Friends

One of the greatest things I'm thankful for in life is to have such amazing friends.

It's been a crazy busy first week of school, filled with classes, meetings, more meetings, retreats, etc., but each small action or event has reminded me how lucky I am to be acquainted with such great people.

Only great friends will make you a card to provide best wishes and inspiration before taking the GRE, with signatures and notes from all of my sorority sisters. And even contact and text you luck so much that I received 15 missed alerts upon leaving the 5 hour exam!

How many friends will drive you to Sonic late at night just because you're craving a limemade, watch you freak out when you realize they closed at 11, and then help tip the employee that snuck you the limemade anyway?

How many people are content enough with letting you borrow their cell phone to call multiple people, just because my phone screen broke then died so I couldn't make any outgoing calls/texts for...15 whole hours!

Only your best friends know you so well when they can look at someone new they meet and tell you she resembles one of your best friends from high school, because they have met and remember that person well enough to compare them to strangers.

Only these friends realize how impatient I am that when I send a mass text to seven people asking who wants to go to the pool, I receive seven responses within five minutes. I can't even help but smile knowing that I didn't even have to wait!

Only good friends go to save seats at the movies so you can come from prior commitments and still get into the show.

Here's to an awesome year of continuing these friendships!

Some photos from the first week of school:

The old juniors!

Happy Birthday Lauren!

Katy Perry!

Saturday night after Bid Day festivities, Jordin, Taylor and I drove from the house to St. Louis for Katy Perry's "California Dreams" concert at the Scottrade Center! The last time I had been there was for the Mizzou-Illinois game in St. Louis, which unfortunately isn't happening this year :(. So it was great to be back! We picked up Kyrie, a member of our sorority who transferred to a school in St. Louis, at the Galeria (a big mall there) and drove downtown! It's funny how I'm not from or have never stayed in St. Louis, but am slowly getting adjusted to all of its highways and main roads as I chauffeur people around. The 64 highway still hates me and was closed into downtown, so I even planned an alternative route. Yay for maneuvering the road without a GPS! We stopped for a quick dinner and got to the concert right after the opening act, who apparently wasn't even that good anyway!

Taylor, Kyrie, Jordin and I

Katy Perry was everything we expected and more. She started with Teenage Dream and each song had videos on the three boards with different views. It was a great concert because it followed a storyline, but also had some great humor that at least half of the audience (a lot of kids were there) probably didn't even understand. It was all very witty!

Look how detailed all the outfits and stage decorations are! During Hot N Cold, she even changed outfits probably ten times because of the line "You change your mind like a girl changes clothes."

For the song "Pearl," she was godly and had two dramatic dancers flying behind her and rose to the sky!

Not only did she come out on a pink cloud, but she even played her sparkly guitar

from it in the air! Talent right there!

As anticipated, there WERE real fireworks during Firework. It was great.

California Gurls ended the concert with gingerbread men, hosing the audience,

beach balls in the audience and confetti everywhere!

What a great performance. Thanks Katy Perry for fulfilling our Teenage Dream!

Recruitment!

One crazy annual process to those who are not familiar with greek life (sororities and fraternities) is Panhellenic Formal Recruitment. This is a weeklong mutual selection process of socializing, having conversations with multiple women in every sorority and visiting all of the chapter houses. The sorority women come to school two weeks early to prepare for Recruitment, then essentially put on a show the next week.

Phi Mu had a great recruitment and has 83 new wonderful women in our chapter! Here are some pictures that describe our crazy, hectic and sleepless week!

Some of our chapter at one of Columbia's local pools for a

sisterhood event during "Work Week!"

Since I'm graduating this year, I've been partially participating

in "senior events" and all they do is make me feel really old.

Here's all the seniors/2012 graduates!

Day 1 of Formal Recruitment- Jen and I modeling off our outfits!

Pink shorts, flowers in our hair, brown belts and our recruitment shirts!

Don't forget the multicolor Sperrys :) #totalsororitymove

Jordin and I brought a taste back of Argentina to recruitment...literally.

I made mate in my pink mate calabaza two mornings, and have never been more awake.

We shared it with some girls in the chapter and they had mixed feelings, but acknowledged our obsession. As tedious as it is to make, if I continue my less than 5 hour of sleep routine, I really WILL be making mate often this semester!

Black dresses for Preference Day! Some of the 2009 pledge class

with graduates holding the senior presents!
Seniors and Executive Board members get to go on the quad and welcome all of our new Phis (new members) on Bid Day! We got a column and here's some of our members getting ready to watch the big ceremony!
Seeing other friends at the quad and doing our sorority symbols!
me, Lauren, Laura and Kathryn!

REUNITED with Emily and Alex after their two weeks of being disaffiliated as Panhellenic counselors (Pi Chis)! It was so nice to have my friends back, since Phi Mu had 6 Pi Chis and my pledge mom "big" Shelley was also gone!

me, Stephanie and Shelley in the quatrefoil, one of our symbols! Welcome back to the disaffiliated!

It was a great recruitment and I'm glad to be back in the swing of things at school! Look forward to more photos and adventures with an already booked semester!

Things I miss in Argentina

Things I miss about Argentina

• My roommates- love you Stacey, Elizabeth and Jordin!
• Dulce de leche- similar to carmel. Yum.
• Pomelo- grapefruit soda. CRAVE.
• Walking everywhere. And loving every minute of it.
• The cost of living- VERY favorable to Americans
• The cost of taxis: Each 200 meters going up 10 US cents and us thinking it was 'expensive.'
• Mate- the traditional herb in a gourd that is like tea but better.
• Willingness to help- Every porteño regardless of what they were doing would always answer my annoying questions- were we going the right way, at the right bus stop, near the right street, etc. and usually even follow up!
• Public transit- Taking the Subte everywhere and not having to drive!
• Traveling and it not being a big deal

