Chau Chicago// Goodbye Chicago

Hoy fue la ultima "clase" de cultura que nos dieron, por asi llamarla. Esta vez, nos actuaron el primer acto de una comedia, por lo que vimos, altamente recomendable. Despues siguio el dia, con una hora de clase y volver a juntarnos para dirigirnos al planetario.
Ya en el planetario, fuimos a un tremendo espectaculo acerca de todo el universo que simplemente, te deja sin palabras, ademas de hacerte sentir muy chico en el mundo.Despues seguimos recorriendo el lugar y a eso de la una, nos dirigimos al Museo de ciensas e historia natural, mas conocido como "Field Museum".
El museo esta repleto de atracciones entre las que se encuentra, el Tiranosaurio Rex, mas grande mejor concervado, y mas completo del mundo (no, no esta vivo Susana). Personalmente tenia grandes expectativas acerca de este museo y no me defraudo, completo, con informacion conciza y lleno de fosiles muy completos. Finalmente, volvimos al museo para encontranos con nuestros hosts.
Ya mas de noche, nos dirigimos en tren a downtown para comer en un restaurant tipico. Mencion especial para el tren que ademas de barato es comodo, tiene dos pisos, es rapido y efectivo, y viajar parado seria una locura.
Llegamos al restaurant, y nos encontramos devuelta con algo muy tipico de aca, que te traten mal, en un modo ironico. Nos pusieron sombreros com sobrenombres invitados por ellos en el momento, obviamente burlones, y nos atendian con un aire de superioridad, si uno le seguia el juego podia ser realmente gracioso. La comida no destaco pero igual la pasamos muy bien.
Finalmente, volvimos en tren a nuestras casas y empezamos a decir

"Chau Chicago".

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Today it was our last, "culture class", as a way to call it. This time we saw the first act of  a comedy, that seemed really good. After that we had a period of classes and joined together again for going to the Planetarium.

Already there, we saw a great show that was about the whole universe and simply leave you without words, besides from making you feel really small in the huge universe. Then we continued visiting it, and at one o clock we went to natural science museum better known as "Field Museum". The museum was filled of attractions in where it is, the biggest, most complete, and better conserve Tiranosaurious Rex of the world (no, not alive Susana). Personally i had really high expectations for the museum and it actually fulfilled them. Then we went back to school where the hosts were waiting for us.

At night we went by train to downtown to eat in a very typical restaurant. Special mention for the train, comfortable, cheap  , faster and effective, and traveling without sitting would we crazy for them. 

At the restaurant, we found another typical attitude, being treat badly on an ironic way. The made us used hats where they had put a silly nickname, and treated us feeling superior but, is you play with them i could turn to be really funny. The food wasn't that good but we had a good time.

Finally we went back home by train and started saying, 

"Goodbye Chicago".

Cheese cake factory

Como cada maniana la primer hora la dedicamos a seguir conociendo la cultura Americana, hoy toco musica. Tres alumnas interpretaron tres distintos tipos de la musica mas caracteristica estadounidense, y, luego, un pequenio juego para finalizar mostrando un poco de nuestra musica.
Luego tuvimos dos horas de clases y nos juntamos nuevamente. Antes que nada, nos despedimos del Hermano Patrick, quien se tenia un viaje y no llegaba a volver para despedirnos. Luego, todos juntos nos dirigimos al acuario.
Personalmente no soy muy fanatico de los acuarios, y este no fue una exepcion. No era feo ni nada, simplemente no es algo que me guste mucho. Ademas un rato despues de que llegamos presenciamos un espectaculo con diferentes animales marinos entrenados, por demas basico y simple.
Despues tuvimos una experiencia de cine "4 D", un cine tres que tiraba viento un poco de agua y no mucho mas.
Finalizada la visita, nos dirigimos al colegio, donde nuestros host nos pasaron a buscar y fuimos todos juntos a comer a un restaurant llamado The cheese cake factory.
Sin lugar a dudas, lo mejor del dia, aunque no empezo del todo bien. Como cualqueir restaurant no tenia preparada una mesa para 30 personas y ademas, estaba lleno, asique tuvimos que esperar unos 35 minutos mas o menos.
Luego de la espera, nos sentamos, dividos en 4 meses y fuimos rapidamente atentidos. Con un menu de 200 platos, logicamente, tardamos en elegir, pero nos sirvieron muy rapido, unas porciones extremadamente generosas. Finalmente, llego lo mejor, el postre. Como estabamos casi saciados, decidi compartir el postre. La unica palabra que tengo para definirlo es perfecto, y que si vuelvo a Chicago un lugar al que seguro voy a volver es

" Cheese cake factory".

