Well, I just had the best night of my life. Jane, Angie, and I went to Cuba. We were thinking that we might not go, but then I wouldn’t have had that much fun ever! We met up with Yennifer and Cristaan and Dii. And then we met up with Nuve and her friend. Then the amazing happened. This guy asked me if me and my friends wanted to go up to VIP. Heck yeah we did! So we went up and it was so sweet. It was like a whole area above all the rest of the crowd and there were couches to sit on and a less people. And we could dance all crazy and have an amazing time. And then we went exploring and found a room with a big red motorcycle and white leather couches. It was so amazing. They had their own private bathroom which always had toilet paper! Haha and I went exploring behind this little door and I found this office space which had its own bathroom and couch and there was like this midget girl making out with some old guy in there. Anyways, while I was in there I met the general manager of Cuba and he was really interested in me. (if you know what I mean.) I made sure that he knew I was taken. And he gave me his card and was like call me tomorrow or the next day. Haha I don’t know what on earth he could possibly want, but I think I’m gonna email him. Sounds safe enough. And hey, we might get some perks from it or something. But we had so so so much fun there. It was the most fun I’ve ever had. I can’t wait to do it again. So so great.
Anyways, not much else has happened. I obviously got over my cold and have been doing not too much. we went to dance class on Friday which, once again, we did nothing. I’m just gonna not pay for those classes next month then and not even go. And another disappointment was that we had another volleyball game that I had to go to and pay 4 pesos to play and I didn’t even play! We played 3 games and I didn’t play at all. These women that never even come to practice got to play. Whatever. I just won’t come anymore. Jane can go by herself.
That’s really all that’s happened. Well, my host grandfather is really not doing well. They don’t know how much time he has left. I can tell that it’s stressing out my family. The one day, coni told Fer that her grandpa had gone to the hospital and that made her really upset and she couldn’t stop crying and so her host mom had no idea what was wrong and Fernanda couldn’t communicate, so Coni told me what was wrong and I had to translate to her host mom. And I had to tell her that she needs to make sure that Fer stays calm because she has heart problems and can’t get too worked up or she’ll pass out. I felt so bad and it made me miss my grandparents too. I made sure to tell my mom to tell them I miss them and love them.
Well, we don’t have school tomorrow so Jane, Angie and I are gonna do some choreography for gym class. Adios!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Short story
Missed a day again. I think it’s because I’m sick. Yeah, yesterday at school was so extremely boring. I slept until gym class. Then I came home and helped Juanmi inquire about English classes. He wants to take the TOEFL. And then I went to dance which was a workout and then I came home and slept.
Today, I woke up not feeling well at all, so I stayed home from school. And slept all morning. I am feeling a lot better now, just really bored. I watched Across the Universe and two South Park episodes. I’m still really bored. No dance tonight and no school tomorrow. Looks like I’m in for a really boring time.
Today, I woke up not feeling well at all, so I stayed home from school. And slept all morning. I am feeling a lot better now, just really bored. I watched Across the Universe and two South Park episodes. I’m still really bored. No dance tonight and no school tomorrow. Looks like I’m in for a really boring time.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Dia de estudiantes and Iguazu Falls
Sorry for missing a day again. I actually had an eventful pass two days. Yesterday was our día del estudiante. Yes, we only have one day unlike all the other schools in Iguazu that have a whole semana. (which is a week) our one day of games was really fun though. I took a ton of pictures. The senior class, my class, were the ones who have to put on the games for the other kids. We had music and microphones. It was pretty legit for our little tiny miniscule courtyard. I brought my computer so that they could use my music because everyone else brought all their music on flash drives. So, I copied all their music to my computer and I tried to make some sort of a folder with all the music and with some of mine. You could tell which was my music, not only because most of it was in English, but because my music is always properly labeled with a name, artist, genre, album, and year. Their music, on the other hand, was all the like frost wire downloaded crap like 02enrique_igelSias_i_like_it6785 with no artist and genre and stuff. So, my project that I’ve been busy with now is renaming all of their music that is now on my computer. If it doesn’t have an artist, I’m too lazy to get that info from the internet, so I just delete it. Anyways, I’m sure you don’t care about my OCD with my music…
So, some of the games were a giant candy-land looking board with a giant die. It was cool. And then we had the default game of stick your face in a bowl of flour and dig out (with your mouth) 15 pieces of candy. So amusing to watch! And to do too. We also had this game that was probably the most amusing game I’ve ever seen. You line up two teams which consist of 5 boys and 5 girls (boy girl boy girl). Then, you give the first person in the line a quarter piece of paper. Hehe. And this person has to suck in on the paper so that it’s suspended to their face without holding it. Then, they have to pass it to the person next to them who has to take the paper with their mouth also. So so FUNNY!!!! This one kid looked really young and he kept running away from the line! He looked terrified! I was dying. We also played do you know the lyrics. (I, of course, knew none of the lyrics because they were all songs I’ve never heard before.) We also played a really disgusting game. Earlier that morning we had made up 4 sandwiches. These were not normal sandwiches. They were like half cup of mustard with peppers and tomatoes and crackers. One had like pureed beef and peanuts and a ton of sugar. They were the most disgusting thing ever. And so we had our four victims blind folded and they had to eat these sandwiches and the first person who could name all what was in it, won. My friend Cristiaan played and I felt so bad for him. It looked so gross. Finally, we had this game where we had apples covered in dulce de leche hanging on a string and two kids had to eat the apple the fastest. I feel bad that they got covered in dulce de leche. And of course you know that there had to be a flour fight at some point. I looked like a mess.
I got my Brazilian visa yesterday! So, I’m good to go to Brazil for 10 years now. It was funny, my host mom asked me if was 18 and I said yes. She then said that I could basically go to brazil whenever I wanted now. That’s sweet because Foz do Iguazu looks amazing. I can see the sky scrapers all the time and I really would like to go there.
Anyways, I had gym class that afternoon which was really unproductive again. Ara has this thing for making dance moves that are exercise movements. It’s really quite silly and we don’t get anything done anyways. Jane, Angie, and I said that we’re going to just pick a song and choreograph a dance for it. It’s really quite dumb that we can’t ever get anything done. We could have a really sweet dance. So, I think that I’ll work on that tonight. Maybe. I have to do that music stuff too. Ugh, that can wait. I have dance class tomorrow. well, gym class which is dance unit. And I have dance class too.
Well, I talked to Dan yesterday. He also sang to me which was hysterical. I have no idea why (other for the fact that he’s just a goofball) but he started singing that Enrique Iglesias song. Well, his version of “singing.” It was so funny. And it was late so only Coni and I were up. She was on the couch behind me but you could see her and when she hear him “singing” he just busted up laughing. It really was adorable and hilarious.
Today, Jane, Angie, and I went to the waterfalls. They were the most beautiful sights ever! Like, you people at home think that Niagra Falls are cool, I really wish you could have been here. It’s tons of waterfalls in the middle of the jungle. It was so amazing. It was raining today and I’m sure that they look even more awesome in the sun, but they were still great. And Angie got us onto this boat ride. Okay, it wasn’t like a boat ride that you’re thinking of. This was no Maid of the Mist. This was like a speed raft that took you INTO the waterfalls. The one, we were almost directly under. It was CRAZY! And then we went into like the BIG fall, I don’t know the name, but it felt like someone was pouring buckets of water on me. It was so sweet. We would never do that in the States. After that, I was sooooooo cold. It was a rainy day and there was no sun or heat, and I didn’t have another change of clothes. I was so cold. But overall, it was a great experience.
After I came home, I was so exhausted. I ate and then slept for seriously 5 hours. I’m still tired for whatever reason. So, now I’m working on pictures and blogging and eventually dance moves. Oh, for pictures, I did this sweet thing that I completely got rid of two huge palm trees that were in the middle of this really nice picture. I love picasa. Well, I’ll be back tomorrow. Or the next day at the latest.
So, some of the games were a giant candy-land looking board with a giant die. It was cool. And then we had the default game of stick your face in a bowl of flour and dig out (with your mouth) 15 pieces of candy. So amusing to watch! And to do too. We also had this game that was probably the most amusing game I’ve ever seen. You line up two teams which consist of 5 boys and 5 girls (boy girl boy girl). Then, you give the first person in the line a quarter piece of paper. Hehe. And this person has to suck in on the paper so that it’s suspended to their face without holding it. Then, they have to pass it to the person next to them who has to take the paper with their mouth also. So so FUNNY!!!! This one kid looked really young and he kept running away from the line! He looked terrified! I was dying. We also played do you know the lyrics. (I, of course, knew none of the lyrics because they were all songs I’ve never heard before.) We also played a really disgusting game. Earlier that morning we had made up 4 sandwiches. These were not normal sandwiches. They were like half cup of mustard with peppers and tomatoes and crackers. One had like pureed beef and peanuts and a ton of sugar. They were the most disgusting thing ever. And so we had our four victims blind folded and they had to eat these sandwiches and the first person who could name all what was in it, won. My friend Cristiaan played and I felt so bad for him. It looked so gross. Finally, we had this game where we had apples covered in dulce de leche hanging on a string and two kids had to eat the apple the fastest. I feel bad that they got covered in dulce de leche. And of course you know that there had to be a flour fight at some point. I looked like a mess.