Things I don't miss about Argentina

• Paying for toilet paper- toilet paper wasn't usually provided in public bathrooms, so you have to bring your own or hope that there's someone there you can buy it from.
• Not having tap water- restaurants only serve bottled water, usually con gas (mineral water).
• Free refills- What a value.
• Movistar cellphone- my crazy phone where texts were in T9 Spanish and the company was my only text message. But hey, I do miss not being able to be contacted!
• Daily usage of power converters- So nice to not have to remember to bring a charger and a converter to work everyday.
• Hostels- They live up to the stereotypes.
• Service charge at restaurants- Although I miss having no tax, it's nice to not have to pay a service charge for the bread at restaurants.
• Having to find coins and change everywhere- paying with a $20 bill and not having to find singles has never felt so good! No one in Argentina has change, expect banks from 9 am to 3 pm, work hours, and you usually just don't make a purchase if you don't have exact change or small bills.
• Customer service and service in general- The Argentine service is a cultural and South America thing, but essentially is not existent. I will not miss having to flag down waiters for the check, asking for a menu because it's assumed you don't need one sometimes, separate checks and all the little conveniences we have. One of my co-workers, when I explained this phenomena, actually said "There [in the US], people complain if what they get isn't perfect or what they asked for. But here, everything is bad, and we just get adjusted to it and don't care anymore." Haha.

StrengthsQuest

Today, I took a StrengthsQuest, a test for students and staff to identify and apply talents for teamwork and career success. StrengthsQuest has a good reputation and has always produced accurate results, and I was very impressed after taking it last summer. My strengths after these results were:

Communication

Focus

Woo (Win others over)

Responsibility

Individualization

And all of the descriptions were fitting. But today I received an access code to take the exam for an organization I'm involved in at school and received pretty different results. Drastic in my mind, but still very relative.

My 5 strengths in order were:

Learner

Input

Arranger

Responsibility

Achiever

Note: Only one of these is the same. I guess I'm no more or less responsible than I was a year ago. Kidding, but glad responsibility is a trait that I've maintained.

But analyzing the results and reading the personalized descriptions, I realize that my strengths have changed in part due to my experience in the past year- specifically studying abroad in Argentina. My sophomore year was a big one- I solidified my college friendships, became vice president of my sorority, gained positions on numerous committees, traveled and decided to graduate a year early. Studying abroad was after all of that, and living in one of the world's biggest cities and working my first internship are probably other things that contributed to a development in my strengths and weaknesses. Taking 12 credit hours in 10 weeks really did make me a learner, my need for productivity and continuous improvement does make me an arranger and my desire to get a word into everything does in fact fit with input. A need for achievement outlines a competitive sense. Below are the five 'strengths' and some descriptions. Reading them might teach you what you might be!

Learner

People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want

to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome,

excites them. By nature, you occasionally promise yourself to do certain things better in the future. Perhaps

you study the linkages between final outcomes and the factors leading up to them. As a result,

you may identify a few enhancements you need to make in yourself, in someone else, in a

process, or in a plan. Instinctively, you probably started asking people questions as a child

and continue to do so today. Others quickly notice you are genuinely interested in what they

say. Your inquiries turn tense frowns into relaxed smiles. The warmth of your presence can

transform a timid person into a talkative one. You intentionally offer compliments. Few

things delight you as much as hearing a stranger say, “I really like you — and I’ve just met

you!” It’s very likely that you may ponder options rather than react without thinking through

things. Sometimes you weigh the ramifications, consequences, outcomes, or effects.

Sometimes you aim to understand the basic “whys” and “hows” of a situation, problem, or

opportunity. Individuals might trust you to be cautious. They might expect you to raise

important issues that require further consideration. Driven by your talents, you have the extra

energy to work hard whenever you are acquiring information to broaden your base of

knowledge. You desire to deepen your understanding of various topics, opportunities,

problems, solutions, situations, events, or people. Chances are good that you thirst for new

ideas and knowledge. Often you lose yourself in a book. You pore over the ideas contained

on its pages for long stretches of time. Why? You want to absorb as much information as you

can.

Input

People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often

they like to collect and archive all kinds of information. By nature, you can simplify the most complex, convoluted, or intricate procedure. People usually rely on you to offer clear and easy-to-comprehend explanations. Driven by your

talents, you may impress others as well-versed in a certain subject. Maybe you have invested

time acquiring the sophisticated or technical vocabulary used by experts. When your

teammates hear you speak or read your writing, some assume you know more than they do.

Occasionally this is the case. Specific people may allow you to run meetings, make decisions,

or solve problems. Sometimes they just step back and let you take charge. It’s very likely that

you sometimes use academic-sounding words to talk about your ideas or areas of expertise.

Perhaps you have invested time in broadening your vocabulary by looking up words in the

dictionary and committing their meanings to memory. Chances are good that you are

determined to push for changes that will benefit humankind or Earth itself. Your desire to

have an impact motivates you to enter into conversations with intelligent people. Drawing on

their wealth of knowledge and ideas as well as sharing your treasure trove of wisdom is

exciting. These discussions frequently cause you to think in new ways and to reexamine your

purpose in life. Because of your strengths, you like systems or rules because they produce

uniform, consistent, and predictable results every time. This is especially useful when

individuals must perform the same task in the same way over and over again. Being an

organized thinker, you are apt to lead others through step-by-step presentations about

processes or regulations.

Arranger

People who are especially talented in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a

flexibility that complements this ability. They like to figure out how all of the pieces and

resources can be arranged for maximum productivity. Instinctively, you may gravitate to activities that require teamwork or collaboration to get the job done. Perhaps you enjoy coordinating the schedule or managing available human and material resources. You sometimes enjoy immersing yourself in your work or studies. By

nature, you are impelled to deliver on all of your commitments. You are determined to meet

all of your obligations. Doing so is your badge of honor. It is one reason why people describe

you as trustworthy and dependable. Because of your strengths, you exhibit a heightened

awareness of your talents. One of your top priorities is building upon these natural abilities to

create strengths. You undoubtedly find opportunities to practice using your talents in new and

different ways. Chances are good that you are aware of what you do naturally and well. You

prefer to leverage your talents rather than spend time trying to overcome your shortcomings.

