COMING HOME TOMORROW!

I will be back in Washington tomorrow... yay! I cannot wait to see you all!

Last week in Buenos Aires!

I have had the craziest week! The last week of classes and finals is finally over! I had five different finals crammed into Thursday and Friday, which was pretty intense. I have been trying to balance my social activities with school work because I want to have as much fun as possible my last week here. On Monday night we have a final banquet with all of the Pepperdine students and their host families, which should be really fun! I can't wait to come home... I leave Argentina on Tuesday and get back home on Wednesday! This past three months have gone so quickly. I can't wait to see you all soon!

Spiritual Retreat

This weekend we went on a Spiritual Retreat at an estancia (ranch) about two hours outside of Buenos Aires. We left on Friday morning, as class was cancelled that day! :) It was pretty smoky, because there have been fires outside of Buenos Aires, so it was nice to get out of the city. To relieve our Peru memories, Amy, Jessie, and I decided to share a room again. We had our own bathroom, and the room was pretty nice. The estancia had a lot of animals, like sheep, cows, peacocks, chickens, rabbits, and of course, horses. I am not a fan of horses, and so at first I was adamant about not riding one, but I decided that since I was in Argentina, I needed to take the risk and ride a horse. So off we went for 15 pesos on a horse ride. They just saddled us up and let us go wherever we wanted. At first, my horse was being quite stubborn, so the stable man gave me a stick to hit him with, but of course I didn't use it. There was also a spa there, so a lot of us got massages because they were extremely cheap. The food was alright, but not as good as I had expected. I had a lot of fun because I got to hang out with and get to know a lot of people better, some of whom I wouldn't have gotten to know otherwise. The theme for the weekend was change, and we talked a lot about how we have changed since our time in Buenos Aires. Basically, it was nice to have a relaxing weekend before this insane week I have ahead of me! We have classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then finals on Thursday and Friday. It is the craziest week ever. I can't believe I will be home in a little over a week! I am excited to see everyone, but I will definitely miss Buenos Aires.

Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050876&l=4500e&id=8506204

PERU!!

So sorry it has taken so long to write about my FANTASTIC trip to Peru! Amy, Jessie, and I flew out Saturday morning of Spring Break to Cuzco, Peru. We spent Saturday and Sunday in Cuzco at Loki hostel, adjusting to the altitude and shopping. The hostel was much nicer than others I have stayed in, and there were a lot of activities going on there. I went souvenir CRAZY in Peru, so most of you will be receiving Peruvian gifts rather than Argentine ones. We ran into our friend Russ, another Pepperdine kid, and went to dinner with him both nights. On Monday morning, we woke up really early (before 6 am) to head for a train to Aguas Calientes, which is near Machu Picchu. We saw part of the Inca Trail on the train ride and were so glad we chose to take a 4 hour train instead of the 4 day Inca Trail hike. Aguas Calientes was a pretty boring town, just a stopping point for Machu Picchu visitors. We went to the hot springs, which were quite disgusting and smelled gross. We stayed for about 30 minutes, and then decided it was time to leave. All of the restaurants begged for us to stop there, all of which offered all-day happy hours, 4 for 1, plus multiple appetizeres or whatever else we wanted. We got bored half way through the day so decided to walk down the road along the river to see where it would take us.....Randomly we see Russ again and another Pepperdine student, Brian. They had already been up to Machu Picchu, so we got advice from them about what to see and at what times of the day. We went to bed early to get up before dawn for the second day in a row to take a 20 minutes bus up to Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu was AMAZING. When we got there, the clouds were still covering most of the ruins, but the view of the Andes Mountains was amazing. We got to walk along part of the Inca Trail and saw many llamas and alpacas. We took a tour for a few hours with a lot of other people, a lot of senior citizens who I got quite annoyed with. They walked really slow and asked tons of questions. There is one mountain next to Machu Picchu called Waynapicchu and only 400 people are allowed to climb it per day. We decided that was a must and head up at 8:30 ish in the morning, so we left our tour early. The hike was straight up and took about an hour. The "path" was extremely steep, and we were basically scaling a mountain. We were dying and didn't know how we would get down. Amy took a picture of the path and later I looked at it and thought it was a pile of rocks. We were practically rock climbing. Once at the top, we stayed there for several hours, reading and eating lunch (haha...a really early lunch). We spent the rest of the day wandering around the site lookng at tons of ruins, playing with the llamas, and sitting and reading in the beautiful Andes. That night we took the train back to Cuzco, where we again stayed at Loki hostel.

Wednesday, we took a tour bus to Puno, which is where Lake Titicaca is. The bus ride was pretty uneventful. We got off several times to see various sites, like a very old church, and Inca temple, and a few museums. Once we got to Lake Titicaca, we were so glad to be staying in a hotel! For the past 4 days we had been staying in hostels and packing and repacking almost every day. It was nice to have our own room and bathroom. It was also so nice to not have to worry about having to pack everything up. The hotel was much nicer than I had imagined, because it was just as cheap as a hostel. Puno was also a pretty boring town, but the lake was beautiful. There were lots of little guinea pigs running around outside, and I enjoyed chasing them around. Lake Titicaca is the highest lake in the world. It was cold, but very sunny. Thursday we just relaxed and wandered around Puno. Friday, we went on a boat to the Uros Islands and Taquile Island. Uros islands were made up of over 40 man-made floating islands. It was soooo cool. It was probably my favorite thing that we did - maybe even better than Machu Picchu. Everything was made out of reeds... the ground, the houses, the kitchen, the boats, everything. But, the funny was is that they had televisions and solar power on the small islands, they even had cable! We got to ride in a reed boat, and buy some more souvenirs from the locals. The next island we stopped at was actually an island. We walked around the island and had lunch there, and visited a museum and some stores.