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As every morning, we took the first period, to keep learning about US culture, today the speech was about music. Three different students interpreted, three different common American music's style, and then we play just for a little, and finished showing them our music. 

Then we had to more class hours, and joined back together. First of all we said good bye to Brother Patrick, as he is going on a trip and won't be able to arrive before we leave. Then, all together, left the school for the aquarium. 

I have never been an aquarium's fan, and this wasn't an exception. It wasn't because of it being ugly or something like that, it just isnt that i like. Besides, a while after we went to a show with different marine animals, which was just basic and simple. then we had the "4D" movie experience, it was just a 3D cinema with some air, water and not too much more.

Finally we went back to Marist where we were picked up by our hosts and went all together to a restaurant called Cheese cake factory.

With no doubts, the best part of the day, despite it didn't start in a nice way. As every common restaurant the didn't have a table prepared for 30 people and it was also crowded, so we had to wait like for 35 minutes.
After waiting, we sit down, divided in four tables, and were rapidly attended. As the menu has 200 dishes, we, logically, took some time to decide what were we going to eat, but we were served really quickly and the food about of delicious was served in great amounts. To end with, the better part, deserts. As i wasn't too much hungry, i decided to ask for a  portion of cake with another student. The only word i have to define that is perfect, and that if i come back to Chicago i will definitely go back to

" Cheese cake factory".

Lets Go Bulls

Temprano en Marist nos esperaban 8 de los mejores alumnos de retorica para tener un debate acerca de la politica estadounidense, teniendo en cuenta que hoy son las elecciones presidenciales en U.S.A. .  Al ser 8, 4 estaban a favor de Mitt Romney (candidato republicano) y los otros 4 a favor del actual presidente Barack Obama (candidato Democrata). La charla fue algo densa al principio, pero se volvio mas entretenida e interectativa cuando salio el tema de politica exterior, donde nosotros podiamos saber un poco mas y opinar con un mayor respaldo.
A media maniana hoy, nos retiramos del colegio para dirigirnos al museo de ciencia e industria de Chicago. Alli tuvimos casi tres horas para recorrer las distintas atracciones del museo. Es un museo interactivo mas que nada, muy muy grande, y recorre temas muy diversos.
Las atracciones iban de, la historia y creacion de los juguetes, pasando por la vida a mediados de siglo y  la historia de los submarinos de guerra. Ademas aparecian, la formacion de los tornados, anotomia humuna, sonidos y ecos, todos con los que uno podia interectuar.
Luego del  divertido recorrido, a eso de la una, volvimos a Marist, para almorzar e ir a nuestras casas.
Hoy era un dia muy especial, tanto para mi como para la familia que me aloja, teniamos entradas para ver a los Bulls! Asi que 4 20 nos fuimos todos a comer a un restaurant mexicano y luego de una rica cena nos dirigimos al United Center, estadio de los Chicago Bulls.
Hoy jugaban contra los Orlando Magic. Todo el show fue totalmente increible, sacado de un pelicula, imposible de describir en palabras. En cuanto al partido, los primeros tres cuartos no sobresalieron, pero en el ultimo los Bulls activaron si llevaron el partido 99 a 93, con un tremendo cuarto.
Como experiencia, si bien no aporto mucho a mi persona, fue una de las mejores y de la que, sin dudas, mas recuerdos me voy a llevar de este viaje.
En este momento esto casi difonico de tanto gritar,

" Lets Go Bulls".

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Early at Marist, there were waiting for us 8 of the best students from the rhetoric class to have debate about U.S. policy , since today are the presidential elections.   As they were 8, 4 were for Mitt Romney (republican candidate) and the other 4 for President Obama, (democrat candidate). At the beginning it was kind of boring, until we started talking about foreign policy, subject we knew more about and could argue with solid statements. 

After that we went to The Science and Industry Museum of Chicago.The museum is interactive, huge and has very different themes in it.  Attractions went from history and creation on toys, passing through the middle century life, till the history of war submarines. There were also, the formation of tornedos, human anatomy, sounds and ecos, everything you could interact with. 

After the interesting visit, we went back o Marist where we have lunch and went back to our home.