You expect excellence from yourself and others. Being average at best and mediocre at worst

is unacceptable to you. Driven by your talents, you might derive pleasure from being on

certain teams. Why? Sometimes you just want to help your partners figure out what they can

contribute to the project. Sometimes you lend a hand coordinating human and material

resources. Sometimes you step into situations where one more pair of hands means the

difference between success and failure.

Responsibility

People who are especially talented in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership

of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and

loyalty. By nature, you do much more than just try to live up to your commitments. You persist

working until you can deliver on your promises. This certainly enhances your reputation for

being trustworthy, reliable, and dependable. Driven by your talents, you are naturally open

and honest about who you are, what you have done, what you can do, and what you cannot

do. Your straightforward explanations and stories help listeners see you as you see yourself.

You reveal your strengths and limitations. You are forthright and plainspoken. People

generally seek your company and want to work with you. Many are impelled to move into

action by your words and examples. Instinctively, you yearn to be given additional duties.

You expect to be held accountable for your productivity, profit, behavior, comments, and

actions. It’s very likely that you may enjoy hearing people describe you as more serious than

some of your colleagues, classmates, teammates, friends, or coworkers. Because of your

strengths, you might shoulder your obligations and duties with relative ease. You might be

motivated to behave in ways that cause individuals to say you are dependable.

Achiever

People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and

work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive. Instinctively, you might expend more physical or mental energy doing your job or pursuing your studies than some of your peers do. Perhaps you need to make measurable progress toward one or two goals each day to feel successful as a human being. Because of your

strengths, you possess the physical and mental endurance to withstand hardships as well as

stress. Characteristically you work harder and longer than most people are capable of doing.

Driven by your talents, you regularly dedicate your energy and personal time to various

issues, causes, or projects. You harbor a deep-seated desire to have a good influence on the

planet and its people. Your goal is simple: “I want to leave the world in a lot better shape than

I found it.” By nature, you tend to be a very good adviser to many individuals. When offering

suggestions or asking questions, you probably are much more engaged, intense, and involved

than usual. Chances are good that you repeatedly go out of your way to support, inspire,

motivate, or embolden various individuals. You likely regard this task as worthy of your

effort and time.

Steak N Shake

Why does Steak N shake deserve a blog post? Because EVERYONE has a story about bad service at Steak N Shake. Literally. This might seem like a pointless post, but is always something funny.

At brunch in Uruguay, Stacey, Han, Elizabeth, Jordin and I probably conversed for an hour about our bad Steak N Shake experiences. Some of these included...

• Never having our order taken and giving the waitress a list of what we wanted
• Receiving a hamburger with a cup of nacho cheese instead of a "cheeseburger"
• Getting every order at a table of 10 wrong
• Receiving pink and uncooked chicken
• Cold french fries

And many more. Then, on our trip to Córdoba, Stacey and I told Armeen and Lauren that we had over an hour of poor Steak N Shake stories. THEN WE CONTINUED TO HEAR THEIRS FOR ANOTHER HOUR! Craziness. Pretty funny how Americans can be so dissatisfied with service, and how Argentines always have such poor service and would never converse for long about such things, nonetheless blog about them!

The Quote List: Part 2

In case you thought my quote list was over, I just found a book of quotes from Mendoza! Amusing trip, amusing quotes!

• It's a hostel, you're going to have to deal with poop. -Elizabeth
• I know we need to get off at Riga & Guemes, but I don't know where it is so that's good. -me
• As if we don't stand out enough, give us red ski pants. -Jordin
• MR. HUGO! -Jordin
• I might as well [tell my parents the La Plata Story] because then they'll know that I do things and respect me more. -Stacey
• My dad took a maintenance job at a motel once and I was like...what? -Stacey
• If Mr. Hugo, like, what's his name, would have been easier on the wine.... - Elizabeth
• I'm cutting myself off and that never happens. -Jordin
• No hay empanadas de caprese. Ella es vegeteriana. Ah, caprese. -us and our waiter who wouldn't bring cheese empanadas for Elizabeth
• Maybe if they only had 3 left or something and he wanted them. -Stacey, discussing why the waiter would only bring us meat empanadas although Elizabeth is a vegetarian and asked for others
• I can't believe we rented ski equipment in that condition. -Stacey "I don't even remember anything about getting gloves." -Jordin
• I'm going to get married twice so I can have one honeymoon in Iguazu and the other in Mendoza. -Jordin, serious
• You're like a broken record, you've repeated yourself like 9 times. -Stacey, to Jordin
• I don't even know what I ordered. -Jordin
• You could go as Carolina and borrow my sweater. -Stacey, to Elizabeth
• (Discussing why mate is a difficult yet interesting concept) The point is that 1 you're still carrying around an open cup, 2 you can't set it down anywhere and 3, you will sometimes need a thermos. It's not an expedited process. Is the culture really better when you're watching 30 kids and holding all this mate? It's just not necessary. -Stacey (it really is complicated!!)
• I was on the phone with Texas for 12 hours- my license had a felony hold. -Elizabeth
• How do we always end up at McDonalds before the Omnibus? -Stacey
• My life on an omnibus. -Stacey
• Can you do that? Probably in South America. -Talking about taking extra wine to go from a restaurant when you don't finish the bottle
• Sorry, are you talking about a distant relative from Yemen? -Elizabeth, talking about Stacey's boss calling gmail HEY-MAIL
• We haven't even gotten to tomorrow yet! -me, referring to telling stories from yesterday
• We could make an entire movie about our weekend. -Elizabeth, on our Mendoza trip
• Ugh...there's a child. -Jordin, on the 12 hour bus
• They can have the honor of being in my profile picture even though they're in high school. -Jordin on our friends at the hot springs

A quick stop in Chicago

Between Argentina and moving back to Columbia, I had four days to spend at home!

I was fortunate to see almost all of my friends that were available and around!

