Danny Paz
Class of 2003

June 29, 2005:

Lo pase de pelos!!!

Everything is finally coming together. So the three other guys from my program got here last Monday night, and we all shared the one-bedroom place I was staying in. A few days later, my roommate (Scott) and I, moved into the 2-bedroom apartment that we were waiting for. Well, funny enough, he's actually my roommate in San Diego as well. It actually worked out much better than expected because the other 2 guys (Luke and Bill) moved into the one bedroom apartment we had all been sharing. So now we are all living together, and don't have to worry much about meeting people in the area, or anything of the sort. We have been going out all together touring and eating and etc. It's pretty cool, actually.

So last weekend we saw some cool things. First off, Saturday we went to visit Scott's buddy from college, who lives in Coyacan (I'm not even going to attempt to spell everything correctly). It's a pretty cool little colonial town that was only integrated into Mexico City recently. It was picturesque, complete with cobblestone streets, gardens, parks, and a quiet restaurant, where we had lunch on the terrace. It was very relaxing. Then, like clockwork, came the rain. I wasn't too worried at first, because Bill had brought along some extra umbrellas to take care of it. Well, I was wrong. It POORED! It went on for hours as we tried to continue strolling the streets and checking out the scenery. I, of course, was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and we were all SOAKED. By the way people, Mexico City is freakin' cold. Someone could have thrown me a bone here, that this place is at high elevation (higher than Denver). Well, we survived it, and have been dressing warmer since.

Sunday we hit up the Zocalo (second time for me). We checked out some new things though, like the Templo Mayor. This was the actual Aztec temple. It's pretty crazy. So I guess the Spaniards had destroyed it and built over it; but in the last century (I heard varying accounts) the building over it burned down and they found the temple's ruins below. Every king/leader/whatever would build on top of the previous temple, making it bigger each time. So now, it is kind of like walking above a layer-cake/parfait of levels of Aztec history. Pretty cool.

I also had 2 very different metro conversations over the weekend. I am, of course, the ONLY person that talks to random people on the metro. So first, there was the drunk guy. I mean this guy was wasted. After rejecting several offers to try his magical unrecognizable juice from an unmarked water-bottle, we started talking. He was talking about how horrible the world was. And, with all people of this type, the conversation got to religion. Oy vey! He started crying and talking about how there is no God. Anyway I cheered him up by telling him that people just need to be good to each other, as I made my escape. Then I met a guy who was talking about how the world is perfect, great, etc. He said that we only complain because otherwise life would be boring, and that we have nothing better to do. I turned at one point and said something about the rain. He caught me and said that I was just complaining, because really, the rain ain't so bad. True. I liked his view on life better than the first guy's.

Other than that, I come to work 5 days a week and do my market research. It's pretty cool though because I get to leave the office a lot to interview business leaders in the sectors that I research. I just found out that, because this is a US office, I get Monday off for 4th of July. So hopefully I'll do something fun and crazy this weekend to take advantage of it. I think I may go to Acapulco or something with the roomies. I am going to try to set a record for most trips to Acapulco from DF in 2 months. I hope you are all enjoying your summers as much as I am bewildered by mine.

-Danny

__________________

Hola Weh's,

So since my last e-mail things have been getting better, but not anymore organized (who am I to talk?). First off, my boss's assistant (another one of my bosses), is super-nice and totally hooked it up. She introduced me to her ex-boyfriend once she found out that I was a "Paisano", as they call it here. This is also known as being "de la Colonia" in Chile or being a "Member of the Tribe" in the states. I guess she though that since he was Jewish as well, we'd make a connection. Well his family was amazing to me. I had lunch with them. They printed out maps for me and oriented me. They took me to see a potential apartment. And they gave me a few shots of tequila before seeing me off.

Well, it so happens that the apartment we saw that day was quite perfect. It was spacious, in a nice area, had two bedrooms, and was fully furnished. So I let the realtor/"medio pollo"/ freelance commissionser (explanation later) that I wanted it. Sweet! It's mine. Monday we'll take care of the details. Well, it's Monday and OOPS, the place is still taken. So they are puting me up in a one-bedroom for the week, until it is available. This wouldn't be a big deal if Scott, Bill, and Luke weren't comming in tomorrow. (By the way guys, I seriously just became privy to this new information!!! We'll figure it out..) But such is life in el D.F. (Mexico City for los Gringos).