I got my Brazilian visa yesterday! So, I’m good to go to Brazil for 10 years now. It was funny, my host mom asked me if was 18 and I said yes. She then said that I could basically go to brazil whenever I wanted now. That’s sweet because Foz do Iguazu looks amazing. I can see the sky scrapers all the time and I really would like to go there.
Anyways, I had gym class that afternoon which was really unproductive again. Ara has this thing for making dance moves that are exercise movements. It’s really quite silly and we don’t get anything done anyways. Jane, Angie, and I said that we’re going to just pick a song and choreograph a dance for it. It’s really quite dumb that we can’t ever get anything done. We could have a really sweet dance. So, I think that I’ll work on that tonight. Maybe. I have to do that music stuff too. Ugh, that can wait. I have dance class tomorrow. well, gym class which is dance unit. And I have dance class too.
Well, I talked to Dan yesterday. He also sang to me which was hysterical. I have no idea why (other for the fact that he’s just a goofball) but he started singing that Enrique Iglesias song. Well, his version of “singing.” It was so funny. And it was late so only Coni and I were up. She was on the couch behind me but you could see her and when she hear him “singing” he just busted up laughing. It really was adorable and hilarious.
Today, Jane, Angie, and I went to the waterfalls. They were the most beautiful sights ever! Like, you people at home think that Niagra Falls are cool, I really wish you could have been here. It’s tons of waterfalls in the middle of the jungle. It was so amazing. It was raining today and I’m sure that they look even more awesome in the sun, but they were still great. And Angie got us onto this boat ride. Okay, it wasn’t like a boat ride that you’re thinking of. This was no Maid of the Mist. This was like a speed raft that took you INTO the waterfalls. The one, we were almost directly under. It was CRAZY! And then we went into like the BIG fall, I don’t know the name, but it felt like someone was pouring buckets of water on me. It was so sweet. We would never do that in the States. After that, I was sooooooo cold. It was a rainy day and there was no sun or heat, and I didn’t have another change of clothes. I was so cold. But overall, it was a great experience.
After I came home, I was so exhausted. I ate and then slept for seriously 5 hours. I’m still tired for whatever reason. So, now I’m working on pictures and blogging and eventually dance moves. Oh, for pictures, I did this sweet thing that I completely got rid of two huge palm trees that were in the middle of this really nice picture. I love picasa. Well, I’ll be back tomorrow. Or the next day at the latest.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
september 18 and 19
Well, I missed a day, but it was quite fun. I don’t really remember what all I did yesterday. Oh yes, I do remember now. I had to wake up realllllly early. I had a volleyball tournament at 7 in the morning, so I needed to be there at 6:30 to warm up and then leave my house at 6. So, I woke up at 5. And after I couldn’t find Jane and walked to the park and found out that it was closed, I waited around until Jane finally showed up and told me that she ran into one of our fellow teammates and she said that it is at 7 in the evening! So we decided that we would go out for some chipas (cheese filled bread balls) and then we went shopping in town for a bit.
So I spent the afternoon resting and then later we went back to the park to play out tournament but the thing was that no one was there, AGAIN! We waited around for a while. And then we thought that maybe the tournament was held in this big sports complex nearby. So, we walked there and we fortunately found our team. I’m glad that they told us the right time and place for all this. Anyways, the two games that we played went well. We won them. So, yeah, not that fun of a tournament.
Oh yes, before this, I forgot to tell you, I packed up all my things for the night and walked all the way to Janes house which is about a 40 minute walk. My shoulders killed by the time I got there. So, Angie, Jane and I went back to her house and hung out and made some popcorn and hung out for a while. Then we got all ready to go to Cuba.
Cuba was really fun last night! We actually knew people there! We met up with Nube right away and danced with her and her friend most of the time. Then I saw some friends from school and we hung with them for a while. We learned some dances and just had a great time. We were all in much more comfortable shoes which I think helped. Nube drove us home and we showered and crashed for a few hours.
Today, I went to camp with my family for San Lucas’ celebration. It was okay. It really made me miss my friends. I was having a hard time understanding when they spoke to me and Pilar and her friends weren’t there so I didn’t really have anyone that I really knew. Cony hung out with her friend from out of town, so I played volleyball for a bit and then fell asleep and then played some more. Had some food and not much else. I thought about how much fun that would have been if it would have been with my friends from home or even the friends from my school here. It made me really sad. The camp was beautiful though. It was on a lake and gorgeous. I took some great pictures that are on facebook for those who look at facebook.
Anyways, we came home and I played on my computer and then Jane and I decided that we were going to see what church was like. So we went late but there was people crowded out the door. It was packed! I guess it was because the bishop was there that day. I understood nothing of what was going on because one, I don’t know Spanish, two, because I’m not catholic. Anyways, it was different. Not good or bad. So, I went home and prepared for our dia del estudiante tomorrow. I’m excited for that. Well, I’m super tired. Night!
So I spent the afternoon resting and then later we went back to the park to play out tournament but the thing was that no one was there, AGAIN! We waited around for a while. And then we thought that maybe the tournament was held in this big sports complex nearby. So, we walked there and we fortunately found our team. I’m glad that they told us the right time and place for all this. Anyways, the two games that we played went well. We won them. So, yeah, not that fun of a tournament.
Oh yes, before this, I forgot to tell you, I packed up all my things for the night and walked all the way to Janes house which is about a 40 minute walk. My shoulders killed by the time I got there. So, Angie, Jane and I went back to her house and hung out and made some popcorn and hung out for a while. Then we got all ready to go to Cuba.
Cuba was really fun last night! We actually knew people there! We met up with Nube right away and danced with her and her friend most of the time. Then I saw some friends from school and we hung with them for a while. We learned some dances and just had a great time. We were all in much more comfortable shoes which I think helped. Nube drove us home and we showered and crashed for a few hours.
Today, I went to camp with my family for San Lucas’ celebration. It was okay. It really made me miss my friends. I was having a hard time understanding when they spoke to me and Pilar and her friends weren’t there so I didn’t really have anyone that I really knew. Cony hung out with her friend from out of town, so I played volleyball for a bit and then fell asleep and then played some more. Had some food and not much else. I thought about how much fun that would have been if it would have been with my friends from home or even the friends from my school here. It made me really sad. The camp was beautiful though. It was on a lake and gorgeous. I took some great pictures that are on facebook for those who look at facebook.
Anyways, we came home and I played on my computer and then Jane and I decided that we were going to see what church was like. So we went late but there was people crowded out the door. It was packed! I guess it was because the bishop was there that day. I understood nothing of what was going on because one, I don’t know Spanish, two, because I’m not catholic. Anyways, it was different. Not good or bad. So, I went home and prepared for our dia del estudiante tomorrow. I’m excited for that. Well, I’m super tired. Night!
Friday, September 17, 2010
half of September 17
Well, I plan to be busy tonight, so I’ll blog about the day while I can. I had a really fun day so far. I was only in class half of the day, but it was alright. My mom came and got me out of class. And she said that we were going to get my Brazilian visa. That took all of like 20 minutes, then the real fun started. I went to San Lucas for the rest of the day and I got to meet all of Pilar’s friends and play in their games. It was the last day of their semana de los estudiantes and it was really fun and crazy.
I played this game that you put your face into a bowl of flour and have to race to dig out a piece of candy with your mouth. Asco! It tasted so gross, but it was pretty fun. And then they gave us all water balloons. We of course made a mess of things with those. It was so nice to get to know all of the students there and have fun with them. I had such a good time.
We had a good lunch of millanesa and rice. And of course for dessert, popscicles. I really love those things. It’s a good thing that I don’t know where they are located in this house because they would all be gone.
Tonight I have two hours of hip-hop and jazz class. I’m sure that it was be a fun class. And then afterwards, I’m going with one of Pilar’s friends to a dinner with a bunch of people. It should be a good time again. I can’t stay up too late because I have a volleyball tournament tomorrow at 7. I’m excited for that. (not for waking up though.) And tomorrow is also my mom’s birthday. I know she’s miss me. I hope that I get to skype with her, I’m not sure that I will though. All the san Lucas kids, and my host parents are going on a 3 day camping trip, and I think that Cony and I were going to join them. I’m not sure though. So, If you see my mom tomorrow wish her happy birthday and tell her I love her. Well, not much else to tell. Hasta manana.
