Hola mis amigos!

What an adventure this has been so far. Getting here was a bitch...

However after lost luggage, standbys, and delays on the tarmac...I am here, alive.

I had a massive freak out the first day. Sheer panic all of a sudden had me emailing Big Al in tears. On the first day we went right to a hotel. We met the group, enjoyed the company of a roommate and hung out for 4 hours to rest. Well needless to say I was bawling my eyes out. Later that night we went to the director's apartment for dinner her name is Carmen. All the kids got to bond and it was fabulous. Needless to say from that moment on, I have yet to panic or cry.

The second day we learned how to use the public transportation system, called "el sube". We then went home with our host families. Now let me tell you, Ivette...my host mom is literally just like big al or ardie (mormor). She is such a know it all and she does not hold back her thoughts. She is a hoot. She does not speak a word of English, and let me tell you...this dialect of Spanish is nothing like what we have been taught in school. They call their language here "castellano" it is spanish with a few rule changes and a THICK accent. To the untrained ear and it is hard to understand because words like llamar or pollo ...pronounced yamar or poyo in the classroom, are pojo and jamar here. Also they leave out "s" in the middle of words where theyre supposed to be. For example... siesta is nap....they just leave out that middle s all together. Ivette talks a million miles a minute, she just keeps talking and talking. At 1am I had to lock her out of my room because she kept wanting to talk. Mind you I could only understand about 20% of what she was saying to me. I think the combination of lonliness and too much wine has her all excited to have a friend. Even a friend who responds very slowly and sometimes stares at her blankly.

She is all upset because ...
A. I cant open the lock here. She kept yelling "por que no lo entiendes"...or why dont you understand it!? Um because it is a lock from the old days and literally you have to turn left once, the right once, push, and then turn half way.. like sorry Ivette I have never seen a lock like this in my life.
B. I like the subway better than the bus. She is refusing to let me take the subway tomorrow to school because that would require me to walk 4 blocks to the station, when the bus stops 1 and a half blocks. Okay but all my friends take the subway and I like to walk. But nope she walking me to the bus tomorrow and putting me on it because she hates the subway. I dont get it, but whatever.
C. I left my tide to go on the bed (closed mind you) and she is convinced even with it closed it will ruin the sheets. Whatever.

But dont get me wrong. I love her and she is so patient with me. She is going out of her way to talk with me and help me get around and I love her for that. She also made a fabulous dinner tonight and she loves to take care of her huge terrace full of plants. My room has a door leading out to it. It is gorgeous.

Today we took a tour of the city. The city is huge, like overwhelmingly enormous. It is such a mix of rich and poor, it changes from block to block.

I have made three really good girl friends, all three go to Stonehill. We have an exam really early in the morning to help us be placed into the appropriate course levels.

Everything is so new and exciting...I cannot wait to start traveling around the country. Some of the kids who have already been here for a month have a break this week and are taking a bus to Mendoza (wine country) and then to Santiago Chile. We hope to do the same and are also hoping to go up to Rio.

I love you all. I will keep you updated about everything. XOXO