I know it's been a long time... again. It seems like that's the start of most of my posts... However, my last few weeks here have been absolutely amazing, and I'm trying to do all I can before I leave. As of now I only have 4 days left here and I can't believe it!! It's definitely going to be a hard transition going home, and hard to leave my home here and my friends, who have become like a second family. Not to mention the beautiful weather, it's been about 75-85 degrees here for the past couple weeks. Although, I do miss everyone at home and am looking forward to being at home for the holidays.

I went to Iguazu Falls with my roommates a couple weeks ago, and it is the most indescribably beautiful place I have ever been. I'm sorry to say it certainly tops Niagara! If you ever get a chance to visit this part of the world do not pass it up! Everything there is incredibly green, the sky is perfectly blue, and the earth is red. It's an amazing contrast. We saw some amazing waterfalls, we went zip lining through the jungle, repelling down a waterfall, and saw a lot of interesting wildlife. There is also still quite a large native community there, which was really interesting to see. It's amazing to me that there are still communities that are so isolated in such interesting parts of the world and still manage to use their resources wisely enough to survive and make a living. Although it's certainly a different lifestyle. I always knew there were parts of the world that did not use electricity and did not have running water, but to see that and realize that nobody ever considers those communities when they talk about the world population in general is mind boggling, especially when I can clearly see that these people do exist and are affected by so many of our actions that we never even realize. Anyway, it is just so interesting to be in a different part of the country and then return to the city, which is so different from the interior of the country.

My experience here has been a lot different than I expected it to be, but it has absolutely been wonderful and unforgettable. I have met so many interesting people, and learned so much about this country. I feel like now I can more fully understand why people here are the way that they are. I think it's very easy for us to look at a region that's far away from us and think a certain way about the people there, but once you live in that part of the world it becomes clear that there are actually reasons for the way that things are. Argentina especially has such a unique history, which is why it is in such an interesting situation now. I've been telling my parents that there are so many things here that I see every day that seem so illogical, but after understanding better the political, economic and social history of this country, I've come to realize that for the people here, those things are logical. Or that the mindset people have here is just so different from any other place. It's hard to explain, but there's just so much that I've learned about people and history that has nothing to do with going to school, which I think is so valuable.

I'm hoping to make the most out of my last 4 days here! I've been a little sick lately and have had a lot of finals to study for, but tomorrow is my last test and I'm feeling a lot better. I can't wait to see all of you. I hope it's not getting too cold up there!!

Could This Trip Be More of an Adventure?

So I have three weeks left and my experience here never ceases to be an adventure. Two weeks ago I went to Punta Del Este with five friends. My host mom has a timeshare that is right on the beach! I was such a beautiful and relaxing weekend. A lot of sitting on the beach reading, not to mention that we had almost an entirely raw diet, consisting of peppers, tomatoes, bread, hummus and the like. It was a nice change from all the fried meat and potatoes that we're used to. We rented bikes on Saturday and rode along the coast down the almost the entire peninsula. It was such a beautiful place, and the people were all so nice and relaxed. It was the perfect relaxing but fun weekend, which was much needed to prepare for the end of the semester.

As for more adventure, I got pick-pockted yesterday and lost my entire wallet! I was in a store with my roommate, Jill, then we went to the supermarket, where I realized I didn't have my wallet! We ended up going back to the first store we were in because I had remembered having my wallet in that store. We didn't find it anywhere there, and the cashier said that no one had turned anything in. Then when I thought about if there had been anyone around me while we were in line. I remembered that there had been two women behind me that had been acting like they wanted to get in front of me in line, so I moved next to Jill because I wasn't actually in line to buy anything. Then one of the women was on my said and the other one was right behind me, and I mean right next to my back, and was short enough that she was the perfect height to grab something out of my purse. I thought the woman behind me was trying to see things on the counter because she kept poking her head right between Jill and me, and was kind of bumping into me at the same time. I would have moved out of her way, but the woman next to me was close enough that I would have stepped on her feet if I had stepped back or over at all. Anyway, once I remembered all of that I realized that the woman behind must have reached into my purse and taken my wallet out. it was really frustration just because thinking back, the two women were obviously working together, and that was obviously what was happening, but I didn't think too much of it at the time. Needless to say, it was yet another experience that I've learned from.