I played this game that you put your face into a bowl of flour and have to race to dig out a piece of candy with your mouth. Asco! It tasted so gross, but it was pretty fun. And then they gave us all water balloons. We of course made a mess of things with those. It was so nice to get to know all of the students there and have fun with them. I had such a good time.
We had a good lunch of millanesa and rice. And of course for dessert, popscicles. I really love those things. It’s a good thing that I don’t know where they are located in this house because they would all be gone.
Tonight I have two hours of hip-hop and jazz class. I’m sure that it was be a fun class. And then afterwards, I’m going with one of Pilar’s friends to a dinner with a bunch of people. It should be a good time again. I can’t stay up too late because I have a volleyball tournament tomorrow at 7. I’m excited for that. (not for waking up though.) And tomorrow is also my mom’s birthday. I know she’s miss me. I hope that I get to skype with her, I’m not sure that I will though. All the san Lucas kids, and my host parents are going on a 3 day camping trip, and I think that Cony and I were going to join them. I’m not sure though. So, If you see my mom tomorrow wish her happy birthday and tell her I love her. Well, not much else to tell. Hasta manana.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
september 15 & 16
I am so excited to write this and I’m sorry that I didn’t blog this earlier! I HAVE FRIENDS!!!!! Yesterday was like a turning point in my stay here so far. I don’t know why or how, but everything changed for me. In a good way. We were at school and we didn’t have math class, so we were all hanging out in the courtyard and for some reason everyone was so nice to us. We started taking pictures together and playing games and talking and joking. And I don’t know what it was, but I could understand when they spoke to me. I COULD UNDERSTAND! When they told jokes, I could laugh along because I knew what they were saying. And they were patient with my speaking and my Spanish. I was so unbelievably happy. I feel like I have friends now. We were hugging and taking pictures and just have a good time. I know that I sound like such a loser when I say it, but I’m really glad that I have friends.
Diana said to us that she hopes to see us at Cuba this weekend. She wants to meet up with us. And, today, Yennifer asked me to come hang out and drink some tetere. So excited! Later that day, we had gym class and I felt like I had made friends with the girls in the grade below me too. They are so nice and I feel that I can finally get comfortable and be silly around them.
Of course I saw almost everyone later that day at dance class. We had flamenco that day and it was a lot of fun. The first part of the class, we (jane, angie, and i) followed along with their dance in the back. Well, we tried to anyways. Then, they started their second flamenco dance and they included us in it. It was so cool to actually learn a dance! I feel like a part of the class now. I couldn’t do the dance on my own, but I know that if we practice it some more, I’ll get it down. So, that was another great part of the day.
Then Jane and I went to volleyball. That was also fun. It always is and is a great workout. My arms were so exhausted afterwards. I guess that this weekend, probably on Saturday, we have a tournament that we’re in. I guess that it’s early in the morning too. That kinda sucks. I’ll have to come straight home from dance class and go straight to be because dance is until at least 10:30 tomorrow. Oh well, I plan to go out to Cuba Libre on Saturday night. Anyways, that was the end to my wonderful, no, my best day so far.
Then today was also really good. School was just as good. We are becoming closer, I think. We got yelled at though for I’m not sure what. I think it was because we were standing outside of the room when the teacher came up, but I think that he was just in a bad mood because we didn’t do anything during that class anyways and we had gotten all our work done in the first place. I’m not really sure what his problem was because he was talking so fast. Anyways, I don’t care much. Tomorrow, I need to take in 20 pesos for our dia de los estudiantes. That should be fun. A day of games! I don’t know where they plan to have this at though because our school is about the size of our gymnasium in PA. possibly smaller. Definitely smaller. Anyways, I don’t care. As long as I get to see my new friends.
We had ballet dance class today. That, of course, was a workout and now my legs are really sore. My poor torn hamstring is really in a lot of pain these days. I need to make sure I’m careful not to damage it again. Like today, one exercise we did was to do splits across the dance floor. I was so scared to do that because that’s how I tore my hamstring in the first place, but I was all stretched out and warmed up, so I was okay and it was a good stretch. We were supposed to have Arabe class today too, but the whole time that we could have been dancing, the owner of the studio and all the girls were arguing about something. I don’t know what it was really about. There was a lot of talk about how all the girls should be in point shoes and not flat shoes and that for the recital if they want to be in it, they need to be able to wear point shoes. There was also something about a trip to Buenos Aires to compete. I wish I could do that. I would so go just to do makeup or hair or something. It sounds like a lot of fun. Anyways, we didn’t get to dance arabe which was disappointing, but I was tired. I did however practice when I got home. I really love that jingle scarf.
I’m ready for tomorrow, my last day of classes this week. It seems like this week has gone pretty quickly actually. I guess that happens when you stay busy. Hasta manana.
Diana said to us that she hopes to see us at Cuba this weekend. She wants to meet up with us. And, today, Yennifer asked me to come hang out and drink some tetere. So excited! Later that day, we had gym class and I felt like I had made friends with the girls in the grade below me too. They are so nice and I feel that I can finally get comfortable and be silly around them.
Of course I saw almost everyone later that day at dance class. We had flamenco that day and it was a lot of fun. The first part of the class, we (jane, angie, and i) followed along with their dance in the back. Well, we tried to anyways. Then, they started their second flamenco dance and they included us in it. It was so cool to actually learn a dance! I feel like a part of the class now. I couldn’t do the dance on my own, but I know that if we practice it some more, I’ll get it down. So, that was another great part of the day.
Then Jane and I went to volleyball. That was also fun. It always is and is a great workout. My arms were so exhausted afterwards. I guess that this weekend, probably on Saturday, we have a tournament that we’re in. I guess that it’s early in the morning too. That kinda sucks. I’ll have to come straight home from dance class and go straight to be because dance is until at least 10:30 tomorrow. Oh well, I plan to go out to Cuba Libre on Saturday night. Anyways, that was the end to my wonderful, no, my best day so far.
Then today was also really good. School was just as good. We are becoming closer, I think. We got yelled at though for I’m not sure what. I think it was because we were standing outside of the room when the teacher came up, but I think that he was just in a bad mood because we didn’t do anything during that class anyways and we had gotten all our work done in the first place. I’m not really sure what his problem was because he was talking so fast. Anyways, I don’t care much. Tomorrow, I need to take in 20 pesos for our dia de los estudiantes. That should be fun. A day of games! I don’t know where they plan to have this at though because our school is about the size of our gymnasium in PA. possibly smaller. Definitely smaller. Anyways, I don’t care. As long as I get to see my new friends.
We had ballet dance class today. That, of course, was a workout and now my legs are really sore. My poor torn hamstring is really in a lot of pain these days. I need to make sure I’m careful not to damage it again. Like today, one exercise we did was to do splits across the dance floor. I was so scared to do that because that’s how I tore my hamstring in the first place, but I was all stretched out and warmed up, so I was okay and it was a good stretch. We were supposed to have Arabe class today too, but the whole time that we could have been dancing, the owner of the studio and all the girls were arguing about something. I don’t know what it was really about. There was a lot of talk about how all the girls should be in point shoes and not flat shoes and that for the recital if they want to be in it, they need to be able to wear point shoes. There was also something about a trip to Buenos Aires to compete. I wish I could do that. I would so go just to do makeup or hair or something. It sounds like a lot of fun. Anyways, we didn’t get to dance arabe which was disappointing, but I was tired. I did however practice when I got home. I really love that jingle scarf.
I’m ready for tomorrow, my last day of classes this week. It seems like this week has gone pretty quickly actually. I guess that happens when you stay busy. Hasta manana.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
September 14
Today was a most uneventful day. I very much dislike Tuesdays. Well, in good news, my presentation in economics went quite well. They didn’t make fun of me for my horrible pronunciation or anything. Jane wasn’t in school today so I was flying solo on this one. It wasn’t so bad. I sat with Yennifer (pronounced like Jennifer) all day and she is really nice to me. She is extremely hard to understand but she tries to help me out. And she knows some English too. She says that she likes talking to me so that she can improve her English too. I feel bad because she also doesn’t get along with most of the kids in school. She said that they aren’t friendly to her at all. I guess that it’s just the way people are here in Iguazú. The people in Resistencia we so friendly and so helpful but here it is like the polar opposite. Anyways, Yennifer wanted to talk to Wandi about something. I really dislike that woman.
Oh! And today Ara asked the whole class about some sort of camp thing that the school is having. I don’t really know what it’s about but I’m down to try anything. Yennifer told me that it’s in October sometime. That should be fun! I didn’t tell Jane about it yet, but I’m sure that she’ll do it too. I hope that it doesn’t conflict with one of our mandatory rotary meetings.
