Home sweet home?

Well, here I am, blogging to you from good ol' Wilmington, Delaware. Let me update you on the past few days. Thursday night we went to O'Connell's (our favorite bar) and sat there for hours! Nobody from the West Chester group came which was annoying because it was the last night for us to see the kids from Simpson! We're going to spend the next 24 hours together on planes and in airports, aka I spent the entire night with my new friends. There were a good amount of us at O'Connell's, the same server we always have definitely hated us tonight. We wanted to sit outside because it was nice out so we were moving all the tables around. At first, it was Nathan, Shelby, Belu, Pau, Susan and I. Then Kayla, Melissa, Haley and about 7 or 8 of their friends showed up. Then finally Addi and Martin came! We sat there forever talking about how nobody wants to leave!!! After, we went to the Pancho kiosko (they sell hot dogs) because I hadn't tried them yet! You get to pick all your toppings that you want on it and it's only 8 pesos! I got one with ham, cheese, ketchup and papas fritas.....it wasn't really good but it sounded like the safest option. I don't even like hot dogs anyway but whatever I tried it! Then we just walked around the city and tried to find something to do. Thursday nights are hit or miss here. We decided to go to a boliche and they were getting ready to close! I forgot that they close early on Thursdays. We walked around some more and ended up walking everyone home. I got home around 5:45, I think, took a shower and finished packing. The bus came to get us at 9 so I just decided to stay awake so I would be able to sleep on the plane. The bus picked everyone up at their house and as soon as everyone was on it I passed out. I slept the entire 4 hours to Buenos Aires. Then we got to the airport and LAN (our airline) wasn't open yet so nobody could check in. Almost an hour later we got in and went through customs and all that nonsense and got some food before our plane. Then as we were about to board we were told there were technical difficulties!!! We sat back down and hung out for 45 minutes and then finally boarded. The flight to Chile was 2 hours, we got there and had to go through customs again since we were going to the US. Then when we got to Chile we found out our flight back to JFK was delayed too! Everyone walked around a little bit, I bought some water to take on the plane with me, and then we ended up sitting around for a while longer. When we finally were able to board that plane there was another thing for customs down on the path. They searched our bags and made us throw out any liquids. I was furious because I had just bought 2 water bottles for the 12 hour plane ride and was telling the woman (all in Spanish) that they were closed and I had just bought them on the other side of security it was fine and she wouldn't let me have them!! I finally got on the plane and started watching a movie and they served us dinner. After the first movie, I watched another one and finally fell asleep watching that. I woke up at 8 when they were giving us breakfast, watched another movie and fell back asleep. We got to the airport and went through customs, which was the biggest joke of my life. I was told not to bring home alcohol and that they would take it since I'm not 21....I WALKED RIGHT THROUGH CUSTOMS WITHOUT THEM LOOKING IN MY BAG!!! He asked me what kind of food I had and I told him alfajores and then told me to have a nice day. I could have brought home more fernet for everyone to try. I was so mad!!! So we went and the bus was already there because we were late, got on the bus and hit the road. We should have been home in like 2.5 hours, JFK isn't too far, but nope. It was an all day event. First, we were still in New York and you know how NY drivers are, someone wouldn't let our driver over so he couldn't get into the bus Ez pass lane so he went through the car one and actually hit the toll. He got pulled over and got a ticket, then got another ticket because the bus company didn't have insurance on his bus. Then we got stuck in traffic on the highway because everyone was heading to the beach, I guess. The amount of time it should have taken us to get home was how long it took us just to get to the Jersey turnpike. Finally, hours later we arrived back at WCU and my mom picked me up! First place we went, WAWA! It was so delicious! Now I'm just kind of hanging out, we're going to the pool for dinner tonight!