Sunday upon arrival, Mom and I drove to church and caught Dad's communion line. I got to see some of the Sts. Peter & Paul people and all of the senior citizens at church! After some unpacking, Irina picked me up to go to Grand Lux Cafe for her birthday party (which I helped plan from Argentina, been planning her birthdays since I was 13! Fun tradition!) and we headed to the city for a nice dinner with eight people. Everyone loved Grand Lux (how can you not?) and looked beautiful!

Irina and I

Monday was a Greek day. I started off at Walker Brothers with Helen, Elizabeth and Elena, and after some appointments went to Fridays with Christina, Dean and Penelope to visit Maria and Eleni at work! Yes, all three Artemas sisters have worked at TGI Friday's- Glenview 194. It was the most precious thing to watch Eleni host and Maria serve, both jobs that I completed, and even see them hang out with friends at 11:30 after work...since that's what I would do. I was sad that none of my friends were around or awake to do that, but funny to see them follow my footsteps and share hilarious restaurant stories for hours on end!

mis hermanas

Dean, Penelope and I realized how after completing things like Crossroad, Project Mexico, Ionian Village, Fanari, Junior Olympics, College Conference and countless other Greek Orthodox youth events, we know all of the same people across the country. It's hilarious that we can sit there and discuss all of our friends and be familiar with each region! Our Greekness is apparently well-rounded at least?

the 4 of us

Tuesday, I met up with Kate at Woodfield for a birthday shopping and Cheesecake Factory trip! Look at how adorable this Godiva cheesecake is!

My dad took Becca, Hannah and I to the White Sox game where we not only got to eat at the Stadium Club, but had 6th row seats! The singing beer salesman unfortunately fell over which caused some drama in the section, and none of us got hit by foul balls even though I had high hopes for such an occurrence since we were on the first baseline!

Hannah, Becca and I

Wednesday and Thursday, I hung out with Meredith, ate at California Pizza Kitchen with the family, went to Evanston and ate at Flattop with Stacey and Kalyn, got to see Lena, Dean and Drew at Red Robin for lunch, babysat at Glencoe Beach with Maria and even went to Northbrook Days!

Meredith and I at Northbrook Days

Mere raised the interesting point that Northbrook Days and any such carnivals in upper-middle class suburbs are ironic because the town emphasizes high-class so much, but has this crappy carnival come in for days and EVERYONE goes. You can't walk around and not see all of GBN or know everyone you look at. Irina added that it's because it's "tradition," which explains a lot about our society. In sorority world, at Mizzou and in the Chicagoland area, a lot of strange things continue because of claimed traditions. Interesting phenomenon.

Now back to Mizzou!

The Quote List

Here is an abridged (yes) version of my quote list from our trip. Brief contextual explanations are provided when necessary, but otherwise, just sit back and enjoy the humor of what people say on an average day!

