2/24

After breakfast I had my first independent travel-- one whole street and 3 blocks away! haha. Impressive, I know. Megan and I came down from our room to the hotel staff informing us that "todos salieron." Luckily, my mom had written the address to Flacso on my luggage tickets and I'd memorized it in the airport and from walking yesterday knew that Ayacucho was just the next street over. Otherwise we would've missed the ejercicio de besos (learning the art of Argentine greetings). We had a bunch of workshops today that were pretty helpful. I learned the differences among subte, colectivo, taxi, y tren. In the housing workshop, I asked what form to use with my host mom, seeing as I didn't know her age. Meli answered that there is never a situation formal enough to use usted, not even with the president, and vosotros legally takes the place of tu. Pretty great, except for the fact that none of us have ever learned vos in school! But at least this way, once I get it, I'll use it for everyone. Yay for simplicity!
After packing and attempting to buy una tarjeta de viaje (swipe card for subte y colectivo) twice, I was picked up by my family! So exciting! Her name is Valeria and I call her Vale. She's just perfect and so is the house-- perfect example of Argentine elegance and excellence. We took a cab to her apartment, talking the whole way over, where we then lugged my suitcases up the stairs to the apartment. The first floor is very open with wood floors and deep brown furniture and a tiny kitchen and a bathroom. Upstairs is her room and my room which is just adorable-- window, big armoire that magically fits all my clothes, a little desk, and a bed that my suitcases fit under.

Astor the cat is so pretty-- muy flaco y amable.

My favorite place in the house is the terrace above our floor.

I could tell that Vale is experienced with housing students, because she immediately told me to ask her a thousand times to repeat whatever she says until I understand. She also had evertyhing set up for me, including space in the shower rack and an ethernet cord on my desk.

tengo que irme de repento!

dozing in Hotel Lyon (from yesterday)

Today is my 21st birthday! So excited to spend it in Bs As. I already feel like I could live here for a long time.. but my feet would have to toughen up, that's for sure. I've been here a couple hours and already am losing the skin off my feet at the same rate as I stripped off my jackets in the airport after landing. Missy, Melissa, Addy, and I (after changing out of long sleeves and pants) decided to walk around to find lunch. We wandered into a bodega to buy fruit and chose 4 bananas, 4 ciruelas (plums), and a big bunch of uvas (grapes). While walking, we ate some fruit amist the continual double-takes and slightly-subtle coaxes from men of all ages. I know we stick out like sore thumbs, what with mix of blinding white skin and foreign hair colors.-- not to mention that I was walking with only my toes jammed into Addy's 2-sizes too-small flats with my red blistered heels hanging off the backs. But anyways, we all agree that the attention is a definite ego-boost regardless. We took turns choosing directions at each street, and ended up at this perfect plaza. Exactly what I've been hoping for. Perfect weather with warm air that smells and sweeps crisp across our pinking skin.

Today does not feel like a day. It feels like 3 weeks and an hour all at once.

Earlier...
“Hace mucho tiempo que no he visto verde” (It's been a while since I've seen green)
Mis primeras palabras en Argentina. And how green and beautiful Buenos Aires is!
Backtrack to the beginning of the day, I woke up at 7:30am with enough time to organize and clean my room, have breakfast with Emy and my nieces, and play piano once more. My parents drove me to Logan and we got there with plenty of time to sit and relax for a while together. After saying our goodbyes, I headed through security and to my gate, and almost missed my flight to Atlanta! In Atlanta I met Missy at our gate, and shortly after, another girl (Melissa) with our group joined us. Before boarding, the three of us got dinner for the plane.

I’m writing this first post in Argentinia from Hotel Lyon. We are staying here one night. Everything has been going great.
My flight landed at 8 in the morning, went through customs, and waited…
On the way to the hotel we enjoyed a sleepy-sunny bus ride, while observing the sporadic cars parked on the side of the road in the green grass—passengers out of the cars, men shirtless, all basking in the sun.
First things first, we each were handed a roomkey. 303 was mine. The old-fashioned elevator was just big enough to fit me, my large suitcase, my medium suitcase, my small suitcase, Missy, her backpack, and her large suitcase. We reached the 3rd floor, but then came the keys. I cannot explain how confusing and difficult these locks were. After trying for about half an hour, one of the other students went down to the front desk to ask how to open the doors. From his report, they looked at him like he was crazy and said to turn the key. Well duh, right? Long story short, because I'm going to nap right now before our welcome dinner, Argentines have skills I never knew could exist. Each door has its own little trick.. we haven't found ours yet. So up until this point, the maid has opened the door and we're leaving a glass ashtray in the frame.

I am taking a 20 minute nap and then showering before dinner! chau. I will post this once I have 1. brain functioning and 2. internet

apologies for this incredibly scattered post... it will happen probably every time :]

me voy!