mi último día completo en Argentina :(

Today is my last full day in Argentina! I seriously can not believe how fast these five weeks have gone by. Everyone is probably so sick of hearing me say that, but it's true. I hate how when you aren't enjoying what you're doing the time goes by so slow, but of course when you're enjoying yourself the time flies. I never thought I would fall in love with a foreign country, let alone one in South America. I always pictured myself studying abroad in Spain and never thought that if I went there I wouldn't want to go home. Nope, here I am in South America in love with the country not wanting to return to the United States. I'm in a place where people, myself included, have always underestimated. I went to classes this morning and it was rough! I made a card for Graciela and had everyone sign it. She started to cry when we gave it to her which almost made me cry! She is the sweetest woman. Then we had our other class and I had my final presentation. I really don't know why but I am not a public speaker and theres only 6 people in the class and I still couldn't get the correct words out....embarrassing! After class we had graduation! Merm and Derek sang a song we listened to in Graciela's class (in Spanish) and then Eliana, Fanny and Melina wanted to hear more so they sang "Jersey Turnpike Blues" the song they wrote when we broke down on the side of the turnpike on our way here! Then we got our certificates and hats and took lots of pictures. Then we had our goodbye lunch at Pasosport, the same delicious place we had our welcome lunch! Fanny, Melina, Eliana (the women from the International Relations office) and Graciela all came to eat with us! It was really sad and hard saying goodbye to them, but they said I had to come back and I definitely will! I wish I wasn't almost done my minor requirements because I would love to come back next spring and spend the whole semester here! After lunch I went and found the guy that sold me the rings on San Martin and bought some more jewelry then I met up with Pau for my last minute shopping extravaganza! Alfajores, CHECK. Fernet to drink tonight (I can't bring any home since I'm not 21) CHECK. Shot glasses for my collection, CHECK. Dulce de leche, CHECK. Mate, yerbaera and yerba, CHECK. Mom, we can totally smoke the peace pipe at the pool when I get home. Greg, don't worry I'm leaving the herbs in the container I bought it in so customs won't think its weed like everyone else did when they saw the Wikipedia page. And I definitely bought a lot of other things too but I can't remember right now. We're about to have our last dinner with Mama Maria, Manuel (my brother) and Belen (one of my two sisters). After we're going to the bar and then the boliche! The plan is to stay out til the boliches close at 6am and then get breakfast and then we'll catch our bus to the airport at 9. I'm not done packing and I don't want to finish packing! I don't want to leave!!!!! I haven't had time to upload any pictures recently but once I have time I will update this probably one or two last times after I return to the states. Chau, chau!

Mi Penúltimo Día :(

Today was the second to last day here in Rosario!!! Words can not even describe how upset I am! Tomorrow is going to be so hard and sad! We had classes this morning and then went to lunch at la empanaderia! After lunch I went back to my house to drop off my books and then took a taxi to meet everyone at el Museo de la Memoria. I experienced being taken advantage of by a taxi driver for the first time, I told him el Museo de Memoria on Cordoba and Moreno. He took me to el Bosque de la Memoria at the edge of the city in not a nice area. I wasn't paying attention to the streets, I was texting Paula, so I had no idea when we passed both of the streets I needed to be on. He said it was el museo de la memoria and I also asked a woman on the street and she said it was el museo de la memoria too! It was 20 pesos and I was in a sketch part of the city and there were no other taxis in sight. I walked so many blocks and finally met up with Marcos and the other students at the right museum where I found out there was a different museum de memoria. Glad I knew that before.... anyway the museum was really interesting, it was all about the desaparecidos, the people who disappeared! The building that the museum is located in was actually the headquarters for the military during the dictatorship where they planned the kidnappings and killings of all the desaparecidos! I'm such a sucker for the big historical things like this. The Holocaust and these types of things are very fascinating to me, I would probably have been a history major if I cared to learn about wars and the other less interesting things we always were forced to learn about when we were younger. After the museum I met up with Pau to go shopping and have merienda, the afternoon snack they have here. We walked down Cordoba searching for a Messi jersey for my stupid brother, yes Greg, this is directed at you. We couldn't find one anywhere! They have the Argentina National team jerseys but without any names on them, which makes no sense to me. Messi is one of the greatest soccer players and he is from Rosario, why wouldn't you have his jersey on every street corner?! Anyway after that I saw some more girls in the shops that had their hair done in the most popular style here, dyed blonde at the ends. Pau and I decided that I needed to do something crazy and spontaneous while I'm here and since I only have one full day left why not go with the trend and try to look more like an Argentinian? We went to the salon and unfortunately it would take three hours to bleach the ends and then dye it, etc and the salon closed in an hour and a half so they wouldn't have time to do it! They told me to come back tomorrow but I don't think I'll have time =/ Then we went to Pau's apartment and had merienda and I interviewed her for my final paper! Then I came back to the house and worked on my paper some more and had dinner with Mama Maria. Then I skyped Belu, we're actually still skyping right now with Pau, and interviewed her for my paper! Tomorrow we graduate from UCEL :( It's gonna be so sad! After graduation we're having a big lunch with the ambassadors and the people from the International Relations office! Then I have so many things I need to buy and do and I still need to pack and then EVERYONE (Simpson kids, WCU kids, and ambassadors) is going to the boliche ALL NIGHT!!! Chau for now!

