The End

May 5- Lakewood, Colorado

Well the trip is over and I have been back in the states for almost a week now. It has been so weird being back. There was definite culture shock getting back and having American money again and also seeing things like a Starbucks on every corner. Its so weird to think back and look back on the trip. It already feels like it was years ago or that I dreamed the entire thing. It was so surreal to be there and now even more surreal to be back in the states. I feel like I learned so much (not necessarily school wise but about life) and that I have grown so much also. It was amazing to more or less live another life for 3 months and being able to see how I react and live being around new people, places and things. To say the trip was awesome would be the biggest understatement however there are no words to describe it. Living and being in Argentina was the best and greatest experience in my life and all I can do it hope to go back someday.

Estancia Trip

April 25- Casa Holden

Wow life has been busy so sorry that I haven't written on this forever. We are getting down to the final days and so I have been super busy studying for finals, getting the last few assignments done and just trying to enjoy my last few days here in BA. But an update of last weekend...

Every semester Pepperdine does a Spiritual Retreat and so this semester I decided to go. And it was a fantastic trip. I for sure wanted to go to an estancia ( a ranch) before I left and so this was the perfect time to go... especially because Pepperdine was paying for it. Anyways, we didn't have class on Friday because of the retreat and so we got up early and met at the Casa at 9. I had gone out the night before for the last day of dancing at this club that we go to and so I was super tired but we got there, got a tour, hung out for like an hour before lunch, ate a delicious lunch of milanesa and then had the rest of the afternoon to do nothing so I slept and it was great. Everyone was really tired and so pretty much everyone slept. but then later that night before dinner we had a little meeting and one of the girls talked for a little while and then the coordinaters broke us up into our small groups. We all got journals that had a word written at the top and so we were supposed to reflect and write about that word and how our thought or perceptions etc had changed. So we did that for the first 5 words, then ate dinner and then met with our groups to talk. We were going to play some games and just hangout as a group that night but everyone was still really tired so after ending the groups at like 1 people just went to bed.

Day 2- One of the reasons the trip was so nice was because we just had time to relax and hang out. We weren't doing anything until like 7 that night so we all slept in and relaxed till lunch. then after lunch a few of us went and kicked my soccer ball around for a while and had fun playing a pick up game. because it was hot, we all jumped into this freezing cold, gross pool after which probably wasnt the best idea but oh well. it was for sure fun. then kelsey, amy and i went horseback riding for 30 min just around the ranch. my horse was super short and fat and so it was really fun to ride around on it. then after horseback riding we had more time to relax so i read while we all watched Daniel jump up and down and freaking out about the Spurs game. but then there was a meeting, dinner, and then small group time. and my small group was definitely tight. we deviated from the book and just talked about anything and everything. all the other groups finished really early and went to play games but we decided to just keep talking the entire night. i think we all talked for about 6 hours.

Day 3- Another relaxing day, because we didnt go to bed until like 3 we all slept till like noon. We had nothing to do that day besides listen to a speaker for a little and then eat an asado lunch where zach, amy, kelsey and i played cards the entire time. i for sure got addicted to playing cards while i was here. but anyways, then we headed home and i dont remember exactly what i did but i think i did homework the rest of the night.

the past week has been the only week that i have felt that i have really gone to school too. i had papers, and assignments and orals in spanish and then had to begin to study for finals. on thurs, i had 3. ugh. but then last night i went out to a bar and hung out with my host brother Eric. but then i had a spanish final at 9 this morning but it was an easy final. it was 3 pages long and all multiple choice which was great. i then went home and slept for a little and now i am back at the casa hanging out and getting a few things done before we head out and get dinner and spend the last few days in BA. So sad. I cant believe it is already time to leave.

Spring Break in PERU!!

April 15- Havanna Cafe

So I am sitting here watching the Emperors New Groove in honor of going to Peru and hanging out with llamas for a week. And I figured there is nothing better than writing about the trip while watching the movie.

Day 1- April 5
The trip began with meeting at the Casa at like 5:15 in the morning aka I had to leave my house a little before 5 aka I didn't sleep that night. I went out and hung out with some people for a while and then came home and showered and finished packing and then left. We went to the airport, checked in, all that jazz. Uneventful. From there we had a 4 or 5 hour flight to Lima, Peru. When we landed in Lima we had to pick up our bags and re-check them in to go to Cusco and go through security and everything again. A pain but there is Starbucks in the airport so it was all worth it to get a Starbucks. Haha. From there, we went to get lunch. However, we didnt have much time so we were just going to grab some pizzas and eat them really fast. However, we walked up to the Papa Johns counter and they told us that we had to sit down and get "served". So we sat and we told the guy that we didn't have a lot of time so we wanted them fast and we want to pay right away and everything. However, they didn't get the message and it took forever to get the food. This means that we had to more or less run through security and the airport tax with these drinks and pizza and stuff in our hands. I'm sure we looked quite comical to everyone but we didn't have to wait in lines or anything which was great. Haha. But then we landed in Cusco and Russ went off to his hotel and Kelsey, Amy and I to our hostel. We got a great hostel that was up on top of a hill and overlooking the city. We got to our room that we shared with a few other girls but it was fine and changed and relaxed at the hostel for a while before heading out to explore the city. We first had to pay the rest of our tour and buy our bus tickets from Cusco to Puno but after that we began to shop. And oh man there was a lot that we bought through out the trip. After walking around for a while, we went to a cafe and sat overlooking the main plaza (Plaza de Armas) and just relaxed for a while listening to a band that was playing in the square. Once we were bored of sitting we walked around all the shops more and looked at everything. From there we went looking to try to find a place to eat. All the restaurants put a person outside with a menu to haggle you to get you to come to their restaurant. They add free wine and reduce the prices etc etc to try to beat the other restaurants. But while Kelsey and Amy were trying to find dinner, I walked over to the Plaza to meet Russ so that he could eat with us. However , he had already ate so he just sat with us while we ate. But then we all went to this English pub. However, we didn't really have anything to talk about so I bought a deck of cards and we spent the rest of the night drinking and playing Hearts. We called it an early night and Russ went to his hotel and us our hostel.