Saturday, we returned to Buenos Aires. Overall, I really liked Peru - except for the food. Delicacies in Peru include alpaca and guinea pig, which were not very appealing to me. The people were nice and the country was surprisingly clean. Peru has beautiful landscapes and the best souvenirs. Peru was my favorite country so far, probably because it really felt like South America. I really enjoyed all the people being dressed in traditional clothing and doing traditional activities. Also, it was fuuny that their currency was called soles. We had a wonderful trip and I am so glad that we chose Peru for our Spring Break trip!

Cuzco & Machu Picchu:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050313&l=5fe29&id=8506204
Llamas & Alpacas:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050314&l=094e9&id=8506204
Lake Titicaca:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050315&l=4810c&id=8506204
More Peru:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050317&l=64dee&id=8506204

Only four weeks left!

Hello all!
I have had quite a full week, as we don't have much class left and teachers have been trying to cram everything in that they possibly can! On Tuesday for convo we went to a Greek restaurant and it was so much fun! We got to break plates and there were Greek dancers and everything. On Wednesday we did not have school because it was a national holiday, so Amy and I spent part of the day at Cafe Tortoni, the oldest and most famous cafe in Buenos Aires. Then, Wednesday night we went to see the musical RENT and it was fantastic! It was all in Spanish, which was actually pretty cool. On Saturday morning Amy, Jessie, and I leave for Machu Picchu! We will be traveling through Peru for a week, as it is our Spring Break. We are going to Cusco, Machu Picchu, Puno, Lake Titicaca, and Juliaca. We return on Saturday, April 12th and then I only have two more weeks of school left! Hope all is well with everything, and I am excited for my trip and will update you when I get back!

La Semana Santa in Bariloche!

Bariloche was an amazing place to spend my Easter Break!

Last Wednesday night after tango class, Amy, Jessie, and I went out to dinner with Amy's Mom, Dad, and Sister at an amazing parilla (steak house) in Palermo. After stuffing ourselves full of amazing food, we headed back to the Sheration in Buenos Aires where Amy's parents were staying because we were going to spend the night there as our flight was at 7:00am the next morning. Bright and early Thursday morning we got picked up from the hotel and headed off to the Buenos Aires domestic airport to get on our plane to Bariloche! After a three hour flight, we were there! Upon arriving, we were met by two guides from the tour company who were going to take us to our hotel. The drive was about 30 minutes, and along the way they gave us a brief overview of our activities for the week and told us a bit about Bariloche (they spoke English). I was really excited to get to our hotel and settle into our rooms, and I was very happy to see that our hotel was AMAZING. It was five star and pretty new, and Jessie and I got our own room! (Amy shared another room with her sister, and her parents had a larger suite). We quickly changed clothes, as it was significantly colder than it had been in Buenos Aires, and headed off to the down town area to have lunch. After a short cab ride, we ended up at a restaurant called Crocodrilos where we had pizza and fries. After lunch, we went to the Centro Civico, which is the main square in the town, and went to a craft fair. The town of Bariloche is very much a ski town - it looks like Whistler or Leavenworth and has a very Swiss feel to it. We then walked up and down the main street to do some shopping and to look in all the chocolate shops. Bariloche is famous for its chocolate, and just about every other store is a chocolate shop or factory. After exploring the town, we took a bus out of town to a place where we were going to take a gondola ride up the mountain called Cerro Otto. The views from the top were amazing, and there was a spinning restaurant at the top where we sat for awhile and had a coffee. A popular tourist thing in Bariloche is to have your picture taken with giant St. Bernard dogs. The dog owners sit around all day with the dogs mostly in the main square of the town, but there were some at the top of Cerro Otto. You pay them to be in pictures with these giant dogs - it was the funniest thing to watch. None of us wanted to pay to have our picture taken, but we did enjoy petting the dogs because they were so cute. After Cerro Otto, we headed back to our hotel for a swim in the amazing infinity pool that overlooked the lake. Then we got ready and headed back to town for dinner. We went to this amazing Italian restaurant and then went back to the hotel and spent the evening watching movies.

The next morning we were picked up at 8:30am after having breakfast in the hotel. It was a nice and sunny day, just a bit cold. We drove for about 30 minutes out of town to a port where we were getting on a boat to go on a tour. Bariloche has tons of lakes, so the excursion we had planned for the day was the visit some places around them. We went to Puerto Blest and spent a good portion of the day hiking around and walking along the beach. We also had lunch there - I had trout, which is very popular in Bariloche. After Puerto Blest, we continued on the boat to Lago Fria, which also had some gorgeous views. Then the boat took us a place where we got to hike up to some waterfalls - it was no Iguazu, but still very pretty. After the tour they dropped us off downtown and we headed to a parilla for dinner. It was some amazing steak! Afterwards, while walking to get some ice cream, we bumped into or friend Mikey from Pepperdine who was also in Bariloche for break. We were really tired from our long day, so declined his invitation to stay out that night, but made plans to hang out the next day.

