It's been a busy couple of days. Thursday before my classes my friend Miles and I went La Rural, which is a huge annual agriculture expo. There were horse and cow shows, sheep judging, hundreds of different food and drink products to sample (including delicious Dulce De Leche), and any other things you can associate with agriculture and farming. It was almost like a county fair, but 10 times bigger! I was amazing and there were people everywhere. We had Chorizo sandwiches for lunch, called Choripan, and it was by far my favorite thing I've eaten here so far. Tomorrow is the last day, and I'm planning on going back with Amy for one last go around!

Friday it was terribly cold and rainy, so I visited the Museo de Bellas Artes with Amy, her roommate Brittany, and a couple other girls from their program. It was a amazing! There was a room that had colonial tablets, which were about 10 pieces of art that told the story of the Mexican conquest. There was also an entire room with a Berni exhibit. I don't know if any of you have heard of him, but these were some of the most amazing pieces of art I've ever seen. They're huge, first of all, and they are also made of all kinds of recycled materials, which adds amazing texture to them. A lot of the pieces paint pictures of injustice, one specifically about the injustice between the government and the masses. The government is portrayed as all different monsters on the bottom half of the painting, and the top half is a chaotic mess of people, which I assumed was "the people". I can't even describe how amazing this room was! Unfortunately I was not allowed to take pictures there. That night I was going to go out, but instead stayed in and watched a movie with friends.

Saturday I finally made it to the Recoleta Cemetery (where Evita is buried) and to the huge open craft market outside. Recoleta is a bit of a ritzy neighborhood with a lot of French and Italian influence what with all of the outdoor coffee shops, ice cream places and restaurants. I think this is so far my favorite part of the city. There are usually tango dancers on the street displaying their talent, and this is also where the church is in the pictures at the bottom of the page. The cemetery, which is behind the church is massive and elegant. It looks almost like a small town, only instead of houses there are tombs! The ground is all concrete, the mausoleums are enormous, and I could see into most of them where there are coffins, and various adornments. This is definitely the kind of place that you could spend all day in and still not see everything, and also get lost because it's such a labyrinth. Outside the church and cemetery there is a huge open air craft market every weekend. You can find all sorts of painting, photography, mate gourds, jewelry, leather products, food, anything you could ever think of! I had lunch with a friend in one of the many restaurants near the church. However we didn't realize when we sat down that it was an all you can eat place, so we both ended up eating a small pizza and then leaving. Although it was some of the best pizza I've ever had! I know that beef is supposed to be the big thing here, but as one of my professors put it in class today, Pizza is another of Argentina's national foods.

Today marked the beginning of my second week of classes. I'm liking them pretty well, but I can't seem to quite figure out what all are the important parts of the class. Most of my professors tend to ramble on about admittedly interesting subjects, but then at the end I'm not sure what the main was supposed to be. I'm hoping that will come with time. Today I had a substitute in one of my classes, and he was so much more interesting than my usual professor. As I was saying earlier, he talked about pizza for a good 15 or 20 minutes, and told us our homework was to go to his favorite pizza place! I can see that this semester is going to be pretty exciting! Anyway, I'm having a pretty great, even if there are still some lonely days. I guess there are bound to be those when you're in a new place. I'm trying to fill all of my time with activities so I don't think about being homesick, which has seemed to work so far. My sleeping, eating, and just general schedule is completely opposite than it was at home because everything here happens at night, and most people sleep until late morning, and take a ciesta in the late afternoon. With my love of naps I've become accustomed to this lifestyle quite easily! I hope everyone is well! Pictures coming soon!!

Ciao

So I've added some new pictures (most are at the bottom). The one on the top left is of a bunch of dogs, and I'm sure you're wondering why I took that because there are plenty of dogs at home to see. However, this city has quite a thing for dogs! There is a huge dog walking business in Buenos Aires, meaning that it is normal to see one person walking around 15 dogs at once! Also, in the park I pass by every day on the way to school there is a sort of dog arena where at least 50 or more dogs always gather with their dog walkers to run around and get some exercise. It reminds me of when kids have play dates, only with dogs, because I'm sure the dogs get excited to see their other dog friend at the park. Needless to say this picture is of a relatively small group of doggies waiting for their walker.

The other pictures are of a Church in Recoleta, which is right next to the cemetery where Evita is buried (those pictures will be coming soon). I love this church because it is small, simple, and beautiful, but also because it is unlike anything I have ever seen. I'm used to seeing European and Gothic style churches with stained glass and very intricate outside carving. This church, as you can see from the pictures, has no stained glass and is extremely ornate. I'm planning on going back to this church and to the cemetery this weekend, and so will hopefully get to explore some more and learn more about the reasons for the way the church was built.

Other than pictures its been pretty quiet here. The night scene has died down a bit because people are trying to get themselves into school mode, as hard as that is. My classes have definitely gotten more interesting since the first day, and I'm excited to get the semester rolling!

Ciao,

Maggie

First Day of Classes and More City Quirks

First of all, I didn't know I could put titles on these posts... obviously I need to pay more attention!

I finally started classes today and the economics course I'm taking seems like it's going to be a lot of work. Luckily it's in english! I do feel like I haven't been speaking enough spanish with friends since I've been here, but I think once everyone starts their spanish classes it will get better. It's been quite an adjustment, I'm realizing more and more, from mid-west life. I'm not sure I really belong in a city, but it is exciting to have a change of pace and to always have something going on. I'm also realizing that I really need to get into school mode, because was more of a shock than I expected!

