my first few days in Buenos Aires

My trip so far!

Sorry in advance, this is long. I've done a lot of great things so far and what sort of blog would this be if I left anything out?

My trip has been fantastic so far!

I feel like everything from my last moments in the U.S. (spent with my mom and my boyfriend Chase at the Fort Worth Zoo) to the current buzz of my neighbors watching a futbol match next door has been beyond amazing.

After my awesome excursion to the Fort Worth Zoo, I got to the airport and while sitting in my terminal an Argentinean man played his guitar behind me and sang. I knew that if this was any sign of what Buenos Aires would be like I would really enjoy my trip. 

I got on the plane and sat in seat 21C, a row of five seats with only one other person, I was able to lay out and really rest. I found out that the flight was not packed because significantly fewer people come to Buenos Aires in summer because it is cooler here in the summer months. I think I got five hours of sleep--significantly more than I thought I would be able to. It was fantastic!

I got to the airport and Carmen, the program director, and the two other students that will be going through the same program as me, Michael and Andrew, were waiting for me. It turns out that Michael who is 6'3" was in the same flight as me and he had a very uncomfortable seating arrangement so I definitely lucked out. All of our flights arrived before 9 a.m. so we were able to get to our hotel before 9:30 and walk around the area that our hotel was in. 

At lunch we were trying to get some food from a bakery and got very confused and ended up buying a large cheese quiche on accident. It turned out to be delicious, but we didn't try it until after dinner. 

I went and sat at a restaurant with Michael and had pizza and watched four old men eat steak and mashed (on the menu listed as "smashed") potatoes. 

After lunch we took a serious siesta, I napped for four or five hours and woke up for dinner at six feeling soo refreshed. For dinner we went to a restaurant next door to the restaurant we went to for dinner with the program coordinator Carmen (below) and her husband who works for the national bank of Argentina and spends a lot of time in the U.S. Dinner wrapped up around 9:30 and the restaurant was just starting to get busy. People eat dinner between 8:30 and 10:30 or later.

This is Carmen showing us the embassy that Albert Einstein stayed in when he came to Buenos Aires.

After dinner, we went to this tavern called Antares around 12 that had local craft brews and it was packed so we went next door to a small bar had a drink while we waited for the crowd to die down. Then went back and got a beer each and tasted each other's. The bar was adorable, it was reminiscent of restaurants in the states it reminded me a lot of something you would see in Austin or Portland. After we got our cuenta (a.k.a. check a word that I keep forgetting) we began our walk home, since I was with two guys it didn't matter that I was walking, but normally you should take a taxi if you are alone, especially if you are a girl.

The next day we woke up, had breakfast in the hotel and then had an all day orientation including a trip to Universidad de Belgrano, the school we will be attending this month. We went by bus and came back by subway or Subtrraneos. 

After our orientation and a informational lunch with some students who are already attending classes here because it is still their semester, we got to meet our moms. My mom was a little late to get me, so I was very nervous. It turns out she is awesome!!! Her name is Maria Ines and I am going to do a separate blog about her.

Tomorrow I am going to post a blog with all of the things I saw today on a tour, and about my first day of class. Until then Chao!