Birds

Yes, you´re on the right page. I changed up the blog look to keep it interesting ;)

Okay, so I left off at the part where I found out I would be taken out to a field-house for two weeks to work on an ecology project...

I got picked up early the next morning by the project adviser, Susana, who is a researcher and professor at the University Nacional de Cordoba. We drove a half hour outside the city and into the country. After a few miles on a gravel road off the main drag, we pulled up to the little yellow cottage I would be living in. Inside there were 4 mattresses on the floor, a small table, and a bench with a portable stove-top which was the kitchen. The walls and other tables were covered in tools, notebooks, bird guides, and buckets of worms. The showers, toilets, and sink were a few steps away outside. And in case you don't get the picture, definitely no wifi. Susana had me leave my bag and we walked the mile out to the “campo”, field, to meet the crew. When we got to the edge of the forest, I quickly learned that the vegetation in this region of the country is brutal. Their main defense: spines. I cannot tell you how many times during the following weeks I pulled a needle out of my clothes and skin. We finally found the students though, and they started in on a Spanish biology vocab explanation of the work they're doing and reported the observations of the day to Susana. I was a little lost. We all went back to the field-house and Susana said goodbye. She'd come back for all of us in two weeks when the project was completed. So there I was: no internet, no English, a whole new vocab to get down, sleeping on a mattress on the floor with complete strangers... “Right, I got this.”

Fortunately, I did get it, and it was awesome. The two students living at the field-house with me, Alejandro and Giovana, turned out to be the nicest, most patient people ever, and they taught me an amazing

amount about biology, ecology, the bird species of Argentina, how to cook some delicious fried food, and some Argentinian card games. Oh, and they fed me my first Mate (a tea-ish drink EVERYONE drinks here, no joke, people bring their Mate cup and a thermos full of hot water to work, to church, to the library, to the park to each others' houses, to just go for a walk down the street...). Within the day I arrived, I was drinking Mate, studying the bird guidebook, and making lists of new vocab. I also quickly remembered how much I missed biology. The project itself was very ambitious, and I learned a mountain of field-study factors: data collection, observation, project design, etc. To keep it simple, the project looked at differences in habits of adult birds feeding their hatchlings under pressure of food supply and/or risk of predation. Every day at 5:30 am, Ale, Gio, and I would chug some coffee and head out to the nests. We spent 4 hours during the morning, and 3 more at night setting up predator recordings, refilling bird-feeders, observing behavioral changes, and then weighing and measuring the hatchlings. It was the nerdiest fun ever.

During non-bird hours, I got to enjoy the gorgeous Argentinian countryside. I went for runs beside fields of corn and cattle, read my book in the tall prairie grass, hung out with the property owner's horses, and, at night, stared up at a wide open sky chuck-full with stars. Every evening, Ale, Gio, and I would drink Mate, play cards, and talk about the birds, biology, music, culture, politics, love, and anything else you can find to talk about. Also, after I explained how beautiful it was, Jenna found her way out to the campo for a day to soak up some fresh air, help with some observations, and catch me up on city life and our new crazy roommate situation. She said I would love it, so when I had to pack up and leave the a few days later, I wasn't too bummed, but those weeks to get some bio experience and soak up the simple life were definitely two of my favorite so far. Thank you God.

I had to re-enter civilization at some point though. I missed my weirdo blondie partner-in-crime, and it had been forever since I talked to my family. I got back, met everyone at the house, talked to Jen for hours (a little English recap), and then skyped my whole family (minus Trev in North Dakota). When I unpacked that day getting back to Cordoba, it felt so different to know I wouldn't be moving camp again for over two months. All we did in Ecuador was bop around. I think this will be nice though, a little change of pace to get settled in for more than a week. We already have friends, picked a church, our favorite fruit store, our favorite coffee shop (which happens to be McDonalds... I know, I know, but they have AC and free wifi, don't judge), and our favorite brunch place (We are very loyal

customers. Wherever we walk into first usually gets our business the entire time we are there. Lucky fruit-shop owner right across the street...) For the next couple weeks, we are going to keep busy doing whatever comes our way. For starters, I will be working at the zoo a couple blocks away on a Rhea breeding project working with more baby birds. Jenna has her first day at a Ronald McDonald house this coming Monday. The two of us have been going with our roommates to their community center program for kids three hours every weekday evening, and we also are hoping to get involved with a home-building program and spend some time at the local animal shelters. Jenna will have to get back to you on how juggling all of that goes. ;)

Yep, everything is great. Except the heat. I know, most of you just took a Polar Vortex beating last week, and I'm sorry, because that sounds awful, but for one second just close your eyes and imagine the dog-days of summer. And now take away the AC. And add more heat. A little more. That is what we're living in. I'm not saying it's worse, but it is. Be thankful for snow.

