Week 2

So, I still love it here. I am worried because you know when everything is going well, and normally things are so bad that it seems like something must go wrong at any minute? That's me right now. I just KNOW that things will be bad soon! I'm sure there will be a bad post coming around the corner. But since there's not, let me fill you in. I went to Mar del Plata for the weekend. This is a bout a 4-5 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires on the beach. I, however, did not have to take a bus, because I was on my way to visit a family who is friends with a girl that I graduated from highschool with who now attends Converse. We've kept in touch, and she suggested that I contact this family. So, I did, and immediately they invited me over for the weekend. In addition, the father has 3 daughters, and one just happens to be married and have a two year old son, and live only a few blocks from me in the same neighborhood! DESTINY! She happened to be planning on visiting her family for the weekend, so I caught a ride with her and her little family. Her husband was the nicest, and her son was an absolute trip. Children always make me smile, and it was wonderful to see the interaction between mother and child. The son's name was Facundo, and his favorite word was "basta" which means "enough" then she would say "basta que" which means "enough what?" and he would say "ruido" which means noise. She would say "porque?" which means "why," and he would asnwer, "porque estoy tratando dormir" which means "because I'm trying to sleep." It was the cutest thing and would go on and on multiple times each day. When we arrived in Mar del Plata it was raining, but that didn't matter. They live ON the beach in the pent house of a condo building. And little did I know this was just ONE place they lived. We ordered in empanadas and had a feast with the three people that I rode over with, the older daughter who has two children, the mom/grandmother, and the younger daughter. Then we all fell asleep. When I awoke, I changed into my bathing suit for a day at the beach and then looked outside to discover that it was raining!! So instead, I changed, and by that time, I went with the younger daughter and her father to breakfast where I had churros with chocolate or dulce de leche inside. Then we wnt for a tour of the city in the rain. I love the city. It's the perfect size, and so quaint, with wonderful arquitecture, and HOUSES. Something I miss from home. We drove out to the pier, and I got to see tons of sea lions. I had no idea they had them here!! I almost got my leg taken off, because I got too close while taking a picture. It was the best!! I felt like a kid. Then we picked the rest of the family up and went to a nice retaurant on the beach. The rain stopped, and as soon as the sun came out, I headed with Florencia (the younger daughter) to the park to drink mate with her friends. Her group of friends are a complete trip. They really are like the group from Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. They are so much fun, tell funny stories, talk for hours, love to waste time together, are super girly, and laugh all the time! It was wonderful. I even liked the mate. Afterwards, we all went home, and Flor and I went to dinner with her parents at a really nice restaurant. However, our experience, other than the extremely attractive waiter, was not so nice. The older sister had a wedding to go to, so we had two extra kids, and two less parents to the mix. It was a complete disaster, but lots of fun nonetheless. Afterwards I went with Flor to meet up with some more of her friends and we played cards and games until early in the morning. Then, we went home, slept a bit, and headed out to the country. They have a huge farm, with dogs and cows, a lodge, an enormous house, a grill to feed a million, two pools, two jaccuzzis, and servants. It was fantastic. We grilled out all day with about 30 family members or more, and then we all went swimming. Afterwards, we headed home, showered, and then went out to eat and then for dessert. We went to sleep early so we could get up early and make it to the beach before I had to leave that afternoon. It was a wonderful day at the beach, and we picknicked! Then, sadly, I headed back to BA. Once in BA, some of my classes started up. Boy, what was I thinking with this honors program? It is SO hard. I can only hope to pass at this point! I sure hope my spanish improves fast enough to keep up! I'm the only foreign exchange student in the class. It's tough. In addition to class, I went back out to the country to a different farm mfor a day with intentions on riding horses, but we ended up grilling out, going to the pool, and riding bikes all over the land instead. It was still fun. That's really all for now. I'll fill yall in with more adventures soon.