Day 2- April 6
Today we slept in for a while at least which was good considering I had slept on planes only the day before. We had the day free to hang out around Cusco and just explore. Russ was out and about doing his own thing so we spent the day just hanging out shopping and taking pictures. It was cool to explore some of the city and just relax too. After walking around this huge building full of all the little shops that you see through out the city, we decided to get some lunch. We found this Pervian chinese place for lunch and I mean it was alright but nothing special. Maybe I have just been spoiled with the BA food, but I wasn't impressed with almost all of Peru's food. But we ate, walked the calories off and then went to a little cafe for dessert and just played some cards and hung out. Later that night we met Russ again for dinner. We ended up picking this place called Baghdad Cafe overlooking the Plaza. The food was whatever but almost the whole dinner and authentic Peruvian band played for us so it was tight to have both dinner and a show. We then left from there and went to this Irish pub/bar. One thing that I liked about Peru is that they had pineapple juice in almost every restaurant and bar and so this bar we went to had amazing pineapple daquiris. But anyways, we got bored so we ended up tearing a bunch of napkins into really tiny pieces and played Texas Holden with napkins. For sure epic. But then we had to go back to our hostel to pack enough stuff in day packs for a day and half while we were at Agua Calientes.

Day 3- April 7
This trip had a lot of days that we had to wake up early... so we woke up early once again and heading down to the train station to get to Agua Calientes which is the closest town to Machu Picchu and where you get on the bus that takes you up the mountain to Picchu. But the train ride was about 4ish hours and more or less uneventful. Our seats where in the front buy where they we selling food so we had the two guys selling food and the other guy that was in charge of the coach talking to us the entire time which was interesting. Haha. But then we got to Calientes and went to our hostel. We had a room to ourselves... actually I am pretty sure that we more or less had the whole place to ourselves. We didn't see anyone else staying there the entire time that we were there but oh well. Esta bien. The town is also a small nothing town where we walked around almost the whole town in about 5-10 min. But we had the afternoon to explore and do nothing so we went to the hot spring that they have there. It consisted of about 5 or 6 small like pools filled with nasty looking water that smelled like pee that was luke warm. Haha I have been to hot springs before but this was an adventure for sure. Oh well it was something to do and a new experience in life. Haha. But after that and showering and everything we had nothing else to do so we decided to walk along this path that followed the river because it said there was signs for an ecology hike there. However, I don't know if there really was ever that walk but as we were walking down the hill we happened to run into Russ and another friend Bryan sitting on the wall. So there went the "hike" but Bryan had to leave to catch his train so we all walked with him to his moldly gross smelling hostel and then once he left the rest of us had nothing to do so we bought Cokes and Milky Ways from a kiosko and went to Russ's hotel room overlooking the river. Las chicas took over his bed as our table to play cards for a while and then we decided to sit there and read on his bed while he played a computer game. haha but then we went to dinner and hung out for a little before calling it an early night so that we would be rested for Picchu the next day.

Day 4- April 8
Machu Picchu day!! Yay! And it was for sure as great as everyone says it is. We woke up early and checked out of our hostel (luckly we could leave our bags there for the day) but then we walked down to the Plaza to meet our guide to go to Picchu. By the time that everyone got on the buses and got tickets and everything it was like 630 when we first saw Picchu. The moutains however were filled with fog in the beginning of the trip so even though we started up top where we could have over looked all the ruins we could barely see anything. However, it was fine because it cleared up later in the day and we were able to go back to the top and see everything later on in the day. We had a tour hour tour planned however there were a lot of older people in the tour that kept wanting to wait to see if they sun would peek through the clouds and everything. This was fine for a little while but soon we couldn't handle it so the three of us ditched the tour and went straight through the ruins to one side to hike Wynapicchu. Wynapicchu is this big mountain that you can see in the back of all the classical pictures of Machu Picchu. They only let 400 people up a day so we wanted to make sure that we didn't miss out. There are also more ruins on top of the mountain along with a spectaular view. But so anyways, we begin to hike this mountain. The beginning was fine but then from about the middle on there was a "trail" but the trail consisted of a bunch of rocks that you walk up. It was definitely a climb meant only for the physically fit as the sign warned us. But the climb up was worth it for the view that we got to see. I didn't know/think Picchu was as big as it was until we climbed up there and could see everything. Once we got to the top, we sat down and busted out some peanut butter and crackers and just relaxed and read for a while. While we were sitting there up comes Russ. But so he went off to explore the ruins of Wynapicchu for a little and then we all walked down together. From there we spent the rest of the morning/afternoon exploring all the ruins and trying to get a feel for/see the entire city. Our train was leaving Calientes around 5 so we had to leave Picchu at like 4 but we decided to leave at like 3 instead and went back to town, bought a drink, picked up our bags and then caught our train. On the way home Kelsey and I were sitting across from this German couple that had decided to put this huge bag on the floor meaning that none of us could stretch our legs out/really move the entire ride. It was a very uncomfortable ride. But then we got back to Cusco, checked back in the the same hostel for another night, grabbed some dinner and crashed for another early morning.

Day 5- April 9
We got up early again this day to head down to the bus station to get on the bus that would take us from Cusco to Puno where Lake Titicaca is. The bus ride was like 9 hours long and not from distance but just because we had like 7 stops through out the ride. We saw cathedrals, Incan ruins of churches and cathedrals, a mueso, the andes and a couple of other stops for lunch and just pictures. The bus we took was one of the big luxury buses but it wasn't even halfway full which was nice because we all got to have our own rows to ourselves. But eventually we got to Puno and got a cab to our really nice lake view hotel. Then we spent that night just hanging out in our hotel room. I took a shower and then we ate dinner in the hotel restaurant which had the best Peruvian food I have had yet. Then we just went back to our room and watched TV and read for the rest of the night.

Day 6- April 10
This was one of the few days that we didn't actually have to wake up early which was nice. We slept in and then got ready and just sat outside in Peruvian sunshine for a while. Once we got hungry enough, we went into the town of Puno (which although it is fairly big there really isn't anything to do) and ate lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Puno Plaza de Armas. Then we walked around to find a travel agency to try to take a lake tour the next day. We found one easy enough and then Kelsey wanted a lago titicaca t-shirt so we went off in search of that. Once that quest was complete we had nothing left to do so we walked down to the port where they had paddle boating. And from lack of anything else to do and the fact that it only cost a dollar we paddle around in a swan 30 minutes. Quite the adventure. Haha. From there it was getting dark and kindof cold so we bought some dinner (aka chips and candy) and went back to the hotel. Once there, while watching Pirates on TV, we decided we were hungry enough to order room service. So we spent the rest of the night watching TV, reading and relaxing.

