One Week!

Well, I've been here now for just over a week! I am slowly adjusting to life here, certain aspects are very different for me such as eating dinner very late and learning to find my way around the city..(I never really had to do that in VT!). I haven't started school yet unfortunately but I will hopefully be starting next week! Maybe it's a good thing I haven't started yet because the extra time has given me the chance to get to know the city, or at least the important things in the city such as my school, the public bus stop, the mall, the zorba cafe, my Spanish class...etc.

Oh! I started Spanish classes this week! I have them every Tues. and Thurs. at 5 p.m. My teacher is a wonderful lady named Emma Cerpa. She is fluent in both English and Spanish so she teaches Spanish to foreigners and English to local children. So far a lot of the things we have covered have been review for me but review is always a good thing. When I first got here, the Spanish sounded like Chinese to me...not really but you know what I mean. My Spanish teacher told me the northern Argentinian accent  is very different than the rest of Argentina which is why it is so difficult to understand. The people of Jujuy tend to slur and connect their words rather than enunciate things...I guess Americans are guilty of that too. Anyway, I'm slowly getting used to the accent here, it is very different than what I learned in school! Each day I understand and speak a little bit more. It leaves me feeling accomplished at the end of the day!

I wanted to put this pic below this paragraph but it won't let me. ..
As you can see the theater is huge!
 It didn't have one balcony, it had three levels!
Isabella and I sat on the third level. Wasn't the best view but it was cool!

Another interesting thing I did this week was go to the theater with my host grandmother and one of my host sisters. (I have three by the way! Isabella is 16, Andrea is 14, and Veronica is 11. My host parents names are Cecelia and Carlos and they are both wonderful. I also have a host brother. His name is Emilio and he is 18 but he is studying in Germany for the year.) Getting back on topic...the theater. I had no idea what I was in for beforehand. I was told that it would be something musical so I was expecting an instrumental concert or a chorus or something. I was also told it would start at 8 p.m. and go to 12 a.m. Well, both of these theories were incorrect. We actually ended up seeing performance of all different types of dances. Some were traditional Spanish dances such as the Flamenco but others were modern Spanish dances and I have no idea what they're called. Also, it wasn't a four hour performance and it didn't start at 8 p.m. It started at 10 p.m.!!! It did end around 12 p.m. however and then we went out to dinner! Argentinians are big on the night life. There's no pumpkin carriage to bring you home at midnight, when the clock strikes 12 your evening has just started! Luckily, we went home after dinner because we were all tired and my host grandmother had to wake up early the next morning.

Vamos al teatro!

Well I think that's all I have for now. This weekend I have an orientation type thing in Tucumán which is a city that is four hours away. The orientation will be with all the rotary exchange students in Jujuy (my state), but I'm not sure how many there are. I have lots of pictures of yummy food that I will post in a future post! I also keep forgetting to take picture of my house, my bed, etc...but I promise I will do it eventually! Thanks for reading, I'll keep posting :)

Chau, un beso! 

New Things!

Things I have noticed during my first few days:

• almost all people drive VW cars
• Every time you meet someone you must kiss them on the cheek. For example, if people are sitting around a table and you enter the room everyone gets up and kisses you on the cheek. Then when someone else enters, the process starts all over again.
• Tea is always served around 5 p.m. usually (with pastries, toast, etc) because dinner isn't usually until 9 or 10 p.m.
• You can NEVER have milk with dinner. Always water or juice. Milk is for breakfast only.
• Driving the speed limit? Not likely. If the speed limit is 60 km/h they're probably driving 120 or 140. 
• Dulce de leche is the peanut butter of the US and the maple syrup of VT
• I have been asked if it is true that Americans hate Mexicans and Canadians
• The kitchen is the most important room in the house

That's all I can think of for now but when I notice/remember more I'll post it! 

Chau, un beso!

I made it!

Hola from Argentina! I finally arrived last night (Tuesday) although I was supposed to arrive 24 hours prior to the time I arrived. I first flew from Albany to Newark on Sunday morning and was scheduled to fly out of Newark to Buenos Aires at 9:50 p.m. on Sunday night. I met up with another girl from VT (Thea) in Newark who was also flying to Jujuy, Argentina. We met in the food court around 4 p.m. and around 7 p.m. Thea checked the board and saw that our flight was changed to a 9 a.m. departure on Monday. We both thought this had to be a mistake so we went to the gate and waited in line with a lot of angry Spanish people. We found out that the plane had maintenance problems and that we would be put up in a hotel for the night. So, we went to the hotel, got very little sleep and woke up around 6 to go back to the airport. We were supposed to board the plane at 8:15 but 8:15 came and nothing happened. 8:30...still nothing. 8:45, nothing.

Finally around 9:15 they made an announcement that the air conditioning in the cock pit was not working and that they'd begin boarding as soon as it was fixed. The departure time was pushed back to 9:45. Then 10. Then 10:30. Then 11. Around 11 they made an announcement that they needed a new part and once it arrived we'd board the plane. Around 11:15 the part arrived! So, we boarded the plane and settled into our seats. Just as we went to start a movie, they ordered us to get off the plane. The part didn't work and the flight was cancelled. We would need to find another flight either from another airport or at a different time. So frustrating!! My companion and I decided we would get on the 9:50 p.m. flight and we hoped there wouldn't be any problems this time. Luckily, there weren't any so we boarded the flight and finally left the United States. We spent 30+ hours in Newark airport. Que horror!

We made it into Buenos Aires International Airport around 9:30 a.m.. There we went through immigrations and customs. Both were very simple and took hardly any time. We then had to transfer airports from the international to the domestic. This was a little challenging but compared to what we went through in Newark it was nothing. We made it to the airport, boarded our last flight and anxiously awaited our arrival in Jujuy!

When we arrived in Jujuy our host families were there to greet us. I was filled with feelings of overwhelming joy, exhaustion and confusion. I realized that my brain really doesn't comprehend Spanish when it is running on very little sleep. My host family was very understanding and my host mom speaks English relatively well so I was able to explain all of my issues to her which she then translated for my host father and sisters. We arrived at the house which is in a small town called San Antonio. I will post pictures of the house and the area surrounding it in a future post! The land is very dry and brown because it is winter here. We had tea and pastries which were very delicious and I just realized I should have taken a picture of them. However I did take a picture of my first meal! Want to see? Of course you do.

Mashed potatoes and beef in a creme sauce. Que rico!

After dinner I finished unpacking my things and went to bed! I was extremely tired and slept until 12 p.m. the next day. That's about all I have to say right now..I have some other pictures that I need to add to my computer before I can write another post! I will keep you all updated, thanks for reading!

Chau, un beso!