Mar del Tuyu

Let me just tell you how good God is:
Just spent a week in Mar del Tuyu, a beach about 4 hours from here. I wanted to travel with some friends for our "spring break" but had no money. Not knowing this, Alicia invited me to accompany her and Jose to their house on the beach. So exciting... much cheaper than if I were to do anything else! Obviously, took them up on the offer. On our way their we stopped at a gas station and were filling up on coffee and treats. I pulled out my wallet  to pay for my stuff and Alicia then explained to me that because they invited me to go with them, that I didn't have to worry about paying for anything the whole week! So, not only did I get a cheap vacation, but I got a FREE one! So, so nice! With that said, the only beach I've spent any real time at is Destin, and this beach was completely different than anything I've experienced!
     -dark sand
     -murky water (the ocean water mixed with water from the river)
     -lots of butts
     -instead of paddleball, they play a game that's pretty much tennis just without a net- they just play on the hard sand
     -se habla espanol
     -men pushing carts trying to sell delicious fattening food
     -time by myself (definitely a different beach experience)
     -real waves
Despite all of these differences (some good, some bad)- I had a GREAT time and fell in love with a different kind of beach! Most of my days consisted of going for a run on the beach, swimming/ riding waves, reading, soaking up some sun, lots of thinking and praying, long walks, and lots of picture taking (I took 200 pics)... Alicia and Jose have a bunch of friends there (all of them Italian-Argentines), so many nights we would go to their houses and eat wonderful legit Italian food! ahhh! soo good! For all you wine lovers- one Italian man made his own wine... it was pretty yummy.
But it was just so nice to get out of the big city for a while and just breathe!

Mar del Tuyu

The old men liked to play this game "Tejos"... can you tell they are Italian??

My friend for the week

Alicia and I had lots of good times together!

I got to watch a sunrise- AMAZING!

Now I'm back to the somewhat real world. Started my new classes Monday... I think they should be pretty good. We shall see...most of my classes are with other International students, and they are all taught in Spanish...I'm in Argentine Literature, Latinamerican culture, Latinamerican History, International Relations (with Argentine students), and I want to take Tango- but it's currently full... so I may have to pick another class. But yep, for the next 15 weeks- those classes are my life- woohoo =)

off to bed now.
Buenos Noches!

besos

Month #1

Today marks my being in Buenos Aires for one month... on one hand it seems like SO much time has passed, and on the other it seems like I just got here yesterday. I'm sure it will just continue to go by fast, which isn't necessarily a good thing, but that's just how life is. I've heard that once I get completely settled in and feel like I know "what's up" I will have to go home... hopefully, I will get settled in faster than that! I feel like that process is already well on its way.

The view from the top floor at the University

I took my finished my 4-week Spanish course and took my final exams.. got an A overall- woohoo! I think I'm going to miss that class. It turned out to be a lot of fun! I met up with my advisor and got all signed up for my other classes. I'm pretty excited to start those, although that means more studying time. I'm going to have to dig really deep and find my time management skills!

I did officially join the running club: I filled out a sheet of paper and am gong to start paying 20 pesos/month (~U$5) woohoo! We run in a beautiful park, and I always wish I had my camera with me because there are some beautiful scenes in the park. One that I've seen a few times is the sky as the sun is setting against the city skyline, and through the the palm trees I can see an orange glow. ahhh soo pretty!

Last night I went out with my friend Annika again. We went to a Parrilla- kinda like a steakhouse in the States- you can order a parrilla and they bring you a skillet-like dish filled with all sorts of meat. It was very delicious... the meat that we did try, some of it was just too peculiar for me. I must say that I did try a couple of things that I had no idea what they were, but the thing that looked like intestines I decided to stay away from...

My backyard and Jose... I love to sit on the terrace and read or study or just relax... I don't know if you can tell, but in addition to the beautiful flowers, there is an avocado, lemon, and olive tree

Now... I have a week off of class and I'm headed to the beach!! If you care to look it up, we're going to Mar del Tuyu, where Alicia and Jose have a beach house. It's just going to be the parents, the cat, and I... and lots of books =) It will be quite strange being on the beach without my 20 brothers to play paddleball with, but  I think it will still be quite lovely!

Hope you all have a great week! I love you all!

-Jessi