Today it was a very special day, to my and the family that host me, we had tickets for the Bulls game! So then 4 20 we went to a mexican restaurant to have dinner and then to the United Center, Chicago's Bulls Stadium.

Today they play against Orlando Magic. The whole show was totally amazing, from a movie, impossible to be described with words. About the game, the first three quarters weren't that goof, but in the last one, the Bulls won the game 99 to 93 playing really well.

As an experience, though it didn't have any personal teach, it was one of the best, and that, without doubts, the one that most memories will leave me from this schoolar trip.

At this moment i have almost no voice because of screaming

"Lets Go Bulls".

Chicago's swallow cliff

A primer hora de hoy nos esperaba otra de las actividades especiales preparadas por el colegio. Esta vez, las "Cheerleaders" nos tenian preparado un espectaculo, que no era mas que una escusa para seguir mostrandonos las tradiciones del Marist High School. Luego de esta presentacion nos animamos a tirar unos pasos con ellas, obviamente muy toscamente, y terminamos con un juego. Si bien esto fue muy divertido, y a la vez fuera de lo comun, no es lo que quiero destacar del dia de hoy.
A la tarde, mi host me ofrecio ir a un lugar para hacer ejercio. Me menciono algo de unas escaleras pero nunca termine de entender y es bastante dificil de explicar asi que les voy a dejar una foto del lugar.
Como cada lugar del estado al que hemos ido, la entrada era totalmente gratuita y no habia una sola persona encargada de la seguridad o algo similar.
El lugar, si bien era basico, estaba hecho para entrenar. Ademas de las escaleras tenia varios metros de parque, y finalizadas las escaleras habia un pequenio tablero para que cada uno pudiera contar las veces que subia y bajaba la misma. Ademas de esto, estaba rodeado de un inmenso bosque lo que hacia la lugar muy tranquilo y alejado del ruido, aunque esta a unos pocos kilometros de la ciudad.
Asi que recuerden, si estan en Chicago y quieren ejercitar, mas que una buena opcion seria ir a

"Chicago's swallow cliff".

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Early at the morning another special activity organized by the school was waiting for us. This time, The Cheerleaders had prepared a show for us, that was a barely excuses for keeping showing their culture to us. After the presentation, we even dance a little bit, roughly  with them and finished the activity with a game. Although this was fun and unique for us, it is not what i want to remark about this day.

At the afternoon, mi host offered me to go to a place for doing some exercise. She mentioned something about some stairs, but i couldn't ever finish understanding it till i got there, and as it is quiet difficult to explain i am attaching a picture for you.

As every public place we have visited so far, there was no entrance fee and not even a guard. 

Even though the place was kind of basic, it is made for training. Besides from the stairs, it has a long grass park and where the stairs finished there was a small board where you could count how many times you had gone up and down. Moreover, it is surrounded by a big forest that makes the place calmer and away from the noises, despite it was quite near to the city.

So remember, if you are at Chicago and want to train, more than a good option would be going to

"Chicago's swallow cliff".

Una cena muy americana // A very American dinner

Hoy tuvimos el dia libre, y como mi host tenia mucha tarea, me ofrecio llevarme para que me junte con otros asi podria disfrutar mas del dia. Ya de antes veniamos planiando visitar el zoologico y esta era una gran ocasion para hacerlo.
Asi que, nos juntamos todos en una casa y despues de ir a misa, nos dirigimos al zoologico "Lincoln Park".
Lo primero que me sorprendio fue que el zooligo era gratis, estaba la entrada abierta y no habia siquiera un guardia de seguridad. En cuanto al zoo, no tenia nada especial, o que destacara, no habia mucha gente tampoco, ya que, por la epoca del anio, muchos animales se refugian y no pueden ser vistos.
Lo otro que me sorprendio es que este cerrara a las 4 30, aunque tiene logica considerando que aca cenan las 5 30 mas o menos. Asi que despues de que cerro nos fuimos a cenar a un restaurant donde lo mas sorprendente del dia paso.
Llegamos y el adulto que nos acompaniaba nos dijo que empezaramos a cantar "we want a table" y despues "where is our table" cosa que hicimos, casi shockiados y muertos de risa.
Esto tomo sentido cuando entramos y los mosos nos empezaron a tratar de mala manera. Aunque primero nos sentimos agredidos luego entendimos que era a modo de broma y parte del servicio.
Si bien la comida no fue nada del otro mundo el servicio hizo de esta cena

"Una cena muy americana".