I'm off to Logan Airport!

Final Week!

Today (Wednesday) was the One Week mark until I leave. So unreal. I know time's been extended and in some ways the purposelessness has gotten to me. But as prescribed for any amount of down-time, when the break is almost over, my reaction is naturally: "already?!" It'll certainly be hard to leave my Mainers for 5 months, but it's also nothing new. Going away always makes you appreciate the place and people you're leaving, but it allows you to make new homes in different places. Hope College, you taught me well. I remember as a summer-breaking highschool grad I hoped that Hope would someday be a place to miss and to get excited about. I didn't just want to be surrounded by buildings and the first/only sea of students-my-age I'd ever laid eyes on. I can pretty confidently state that the 17.5 hr drives, the plane trips, the hassle of storage, the nerve-wracking first cafeteria experiences, and not to mention the tuition/room&board costs have been vindicated with the sole sense of feeling at-home there. Yay for good choices as a senior!

Anyways, today was great! This morning I met my strawberry boss/good family friend at the Buzz for breakfast. It was a good send-off and such a treat to catch up, as I won't be able to exchange stories in-between-customers this summer. This will be my first year missing strawberry season since I started working at the pick-your-own 6 years ago. I won't get back till end of July, which means I'll have to resort to my mother's pick-and-freeze method for my fill of fresh berries, smoothies, strawberry pizza, sorbet, and strawberry-rhubarb pies throughout August.
Timing worked out perfectly to head over for my last piano lesson. I debated cancelling, as I only played a total of 2 times (5 mins each?) this week, but I'm really glad I didn't. It's been so nice reconnecting with Miss Gould. She had mini apple pies baking during the lesson, during which I played the 3 songs I learned in the past couple weeks. I learned Poem by Fibich, Prelude in C maj by Bach, and Melodie by Massanet. Not the most difficult I've done but I'm pretty satisfied! We talked for the rest of the hour and she gave me a ring of hers!

After sharing a mini-pie and packing up 2 to take home, I then went into Portland to do some errands. My camera still isn't repaired, but should be fixed in 2 days. I bought a gift for my host family today at Edgecomb Pottery that I'm excited about.. I literally had about 20 different pieces with different glazes sprawled out across their floor and stayed in there until my mom finished her hair appointment and could help me decide. Then I went into CIEE and met Claire (program leader of Buenos Aires) to talk about my difficulty joining the Live Meeting Online Pre-departure Orientation yesterday. I'm lucky I live so close to the main(e) [<-- pun] office! I then had a nice day of mending a haircut and making HEARTY HUEVOS. Then went to see Chronicle in theaters.. which I thought had a lot of potential, but like most movies, didn't reach it. Still fun though! Later I watched Take Shelter, which I liked but made me feel schizophrenic. etc. etc. I'm being too detailed and wasting time. It's almost the witching hour >_<

Yesterday for Valentine's I celebrated with packing (TOO MANY decisions) and errands. But I had good fam-time and I doled out the doily valentines I made with Stacie the night before :]

Yippyay! Tomorrow Emy arrives! My mom and I are going to pick her up in Boston in the evening and then head to Connecticut to visit with grandparents which will be really nice to see them again before leaving. I'll be back Friday night so I'll have then until Tuesday night to get everything else ready and spend as much time as possible with everyone! And Scott's coming this week too! So excited to have all the siblings around.

Guess I should go to bed since it is 2:59 AM.. yikes I need a life.

ps. I am already so grateful for the hospitality in Argentina.. my contacts have been so kind and eager to help with information.. it's pretty amazing!
ps#2 (the only important part of this post): please be praying for the friend of a friend, 20 yr old girl in Florida accidentally shot in the head a couple days ago. The highest concern right now is about brain-swelling.

2 weeks

^ can't say 2 weeks without singing this song.

So there are 14 days until I leave. This fact flip-flops in my brain between panic and pure excitement, but I think it lands most consistently on content acceptance. It's been a long wait with a lot of time to think, which accounts for the nervous feelings. With anticipation comes a significant strain of apprehension. But I am anxious to get shock-jumped into my new life!

Home has maintained that nourishing pace. I'm thankful for so much time with my family-- especially with my adorable nieces who add daily excitement and parenting-practice. I've decided that for now, and for many years to come, I enjoy being the aunt and not the mother. Today we played donkey rides and farmer's (ellie) big fat pig (me) & baby pig (fiona).
I've also really enjoyed being able to see my few close friends and my DPD on a very regular basis. I miss them so much when I'm at Hope, so I'm glad to make up for that now.