On Saturday morning we were picked up at 8:00am after breakfast and headed out for the Seven Lakes drive. There were about 15 people total on this tour, so we made up about half of the group. We were in a mini-bus for the whole day, and we drove for many hours. The tour was entirely in Spanish, so we did a lot of translating. After about 5 hours of scenic driving and stops, we were in San Martin de los Andes, a tourist town on the border of Chile and Argentina. We spent the afternoon there, and then headed back towards Bariloche. After stopping at our hotel to change, we headed to town for dinner where we met our friend Mikey. We all ate at an amazing Fondue restaurant and then Amy, Jessie, Mikey, Amy's Sister, and I went out afterwards. The next day we got to sleep in, and then Amy and I went swimming. After getting ready, Amy, Jessie, and I had lunch at the hotel restaurant, and it was so good! Then we were picked up for our next excursion and headed off to La Isla Victoria and the Bambi forest (the forest that the movie Bambi was inspired by sort of). This was another boat ride, and was also entirely in Spanish. We got to spend some time at the beach, which was really nice. We also had an Easter Egg Hunt that Amy's mom planned for us! :) She also gave us Easter baskets that morning that she brought from the U.S. which was really fun. After returning to Bariloche we had dinner at a Brewery outside of town. It was a really cool place, and had coasters all over the wall that people who had eaten at the restaurant got to write on and pin up, so I wrote one for our group! After dinner we watched movies at the hotel for the rest of the evening.

Monday, the next day we were leaving. We got up and went for a walk down to the beach before Amy, Jessie, Amy's Mom, and I headed to the airport. (Amy's Dad and Sister went on to travel to other places; Amy's Mom had to back home). After a three hour flight, we were back in BA! We hung out with Amy's Mom for awhile before she left for the international airport to catch her flight. Overall, the trip was FANTASTIC and one of the best I have ever been on. The food in Bariloche was the best I have ever eaten, especially in Argentina, and I got to practice my Spanish a whole bunch on this trip, which was great!

PICTURES:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049275&l=c31d0&id=8506204

Iguazu Falls

What a weekend I had! On Friday after class, a group of nine students including myself, set out for Iguazu Falls by bus. For those of you who don't know what they are, Iguazu Falls are the largest waterfalls in the world, and the most famous. Amy and I left the Casa around 1:30pm and headed for the bus station across town. Once we got there, we were quite overwhelmed by the size of the place. We searched around for our bus terminal, so we could pick up our tickets. There were over 150 different bus terminals and companies at the station, and we were number 121! We walked up to the counter, and the two men at the counter just stared at us, so Amy began to speak to them in Spanish. After stumbling through a few sentences, they both started to laugh hysterically and told us that they spoke English. Ha ha, they were so funny. After picking up our tickets without issues, we went to wait for our bus. Eventually our group of nine was all together, and there happened to be another group of five Pepperdine students on our bus as well, so there was a total of fourteen of us. After boarding the bus, we settled in for our 18 hour ride. The seats were more comfortable than an airplane, and reclined partially and had a leg rest. The bus took off at about 3:00pm. After reading, playing cards, and wathcing a movie, they served us dinner. Amy and I were glad we had brought our own food with us - bus food is ten times worse than airplane food, so we gave ours to the boys, who happily accepted it. Amy and I had her jar of peanut butter that she brought from the U.S., so we happily scarfed a lot of that down with crackers. We also had Havana alfajores, which are like the most amazing little cookie things you will ever eat. Eventually, we all fell asleep and I slept for most of the trip, which was very good. The bus made stops all night long, so it wasn't the best sleep ever, but it was enough to get me rested.

We arrived in Iguazu at 9:30am on Saturday and headed for our hostel, which was called Hostel-Inn. It was the nicest hostel I have seen and probably ever will see - they had a huge pool, their own travel agents, a Brazilian carnival show, BBQ, internet, ping pong, etc. We all changed, put on our sunscreen and bugspray, and headed for the Falls. Once we got the the park we headed down the lower circuit where we were going to take a boat ride. Not really knowing what to expect, we had worn our swimsuit tops, which ended up being a very good thing. We all boarded a speed boat and it started to drive us around the falls. We went right next a big one, and then all of a sudden, the driver started to head right for a waterfall! It was small, so Amy and I were fine, but he drove right under it several times. Then, thinking the ride was over, we breathed a sigh of relief. But, to our surprise we headed back toward the biggest waterfall we had seen and went straight for it. Amy and I were holding hands and screaming our lungs off. We were soaked. We thought once was enough, but no, we went under again. My shorts, tennis shoes, hair, and everything was completely drenched - but it was all worth it because now I can say that I was in Iguazu Falls! I tasted them, went under them, and went through them! After we got off the boat, Amy and I decided to hike back up the the train station and go visit the Devil's Throat. Along the way we stopped for a snack and bought a bag of cookies. I was attacked by a Coatie (a raccoon like native animal) who tried to steal the bag from me. We were literally both tugging on the ends of it. I had to let go, and then a park ranger came over and scared it away. We even got our cookies back! After walking a long ways to get there, we finally made it and were in awe of what we were seeing. It was probably the most powerful and beautiful thing I have ever seen. I can't even begin to describe it, as there are no words or even photos that can do it justice. It is just one of those things that you have to be there to understand. God has made some extremely amazing things in this world, and I am pretty sure this is up there on the list.

After that, Amy and I were getting hungry and tired, so we went to have pizza and hot chocolate. We went to some souvenir shops while we waited for the rest of our group. We then went back to our hostel and got showered up. Amy, myself, and two others girls in our group decided to go out for dinner. We found this amazing pasta place, where you purchase pasta by the kilo. We got so much pasta and soda for only 8 pesos each, or less that $3 US. The food here is so cheap! After dinner we went back to the hostel and hung out, and we all called it a night pretty early on, as we were all tired. We ended cramming nine people into our six person room, so that was an experience. The next morning we headed back to the bus station and left Iguazu at 11:30am. We had a bit rougher trip on the way home, and I did not get as much sleep. At one of the stops on the way home they were giving out free yellow fever shots and some of the Pepp kids got them - Amy and I were way creeped out. We got into Buenos Aires at 6:00am and I went home, showered, and headed to my 9:00am class. All in all, it was an amazing weekend!