Day 7- April 11
This day was the lake tour day so once again we had to be up early but it was alright. After eating breakfast, we walked out the back door of the hotel to wait for the boat to come and get us. Because our hotel was right on the water, we didn't have to go into town to catch the boat, it came to us which was pretty funny. We had a fun group of people on the boat too. But we got on and the first stop was the floating islands of Uros. This consists of about 40 different man made islands that groups of about 30 people live on. These islands are made and consist entirely of reeds. The floor is reeds, the houses are reeds, the boats are made of reeds, they even eat the reeds. I tried reed and it was flavorless but hey it was all about the experience. But so we got into the islands and went to one so that we could get the feel for all the islands. Once we got there we were shown how the people live their lives as each island being a tiny socialist community. The women spent their days weaving and making things for tourists to buy. They also gather fish and these birds where one person goes into town and trades for potatoes and other things of daily life that they need to survive but can't make on their own. They don't deal with cash or credit cards or anything. All of it is based on trading. They also showed us how the islands are made. They cut a huge piece of the roots of the reeds and once they have enough pieces they tie them together to make the base of the island. Then they cover it with 3 or 4 layers of reeds and bam you have a floating island. They then use rocks to anchor themselves so that their island doesn't move. Kindof crazy if you think about it. But after listening to our guide talk for a little we had about 20 minutes to walk around the island and look in the houses and all. Then if we wanted to we could get in the reed boat that that island community owned where they rowed us to another bigger island where there is a hotel that tourists can stay at and where there is restaurants etc. We walked there for a minute or two and then got back on the other boat where we had about a 2 hour ride to an island called Taquila. Once we got there we walked for about 50 min up hills and stairs to Plaza de Armas. From there we took a look around the Plaza for a little until the rest of the group got there and then we all walked as a boat to get lunch at a place overlooking the lake. We had trout for lunch (ugh) but Kelsey, Amy and I were sitting across from this family from Spain and they were hilarious to talk to. It was great to be speaking Spanish too. But it was hilarious to hear them tell us that we weird because we didn't order beer for lunch and how impressed they were that we could actually speak Spanish. Great times. But then after lunch we had to walk down steep (and a lot!) of stairs to get back to the boat. We then had a two to two and half hour ride back to Puno where once we landed we got dinner and just headed back to the hotel. Puno didn't exactly have a great night life and the main town area looked semi shady to us so we didn't go out ever there. But it was totally fine.

Day 8- April 12
The last day of the trip and it was an all travel day. Ugh. I woke up at 4 to get ready and leave the hotel at 5 to take an hour taxi to the airport in the next town over. We planned on getting to the airport and hour and half before our flight leaves (and we did) but we thought that we were going to be pushing it for time because our hotel told us that was barely enough time when we asked them. However, we got there and we were the only ones there and then we had to wait almost half hour before we could even check in. So much for barely making it for our flight. Thanks Sonesta Posadas del Inca. Haha. But then we flew from there to Cusco, sat on the plane for about 30 min and then went into Lima. Once we got to Lima we had about a 4 hour layover so we looked around in the shops (mom I found you a cool Machu Picchu book), ate some lunch, played some cards and then went and got Starbucks. While we were sitting in Starbucks we found out that the freaking airport tax for international flights was 30 bucks compared to the 6 that we were thinking for domestic flights. So we had to scrounge for money but came up with enough. Then we went through customs etc where they made us throw out Starbucks. Freaking Peru. But things got a little better when we got on the plane and had our own individual TV for the flight. I watched Kite Runner which was a really good movie and did a really good job of following the book. I was impressed. But then we landed, got a taxi to the Casa, hung out there for like 5-10 min and then I went home and hung out with my host brothers for the rest of the night.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. Peru was wonderful to see and going to Machu Picchu and the whole trip in general was a once in a life time experience that I am very glad I got to experience.

The past few days has just been filled with school and homework. I actually have work to do this week and next week because it is the last two weeks of the semester. Ugh. I'm still not ready to come back to the states.

Hospital de Los Ninos

April 4- Quesada 1842

So tonight I went to this hospital for really sick kids. The kids need 24/7 care and attention and so the parents and families live there in the hospital with the kids. But anyways every Thursday night, Pepperdine goes to a church and makes sandwiches and juice and then we go to the hospital and pass out the sandwiches to feed the families of the kids. Its crazy to see these hospitals with so much despair and to compare them to the hospitals in the states with the shiny floors and fancy everything and patients with a room to themselves where there could be upwards of 7 kids in one room with their families there day and night with them. Its not like the families just come for a night and then leave. They live there with their kids as long as their kids are sick. They don't have money to leave and come back etc. Just weird to see. And equally as weird to think that one day I will be working in a place like if not a place that is 20 times worse. However, there were 5 of us Pepperdine kids and so the son of the house keepers drove us there and we all just squeezed into the car and then the guy from the church came with us to the hospital so we got a taxi and then had the other guy. however on the way back to the casa, the girl in charge decided that we could all just fit in one car so the 5 of us pep kids got into the backseat and the other guy sat up front till we dropped him off at the church. the drivers face was priceless when we told him our idea!

Epic Things

April 3- Quesada 1842

So I think it is a new record for me (at least recently) to be posting two times so close to each other. Also, I know I said that I would only post if some epic things happened between now and my trip to Peru but some epic things have happened so here we go...

Convo dinner: Every Tuesday night after convo (aka chapel-ish thing) we go out to dinner as a group. Pepperdine pays and takes us to different restaurants around the city. We'll we went to this Greek place right near the Casa this week. Not only was the food great but the night was accompained with Greek dancing including us being allowed to smash plates on the floor and some of the students dancing with the Greek people in the street. aka the Greek people were dancing and the student were more or less just jumping up and down in the sidewalks of Argentina. Epic.

Adalam: Today (Wed) was a national Argentine holiday so we didn't have classes so I spent the day volunteering along with about 10 other students. We went to this place called Adalam which is a Christian based community where there are houses and places to live for people that literally have nothing. No food, no water, no house, no money etc. There are about double the amount of kids than there are adults some of the kids being orphans. Anyways, we went there to spend the day working and helping them with things that they needed to get done. The day consisted of the girls gardening and shifting dirt etc. (where I got a nice little cut on my hand from glass in the dirt), the guys moving objects and rearranging a shed (where one of the guys got the most crazy blood blister I have ever seen from a brick hitting his hand), a soccer game of Americans vs. portenos and the Americans winning, and none of us wanting to leave at the end of the day. It is crazy to see how happy people can be with nothing when so many Americans and just other people in general have everything and still all they want is more....

Rent: Tonight after Adalam was an event I planned to go see the American musical Rent but in Spanish. Because I haven't ever seen the play in English, I wasn't able to follow the story at all but the actors, singing and over all stage performance was amazing. You don't see acting like that in the states and it was great. Plus everyone had a great time and really enjoyed themselves so I am very happy that the event went over really well. Some of us went to a bar and grabbed a drink after the play and just talked and it was fantastic. Now I am home writing this and about to go to bed so that I can be semi-alive for classes tomorrow.

So I mostly likely won't be posting again so if I don't I hope everyone has a great week next week!

This Week

April 1- Casa Holden

Let me just start out this post by saying Happy April Fools Day. but anyways i figured i would give a little update on the weekend and past events.