My Argentina-excitement of the week has been slowly tying off the loose ends of preparation. Got some traveler's checks, etc. etc. Aka my parents have been great about helping me list and check off what I need to do before I go. Another reason it'll be quite a shock leaving... (you mean I actually have to think of things myself?!) But yeah, it's been nice. I checked out 56,000 books from the interloan library about Argentina and I've read chapters here, back covers there, even a few short stories in Spanish. I also got in touch with a new contact in Argentina who's given me a list of places to visit, as well as reconnected with one of the first persons I talked to about study abroad. She gave me packing tips and a bunch of first-hand advice.
Also, the other night (early morning) I got the urge to half-pack my clothes. I'd post a picture but it's too embarrassing how hurricane-esque my room looks.

In other news, I wish my puppy could travel with me and be my roommate.

I have piano early in the morning so I should sleep, although I'm too pumped up from all this counting-down talk and from chatting on facebook with college insomniacs. This post was just a poor attempt at appearing productive... haha I realized while talking to Emily that I forgot what it feels like to get work done. I think I'll be reminded much too soon.

Chau.

ps. Emy comes in a week! We're celebrating our birthdays early. ^_^

Springtime?

Today was absolutely gorgeous in the southern Maine area. 50s, felt like 60s, and sunny. Although now it's getting darker, I made use of most of the sunny hours and even went for a run. This morning I drove my grandmother to the bus stop and was able to spend some time waiting with her. She told me about her first date with Grampy which has kept me smiling most of the day. Timing worked out perfectly to meet my mom a couple minutes away for errands. Among other quick stops, we opened a new account with a bank that doesn't charge international ATM fees! After that, we picked out lunch at Shaw's and brought it over to Bug Light. After wading through the vigorously melting snow (and some floating dog poops >_<), we found a bench facing the sun right next to the water. We got our picture taken in front of the lighthouse by the newspaper as well, hah. Some quality mother-daughter picnic time!

In reference to my last post, I have my first piano lesson in a few years tomorrow morning. My teacher is really something else. She is 98 years old and refuses to slow. She drove over to my house yesterday for a tea-and-brunch visit with my mom, my grandmother, and me. Now, yesterday there were ice warnings, but she insisted she'd be fine. She called again before arriving to warn us she'd be a few minutes late. After visiting with her for a little while, I learned the reason why. She confessed to having been up since 6 in the morning to paint all the doors and the kitchen cabinets by herself. You'd think after knowing her so long, we'd have learned to get used to this kind of behavior, but how can we? She continues to shock and awe. Most of the brunch was spent passing wide-eyes around the table in reaction to her casual, humble comments that reminds us how spunky and young she really is.

Also in reference to my last post, my trip out to Hope was just great! It was so refreshing and nourishing to spend time with my friends out there. aljsdlskdj I like them all so much! And I appreciated how a lot of people really made time to see me. The whole time was one big highlight made up of many neon explosions. Especially the snow walks and sleeping at the Green House again. Also, we signed the lease for our house next year! I'm so excited to live with this group and it feels nice to have that settled before I leave.

Okay well that's all the ramblings I've got for today! I'm off to exercise class with my mom and Jennie.

It's official!

Today was the 3rd snow since I've been home, but it was the first real storm day with cancellations, etc. Taylor and I couldn't hang out because of the roads. The bad news was that I slept in too late to really enjoy the gorgeous snow before the sky darkened and snow turned to rain, but I finally got some paperwork done... And... it's official! I'm visiting Hope from the 17th to the 21st! I'm so excited to see everyone, and it'll be great to be on campus without worrying about classes and homework. I booked the ticket today after chewing on the thought "I want to go back, I want to see everyone" for a long time. I'm just barely starting to get into this "so do it" mood, after being so used to just acclimating myself to whatever or lazing around until it's too late. There's definite merit in sitting with discomfort, which I learned throughout the semester. I realized that allowing the unhappy, appreciating the discomfort, and sitting in the silence is okay. It has its place. Understanding that leads to contentment, which is my underlying goal of everything. However, paying attention to what you want, even if it's as small as slipping in an extra visit to see friends before leaving the country, is important. Taking advantage of the freedom to change things is exciting. It's called being proactive. Yay for common sense! Pretty simple, but sometimes it takes a while to internalize. If something makes me unhappy and I find myself complaining about it, why continue to trap myself in a box with it?  On the flip side, if I really want to be around someone for good reasons, why not make an effort to do it? For example, over break I keep finding myself wandering over to the piano. I sit down, open my music (that I used to have memorized), and-- cannot play. At least not the way I should be able to. I can read the notes, I know what it should sound like, but there's a disconnect between my brain and my body. Aka lack of practice. I haven't really played since senior year of high school. So, since repeating the mantra "I wish I could play" over and over again unfortunately does not spark my fingers into action, I'm going to call my old piano teacher. TA-DA!
Anyways, I'm about to clean my room. Look at me go, right?