On Thursday I am headed for Bariloche, the Lake District of Argentina, with Amy and her family for our Easter Break!

Iguazu Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2048546&l=92f0f&id=8506204

La Casita & Time Change

This morning a group of Pepperdine students, including myself, went to La Casita in Tigre. La Casita is a sort of daycare center/after-school program for underprivelaged children whose parents work during the day. A lot of younger kids in BA only have class in the afternoon, so some of them have no where to go in the mornings. Anyways, every week a group of students goes to play with them, and since next week is Easter, we put on a whole bunch of events for them. We had an egg hunt, coloring, face painting, bunny ear making, and we even had someone dressed up as the Easter Bunny! It was a lot of fun, and I realized I really missed being around little kids. It was also a great opportunity to practice my Spanish. :) There were probably about thirty kids in all, and maybe twenty Pepp students. I am really glad that I went!

This week has been pretty chill, just lots of school and a few tests. Last week you all had a time change, which put us at five hours different instead of six. This weekend BA has a time change, but in the opposite direction. Starting on Sunday, we will be only four hours apart! Just wanted to let everyone know. Also, today I registered for my classes for next fall at Pepperdine. Craziness. Tomorrow I am off to Iguazu and cannot wait! Talk to you all soon.

A Buenos Aires Weekend

I had the most amazing weekend full of the most amazing food I have had in Buenos Aires thus far, which made my life so much happier!

On Friday after a long day of classes, Amy, Lauren, and myself had Mexican food! It did not compare to California, but I had chicken fajitas and they came with fresh tortillas. The food was amazingly cheap, my fajitas cost about six dollars. At first I was a little concerned about the restaurant because there was no one there, but then after it got later more people showed up. I then came to the realization that people in Argentina do not eat Mexican food, so that is why it was so empty. This meal was the highlight of my evening, as the following events were quite annoying and upsetting. Amy and I met up with some people at the casa, four boys to be precise, and decided after a long discussion to go to a pool hall. This was not what Amy and I had originally wanted to do, but we decided to go for the compromise. That was a bad move. After walking twenty blocks to the pool hall, (college boys are so cheap they will not pay to take a taxi or even a bus), we sat down at a table. After abot one minute of looking at the menu they decided it was too expensive and that we should leave. This was after walking for an hour to get there! They decided to go to another place accross town, which was back twenty blocks to where we had started and then a bus ride. After walking for a few blocks, I was through with the evening and Amy and I went home, both very angry. That is the last time I let boys plan something!

The next morning Amy and I met up and went to the grocery store because we decided we wanted to have a picnic. After navigating our way through the craziness of Coto (grocery store chain) we had all of our supplies. We bought lemonade, bread, chips, and candy, and because Amy is so smart and brought peanut butter with her from home, our meal was complete. We took the subte a few stops and got off, and walked to find a park. It was a gorgeous day, not too hot! After coming back to the casa, we walked with a bunch of students to play football in a park, but once we arrived there were tons of mosquitoes so we decided to stay for only a little while. The bug situation is getting gross here. A lot of people were going to the circus that night, but Amy and I decided not to go (men in tights and creepy makeup bending their bodies into weird shapes is just not my thing). We then went out to dinner just the two of us in Palermo Hollywood, the really ritzy part of town. We decided on a place called Miranda. I had cheese and spinach raviollis, while Amy opted for steak and potatoes. Of course I shared a bit of hers, as the steak was huge! It was the best meat I have had here thus far - one of the best steaks in my life. We then had a brownie and ice cream for dessert which was also great. After dinner we went back to the Casa and went out with our two friends Andrew and Travis to a nearby place. We stayed there for awhile just talking and meeting Argentines. It was really chill and nice to have a better night than the evening before.

On Sunday I slept in and then headed toward the Casa after a lunch at McDonald's (That is really big here and a lot nicer than the ones in the States). I spent the afternoon studying and hanging out with people, I have a few tests this week to study for. School is more boring than usual because I always want to be out exploring the city, so class time is no fun. I like most of my professors though, but it is crazy to see think that I only have five more weeks of class left between all the breaks we have coming up! I cannot believe my life in Argentina is already half over - I feel like I am just settling in still. On Sunday night, we had pizza for dinner (Me and my padres). It is typical to order dinner out on Sunday nights - usually pizza and empanadas. :)

This Friday I am off to Iguazu Falls for the weekend - it is the biggest ones in the world!

Chile... EFT Part Tres (The Last Part!)

After arriving in Puntas Arenas, Chile, they took us to our hotel to check in and have lunch. The lunch was a bit too fancy for me, but the hotel was nice and I was happy to be on solid ground again. After getting settled into our room, a few of us decided to walk accross the street to a little craft fair to buy some souvenirs. The money in Chile is 500 to 1 US dollar, so it was weird to buy something that cost 10,000 pesos. It then started pouring rain, so we hurried back to the hotel. Then, the whole group met up to take a tour of the city. It was still raining, and most people were really tired, so they did not really want to be on a bus. The downtown area was pretty small, so there was not much to see. We stoppped at a museum and all went in to look around. We also stopped at another craft fair. Everything was penguins - every souvenir literally had a penguin on it. We even got our picture taken with a guy in a giant penguin suit. After this part of the tour was over, most of the students went back to the hotel, but about 15 of us decided to continue on the tour and go to the cemetery and another museum. The cemetery was not a normal underground burial one, but one with above ground tombs. When we got to the cemetery there was a funeral procession going on, which was a bit creepy but also neat to see that aspect of the culture. By this time, it was raining so hard and our clothes were soaking wet. Finally we got back on the bus and went off to another museum. I was pretty much done with sightseeing by this time, so Amy and I breezed through it pretty quickly.

