Just watched their bus leave for the airport!

I just saw the bus leave for the airport -- Marisa is taking the group back to Minnesota. It has been so great to get to know your students. I will miss having them in class -- and as traveling companions.

Final Day!

As I write this, I am sitting in the youth hostel, waiting for the bus that will take the students and Marisa to the airport. (I am staying another week in Argentina with my husband). And I am several days behind on the blog, so I will have to catch up during the week.

It has been really rewarding to see -- from their many quizzes and journals -- how much the students have learned while they are here. The final group presentations were particularly good. It will feel strange to be traveling around the city without the students. I felt like I saw so much more because I was seeing Argentina with new eyes.

Day 21 - January 26 - San Antonio de Areco

Today we visited a gaucho estancia (ranch), several hours outside of Buenos Aires. We stopped first in the town of San Antonio de Areco, at the workshop of a traditional silversmith. Then we drove to the estancia, where we were treated to a display of horsemanship by the gauchos. The students then mounted horses, for a short ride around the ranch grounds. After a lovely asado (dinner of grilled meats), it was time to return to the youth hostel.

Days 17-18 - We arrive in the big city

Time is getting short. You must all be very anxious to see your student. It is hard to believe that the course is almost over.

We arrived in Buenos Aires on Saturday afternoon, after a long and hot bus ride. It was over 100 degrees again, and the bus's air-conditioning just couldn't keep up with the heat.

Sign of the times: We stopped at a service station on the highway, which had wi-fi. I was able to use Skype (on my laptop) to talk to my husband in Minnesota.

As I need to spend several hours today correcting journals and quizzes, I am going to keep this brief. On Sunday we took a city tour with an agency that specializes in academic tours of Buenos Aires. The guide, Diego, gave us an incredibly good tour -- he was clear and organized yet he managed to describe the complex history of the founding of Buenos Aires, the Perón era, the dictatorship of the 1970s, and the Madres of the Plaza de Mayo. We visited the Plaza de Mayo, the colorful port area known as La Boca, and the Recoleta Cemetary.

Below are some pictures. I should also have said this much earlier, but all of the really wonderful photos in this blog were taken by Marisa Kalbermatten. She is a great photographer -- her photos have so much color and life in them that I always prefer them to my own.

Back to Day 15 - Kalbermatten family home

On Thursday evening, we were invited to an "asado" at the home of Marisa's parents, Imelda and Nestor Kalbermatten. Now retired from work as a teacher and judge respectively, they live outside of Santa Fe, in a private community. We used the pool at their club before sitting down to the best meal we have had so far in Argentina! When you eat "asado" you are eating grilled meats, which are cooked over wood charcoal on an emormous brick barbecue called an "asador." Every Argentinean house has an outdoor asador -- asado is traditional Sunday fare. When I lived in Buenos Aires, I used to get invited to friends' homes for asado. It was an all-day event, starting at 1:00 and ending late at night. (This made for comical culture shock when I returned home to Iowa City. I once went over to a friend's house for Sunday brunch. After about four hours, I realized that she was hinting that I should leave.)

Since we were dining on a Thursday night, we had a somewhat shorter visit. We arrived for the pool at around 4:00, starting eating at 9:00, and were finished by around 11:30 pm. The Kalbermattens were so sweet to invite us -- they kept assuring me that it was their pleasure to have 15 strangers to dinner. The students were very appreciative -- Nestor loved the positive feedback about his grilling. (Every Argentinean man prides himself on his skills at the asador.)

Day 16 - January 23. And we meet the Mayor.

On Friday we were invited to meet with the Mayor of Santa Fe, Mario Barletta. Click here for a link to an article on the official web site of the city of Santa Fe. Really, being celebrities can be such hard work!

You'll notice if you look down at the article, that all of our names are there (and spelled perfectly)!

Days 14-15 - January 21 and 22 - The Governor

After class on Wednesday, we all needed to catch up with reading, writing and -- for the professors -- correcting papers. The incredible heat continues, along with the drought that has destroyed 100% of the corn crop in Santa Fe province. This is going to be an even more difficult year for Argentina economically.