So during all last week i dont really think anything that exciting happened. there was school and a lot of work during the week. friday, i had worked almost the entire time in between classes trying to run around and get everything for the weekend event that i planned done aka we were going to this argentine show in spanish about the history of argentina. but so friday night i had to go down to get the tickets for the show the next night. the show was down in Boca and a shady part of Boca too so Russ and Zach escorted me down there on Rafa's orders. haha but we had a great time. we got the tickets and then went out to dinner and ate some really good pizza down in recoletta. but then i went home and just chilled out for a little while before i left again to go meet some people at a bar. we went to this semi-american bar that we go to a lot and i randomly happened to see my host brother there which was great. i spend the rest of the night hanging out with him because all the pepperdine kids were going to a club and i didnt really want to go to a club. then we got home at like 4 but i slept in on sat for a while so it was definitely fine. i studied for a little while after waking up and then i had to get ready and go to the casa to go to the show. it was fun because we had our own bus take us there and back to the show because there were about 40 of us that went. the show was definitely interesting. it was impossible to understand because it was all in spanish but they were singing songs and everything so almost no one really understood all of it. but the costumes were cool and it was definitely a cool experience to go to once. however we got back really late and i felt bad that we got back so late but oh well i think everyone had a good time. but then on sunday i woke up early and went to tigre with some friends that are in a different program. we took a boat tour type thing of the river and ate lunch at one of the restaurants located near the river. we then just relaxed on the lawn by there and hung out for a while. then we got back on the boat and went back into the town part of tigre. there is this huge market thing called punto de frutas which we thought that was going to be a fruit market thing but in reality it turned out to be this huge market thing with anything and everything besides fruit. haha. after that i went back to my house and ate dinner with my fam and then studied the rest of the night. i had a hum test on monday and i thought that it wasnt going to take me that long to study for it but in reality i was up way too late on sunday but i think i did alright on the test. last night i went to a movie and just hung out after classes and today i have class, break, class, convo, convo dinner and then i am not sure what after that. we dont have school tomorrow because of some national argentina holiday so i am sure that i will be going out tonight. tomorrow i am going to go do help out at this place (specific i know but i dont remember what it is called or what kind of place it is) but then i planned an event to go see the musical Rent in spanish so we are doing that tomorrow night. thurs and fri will most likely just be classes. i have to give a 7 min presentation in spanish in spanish class so i need to get ready for that. and then on sat morning we leave for Peru and spring break! i am so excited for that. i am sure we are going to have a great time. but i most likely wont write on this again until after spring break unless something epic happens between now and then... so i hope everyone has a great rest of this week and a good week next week and ill for sure let you know how peru was when i get back!

ps. i will get bariloche pics up soon. i have mine online but i was going to send some of my friend pics to so i am just waiting for those :)

Bariloche

March 26- Casa Holden

So I have noticed that as the semester as gone on i have gotten progressively worse at updating this thing. ooops. haha

but so anyways, the updates in my life...

my parents and brother were down here and it was great to see them. it was fun to take them around the city and just show them all the things that i have talked about so much since i have been down here. we had dinner one night with my host family which was great that they got to meet them and my host brothers and everyone. but i said goodbye to my parents on tuesday night because they were leaving early in the morning to go to Peru and then i left thursday morning to spend easter break in bariloche, patagonia.

but bariloche was great. it was definitely beautiful and wonderful to be back in the mountains. it is also more or less lake country and so while we were there we did a lot of lake tours and all. the hotel we stayed at over looked the lake and so it was amazing to walk into the lobby in the morning and see the blue water.

anyways, bariloche... i went with my friend amy, kelsey and then amy's sister mom and dad. so it was a great group to hang out with. but we landed around noonish on thrusday and went to the hotel and dropped off our bags and everything but then we had the afternoon free so we went into the "town" part and ate lunch at this small pizza place that was really good. funny story... we randomly ran into another pepperdine student that went to bariloche for the weekend to in front of the pizza place later on during the break and he was sitting there because he was staying with his aunt and his uncle and his uncle owns that pizza place. crazy. but yeah anyways, after pizza we walking to this center area of town because they had a bunch of St. Bernard dogs and puppies sitting around in the square. they do this because you can get your picture taken with one of the dogs for 10 bucks. definitely a tourist trap but oh well you could pet them for free and they were definitely so cute!! they also had a bunch of logs where they were about to being a wood craving competition. we saw the finished products a few days later and it was crazy to see both the before and the after. but then anyways, after that we just walked around the town. bariloche is the chocolate capital of the world so we bought and ate some great chocolate and helado during the entire trip. but then after walking around dinner we went back to the hotel and swam in the pool that has both the inside and then a tunnel to the outside which over looks the lake and the water is heated so it was wonderful. but then after dinner we just went to bed because we had to leave the hotel at 8 am for a lake tour.

the following morning we had to wake up really early to leave the hotel to get to the otherish side of town where we jumped on to a boat and toured the big lake that is right in front of bariloche. it was fun to tour around and then to be able to get off the boat and "hike" around. we also went to this lake called lake frio which is some lake right on the boarder of chile and argentina. it was pretty relaxing and we didnt do much but it was a really long day (we were on the boat/lakes for 12ish hours) so after a great dinner of wonderful argentine food we went back to the hotel and watched mystic river with amys parents and then went to bed.

the next day we also had to be up early but this day was a bus tour of 7 lakes. i dont remember why it was 7 or what was important about these lakes but we basically spend the entire sitting on the bus driving around these lakes. it would have been funner for me at least if we could have walked around the lakes and been able to see more of them than just driving around but oh well. it was still fun. the tour was also entirely in spanish but i understood most of it. so that was pretty cool. i guess i am starting to get better at spanish than i think i am. but anyways on this tour we saw the shortest river in the world and also a river that branches off to both the altantic and the pacific oceans. very cool. but anyways, we drove to the borderish of argentina and chile again and had lunch and ice cream and time to just walk around there. but then we got back in the bus and had about a 3 hour nothing exciting not even driving past lakes trip back into bariloche. but then we went and ate a great dinner of steak and cheese founde which was very interesting considering that i have never had founde before but it was definitely delicious. but then after that kelsey, amy, amy's sis and our friend mike that we randomly ran into in front of the restuarant and i all went out to a couple of bars and talked and had a few drinks and everything. they definitely have a really huge night life there and some of the clubs are supposed to be amazing but we didnt go to any of them and didnt really get to into the night life just because we were so tired from the tours and adventure and everything before.

