Second Month...Check?

Same question as always...where did the time go?

That's pretty much the topic of many of our conversations nowadays...how did the time pass by so quickly and how are we going to get the most out of the next month and a half before it flies by too? I knew it would fly by in a hurry but I guess I thought I would stay more productive and have felt more accomplished by this point. It's hard comparing it to Nevis last summer because we were only there for a month and a half...not to mention we were busy from 6:30am to 6pm. Therefore, when we had free chunks of time I felt like we accomplished more because we knew we didn't have much time to spare. Also, we were staying on a small island with few things to see or do so it was much easier to accomplish everything we wanted to see and do. My situation here is the exact opposite...I have too much free time and a huge city to explore, but because I feel like I'm living here and not just "vacationing for a few weeks" I feel like I can afford to spend a couple hours playing spider solitaire and listening to music (don't judge me, a good portion of my down time is spent playing that game. I'm not proud of it, but that's just how it goes). The only problem is now I'm looking at the next month and a half saying HELLO! I have so much to accomplish! I'm accustomed to staying busy in the States with little down time to relax, so while it unfortunately makes me less productive and more lazy, I am very grateful to have had two solid months of relaxing. Only now I've got to get my booty in gear and start accomplishing the things I want to before I leave!

So like I just said...the past month has really been nothing but relaxing and going to classes. We've had a few adventures here and there, but most of my time spent has gone to hanging out with new friends around the residencia or sleeping. My body's not going to know what to do with itself when I get back into my 4-5 hours of sleep a night routine! We have gone on a couple excursions with ISA...as you'll see in my pictures, we had a "Dia de Campo" where we stopped by a gorgeous cathedral in Lujan (a town I believe north of Buenos Aires) and then went to an estancia after. At the estancia we were able to learn more about the gaucho life (I guess you could call them the cowboys of Argentina..different style and history, same demeanor). We had an incredible asado lunch (it's a steak lunch with different types and cuts of meat) and danced around with those visiting the estancia as well.

We also went to Rosario this past weekend, which is a city due 5 hours NW of Buenos Aires. It's a gorgeous city like Buenos Aires but slightly smaller, and sits next to Rio Parana so you get the best of both worlds: the city and the beach. Our group stayed over night Saturday night so we were able to check out the city a little bit on Saturday and spend the day at the beach on Sunday. Although we didn't see too much of the city, we could definitely tell a difference in the attitudes of the locals. While often times we feel anti-American sentiment here in Buenos Aires, many kiosko workers were thrilled at the fact we are from the States and wanted to practice their English with us. It was nice feeling like a guest-star to a city rather than unwelcomed-I even took pictures with a girl working at one of the kioskos because she was so thrilled I was from the States and knew of Justin Bieber...you think you know Bieber fever in the States? They have it so much worse here. Oh also, I told her Matthew looks similar to Bieber and showed her a picture...she said he was very handsome, loved his eyes, and asked for his number ;) The Sunday-beach-day was fantastic, it was nice to get into the warmth and relax for a few hours...it was even warm enough to get burnt!

Although my last blog entry appears to be a 'bash-Argentina' entry, I have really come to love this place and can't imagine returning to the States. I guess for a while I didn't really understand where I belonged and was caught between the comfort of English speakers and my wanting to meet more locals/other Spanish speakers. As much as I adore my new friends from the ISA program, I also wanted to acquire a more cultural group of friends so I wouldn't feel like my entire study abroad program was spent in my own comfortable culture. I'm here to learn as much as possible (about the language, culture, everything) and for a while I felt like I wasn't doing so. However, within the past couple of weeks I have become very close to other people in the residencia and with my Spanish improving little by little, it has become much easier to get to know others better. Sometimes it is still hard to pick up on what they're saying when they're going back and forth and speaking very fast, but it's almost a fun game to play..."what are they talking about now!" Overall I can pick up on the main topic of conversation and sometimes I can understand more, sometimes I understand less. Just depends on my level of Spanish that day! (Seriously though it's incredibly annoying-there are days I can rattle off in Spanish without a problem, other days I'm struggling to say the most common phrases).

So I've come to the realization that I will not leave Argentina being as fluent as I was hoping I would be. It bothered me for a while but I think I was expecting too much out of this trip as far as learning a language is concerned. Some people are able to learn a language within a couple of years without a problem. I've come to terms with the fact my mind doesn't work in the same way and that no matter how many times I ask "what does this word mean?" a day, I'll still probably ask the same question in a couple of weeks. (Well, that and I guess it was a little silly to think I could become fluent at a language in under four months...). Languages are not my strong subject but I really love Spanish and I'm hoping that I'll use this study abroad experience as a stepping stone to continue working at the path of becoming more fluent. I'm a little nervous that by not being around it every day, I'll gradually lose what I have worked for in the past couple of months but because I will be completing a Spanish major, I'm hoping that my classes will help me hang on to aspects like reading, writing, and speaking. I'm also hoping this experience will give me more confidence to speak the language when I return and will therefore be able to get higher participation points in my classes as well as communicate better with people at Chick-fil-A.

As far as the city is concerned, I feel like I've learned the ropes like I did with the residencia and have now fallen in love with this place. Just like I had to learn how to act and relate to people in the residencia (Ps, Jorge loves me now. Funny how he had me crying two months ago, and now he seems to respect me...you really do have to give respect to get it around here), I've also had to learn how to go about and relate to others in the city. I'll still say that for the most part, the local city slickers are cold spirited and rushed, but it just makes it that more special when you find a diamond in the rough. Like going to the ferrias (the outdoor markets) and meeting rasta-Colombians who invite you out to an afternoon of chit-chats, wine, and free dreadlocks, or the old woman who lectures you in the supermarket because your bag is opened and she doesn't want someone to rob you. It's not a warm, tropical atmosphere, but it is what it is, and then you start singing the theme song to "Facts of Life"..."You take the good you take the bad, you take them both and there you have...the facts of life, the facts of life!"

The next month is going to be quite an eventful one: As of this Wednesday I'm going to enroll in a lyrical jazz class with my darling Eddy for a month, I'm leaving for Mendoza (famous wine making providence of Argentina) on Thursday night and staying there until the following Wednesday morning, we're going to the Don Omar concert next Sunday evening, Iguazu falls at the end of October, Uruguay for a weekend trip at some point, and hopefully enjoying a weekend on the beaches of Mar de Plata as well. Hopefully I'll be able to change my ticket so that I can stay through the weekend of November 12th and go to the electronic-music-festival 'Creamfields' and then fly over to Chile to stay with Pablo for a week! Thennnn in the meantime I still want to see a tango show, go to the Lujan Zoo (where you can pet tigers and ride camels!) for a day, go to a futbol game, buy some goodies, and so, so much more!

I'm sorry I've been so slow to keep this thing updated (as usual) but hopefully with all the upcoming traveling and adventures I'll have more interesting things to write about!

Love to every single one of you, besos!

(PS, ^up at the top, I have a second link connecting to my new Flickr account, which will have the rest of my pictures from this trip. I added a few more to the Picasa account but I filled up my storage space so I had to add another one! And when you click on the tab and it takes you to the page, click on the photo album to the right named "Buenos Aires, No.2"...this will actually show the photos in order, I'm still trying to figure this new site out!)