Anyway, my weekend was pretty awesome. I met some of my buddies friends, and they took us to a cool club with live music one night. By the way, for you addicts out there, they were watching 24 when we got to their apartment (Disc 1, Season 1). Then on Sunday I made it to the Zocalo, which is the city's main plaza, which showed me that Mexico does indeed have A LOT of people. It was INSANE. People EVERYWHERE in every direction for miles and miles. I was able to get into the Palacio Nacional and see one of my favorite murals (Diego Rivera). I was dying to see it since I took Mexican Art History at UCSB.

So the freelance commissioners: These people are all over, but I have encountered them mostly in Latin America. They have nothing. But they sell everything. They get a commission from the "actual" seller for bringing you in. However, I have actually received better deals from these guys in the past then going directly to the provider. It may be because they save the provider time, and that is worth a lot.

I have an intense evening of busses, metros, and busses ahead of me. And that is just to get home. Then I will be calling a cab and moving to civilization for a change. That will make my day-to-day here a lot better. I hope that this e-mail hasn't goone too long, but if you know me, you know I like to talk. And believe me, I have a lot more to say...

Hasta luego,
Danny

_____________________

Fresas y Nacos,

So Mexico City is basically an easy to manage grid, that any novice without previous knowledge of the city's intricacies could navigate easily. YEAH RIGHT!

Urban Planning? What is that? This place is a chaotic mess. I am quite certain that whoever has money can build a street, crossing any other street, in any other direction. After two bus rides, two metro changes, and two hours of travelling, I have no idea how I got to work this morning...let alone how I will get home tonight.

However, after this morning's excursion, I am much more motivated to stop mooching off of my new friends, and move to a place closer to work. I am actually meeting with a potential roommate later in Polanco. I have already been told several times, by several people, that THAT is where the Jews live (whatever that means). More importantly I have been told that it is a safe area. Even MORE importantly, I was told that Polanco is where the party is at!!!

Right now I am in my office, a.k.a. cubicle with a door that doesn't close. Today is my first day of work and I've already gone out with a Commercial Specialist to do market research and I participated on a conference call. I was told that I will be doing market research projects for a variety of products during my stay here. I will not be bored.

Anyway, this is a crazy town where everyone is wary of the potential dangers. Even the cabbie that we were nervous about, quickly locked his doors before driving away after dropping us off. And for some reason, everyone in Mexico City is a stickler for the rules. I'll try to figure that one out later. First I am gonna figure out how it can be so damn hot in this office!Screw the tie, man.

I hope everyone is great. Que pedo weh? Yes that means, "what fart, dude?" And people say it a lot!

Neta (for real),
Danny

_____________________

Hello Everyone,

Tomorrow I am starting the next chapter of my International Adventures. This one will take place in Mexico for the next two months. I was accepted as an intern to work at the US Foreign Commercial Service in Mexico City. It is my understanding that the office, part of the Department of Commerce, helps US companies export to Mexico. I will probably be working on market research projects and organizing trade shows. The department I will be working in focusses on security, aviation, and consumer goods....basically everything?

As of right now, I don't know where I am living or even where I am going from the airport once I land tomorrow.

That is basically the backdrop from which I will be sending the most awesome e-mails you will ever receive!!! I know you just can't wait...

Hasta luego,
Danny

__________________________

Sunday, August 22, 2004:

ORO! We struck gold!!!

Last night Chile won its first olympic gold medal ever! For real! I couldn't beleive it either. And this country is soooo patriotic (as opposed to the US), that EVERYONE is celebrating. All night people were waving flags, hanging out of their cars, filling the streets, and honking their horns. It was awesome! Could you imagine if we did the same in the States every time someone won a gold???

So mate is a type of drink(tea) in South America, that you sip through a metal straw out of a pumpkin bowl(mate). Well Shira and I are "Mate"matically challenged!!! So I got a mate set-up . Anyway, it isn´t supposed to be a tough thing to accomplish; it's just hot water and the herb. Yet for some reason it has malfunctioned in every way possible. Now we are just lugging around a moldy, festerring, YUCK!