the following day we got to sleep in a little bit. we didnt have to leave the hotel until 1 so amy, kelsey and i ate lunch at the hotel and it was great food! argentine food is already really good but the food in bariloche was even more amazing for some reason. but anyways after lunch we got on the bus and headed back to the dock where we got on the boat and went to victoria island. supposed the forest on the island is where disney got its inspiration for bambi, however there was a small piece of paper sign from disney saying that this was false and that bambi was created in the 30s and disney visited the forest in the 40s. haha but it was definitely hilarious to heard the portenos claim it and talk about it all the time. but the trees on this island were definitley tight and different that any other trees that i have ever seen. but after that we got back on the boat and went to a different part of the island where we supposed to go see cave drawings and everything but we decided to ditch the group and went to the beach were amy's sis and mom swam in the freezing cold lake and were we had an easter egg hunt (this day was in fact sunday) and i happened to find the golden egg were the prize was a pack of dulce de leche oreo's. hahaha great times! I'm really glad that we can all be 19/20 and still have a great time finding Easter eggs in the middle of a forest somewhere in the middle of Argentina. haha but then after our excursion, we went to a brewrey for dinner and i tried a raspberry beer but considering I don't like beer it still tasted nasty. Then Kels, Amy and I watched this movie called Match Point and it was really weird but still good at the same time.

The following morning, we woke up and packed up and checked out. Then we walked down to the lake for a few minutes before we had to leave to go to the airport. From there it was an uneventful flight back to BA, an interesting cab ride back to Casa Holden where we had to tell the driver where to go because he didn't know the streets and couldn't follow his own directions. haha But once we got back, I went home and unpacked and checked my email and all that and then later that night went out to Acabar to celebrate one of the girls bday.

Yesterday was also an uneventful day of classes and relaxing between classes and all that. And so far today has been the same. I have a lot of homework that I have to get done and also I am going to try to finish the book that I have been reading. It is definitely great and I have time to read.

But anyways, I'll get the Bariloche pics up soon and send out an email when I do!

Chau for now!

The LIfe of Jessie

March 13- Casa Holden

So once again it has been a little while... sorry about that. This week has just been filled with classes and studying. My parents arrived down here yesterday and so i have been hanging out with them which has been great... my computer died the other day. like completely died... i cant even turn it on anymore so we bought a new computer and my brother is bringing it down on sunday when he comes down. at least it was good timing but what a pain in the ass. but yeah. i dont really have much else to say i am sure that i will have more to write soon when i take my parents and brother on random adventures through out the city. but for now... chau chau.

The Past Week

March 9- 1842 Quesada

Wow it has for sure been a while sence i updated this thing. but nothing really noteworthy has been going on hence why i havent written in this for a while. the week was just spend in class and hanging out doing nothing in between classes. last sunday i went to recoletta and walked around the fair there and then went to a random art mueso and walked around that but that was the highlight of the weekend. friday night we went to a bar and just hung out for a while and then went home. yesterday during the day we had a copa grande football match. (copa grande is the big game thing that we are all playing in that i was talking about earlier) and then last night about 30 of us went to this circus thing. well i thought it was a circus but really it turned out to be this trippy art show with trapeze artists. it was definitely different but everyone seemed to enjoy it. but yeah i have a test tomorrow so i have just been studying all day today :(

The End of the World

February 29- Casa Holden

So just to let everyone know this post might be very long. i am just going to write about the entire time all in one post so everyone is warned that this might be long...

day 1- see the previous post... i think i mentioned everything that was noteworthy in the last post. i dont remember what all i said but that night was just hanging out at the hotel and enjoying the extremely beautiful ushuaia

day 2- we all woke up and got ready etc etc. after breakfast we all loaded into 8 jeeps... 8 people to each jeep and spend the whole day offroading around the mountains and lakes of ushuaia. let me just say that this was a great day!! anyone that knows me knows i love the mountains and jeeps and offroading hehe. it was great. anyways, we spend the morning in the mountains and then started to head toward a lake during the afternoon. we got to this one lake and ate asado by it. i dont know how to make this sound as cool as it actually was but it was freaking sweet. anyways, after the excersion was done the jeeps took us to the port where we boarded our cruise boat. the boat was small, only 4 levels but it was still sweet! it was only us and older people but they were all very nice and everyone behaved really well so i dont think we pissed them off too bad. but anyways we got on the boat around 6 and it took off from the port around 8 so we spent a while exploring and just hanging out. then dinner was around 830 and i am not a huge fan of fancy upperclass food haha. i would rather just have some mac and cheese or a hamberger or something but i mean it was still good enough that we could eat... well actually the bread and fruit was good enough to eat... there was a lot of fish too that was suppostedly really good but i wouldnt know haha. anyways, after dinner we had group meetings. some of the people started this thing called the game where anyone that wanted to was placed onto a team and through out the semester the teams will compete with each other just doing different activites and getting to know each other. anyways, the following night was to be the first competion with teams competing for who knew their team mates the best. so we had a group meeting and began to get to know each other. then after that everyone just went to bed.. we were all tired and had to be up early so it was bed time.

day 3- this cruise was definitely designed for older people... everything was early in the morning. haha ok that was a joke... it was just the timing of the ship to the places we wanted to go but anyway at 7 am we reached cape horn. we all got off and walked around the island for a while. there was a lighthouse and also a bird staute thing but other than that it wasnt that exciting. it was just weird to be at the passage from the atlantic ocean to the pacific and to thing of all the history stories i have heard about all the people that lost their lives trying to do what we did on a nice cruise ship with no danger at all. but anyways, we got back on the ship and had breakfast and then just relaxed and hung out. we had until 4ish i think until we disembarked once again to an island that charles darwin collected research on and ancient indians lived on and magellan conquered etc etc. we hiked around there for a hour or two and drank hot cocco and then went back to the cruise ship. that night after dinner there was bingo and a fashion show where some of the girls and guys dressed up in the clothes that the ship was selling and showed them off to us. then after bingo we kindof took over one of the floors of the ship and had a dance party and turned the cruise ship into club pepperdine. haha we all danced for a while and then we had our competion for the game and getting to know each other. my team only missed one so we were all pretty stoked about that. then we ended the game at like 2 in the morning because some of the people were getting a little too competative and it lost all the fun. then most people went to bed but i went up the roof and hung out until like 4 or 5 in the morning. :)

