A New Adventure - How To Argentina

Hello friends!!! It's been a while, but now I have actual news to tell all of you! As of yesterday at 9:30 am (6:30 am Central Standard Time) I landed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In a stunning change of weather, it's around 90 degrees here, while back in Minnesota it's only like 20. So this is not a good thing. I am dying. But not really, it's just very hot.

The flights were good. I have only flown a couple times before, and those times I was pretty nervous, but this time, I don't know, I felt way more excited I guess? And I started to really enjoy the taking off and landing parts. So that was cool. Also, I had a window seat on the first flight, and it was really nice to look out and see the giant snow clouds over Minnesota, and also almost every where else until Tennessee. I was weirdly in awe of the clouds, like, how do they even exist? They looked like giant snow piles that I wanted to jump in, but I could not. Unfortunately. Because clouds are made of water and if you jump through them you probably die. So that was a sad realization that I already knew.

The second flight was waaaaay longer, and way more Spanish-y. Almost everyone in the airport spoke Spanish and I was vaguely intimidated. And also everyone on the plane spoke Spanish except for the people who didn't, but mostly it was Spanish. So that was a good introduction to the rest of reality for the next five months.

Also on this flight, I experienced many emotions. It was a weird time. First, I was excited because we were taking off and apparently I like that now. Then, after like 20 minutes in the air, I felt like this was the worst decision I ever made, and I started crying, and it was a good thing the lights were off UNTIL THEY TURNED THEM BACK ON and I had to behave like a real human and talk to people about weird dinner and stuff when all I really wanted to do was built a sound proof cube around my body and scream into the void. But it's fine. And then I ate dinner, which was a salad with chicken, which was weird. And I become annoyed by the guy in front of me playing Sudoku on his in flight screen, and how he was SO SLOW and also put a 2 in a column where there was already clearly a 2, but I didn't want to say anything because that would have seemed creepy. And then I discovered that my TV thing had Brooklyn 99 so I watched multiple episodes of that, while eating and vaguely listening to Spanish conversations, and trying to ignore the snoring. Then I tried to sleep, pretty unsuccessfully, but the most comfortable position was with my head pushed up against the seat in front of me, but when ever I was almost really asleep I would drop the pillow and wake up and then be mad. And then after about four hours of that, they served breakfast. And then it was time to land! It looked like we were landing in the middle of a forest, which was weird, but we didn't hit any trees.

In the airport, I stood in line for immigrations for like 45 minutes, and it was super hot, and also I was still wearing appropriate Minnesota weather clothing, so it was the worst. But I found some other students who are in my program, and we talked and complained about the heat and in general made the entire process more bearable. And we found our luggage together, and we went to customs together and we saw some dogs, and then we found our airport transportation! And then we waited like 2 more hours to actually leave. So I have spent enough time in airports for a while.

We took a small bus to the university, and our host families picked us up there. I took a taxi for the first time in my life, which was a weird time. And then I took a well-deserved nap in the very warm room that I can call mine for the next five months. And then this other student and I walked to the ISA office so we could have a short orientation. And we only got a little lost, both there and on the way home, so that is a good thing!

Today, we did more orientation stuff and also took a tour of the city, which was cool! I got to see a giant cemetery where all the rich people are buried and that included Eva Peron's mausoleum. So that was cool, because I've learned about her! And we saw the Casa Rosada, which means Pink House, which is basically like the White House of Argentina. And we toured some other tourist-y places, and I got very sunburned, which is an accomplishment for February 26th. We took a lot of public transportation so we would all learn how to use it, and it wasn't the worst, except for the fact that it's still 90 degrees today. I have to use it tomorrow by myself/without real Argentine people to show us what to do because it's a holiday and we have nothing planned except exploration! Hopefully that will be fun!

And then I walked home by myself, which was an interesting time, because I got lost. Not like, really lost, just like, wow I walked a block too far, and then turned back and got to the right block, and then walked down a road that was unfamiliar, and then found the street I was supposed to be on, but turned the wrong way, and had to cross to the other side, and then realized I was on the wrong side of the street anyway, and had to cross again because I remembered that I always have to walk past the Buddhist temple in order to get home, and then I finally did. So, you know, not that lost.

We have an orientation at school on Wednesday, which I'm looking forward to. We get to sign up for meetings with academic advisers who will help us choose classes, which I am also really excited for, because I am a nerd!! Everyone else is like, "Let's party and drink and cry" and I'm like, "CLASSES!!!!!" So, I'm working on finding a balance between not being a super hard-core-like party-er and then also trying to do fun, exciting culture things without always being in my room by myself reading and doing works.

So I think that's all the most exciting news I have, because I've only been here for like 36 hours. But it weirdly feels a lot longer than that? So who knows. I will try and keep you updated on more exciting happenings.

PS: Also, I would like to keep track of the new foods I try, so I am going to put a list here, and will hopefully be added on addition blog posts.

• Tuna and potato mix
• Spinach cooked into an over-hard fried egg
• Empanadas - corn, ham & cheese, and beef
• A weird dulce (sweet) carmel handed to me on the street by a vendor giving free samples
• Juice-tea, I don't know what it's actually called, but it tasted like sour apple candy, but without the sour
• Guarana, a drink flavored with Brazilian fruit, fizzy like pop

PSS: Here is a picture of my bed with a stuffed animal bunny friend on it. Good job being a traveler, Xander!