My Arrival :)

So I finally made it to Cordoba after 24 hours of traveling. It was weird traveling so far by myself but it was easier then I expected...my first flight from Boston to Miami was entertaining because my seat assignment was next to two native Cubans (young guys...of course) and they saw me studying my Spanish expressions/vocabulary book (I figured I'd get in some cramming before arriving in South America... better late than never). They asked me (in broken English) why I was learning Spanish and they attempted to help me even though it was very difficult to understand either one of them. I just kept saying "Si" and nodding my head...seemed to work well enough.

I had a 4 hour layover in Miami, I hate layovers more than anything. The second I got on my plane from Miami to Chile, it felt like everyone stopped speaking English...maybe it was my imagination... I got super lucky because the seat next to me was empty so I got to stretch out and catch an hour or two of sleep on the red-eye flight so that was nice. I finally got to Chile at 8am and I saw my first glimpse of the Andes mountains. They are AMAZING. I saw the sun rising over them when we first landed in Chile and my face was literally glued to the windows of the plane I couldn't look away. People probably though I was crazy haha but hey we don't have mountains like that back home (no offense New England but the White Mountains don't compare..)



My last flight was to Cordoba, with the Chilean futbol team of course...anyways, I was surprised at how easy it was to get my bags (thank God) and to get through customs. I walked out of the exit and sure enough there were the cutest two Argentine people I'd ever seen jumping and waving with a sign that said "KRISTINA" on it. No doubt these were my host parents...they welcomed me with hugs and besos and we stepped outside into the 93 degree humid weather. But hey, I'm not complaining...I can't wait for my pale skin to disappear :)



My host family consists of Adriana and Cezar (who goes by Pepe). They are in their 50's and their kids are out of the house. They barely speak any English which I somewhat expected but it is much harder to deal with the language barrier then I thought it would. But it's forcing me to practice. Either I learn Spanish or I'm going to be communicating by sign language by the time I leave because there is no other way. They live about 25-30 minutes outside Cordoba Central, which I was bummed about at first because it's not wicked close to the center of the city, but now I'm glad because it's a safer area and it's a bit quieter then being downtown.


pepe y adriana :)

Their house is really cute, and has a fenced in backyard with a small pool in it, and a dog named Machinta (no idea how it's spelled...but the dog is going to be my new best friend). We had a roast for lunch, along with fresh tomatoes and grapes from their yard...I was so nervous to eat uncooked vegetables/fruit because they are usually washed with the water and its really easy to get parasites...haha I brought a lifetime supply of any stomach medication you can imagine. But despite all the warnings, I couldn't say no to the tomates y uvas so I risked it. And I feel fine! So I'm going to continue to be careful because I don't think its possible for me to not eat fresh fruit/vegetables for six months...

After I unpacked and showered, I sat out by the picina (pool) and got some sun while attempting to tell Adriana and Pepe about my family...I'm already learning a lot. Later, Adriana took me into town (not downtown Cordoba, but to the shopping center of the neighborhood she lives in). She spent half the time fending off Argentine men that were making comments about who knows what. She told me to never walk anywhere alone around here... at least thats what I got from the broken english and our sign language. Argentines are crazy drivers, it reminds me of Boston. Only instead of everyone driving alone in their own car in Boston, the Argentine are expert carpoolers (with 7+ people in 5 person cars, including no carseats and kids sitting on laps). There are also lots of mopeds. I even saw a couple riding a moped with their NEWBORN CHILD. I couldn't believe it! There's no rules about stopping for pedistrians here so I'm going to have to cut my jaywalking habits if I want to live to see Boston again...

I don't know how my host-mom has the patience for me to constantly look at her with a blank expression on my face (especially since I only had 2 hours of sleep last night...I've been sleepin walking all day). I'm really glad that she is willing to work with me. I brought my little pocket Spanish dictionary with me to the shopping mall haha..yes I was that girl. I need to figure out how to exchange my money for pesos...another thing that Adriana and I are having trouble communicating to eachother. We'll get there.

It didn't get dark until 8:30pm...I love that about the summer (verano) months. We had dinner around 9:30pm with their daughter who is 23 (I think, and I already forget her name..I fail at life), we had sandwiches with the leftover meat and more tomates y uvos. Muy rico! Adriana told me I need to get a cell phone (I was planning on it anyway), just in case I miss my bus or get lost (which will most likely happen sooner or later). She wanted me to take the bus tomorrow to clase de espanol and to work, but since I don't have a cellphone she's letting me off the hook and is going to drive me. I think I would have a heart attack having to take the bus my first day... it was hard enough for me to get here by plane alone. I guess it can only get easier from here.

I'm exhausted and I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be a long day so I'm going to get some sleep...but hopefully whoever's reading this isn't bored to tears about my first day in Argentina. Buenos noches, besos <3