On Thursday we had to cross the Andes from Argentina back to Santiago. Shira and I took a mini-bus that we thought would be like taking a car. Well they counted the 7 of us as a tour bus, and we had to wait in line at the top for three hours. It was like a blizzard at the time, and the van had no heater(liars)! We finally finished the 3 hour trip, 9 hours later.

Now we are in Vina del Mar, Chile in my dad's place. It is a great town, but we need to get out and see it. I will e-mail soon!!!

Hasta Luego,
Danny  

________________________

Tuesday, August 17, 2004:

Ta,

That´s how everyone in Uruguay says ok, all right, or yeah. It´s pretty funny at first when you´re talking and everyone replies, "ta, ta, ta". I think it´s short for "yah esta"(done).

Anyway, until 2 nights ago, the weather has been amazing for us. It´s been so nice that I´ve even worn shorts some of the days! For those of you who haven´t realized it, it is winter here in the southern hemisphere. However 2 nights ago a storm hit and it rained a lot. Now it is VERY cold. It can´t be more than 40 outside! And Shira and I didn´t bring more than a couple of sweatshirts, naturally!

So we took a ferry across the Rio de la Plata (river plate) from Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay. It was a quaint little town with a colonial history and a cool lighthouse we climbed. Next was Mntevideo. We stayed in an amazing hotel,three blocks from a pedestrian street full of restaurants and bars. It was an amazing sight to see all the people out and about at 2:00am, even though we were too tired to really make the most of it.

After that we went up to Punta del Este, which is known as one of the nicest beach resort areas in the continent. It was packed because it was a holiday weekend(Gen. San Martin´s b-day?). Filled mostly by Argentine´s throughout the year, they think of it as a detatched colony of their´s. It was beautiful, and the weather was nice enough for great strolls along the boardwalk. We actually met up with a friend my dad knew 32 years ago! He´s the leader of the Montevideo Jewish community and was really nice.

Now we have started our trip back to Santiago and are staying back in Mendoza for the night. It is freezing, but we´ll have some "mate" to deal with that.

Chao
Danny

________________________

Wednesday, August 11, 2004:

Oye, Vos sos un B-u,

Here we are in Buenos Aires, where we are staying at a place with free internet, yet I am down the street paying for it. There is a Bolivian guy that has been using the one at the hotel for at least 6 HOURS!!! He has probably never seen a computer before, so it`s understandable.

So the funny thing about the language here is that they put accents in the words in the wrong places. So it makes for a very peculiar accent. Even funnier is that the advertisers have used this in their commercials, billboards, etc. So you´ll see a sign that says "Andá a comerla". Okay, well it´s funny to me.

We have seen a lot of cool and interesting things in Buenos Aires. It is set up like New York in the sense that it is divided up into Burrows/Barrios. A great example is Boca, which is made up of loudly colorful buildings created by Italian immigrants a hundred years ago.

Tomorrow we are going to Tigre to take a boat tour through the (supposedly) Venice-like region. That should be amazing if it lives up to expectations. Then Friday we should be on a ferry to Uruguay for the night. While there we want to see Colonia (no idea) and Montevideo (the capital).

Rant/Observations
Argentina is still really a mess. A telling quote comes from a newspaper I read which said "Creemos que somos un pais de primera, pero en realidad somos una de cuarta". This translates roughly to "we think that we are a first tier country, but in reality we´re in the fourth tier".

The prices here are ridiculously cheap. It seems as though they have not changed their prices since the peso was pegged to the dollar. Now that the peso is worth a third of that...you do the math. There is a lack of confidence in government and business, therefore scarring away investments, which worsens the problem...yet they are a very proud people. Examples- Try to tell an Argentine that any country has better wine, better slopes, a better soccer team, a better basketball team (olympics), better steak, better pasta, or (of course) better women.

Therefore, it is natural that if they believe everything they have to be the best, the culprit must be a corrupt government. This is the message behind every article, news story, or conversation. Whether it is true or false, it is overwhelmingly obvious that it is where they put the blame.

All in all, it is a beautiful place to visit. Especially while the prices are low...

Viva Argentina!!!

Danny

________________________

Monday, August 9, 2004:

Hola Che!

