Quick Note

Was just reading some things online, the list of life's natural highs and realized a few things I miss the most about being gone:

Morning walks with my mom and sisters
Giggling with my girl friends
Bon fires in the summer time, or just summer time for that matter
Boat rides at night
Subway
Dinners with my dad

Missing everyone at home lots and lots.

Here is a link to the site I stumbled upon -- > CLICK HERE

10 days of make up

Its been ten days since my last post so I figured I better get to writing so I can fill you all in on my latest adventures here in the city :)

Many of the people in my program left this past Saturday, as they were only here for the first month long class. My friend Bree who has appeared in many of the pictures headed back to California to the heat and sun, but we had a great last week while she was here. We went out Friday night with lots of people from the program who planned to head back to the states and had a great, long, typical night in Buenos Aires that ended around 6:00 am. I am lucky to have this whole week to catch up.

I finished my first intensive Spanish class with an A yayy. I have had this last week off of school to spend some time exploring the city and catch up on my rest since my first month here was constantly go go go. I have to admit I haven't spent much time exploring, I have basically been catching up on my sleep and staying mostly in my little neighborhood. Its been so nice to have a little time to really relax.

I went for a run yesterday through the parks and had a perfect afternoon sitting by the lake in the warm sunshine- it hit 67 degrees here which feels like heaven to me. Today Sophie and I went to watch "Media Noche en Paris" aka Midnight in Paris with Owen Wilson, it was cute but kind of a strange film. I finally found some peanut butter here today, I've been on the search because I have a slight addiction to peanut butter and banana sandwiches and peanut butter is a thing that the Argentines don't really do. I found some in China Town which is kind of close to my house, thank goodness. I also bought Twilight, one of my favorite books, in the Spanish addition so that is my next mission. Kind of geeky, but I love reading so this should be interesting.

I'm feeling much more accustomed to the language and the place which is a good feeling but its easy to feel alone in this city of millions which is kind of odd. Its definitely a feeling I've never had before, to walk around with so many people yet feel completely by yourself. I'm not really sure if it is a bad feeling, or just weird. I have made some native friends however, and I am going to an Asado this Saturday which I explained in my previous blog. Its in Tigre which is about a 40 minute train ride, we plan on getting out of the city during the second elections and spending the afternoon at a friends house. I am pretty excited, it'll be my first experience at an actual Asado, without any other English speaking friends. Wish me luck :)

Sorry this post was a little all over the place and probably a lot to take in; I am scatter brained. One month down and five more to go. It'll be Christmas before we know it.

Chau

Cataratas del Iguazú - Waterfall Weekend

This might be a long one -
Thursday afternoon we got onto a double decker bus to make the almost 18 hour trip to Iguazu. We left around 7:00 and drove through the night getting to a beautiful ranch Friday morning which was still about three hours away from our final destination. They had a huge pool, places to play soccer and tennis and a cozy outdoor bbq area where they make the famous Argentine "Asados". It usually includes just about every part of the cow, but they made me special vegetarian empanadas and grilled vegetables which was amazing and very thoughtful. We spent the afternoon hanging out there, enjoying some warm weather (finally) and drinking mate.
We headed to the hotel in Iguazu after that. Saturday morning we left early for the waterfalls which were beyond explanation. Even the pictures don't really do it justice. I took tons and I will upload them soon. The size of these waterfalls is unbelievable- I feel so lucky to have gotten to see them. A bunch of us took a boat that went just about underneath one of them, it was really a great day.
Later that night we had dinner and went out to see our tour guide play in his band at a local bar, then sat on the roof top and had a drink with a few people in my program. It was so nice to get out of the city and slow down for a few days. Its a little claustrophobic being around so many people constantly, so the break was needed.
Our flight was delayed about an hour coming back, it was raining pretty bad this afternoon but we made it home safe.
I will post pictures soon- Going to try and catch up on some much needed rest. Missing everyone at home, besos.

Andamos en bicicleta :)

We took the day off of school yesterday to finally enjoy some nice weather. It was about 60 here so we walked down to "bosques de palermo" which is sort of the equivalent to central park in NYC. When we finally figured out how to get there we found a man with tons of "bikes" to rent and ride around the park in so we got on the first four person bike I've ever seen.
I also came across my first Subway in Argentina (I have a serious addiction and have been in withdraw since I came to BA) So today we're going to have lunch there and do a little shopping.
Its Independence day here tomorrow, as well as elections which have 100% mandatory voting for every citizen over 18. People her are so into politics, especially people my age. They are so much more informed and concerned in comparison to my experiences with people my age in the states.

Thursday afternoon we went to see the "Madres de plaza de Mayo" who are the mothers of the 30,000 desaparecidos - people who were kidnapped by the government during the dirty war in the 70's. They have marched around the government buildings every single Thursday afternoon since the seventies. We've learned so much about the history of Argentina its really interesting to get a chance to be so involved in a completely new culture.

-On a bad note I had my first experience with robbing, my ipod was taken out of my bag as I was packed into the subway. Other than that, I am feeling like a pretty lucky girl here.
Chau :)

Flor de metal

This was given to Buenos Aires from an Argentine Architect and cost over 1 million dollars.
The flower opens during the day and closes in the night.
Beautiful

New things

Its amazing to me how every single day I see a new place, new things, meet new people. I have been here about two weeks and I still have only seen a fraction of the city. The second week into school and things have settled down a little bit. It was pretty overwhelming at first but I've kind of found a routine in the chaos.

-There is no tax on anything, if it says its 34, you pay 34
-There are no laundromats, rather lavandarias where you take your clothes and come back and pick them up a few hours later, all washed and folded
-I've fallen in love with dulce de leche which is like a mix between caramel and peanut butter, therefore it could be extremely dangerous
-Everything is so, so much later here.
-Speed limits do not apply, I'm terrified every time I am in transit :|

Its so much different than what I am accustomed to, but I think its why I love it here so much- change is good.

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.
-M. Scott Peck

Sunday Funday

Seems like it has been so much longer than a week since I have been here. I've been constantly on the go, which seems to be the norm here.
We went to Tigre which is the delta about 40 minutes away by train with a bunch of people in my class. Its pretty wild how people live there, all the houses are on islands near the river, and the only way to get in and out is by boat. There are boat buses which go up and down the river if people need to get into town, and a market boat that drives up and down the river for people to buy groceries or anything they might need. There are no roads on the islands, but lots of people spend their weekends out there when its warmer or have them as summer homes. I guess its sort of a break from the busy life here. We spent the day there then had an amazing dinner at Cabrera's which is the 13th best steak house in the world-- pretty classy.
Today Bree and I decided to explore the city a little, we hopped on the subway and got off randomly at Plaza Italia where we found a little pizzeria and spent most of the day there, chatting and had a few drinks. We were talking about how weird it is ending up in places you could have never imagined yourself in.
Never did I really picture myself studying in Buenos Aires, but I am so glad that I made the decision to come here. This week is going to be a pretty crazy one, there are lots of people surprisingly celebrating the fourth of July here, and then the 9th of July is the Independence day of Argentina.
Im missing my warm fourth of July weather, but looking forward to the week ahead. :)