El primero viaje

I'm back from my first trip here in South America! It was amazing.
After hearing that we had a 4 day weekend, 9 of us ACA students quickly threw together a trip to Villa Carlos Paz and Cordoba.
We boarded a bus Thursday night and headed to Parana--about 1.5 hours away. Luckily an old man helped us find a nearby hotel and got us a really good deal. We shoved all 9 of us into two 4 person rooms for only a few bucks each. After locking all our stuff in our rooms we wandered the streets of Parana for about 3 hours. The next morning we left for Villa Carlos Paz, an 8 hour bus ride. I was pretty motion sick for the first 2 hours but after that it was great. The bus was really nice too. Flat screen tvs, comfy seats that lay back, complementary food, beverages, and snacks.. not too shabby for a $30 ticket.
We ended up renting two apartments for the weekend that were about 15$ a night. At first we attempted to sneak all 9 of us into one--but unfortunately that didn't work out and resulted in 4 of us getting left at the bus station with no way to contact the rest of the group. Thankfully we were able to meet up after quite an ordeal.
Carlos Paz is a beautiful city and we all had a great time there. We ate at good restaurants, toured the city, went to the river, rode a tram to the top of a hill overlooking the city, and did some gambling at a casino--although none of us spent over $5.
Sunday morning we took a bus to Cordoba and toured the city for the day. One highlight was a really nice shopping mall. There was also a ton of beautiful architecture. That night we took a bus back to Parana--except that somehow it was 2 hours shorter than our first trip and we ended up getting there at 3 in the morning. We had to wait until 6 before we could take a bus back to San Martin, where we all crashed until about 1 this afternoon.
Anyway, it was a great first trip. We took huge amounts of photos, laughed a lot, and used our spanish. Great fun.
Now it's back to the books!!

One week down

It's been just about a week that I've been here in Argentina, but it feels like much longer!
Time is different down here--there is no rush to do anything, and everyone is very chill.
I'm learning to be very patient, and just relax. For example, today was Dia de los estudiantes, and there was a huge picnic outside with a wide variety of games. Although lunch was supposed to be at noon, it didn't start until around 1:30. But everything is like that, and no one cares. It's very different from back home, that's for sure. And siestas! The best thing ever! Everything shuts down from noon to about 3, sometimes 4, and people take naps! It's wonderful--except for those of us who don't always take naps, then there's nothing to do because everything's closed. Haha.
The people here love to have fun, though, and that's really great.

Tonight I had my first Mate experience. Mate is a drink here in Argentina that is very popular. It's kind of like tea, but definitely tastes different. I like it. Some friends and i went to the plaza tonight and our friend Max brought it for us to have. Apparently it's a really big thing here for the students, they get together and drink Mate, and talk for hours. Sounds like us WWU students and our coffee :)

Vida en Argentina

Life here at UAP (universidad adventista de plata) has been really great so far.
Everything is new, and strange but I am having so much fun!
I've learned so much in just 4 days!
There are about 80 ACA students, and I'm making lots of new friends. I've made quite a few national friends as well.
My two roomates, Vivy and Nayeli (sp?), are fun and it's been interesting living with two people who don't really speak any english.
This week has been orientation, but things have been pretty lazy. We go to one or two meetings, and then do whatever we want for the rest of the day. Lately we've been exploring the town, and that's been fun.

So far, pluses of our town include:
Many ice cream stores, with the best ice cream ever and for very cheap! I've gone there 2 or 3 times and spent less than 3 dollars.
A couple fun cyber cafes
A really yummy empanada shop
and a cute park

The campus is really pretty, everything is beginning to bloom, and the people are mostly very friendly.

Some more interesting aspects of this new place-
Dogs everywhere (even in the cafeteria)
Not the best internet connection on campus
Always getting kisses on the cheek when greeting/saying goodbye to someone =)

All in all I am loving it!!
I start classes on Monday--i am taking 17 credits so I'll probably be busy!

Please pray for me and all my fellow classmates!

Mucho amor!

Chao!!