Once we got back to the hotel I read a book, took a nap, and then got dressed for dinner. We all met up to leave, and I was happy to be going to eat. Little did I know what awaited me at the restaurant, which possibly could have been the most interesting meal of my life. We arrrived at a large banquet hall and all sat down. My table was quite fun, and we played table games and sang songs while we waited for our food. (We were the only ones in the restaurant.) First they brought us soda, which was fine, and then ham and tomato pizza. I ate that after picking off the tomatoes, and it was alright, but then came the main course... Super Ponchos, otherwise known as hot dogs. These were not just any old hot dogs, but long white looking hot dogs with tomatoes, sauerkraut, guacamole, and mayonnaise piled on top of them. Needless to say, I did not eat one, but it was hilarious to watch everyone deal with the situation.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and had dessert and hung out for awhile. It was not very late, so a group of us decided to explore the city a bit more. We stayed close to the hotel, but we went to this really fun place that had a lot of Chilean people there and got to experience some of their culture. We talked to several people around us, which was really interesting. By that time there was a huge storm outside, and while we were sitting there the power went out. Luckily, there were candles on the tables so it was not pitch black, but it was funny because a guy was onstage playing music and it just cut out. After about 15 minutes the power came back. We stayed for awhile longer and danced, but then we decided to go back to the hotel. It was extremely windy outside so we got blown around a lot. It was so much fun though!

The next morning we packed up and headed for the airport to begin what seemed like the longest day of my life. We took a plane from Puntas Arenas, Chile to Santiago, Chile in order to catch a flight to Buenos Aires. That flight was only 3 hours long, but by the time we arrived in Santiago we were starving. We headed to a buffet restaurant in the airport that could hold all of us and ate lunch. By this time is was probably 5pm. We were supposed to catch a flight at 8pm to Buenos Aires, but we soon learned that it was delayed, and they did not say by how long. We got lots of snack, including Starbucks!! They have one at the airport there (they don’t have Starbucks in Argentina) so Amy and I got Venti Frappucinos, and they were amazing! We then hung out near the terminal and played games and read magazines. We were all really tired and irritable, and dreading having classes the next day, which was a Friday. With a one hour time change and a 3 hour flight ahead of us, we knew we would not be getting home until very late. We eventually got on the plane around 11pm, and Rafa, our director, decided to cancel classes for the next day, which was great. I slept on the flight back, and after landing and retrieving my luggage at the airport, and a one hour drive back to the Pepperdine Casa, I finally made it home and to bed around 4am. What a trip! Overall, this was the best “vacation” I have ever been on and something I will never forget!

Cruceros Australis... EFT Part Dos!

The ship was called the Cruceros Australis, and it was an exploration expedition around the end of the world. The biggest thing that I learned about myself from this trip was that I get severe sea-sickness. My roommates on the boat were Diana and Jessie, which was a lot of fun. It was hilarious to be stuck on a boat with sixty college students who basically could not get away from each other no matter how hard they tried. Of course there was a bit of cabin fever, but we managed to all have a great time together. We played card games and I got a lot of reading done. Most of the other passengers on the boat were over sixty, which made it even more hilarious. There were about one-hundred passengers on the boat in all. The boat had five different levels, with the dining room on the bottom, the majority of the rooms on the second, rooms and lounges on the third, rooms and lounges on the fourth, and the fifth was an open outdoor deck.

The first morning of the cruise we got up bright and early at seven o’clock to explore Cape Horn. We all hopped into the raft-like boats and headed for shore. I was a bit scared at first in the rafts, as I cannot swim, but Amy held my hand the first time, and after that I was all good. After climbing up a million stairs, we made it a flatter area and walked out to the look-out point with a giant sculpture and a light house. We all looked rather silly wearing our life jackets, as the told us not to take them off so that they would not get lost. This was the coldest day of the trip, as I had yet to discover. Walking around at Cape Horn was freezing! There was a little church there and a person even lives on the island. Some boys decided to jump over to another island and climb up it, and they got yelled at for destroying a national park. The view from Cape Horn was amazing, like nothing I have ever seen before. Many explorers and scientists died trying to make the same journey that we made. We took a huge group picture, spent some time enjoying the view, and then we were on our way back to the ship.

I spent the majority of the day sleeping, as I was feeling very ill. After a nap and the Dramamine kicking in, I started to feel a bit better. Luckily, I never actually threw-up, but I felt really close. Later that afternoon at around five o’clock we were told we were going to an island with Aborigine artifacts and ruins, but that was not what it actually was. It was a huge hike up a mountain. Some of the older people did not come with us, and opted for a beach walk instead. It was still neat though, and we hiked up pretty far. Well, we actually did not hike, we practically ran. Amy and I were right in the front with our program director Rafa, who was moving so fast up that hill that we practically had to sprint to keep up. After a good sweat, we finally reached the top, which was well worth it. The guy in charge of the tour told us to take a moment of silence to enjoy nature, which was of course interrupted by some boys farting. The old folks happened to think this was quite hilarious. After taking a ton of pictures, we ran back down the mountain to be welcomed with hot chocolate and water. Then back to the boat! That night on the ship there were a lot of activities going on. There were bingo games where you could win prizes, as well as a fashion show. My dinner table randomly was selected to model in the fashion show, which was extremely hilarious, as we all utilized our best “top model” skills. After all of this, we had a dance party, which was tons of fun.