Las Cataratas del Iguazú!

Sorry I haven't been posting much, I've been so busy! Everything I saw this weekend was BEAUTIFUL! I'm still amazed by it all. Friday we got to the bus station at 6:30 and the bus left at 7. It was just a normal greyhound type bus that we had to take to Santa Fe (2 hours) and then we would get our bus with seats that turned into beds! We got dinner on the second bus almost as soon as we got on! After I ate I passed out and slept for most of the trip! I slept through breakfast and we arrived somewhere between 12 and 12:30. Marya and I checked into our Hostel/Hotel, we didn't want to stay in the cheap hostel that everyone else was staying in so we thought it was a hotel that we booked but it was actually a nice hostel!! It was nice! We showered and went to have lunch with everyone. We found out that the others ate without us so we got empenadas with Marcos and headed to the Tres Fronteras! It's the most northern part of Argentina and you can see Paraguay and Brazil from there! We couldn't go into either other country like Marcos had originally thought because US citizens need visas. Honestly, just being there and seeing them both was good enough for me! We did some shopping and took pictures and then headed back into town to have dinner with the others! After dinner Marya and I headed back to our hotel to get some sleep. We got up at 8 Sunday morning and had breakfast. We walked across the street and took the bus to the falls! We walked in around 9:45 and there were many cute little gift shops and homemade crafts people were selling. We walked through the store part to a train that took us to La Garganta del Diablo, the Throat of the Devil! It was basically a giant black hole of waterfall, haha! There was so much water and we were so close to it all!!! I'm pretty sure that was the biggest fall (fall is salto en Spanish) there but don't quote me on that. We spent a lot of time walking up there, taking pictures, and walking back so by the time we took the train back down to the main area it was some time after 1. We went to the food area and got lunch and then hit the other trails in the park. First we did the Superior Trail, walking around the top of the waterfalls! It was all so beautiful! Then we did the Inferior Trail and were at the bottom of everything! When we got through majority of the Inferior Trail we decided to do a boat ride, it took us right into the bottom of the falls! I was SOAKED but it was totally worth it because of how much fun it was! After the boat we finished the rest of the Inferior Trail and started to head towards the exit. While we were walking through the park we saw so many animals! Las coaties were everywhere, they look like raccoons but I think they're more cute. If you've seen the movie Elf, I'm not sure why I associate with you if you haven't, remember the part when Buddy goes up to the raccoon and asks it if it needs a hug? Well, Eddie was doing that and it was hilarious! He didn't get attacked like in Elf though. One of them did climb halfway up Cody's leg trying to get his alfajor after lunch! I also saw monkeys, different types of birds, and a toucan!! We got out of the park and did some shopping and then took the bus back. We got off at our hotel and picked up our stuff and headed into town to meet up with everyone. We grabbed some food and went to the bus station. The bus came right on time, but was definitely not as nice as the one we took to Iguazu. Dinner on the bus wasn't that great so it was a good thing I ate before! They had no movies, what kind of bus for 16 hours has no movies? So I went right to sleep and slept through breakfast again! Lunch was not so great either and so I went back to sleep until we arrived in Rosario. We were starving when we got here so we went and got some food and then came home. I worked on some homework and then at 10:15 Mama Maria's friends came over for dinner. We had chicken and rice and then chocolate fondu for dessert!!! It was sooo yummy!
Today we had classes and we talked about the falls and everything we did in Graciela's class! Then we got to watch Stef's video of her skydiving since she didn't come to Iguazu! It looked really cool, I wish I had time to do that while I'm here!!! After classes I had lunch with Marya and Stef at Gran Vie, our favorite restaurant. After lunch I came home and took a nap and now here I am FINALLY updating my blog. I'm not sure how much time I will have to blog the next few days, I'll try to do one a day but it's my last week here. I can't believe how fast time has gone by and how upset I get just thinking about having to leave!! I have SO many things I need to do still. I also still have a final paper that I need to get working on, I'm not very happy about that. So much to do, so little time. Sorry all, but I really don't want to come home!!!

