Monday, October 19th, 2009

Hi Íbero blog friends,

Hopefully everyone is enjoying their time in Buenos Aires and learning a lot in class! You might even be gearing up for the exciting fútbol game between the Boca Juniors and River Plate. We have some great activities to tell you about this week, and remember you are more than welcome to invite your friends along. We hope you come practice your Spanish with us this week, get to know new people, or check out a new place in the city!

Monday was the commemoration of Christopher Columbus arriving on the shores of America, which meant no classes as all schools and most businesses were closed.

Tuesday we held our weekly film screening of an Argentine movie. We watched "El Hijo de la novia", a movie that features some of the best actors from the time period when it was filmed. Watching movies (with subtitles in English or Español) is a great way to practice getting used to hearing spanish spoken at a normal speed and also helps build vocabulary. This week joing us for a movie called ¨Historias Minimas.¨

Thursday morning we hosted our first conversation practice of the week at Café Tortoni, which is the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires (founded in 1858!). We met at 11 am in front of Tortoni to practice our Spanish and enjoy coffee at this historic café. If you have not been, we definitely recommend you check out Café Tortoni.

Friday we hosted our second conversation practice of the week. We met up at 6 pm in a modern bar/restaurant called: Cumaná. This is a place where many young people come to eat traditional food from different regions of Argentina. We drank mate and ate bizcochos with pan dulce. A lot of students enjoyed the event and had fun using their Spanish in conversation with Juan Ignacio.

Saturday afternoon, we went on a bike tour of Puerto Madero. 10 students met Juan Ignacio at the school and rented bikes at the entrance of the Reserva Ecológica, We rode the entire trail and took a break to rest on the beach to take in the scenery. The park is really beautiful, such a rarity for being so close to the city. This is a great place to have a picnic with friends or go running during the week. If you get a chance you should enjoy some fresh air at the Ecological Reserve in Puerto Madero!

We hope you all enjoyed our activities and are looking forward to the week to come.

¡Nos vemos!

-Thanks, from all the Staff at Íbero!