• “This place is in Uruguay…oh, ON Uruguay.” Jordin, 5-19
• That’s why I hate Mizzou. I have to take a class on guinea tribes and know all about those, but I can’t order a steak in Spanish. Jess, 5-19
• I’m going to tip him extra and tell him the money is for my ring. –Jess, 5-19
• “We have a president and it is a she.” –Carolina, 5-20
• “I want to get one of those huge things and act like we’re all obsessed with it.” –Stacey and mate, 5-20
• “Why is my mom calling right now?” –Jordin, 1:40 am, 5-21
• “It must do wonders for your self-esteem but Argentinian women are like ice queens.” –Sebastian, 5-21
• To Han: “If you missed your flight after only drinking coffee, how are you going to be on mate?” –Jordin, 5-21
• “I even posted on total GDI move.” –Sebastian, 5-21
• “I mean…GDI just stands for god damn irresistible.” –Sebastian, 5-21 “What’s with Greeklife and abbreviations?” –Sebastian, 5-21
• The neighbor was like…there’s four of you and you’re the only one who got things stolen?” –Stacey, 5-21
• “Well…this is perfect to write about for Welshful Thinking. I should just take a picture of my purse without the wallet in it. My life.
  –Stacey, 5-21
• I haven’t seen this stuffjournalists like twitter. Like..I like all of these things!!
• (Ensalada del día) I was going to ask them what was in it, but I wouldn’t have understood anything he was saying so I just didn’t bother. -Jordin, 5-21
• “That’s the one thing I miss. Refills.” - Stace
• “Maybe we should just get delivery so we don’t embarrass ourselves.” -Jordin
• You can’t assume anything, we’re in South America (lettuce on the salad) –Jordin
• I’m sick of us speaking in Spanish because all we do is say the same things! –Stacey
• “I feel like my English is actually getting a little worse.”
• Why is this exactly how I imagined it? We’re going around and learning dances from Argentine men and eating meat. –Elizabeth, 5-25
• “I was so scared, you guys have no idea.” –Stacey, 5-25 I should check if I got robbed.”
• I literally made the sign of the cross when I got into that club. –Stacey, 5-25
• Every time we leave the house I think we’re gonna die a little bit. -Elizabeth
• Carolina told me big city, big eyes! –Stacey, 5-25
• Who cares about cinco de mayo when we have VEINTICINCO de mayo?!
• Everything that comes out of your mouth is just gold. –Elizabeth to Stacey, 5-25
• “We couldn’t speak to Spain.” –Elizabeth and Jordin
• Does that happen to everyone that does this program?, 5-26 Stacey, 5:30 am
• “Just sayin…found my papi.” –Jordin, 5-26, 5:30 am
• Who am I? What happened? –Elizabeth , 5-26, 5:30 am
• The guys in Missouri suck. They’re so f’in repressed.” -5-26, Elizabeth, 5:30 am
• I told Pedro we like the pomelo. –Stacey, 5-26
• We’re winning guys!! –Jordin
• Guys this is probably the best thing I’ve ever written. My mom’s gonna be so mad.” –Jordin, 5-31
• “I walked into UCA to see what it was like.” –Stacey, 5-31
• I can understand Alejandro and my PASantia peeps but not f’in Sebastian! –Elizabeth, 6-1
• He wrote on my wall “saw In The Heights…I know you’re jealous.” And I was pissed because I WAS JEALOUS! HE KNEW! –Elizabeth, 6-1
• Sebastian must have been on the floor drooling to be called out on sleeping during class and not Jordin. –All about Alejandro’s class, 6-1
• Oh my God I love this cat I just want to give him a hug. –Stacey, 6-1
• “Kip and John are on my tell off list.” –Stacey, 6-2, on the criminals/ “easy work”
• The best thing is he wants me to ue the camera Carolina has to film this thing! –Stacey, 6-2
• CFK’s son followed me on Twitter! –Stacey, 6-2
• Just take a nap then drink some mate. –Jordin convincing Stacey to see Que Pasó Ayer 2, 6-5
• He’s such a cutie! Like wouldn’t you just die if you saw him playing with his son? –Stacey on Alejandro, 6-7
• I’m dressed up because I’m running out of things to wear! –Stacey, 6-8
• I wanted to tell Carolina my story about the Coldplay concert, but 1 she wouldn’t have cared, and 2 it would have just taken too much time to tell in Spanish.
• I mean study abroad is just one really long vacation that your parents pay for, right? –Elizabeth, 6-9
• Patagonia has volcanoes. In Buenos Aires we have… strikes”” - Carolina Escudero
• So the criminals kept asking me questions about the judicial system in the US…and I like didn’t have answers.” –Stacey, 6-9
• I just love the bromance! Stacey, 6-10
• Guys it was family day at work! Everyone and their mother and their kids were there. I had to give so many kisses/besitos! Elizabeth, 6-10
• It’s so weird getting ready to go out this early. –Jordin, 6-10, 9 pm
• I speak more Spanish when I go out then at my internships. Maybe I should just go out every night instead of working internships. –Elizabeth, 6-11
• I’m on 57 on the top 200 Latin American iTunes songs sold. No I have no effing clue what you are talking about. –Jordin on the song, 6-11 IT WAS NUMBER 134 AND IT’S CALLED PRUUM. – Elizabeth, 6-11
• “Everything we’ve done outdoes the last crazy thing that we did.” –Stacey, 6-12
• We should have a day where we just make an album of all the American stereotypes.” –Elizabeth, 6-13
• How long did you leave that popcorn in? Two minutes and 17 seconds. –Jordin and Elizabeth
• Guys..we’re winning at being funny. –Stacey, 6-14 Not sleep. –Elizabeth
• “Why does she email us when she’s sitting right there?” –Stacey, 6-15
• Come to Argentina and work for my news portal…FREE LABOR!!!” –Katie, 6-15
• Elizabeth had the best meal of her life tonight too. Burger King. VEGETARIAN SANDWICH! It was the best meal I have had here.
• My mom literally said “honey I wouldn’t with your luck.” –Stacey, 6-16
• And he wrote the email in English and Spanish! –Jordin, on random man in the street
• Can I just make up a cell phone number? I did that at the Western Union. –Elizabeth & Stacey. “I just started rattling off random numbers.”
• How did people book flights without the internet? –Elizabeth “Let’s go to iguazu!” 6-18
• I used to freak out about driving to Fulton.” –Stacey Now we don’t even know which airport we’re flying into. Where am I? No one will help me.
• Katie: This bread must’ve been so good. Elizabeth: ARE YOU SERIOUS KATIE. WE’RE MISSOURI JOURNALISM STUDENTS, WE DID NOT CONSUME THE FOOD! Stace: We didn’t have empanadas…
• This is the most epic trip of my life. What are we doing?!
• Jordin: Not to get all philosophical and shit, but who the f* thought to make popcorn? Seriously, who saw all these little kernels and thought hey! I wonder what happens when you heat these up. WHO THE F*?! 6-18