The next day we got to sleep in, because we were not getting off the boat until five o’clock in the afternoon. We hung out all day playing games and I finished off a novel. The views around this area were the best so far, as there were many mountains and glaciers. The weather was sunny and cold, and we were very lucky because our guide told us that they only have had ten days like that in the four years that they have been doing the tour; it usually rains. Our excursion for that day was to take the rafts to a glacier. We had very fun boat full of people. The water was full of huge ice chunks and the glacier was huge. Pieces of ice would fall off every couple minutes, and there were several pretty waterfalls. It was breathtaking to just sit there watching the glacier for such a long period of time. All of the boats got close together and on the count of three we all yelled really loud in hopes that a huge chunk of ice would fall of the glacier, but we were unsuccessful. This was by far my favorite excursion of the entire cruise and trip.

The final place we visited on the last day was an island full of thousands of penguins! We got off the boat at seven o’clock and as our boat drove to the island we got to watch the sunrise. It was so amazing. On the island, there were tons of penguins everywhere and they would walk right by you, but you could not get close enough to touch them because they would run away. I was disappointed I could not pet one, but I was satisfied with getting so close. Once we got back onto the ship, we packed up and had breakfast. After hanging out for a few more hours, we docked at Puntas Arenas, Chile.

More on Puntas Arenas Later!

My Pictures:

http://pepperdine.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047237&l=416ca&id=8506204

http://pepperdine.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047239&l=ae8f7&id=8506204

Amy's Pictures:

http://pepperdine.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047118&l=dead2&id=8505998

http://pepperdine.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047120&l=0a00c&id=8505998

Pictures from Before the EFT:

http://pepperdine.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047236&l=433ca&id=8506204

Educational Field Trip... Part Uno

Hello All!

I just had one of the most amazing weeks of my life, all courtesy of Pepperdine! I have decided to write about the trip in several parts as I want to be able to write in detail about all of it. My trip around the end of the world began last Saturday, and included a four day cruise around the end of South America, the closest places you can get to Antarctica without actually going there. After spending a night in Ushuaia, we set off on the Cruceros Australis, an expedition cruise. We spent four days on the boat and visited Capehorn, the Strait of Magellan, glaciers, a giant island of penguins, and eventually ended in Puntas Arenas, Chile where we took a tour and spent the night. We then flew back to Buenos Aires.

Now that you have a basic overview, here is how it all began...

After gathering together last Saturday at Casa Holden, we all set off in giant buses for the Buenos Aires Airport. After the hassle of cheking in 70 people for a flight, we were ready to board and off we flew. The flight was about 3 hours long, and quite pleasant. Once we landed in Ushuaia, we took bueses to our hotel, which was more of a resort. It was a beautiful top-of-the-line facility, and the view was AMAZING. I even got my own bath robe and a chocolate on my pillow. We went swimming and enjoyed the hot tub before dinner in a private room for our group. For the first night, I roomed with Diana and Natalie. It was nice to get out of the humid weather and into something a bit more like Washington! I can't even describe how beautiful it was. We spent the evening hanging out in the hotel and playing cards.

The next day, we woke up pretty early for an offroad excursion!! We all piled into Indiana Jones-like Jeeps and took off for the wilderness at the Southern most city in the world. My Jeep was a very fun bunch and consisted of Amy, Jessica, Alyssa, Becca, Mariah, Zach, Bill, and myself. Our driver was hilarious, and spoke really great English, so we had a lot of good conversations with him. He was the owner of the company, and was 35 with a rat tail. Ha ha. We listened to Beastie Boys the whole day because that was the only cassette tape that he had. While navigating through the hilly forest, we made several stops to check out the picturesque views. We drove through mud, plants, and even the lake! It was so much fun, but a bit scary at times. Finally we got to the "shelter" where we were going to have lunch. It was extremely windy, but definitely worth the drive and coldness. It was a beautiful day otherwise, sunshiny the whole time.

Once we were done wt the lake, we headed back towards to city of Ushuaia to board the cruise ship. We got to spend a bit of time in the downtown area, which was fun because we got to get souvenirs and snacks. Then we prepared to board the boat.

Part Dos will come later...!

Also, here are Amy's pictures from this first day, mine aren't posted yet, so you can look at hers:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2047117&l=f268c&id=8505998

"Senor Tengo" and Tigre

On Tuesday night we had Convo and then as a group went out to a dinner tango show at a place called "Senor Tengo." As you can imagine, it was quite touristy, but the steak was good and so were the dancers. There was more than just tango dancers, but also singers, musicians, etc. that put on a whole show about Argentina. It was fun, but it lasted 2.5 hours, which was much to long for a large group of college students! It was worth waiting though, because at the end they sang "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" in Spanish.

I am taking a class called "The International Experience" and we get to go somewhere fun in the city every Thursday for a tour of some sort that Pepperdine pays for. At the end of the course we write a paper on what we learned, and that is that. Today was our first excursion, and we went to a place outside the city called Tigre. We took a boat tour down Tigre River, which was beautiful. There were a lot of houses along the river that people use as summer vacation homes. There was also a large aumsement park on the water, which is one of the most famous in South America - kind of like their Disneyland. After the boat tour, we went to the famous market place and fruit stand and looked around. We got tired pretty quickly, because it was blazing hot. Then we came back to the Pepperdine Casa for our weekly Asado (BBQ)!