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Today we had the day off, and as my host had too much homework you offered my to drive me off so that i could join with somebody else and enjoy more my day. Before today we have already been thinking about going to the zoo and this was the perfect occasion.

So we joined at a house and after mass, we went to the "Lincoln Park" zoo. 

What first surprised me was the there was no entrance fee, the door were opened and there wasn't even a guard. As for the zoo, there was nothing special,  and there weren't many people as, because of the part of the year, many animals stayed refugees, and can't be seen.

The other think that surprised me was that the it closed at 4 30, it has logic though if you take into account that here they eat dinner at 5 30 more or less. So after it closed we went to have dinner to a restaurant the most surprising thing of the day happened. 

We arrived and the adult that was with us asked us to sing "we want a table" and then "where is our table", thing we did, almost shock and laughing too much.

This made sense when we entered and the waiters treated us in a bad way. Although we first felt the were being rude to us we then understand that it was in a friendly way as part of the service.

Despite the food was not outstanding, the service made this dinner,

"A very American dinner".

Mas barato por docena// Cheaper by the dozen

Hoy a media maniana nos juntamos en el colegio para dirigirnos a un mall en Michigan estado de Indiana. Luego de una hora de viaje llegamos al mall que, sorprendentemente, era al aire libre.
Estaba repletos de locales, todos en liquidacion porque la temporada esta por terminar. Los precios eran realmente sorprendentes, remeras a 4 dolares, dos por uno en todos lados, descuentos, etc.
Se nos dieron 4 horas para comprar con tiempo y comer, y todos lo aprovechamos realmente, cuando nos volvimos a juntar a nadie le alcansaban las manos para sostener todas las bolsas que tenian.
Personalmente aproveche para comprar regalos para familiares y amigos, y ,obviamente, darme mas de un gusto.
Algo que me gustaria destacar, es la onda con la que te atienden. Ni bien abris la puerta ya escuchas el "good morning how are you" y cuando te vas el "have a nice day". Ademas estan todos siempre bien dispuestos a ayudarte, y en un tono amable hasta el punto de bromear con vos. Otra diferencia notable con Argentina, y no lo digo a modo de critica.
Asi que, esta fue mi experiencia en el mall de Michigan donde todo era

"Mas barato por docena".

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Not too early, luckily, we join at the school fot going to a mall at Michigan state of Indiana. After a one hour-trip we arrived to the mall that, surprisingly, had no roof.

It was full with different types of shops, each one on sale since the summer season is over. The prices were amazings, a T-shirt for four dollars, pay one take to everywhere, discounts, etc. 

We were given 4 hours to shop and have lunch, and everyone, used really well that time, when we met again, everyone was full of  bags and could hardly grab them.

Something that i would like to remark, is the way we were attended. As soon as you open the door you will hear the "good morning how are you" and whenever you leave the "have a nice day". Moreover, there were always willing to help you and in a good mood, even joking with you. This is another great different with Argentina and i am not say this in a critic way.

So, this was my experience at the Michigan's mall where everything was 

"Cheaper by the dozen".

La ciudad de noche // The city at night

El dia de hoy, luego de un comienzo normal y de unas primeras horas de clasess como vienen siendo los ultimos dias, lo dedicamos a dos grandes visitas turisticas de la ciudad de Chicago.
Primero, visitamos Navy Pier, ni mas ni menos que una tipica feria, rueda de la fortuna, algunas otras atracciones, varios lugares para comprar los tipicos regalos, y los infaltables lugares de comida rapida.
Luego de un tiempo ahi, nos fuimos para Michigan Avenue (avenida principal del centro de Chicago) donde se nos dio un cierto tiempo para recorrer hacer shopping etc.
Finalmente, llego la mejor parte. Un paseo en bote primero por el rio que esta en el medio de la ciudad, y da una gran vista de los edificios mas importantes, y luego un paseo por el lago que da una gran vista panoramica de toda la ciudad.
Entre el frio que hace normalmente, el viento y la cercania al agua, era dificil estar arriba del vote, pero soportando el frio, las vistas eran muy buenas y realmente valio la pena.
Lo ultimo que quiero decir es que es muy impresionante ver a

"La Ciudad de Noche".

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Today, after a regular  morning, we spent the day in the really important touristic visits of the city of Chicago.

Firstly, we visited Navy Pier, basically,  a fair, with a "Wheel of Fortune", some others attractions, places for buying souvenirs, and typical fast food shops.