• “Guys...if I get an A on this test, we’re going out with Alejandro for a celebratory tomar algo.” –Jordin, 6-20
• Guys, boys in botanical gardens with cats on their laps are clearly just looking for women!” –Katie
• Do they just go sit down and socialize with random people?! Katie Who are we to judge?! –Stacey
• Gustavo..I mean, Gonzalo! –Stacey
• All of Welshful thinking is white girl problems…
• My zoo pictures are taking forever! White girl problems.
• Guys, I have so many profile picture options I just can’t decide! White girl problems.
• What is this? The raddison? Oh wait…it is. -6-21, Elizabeth
• We should’ve asked him to tomar algo! -6-21, all, about the room service man. “He came in a little costume!” Everyone asks us, it’s about time we ask men! [to tomar algo] -6-21
• Have you ever gotten a FB chat from someone you didn’t want to talk to and gone offline? I’m pretty sure my dad did that to me.” –Sebastian, 6-21
• (On getting carded) They asked me. This was two years ago, I was so excited. –Carolina
• They will tell you about a tango spectacle. I do not recommend the tango spectacular. It is not that great. –Carolina
• You won’t let me take a picture of the US embassy but you’ll take us out? –us, after the tour
• They have parkas. .. You can stay in longer than 30 minutes, but it increases your risk of like…hypothermia. –Stacey, 6-22
• So today we met the security guard at the US embassy and he invited us out, but this is like a daily occurrence so we were like nahh.” –Elizabeth on skype, 6-22
• It wasn’t because she was dumb, it’s because she was stupid.” –Elizabeth, 6-23
• How did people book flights without the internet? –Elizabeth “Let’s go to iguazu!” 6-18
• I used to freak out about driving to Fulton.” –Stacey Now we don’t even know which airport we’re flying into. Where am I? No one will help me. -6/18
• Tengo un montón de gringos.” –man at Monte Carlo TV station about going in the HD bus
• ¿Hay una reunion, sí? Bajan sus voces.” –concierge, 6-22 at night
• Su vuelo es cancelado.” –Despegar
• By the way, I’m not telling my parents about leaving my charger. So if you ever meet them, don’t mention it. Please don’t. Because they always say KEEP TRACK OF YOUR STUFF! And that was the definition of not keeping track of your stuff. Literally, my dad instead of saying goodbye says keep track of your stuff! And I’m like, bye! –Stacey, 6-23
• Radisson: “They said he was coming down now and I was like ‘OUR FLIGHT IS LEAVING NOW. We are going to be late now! And I do not think he liked my expression.” –Carolina, 6-23
• Pottermore is like Harry Potter and World of Warcraft, it’s like the two most addicting things!…it will take over the world of nerdhood.
• They’re not going to have a life. –Stacey 6-23
• Where’s Paraguay? Oh..I think it’s right past the bank. –Jordin and I, 6-24
• (about the heladería in Puerto Iguazu) Jordin: He loves us. Stacey: We tend to have that effect on people here. 6-24
• Four countries in 24 hours!
• Screw UT! They’re all like…we have a partnership with the University of Cordoba and we’re like…well WE have a partnership with CAROLINA. –Stacey, 6-24
• I always wonder if there are secret things under the waterfalls.” –Han, 6-25
• And they have all these signs that say “cerrado” but you can just go past them. There are really good views! –Han, 6-25
• Trashy to classy in one photoshop click.” –Jordin, 6-27
• And she treats my stuffed animal like a king! –Jordin, 6-27
• Carolina, I can’t do this, Jordin is applying for an American reality tv classic and I want to help her.” –Stacey on the bachelorette, 6-27
• This information is GOLD. –Carolina, 6-29, on other BA study abroad programs
• Helicopter sound at school: “Cristina está volviendo a su casa.” –Carolina, 6-29
• And the demonstrations. That was really really weird. –Carolina, 6-29
• What I can do? I have a flight in two hours and we don’t have a president.” –Carolina, 6-29
• I called my parents to ask what I supposed to do? And my parents say you know our country, just come. It was ok, then I came back to Brussels.” –Carolina, 6-29
• Por favor no duermas en clase. –Alejandro, 6-30
• El rap es muy importante en Nueva York, sí? Alejandro, 6-30
• We’re going to the Argentine Oscars!” –Stacey & Elizabeth
• Why does this feel so normal? I feel like we’ve lived in this apartment and that I’ve known you guys my entire life!” –Elizabeth
• There’s a priest in Ballwin that was inappropriate with teens. I thought we were done with this! –Stacey, 7-2
• Other people do not have the privilege of listening to Carolina skype in French for two hours. Who was she skyping? Probably Strauss Kahn. –Katie, Stacey, Elizabeth, 7-1
• I really want to be in a country while there’s a coup. It would be really cool…if I lived.” –Elizabeth, 7-3
• Would you ever take grasshoppers and take their legs off? –Elizabeth, 7-3
• When I was 9 years old my dad used to tell me this story abou taking out his scorpion and I was like that’s really cool dad! And now I’m like…that’s really weird dad. -Sebastian, 7-3
• You need to work this out because it is today.” –Carolina, 7-4, to Stacey about the Silver Condor
• I will be in trouble in Argentina, so I will publish it in the states.” -Carolina, 7-5
• Yo soy un freelancer, why? I do not want my name associated with the government. Carolina, 7-5
• Por ejemplo where is my cellphone? –Carolina, 7-5
• I can’t imagine walking into a convenience store and not having to repeat myself four times to find what I’m actually buying. Or being stared at on the bus. Or killing myself waiting for the 152 to get here in the morning. Or bagging my own groceries! –Elizabeth, 7-5
• Estaría avergonzado en esta situación. –Alejandro on having a sombrero put on your head, 7-5
• Como Taco Bell?” –Alejandro, with certainty, 7-5
• In what universe did we think that thing was going to work?!” –Stacey, 7-6, about the hair dryer crazy thing
• In what universe do they think Mostaza is going to give them their food on time?” –us, 7-6, 5:53 pm, before class
• Who are you and where do you sit? –escuela de periodismo woman, 7-7
• Is there anywhere in the world where a white man gets hit on? –Keith, 7-7
• 90% of my Spanish is non-verbal. –Keith, 7-7
• I have a picture of an orangutan on my Facebook. Who should I tag it as? –Keith, 7-7