There are so many funny things about this city that are all pretty small and trivial, but still noticeable to everyday life. The napkins here are sort of a mix between pieces of wax paper and tissue paper, so I always have to use so many because they don't really absorb anything. Also, the people here are definitely city people, they're not necessarily unfriendly, but they don't take any initiative to talk to you unless you ask them a question. Between about 5 and 7pm is coffee time and you can find dozens of people in every coffee shop. Although here, coffee is much more of a sit down production. When you order coffee they always give you a tiny glass of water with gas, and some sort of cookie or pastry type thing. The people here are really not into eating/drinking and walking, which is one main difference I've found from most cities I've been to. I was eating ice cream on the street that other day, and I got some interesting glances. Also, when you order food here, you get exactly what the menu says, which is pretty interesting. Today my friend ordered a chicken sandwich, which at home would usually come with all sorts of other things on it, but it was bread, and about a quarter of a chicken! She was pretty surprised! People also don't tip much, if at all, at restaurants here, which means they don't try to rush you out of your table, and you have to ask for your check or they will never bring it to you. Most of the time when I"m eating with people we just sit there and chat for a couple of hours. There are so many interesting things and I keep coming across new ones every day. I'm hoping to do some more exploring later this week and during the weekend if the weather is nice! I hope you all are well and are enjoying the end of Summer!

As you can see I've added some pictures. The top one is the Pink House, which is like the White House in the United States. The first president of Argentina, Domingo Sarmiento (I think) painted the house pink so the is would distinct from the White House. The two statues on the side are from the botanical/French gardens. The top one is a reconstruction of the Madonna statue, and the second one is supposed to represent the 1st movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. The bottom picture is also from the gardens, and was removed during a military dictatorship because it shows a bunch of drunk people.

Today I explored Plaza de Mayo, which is where the Pink House is. There is a also a department of defense building there, and a lot of monuments. I realized I haven't talked much about the food here. It's pretty delicious, although it's mostly carbs, meat, pasta, potatoes, rice. Every night for dinner I usually have some sort of meat and potatoes or rice, which fills up about half the plate. Needless to say there is a serious lack of vegetable matter, but that hasn't been too much of a problem so far.

There are a lot of interesting things about my house and the city itself. The shower in our bathroom just has a shower head and no ledge or anything to keep the water, so we always have to squeegee after each shower, which I think is kind of funny. Also, there is a lack of coins in the city, and to ride the bus you have to use coins, so people covet their coins big time! Luckily my host mom gave me about 10 pesos in coins, so I should be good for a while.

I received my class schedule today and I'll be taking a spanish grammar class, a class on Tango, Latin American Political and Social Change, and Argentine Economy. I have class 3 hours per day Monday-Thursday, which leaves plenty of time for exploring!!

Hasta luego!

Buenos días familia y amigos!

The couple days have been a whirlwind! I was a bit of a rough start on Monday. There were so many people at our orientation, and it was overwhelming trying to meet people. And it also turned out that my roommate do not get along too well. Luckily, she has friends in Buenos Aires and spends most of her time with them, and even sleeps there sometimes. Anyway, it was an early night and I was determined to make Tuesday better!

Tuesday was the day everyone took a spanish placement test, but I still haven't heard how I did on it. Later that day I walked around the city and had lunch at a pizzeria with my friends Amy (who I went Rockbridge with funnily enough) and Jose. Also, that day was El Dia de Los Amigos (friends day), which is a big Argentine holiday. So I went out and celebrated with some other friends from the university, which was a lot of fun. Argentine lifestyle is quite different from what I'm used to. They don't eat dinner until 11pm or so, and no one goes to any bars or clubs until around 2am or so. So that's been an interesting transition!

Wednesday I took the bus and the Subte (subway) for the first times, and they both turned out to be pretty easy. Although on the bus you have to have coins, and coins are extremely hard to come by in this city, so my host mom has been giving all her coins for the bus. That afternoon Amy and I took the subte and explored Palermo neighborhood, which was amazing! We walked past the Zoo, and also found gardens that were modeled after the French Gardens. They were so beautiful, and had some really beautiful statues in them. I'll post pictures soon!

I can tell that this is going to be an amazing, and also a bit of a difficult experience. But I always love a challenge!! Anyway, today there's some big festival that's a week long, so I'll have to update you all about that later, and of course post pictures! It's really nice to finally feel comfortable, even if not exactly at home, here.

My roommate Sucaina (I'm not exactly sure how to spell it) is great. She grew up near Dubai but goes to the University of Delaware. We are the only two people in the Amerispan program for this semester, and we also have the same major, which is cool. There are a bunch of other groups that we'll meet tomorrow and who we travel with on the weekends.

Tonight our director, Alfredo, took Sucaina and I to a restaurant called La Viruta Tango where we had a delicious dinner and took free Milangro and Tango lessons. Milangro is a more upbeat version of Tango. It was so much fun, and surprisingly easier than it looks! Needless to say, Sucaina and i will definitely be back there soon! I'm excited to find out my classes tomorrow, and am slowly realizing that I'm never going to be able to do everything in this city. It's even hard to know where to start! Luckily though no one here goes to bed until around 4 or 5 in the morning! It's going to be quite an exciting 4 months!

I arrived safely in Buenos Aires at about 8:30 am on Sunday morning. It was a bit difficult finding the person picking me up at the airport, but eventually I found the car was driven to my new home. I am living with a woman named Paula, and one other girl who I have not met yet. Paula lives in an apartment in the city that is three stories. Each one of us has a room on the second story. So far, Paula seems very nice and the other girl should be arriving in a couple hours. Tonight our program director is coming over to give us a pre-orientation, at which time I hope to receive my class schedule. Other than that, there sin't much else happening. It's very rainy and cold here so I haven't been able to do any exploring around the city, but hopefully that will come later. I hope everyone at home is well!