day 4- thankfully we didnt have to be up until 1 pm. so i slept through breakfast and everything and then ate lunch at one. then we had time to kill... we were going to see a glacier but everyone had to go in shifts because it was a boat tour of the glacier and they could only take so many people in the boats at the same time. so most of the older people went first and all the pepperdine people took the last shift. so we all took naps and played cards and just relaxed until we left. then we pilled onto the boats and began the tour which was amazing. the glacier was crazy! so blue so big so cool there were waterfalls coming down the side of the mountian too and at times small pieces of the glacier broke off. it sounded like thunder and was freaking sweet. anyways, we were on the boat for about an hour which was long enough because it was cold. haha but then back the boat we went with some more hot cocoa and hanging out. there was a lot of down time and time to play cards and just relax which was definitely nice. i know some other people got really bored but i thought i was cool. so then we had our farewell dinner which was steak and it wouldnt have been really good except for the fact that it was so rare it was still bleeding. there was no way that i was going eat that and our waiter was too busy to get it cooked more but oh well. esta bien. after dinner club pepperdine was back and then after a few of us were just hanging out in one of the rooms talking and doing nothing. i ended up going to bed at like 3 and had to be up by 6 but oh well... its college right? haha

day 5- today was the penguin day! we woke up around 630 to take the boats out to an famous penguin island ( i dont remember the name) but it has the largest penguin habitat in the area or something. it was crazy to see the little fat men in tuxes haha. it was also weird to see how different they are from tv and movies and even pictures. a lot of the penguins were covered in poop. they defintely werent clean animals but they were still tight. it was crazy to hear there call and just watch thousands of them waddle around and swim and everything. but then we got back on the boat and packed up and just relaxed until the cruise ended around noon. it ended into punta arenas, chile's most southern city. i have been to the two most southern cities in the world haha. but anyways, we jumped onto some buses and went to the hotel where they didnt have our rooms ready yet so we ate lunch in the lobby and then got to go to our rooms for only about 30 min before we pilled back onto buses for a city tour which turned out to be very lame. it consised of going to the second highest place in the city to look out for a little while and then to a house turned into a mueso to get the feel of what an old victorian house looked like. most of us just ended up walking to the hotel from there and watching one of the pirate movies on hbo and playing this game called signs until dinner at 9. for dinner we went to this pizza and hot dog place. they started out by serving us on piece of pizza for an app and then came the hot dog. not that i was going to eat it anyways but it was pilled with all sorts of nasty things that shouldnt be on top of a hot dog. the smell and then sight alone was making me feel like i was going to puke so i sat outside most of the dinner. haha but then we got back to the hotel and some people decided to go out and go to this club but im not big on clubs so i stayed at the hotel with about 20 others... we all piled into one room and started watching mean girls on tv but then some of us got bored with the movie and so we started a gaint 20 person pillow fight. when the room was destroyed (not like permant damage just like matresses everywhere etc) we started telling ghost stories and all went to bed around 3 hehe

day 6- the last day of the eft and an all travel day :( we left the hotel at 11 and took a bus to the airport. after checking in bags and everything we had to get straight on the plane where we had about a 4 hour flight including a stop in some smallish town place. this flight only got us to santiago, chile where we were meant to have only about a 3 hour layover. during this layover pepperdine bought us lunch at a buffet and then we went back through the gate with about an hour before boarding. this hour however turned into about 3 and we finally got onto the plane at around 1030 and left by 11. this put us into ba at 1 when we were supposted to get back at 11 haha. i got back to my casa at like 3. it was weird because the door wasnt locked, all the lights were on, the radio was on and my parents werent there and i didnt know if any of my brothers were awake. it was weird but i was tired so i just went to bed. i saw my brother hugo this morning and i guess my parents are out of town until monday or so and my brothers just left all the lights on instead of turning them off like they normally do. oh well. but anyways, i unpacked last night and found out that someone took my phone out of my bag. :( i am going to talk to rafa and see if he can work his magic and get it back but if not oh well.. i will just get a new one. its not like i really care... i barely use the thing.

but anyways, that is the story of the eft. over all it was an amazing trip and i am very glad i got to have the experiences that i did. but now that i have been gone so long i am going to spend the day today watching movies, writing emails, talking to people and uploading pictures.

all my pictures from the trip, the boca game, the trip to the zoo and pictures of my house should be up later today :) check back soon!

Ushuaia

February 24- Los Cauquenes Hotel, Ushuaia, Buenos Aires

Hey from the end of the world!! I had a quick second and the hotel has free internet so i figured i would write a little because i dont think i will get internet until thursday night. to begin with, the movie night that i planned last night went really well!! the ice cream was amazing and we watched transformers and i think everyone had a really good time. but anyways today we left for our eft... aka educational field trip aka no education at all. anyways we took a flight from ba i happened to be in the window seat of the side of the plane that got to see the city as we took off amazing!!! i thought i had seen a lot of the city but i was blown away on how big it actually is it was great. but the flight was uneventful.. we landed here in ushuaia and it is so beautiful!! it remindes me of being in a mountain town in co expect 100 times better... i know its horrible to say that but it is the truth. it is also great to be in cold weather again!!! but anyways, ill let everyone know how cape hope and tierra del fuego is when we get back!!

The Past Few Days

February 21- Casa Holden

So I am not very good at updating this thing. haha life has been a little busy right now. we actually got legit homework for the first time since being here so i have been trying to do that and i am planning a movie night for friday night so i have had to work and then forms for being an ra next year are due soon so i have had to fill those out before we leave for Chile and yeah. but anyways, lets see i dont think anything noteworthy happened on monday... i cant remember do anything that day so yeah. but anyways, tuesday we had classes and then tuesday night we had convo and then our group dinner. but this last tuesday we went to a tango show and dinner for dinner. we had to dress up :( but the dinner was amazing. this show was also really cool just really long. it started out with the history of argentian and they had horses and everything but then it just continued through 2 hours of dancing and operaish singing and by the end everyone was just bored. the best part when this twin singers picked a random guy from the audience to bring on stage and sing to and dance and we got them to pick our director Rafa. it was great. we were definitley laughing very hard. anyways, we didnt get back from that until 2 am so everyone just went home after that. but then yesterday after class we went to this tango museum for tango class because we have to write a paper on this guy that the museum is all about. it was not exciting at all. it was small and didnt really explain anything about the guy.. it just had pictures and pieces of paper and stuff but oh well. we got an information brocher which will be enough to write the paper. then i went home and did hw for a while and then ate this delicious pasta dinner so good! but then around midnight i went and met some friends at a park and we watched the lunar ellipse that was happening down here last night. but then we just chilled in this park until 3 or so in the morning and happened to find this random pool hall that was hella tight and i got home at 6 this morning. then i had to be up by 8 to get ready for class and get to the casa by 9. i had my tour the city class this morning and we went to this place called tigre where there is a river and small shops and everything. we got our own private boat to tour around on but it wasnt that exciting. then we walked around the shops and everything for like an hour or so. i bought this tight soccer cleat keychain that has argentina and the national colors on it. but anyways our trip was cool but not that exciting. maybe just because i am really tired but i dont think i would have liked it that much even if i wasnt tired. anyways, after shopping we came back to the casa and ate asado and now i am sitting here writing this and killing time until class starts.