Here are some pictures from Iguazú this weekend!

 The pool at our hotel!

Back of the hotel.

Iguazú, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World!

The sun setting over Paraguay!

 Standing in Argentina.

Paraguay to the left, Brazil to the right!

Most northern part of Argentina!

Tres Fronteras!

Map of Iguazú!

The trail to the Garganta del Diablo!!

Walking on top of water

The mist above the trees from the Garganta del Diablo!

Garganta del Diablo!

Me!

Standing right over top of it....

All the students who went to Iguazú at the Garganta del Diablo

A cool looking bird

Falls from the Superior Trail

Our coatie friend

 Falls from the Inferior Trail!

At the bottom of one of the falls!

 Sun going down while we were leaving!

Packing for Iguazu!

The Simpson kids are having their graduation ceremony right now :( Last night was our second to last night out with them!! Shelby, Haley, Nathan, Susan, Belu, Pau and I went to Shawarma for a while and then went to O'Connell's after! Haley, Susan and Nathan decided to go to a boliche but Shelby, Pau, Belu and I were so tired so we went to our houses. It's a good thing I went home when I did because I didn't hear my alarm this morning and was 45 minutes late to class! When I got there we really hadn't done much yet and we were about to watch a movie about the waterfalls! We had our other class and then went to lunch and now I'm back at the house packing for Iguazu this weekend! The Iguazu waterfalls are one of the 7 wonders of the world!! We're taking a bus there tonight, 14 hours! I'm actually really excited about it because we each have a seat that goes all the way back so it's like a bed! I'm probably going to get more sleep tonight than I have this entire trip! I'll make sure to take lots of pictures, we'll be back on Monday afternoon!!

Flag Day!

Yesterday was flag day! Tuesday night we all went out to a karaoke bar since nobody had classes yesterday! It was so much fun! I didn't get home until around 4:30 and I passed right out! I overslept a little because Mama Maria woke me up around 7 to ask me something and then I fell back asleep. I missed the beginning of the parade but I thankfully found Marya and Marcos in the crowd and watched the rest of the parade with them! There were so many people and Argentina has the longest flag in the world! They've been making it for the past 14 years! I got to hold it but I look like an idiot in the picture because we were walking with it! After the parade was over Marya and I went to Gran Vie, a restaurant we like and got their flag day deal, a large pizza and 6 empanadas! It was delicious!!! I took a nap and finished some homework and just relaxed the rest of the day. Nothing fun happened today, all the WCU people had lunch together and then I went back to UCEL to do homework. Here's some pictures from flag day!



                                             The Parade!

The monument and tons of people!

Longest flag in the world!

Walking with the flag :)

Nothing too excited happened today but everyone is really anticipating tomorrow, Flag Day! This year marks the 200th anniversary of the flag, which was first hoisted here in Rosario! It will be insane because everyone comes to Rosario, even the president will be here!!! There are parades and celebrations all day and we don't have classes! Today classes were such a struggle, probably because of the excitement for tomorrow! The city has been getting ready all week, there's flags everywhere hanging from every building. People are walking around with ribbon of the flag pinned to their jackets and all sorts of crazy things! I tried to take a siesta (nap) today but Mama Maria and the dog kept waking me up so that didn't really happen. I'm about to go to the movies with a bunch of friends to see a movie about Argentina's economic crisis in 2001. Then we're going to a karaoke bar since we don't have class tomorrow! I should have plenty of pictures tomorrow/Thursday depending on when I have time to blog again. That's all for now :)