After school, I came home and went tanning again. It was kinda cloudy today and a bit colder than I’d like, but I still got some sun. Being tan makes me happy. It helps boost my self confidence. (not to mention it helps me blend in here a little more.) I had an okay lunch. It was some kind of Italian recipe but with an Argentinean flare. It was like a corn meal with meat and sauce over top and, of course, with cheese.
I took a long nap and then woke up to go and try to find the embassy of Brazil and the post office. This is my second attempt to find this embassy and I still can’t manage to find it no matter who I ask. I did find the post office. I mailed my mom her birthday present. It won’t be there in time, but I did the best I could.
The rest of the day, I spent it chilling at home and doing random things like writing this blog. Well, I’m gonna go do more random uninteresting things.
Oh! And today Ara asked the whole class about some sort of camp thing that the school is having. I don’t really know what it’s about but I’m down to try anything. Yennifer told me that it’s in October sometime. That should be fun! I didn’t tell Jane about it yet, but I’m sure that she’ll do it too. I hope that it doesn’t conflict with one of our mandatory rotary meetings.
After school, I came home and went tanning again. It was kinda cloudy today and a bit colder than I’d like, but I still got some sun. Being tan makes me happy. It helps boost my self confidence. (not to mention it helps me blend in here a little more.) I had an okay lunch. It was some kind of Italian recipe but with an Argentinean flare. It was like a corn meal with meat and sauce over top and, of course, with cheese.
I took a long nap and then woke up to go and try to find the embassy of Brazil and the post office. This is my second attempt to find this embassy and I still can’t manage to find it no matter who I ask. I did find the post office. I mailed my mom her birthday present. It won’t be there in time, but I did the best I could.
The rest of the day, I spent it chilling at home and doing random things like writing this blog. Well, I’m gonna go do more random uninteresting things.
Monday, September 13, 2010
September 13 &14
Sorry about the delay. “tomorrow” came and went so quickly. I don’t even know what was considered tomorrow. The last few days have been a complete blur. I met tons of people rode on a bus for an abnormally long amount of time went to a lame dance came home at like 7 this morning slept and then went to gym. My internal clock is all thrown off. It’s now 1:12 and I don’t feel very tired. What day is it? The 14th? No, well, kinda still the 13th. Did I miss 9/11? Dang. I must have. That’s so depressing. I forgot to honor that day. What happened that day? I don’t even remember but I know that there was no mention of the attack on my country. Yes, MY country. I love America so much and I miss it so much. I don’t think that there could ever be a greater place than America. All the stereotypes are true.
Well, like I said, I don’t really remember what happened and when. I think that it was yesterday that we finished up RYLA. We had some weird speaker talk about goodness knows what and then a blind man played the piano for all of us. And people go up and danced tradition Argentine dances which made me really want to learn how to do that. Then there was some sort of weird goodbye ceremony. I have no clue what they were saying but I think it was all like RYLA taught me to be this… and RYLA gave me new friends… and all that corny BS. All I know is that I’m sitting there with my cult-like candle and then the man in charge looks and me and then hands me the microphone and I’m supposed to say something. WTF! I didn’t want to speak in front of everyone! I don’t really recall what I tried to say. Something about the people were friendly and thanks for everything. I of course made it quite short. Then we finally left and this nice man took us to the bus station to get our tickets.
We decided that we didn’t want to stay another night as planned. We were all sorta annoyed with Ben and we were tired. We opted to get the next bus to Iguazú which was still 4 hours away. Then this nice man let us stay at his house until we had to back to the bus station and he drove us there and back. This family was so very kind to us. They let us stay at their house and they took us to the grocery store and gave us food and let us make Jane some soup. (she had gotten sick by this point (don’t know if I mentioned that before.)) And when he took us back to the station, he bought all of us this huge bag of cheesy bread. It was so warm and delicious. I feel bad that I don’t even know their names. I’ll have to ask Nancy so we can send them a thank you card.
Anyways, we got in around 7 this morning and I walked home from the bus terminal. I then slept until like 1 and then had lunch followed by an unproductive gym class. I then worked feverishly on my economics project which I procrastinated until now. Jane and I were supposed to do it together but she got sick and won’t be in class tomorrow, and I didn’t want to have nothing prepared, so I made a slide show. In Spanish. It’s pretty good if I do say so myself. I doubt that they’ve even seen a slide show. Or a laptop in school. Oh well, it’ll go well.
I also talked to Madelyn Duncan today about her exchange experience she was giving me some helpful hints. I know that I’ve heard most of them before, but it was just encouraging to hear from someone else who’s done it before. I know that it will turn out alright. Maybe it’ll take more time than I’m used to, but it’ll work. My host mom asked me today if I knew who my other families are that I’m staying with. I didn’t know but all I do know is that I don’t want to change families. I love my family already. They seem to be the only people who are patient with me and who actually help me to learn. When I was sitting down to do my econ project, my host dad came and sat down with me and explained how some things in Argentina economy work. He was so patient when I didn’t know a word or how to say something or how to describe something. I actually learned so much more than I would in a whole week of school here. Everyone in my family here is like that. They are so nice to me and so helpful that I can’t imagine leaving them. I don’t understand why I have to leave them at all. It’s not like I’m changing cities or anything. I’m just going to rotate families with my friends’ families who I already know anyways. I’ll still be in the same environment, so what does it matter if I stay with this family. My mom wanted to take me to Chile in the summer and to Buenos Aires at the end of the summer to see Cony’s school. I won’t get to do that if I’m not with them. I don’t want to leave.
Well, like I said, I don’t really remember what happened and when. I think that it was yesterday that we finished up RYLA. We had some weird speaker talk about goodness knows what and then a blind man played the piano for all of us. And people go up and danced tradition Argentine dances which made me really want to learn how to do that. Then there was some sort of weird goodbye ceremony. I have no clue what they were saying but I think it was all like RYLA taught me to be this… and RYLA gave me new friends… and all that corny BS. All I know is that I’m sitting there with my cult-like candle and then the man in charge looks and me and then hands me the microphone and I’m supposed to say something. WTF! I didn’t want to speak in front of everyone! I don’t really recall what I tried to say. Something about the people were friendly and thanks for everything. I of course made it quite short. Then we finally left and this nice man took us to the bus station to get our tickets.
We decided that we didn’t want to stay another night as planned. We were all sorta annoyed with Ben and we were tired. We opted to get the next bus to Iguazú which was still 4 hours away. Then this nice man let us stay at his house until we had to back to the bus station and he drove us there and back. This family was so very kind to us. They let us stay at their house and they took us to the grocery store and gave us food and let us make Jane some soup. (she had gotten sick by this point (don’t know if I mentioned that before.)) And when he took us back to the station, he bought all of us this huge bag of cheesy bread. It was so warm and delicious. I feel bad that I don’t even know their names. I’ll have to ask Nancy so we can send them a thank you card.
Anyways, we got in around 7 this morning and I walked home from the bus terminal. I then slept until like 1 and then had lunch followed by an unproductive gym class. I then worked feverishly on my economics project which I procrastinated until now. Jane and I were supposed to do it together but she got sick and won’t be in class tomorrow, and I didn’t want to have nothing prepared, so I made a slide show. In Spanish. It’s pretty good if I do say so myself. I doubt that they’ve even seen a slide show. Or a laptop in school. Oh well, it’ll go well.
I also talked to Madelyn Duncan today about her exchange experience she was giving me some helpful hints. I know that I’ve heard most of them before, but it was just encouraging to hear from someone else who’s done it before. I know that it will turn out alright. Maybe it’ll take more time than I’m used to, but it’ll work. My host mom asked me today if I knew who my other families are that I’m staying with. I didn’t know but all I do know is that I don’t want to change families. I love my family already. They seem to be the only people who are patient with me and who actually help me to learn. When I was sitting down to do my econ project, my host dad came and sat down with me and explained how some things in Argentina economy work. He was so patient when I didn’t know a word or how to say something or how to describe something. I actually learned so much more than I would in a whole week of school here. Everyone in my family here is like that. They are so nice to me and so helpful that I can’t imagine leaving them. I don’t understand why I have to leave them at all. It’s not like I’m changing cities or anything. I’m just going to rotate families with my friends’ families who I already know anyways. I’ll still be in the same environment, so what does it matter if I stay with this family. My mom wanted to take me to Chile in the summer and to Buenos Aires at the end of the summer to see Cony’s school. I won’t get to do that if I’m not with them. I don’t want to leave.