I also got shut in a subway door the other day when it too full to get on. My friend and I were trying to get on the subway, of course it was rush hour, and there was hardly any room. I figured that if the doors hit me when they were closing they would pop back open, but of course they didn't, and my arm and leg were squeezed in between the two doors trying to shut, while my friend was still on the platform not knowing what to do. Luckily someone behind me got the doors open and my friend and I both got on.

It's just on thing after another here, but I'm loving it! I'm also excited to come home, and it's only three weeks away! I can't wait to hopefully see most of you when I come home, and I hope the fall is going well for everyone.

Ok I apologize for not being on top of my game with this blog. I was traveling for about 5 days soon after my last post, and then was without internet for over a week, but so much has happened so get ready for a lot of updates at once!

So I left you on a Sunday...

The Argentina v. Spain futbol game was unreal! There were people everywhere, and there was a lot more hype about it than I expected because it was a pretty small game. Argentina won, which made it all the more amazing! There were so Argentine cheers that my friends and I were wishing we knew, but by the end we knew the choruses of some of them. The funny thing was that the next day a lot of people, including most of my professors, were mad that Argentina won because the meant they could have won the World Cup. Everyone blames Maradona for being a terrible coach.

The next week I had mid-terms, which all ended up going very well, though it didn't seem like it at first. Then the weekend of the 17th of September I traveled to Salta with some friends. Salta is a Northwestern province in Argentina, and we stayed in the central, city part of the province. We did day trips, however, through the beautiful Oriental Mountains. I can't even describe the beauty of this place. The mountains were every different color you could imagine, blue, purple, pink, red, orange, green, yellow, just amazing! When we got farther into the mountains, it became much more like a desert with cacti everywhere, which was really surprising to me. We saw El Tren A Las Nubes, the train to the clouds, which is the only train left that goes through the Andes from Argentina to Chile. Next we had lunch in this tiny town called San Antonio de las Cobras. The interesting this about his town is that, even though it's so isolated, there is a boarding school, so a lot of children come from far aways to live there and attend school. In face when we were leaving all of the kids were coming around us asking for money, I gave this little girl some coins, but she kept saying "tienes una pizarra, tienes una pizarra"? (which means do you have a pizarra) I didn't know what a pizarra was, so I just said no, I don't have one. Then our guide told us pizarra meant pen, they all wanted pens and pencils to used in school, and when I gave this little girl my pen I will never forget the look on her face. To think how precious things like pens are to these kids in the middle of nowhere in the Oriental Mountains, it was such a humbling strange sensation, and I'm sure there are hundreds of towns like that that no one knows exists.

We went to the salt flats of Juyjuy province, which is a huge area of flat land in between the Andes and the Oriental mountains and there are pools of salt water underneath the crunchy land. There were a lot of pools that were visible, and there were piles of salt beside each pool that had been extracted from the pools. We actually tasted some of the water, and our guide told us it was something like 3 times saltier than the ocean! Next we visited a town called Puntamarca, where you can see the Seven Colored Mountains, as they are called. And they're not lying about there being seven colors of mountain, it was just fantastic!

