Hola a todos! Well here I am, it´s Sunday and I arrived here to Buenos Aires this past Wednesday. Tomorrow I start with orientation at the UCA, my university, here in Buenos Aires. A lot has happened in my few days here already,I know I will be content here for the coming months. (on a side note this keyboard is painfully slow so bare with me and all the typos)

I´m writing from my apartment here in Buenos Aires, it´s Sunday so the city is actually quite quiet. Up until today it reminded me a lot of New York, only the closed stores on every corner reminded me yet again that I am actually in Argentina. It´s kind of a surreal feeling and I have to keep reminding myself of that. Anyways, this morning I went for a run- lucky for me I live close to a Central Park type place which was full of families and runners and bikesr and roller skates this morning- a familiar feeling. I Even saw my first American flag here, and quickly realized I was running past the U.S. embassy in Argentina.

Yesterday I walked through the city for hours and hours and hours- literally. I was with Caitlyn, one of the other girls here from UW, as well as Ignacio, who arranges all o f the homestays and housing for us here in Bs.As. Anyways, he took us all around the city, we went through Recoleta which has the infamous Recoleta cemetery and is also the home to the tomb of Evita Peron. Yesterday was conveniently the anniversary of her death, so there were hundreds of bouqets of flowers and many many people speaking different languages paying homage to Eva. I also saw the tomb of Facundo Quiroga- who was a famous but not so well loved general in Argentina, and also a great-grandfather to my host dad here, also a Quiroga.

We also went inside a beautiful church in Recoleta, had some coffee, and took the subway to see my school in Puerto Madero. It is in an absolutely amazing neighborhood where the UCA is, right on the water, and completely brand new and recently renovated. High rise condos are popping up everywhere, and it is right on the river.

I was tired from the night before, I went out with a friend from NYU who has family here but have yet to get used to the change in schedule. Going out early would be considered any time before two a.m. But the craziest thing happneed to me on Friday night, my friend Natacha and I were sitting in this little tiny bar in Palermo and I heard some voices speaking English. This not being so common, I turned around and looked- my friend Scott who will also be studying at the UCA with me from UW, was standing right behind me. It was the strangest coincidence and he had just gotten in from Seattle.

I also had the chance to spend some time with my friend Carrie, also from UW. We met in classes at UW, but she just graduated and is going to be teaching English close to where I lived before, in a town called Rafaela. I spent some time at her hostel with friends from her program she had made there, a few guys from the states and others from Ireland. There were also some Peruvians, Germans, Brasilians, and Chileans there- that is what I love about traveling. Everyone is anxious to meet new friends and there are people from all around the world. We went out to eat and I indulged in my first Argentina asado (steak) this time around as well as Malbec Mendoza wine.

Let´s see I´m back pedaling but another night I had had dinner with my host family. I live in an aprtment with my host parents, an older couple, and one of their six children who is in her thirties, Ines, and their granddaughter, who is also 21 but currently in Bariloche where her family lives and she is there for winter vacation. Ines, their daughter in her thirties, is divina as they say. Very friendly and is a historian. She will be very helpful with my studies. A couple of their children, also in their thirties, and other granddchildren came over to our house though for dinner and I had my first encounter with all of them. I was drilled with countless questions and we talked for many hours. I was pleasantly surprised to realize I could actually follow most of their covnersations. Of course that involved everyone screaming over the top of one another and six conversations at once, and I instantyl felt right at home.

Well, this computer is driving me crazy so me despido por ahora. I think some friends of mine are coming from Rosario, where I lived before, this week to visit me. It is only 3 hours or so by car, and 4 by bus, and needless to say I am very excited to see them! Orientation is all of this week at school, and I am excited to meet all of the foreign students as well as Argentineans. More to come later, but this is just a little of my life thus far! and as soon as I find a not so slow computer, I will also add my pictures!

Oh, but there is one more thing. The newspapers here have wonderful coverage of our elections en the U.S. I have read more helpful information about Obama, McCain, and their respective wives in the past five days than in the entirety of the last few months. The world is watching that is for sure... Everyone I meet, cab drivers, my host family, and the like continue to ask me my opinion. If McCain wins in November, I have a lot of explaining to do...

besos y abrazos desde Buenos Aires. chau!