Sept 10-12
Well, I realize that I have skipped a few days, but I haven’t had wifi. On the 10th we did nothing but travel. Rode in the bus for hours and hours and hours. We weren’t sure that Ben would make it there. We were stopped at a national security check point and everyone had to show their passports but of course, ben did not bring his. He caused the whole bus to be held up and they almost didn’t let him pass. He is so forgetful. He forgot his passport. He forgot to go to the bank. He forgot to get a return ticket. He forgot any food or drinks for the bus. He forgot sheets. He forgot his blazer. It’s almost impressive how that kid functions.
We got to our station finally and his phone didn’t work to contact Nancy who was picking us up. So we had him call her and he couldn’t get a hold of her. So we sat outside and just waited and waited until ben decided to call again. And when he did get a hold of Nancy, he didn’t ask where in the terminal we should meet! So we were right back at square one.
We finally got to our hostel and on the way there we saw a dance store, so we wanted to check it out. We went to the center around 10 and everything was closed! I know that sounds normal for all you american’s but here in argentina things stay open to about 2 in the morning because people are normally up that late. I didn’t understand it. All the restaurants were closed and it was dinner time. So, we found the only open restaurant around and had millinesa.
The next day we woke up early and rode to the middle of nowhere camp that this conference is at. It looks exactly like a NAZI execution camp. It’s scary. Anyways, it’s been rather boring but fun. We did awkward icebreakers that don’t ever really break the ice. We had some food and introduced ourselves to everyone. People here are nicer than at school but I still feel really distant from all of the people here. I can’t speak very well, so it seems like all the foreign exchange students can speak English, so we just sorta congregate together. I think that we did get to work on our Spanish though because we met an Argentinean girl who was very interested in us and was very patient with our Spanish. She’s really a sweet heart. Well, we had boring speakers that we mostly slept through and then a 6 hour long dance party. I didn’t get my nap today so I can’t stay up until 4 am. I’m far too tired. I think that all three of us are also a tad bit delirious. Today we had each other laughing so hard that we cried so many times. I really enjoy being with Jane and Angie. We have so so much fun together. Well, I’ll report more tomorrow.
We got to our station finally and his phone didn’t work to contact Nancy who was picking us up. So we had him call her and he couldn’t get a hold of her. So we sat outside and just waited and waited until ben decided to call again. And when he did get a hold of Nancy, he didn’t ask where in the terminal we should meet! So we were right back at square one.
We finally got to our hostel and on the way there we saw a dance store, so we wanted to check it out. We went to the center around 10 and everything was closed! I know that sounds normal for all you american’s but here in argentina things stay open to about 2 in the morning because people are normally up that late. I didn’t understand it. All the restaurants were closed and it was dinner time. So, we found the only open restaurant around and had millinesa.
The next day we woke up early and rode to the middle of nowhere camp that this conference is at. It looks exactly like a NAZI execution camp. It’s scary. Anyways, it’s been rather boring but fun. We did awkward icebreakers that don’t ever really break the ice. We had some food and introduced ourselves to everyone. People here are nicer than at school but I still feel really distant from all of the people here. I can’t speak very well, so it seems like all the foreign exchange students can speak English, so we just sorta congregate together. I think that we did get to work on our Spanish though because we met an Argentinean girl who was very interested in us and was very patient with our Spanish. She’s really a sweet heart. Well, we had boring speakers that we mostly slept through and then a 6 hour long dance party. I didn’t get my nap today so I can’t stay up until 4 am. I’m far too tired. I think that all three of us are also a tad bit delirious. Today we had each other laughing so hard that we cried so many times. I really enjoy being with Jane and Angie. We have so so much fun together. Well, I’ll report more tomorrow.
Friday, September 10, 2010
September 9
Today (yesterday) was a really fun day. School was actually good for once. It’s because we only had one class and the rest of the day we watched a scary movie. It was really a nice bonding experience with our classmates. As much as I don’t like scary movies I was glad to do something fun with them. Anything besides sit and class and hope that someone will talk to Jane and I.
The movie was about this girl who had a demon haunt her because she was a twin and demons could enter the world through twins. It was such an awful movie. All of the people that she loved died and at the end, only she and he boyfriend are left alive and then her boyfriend tries to save her by fighting with the big black man who had the spirit in him, and he died too. I cried. Yes, I cried infront of all my classmates. It was scary and sad. They guys of course were all like, it’s not scary, it’s funny. I think they lie. Lol
Anyways, after school I tanned for a while, and had a lunch of empanadas. I napped for a while and then Jane and I had agreed to meet these two guys we had met yesterday at the park. Well, we wanted to take Ben along so that it wasn’t so awkward, but we ended up not being able to find each other to meet up, so we were half an hour late to our volleyball rendezvous. Well, when we got there, they boys weren’t there, so we sat around for a while and then swung on the swing set and took some crazy pictures. It was really a fun time. Then we decided to walk downtown and roam around. We bought some snacks for our trip and Ben found some flute players to hang out with, then the real fun began. We had dance class.
Dance class is amazing! We had ballet first and we did all kinds of exercises and drills and at one point it felt like my leg was literally of fire. I could feel flames inside of my body. It was such a good workout. I loved it. Then was Arabian. We really didn’t do much because the girls were practicing their routines, but at the end we all did some practice moves. It was so much fun. The instructor looked like she was having a lot of fun and would smile at us. And we would walk around in a circle and then stop and do some moves. The one was so funny. You sit on your knees and then lay backwards and lift your hips and shake. It was so funny.
After that I just talked on skype and got my things packed for my trip. Great day.
The movie was about this girl who had a demon haunt her because she was a twin and demons could enter the world through twins. It was such an awful movie. All of the people that she loved died and at the end, only she and he boyfriend are left alive and then her boyfriend tries to save her by fighting with the big black man who had the spirit in him, and he died too. I cried. Yes, I cried infront of all my classmates. It was scary and sad. They guys of course were all like, it’s not scary, it’s funny. I think they lie. Lol
Anyways, after school I tanned for a while, and had a lunch of empanadas. I napped for a while and then Jane and I had agreed to meet these two guys we had met yesterday at the park. Well, we wanted to take Ben along so that it wasn’t so awkward, but we ended up not being able to find each other to meet up, so we were half an hour late to our volleyball rendezvous. Well, when we got there, they boys weren’t there, so we sat around for a while and then swung on the swing set and took some crazy pictures. It was really a fun time. Then we decided to walk downtown and roam around. We bought some snacks for our trip and Ben found some flute players to hang out with, then the real fun began. We had dance class.
Dance class is amazing! We had ballet first and we did all kinds of exercises and drills and at one point it felt like my leg was literally of fire. I could feel flames inside of my body. It was such a good workout. I loved it. Then was Arabian. We really didn’t do much because the girls were practicing their routines, but at the end we all did some practice moves. It was so much fun. The instructor looked like she was having a lot of fun and would smile at us. And we would walk around in a circle and then stop and do some moves. The one was so funny. You sit on your knees and then lay backwards and lift your hips and shake. It was so funny.
After that I just talked on skype and got my things packed for my trip. Great day.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
September 8
Today was an awesome day. Well, school was okay. It seemed to drag on foreverrrrr. Oh wait, that’s every school day. We had a math test today and I didn’t have a calculator, so I had to do everything by hand. I felt like I was back in the dark ages. Percentages by hand suck, by the way. Anyways, we also had a Portuguese test today. I’m glad I know so much Portuguese. (that was sarcasm.) I knew two things. Naris and Dente. Nose and tooth. 2 out of 100. Better than nothing. Haha Jane and I started planning out our presentation for economics class. We plan to blow them away with all kinds of information and a sweet slide show too. I’m kinda excited about it. I really need to start researching for it, but I’ve just been so busy!
After school, I laid out by the pool (which is empty unfortunately) and got some sun. then had lunch and took a nice nap. Then, I met Jane and Angie to walk around downtown for a while. I bought my mom her birthday gift. I hope that she likes it. And I hope that it doesn’t take like 2 years to ship to her. And then we had some empanadas before dance class. Yes, I started dance class. Well, we were half an hour late because Angie said that it started at 8:30, but it apparently started at 8. The class is flamenco and Arabian. I am really psyced for this class. Arabian is really difficult to do. It takes a lot of concentration. And the instructor is kinda serious. But, it was really neat to do with my new little jingly hip scarf.
Afterword, Jane and I decided that we were going to try and make it to volleyball. So we ran home (well, we ran to my house) and changed and then caught a cab to the park. It was a lot of fun and is good exercise. I’m glad that we decided to go. But, here’s the thing. This park has two nice soccer fields and games are always going on, so there is always a ton of men around. Here’s the other thing, men here are very very forward. I get whistled at or commented about probably 20 times a day. They do it to all women. Cat calls all the time. So, as we’re leaving volleyball, these two younger boys ask us to play volleyball and at first we weren’t going to, but he said that he could turn the lights back on, so we decided to play for a little while. It was Jane and I versus Orlando and Sergio. We kick their sorry Argentinean butts. We were awesome. And then Orlando tried to convince us to go to Cuba tonight. (the club) and we had to tell him like 9 times that we couldn’t before he understood that we had high school in the morning. And then while we were walking out, another man stopped us and was asking all about us. It was so creepy. He was like older and wanted to know if we were going to Cuba Libre tonight too. It’s weird being around men that are so forward like that. I mean, their harmless, but just creepy.