The next day we traveled through the mountains again, this time to Cachi, another mountain pueblo. On the way there we stopped to ask permission the valley from the Pacha Mama, or Mother Earth. There is a shrine that every traveler is supposed to stop at to offer the Pacha Mama coca leaves, or water, or a cigarette, so offering to ask her permission to enter, and when you give your offering you say Cucilla Cucilla, happiness happiness. I thought this was so interesting, especially because one of our guides told us that there is a shrine dedicated to a specific woman who died of thirst in desert-like mountains with her child. In her shrine there are tons of bottles of water, and you can also see bottles of water all along the road, but he told us that although they seemed like litter, they were really offerings, which was really interesting. Anyway, after we offered coca leaves to the Pacha Mama we stopped in this huge, vast cactus desert to take pictures. Then we stopped for lunch at the cutest farm restaurant in the middle of the mountains. The owner told us that his partner's family had been running this farm for centuries! They raise goats and sheep and they also have a vineyard. We drank wine, and all shared the most amazing food, goat cheese, bread, lamb, salad and the best part was that it was all made right there in the mountain. It was just an amazing meal, and with a lot of great company! We finally made it to Cachi but only spent about 45 minutes there. It was a really cute town, but very small, so we walked around for a bit and ate some ice cream, and then made our way back down the mountains to our hostel.

On Monday our group and a group of people we met who were studying in Mendoza, Argentina, went to this ecological reserve called San Lorenzo. We hiked up to a beautiful stream and hung out on the rocks all day. We made lunch, played guitar and cards, and it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. It was really relaxing after the 15 hour trips we'd done the days before. Then we headed home Tuesday afternoon on a 22 hour bus ride!

The rest of that week I took the rest of my mid-terms and had a pretty relaxing weekend. This past week I got 3 out 4 of my mid-terms back and recieved two nines and one eight out of ten, which made me very happy. Great start to the year! Other than that it has pretty calm here. It's finally starting to get warm, although the past week was a bit rainy and cold. I am going to a small river town called El Tigre with my roommates tomorrow, which should be fun, hopefully it warms up by then! I'm also traveling to a place called Punta Del Este next weekend, which is a popular beach town in Uruguay. My hose mom has a timeshare there right on the beach, and she's letting a few of my friends and I stay there for a long weekend, which I'm really excited about. A relaxing vacation of reading on the beach and cooking our own food right before finals! Also, my host mom is leaving on Monday for a 15 day trip to visit her daughters in Miami, so it should be interesting with my roommates and me here.

As of today I only have about 5 weeks left and I can't believe it! The time has certainly flown by, but I will admit that I do miss home. It's going to be a great, fast couple weeks, and I promise not to leave you all hangin' for a whole month again. Happy October to everyone!!

It's been way too long since I've updated you all! A lot has been happening here, and school is getting more busy all the time. As many of you have probably heard, I got mugged about a week and a half ago. Luckily he only took my ipod, which wasn't a big deal, but it definitely made me much more aware of my surroundings. I certainly had a feeling of violation, and now pay a lot more attention when i'm walking around the city. I also went to see Fuerza Bruta (Brute Force) a week ago, and it was one of the most amazing shows I've ever been to. It was a little like Cirque de Soleil, but a lot more intense because there's a ton of audience participation, and the whole crowd is constantly moving around the room. It was indescribable!

My new roommate finally came last Monday, and it's been really fun getting to know her. Her name is Jill and she's from Michigan. She's very very nice, and she has definitely made the house more lively because they three of us roommates now usually eat together every night and then we always sit around and chat after dinner. It has also been nice because we only speak spanish at home now, so I've been getting a lot more practice. Also, my quiet voice has finally paid off! My host mom is always getting on my roommates about speaking more quietly and more slowly, and today she told them that I speak like and Argentine! That was exciting because usually I'm always told to speak louder. I guess when I get home I'm going to have to go back to speaking up, but here I'm golden! A lot of my friends have also had new roommates come in the past week, they're all doing a shorter spanish intensive program, so I've been meeting a lot of new people.

I ran a 10K race today with some friends from my school's running team, which I joined a couple weeks ago. It was really fun because the whole team was there supporting each other, and Jill even came with me to watch. I did have some leg issues, which I've been having for a couple weeks, so I had to walk a bit, but I finished strong! It was a beautiful day for a run, and the race atmosphere is always so exciting. I'm also going to an Argentina v. Spain soccer game on Tuesday! Almost everyone I know is going so I'm really excited! It's a pretty small game because the club teams have already started, but I'm sure it will still be an amazing experience, especially after the World Cup!