Sorry for the lack of blogging over the weekend! Friday was Christina's 21st birthday! Graciela brought  medialunas (a type of croissant) to class in the morning for us to all eat and we sang to her in Spanish! After class I went to my new favorite place Pizza in a Cone, aka the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. You get 2 cones and a drink for 20 pesos, $4.50 in the US! Which is obviously a great deal. Then Friday night everyone from WCU went to a restaurant for dinner for Christina's birthday! It was fun but it stinks that she didn't get the real 21 experience, nobody ever gets carded here! After we headed to the boliche because we had free passes! We got split up because some of the kids wanted to walk but Stef, Marya and I took a taxi which was the smart option because we got into the boliche in time and the others didn't! We met up with the kids from Simpson and it's a fantastic thing we did because Addi is a god. She always gets us into boliches for discounted prices by pretending not to speak Spanish well, it is brilliant. We were waiting in line and she walked up to the front and told the guys that it was our last weekend in Rosario before we had to leave for the states and we needed to use the free passes! She also told them that most of us didn't really speak Spanish well so she would try to help us and them the best she could, we got right in!!! We were there until 5am and I came home and slept until 2! I met Marya for lunch and finished our homework then we went shopping on Cordoba! I came home and finished my homework and we had dinner with Mama Maria's friend. After dinner I went to the boliche with the girls from Simpson because we had more free passes! We didn't stay out too late because on Sunday morning we had to be at school at 8:50. We took the bus to Estancia, a ranch! It was the first day it's rained since I've been here and it was cold which kind of sucked. We got there and sat around the fire for a while and watched the asado (meat) cook. Then we went inside and the food never stopped coming! First was cheese and meat and bread, next was empenadas, then salad, then sausage, and finally the meat! We got our first piece of meat and ate that, then the guy came back with another and then came back a third time and finally a fourth time! I couldn't eat anything the last time because the third time he came around I only finished half of my meat! Then we watched a folk dance and tango show and then had dessert! After dessert it had stopped raining so we got to ride the horses! It was a lot of fun! We got home around 8:30 and thought I was going to be sick when Mama Maria made dinner at 10. Too much food! Today was dreary, it looked like it was going to rain but it never did. I had lunch with Addi and then did homework at UCEL with her for a while. Nicole is making us dinner tonight so let's see how good of a cook she is ;) Here's some pictures from the weekend!





Cooking the meat over the fire! I'm not really sure why you can't see the fire in the picture....

Part of the ranch!

Folk Dance

Riding a horse!

Eating Pizza in a Cone, the most delicious thing ever. 

The past few days have been so busy! Tuesday I woke up with a terrible migraine, I guess not sleeping much over the weekend finally caught up with me. I slept through my first class, when I woke up I felt a lot better though! After class I had lunch with Addi and Jesse. Then we went back to UCEL to meet everyone from WCU and some of the ambassadors and Simpson kids for mate and cervezas in the park for Nicole's birthday. We went to probably my least favorite park here, there was dog poop EVERYWHERE. It was gross, not a smart choice for a mate park. After that I went back to UCEL with Addi and we did some homework. At like six I came home to work on a paper and finish everything before the big party. Mama Maria had everyone from the West Chester group, our professor and his friend over for dinner for Nicole's birthday! It was a lot of fun, she made gnocchis! After dinner and cake and cleaning up a lot of us went to the bar. By the end of the night it was down to Nicole, Jesse, Manuel (my host brother) and I. We didn't get home until 5 am!!!! Waking up for class at 8:30 was really rough. I somehow made it to class yesterday, don't ask me how because I probably looked like a zombie. After class I went to this little cafe on my Rosario bucket list that is 50% off on Wednesdays! Then at 3 we had our first tango class!! I'm not trying to brag, but I'm actually pretty good. A lot of the people were saying it was hard but it came pretty easy to me. Maybe it's from the years of hip-hop and Irish dancing....who knows. After tango I finished my homework and caught up on Pretty Little Liars!! I finally found a website that works here! I found the hard way that ABCFamily.com and Netflix don't work outside the US! You can see the picture below. This morning I went to class with Graciela and we were learning about the history of tango! Perfect timing since we had class yesterday. She said she didn't know how to tango only salsa so Eddie was "teaching" her! Then in class with Marcos we listened to some tango music and learned some new material. I went to the cafe at UCEL to work on my paper and then ended up going to La Empanadaria for lunch. We had tango class again today and I'm definitely awesome ;) They kept telling me not to dance on my toes and stay flat which is hard for me I think because of Irish dance, you're always on your toes. Plus, I was imagining having on heels like our instructor! I finished one of my papers after class and then took a nap. We had chicken for dinner and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert! I should be finishing my other paper now but obviously blogging is more important, right? Haha, don't comment and answer that!! I'm 99% sure that my English is a whole lot worse than when I got here. I've found myself thinking in Spanish and it's definitely messing with my head because I'm second guessing myself when I speak or write in English, like right now. So basically what I'm saying is sorry for any grammatical errors or if things don't make sense....I've re-read everything I wrote here and I feel like it's correct but then again who knows. Fio, that was mostly directed to you if you're still reading this. I can picture you cringing at my terrible mistakes ;) Here are some pictures!

