So what have I been up to....
1. Swimming in October! Yes it is possible and wonderful to finally have warm weather. The winter really wasn't like Wisconsin winters, rather like fall, but it is still a relief to feel the warm sun and see all the lovely spring flowers. October showers bring November flowers. A bit of hemisphere humor.
Can't help but take pictures of the flowers. My host mom is absolutely dedicated to the back yard and I would say she certainly has a green thumb!
First time swimming outdoors in October (as far as I can remember) I can't believe it.
At the farm with my host sister (Nati) and host mom (Nora) in the wheat fields.
2. A trip to Buenos Aires with my school class. It was absolutely exhausting... but awesome! We traveled overnight by bus and slept maybe 3 hours and then spent the entire day until 12 at night visiting different parts of the city! On the bus ride we were lucky to have musicians (classmates) who brought guitars, harmonica, and their voices to give a little nighttime serenade and play some Rock Argentino. The other 2 days were just as busy but at least we got to sleep about 5 or 6 hours, so I would admit that I enjoyed the last couple days more than the first. In only 3 days we visited La Casa Rosada (with an inside tour), the congress builiding (with tour), La Plaza de Mayo (of course!!! its impossible to skip la plaza), took part in a television show (CQC), La Manzana de las Luces, the Jesuit church, la basilica (inclusive of the remains of national hero San Martin (whose statue is in about every city of Spanish origin in Argentina (thankfully he passed away lots of years ago, otherwise it would be rather uncomfortable seeing oneself in practically every city), a La Escuela Mecánica de la Armada (a school where people were secretly tortured during the military dictatorship until 1983, yet at the same time functioned as a regular school for boys), a train ride to the coast where we ate lunch on a Catamaran on the river in a part of the city called tigre (thankfully we didn't have any accidents while on the train knowing that there have already been 3 train accidents in the same railroad in Buenos Aires within the last 20 months, but obviously I am still alive writing my blog and I have been spared from train crashes for the time being), we went to a shopping mall (malls practically don't exist in my city nor my province, everything is pretty much locally owned businesses where I live in Argentina, so everybody was psyched to go shopping), and the basilica de Lujan (famous church) and I am sure that we went to other parts of the city but packed so much in 3 days that my brain is not capable of recalling all the places we visited at this moment. Unfortunately we finished off the trip with a our last meal at the dream restaurant of many of my Argentine acquaintances....... McDonalds. I was so thrilled (I hope the sarcasm is not too hidden, but now I have revealed it anyhow). The very thing I had been so happy to avoid during my exchange year... fast food, worse McDonalds. Yet it came back to haunt me, but I happily gave my burger and fries to my friends who would practically die to eat McDonalds. It was fun anyhow and nobody forced me to eat my worst nightmare. Despite the last supper, I still enjoyed the trip and knew that I had made the most of it because on the bus and when I got home too I completely crashed and slept as if I had never slept before!
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