My last weekend Excursion with the Program

I can´t believe I am in my final week of my program already! Its has gone by so fast! I am excited to head home but really sad to leave at the same time. We spent the weekend in a city called Rio Ceballos just outside of Cordoba. It was nice to be in a smaller town for a while although I am bummed I didn´t get to see much of Cordoba, it looked like a really cool city. We left friday night at 3:45 so that we could get to Cordoba by 10 and start our tours. I will not miss the ridiculous schedules the schools have for our excursions. The highlight of the trip was our three hour hike along a river. It was really nice and at the end there was a cool little waterfall. It was nice to do somethign outside for a change. Sunday was pretty boring, a lot of time in the bus and stopping places for 10 or 15 minutes not to mention I had a migraine and a stomach which eventually came to an end not so gracefully with me throwing up numerous times in front of the bus when we stopped for a bathroom break on the way home. Not one of my finest moments but I felt a lot better after that. At least the only person who witnessed it was my friend Brennan. Not sure if it was food poisoning or not but I am still not feelign quite right. We are having a last asado (bbq) with my family either tonight or tomorrow, I hope its tomorrow because I don´t want to miss out on good food because of not feeling well.
My last real day of class is tomorrow, I have two days of finals and then friday is a free day and we have the going away dinner at night and then Saturday its off to Buenos Aires. It will be nice to have a few days completely to myself before coming home so that I can see what I want to see in Buenos Aires and just relax a bit.
Thats it for now, I will try to update this one more time before heading back to POrtland!
Miss everyone and can´t wait to see and talk to you soon!

wine, olive oil, chocolate and perro loco!

So today Brennan and I went on the best tour of Mendoza ever! Two wineries, a small olive oil factory and a small liquor and chocolate factory, so fun! I was able to buy a lot of great things today! It was really great to learn more about wine and olive oil and the process that goes into making it all. A girl we met last night at our hostel, Laura, came with us too. She is from New Zealand and is really nice and fun. We also met a girl on the tour from France who was traveling with her boyfriend around South America. She spoke english really well and we got to spend a good amount of time with her today too! It is so fun to meet so many new people who have a similar interest of traveling!
When we got back to Mendoza Brennan and I went to a Meditteranean restaurant so that we could have some food with some kick to it. No offense to argentina but salt is the only spice that seems to be used here. At the tail end of lunch, a random stray dog (one of the many thousands that there are in Argentina) began to bother us and it was much more aggressive than the normal ¨community dogs¨of Argentina are. It followed us for a while and then began nipping at us a little, in a friendly way but it freaked us out a little so we crossed the street. The dog spotting us across the street a few blocks down and came running at us. At that point we decided that it was a good idea to get a cab. It was a little scary, but funny after the fact.
We got back to the hostel around 7, cracked open another bottle of wine and hung out with our new friend Laura from NZ and were able to say bye to the other nice girls we met at the hostel from the US.
Tomorrow is our last day in Mendoza, then I have less than two weeks of school left! Crazy how fast it has gone!

Mendoza

Today Brennen and I got to Mendoza. It is a lot colder than Rosario and on Sundays EVERYTHING is closed!!! Oh well. We got to relax, catch up on some sleep`, and met some other girls from the US who are studying in Cordoba. We spent the afternoon playing cards with them and hanging out drinking wine and coffee. Tommorrow Brennan and I head out for a wine, chocolate and olive oil tour. We get to go to two different wineries! Its gonna be great! We will probably go on a city tour afterwards and then to another wine tasting! Its so nice to be outta town!
Our bus ride was amazing! One of the most comfortable buses I have every been on. They gave us hot meals, wine, fleece blankets and hand sanitizer! What a dream! I will definately travel with that bus company again!
Its hard to believe I only have three weeks left in Argentina! I am going to be so sad to leave. I have really began to learn a lot about myself, others and the world and I can´t wait to come back and do more traveling in south america. But for now I am going to enjoy my last few weeks! I will post more again sooN!

busy busy busy

So its been a while since my update. Life has been busy in Argentina between school and our weekend trip to Buenos Aires and Uruguay. Uruguay was a little dissapointing, we ended up in a really touristy town and the tour guide was very boring. It was pretty though. Buenos Aires on the other hand was amazing. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. We walked around La Boca, San Telmo and the Recoleta Cemetary which was my favorite. It was like nothing I have ever seen. I am so excited to get to go back after my program for a few more days. This weekend was mid terms. Its crazy to think my program is half way over. I feel like I have been here forever somedays and like I haven't been here for long on others. I am finding that 6 weeks is a hard amount of time for me. I think that the next program I do will be for longer so that I will have more time to settle in because with such a short program, the minute I get comfortable I will be leaving. I have realized that this is the best way for me to learn spanish though and I will go on another program, I am thinking about Chile.
Next weekend my friend Brennan and I are taking off to Mendoza to go check out some wineries and the Andes! I can't wait. It will be a nice relaxing weekend! Besides that all is well in Argentina, and I will update more soon!