After a time there, we went to Michigan Avenue (Chicago's principal avenue) where we had some time to visit, go shopping etc.

Finally, the best part. A ferry through the river that pass through the middle of the city and gave you great views of the most important buildings and then we would go by the lake where you could have great panoramic views of the whole city.

The normal cold, added to the wind and the proximity to the water, made it hard to be outside, but besides that, the views were really good, and it really worth it.

Yo conlude with, i would like to say that i was really awesome to watch 

"The city at night".

Cafe Iberico

Este post, no va a hacer referencia a ningun paseo turistico, ni tampoco de algo extranio que haya pasado en el colegio, este post va especificamente referido a un restaurant que visite el jueves a la noche.
Cafe Iberico se llama, y desde que entre, hasta que sali, no paro de sorprenderme. Como su nombre lo indica, servian platos tipicos de la peninsula iberica, mayormente Espania.
Empezamos por pedir las bebidas y cuando terminamos de pedirlas ya nos las estaban sirviendo. Seguimos pidiendo tres platos, y al paso de dos o tres minutos ya estabamos comiendo.
La comida era de verdad muy rica, un poco picante, pero era muy sabrosa y el picante le agregaba aun mas sabor.
En resumen comimos muy bien, el servicio fue muy bueno, rapido y con buena onda. Finalmente si alguna vez visitan Chicago, vayan a

"Cafe Iberico". 

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This post is not going to be about some tourist trip, or neither about some surprising that had happened in the school, this post is specifically referedto a restauraunt i visited on Thursday evening.
It is called Cafe Iberico, and, since i entered and till i left, it didn't stop surprising me. As it named indicate, there were served dishes from "La Peninsula Iberica", mostly, from Spain.
We started by asking something to drink and in the same moment we were finishing asking, we were being served. We continued to ask for three dishes, and two or three minutes later we were eating.
The tasted really good, a little bit spicy, but that added taste.
All in all, we ate really good and the service was fast and everybody was nice. Finally, is you ever visit Chicago, go to,

"Cafe Iberico".

Feliz Halloween// Happy Halloween

Llego uno de los dias mas esperados por los Estadounidenses, casi al nivel de Navidad. Ya de temprano se veia gente disfrasada, y ni hablar de las decoraciones en las casas, estaban puestas hace ya varios dias.
Cuando llegamos al colegio, nos estaban esperando con una breve introduccion de lo que Halloween se ignifica aca, y sus origenes.
Luego de esto nos retiramos a las clases. El dia fue normal y no voy a aburrirlos con cosas que ya conte en post anteriores.
Cuando llegue a la casa de mi host, empezo verdaderamente el dia. El timbre sonaba y sonaba, y cuando la puerta era abierta se escuchaba "Trick or treating" en la voz de pequenios ninos. Estos estaban, obviamente, con sus padres. Pasaban las horas y los chicos se iban convirtiendo en adolescentes y ya iban solos.
Nosotros finalmente, nos juntamos en la casa de una de las host y tuvimos una pequenia pero divertida fiesta. Todos disfrazados, y obviamente, siendo el centro de atencion como paso durante todo el viaje, pasamos y cantamos canciones nuestras. Ya bien de noche disfrutamos de los caracteristicos malvadiscos, muy ricos por cierto.
En fin de esto se trata esta festividad tan propia de los Estados Unidos, que parecia tan de pelicula pero, resulto tan real. Tan solo queda decir

"Feliz Halloween"

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It finally came one of the most waited days by the U.S. people, almost at Christmas level. Early in the morning you could already see people dressed up, even more, houses decorations have already been placed weeks ago.

At the school they were waiting us with a small presentation about how much does Halloween mean for them, and where it comes from. 

After this we went to the class. The day was quite normal so, as i don't want to bored you with this i will continue with what happened after school.

Once i was in my Host;s house the bell started to ring, and it continued like that for the whole day. Whenever you opened the door you would hear "trick or treating" and see little boys with their parents.While the time passed boys became teens, and they went trick or treating alone.

We, finally, joined together at a host"s house to have a party. Although it was small we all, dressed up and everything, had fun, and they were all paying attention to us at all moment, as it has been since we arrived here. At nigh we enjoyed the characteristic  marshmallows, that, off the record, were really tasty.

All in all, this is all about this festivity so typical from the States, that seemed to be just in movies, but ended up being so real. I just have to say

"Happy Halloween".