• I wish I had a button that’s like a debby downer button that I could press for all the Staceyisms.” –Sebastian, -7-7
• ¿Hay alguien encerrado en su casa?! –Alejandro, 7-7Who said you’re out interviewing movie stars? Stacey: or prisoners. 7-9
• Don’t you love how we bought these tickets 24 hours ago? –Armeen, 7-7
• That’s happened to me three times now, I just couldn’t get the door open! And you can’t crawl out of these ones either! I’m not going to call you on the phone, but I was like hoping someone would come open it. –Stacey, bathroom door, 7-8
• Let’s look at where we are today. Yesterday, we went to Spanish, work, and Keith was over and our friend. Now we’re in Cordoba, 10 hours away, and Keith is CRAZY! Look what can happen in 24 hours! –Stacey, 7-8
• That granola bar lady! –Everyone, on the bus, 7-9
• I’m going to sleep with my purse like a stuffed animal. –Stacey, 7-8
• I could see if I left my purse there for a second, but I didn’t! It was on my shoulder! –Stacey, 7-8
• You have a lot of stories.” –Carolina to Stacey
• Bueno, la alegría. –Alejandro, during the laughter class one Thursday
• El jabón es común para usar aquí? –Stacey to Alejandro, 7-12 I mean la palabra!!
• No sabes como, pero finalmente, estás borracho.” –Alejandro, 7-12
• This really is free labor. –Stacey, 7-13
• Don’t tell, don’t ask.” –Carolina, about Sebastian, 7-13
• You look like you’re on the same team.” –Carolina, 7-26, on Stacey and Katie wearing similar outfits
• Have fun and drink lots of…mineral water *facial expression,” –Carolina, 7-13 on Mendoza
• I’m going to look at the hairy leg once I have clothes on.” –Stacey, 7-18
• I’ve already lost some of my hearing I’m sure.” –Stace, 7-18
• I think anything with mundial is funny. –Stacey Kind of like seguridad.
• Isn’t it weird when someone you barely know likes like the 8^th profile picture of you? – Elizabeth, 7-18
• We should make a movie called Hostel Behavior. -Elizabeth, 7-19
• Hay que probar colores que queden mejor que esto que hay –Carolina, 7-20
• I’m just SO EXCITED that he can speak English! –Stace on the Adidas man, 7-20
• And the taxi driver was telling me about Día del Amigo and he was like tenés amigos? And I was like yeah.” –Han, 7-20
• WOOT we get a refrigerator magnet!” –Jordin, 7-20
• This stupid cake tried to screw up my life. -Katie, 7-20
• I mean we’re all thinking it, we’re just not going to SAY it.” –Stacey
• Want to hear something really strange? I finally get where Carolina is coming from with this.” –Stacey, 7-20
• There’s like a sign stuck on a tree with a piece of gum. “ –Stacey, 160 bus, 7-21
• You know what’s even sadder than eating the 5.0? Eating it by yourself.” –Sam, 7-23 I had to buy a bottle of water.
• He was like, walking the other way and I was like, jumping in front of a bus.” –Elizabeth, 7-23
• Telling the taxi driver “el restuarante cerca del Sheraton con muchas banderas.” -7-23
• Do you guys mind if I go to bed?” –Stace, 7-23
• If your grandparents aren’t racist, they’re not real people.” –Sam, 7-23
• Guys, everything has come full circle. The first Saturday here, my wallet was stolen. My last Saturday here, I bought a new one!” –Stacey, 7-23
• AMY WINEHOUSE DIED. Rehab? I hope she died in like a car accident or something. Nope…it was drugs.Katie, Stacey, Elizabeth, Stacey, 7-23
• I feel like whenever I go on Twitter, I always see all these posts about nutella. Like why are they crazies? I have an excuse, I’m in a country without peanut butter. –Stacey, 7-24
• No se puede sacar fotos. –Guy at museum to Stacey, 7-24
• Sam, you’re already an infinitely better house guest than Keith.” –Elizabeth, 7-24
• Check it out, I got a new mate!” –Jordin, 7-24
• I’m also really excited to see Katie artemas in New York. Maybe her assertiveness will rub off on me.” –Stacey, 7-24
• I was just shaking the whole time. It’s like I was on drugs. It was an exceptionally good show, and I was in the front row. But…I think I’m just going to have a heart attack.” –Elizabeth, 7-24
• I think this might be a better day than the day I get married. Better than graduation, my 21^st birthday…” Elizabeth, 7-24
• And they always tell you to not go to La Boca at night…so of course that’s the first place I went.” –Joshua, 7-25, from Texas Tech
• I don’t understand how he got that from agua, but I had to get the hello kitty out of there! –Joshua, 7-25, on asking donde está el agua and having a random man lead him into corner and stick his finger in his behind
• Sounds like everything has different connotations. –Han, 7-25
• Stace, when someone elbows you in the face, you can’t say that’s okay.” –Sebastian, bday
• Bueno. La ironía. –Stacey, 7-26
• Yeah I’m pissed. I was like sweating when we started dancing.” –Stacey, 7-26, 3:20 a.m.
• And what saves Cinderella? La universidad, el trabajo, sus amigas, un proyecto en Greenpeace, tampoco Amnesty Internacional, no. Un principe. –Carolina, 7-26, clase de género
• Katie, I have a gossip for you. The parents of Kylie se nombra because they like Kylie Minoque. Are you named Katie for Katie Holmes? -7-26, Miguel
• This cake tried to screw up my life. -me
• I cannot control YouTube of FinalCut. Ya saben. -Stacey, 7-27
• And we didn't really have an office so I was having meetings with the students in a bar. It was really hippie. -Carolina, on the Buenos Aires program, 7-27
• And you were red, I can imagine. -Carolina, 7-27
• I have been living 7 years in French speaking countries and your English is too fast. -Carolina to Fritz Cropp, our study abroad coordinator, 7-27
• En el invierno, tomamos mate. They publish a picture of me in St. Louis at a Cardinals game with a red shirt and hat, holding a Coke. That is very controversial. So I was like maybe in Switzerland they like it but that is not so Latin American. –Carolina, 7-27, on an article written about her
• Maybe if I walk around with it like this it’ll just fall. –Stacey on getting a cork out of a bottle of wine, 7-28
• What do you think is the best method of getting this switch blade through customs? -Jordin to her mom, 7-29
• Honey I don’t think that’s a good idea. –Jordin’s mom's response, 7-29
• I am an avid syllabi reader, woman! -Cally, 7-30, on annoying professors lying about not reading their syllabus
• Why is everyone so mean here? NO wonder people think poorly of the US. They cross the border and the first person they see is an a**hole who hates their job. “ –Jessica on arriving back into the United States, 7-31