On Thursday, we walked to the Casa de Gobierno (Government Building) where we met with both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Santa Fe. This was an incredible honor, and both were very gracious. The Governor, Dr. Hermes Binner, beat long odds to become the first Socialist governor of the Province of Santa Fe. (Argentinean socialism is akin to European style socialism.) He is a physician, and he is interested in forming connections between young people in Argentina and in other countries. "Older people are tied to the past," he said. "But young people are committed to the future. If we get young people working together, that would be good for both our countries." Marisa was very moved by meeting him, as he's known to be a hard-working governor, sincerely interested in the future of the province. The Lieutenant Governor, Dr. Griselda Tessio, is a lawyer and university professor. A former federal prosecutor, she gained national recognition for her investigations into human rights abuses from the last dictatorship. It was fascinating to meet them -- I was amazed that they took so much time out of their day for us.

We were all holding gift bags -- with key rings and information about Santa Fe.

Day 13 - January 20 - Esperanza

On Tuesday, our student who had been ill was released from the hospital. As you can imagine, we were all incredibly pleased about this. The student left with some new penpals (the other patient in the same room, one of the nurses). We didn't feel that it would be very smart to take the former patient on a long busride, so I stayed at the hotel while Marisa and the others went to Esperanza, known as the "cradle of Argentinean immigration." The town was founded in the 19th century by immigrants from Switzerland, France, and Germany -- each group had its own social clubs and maintained their own languages and customs.

On the way home, the group took a tour of the Santa Fe beer factory -- another sign of Santa Fe's immigrant past. (Please know that since Gustavus does not permit students or faculty to drink alcohol at group events, there were no tastings.)

Day 12 - January 19 - Paraná

On Monday we visited the city of Paraná, across the river from Santa Fe. The two cities are connected by a tunnel beneath the river -- built in the 1960s. As Paraná is in the province of Entre Ríos, the two provincial governments had to work together to see the project to completion. (They built a tunnel instead of a bridge, because all bridge projects are under control of the federal government, and the government at the time refused to allow the provincial governments to go ahead. So the tunnel was a way of getting around federal regulations.) We were given a tour of the tunnel and its installations. I was surprised to learn that it was the only tunnel of its kind in South America.

After this we visited the city itself, stopping in Urquiza Park, where we had a beautiful view of the city and the river. The city was never officially founded -- it simply grew, when inhabitants of Santa Fe grew tired of living in fear of floods, and built houses on the cliffs across the river. It has some lovely colonial buildings and a fine 19th century cathedral.

Day 11 - January 18 -- Free Day

We had a free day today -- time for completing readings and journals. I'm including this picture of one of the many stray dogs in Santa Fe -- a feature of life all over Latin America. This dog adopted us as we walked down from the hotel to the museums the day before, following us for more than a half hour. (The red ribbon means it has been given some kind of care by a local chapter of the Society for the Protection of Animals)

Day 10 - January 17 - Visit to Social Club

On Saturday we visited a club that belongs to the Federation of Telephone and Postal Workers. The hotel owns the concession for the restaurant on site, so we were able to go, hang out at a slightly larger pool, and live the life of regular Argentineans. It is one of the unusual features of life here -- it is difficult to find a safe, clean public pool, in part because most Argentineans have access to pools through their union clubs or social clubs.

I just discovered I had taken one picture before the battery died.

Day 9 - January 16 - Santa Fe, the New City

The second settlement of Santa Fe occurred in 1660, when the city was moved to its current location on the banks of the Paraná River. By decree from the Spanish crown, it had to be laid out in exactly the same way as the old city. In 1673, work was begun on the church, the Iglesia San Francisco. With a guide, we toured the church, which contains a room with figures representing the signers of the Argentinean Constitution of 1853. We also toured several historical museums nearby.

Day 8 - January 15 - San Lorenzo and Rosario

We left in the morning to visit two sites of historical importance for Argentineans -- San Lorenzo and the city of Rosario.

In San Lorenzo we visited the the Convento San Borromio, a Franciscan monastery famous for its proximity to an important battle of the Wars of Independence in 1813. This is where wounded soldiers were brought after the battle, and where San Martín (one of the heroes of South American independence) stayed after the battle. The convent now holds a museum devoted to the battle. The daily lives of the Franciscan friars are also described.


Rosario is one of the most important cities in Argentina, with over one-million inhabitants. Like Santa Fe, it is on banks of the Paraná River. The city has many green spaces, lovely architecture, cultural centers, and an impressive monument to the flag of Argentina. And the Argentinean flag was created here by founding father Manuel Belgrano, and in 1812, the flag was raised for the first time over Rosario.