Other than that I'm just trying to keep up with school (we have mid-terms in a week), and trying to fit everything in before I leave. I can't believe that I have less than two months left! I think I'll be ready to be home, but then after a week or so I'm sure I'll wish I'd never left. I miss all of you and hope you are all doing well!

Lions and Tigers and Bears!

Wow I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything, it's been a busy week! I got my first paper assigned on Monday, which was a definite wake-up call that I'm actually in school! Luckily t's short and should be pretty easy. Other than that classes are going pretty well, but I think assignments and things are going to pick up in the next couple weeks. I'm loving that it's getting warmer here (it's been high 60s low 70s lately) and I've been finding some really great parks to run in with friends. I'm also joining the University of Belgrano running team, which I'm excited about because hopefully it will motivate me to do some sort of exercise every day (which is much needed because my sweet tooth has definitely grown since I've been here)! I've been getting along with my host mom really well lately, and we sometimes watch the news together and chat, which is fun and helps me with my spanish.

Last Wednesday my friend and I went to check out this graffiti art exhibit, which turned out to be pretty cool. I don't really know a lot about urban art, especially since I've never lived in a particularly urban area, but he's from around San Francisco and so was pretty in to it. The next night we went to a concert, which was also a blast. It was at this little hole in the wall place, but the band turned out to be pretty good and we ended up meeting some other people from the states who are also studying here.

Friday was probably one of my favorite days I've had here. A group of us went to Zoo Lujan, which is said to be one of the dangerous zoos in the world! Although I didn't know this beforehand, it took us two hours to get there by bus, and it turned out to be a type of petting zoo. However, by petting zoo I don't mean goats and dogs and bunnies (although there were all of those animals there), I mean lions and tigers and elephants! We all went into the lion and tiger cages, while they were pacing and prowling, to pet them and even feed milk to the tigers out of our hands! We also held an adorable baby lion cub, fed elephants, rode a camel, and watched monkeys, bears and exotic birds play around. It was such a wild experience unlike anything you can ever imagine! It was definitely a little nerve-wracking to walk into a tiger's cage!

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet. I went out with some friends on Saturday night, and Sunday was spent attempting to work on that paper although with little success. I hope the semester is starting out well for everyone!

As some of you may have already heard from my parents, I traveled to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, this past weekend. It was such a fun weekend, and luckily we had a three day week (and really four days because we never have friday classes) since we has Monday off. I arrived in Montevideo on Friday evening after a hectic day of traveling. I had my last Rabies shot on Friday morning and then was supposed my friend, Amna, to catch a 12:30 boat. I ended up getting to the boat terminal at 12:15, at which point Amna told me she had forgotten her passport! Luckily the boat was delayed because of bad weather, so I told her she could probably still make it if she took a taxi home and came right back. Unfortunately she had gotten locked out of her house, and her host mom didn't get back in time for her to catch the boat I was on (that left at 2:00). She ended up getting on a 4:00 boat, and we both got to the Hostel safely around 8:00 that night. It was lucky that The other group (who went on a earlier boat) gave us the address of the hostel before we left, because it was really nerve-wracking being in a new country all alone with no idea where anything was! Anyway, we all out for dinner that night, and I had the best steak of my life (it's slowly becoming one of my new favourite things)m which made up for all the stress of the day. Later that night we went to an Irish Pub, which had some awesome live music, including an amazing Beatles cover band (which is saying a lot because there are so many of those, and we were all expecting them to have South American accents).