News 8-4

Are smartphones taking over our lives? This Mashable article outlines some interesting smartphone facts from a recent study that I feel explain a lot about our society:

• 37% of adults and 60% of teens admit they are highly addicted to their smartphones.
• 81% of smartphone users make calls every day compared with 53% of regular users.
• 23% of teenagers claim to watch less TV and 15% admit they read fewer books as a result of their smartphone use.
• 51% of adults and 65% of teens say they have used their smartphone while socializing with others.
• 23% of adults and 34% of teens have used their smartphones during mealtimes.
• 22% of adult and 47% of teens admitted using or answering their smartphone while in the bathroom.
• 58% of adult males owned a smartphone compared with 42% of females.
• Among teenagers, 52% of females use smartphones compared with 48% of males.
• The majority of adults (32%) identified Apple’s iPhone as their favorite device, while the majority of teens (37%) prefer the BlackBerry.

Daily infographic explains how color influences our purchases.

Why the customer is now always right...and why it doesn't matter

9 ways to write great email subject lines

YouTube movie- If you thought the Social Network was interesting about Facebook, check out the YouTube movie in theaters!

This infographic outlines startup founders and shows who the "tech giants" are that really are beginning to monopolize the United States market.

A lot of articles have been released lately discussing the rising idea of male contraception and how it could be a "reality sooner than we think."

Stranger danger: This real-life scenario shows how letting children talk to strangers can help a situation.

10 fascinating facts about mobile phones

Travelocity and hotel websites no more! Google launched a Hotel Finder! Check it out.

Wal-Mart has began to stream videos from its website, as if it's a TV station. I guess when you're such a big corporation, this can be expected, but can you imagine going to WAL-MART instead of Hulu to watch your weekly television? Really?

Hearst to launch Cosmo for guys- Supposedly based on popular request, Cosmpolitan magazine will release a version for men. I don't think it will be very successful, but we will see.

Regresar a casa/Coming home

Plane experience

I can’t say my flight experiences have been good ones to and from Argentina. Both were overnight, bumpy, involved little sleep and poor service. From Miami to Chicago, I asked the flight attendant for a tissue when she came with the drink cart and she told me to go to the bathroom (instead of giving me one of the napkins in front of her). We’re leaning toward the Argentine service level here.

From Buenos Aires to Miami, Cally, Jordin, Jess and I took off at 8:30 p.m. Dinner arrived around 9:30, and by that time…I was unfortunately asleep. Instead of tapping me, giving me a meal or asking the person next to me, I was just skipped. No food. Having not eaten since 1 p.m. that afternoon, when I woke up to the food cart 10 rows behind me, I was pretty upset. I pushed the flight attendant button three times and no one came back. FINALLY when they PICKED UP the trays, I begged for a plate of food and got one. But gosh forbid they come and pick it up, right? So I scarfed it down with the flight attendant awkwardly standing there waiting for it as she was on her last garbage check. In the process of begging for dinner, the woman next to me spilled her Coke on my blanket. Fun flight.

Current events

As journalism students, we always have to be up on what the most important current events are and how they affect us as students, humans and a journalism school. My GoogleReader news gave me a lot of updates this summer on what was going on, but Google Argentina could only link me to so much information in English.

Stacey compiled this list of the top 5 news stories we need to read up on upon returning home to be updated on American society.

1. The current debt and default situation

2. The Joplin tornado

3. Casey Anthony

4. Twit-pic’d NY politician

5. Murdoc phone tapping

Benefits of being back in the US

Back in the US, everything is going to be so easy. We realized this at the Miami airport when we could speak English to the Customs employees. Everyday errands and necessities can be completed in our first language. Making reservations, ordering dinner or planning trips will be a breeze since we’ve had so much experience doing them…in Spanish. Driving across Missouri seems like nothing after flying and bussing through all of Argentina, and our worries have simmered down after what we’ve accomplished here.

Having a cell phone back will make me less of a Facebook, Twitter and Skype addict. Jordin and I laugh at ourselves because our friends from home probably think we’re crazy always logged into all of our social media, but it’s our only way to contact our friends in the United States. Anytime you would randomly text a friend a question, request or funny story, we would have to message, email, Skype chat or tweet at these friends to get a hold of them. If I wanted to Skype my parents, I’d Facebook chat a friend and ask them to call my house and tell my family to log on Skype. Now, I’LL just be able to text or call them! How fascinating communication is!

As much as I’ll miss Buenos Aires, I look forward to applying my experiences and lessons from my internship, 12 credits of classes, daily urban commutes and international travel stories to what I do in Chicago and at Mizzou. Thank you to anyone who followed my summer experiences here!

My roommates and I on our couch on our first day in Buenos Aires...

....and our last

La Comida

As young adults, my roommates and I prioritized eating all of our favorite Argentina food our last few days. We definitely ate more than we were actually hungry for, but here’s the food we’ll miss in Argentina:

Empanadas from La Cocina

Empanadas are phenomenal and have basically created our Argentina diet. Empanadas are stuffed with carne (meat), pollo (chicken), queso y cebolla (cheese and onion) and a variety of other things. Our favorite empanadas were from La Cocina, a restaurant within walking distance of our apartment. The seasoning was phenomenal and the chicken and meat empanadas were also stuffed with eggs (Argentina likes to put egg in everything) and potatoes (YUM). This was our last meal in Buenos Aires and will definitely be missed!

Elizabeth and I with our empanadas

Dulce de leche

This “cono de cuatro” from Mostaza is a $1 USD soft-serve dulce de leche ice cream cone from a fast-food restaurant that’s only a 5 minute walk from Carolina’s office. Stacey and I ate here every Wednesday, and got cones as often as possible. YUM. Alfajores (cookies) and a lot of our other BA staple dessert items have dulce de leche, so I brought a jar back as well.

Helado

Ice cream in Argentina is a little thicker, and tastes phenomenal. It’s also very affordable, can be fruity and sherbert if you want it to or fill your chocolate/dulce de leche needs.

Here’s a cone from Modena, the ice cream store that we frequent down the block. The employee knows us and giggles at how often we come in. Freddo is usually where we go for internet, and their ice cream is great too. Here’s what Stacey and I ordered the other day! Woot promociones!

Red meat

Stacey and I returned to La Payuca, a steakhouse-type restaurant near our house to get their afternoon special. Bife de chorizo was our last red meat meal, but we will never forget this, bife de lomo, carne asado and all the other red meat dishes we’ve eaten here. They don’t even need seasoning and are always cooked how you want them.

Stacey at La Payuca with bife de chorizo

Wine

Argentine wine is from Mendoza and amazing. It’s cheaper if not the same price as water at most restaurants, and just goes down really well. I’ll miss not being able to go into a restaurant or grocery store and buy wine, at least for the next six months. This is more depressing because one of my most fond roommate memories is when the four of us go out to dinner together; it’s like we’re on Sex & The City, everyone with their favorite menu item and drink. Going out for drinks is a social thing that can be done early afternoon or late at night, and a way to hang out with people. It’s fun to relax after class and go to Fridays and get mojitos and margaritas. I’ll have to wait until January to take part in this again (21). Good thing my red wines made it past customs!