Happy Birthday to Me ;-)

Had a great first weekend here in Buenos Aires. On Friday night, I went out with the school... A suprising amount of students showed up, and we went to Puerto Madero to celebrate surviving the week´s classes. I finally got a chance to meet lots of people from here at the school, as it tends to be a little hectic at the breaks, and up until then I had really only gotten to know the people in my class. It was also my first chance to really go out and relax because I had been trying to study hard and catch up for the first few days. The nights here are crazy, finally I´ve found a city that is on my sleep schedule ;-)

Saturday was more laid back, I promised myself that for the first day in a week I wouldn´t set an alarm clock. So naturally I slept most of the day, and then dragged myself out of bed around 4. Inge, a woman in my class from Holland, also had a birthday this weekend, and we went out to dinner to celebrate on Saturday night. It was really nice, everyone from my class went together. We had a nice leisurely dinner and then hung around in Palermo for a bit. Afterwards we called it a pretty early night (for here on a weekend, about 2 o´clock).

Sunday I got to meet my roommate´s daughter, Belen. We went to the park together and browsed around the market for a bit in Recoleta. We sat around in the grass and brought things to make sandwiches for lunch. We watched some silly street performer show and then, somehow, ended up with a puppy! It is only 3 weeks old. I don´t know what will happen with that, but I have to admit, its adorable. And the idea of having it from 3 weeks to only 3 months is appealing... I never have to see her get all big, haha. I have some pictures that I will post when I get a chance.

Today we started new classes, and everything seems good so far. I am with most of the same people but have a new profesor. We worked a lot with verbs today though, which is exactly what I need and what the last level lacked. In a few minutes, I am off to Playa Peru with a few friends. It´s apparently a cafe type of place with grass and sand, but notsomuch a beach. Should be really fun though, I´m looking forward to getting outdoors some. The weather here has been oppressive hot so a bikini sounds good right about now. Tonight we are all planning to get together for dinner and cake, so it should be a nice birthday :-)

Wooo!!

So I passed my first exam. I will get to start the intermediate level courses on Monday. I´m not so sure that I am ready yet, but I guess we´ll see, haha. Our little group (three other people and our profesor) went to Puerto Madero after class and split a dessert at, of ALL FREAKIN´ PLACES, TGI Fridays! But the brownie was good, and the location here is much better than at home, haha. We sat outside watching the ships, and the weather today was perfect. Tonight everyone from the school is going out together, so that should be fun. I am looking forward to my first weekend here in Buenos Aires, and the chance to sleep in a little bit for once!

Next weekend Alejandra is taking me along with her to Mar del Plata, a ritzy-ish resort town a few hours away on the beach . She has friends that are vacationing there. I can´t wait to get some sun and relax for a few days. I will make sure to take pictures there. Well I don´t have a whole lot more to report right now, but should have lots to share after the weekend. Everyone take care ;)

Settling In

Well I´m here bumming around the school... I´m getting a free private lesson later today because I arrived late in the lesson period, which means I get my first test tomorrow also. It´s good though, because I´ll get to advance the first level in half the time (have to study a lot tonite though). Yesterday Alejandra fixed my room up for me, it was so nice of her. I got a new bed and a little TV, and even an adapter for my computer (we dont have internet though). Our apartment is really unique, my roommate thinks its hilarious that I am infinitely entertained by the ceiling. It opens up to let the fresh air in. I want one someday, haha. I´m starting to win my battle with the key to the apartment slowly but surely... It´s very tempermental though!



I´ve been hanging out with a friend from school the past two days, her name is Freya, and she is from Germany. Yesterday we went to lunch and then checked out Puerto Maduro. It´s a really nice area, I caught my first glimpse of Casa Rosada as well. Puerto Maduro is good for scenery and to see all the lights at night, but it is VERY expensive. It is near the big business district, feels like wall street or something, all big shiny buildings with suits walking out of them.



Anyways, I keep threatening to post pictures, and I swear I will. I hate bringing my camera out with me much though, and I never bring it to school because its usually really busy here (only four computers) and I feel guilty for messing with it while people wait. Better go study now like a good girl... Besos y abrazos ;)



P.S. I did finally post the pictures... the top and bottom are of our apartment and the middle is the Andes around Santiago from the airplane.

Second day in Buenos Aires

Yep, finally, I am here in Argentina. All my flights went smoothly, and there were some pretty incredible views over the Andes (the rest of the time it was too dark to see anything).I got here yesterday around noon, and my arrival situation was interesting. When I got to the apartment that I was supposed to stay at, my poor new roommate had no idea I was coming. Apparently no one decided to inform her. I felt terrible, but even though it was awkward at first, she invited me in and made me feel right at home. She doesn´t speak english, and my castellano is non existent... Plus the three days of not sleeping on my part and the fact that I had woken her up didnt help. We both took naps and then tried again. She had a friend over that spoke some english, we had mate and got to know each other and then walked around the city for a while. I couldn´t be happier, she seems to be a really nice girl, and I will learn much quicker when I have to share a set of keys with someone that speaks only castellano! I started classes this morning, and the school seems really nice. I think I might have been placed in too high a level, because my conversational skills, for lack of a better word, suck. But I love the format, I attend class from 9 to 1. There are four other people in my class, two from holland, one from england, and one from germany. We sit around a square table and alternate from workbook exercises to conversational practice. I have been wandering around Recoleta for a bit this afternoon, and it is beautiful. There are trees lining the streets, and dog walkers everywhere. It is relatively quiet and residential here, and there are plenty of internet cafes and restuarants. I will be adding some pictures soon, but am having some key issues at the moment. They will be edited into this post later today or tomorrow. If anyone needs my address, email me. Love, Rae.