I am still really enjoying my time here, my family has been really great. She cooks pretty good meals, and we have not had anything twice since I have been here. I had my first laundry experience this week, as we take it somewhere to be done. My parents have a small washing machine in the house, and no drier, which is common. Pepperdine pays for us all to get our laundry washed somewhere near our houses. I just dropped my clothes off and picked them up the next day all ready to go. They smelled a little weird, but they were clean! I have a Spanish test tomorrow so I have been studying for that. I feel like we do so much here that it is hard to fit in school work, even though I know that is why we are really here! On Saturday we leave for Chile, and we got our itineraries, and it seems amazing! I will update you all when I get back from that trip in a week or so. We will be on a cruize most of the time, so I will probably be unreachable... just FYI. Love you all!

PS - Happy almost Birthday Tyler!!

A Weekend in Buenos Aires

I had an amazing weekend exploring the city! On Friday I went out to dinner with Amy, Lauren, and Jessie to a great restaurant called Broccolino, which was the best Italian I have had in a long time. The restaurant is very well know and recommended by all the guidebooks. We also went to Florida street and baught soccer jerseys. Later that night we met up with a large group of Pepperdine students and went to a restaurant/bar that had board games and really cool decor and furniture. We had a ton of fun and were there until the wee hours of the morning. On Saturday, we slept in, but then Amy, Jessie, and I all met up to have lunch and then we ended up going to the zoo. It cost $8 pesos to get in (about $2.50 US). They had all the normal animals: giraffes, elephants, lions, snow leopards, a polar bear, flamingos, llamas, etc. But they also had a few weird animals I had never seen or heard of before. One was literally called "the large rodent" and it was basically a dog sized rat. It was creepy. They also had these animals that roamed around the zoo that looked like rabbits/dogs/deers. The were about as tall as my knees. It was extremely hot at the zoo, so afterwards we went for ice cream. On Saturday night, myself along with Amy and two other students had dinner with the Pepperdine visiting faculty member, Kendra, and her husband Scott, and their new baby. After dinner we had dessert and we played Scrabble, and Amy and I won! (We played on teams). The game was very competitive, and so it was a very exciting victory. Afterwards, we called it a night. On Sunday Amy and I went to San Telmo, an antique fair/flea market/craft fair. It covered a span of about ten blocks and shut down the whole street. It was fun to experience, but it was pretty touristy, and a lot of people spoke English. I wasn't very thrilled with that aspect of it. I enjoy practicing my Spanish when I go places around the city, so when people automatically start speaking English to me, it makes me angry. We had a very lovely time overall though. We then came back to the Pepperdine Casa for "House Church" with some of the other students. Then came the most exciting event of the weekend: my first Futbol game!!! A group of about fifteen of us went to see one of the top two Argentinian soccer teams, the name of the team was Boca Juniors. They were playing Argentina Juniors, a less popular team. Boca won 4 to 0, so it wasn't a very stressful game. Of course, we were rooting for Boca, and they just happen to be my host Mom's favorite team, so she was thrilled I was going to see them. Soccer is much different here than in the US: the stadium was packed, people were cheering, and it was crazy - much more like what you would experience at an American Football game. After the game it took us forever to get home because the busses were packed and slow at coming, but eventually after a cab and bus ride, we made it!

Just Another Week in Argentina...!

So, this week has been pretty chill. We have had classes this week, and I started Tango lessons last night! They are really fun! My classes are all fine, hopefully not too hard. My history class gets pretty boring, but other than that they are great. The weather has been amazing, and we have been experiencing a lot of nightlife and different kinds of food this week. Although the meals are far from thrilling, I think I will be able to live! We had Convocation on Tuesday night and all went out to dinner at an "Italian" restaurant which was certainly not my favorite. This weekend we are all planning to stay around Buenos Aires and experience the city!

Here are some pictures finally...!!

Just copy and paste the link, then click on the photos. You don't need a facebook to do it, so here you go!

Buenos Aires:
http://pepperdine.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2046368&l=979fc&id=8506204

Uruguay:
http://pepperdine.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2046369&l=1d821&id=8506204

My weekend in Uruguay!

On Friday night at 7pm we left the Pepperdine Casa to catch the Supte! After the subway ride down to the port, we got on our "ferry" and set sail for Colonia, Uruguay. There was quite a large group of us on the boat together, so it was a lot of fun. We even got to sit in first class! The ferry was quite unlike Washington ferries, this was more like a cross between a Washington ferry and a cruise ship. In BA they call ferries "Buquebus". The ride was only about an hour long, and then we arrived! Once we got their, our very large group split up to go to different places. My group, which included Amy, Lauren, Diana, and myself, opted for a relaxing weekend in Colonia. The other groups went to various other places such as Montevideo, but they had to take long overnight bus rides to get there. On Friday night we went to the hostel where the lady in charge said that "they had no reservations for that name" and that there was not enough space for four of us to all be in the same room. After some lengthy chatting in our lovely Spanish, a room for four suddenly opened up! Ha Ha. So we ended up being able to have a room with two bunk beds in which we shared a communal bathroom. The place was actually pretty nice and safe considering we only paid $11 a night.

