el finde

Hola a todos!

Now I present, the weekend!

Wednesday: The highlight of the day was the birthday party of my sister, Teresa. At first, I was taking a nap, anxious to go meet the growing crowd of Argentines that I was sure would simply tell me hello and then start gossip about the “yanqui”, but that didn’t happen at all! I hung out primarily with my older sister, Lu and the cousin, Ire and we talked about my previous trip, the fashion here, and there stays in the US. I mingled with a few other people, but nothing much was exchanged passed the whole “where are you from, how long are you here….exchanges”. I had a few of the girls ask me if I liked to go out, and when I said “sí, me encanta!”, they promised to take me out with their friends. ARGENTINE FRIENDS, YOU GUYS! THAT IS ONE MY GOALS!

Thursday: Today, I woke up and lounged by the pool for a little while (got a stupid red burn on my chest), read some while my sisters studied, then went looking for a bus card but couldn’t find one in the scorching heat so I returned to my house and borrowed an extra from my mother. I rode the bus to Blas Pascal (The university), and it was SO WEIRD seeing everything look basically the same. Choripan, Sushi Club, Strawberry- all places I would go, are all there completely unchanged. One difference that I noticed was that MISSY MOQUIN’S Disco is now called “Vea”. Sorry Missy…

So we had our orientation and then the tour of the campus and then a little dinner where our tutors joined us. I have the same tutor, Maru, which is so fun! We talked about how her vacations are going, how I can feel my Spanish improving (although I still have a long way to go), and whatever else. The group isn’t as large as the one last year and there are only 4 boys so far, but I was happy to note that most of the kids were trying to speak in Spanish only! Sometimes they would switch into English, but I think that since hardly anyone came together; it makes it easier to find easy things to discuss in Spanish- the basics if you know what I mean.

Friday: Today we have the placement exam. What will I do if for some reason I place into the lower level, you ask? I will set the city on fire! But I know that I will pass it. I’m being honest when I say that my Spanish is by far the best, but that’s not saying too much. I can’t wait to look back on this month and see how much I’ve improved- hopefully loads. Tonight, the tutors are taking us out somewhere, so I better go buy some Nikov and Clight, or Fernet and Coke…two drinks that I liked when I was here before. Now I know this is probably not welcome news for the older folks, but alcohol is very cheap here. Don’t take that to mean I drink vodka instead of water, but it’s nice that $5 can last me a long time when it comes to going out at night.

Saturday: Today I woke up with a little hangover because last night was SO FUN. We went to Studio Theatre for a party to celebrate Charlie and this girl named Nati’s birthday. I was sitting at my house waiting for my friend Hannah to come so we could go together and my sister and her friends were begging me to come with them- being accepted feels so good. So anyways, today Hannah and this girl named Liz came over for the pool and then we went to el Centro and they got phones and blah blah blah. I’m at a café now, posting this. Tomorrow I might go on a little trip with my tutor if she can- I’d love to explore more of Córdoba!

Hasta luego

# of street dogs: (sightings increase as I get closer to UBP) 13

# of shoes that I see and feel an overwhelming urge to ask the owner where they were bought: 1

# of days that I have wondered why it is so hot and humid: 4

# of Kiosco workers that, although their shop is not the closest to my house, I will make sure I go see often because they are so good looking: 1

^Goals, people, we all have ‘em