On the road again... First off, thank you to those of you that have e-mailed. I am sorry that I am not e-mailing you back individually, but I feel like I am answering most questions in my mass e-mails.

So the thermal baths that we went to after sending my last e-mail did not live up to expectations. They were luke warm at best, and it was about 45-50 degrees outside. The Argentines seemed to really enjoy it, and we had some good conversations with them. I also went "Macgyver" style with Shira´s foot. After the local farmacista and I pondered using a condom on Shira´s foot to keep it dry, we thought it better to use a surgeon´s glove and medical tape. I inflated it while on her foot to see that it was air tight. It was kind of ridiculous seeing a girl sitting in the water with a hand-foot floating in the water (because of the air in it)!

This morning we started out again and 3 hours later are at the halfway point to Córdoba. It should be a nice place to hang out for a night or two before heading on to Buenos Aires. Everything is going smoothly now, and Shira toe is getting a lot better. She is usually off of her crutches today and walking on her own.

It is too bad that I can´t attach pics to the e-mails because of the relics that they call computers in this country.

Wish us luck as we get back on the road.

Saludos a todos!

Danny

________________________

Sunday, August 8, 2004:

Hello Again,

So our first few days in Santiago were nice. I gave Shira the basic tour, with a lot of added details from my dad. We saw the virgin on the mountain, the plaza de armas, a castle, etc. It was nice to see it all again.

The problem was that the first night, Shira pulled a sofa-bed onto her toe!!! The most painful thing I´ve witnessed. (warning- not for the weak stomached) It ripped her nail off!!! So we were rushed to the hospital by my cousin who gets faint at the sight of blood. In the end, she is walking around with crutches...Now, 3 days later, it is starting to feel better, says she.

The second evening we went to my cousins´ house for a great shabbat dinner. I used to go every Friday when I lived in Santiago. It felt really great to be back there. My sister Karen was able to make it, and it was the first time I had seen her on the trip.

Later, my Chileno friend Andres came by and picked Shira, Jonathan, and I up to go out for some drinks. It was awesome hanging out again.

NOW WE ARE IN ARGENTINA!!!

Mendoza was way further from Santiago than expected. After going back to the hospital for Shira´s check-up, we started a 4 hour drive through the Andes to Mendoza. It was absolutely phenomenal to see, and phenomenally draining to drive! They were totally blanketed in snow.

We arrived and found somewhat of a ghost town. We soon realized that it was siesta time...go figure. Anyway we checked into a beautiful hotel, because we´re with my dad. This is not like the $4 hostels that I am accustomed to. Last night we went to a folkloric dinner-show that was really nice. All the steak and wine that you can eat and drink. And we did!

Today we are at the mall, checking out the stores, changing money and e-mailing you-all. We are planning to go to thermal baths now, which should be great. The problem is that poor Shira will have to leave her foot out because she can´t get her foot wet.

We are rethinking our trip to Buenos Aires because it is about an 11 hour drive. But i think we will do it. However we will probably stop in Cordoba on the way.

E-mail you soon!

-Danny

________________________

Thursday, August 5, 2004:

Hey everybody,

On Tuesday I started yet another Latin American adventure. My girlfriend Shira and brother Jonathan and I hope to see much of Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, before we return in a month.

We spent two days traveling to get to Santiago, Chile. The first night we stayed in San Jose, Costa Rica. There we spent the first few hours after arrival scouring the city for a hostel that was in our guide book. The problem was that it had already moved twice since our book had been published. Shira was used to this kind of thing because of our trip last year to Costa Rica. Jonathan on the other hand was shocked by the searching we did to find a $4 hostel and by the type of place we would subject him to. It was your average Latin hostel, complete with cardboard walls between rooms of bunks. In this kind of town, you're happy if you don´t see roaches running around.

The next day was another full of travel, and we spent most of the day in Peru during a six hour lay-over. We saw most of downtown Lima with a Chileno that we met in the airport. We saw the two main plazas and even some colonial catacombs complete with human skeletons.

Last night we arrived in Chile and were greeted by my dad at the airport. We spent the night at an aiport-hotel in a nice part of town.

My time is running out but I will e-mail again soon!!!

Danny Paz
h2oski341@hotmail.com

Return to Alumni page