Boca Game

So yesterday we went to a Boca game and it was amazing. i never thought it would be possible but Boca fans are even more crazy than River fans. anyways, because i organized the event i had to go down to Boca around 10 to stand in line for 2 plus hours to get tickets for the safe but still good section. anyways i convinced my buddy russ to come with me and we had fun talking to these dutch people that are travelling all around south america. anyways after we got the tickets we came back into our area and chilled until all of us met at the Casa to leave around 6. we took a bus down there and other than it being hot (its hot here everyday) it was uneventful. but then we got to the staduim and the stadium is called the Chocolate Box and it is designed where the walls are as close to 90 degrees as you can possibly go so even though we had great seats up at the top of the staduim it felt like we were so close to the action. the stadium also shakes when everyone is bouncing up and down cheering so that was an adventure. the game its self was amazing with the final score being 4 to 0 with the last goal scored on a pk and the second to last goal scored with no one knowing what was going on because someone headed it but then it popped up but then someone headed it again but it still didnt go in and then it got kicked in finally and it was just amazing! however after the game we were planning on catching the bus to get back but so was everyone else so we had to wait forever and finally just gave up after empty bus after empty bus passed us and wouldnt stop so we started walking for a while until we could catch a cab but then free cab after free cab kept passing us so finally a friend and i walked for quite a while to get away from the crowd to the to where we could finally get a cab back to the Casa... what an adventure but it was so great!! im stoked to do it again! haha

Acabar

February 16- Casa Holden

So my last two posts havent really explained at all what I have been doing the past few days so i figured now would be a good time to fill everyone in on the life of Jessie. Since thursday was valentines day after tango i went out dinner with some people just to go out to dinner and then some of us met at midnight to go get dessert... well some of us went to dessert and some other people went to a bar. i went and got this amazing browine thing with some bomb chocolate ice cream in the middle with 4 squares of brownie propped up on the ice cream and chocolate sauce and nuts drizzled over the whole thing. then friday morning i had class then just hung out at the Casa during the day until friday nightish when i had my last class. i spend some time on friday working so i could organize the Boca game that we are going to tomorrow which i am very stoked about. anyways, friday night i went out to dinner with some girls. we went to this italian place down by florida street just to eat some place that wasnt around the Casa and it was definitely good to eat some pasta again instead of mostly beef and potatoes. :) but then after dinner we met up with other people and went to this place called acabar. it was a very chill atmosphere and the bar is known for having board games there that you can play which you eat or drink. i would say that it is more of a resturant than a bar but it was definitely tight and we ended up staying until around 3 am. then today i went to the local zoo and it was definitely an adventure. there were some animals there that i have never seen in my life like these huge bunny looking things that had the face of a bunny but the body that looked like the coloring of a deer and it walked like a dog... i dont know how to explain it but it was definitely weird. also there was this black bear that had a circle swimming pool in its cage but it was just walking around in circles pacing its pool. we stood there watching it for maybe 5 min and it just kept walking in circles the entire time. it was crazy!

RA

I just got back from dinner and got the email saying that i have the chance to be an ra this next year. i am so excited that i just had to write a post and everything. i was kicking the ball around when i read the email and i got so much energy that i started running in circles. haha :)

Pictures

So i finally put up a bunch of pictures on Kodak Gallery however there isnt just a link that i can copy and paste... i have to email you a link to see the pictures. why they do it this way i am not sure but the point of this story is leave a comment or email me or something and then i will email you back with the link to the pictures. There are only ones from here in BA up but ill put ones from Uruguay and everything up soon!

Tango

February 14- Casa Holden

So one of the classes i signed up to take is tango lessons and yesterday we had our first class period. i really thought i wasnt going to like it but i wanted to go to the first one just to see what it would be like but i actually really enjoyed it! most of us (especially the guys) thought it was going to be stupid but by the end of the class everyone was getting really into and having a lot of fun. we have another tango class tonight so we will see how that one goes. other than that nothing else too exciting has been going on. we went to this american bar last night called alamo and had a couple of drinks down there and it was a lot of fun. there is this drink called sangria where you mix red wine with fruit juice and it is definitely delicious even if you dont like wine (like me). i had a meeting for my job today and found out that i am the event coordinater person... basically i am going to get paid to plan events through out the city and go the places and do everything that i want to do but i get paid for it :) i am super stoked about that. we had an asado today also.. so good. that food is amazing.

Drum Circle

February 12 -1842 Quesada

So let me start out by saying that I had some time today and I acutally tired to put some pictures up but you can only load one picture at a time and since i definitely have a lot more than one... it would take too long. so therefore i started a kodak something account thing were i can put a lot of pics up at once but then i ran out of time so the pictures are still coming soonish... haha. anyways, we had class today. totally fine. spanish at 9 this morning... ugh... i hate mornings. but then i had a break and went and got some bomb chinese food at this place that is really close to the Casa. but then i had my first hum class and i think it will be a good class.. my teacher seems very nice. the class is kindof boring but i think that has more to do with the fact that humanities doesnt really interest me than it does with the class but then anyways i was meant to have my night history class tonight and that got canceled so i went with a friend and bought a black river jersey today. how can you not like a club whose colors are black, white and red. haha but then anyways right when i got home my brothers were getting ready to leave to meet some people to go to this drum circle thing... they had no idea what it was and neither did i but i put my backpack in my room and went with them. and it was awesome! it was literally people sitting in a circle playing the drums and bells and everything. there was a conductor in the center and he was telling everyone to play different things through this weird hand signs and everything. they would play for 10 min "songs" and then a different person would get up to conduct and the other person would sit down and play. we got there before it was really crowded but by the time that we left there was standing room only and just barely that. it was definitely a very unique experience but very cool. it was amazing some of the songs they could make just by varying a drum. i took some short videos so i will try to get those up also that everyone can hear the drums and everything. anyways we went to dinner after that and now i am here writing this. but sadly now that classes have started i have homework :(

River Game

February 10- 1842 Quesada

So there are 2 major soccer teams... one called River Plata or just River and the other Boca Juniors or just Boca. they are HUGE rivals and everyone is nuts about their team but anyways that doesnt really play into this story at all. But I happen to live about 5 blocks from the River stadium. So tonight i was just at my casa and my "brother" Eric was here too. I walked into the kitchen and he was flipping throught the channels to find the river game. we sat down to watch it when i asked if it was here or there.. he said here and then do you want to go so i was like of course. so we walk to the stadium and we get there around half time but the quit selling tickets when the game begins. so we walked around and stopped to ask this guy where we could buy tickets for next game. as we were walking away some other people came up and he wouldnt let them in but in all this confusion called us back over and let us in FOR FREE!!!! so we ended up watching half a river game for free and it was insane. there are no words to describe a soccer game in South America. the fans are nuts. everywhere you look you will see a police officer. the fans are jumping up and down screaming the entire time. the opposing team has there own section... with a fence around it... with barbed wire... with armed police... it was amazing. and what was amazing also was river won 2 to 0... they scored the 2 goals during the second half while we were there and we have one of them on tape. i am so happy right now :)