Way too sweaty to put on a shirt (even in public, I don't care),

Nae nae

Surviving Solo

Well I can't speak for Renae as I haven't heard one thing from her in 7 days now (so weird!), but as for me, I'm loving life in Argentina. When she left for the field house last week we didn't have a place to stay, hadn't figured out a permanent money situation, had about 2 friends once the girls went back to Buenos Aires, basically still needed to figure out EVERYTHING! So needless to say, I was a bit worried for myself when she said she had to go for two whole weeks, without communication. Me?! Alone in Cordoba?! I'm not a city person, I am hopeless with directions, my Spanish is the poorer of the two... I may or may not have been thinking, “yup, this is the week that I will die”.

But guess what, I am not only surviving but in the always optimistic words of Jen Schneider, am doing great! I moved into a sort of foreign student house (more on this later), made it to the bank, have had more adventures in one week than I can even begin to describe, and best of all have found myself surrounded by friends. Every single person I've met has been more than friendly, and is always willing to help a sista out. One day last weekend my friend Lucas brought me to swim at the river in Cuesta Blanca, an hour bus ride outside the city. I got crazy burnt since Naenae brought the sunscreen to the campo, and felt like the most conservative human in the world next to all the Argentinians in their inappropriate swimsuits (seriously, no age limit, no weight limit, nada.... everyone wears thongs), but had tons of fun swimming, jumping off the rocks, and playing a game that Lucas brought. Another day I met a guy, Martin, on campus, and was brought for pizza and beer “to make me feel at home”. Just yesterday, I was wandering around with my map in hand like usual, when I was approached by a guy named Alex, brought to where I needed to go, and invited to an asado tonight with him and his friends. It's crazy to me that this is such a huge city, yet everyone out there is so friendly and always takes time to make a gringa feel at home. I definitely stick out more without Argentinian-looking Renae, as well, and am always being asked my story, kissed on the cheek, and told to enjoy my time here.

Now, for the craziness that is my living situation.
So I somehow ended up signing a two month lease on a house right by the University. Normally, you have to stay for six months, but since it is the summer here and nothing is going on, they let a handful of us randoms come to live until the end of February. Here's a quick character profile of the unlikely group of people that is my roomies:

Luca: 22 year old Argentinian from a small town four hours from here, came to get a job cutting hair since there isn't enough work where he's from, is always jamming music and dancing around, chain smoker, tons of tattoos, speaks in thee fastest and slang-iest Spanish I have ever heard, and can't seem to slow it down no matter how many times I tell him that if he wants me to understand he needs to speak slowly and clearly. For example, “mas o menos” turns into “maomeo”. Impossible!
Renato: 25 year old gay tv announcer from Brazil, speaks ONLY Portuguese, with maybe 10 words in both Spanish and English thrown in there, came to volunteer for the summer with people with disabilities, has a facial expression that never changes and therefore has become the butt of many jokes, has the habit (especially after having a beer) of speaking very fast Portuguese, disregarding the fact that no one can understand a word.
Joaquin: 20 year old Argentinian from the next province over, here for summer school since he is studying medicine, so has school all day every day then comes home to post up at the table and study, is the son of a doctor and is super into politics, also has a passion for photography.
Kanya: 20 year old half Indian girl from Sydney, Australia, here to volunteer with kids for six weeks, knows un poquitito (tiny little bit) of Spanish, wakes up to run at 6 every morning (yes I say I am going to go with her every day, no I haven't made it yet), vegetarian in the country known for meat.
Marcia: from Brazil, is studying to be a teacher, here to volunteer with kids for 6 weeks as well, luckily for Renato speaks Portuguese, as well as a bit of both Spanish and English, brought a blowdryer which yes is an interesting fact because I actually got to do my hair for the first time yesterday since leaving the states!
Last but not least, Santiago: super tall 21 year old friend from home of Joaquin, here to explore the city and decide if it's where he wants to go to school, wants to be an actor, plays violin, piano, drums, and guitar,  and of course sings as well (I've got him hooked on Eric Church and am making him learn to play his songs), can't beat me at speed to save his life, and is the one I spend the most time with so far since neither of us have much to do during the days. So we go exploring and are in constant Spanish lesson mode, unfortunately for me he's only here til this weekend.

So like I said, it's an unlikely group of people. We are about as opposite from each other as six people can be, and there is TONS of info lost in translation between the three languages, but somehow they already feel like family. We have been cooking together every night, from Brazilian pasta to Argentinian asado to ordering pizza, and are planning a roomie trip to the river this weekend. I can't explain how thankful I am to have all of them, especially during this time when I was so scared of being lonely.

The only thing I am having trouble with is finding volunteer work. I came without having contacts, and figured it would be as easy to find work as it was in Ecuador. But the situation isn't as dire here, and on top of that it's summer vacation like I said so literally everything is shut down. So I have spent hours on hours researching and emailing, and have just now finally started to unearth a few organizations that I hopefully can be of use to. So I'm going tonight to help out at a shelter for homeless women, and have an appointment in a volunteer office next Wednesday to talk about more options. It's frustrating to be here wanting to give all my time but not having an easy way to do it. But I'm trying to remind myself that not everything comes easily, and just to keep looking. I think God must just be waiting for me to click on the right website or run into the right person, so I better keep clicking and keep talking. But if you have a prayer slot open for today that's what you can use it on: that I find my perfect volunteer opportunity, and can be the most help possible for the people down here. I'd appreciate that!

