Wednesday is the one day I don't have any obligations until 2 p.m., so I decided to go boutique shopping after catching up on some sleep. The dangerous part was that I did this alone--no friends as barriers to tell me to not spend my money. We only live two blocks from the Subway station and walk past these shops everyday, but never have time to actually look. I probably entered at least 15 stores, and am already in love. Scarves are very popular (especially because it's winter), and you could buy cashmere scarves at "2 for 35 pesos", that's about $4 USD for each scarf!
Boutiques have the reputation in the United States of being fairly expensive and upper class, and are probably similar here because of the neighborhood we live in, Recoleta. But the prices demonstrate the lower cost of living in Argentina because an average, cute long-sleeve shirt was anywhere from 30 to 80 pesos--$7.50 to $20 US dollars. How great is that?! It was nice to check them out at my own pace for the afternoon.
I started work on the Artemisa Naturaleza blog today with Carolina, our trip advisor who does freelance work for Artemisa Noticias. After making some corrections and adding an ecological moment from an Argentinean actress, I made two Powerpoints in both Spanish and English that present what Artemisa Naturaleza is.
One challenge with journalistic work in general is that bosses themselves do not always know what they want, and give you some free reign but definitely hold some sort of expectation. Therefore, it can be difficult to fulfill this with an international internship is because if the boss is unclear what he or she wants and does not communicate it in Spanish, how am I supposed to decide what to do or figure out what you want in English? These types of challenges will be more difficult to overcome with Artemisa than Entercomm because of the nature of the projects.
Jordin, Stacey and I headed to Mostaza, the cheapest place within walking distance of our 6 p.m. class. The most exciting part of this dinner was that I bought a dulce de leche soft serve ice cream cone for only $1, and it tasted phenomenal! We had to run though with barely 20 minutes to eat and get back.
Our first journalism seminar was tonight, where we learn about issues in Latin American journalism and learn about Argentina's issues in the industry. We analyzed each main publication and it's reputability, and learned a lot about how negative government relations exist with the press. These poor relations go all the way back to Argentina's problems in the late 1970s, and continue past the economic downfall in 2001. The views are so extreme that mainstream newspapers will make fun of Argentina's female president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, in hard news articles. Although the seminar is not what I originally anticipated, it will be interesting to gain this knowledge and analyze international journalism.
As I look at my productivity list to accomplish over the summer, I realize how much my life will change in the next year. Next semester will be filled with an intense Management of Strategic Communication course of group projects, Centennial Homecoming events, vice president work, planning Relay For Life...oh yeah, and applying for grad school. The J-School's master of arts in journalism (strategic communication) requires me to score 1000 on the GRE and write three essays (among other easy logistical things) before December. Considering I didn't know what the sections of the GRE were until about an hour ago, this will require some preparation. I found this awesome website with free GRE practice exams and already feel more intelligent. I'm adding 10 GRE questions a day to my to-do list.
Now, off to bed to wake up for early morning Spanish! Buenas noches!
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