Mate - the traditional tea of Argentina

In Argentina, people drink a tea called mate (pronounced MAH-tay), made from the leaves of a native plant. The tea is a stimulant, like coffee. And to drink it, you have to have the right cup (traditionally a hollowed out gourd) and the right straw (a metal tube with a hollow spoon at the end, with holes). The cup is also called a mate. Everywhere you go, you see Argentineans with their thermos jugs of hot water and their mates. Marisa took some of the students on an excursion to buy the mate sets. Here are pictures from the excursion.

Day 7 - January 14 - Santa Fe La Vieja, the first settlement

The city of Santa Fe was founded twice. In 1573, the first city was founded by the conquistador Juan de Garay. About ninety years later -- tired of frequent floods and even more frequent attacks by the indigenous tribes they had displaced -- the Spanish settlers moved to the current location, about 85 km. to the south. When they left, they took everything they could carry, including doors and windows. The old city was excavated by archaeologist in 1949.
In the museum, we viewed a model that showed how the city might have looked in the early 1600s. The city is now called by its indigenous name, Cayastá.

One of the highlights of the visit was the old church, which once displayed the skeletons of former residents who had been buried there. When the government applied for Cayastá to become a World Heritage Site, those remains had to be moved off-site. (They replaced the real remains with replicas, placed in the same positions as before -- the priests and important residents with their heads to the altars, the common people with their heads facing the door.)

Another fascinating aspect of the trip was a reproduction of the house of one of the most important families of the town, showing aspects of daily life in colonial Argentina.
On the way back from Cayastá we stopped in the town of Rincón, which has maintained many features of old colonial towns, including dirt streets.

Student Illness: Reason for the Long Break in Blog Posts

First, I apologize for the long break in blog posts. A student was very ill, as the result of an E.coli infection, and had to go to the hospital. (Don't worry -- if it had been your student, you would have been informed!) We have been in frequent contact with the parents. E. coli, as you may know from the recent outbreak in California, can cause a serious intestinal illness. The student was put on antibiotics in the hospital, has recovered, and is eating lightly but is doing well.

We are not sure about the culprit. Since many students have been drinking tap water in great quantities (and this student rarely drank tap water), we do not feel it was the water supply. We are guessing it was a hamburger the student ate several days before the onset of symptoms. We have talked to the students about food safety, and as a precaution have suggested that students drink only bottled water.

Here is a link to a Mayo Clinic article about E.coli. Please let your student know if you have any recommendations for them. And please feel free to contact me by email (nhanway@gac.edu) if you have any questions or concerns. We have also been in constant contact with Carolyn O'Grady, the Director of the Center for International Education at Gustavus. She would also be happy to answer your questions (cogrady@gac.edu) or call her at 507-933-7545.

Here's the article about us.

Here is a link to the very nice article about us in El litoral . Click here. I will try to provide a translation as soon as I can.

In case the link doesn't work, here is the URL:

http://www.ellitoral.com/index.php/diarios/2009/01/18/escenariosysociedad/SOCI-10.html

Day 6 - Tuesday, January 13 - Local Celebrities

It has been hard to keep up with the blog this week -- between preparing class, holding class, correcting quizzes and journals, and going on our excursions. So I apologize if you kept going to the blog for news -- and finding none!

On Tuesday we were invited to the offices of "El Litoral," the local newspaper. The word "litoral" is the same as "littoral" in English -- referring to an area along a coast or shore. Since 1918 the newspaper has served the towns along the Paraguay and Urugray rivers in Argentina.

We are fast on our way to becoming local celebrities. At the newspaper offices, a photographer took a picture of the whole group. Later, a reporter from the paper interviewed Marisa and me on 1) why a group of U.S. students are studying in Santa Fe and 2) what our plans are for the future in Santa Fe. (Note: The Program in Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies at Gustavus is thinking of starting a semester-abroad program in Santa Fe. Our decision to do so will be based in part on our experience during this J-term.) Anyway, we hope that our photo will be in the Sunday paper. Did I mention that -- purely by coincidence -- the reporter is a former student of Marisa's? (Okay, so maybe it is not such a coincidence . . . ) Anyway, it will be interesting to see the article. (And I hope that the reporter got good grades in Marisa's classes!)