Belen, Me, Mama Maria, Nicole, Ines. My sisters :)

Nicole, Mama Maria and I at Nicole's birthday party.

Manuel, my host brother!

Everyone at Nicole's party!

Eddie teaching Graciela how to tango.....

The lovely message ABC Family gave me when I tried to watch my show :(

Buenos Aires!

This weekend was so much fun! Friday I had classes 8:30-1 and then we got a quick lunch and headed to Buenos Aires! The bus was about 5 hours because there were stops along the way. We checked into the hotel and I lucked out rooming with Marya because we were the only double! We walked down Ave Corrientes, which is one of the streets that intersects the Obelisco, to a restaurant and had dinner. I had a hamburger and fries. It had ham and cheese on it which was interesting but delicious at the same time! After dinner we walked down to Corrientes and 9 de Julio and saw the Obelisco up close at night! We went to a pub kind of place called Jackie O's after for a little to experience the Buenos Aires night life! We didn't stay out too late because Saturday morning we had a tour at 10 am. We started off the tour in Plaza de Mayo. It's named Plaza de Mayo for one of the Independence days, May 25. It's also the main square with the Catedral, Casa Rosada (literally translates to Pink House, it's like the White House in the states but the president doesn't live there), and other buildings. The Plaza de Mayo is where all the big protests and events happen. It's probably most known for the Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo. Back during the time of the dictatorship people who were known to be against the military and government had their children taken from them at birth and given to military families. The parents were usually killed and nobody knew what happened, they disappeared. Then we went to La Boca which is basically the ghetto, it's where the prostitutes are and where tango started! While men were drunk waiting for the prostitutes they would dance in the street, aka tango was created! After that we went to Puerto Madero, the port in Buenos Aires. Then we went to the Recoleta Cemetery and got to see the grave site/tomb thing of Evita and her family. Our final stop was San Talmo, the bohemian district where we had lunch. We got to shop at the little vendors on the street which was fun because there were a lot of deals! That night we went to dinner and a tango show which was really cool! After the tango show some of us went back to the hotel to sleep and some went to a jazz club, I went to sleep! Sunday morning I got up and had lunch with Belen. My senior year of high school she came to the states from Argentina and studied at Mount Pleasant so I met up with her! Then we took the long bus ride home, got home around 10:30 had dinner and I passed out. Waking up this morning was so rough but class wasn't too bad. After class I went to lunch with Addi, Nathan, Martin and Hannah and watched the Rosario Central game on the TV. They lost but that's mainly because they suck and they aren't Newell's :) Then Nathan, Addi, Martin and I went back to UCEL because Martin had a test and we did homework in the cafe for a few hours. I came back to the house and finished the paper I was working on, had dinner and here I am now ready for a somewhat early night. 
Here are some pictures from this weekend

Me in front of the Obelisco at night!

La Plaza de Mayo

Casa Rosada

La Boca!

Puerto Madero

Evita's Tomb

Outside the cemetery

Obelisco during the day!