Wow time flies, as of yesterday I've been here a month! And as classes have finally started it feels like life here is settling in. It’s still a struggle taking politics and economics classes in spanish but so far I've been scraping by. As long as I drink a lot of coffee and am 100% on my game. My host sister has arrived now too, making it feel like we're more of a family and I really couldn't ask for a better home. My host mom has been so welcoming and supportive and I've had the best time cooking with her. Otherwise I've mostly been eating a lot, of which is a high percentage ice cream and coffee, and walking a ton, which is hopefully counteracting the ice cream. There's so much to do and see here culturally of course and I've been trying to work on that list. So far I've been to the Museo de Las Bellas Artes, which had a few famous pieces by Monet, among others; the Recoleta feria which has a lot of vendors selling leather goods, mate cups, etc; the Recoleta Cemetery where Eva (Evita) Peron is buried; San Telmo at night which has street vendors and groups playing drums and dancing; and going to see live music at cafes.

We went to see Crazy, Stupid Love last week, which I had no idea would be such an experience. Finding the theater was difficult enough, but when we went to buy the tickets the woman was trying to explain something that we were clearly no getting. Finally after we were sufficiently embarrassed, an employee that spoke english came to help us. Apparently going to see a movie here is much more organized, as you have to pay for assigned seats, wait in line to get into the theater and they direct you to your seat. Unnecessary in my opinion, but we finally saw the movie and I was glad to get to see an American movie here. Next we'll be seeing the Lion King in spanish and 3-D. The bar and club scene continues to be a lot of fun, as BA's night life is pretty crazy. One of my favorite nights was at the first gay club we went to, which was huge, routinely rained glitter, and was way more enjoyable without creepy guys hitting on you, although it was pretty clear they didn't want girls there.

On a more serious note, yesterday I went to the Plaza de Mayo to see Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo who gather every Thursday to march and bring attention to los desaparecidos (the some 30,000 who were killed by the militant government in the 70s-80s). It's a horrible part of Argentina's history that really wasn't so long ago, and to see families gather holding signs of their lost loved ones really hits you. I admire their fortitude to come together every week for the last 30 years to prevent their losses from being forgotten.

Al principio

Bueno, its technically been 3 weeks (1 week in my homestay) but it feels like I've been here forever! Honestly I absolutely love Argentina. To start with, the food is amazing. Obviously I've had the best steak of my life here, but I'm also obsessed with submarinos and dulce de leche. And don't get me started on the ice cream or coffee. The cafe atmosophere is great here, how you can sit for hours drinking coffee at any time of the day or night. And to add to that, you can pretty much be up and around at any time of day, because if its 10-12 you could be eating dinner, after that at bars or clubs, and early in the morning coming back from clubs and eating breakfast. Insane, but its the one thing I'm struggling with, no sleep! Machismo is definitely prominent here too and teaching me to be assertive, if nothing else for my own safety! Between the piropos and their "smooth" moves at clubs I'm learning fast. The only other thing I'm afraid of, aside from looking like a stupid american, is getting hit by a bus, taxi, or motorcycle. But seriously, everyday I'm lucky to escape from near death. Otherwise the daily humiliations of not understanding or being understood keeps my sense of humor active. And I love how many dogs are here! The paseaperros that walk around with 10 dogs are hilarious, but the dog poop they leave behind on ALL sidewalks is not so much. This is a general idea of Buenos Aires anyways, more to come soon. :)

Muchisimas gracias Cristina