins

What an Adventure getting here!

9:08- Southwest airlines

My plane is scheduled to leave at 9:10 and they don't tell me until 9:08 that I am allowed on the plane because they supposedly overbooked the flight. Poor lady got quite the outburst from me.

10:45- Aeromexico

I meet Candida, Clarissa and their mom at the airport. We take a few pics, give a few hugs... it's a jolly time. Until we meet...Alma... the supervisor who tells us that we can't take all our luggage on board b/c it's too heavy or alternatively, we can pay the 120 dollar fee (heck no!). It takes until 12:30 for us to finally convince our beloved Alma after making a bunch of calls (keep in mind our flight is at 1:15), but we finally make it to the terminal and make it on the plane to mexico city. Ahh the joys of traveling :)

Flight to Mexico city= awesome conversation time with candida. Hanging out with other students during our 4 hr layover by touring the market, trying pig snout and eating sweet bread = wet, slightly disgusting and fun. Flight to Buenos Aires= my attempts to sleep failing miserably. Landing in Buenos Aires and driving to our new home for the next two months= absolutely amazing! :)

Ok seriously, Buenos Aires is so great. It is so gorgeous with its beautiful people, cobblestone streets and cute cafe's. We unpacked and then went straight to exploring the city in this region called Palermo. This area had the cutest boutiques and it was nice just to walk around a city for hours.

Praise God for the safe flights, the simple joy of making new friends and privilege of being able to be in such an amazing city! :)

Grace and peace to you all.

~shreya

K.I.T.

Here is my contact info:

email: snannepaga@westmont.edu

skype: ohhshreya (props to candida and clarissa for this one)

mail: Shreya Nannepaga

C/O Road2Argentina

Anchorena 1676

C1425ELL Capital Federal

Argentina

I would love to get postcards, letters, etc.. in the mail (who doesn't!) and I'll be sure to send out some postcards when I am in Buenos Aires.

Of course you may also fb me. There is free wifi at the house, so I am sure I will be online regularly. Please keep in touch!

p.s.

I'd love to bring back gifts, let me know if there is anything you want in particular. And no Minty, though I love you dearly, I will not bring back a Hot Argentinian man for you. :)

T-minus 1 week

Yes, it is true. I have started a blog, but only because I will be living in another country and I want to keep you all updated on my life.

By this time next week I will be on my way to Argentina- yipee! For those of you that do not know, I am going to be living for two months in Buenos Aires. I am going with one of my good friends from college, Candida, and I think we both agree that this is gonna be the trip of a lifetime.

I will be an ESL intern for two months while Candida is doing a medical internship. I am so excited, yet nervous to live in a country in which I barely know the language (rosetta stone please help me now!). I have always loved a challenge so although it will be hard at first communicating, I'm rather looking forward to the funny stares and awkward encounters because at least I'll have some good stories to tell later on! :)

I am so grateful to have this experience, so I hope you all will enjoy the pictures I post and the stories I tell.

Grace and peace be with you all

Shreya