Anyways, I came home and talked to my parents and my boyfriend and had a wonderful ending to a wonderful day.
After school, I laid out by the pool (which is empty unfortunately) and got some sun. then had lunch and took a nice nap. Then, I met Jane and Angie to walk around downtown for a while. I bought my mom her birthday gift. I hope that she likes it. And I hope that it doesn’t take like 2 years to ship to her. And then we had some empanadas before dance class. Yes, I started dance class. Well, we were half an hour late because Angie said that it started at 8:30, but it apparently started at 8. The class is flamenco and Arabian. I am really psyced for this class. Arabian is really difficult to do. It takes a lot of concentration. And the instructor is kinda serious. But, it was really neat to do with my new little jingly hip scarf.
Afterword, Jane and I decided that we were going to try and make it to volleyball. So we ran home (well, we ran to my house) and changed and then caught a cab to the park. It was a lot of fun and is good exercise. I’m glad that we decided to go. But, here’s the thing. This park has two nice soccer fields and games are always going on, so there is always a ton of men around. Here’s the other thing, men here are very very forward. I get whistled at or commented about probably 20 times a day. They do it to all women. Cat calls all the time. So, as we’re leaving volleyball, these two younger boys ask us to play volleyball and at first we weren’t going to, but he said that he could turn the lights back on, so we decided to play for a little while. It was Jane and I versus Orlando and Sergio. We kick their sorry Argentinean butts. We were awesome. And then Orlando tried to convince us to go to Cuba tonight. (the club) and we had to tell him like 9 times that we couldn’t before he understood that we had high school in the morning. And then while we were walking out, another man stopped us and was asking all about us. It was so creepy. He was like older and wanted to know if we were going to Cuba Libre tonight too. It’s weird being around men that are so forward like that. I mean, their harmless, but just creepy.
Anyways, I came home and talked to my parents and my boyfriend and had a wonderful ending to a wonderful day.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
September 7
Today was a fun day. Not too much excitement, but just enough. School was almost completely lame, but something amazing happened at the end of the day: I was kicked out of class. Yes, it was my first time ever to be thrown out of class. It felt great.
We were in English class and Jane and I were turned around talking to Adriano and Lucho. (speaking English mind you.) and I don’t even remember what we were talking about. I think it was about Lucho going to the United states and how well he knew English, which is pretty much not at all. He couldn’t even answer our simple questions in English. He’s in for a culture shock. Anyways, so we were talking and then the teacher started yelling at the boys that if they didn’t want to participate with the rest of the class, they could go with us girls outside and practice out there. And they protested that they were speaking in English and she was all like “I don’t care. All four of you get out of my class.” It was great. We just sat outside and talked and didn’t have to sit in there and pretend like we cared or correct the teacher every time she made a mistake. (which we like doing.) Actually, I think that might be the underlying reason that she kicked us out too. We intimidate her. Hahaha! Anyways, the boys had to write their names down in the Red Book of Death. Actually, I don’t know that the book has a name at all, that’s just what I call it. I asked Adriano what happens when you write your name in the book and he jokingly said that “you get detention.” But he told me that the only thing that happens is when report cards come out your behavior points are lowered. It doesn’t affect your grades. Just your “behavior points.” Real scary, I know.
We had a wonderful lunch: fried steak with extremely creamy mashed potatoes. I ate far too much. Then nap time! I love taking naps. Like alllllllot. After, I woke up and worked on Carley’s dress some. I figured out how to work their sewing machine down here. (it is realllly different than the sewing machines we have.) I decided to quit for the day when I got the bodice sewn together and I went to press it and the iron was too hot. I hate not knowing Celsius. Alas, it burnt the material.
Shoot.
Then, I met Jane and we went to the grocery store to buy ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. Well, what we thought would be chocolate chip cookies. It took us forever to find the stuff because we didn’t know the name for stuff like molasses or baking soda. But, we did ask people and they eventually helped us find everything we needed. The brown sugar here is not brown at all. In fact, they don’t even call it brown sugar. It’s black sugar. It’s so dark! Therefore, our cookies came out quite dark. We had to make them in the giant toaster oven because it was easier for us, but it took a longggg time. They turned out…. Alright, I guess. Kinda salty though. Jane and I both decided that we prefer out cookies to not be sooooo sweet, so we added a little bit more salt than we needed.
I talked to my boyfriend a little bit tonight and my friend Giovanni. Also! It was the funniest thing. I got a message from Vinny Giancola on facebook (ex-coworker) saying that he has a dream about me. Now, mind you, I only worked with Vinny for about 3 or 4 weeks. And so I was like oh, can I ask what it was about? And he’s like um, you might not want to know. So, of course, I had to know then. And his reply was that it involved him, myself, and a FEMA trailer. I died!!!!!! The fact that anyone had a dream with a FEMA trailer and could still call it a dream instead of a nightmare was just hilarious to me. FEMA trailer. HA!!!! That’s all that happened today.
We were in English class and Jane and I were turned around talking to Adriano and Lucho. (speaking English mind you.) and I don’t even remember what we were talking about. I think it was about Lucho going to the United states and how well he knew English, which is pretty much not at all. He couldn’t even answer our simple questions in English. He’s in for a culture shock. Anyways, so we were talking and then the teacher started yelling at the boys that if they didn’t want to participate with the rest of the class, they could go with us girls outside and practice out there. And they protested that they were speaking in English and she was all like “I don’t care. All four of you get out of my class.” It was great. We just sat outside and talked and didn’t have to sit in there and pretend like we cared or correct the teacher every time she made a mistake. (which we like doing.) Actually, I think that might be the underlying reason that she kicked us out too. We intimidate her. Hahaha! Anyways, the boys had to write their names down in the Red Book of Death. Actually, I don’t know that the book has a name at all, that’s just what I call it. I asked Adriano what happens when you write your name in the book and he jokingly said that “you get detention.” But he told me that the only thing that happens is when report cards come out your behavior points are lowered. It doesn’t affect your grades. Just your “behavior points.” Real scary, I know.
We had a wonderful lunch: fried steak with extremely creamy mashed potatoes. I ate far too much. Then nap time! I love taking naps. Like alllllllot. After, I woke up and worked on Carley’s dress some. I figured out how to work their sewing machine down here. (it is realllly different than the sewing machines we have.) I decided to quit for the day when I got the bodice sewn together and I went to press it and the iron was too hot. I hate not knowing Celsius. Alas, it burnt the material.
Shoot.
Then, I met Jane and we went to the grocery store to buy ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies. Well, what we thought would be chocolate chip cookies. It took us forever to find the stuff because we didn’t know the name for stuff like molasses or baking soda. But, we did ask people and they eventually helped us find everything we needed. The brown sugar here is not brown at all. In fact, they don’t even call it brown sugar. It’s black sugar. It’s so dark! Therefore, our cookies came out quite dark. We had to make them in the giant toaster oven because it was easier for us, but it took a longggg time. They turned out…. Alright, I guess. Kinda salty though. Jane and I both decided that we prefer out cookies to not be sooooo sweet, so we added a little bit more salt than we needed.
I talked to my boyfriend a little bit tonight and my friend Giovanni. Also! It was the funniest thing. I got a message from Vinny Giancola on facebook (ex-coworker) saying that he has a dream about me. Now, mind you, I only worked with Vinny for about 3 or 4 weeks. And so I was like oh, can I ask what it was about? And he’s like um, you might not want to know. So, of course, I had to know then. And his reply was that it involved him, myself, and a FEMA trailer. I died!!!!!! The fact that anyone had a dream with a FEMA trailer and could still call it a dream instead of a nightmare was just hilarious to me. FEMA trailer. HA!!!! That’s all that happened today.
Monday, September 6, 2010
September 6
Well, today was rather eventful so far. I went to school which was a waste. (as always.) I was unbelievable bored. I slept half of the day and the other half of the day, Jane, Marcos, and I played either hangman or the dot game. Oh, and I made a maze for Nico to do also. That’s my day at school.
