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!