Our guide at "El Litoral" was so passionate about the newspaper that he gave us much more information than I expected, up to and including the composition of the actual paper used. He also started the tour with a pop quiz for the students. "Of all forms of mass media, which do you think is the most important?" The students -- ever the diplomats -- all agreed that it was the printed newspaper. Our guide warmed to them immediately. Of course, the newspaper company also owns a radio station and a TV studio from which they broadcast a news program, a sports talk show, and an interview program. But the guide was adamant that the printed word is the only way we should get the news.

There are cultural differences here that have always been interesting to me. One of them is the bureaucratic formality required in order to go anywhere. For example, in order to visit the newspaper, we had to present ourselves with an official letter saying that Professors Hanway and Kalbermatten, representing Gustavus Adolphus College,of Saint Peter, Minnesota, USA officially request a tour of the newspaper. We had to sign under our names and include our document numbers (Marisa's Argentinean id and my passport). To me it was very 19th century -- the flowery language, the formality, the official signatures -- we were just walking around a newspaper office, after all. To Marisa, it is all very normal.

After the tour the guide made a comment that we have heard often here -- that our students are so respectful, so polite, so well-educated. The students have been great in every situation. Not matter how hot they are or how long-winded the guide, they have been incredibly patient.

Day 5 in Argentina - Monday, January 12

Monday, January 12

After class, we went on an excursion on the Paraná River, in a huge catamarán. We started at the port (where we had dinner on the first night). The boat cruised down the canal to the Paraná River, the second largest river in South America. Around Santa Fe, the river is part of a massive delta region, with many tributaries. The captain of the catamarán gave a short lecture about the river, explaining (among other things) that the Paraná is navegable, and that it is an important route for transport of goods from inland cities of Argentina to the ocean. It is considered to be a very treacherous river, with constantly shifting obstacles because of sediment drift. Local pilots are often needed to navigate into specific ports.

Day 4 in Argentina - Sunday, January 11

In the morning we visited the Basilica de la Virgen de Guadalupe, in Santa Fe. While the institution dates from the 1600s, the building itself was constructed in several phases, ending in 1904. Because it was built on land reclaimed from the lagoon, the Basilica is sinking into the sand. They need many millions of pesos in order to repair the foundation -- it is sad to see huge cracks in the roof, the crumbling plaster, the evidence of water damage to the altar. However, it is still beautiful, even with the major repairs that are needed. (I did make a contribution in the name of the group.)

After viewing the Basilica, we walked through a lovely residential neighborhood near the beach, and stopped briefly at the Universidad Católica de Santa Fe -- which Profesora Kalbermatten attended. It was so hot that we were all happy to return to the hotel for an air-conditioned siesta.

In the afternoon we went to an artists' fair called the Feria del Sol. (Jewelry, handicrafts, etc.) After having some ice cream, we tried to attend a concert of Argentinean cumbia, but for some reason the concert was not being held. (Hopefully, they will have it next week -- these are the hiccups of travel in Latin America.)

One of our classrooms

Our trip to the Costanera (more on day 3)

Here are photos of our trip to the Costanera on January 10. I didn't write much about it yesterday because I was so tired from the long walk, the heat, and the sun. The Costanera is the river bank along the lagoon, and we walked for several hours -- observing the people, several historic monuments, the hanging bridge, and the beach. We ended up at a restaurant on the beach, watching a beach volleyball tournament. One of the lifeguards decided to give a short lesson on Argentinean history to some of the students. This has been an interesting facet of our trip here for me -- I have only lived in Buenos Aires. As you know, Marisa Kalbermatten, the other professor on the trip, is a native of Santa Fe. So I am surprised at the reaction to our group -- the santafesinos, the people of Santa Fe, are touched and delighted that a group of U.S. students are studying Argentinean culture and identity. And they want to tell us everything they know about their history -- so we keep getting many different versions from waiters, taxi drivers, and . . . lifeguards. This is fascinating to me as a scholar who has studied Argentinean national identity. I keep listening to the different versions and perspectives on Argentinean history, thinking about what it means culturally. This is one of the issues I'm planning to discuss in class tomorrow: how are ordinary Argentineans presenting their national history to us? What is most significant to them when they talk about the founding of the nation?

Not all that many people speak English, of course. So all of the students are having to use their Spanish. Even though there are several advanced Spanish speakers in the group to help translate, nearly everyone has had to speak at some point. So it has been wonderful to watch everyone apply what they have learned in our classes at Gustavus. Very satisfying for their professors!

It is hard for us to believe that it is so cold back at home -- as we slather on sunscreen and crank up the a/c. (Yes, we're pretty smug about it).