So, after school I took a nap as soon as I could. I slept about an hour and a half then a skype call from Jane woke me up just in time for me to have lunch. Lunch was so good: Spaghetti with a little bit of sauce with some kind of squash and chicken. Muy rico! Then, right after lunch, I went downtown with Jane where I met her friend Belén who works at a hostel. I don’t know how exactly she met her, but she’s very nice and she’s one of those few people here that I can understand very well. It’s weird, when I’m not in school, I can seem to understand things much easier than when I am in school. I swear that place is a black hole. It will be the death of me. My whole family wonders why I don’t go to San Lucas. I mean, both of my parents work there, it’s right next to my house, and my sisters go there too. It’s stupid. I am gonna ask if I can go there. I don’t care if I offend mr. montalvo. Well, I don’t want to leave Jane by herself. I couldn’t do that. Maybe the next school year I can get her to go to San Lucas with me. Anyways, back on topic….
We then met up with Angie and we all proceeded to go to the bus station to buy some tickets for our trip this weekend. Which leads to another side note. We have a Rotary leadership conference that all the exchange students must attend. It is in Residencia, Chaco which is a ten hour away from Iguazú. Aye. Well, Jane and I were all stressed out about this thing because she and I got this information only 2 days ago and the papers were due to the woman in charge today! So we are frantically trying to find out as much as we could. We didn’t know when the buses ran and what time we would get there. And so we didn’t know if we would have to find a place for all of us to stay for the nights before and after the conference. We were like panicking until we emailed the lady with all our questions. And she responded back quite quickly! (this was amazing for me because I’m used to dealing with people who are hard to contact and never helpful.(my travel agent)) She said that she would set us up with a hostel for the days that we would be there extra. She said it’d only be about 25 pesos per person per night. That’s really reasonable. We’ll just either need to take food or buy some when we get down there. That sounds pretty good to me. And guess what’s better???? We don’t have to go to school on Friday or Monday. That’s the best advantage of the whole thing! The conference seems quite strange. Like, there’s speakers on the most random things: organ donation and managing your sexuality. So so strange. Anyways, I’m off track again...
So, we bought our round trip tickets for around 242 pesos. I think that’s kinda pricey, but I guess it is a long ride. Then we had to go to gym class. Ick. It was so boring. We are doing our “dance” unit, but it’s only running around 10 times and then standing around. I think that we got like 2 moves choreographed. Anyways, that was only an hour. I came home and got some work on the computer done and that’s where I am now. I am going to play volleyball with Jane at 9, so I’ll have to let you know how that goes!
Volleyball was a lot of fun! It was kinda creepy walking that far in the dark, but it was no big deal. I really like being able to be around other people besides the English speakers that I know. I like that my family is really laid back on where I go and when. I think that I’ll join dance classes on Wednesday. Ballet and Arabian! Woo!
So, after school I took a nap as soon as I could. I slept about an hour and a half then a skype call from Jane woke me up just in time for me to have lunch. Lunch was so good: Spaghetti with a little bit of sauce with some kind of squash and chicken. Muy rico! Then, right after lunch, I went downtown with Jane where I met her friend Belén who works at a hostel. I don’t know how exactly she met her, but she’s very nice and she’s one of those few people here that I can understand very well. It’s weird, when I’m not in school, I can seem to understand things much easier than when I am in school. I swear that place is a black hole. It will be the death of me. My whole family wonders why I don’t go to San Lucas. I mean, both of my parents work there, it’s right next to my house, and my sisters go there too. It’s stupid. I am gonna ask if I can go there. I don’t care if I offend mr. montalvo. Well, I don’t want to leave Jane by herself. I couldn’t do that. Maybe the next school year I can get her to go to San Lucas with me. Anyways, back on topic….
We then met up with Angie and we all proceeded to go to the bus station to buy some tickets for our trip this weekend. Which leads to another side note. We have a Rotary leadership conference that all the exchange students must attend. It is in Residencia, Chaco which is a ten hour away from Iguazú. Aye. Well, Jane and I were all stressed out about this thing because she and I got this information only 2 days ago and the papers were due to the woman in charge today! So we are frantically trying to find out as much as we could. We didn’t know when the buses ran and what time we would get there. And so we didn’t know if we would have to find a place for all of us to stay for the nights before and after the conference. We were like panicking until we emailed the lady with all our questions. And she responded back quite quickly! (this was amazing for me because I’m used to dealing with people who are hard to contact and never helpful.(my travel agent)) She said that she would set us up with a hostel for the days that we would be there extra. She said it’d only be about 25 pesos per person per night. That’s really reasonable. We’ll just either need to take food or buy some when we get down there. That sounds pretty good to me. And guess what’s better???? We don’t have to go to school on Friday or Monday. That’s the best advantage of the whole thing! The conference seems quite strange. Like, there’s speakers on the most random things: organ donation and managing your sexuality. So so strange. Anyways, I’m off track again...
So, we bought our round trip tickets for around 242 pesos. I think that’s kinda pricey, but I guess it is a long ride. Then we had to go to gym class. Ick. It was so boring. We are doing our “dance” unit, but it’s only running around 10 times and then standing around. I think that we got like 2 moves choreographed. Anyways, that was only an hour. I came home and got some work on the computer done and that’s where I am now. I am going to play volleyball with Jane at 9, so I’ll have to let you know how that goes!
Volleyball was a lot of fun! It was kinda creepy walking that far in the dark, but it was no big deal. I really like being able to be around other people besides the English speakers that I know. I like that my family is really laid back on where I go and when. I think that I’ll join dance classes on Wednesday. Ballet and Arabian! Woo!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Sept. 3- 5
Wow, I don’t know what happened. I missed two days now. Crazy. Well, I’ll have to recap. On Friday, almost nothing at all happened. I was bored to tears the majority of the day. I went to school and didn’t do anything again. School regressed. And then we were home and my parents were gone. I didn’t know where they were until Saturday. They had gone on a business trip somewhere. Anyways, I didn’t do anything and was so bored, so Ben came over to hang out and we watched Superbad. Then we made some dinner for ourselves. Actually, Pilar made the dinner. Dinner was gnocchis. It was really good, so good job Pilar! That’s all that happened on Friday.
Satuday, on the other hand, was filled with much excitement. We didn’t do much that morning. We decided that we were going to go to Cuba is all. That afternoon though, I went out with Jane and we played some volleyball. Well, first we were gonna meet up with her friend but she went home from the Hostel where she works before we got there.
So, we tried to find the park to play volleyball. It took us asking around, but we eventually found it. And it was so much fun! We played with 4 other adults and they were really good. I wasn’t playing too well. But, they asked us to play on their team on Mondays. I think that they said that they play at 9, but I hope not because I have to eat dinner at 10. But, if it was earlier, that would be sweet!
Then after volleyball, I was at home and my parents came home, but we didn’t have dinner. Cony and I got ready for Cuba and then Jane and Ben came over to go also. Well, there was too many of use to go with Cony’s friends so, Ben, Jane, and I took a taxi down town. We thought that we wanted to go to this place called La Barranca, but when we got there, it was more of a club for old people than what we had expected. So, we went to this restaurant/pizzeria and had a pizza and some drinks. Then we went to Cuba around two. We were there by ourselves for a while, but then I went to show Jane and Ben where the bathrooms were in the other part of the club and I luckily found Cony! I was afraid that I wouldn’t find her the whole night. Her friend Macarena didn’t seem to be in a good mood. But we were nice to her and I think that she had fun. Well, Jane had to go home early, but I didn’t want to leave Cony because I didn’t know how else to get home. Well, so, Ben and I went home with Macarena and Cony and Cony’s like let’s go to the waterfalls! I was like, uhhhhh what???? Ben was passing out in the back seat and I literally had to punch him in the face to wake him up. So, we were gonna go inside so that he would use the bathroom, but then he started throwing up in the street. So, we were like no, you can’t come in here. I asked him if he could get home, and he said he could. So, I felt bad about it, but we just left him in the street and we went inside. I went straight to be and I’m sure that Cony did too.
We had such a fun time! I could get used to this.
Satuday, on the other hand, was filled with much excitement. We didn’t do much that morning. We decided that we were going to go to Cuba is all. That afternoon though, I went out with Jane and we played some volleyball. Well, first we were gonna meet up with her friend but she went home from the Hostel where she works before we got there.
So, we tried to find the park to play volleyball. It took us asking around, but we eventually found it. And it was so much fun! We played with 4 other adults and they were really good. I wasn’t playing too well. But, they asked us to play on their team on Mondays. I think that they said that they play at 9, but I hope not because I have to eat dinner at 10. But, if it was earlier, that would be sweet!