On Saturday we took a tour of Teatro Solis, which is one of Montevideo's historical theatres. It was huge and beautiful, and there were a couple of random actors who would do cameos throughout the tour. Then we ate lunch at El Mercado del Puerta, which was an old train station that has been converted into a ton of Parillas (which are like grills). The food at this place was so amazing, we had some of the best chorizo, sweet potato, and grilled vegetables, and with all the people, the smell of grilling and the general atmosphere it almost felt like a market scene of a disney movie! After lunch we walked down a pier along the ocean. it was so windy and freezing, which made it all the more fun. When we finally got back to the hostel we all sat by the fire for a bit and then had a nap before the night began. We had dinner again that night and then most of us stayed at the hostel for the night because we were so worn out.

Sunday we did some more walking, and we found the biggest street market I've ever seen! It was more like a flee market, with some of the most random stuff in it, and it went on for at least 20 blocks (and that's a conservative estimate). Needless to say, with nine people it was a little stressful because everyone was going at different speeds and there people everywhere so it was hard to stay together. After that we found a place to have lunch by the water. It was so beautiful, and I can only imagine how much more pleasant it is in the Summer. We walked home along a kind of boardwalk along the ocean. After another fireside nap, my friends Nick, Amna, and I went to see a play at the Teatro Solis. It was definitely an experience because the play was in spanish, and they spoke so fast, so it was pretty difficult to understand all the words. Although, I'm pretty sure we picked up most of the story line, which we were all proud of. It was kind of a bizarre, dark comedy mostly about incest, adultery and the like. It was definitely entertaining and worth seeing. That night Nick, Amna and I went back to the Irish pub from the first night where there was more great music, though this time it was more Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin covers.

This morning we got up early and got on a bus to head home. Montevideo is a very interesting city because it seems to be a mix of dirty, sort of poorer areas, and then there are beautiful, seemingly more well-off parts. I know that sounds like most cities, but the difference here was that they were right next to each other. One block you would see half torn down buildings, and neighborhoods that looked like they were falling apart, and then the next block you would see really nice restaurants and apartments, and palm trees by the beach. All in all it was an amazing, adventurous weekend and I'm hoping to have many more experiences like it.

I hope everyone is well. I am going to try to upload more pictures, but my computer has been having a little trouble with that lately, so bear with me!

It's been an interesting couple of days. It's been a little lonely here lately, but I know school is going to pick up and as long as I keep busy I usually don't get bothered by the loneliness too much. Yesterday my roommate and I went to apply for our student visas. On the way there I think my roommate was worried about being late so she ran to catch the bus we needed (even though another one would probably have come in plenty of time). She ran without me however, and I ended up having to grab the handle on the bus door and jump on after the bus had started driving! I the bus driver looked at me like I was crazy, but at least I made it on. By the way, we were 25 minutes early to the appointment. Although the immigration paperwork takes a while at least now it's done. Friday night was pretty quiet because I hadn't been feeling well Thursday and Friday.

This morning I decided that I needed to get up at a decent time and I thought running would make me feel physically and mentally better. it was a beautiful morning for a run, and i was planning a significant loop, but a loop nonetheless. Unfortunately, the streets here don't exactly go in squares, so you don't always end up where you think you will to say the least. I stumbled upon a park and a little outdoor market, so I stopped to check that out and then kept running in the direction I though my house was. I ended up getting a little lost and then got chased and bitten by a random stray dog in the street. An hour and 15 minutes after I left for the run I finally found my way home and called my director to ask if the bite was anything to worry about. It was a pretty small bite, but it had broken the skin and there was a painful bruise around it. Alfredo, my program director, ended up taking me to the doctor where they gave me antibiotics I have to take for seven days, and then referred me to a rabies clinic. It turns out that in order to take precautions against rabies you have to get 9 different shots, so I got one shot today, and have to get 8 more over the course of a couple weeks. Needless to say, I had quite a long adventure with Alfredo today in a bit of a sketchy hospital. Everything luckily turned out to be fine, and even though it's going to be a pain to get all the shots I'd rather do that than risk getting rabies!

Other than that, it's been a pretty quiet weekend that has passed by rather quickly. I hope everyone is soaking up the last weeks of Summer!