Well that's about all I got for today, much thanks to those of you who are still submitting yourselves to reading about our crazy adventures ;) All I know is I'm super excited to hear all Renae's stories when she gets back to town next Wednesday, and if it's anything like my life has been lately, we might have to talk for 24 hours straight to get caught up.

Happy Thursday everyone!
And Happy 1st Birthday Jo Hope Miller!!!

Melting in this summer heat (sorry for those of you back in ND, I had to),
Jenna Flynn

Made it to Cordoba!

Time is flying. 82 days after stepping into Ecuador, we were back at the airport to head out. We had a quick hour flight to Guayaquil, and then slept all morning on the next plane down to Chile. Having booked the cheapest flight we could find, our journey included a 23 hour layover in Santiago. We planned to go kill time exploring the city, but found out when we landed that it would cost us $160 a piece to officially enter the country. SO, we were trapped in the airport, all... night... long. The good news is that it was a nice airport, with lounging areas and good restaurants and souvenir shops. The bad news is that we could not afford any of it. Apparently the US dollar gets a “really bad rate” in Chile, and we had to pay DOUBLE for everything. We spent $60 to barely stay alive! We got Dunk'n Donuts coffee twice (we had to...), SPLIT a burger and fries, and racked up about 6 rolls of semi-affordable cookies to make it through the night. Yea, we were robbed. We managed to pass out on the airport benches for most of the night, found Bruce Almighty on Youtube, and soon thankfully it was time to board. The quarantine was over. And so was our time in Chile (for now). We flew over the white caps of the Andes on our way, and landed in Cordoba at around 5pm. We glided through customs and were soon unleashed, on our own, without half a plan, into Argentina.

Let me tell you a couple things. First of all, Cordoba, Argentina is an amazing city, but could not be more different from the scrubby towns of Ecuador we are used to. There is a huge park, a hoppin downtown area, ritzy little cafes, bakeries and patio dining, and historical and cultural sites and museums all over town. No ladies selling chicken on a stick on the side of the road, no more $1 fried platanos, no shirtless, shoeless men walking the sidewalks drinking beer. Not a chance. Second, there are people everywhere, and EVERYONE is dressed up in the fanciest clothes all the time, like, to walk their dogs and go to McDonald's. I have never seen so many beautiful people in 4 days. We do NOT fit in. Our nicest get-ups cannot even compete, so we MIGHT go shopping, or we might just stay homeless-looking as we eat the dinner we can afford, bread dipped in packet marinara sauce, on the curb. And third, Jenna and I are becoming the best go-with-the-flow travelers ever. When you arrive in a country without having previously researched ANYTHING (just like we did for Ecuador), and have no one to pick you up from the airport or help you exchange dollars to pesos or tell you where to go for a hostel, you just have to figure it out. We could have made it easier on ourselves and looked into some of it before landing, but anyone who knows us knows that's just not how we operate. Instead, we kind of just clumsily tromp through, learning everything as it comes. And when you're that kind of person, especially when you're traveling, you have to at least be good at rolling with it, and we've definitely mastered that.

As of Day 5 in Argentina, we're sleeping at a scrappy hostel sharing a room with 2 girls from Buenos Aires while we search for a more permanent place. We are getting the pesos thing down, exploring the city, and eating ice cream every day. And also, contrary to what some of you may have guessed, we  are making friends. ;) For New Years, we had dinner at our hostel with people from Cordoba, Buenos Aires, Portugal, Italy, and Germany. We had a traditional “asado”, grill-out, with the most delish meats I've ever tasted, no exaggeration, this country is known for its beef. Then at midnight we all cheers-ed, kissed everyone on the cheek, and then went out to celebrate the beginning of 2014 until 5am, right along with the Cordobeses.

Tomorrow I get to step back into the biology world, or rather DIVE back in. I found out yesterday that I will be picked up at 6:30am to head out to the field house for 2 weeks! I didn't really know that was the plan (speaking of going with the flow...), but what can you do? Needless to say, Jen and I feel a little weirded out to be apart for 14 days, since, you know, we haven't spent even one apart for over 3 months, but I know we'll both do great! I am dying for the ecology experience, and she is going to master finding volunteering opportunities in the city. After that, we'll have a whole new appreciation for each others same jokes and stories. ;) And don't worry, we went over the all-by-yourself security guidelines.
Already, I know Argentina is going to be an adventure and a half. I hope God can continue to guide and watch over us in this new place, and direct us to where He needs us to be. So far, He has done a pretty good job. New country, new year, and a WHOLE new experience...

The scrubbiest person in Argentina,
Renae