Then after volleyball, I was at home and my parents came home, but we didn’t have dinner. Cony and I got ready for Cuba and then Jane and Ben came over to go also. Well, there was too many of use to go with Cony’s friends so, Ben, Jane, and I took a taxi down town. We thought that we wanted to go to this place called La Barranca, but when we got there, it was more of a club for old people than what we had expected. So, we went to this restaurant/pizzeria and had a pizza and some drinks. Then we went to Cuba around two. We were there by ourselves for a while, but then I went to show Jane and Ben where the bathrooms were in the other part of the club and I luckily found Cony! I was afraid that I wouldn’t find her the whole night. Her friend Macarena didn’t seem to be in a good mood. But we were nice to her and I think that she had fun. Well, Jane had to go home early, but I didn’t want to leave Cony because I didn’t know how else to get home. Well, so, Ben and I went home with Macarena and Cony and Cony’s like let’s go to the waterfalls! I was like, uhhhhh what???? Ben was passing out in the back seat and I literally had to punch him in the face to wake him up. So, we were gonna go inside so that he would use the bathroom, but then he started throwing up in the street. So, we were like no, you can’t come in here. I asked him if he could get home, and he said he could. So, I felt bad about it, but we just left him in the street and we went inside. I went straight to be and I’m sure that Cony did too.
We had such a fun time! I could get used to this.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Sept. 2
Today was better yet! School was actually interesting. We had like literature the first part of the day but the other students took a test that Jane and I didn’t have to take. So, we just translated the poem on the test just for fun. And then we had my favorite teacher for the rest of the day. He teaches law and economics. He had us translate another syllabus for him. This was when Jane made me laugh til I cried. We thought that since the teacher knew no English at all that we should just make it say whatever the heck we want. Like: “I noticed that you have no chest hair. I was wondering whether you wax or shave?” It was so funny because it’s so true! The teacher wears his lacoste button down shirts like halfway unbuttoned and he has no chest hair! But he has really hairy legs and feet. I know that because he wear pants that are too short and loafers without socks. Lol But he’s still my favorite teacher at this school so far.
Anyways, this teacher, Sr. Quintana, also had us work with the other kids in the class on a group project. It felt good to be included. We had to make a cross word puzzle using economic terms. We got to learn some things about Spanish economic terms. Yep. And he also assigned us a project. On the 14th of the month Jane and I have to give presentations on the economy in the US and specifically our states of New York and Pennsylvania. IN SPANISH! I’m really not looking forward to that. I think that I’ll have to script myself and memorize it, because I’m sure that there will be a lot of new words that will be hard to just remember of the top of my head. So, that will be interesting. I have some time to work on it though. Thank goodness it’s not like next week or something.
Today at home was great. After our naps, Cony, Pilar, and I all started dancing. Like, they were showing me some popular dances that they do down here. The traditional dances and belly dancing and modern dances. And I remember hearing a few of the songs at Cuba Libre last Saturday. (going again tomorrow, btw) It was so fun. Just dancing and dancing with my sisters. I felt really good. I asked my mom if there were dance classes that I could take and she said that none around here are good and they are really expensive. Eh, oh well. We’ll see. And if that doesn’t work out, then I always have my sewing.
Tomorrow is Friday. Finally. Hasta mañana!
Anyways, this teacher, Sr. Quintana, also had us work with the other kids in the class on a group project. It felt good to be included. We had to make a cross word puzzle using economic terms. We got to learn some things about Spanish economic terms. Yep. And he also assigned us a project. On the 14th of the month Jane and I have to give presentations on the economy in the US and specifically our states of New York and Pennsylvania. IN SPANISH! I’m really not looking forward to that. I think that I’ll have to script myself and memorize it, because I’m sure that there will be a lot of new words that will be hard to just remember of the top of my head. So, that will be interesting. I have some time to work on it though. Thank goodness it’s not like next week or something.
Today at home was great. After our naps, Cony, Pilar, and I all started dancing. Like, they were showing me some popular dances that they do down here. The traditional dances and belly dancing and modern dances. And I remember hearing a few of the songs at Cuba Libre last Saturday. (going again tomorrow, btw) It was so fun. Just dancing and dancing with my sisters. I felt really good. I asked my mom if there were dance classes that I could take and she said that none around here are good and they are really expensive. Eh, oh well. We’ll see. And if that doesn’t work out, then I always have my sewing.
Tomorrow is Friday. Finally. Hasta mañana!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
September 1
Well today was absolutely great! School was much better today. I think that is because Jane and I tried to participate more. We had economics the first part of the day and instead of doing what the rest of the class is doing the teacher said that we should take his syllabus and translate it into English for him. So we worked on that for a while. Then we had some English where we didn’t do anything. I didn’t really care. Jane and I worked on our translation. Then in the middle of the day, we had math class. I hate statistics. But, Jane and I actually tried to do the problem that they worked on in class and we were the only ones that got the right answer in the while class. We felt awesome!!!!
We also ended up making ourselves laugh so hard. I was crying I was laughing so hard. It started out with Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally and ended up with something like and where else are lead pipes used? In the game clue, correct. Hahaha! I was dying. We were just being goofy and having a good time for once.
The last part of the day was Portuguese. Almost all of the people in Iguazú speak both Castillaño and Portugues. So, while I’m here I will learn some Portuguese too. That class was kinda boring but I have homework in it. Ick. But the students were so much nicer to us today. Two of the girls asked Jane and I to sit by them. And the guys would try to help us through the math and ask us other random questions. It was really nice.
I had gym class today. It was so pointless. We were supposed to start dancing. We needed to pick out a song to dance too, but for whatever reason, they couldn’t just pick a song! They kept asking us 3 exchange students, “what songs are popular?” or “what songs to you like?” why does it matter what’s popular in the United States? Just pick a dang song! So, we did nothing during gym. I was walking home from gym and Yennifer and another girl (I don’t remember her name) asked me to wait up so that we could walk together. It was really nice of her.
Then, today, my mom asked me if I wanted to take a Spanish class. I’m not sure if I want to. I mean, I guess it might be helpful, but I’m afraid that it will be too basic. I mean, I know all the grammar and I know a lot of vocab, I just need practice listening to the way they speak. That’s my biggest obstacle. So, I’m not sure what I should do about that. If I’m still struggling after a month, I think I’ll ask to enroll.
But, my best news by far is that today I got a sewing machine! My host aunt had an extra and is letting me use it! She gave me all kinds of thread and magazines and patterns! When we brought them home, Cony was so excited! She said that we’re going to make so many things! Oh, I’m so excited!
Also, I think I might want to take dance classes. I would kinda want to see how busy I’m gonna be with school first. But I think that would be cool to take dance lessons again. Oh! More good news! My mom said that she is going to take me to Buenos Aires to see Cony’s school whenever they go there. She said I can see all about fashion design because she knows I like that stuff. Oh, I’m so excited! And, we’re going to take a trip into Paraguay to buy a lot of material and stuff to make clothes. Things are really looking up.
We also ended up making ourselves laugh so hard. I was crying I was laughing so hard. It started out with Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally and ended up with something like and where else are lead pipes used? In the game clue, correct. Hahaha! I was dying. We were just being goofy and having a good time for once.
The last part of the day was Portuguese. Almost all of the people in Iguazú speak both Castillaño and Portugues. So, while I’m here I will learn some Portuguese too. That class was kinda boring but I have homework in it. Ick. But the students were so much nicer to us today. Two of the girls asked Jane and I to sit by them. And the guys would try to help us through the math and ask us other random questions. It was really nice.
I had gym class today. It was so pointless. We were supposed to start dancing. We needed to pick out a song to dance too, but for whatever reason, they couldn’t just pick a song! They kept asking us 3 exchange students, “what songs are popular?” or “what songs to you like?” why does it matter what’s popular in the United States? Just pick a dang song! So, we did nothing during gym. I was walking home from gym and Yennifer and another girl (I don’t remember her name) asked me to wait up so that we could walk together. It was really nice of her.
Then, today, my mom asked me if I wanted to take a Spanish class. I’m not sure if I want to. I mean, I guess it might be helpful, but I’m afraid that it will be too basic. I mean, I know all the grammar and I know a lot of vocab, I just need practice listening to the way they speak. That’s my biggest obstacle. So, I’m not sure what I should do about that. If I’m still struggling after a month, I think I’ll ask to enroll.
But, my best news by far is that today I got a sewing machine! My host aunt had an extra and is letting me use it! She gave me all kinds of thread and magazines and patterns! When we brought them home, Cony was so excited! She said that we’re going to make so many things! Oh, I’m so excited!
Also, I think I might want to take dance classes. I would kinda want to see how busy I’m gonna be with school first. But I think that would be cool to take dance lessons again. Oh! More good news! My mom said that she is going to take me to Buenos Aires to see Cony’s school whenever they go there. She said I can see all about fashion design because she knows I like that stuff. Oh, I’m so excited! And, we’re going to take a trip into Paraguay to buy a lot of material and stuff to make clothes. Things are really looking up.
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