Uruguay

February 10- 1842 Quesada

Its been a little while since my last post. Sorry about that. Let's see here. Thursday was a boringish day. I spent a lot of the day doing little things and making sure that I had everything done for the weekend. however i did go to this place called Florida street where there are a lot of little shops and vendors. its a lot like an outdoor downtown type mall things but mexican style with the types of shops and the street enteritainment and everything. i bought my first soccer jersey :) and decided that i am going to buy one in every country that i travel to. you can never have enough soccer jerserys hahaha. Then Friday (the 8th) we began our first day of classes. I only had 2- Spanish and History and spanish was a lot like the Boot Camp classes that we had been doing earlier so that wasn't hard at all and it seems like it is going to be a good class. But history... the class doesnt seem like it is going to be hard but the teacher is SO boring. I actually tried to pay attention in class and take notes but he is so boring and jumps around so much that I couldn't follow any of the class. It is going to be a very long semester with that class. However, I decided to add two classes. One a tango class... that should be interesting sence I hate dancing but I figured I cant come to Argentina and not learn how to tango. I also decided to take this humanities class where every Thursday morning we go and tour the city basically I guess. I dont really know what all we do but that is what i have heard so that should be amazing amounts of fun. and i am defintely stoked to get to know the city even more. anyways, right after history we left the Casa and took the Subte (subway) down to the ports to jump on a ferry to go to Uruguay. because we signed up for the trip late, they only had 1st class and so we got to relax in big chairs around circles tables were we played cards and drank complementary champenge. anyways there was 20 of us that decided to go this weekend so one we got there it was kind of a nightmare to figure out what everyone wanted to do. we broke into 3 groups... one stayed in colonia where we landed, one stayed in colonia for night and then took a early 3 hour bus ride to montevideo (the capital) and the other took an even earlier 6 hour bus ride to Punto del Esto. i was with the group that went to the captial and we had a lot of fun. we got to go to the beach (it was kindof dirty and the water was brown but oh well... laying out is laying no matter where you are haha) and then me and 2 others walked around the city for a little while and went to mall and ate a Uruguayn version of Panda express. haha we also caught up on some much needed sleep. but anyways we left there early in the morning also to make it back to colonia by 12 so that we could get on our ferry and get back home. all in all it was a great weekend! it was a good first travelling trip. next time however i want to travel with less people so that it is easier to make decisions and also because i want to be able to pracitce spanish which is hard to do in a big group. not all 20 of us can talk to one hostel clerk at the same time haha but it was great to figure out some things about how to travel and i am stoked to see what next weekend brings!! even though i have said it before... i promise ill get pictures up soon!

Food Mostly

Feburary 6- Casa Holden

I am pretty sure I never want to leave this city. I mean we haven't been doing anything much the past couple of days but just the lifestyle here is amazing. The portenos don't stress about anything and I love just being able to relax have a mostly stress free life. Last night we went to a bar and just hung out talking until 4 in the morning. We also had a group dinner last night at this steakhouse called Kansas and it was amazing! We also ate lunch today at this really cheap Chinese place called Los Chinos which has the most amazing chicken I have even eaten. Haha so this post is almost all about food but there is also this amazing ice cream place a few blocks from the Casa and we have been eating there everyday. I think I already talked about the ice cream but it is good enough to be able to talk about it again. Haha. Anyways, sorry for everyone that reads this because I know that this post is most likely very boring for everyone to read. I think we are going to be travelling this weekend so maybe then I will be able to post something about some adventures instead of just talking about food and classes. :)

Casa Holden

February 5, 2008- 1842 Quesada

Today we started our first day of language Boot Camp. It began with a orientation session and a brief semi boring history of Argentina. Then we had an asaido (which for those of you that don't know it is an Argentina BBQ cooked outside in a grill type thing) but basically it is AMAZING food. Anyways, after our asaido I walked around some of the streets around the Casa and just got to know the area a little bit. But then language class started where basically we just met with our Spanish teacher and our Spanish class and go over a packet and relearn stuff we learned last year. My class will be entirely in Spanish even though it is the lowest level Spanish but our teacher speaks slow and helps to understand so I really think that I am going to like the class a lot. After that we went and got helado (ice cream) at this amazing place. I can't remember the name right now but I'll find out and let everyone know. I also got to meet the last student that is living here with my home stay family. He was out travelling so we didnt get to met until tonight at dinner but he seems like a very cool guy. Tomorrow we start everything over again but we also have our first convo tomorrow night. And for those of you that don't know... convo is Pepperdine's version of a chapel type thing that the people on the Pepperdine campus have once a week. I have no idea what to expect from that but after convo we have a group dinner at this steakhouse called Kansas where everyone I have talked to says that it is the most amazing steak that they have ever had. So tomorrow the test we be on and I'll let everyone know if it is actually up to its rep or not. Anyways, its late and I should attemp to sleep even though it is WAY too hot for that right now but I have a bunch of pictures so I will try to get them online soon! Adios!

The Beginning

Feburary 2, 2008- 1842 Quesada, Buenos Aires

Bienvenidos! I am sitting here writing this from Buenos Aires, Argentina in my host family's house. I have now officially been in BA for twoish days and I love it!! The flight to get here was crazy long... and we sat on the plane for about an hour before we even left but eventually we made it. We had a layover in Chile and the mountains there are amazing. I can't wait to go back and see more of them! But anyways then we made it to BA and it is definitley a very beautiful city. Pepperdine has a house called the Casa so once we got into the city we went to the Casa where we ate an authentic Argentine BBQ. Our Casa is awesome... we have a pool and everything. :) Anyways, then we had a little meeting type thing and then it was time to go to my host family's house and they are also amazing! Both my parents are doctors and I have two brothers (one that I haven't met yet) but the other lives here in the house. My brother Hugo's girlfriend also lives here and there are three other students living in the house. One is from Brazil and is learning Spanish also (she speaks Portuguese) and the other two are from the states. My dad is also fluent in Italian and my brother's girlfriend speaks French so we can get a lot of languages going at dinner. Haha. Anyways, we took a bus tour of the city today and began to see the city and all the places that we will be going to. I would have to say I am excited to spend time in La Boca where every building is brightly colored, and there is a lot of tango dancing but more importantly futbol! Anyways, there isn't much else to write right now but I think some pictures will be coming soon!