My first night out......

So last night I decided to go out in Rosario with my friends and it was really fun. We spent all day together on the boat cruise down the river Parana and then we went to lunch. There is 5 of us who get along really well and we spend a lot of time together. The other girls Britta and Eileen wanted to go shopping so Matthew, Trevor and I went to get beers. Matthew and I both told our host parents we would be home for dinner so after that we met at my place and went to meet back up with the others. We were out until almost 3, and thats early for Argentina!!! I made the guys walk me home because it is not safe to walk on your own at night if you are a girl. At the end of this week we were all feeling really exhausted and were all realizing how hard it is to be living in another culture where daily activities are 10 times harder than they are at home. We all helped each other lift our spirits though and I am glad they are here. We are trying to figure out how the five of us can go to Uruguay in the middle of August during our free weekend. That would be so fun!
Today I went to the country it was really beautiful. The farm was huge and the house was amazing! I have alot of pictures but it will have to wait until I get home to load them.
Tomorrow I am back to school next weekend we get to go to Buenos Aires. It will be really fun! However, for now I am definately realizing how hard living in another culture is, and I find that when I am writing e-mails in english I have a hard time because I am thinking in spanish all day long. I am definately in a wierd place and I feel like my brain isn't working properly. I miss everyone and you will hear another update soon!

End of the Honeymoon Phase......

So I think I have officially entered the reality stage of my life in Rosario. I have been exhausted the past two days. I didn´t realize it would be so exhausting to have to try and translate everything that you want to say. I have had a few moments of missing people and things about home. I miss being able to be more normal ridiculous self but I manage to be silly enough to get me by. Its just more difficult because I have to do it in spanish! Yesterday all of the students from my session went on a walking tour of Rosario and then we went and got lunch and beers. Everyone is really nice however, most are pretty young and some are more obviously young than others. I am glad Matthew is here. He is my age and we share similar interests so it makes it a little easier for me. Last night after I got home I went to the mall with Ana and Marina. It doesn´t close until 2am! We got home around 11 and I was super tired. I slept in until 11 today and for those who know me, that is extremely unusual. Guess you could say I was a little tired. Today we are taking a cruise boat down the river to check out Rosario´s cityscape. Should be fun, but its freezing so I had to wear numerous layers. Tomorrow my host family and I head for the country for the day and I am really excited to spend some time out of the city. A few days back me and a few of the girls from my program went paddle boating in Parque de Indepencia. It was really awesome. the park is HUGE and really pretty and there is a giant soccer (futbol) stadium in the middle of it. I will have to go to that park more often, it was really awesome. Oh and I saw the garbage mules the other night. At night in Rosario there are mules that pull large carts around that have four or five people in them and they collect recycling to make money. I guess there was a huge bad image around this kind of activity until the economic collapse in 2001 I believe, now is it more excepted with less of a stigma. There were a lot of them. Well that is it for now. I am so glad its the weekend!

Hace Frio!

Man it is cold here but at least its sunny. Just got out of class for the day and decided to stop and an internet cafe to check my, e-mail and update my blog before I get some postcards and head home to play my new favorite board game Rummy with Ana and Marine (my host mother and sister). Yesterday was my first real day of school. I had a large break in between classes so my friend Matthew and I walked around Rosario and went to coffee and then we met with another group of students for lunch. It was fun to wonder around for a bit, Rosario is a really nice city and its easy to get around. Class went well. I am learning a lot and the teachers are really nice and helpful and all of the students are really nice too.
Last night after dinner Alberto, Ana, Marina and I took a drive around Rosario to see the flag memorial and the Victory-Rosario bridge at night. Muy Lindo! It was fun to get a tour of the city. Everyday I am understanding my host mother more and more but my conversations back to her are mas o menos. My host father and I have decided we will help each other learn vocabulary in each other languages. So much for the No Ingles! rule.
Besides that not to much else to report. Still happy and loving it. A few of us girls are trying to organize a trip to Iguazu Falls for our free weekend so I will keep you posted on if that happens or not. It would be pretty amazing. This weekend we are going out to the country to a friend of my host families who has a farm. I can´t wait to see Argentina country side! It will be great to be out of the city for a bit. Also tomorrow after school I am going to go to lunch and to Parque Indepencia to ride in paddle boats with my friend Ana from school. Haven´t done that since I was young. Can´t wait!!! I am buying postcards today so keep your eyes out next week some time. Thats it for now!