On Saturday we decided to get up fairly early, got ready, and had free continental breakfast of bread, jam, and dulce de leche. Then we went exploring. We went to a crafts fair, which was very cool, and we walked to the beach. Colonia has a beautifully famous historical down town, so we spent the remainder of the day there. We even met a couple from Pacific Palisades, which is 10 minutes from Malibu! We had lunch at an amazing little restaurant, and I had Spaghetti, soda, bread, and dessert, all for $7. The conversion rate of the US dollar to the Uruguay peso is 23 to 1! It was very beautiful there and the people were extremely nice and very friendly. I very much enjoyed the atmosphere of the town. We then had a siesta around 6pm, which is a nap. Then at 8pm we set out for dinner at a place we had spotted earlier that had amazing french fries. I had the biggest steak I have ever seen! We made friends with our waiter Diego, who thought we were quite hilarious. After 2 hours of dinner we set of for dessert, and met a very nice women at the restaurant who we chatted with for awhile. We had our desserts in a park where we listened to a live band and just relaxed. Then we headed back towards our hostel and there was a huge concert a block away so we went to check it out. The "King Bandas" were playing in front of a huge crowd. We stayed for awhile until the show was over. In Buenos Aires, there are many different nationalities of people, so I do not feel out of place being blonde and fair skinned, but Uruguay was a bit different. I was definitely one of the only ones of my type around. I got several stares, which Amy found to be quite hilarious. Then we went back to our hostel and called it a night at about 2am, which was early!!

This morning the four of us awoke to a massive thunder storm and lightening flashes outside our window. Our hostel even started to leak! We had to call a taxi to take us back to the ferry, because it was pouring rain. We had a pleasant trip back, and I have just spent the afternoon at the Pepperdine Casa. Amy, myself, and some others went to ice cream at Persicco, the best ice cream place around. I am not much for ice cream, but Argentina ice cream beats everything else hands down. It is amazing! Tomorrow I have a full day of classes, and tonight is dinner with mis padres. Talk to you all soon.

PS... I have tons of stamps in my Passport now!!

The Subte and Uruguay

Today I rode the subte for the first time, which is like the subway. It was crowded and hot, and definitely something to avoid if possible! This weekend a huge group of us are going to Colonia in Uruguay. There are a lot of beaches and other fun things to do...! I will update you all when I get back!!

Food, Class, etc.

Last night I had the best dinner with my family so far... it was pasta with pesto sauce, salad, bread, and peaches. I could actually eat everything on the table without wanting to spit it out! Two nights ago after Convocation we went to a restaurant called Kansas, and it was amazing. We can order anything and everything we want, and Pepperdine pays for it. It is an American restaurant, so Amy and I shared a huge steak, mashed potatoes, french fries, and caesar salad. The steak was only 39 pesos, or $13 US dollars! I am amazed with how cheap it is to eat here. Everyday our lunch costs around 10 or 15 pesos, which is $3 to $5 dollars. We start real classes tomorrow, which should be nice. I just want to start being on a more regular schedule. Spanish boot camp is going well, it is a lot of review and it is really helping me to pick everything back up quickly!

Spanish Class

We started Spanish Boot Camp yesterday and it is going pretty well. I am getting used to all the grammar again, but Spanish in Argentina has several main differences than the Spanish I have previously learned. That gets confusing, but for the most part it is okay. Tonight we have our first convocation and then Pepperdine is taking us out to dinner. Everything is going well! I miss American food already, but some of the food is pretty good. Miss you all!

A Few Days In...

So, after 16 hours of flying and travel time from LAX to Chile to Buenos Aires, I arrived! The flight was extremely long, but yay, I randomly got to sit next to Amy. Yesterday Pepperdine picked us up at the airport and brought us to Casa Holden, the Pepperdine house, and we had a BBQ and orientation. Then our families came to pick us up! My parents our older, mi madre es 60 and me padre es 70, but they don't look it. My mom speaks some English, and my father speaks a small amount. Communicating to them is hard, but I always understand what they are saying to me. They have had many students that have lived with them before. Between them they have 6 children, all in there 20s and 30s. I have my own bathroom, which is very nice, and a huge closet in my room. All my clothes fit! They live in an apartment, and it has a nice view and they have wireless internet, but I have yet to get it to work. They cooked me dinner last night, which was alright. Kind of plain tasting, and a some weird side dishes. We had pork roast, spinach casserole, salad, and bread. She also made mousse for dessert. We also talked about what kinds of food I do and do not like, which is a very good thing!

Last night we went out, which was fun. I am enjoying seeing the city and I live in a very nice and safe area. This morning we went on a tour of the city and Pepperdine took us out to lunch. We also get an allowance to use for whatever we want. The city has two distinct sections, the North and the South. The North, where I live and where Casa Holden is is considered to be the fancy area where rich people live with lots of shopping, while the south is for the working class and has many homeless people. We went to Boca, which is a a tango and soccer neighborhood, and one of the two main soccer stadiums is there. There were lots of tango dancers there and street performers. We also went to the cemetery where the famous Eva Perron, or Evita, is burried. Casa Holden es muy bonita y grande. We start Spanish boot camp on Monday and classes start on Friday. I really love the city, and getting around is quite easy as a lot of things are in walking distance, taxis are very cheap, and there are subways and buses. There are always people to hang out with, in total, there are 60 Pepperdine students altogether. It is very hot and humid here, but I am loving it! My hair is so curly and it is driving me crazy. We haven't yet decided what we are going to do the rest of the day, but we will probably go to church and some street fairs tomorrow.

Hasta Luego!

I'm Here!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am safe! I love my family and I am still working out the communication stuff. I will write more soon!

Only Four Days Away From Buenos Aires!

Hello everyone!
I am so excited to leave for Argentina in just four short days. I feel like I have been preparing for this trip for months! I will be posting on this blog so that I can keep all of you, my family and friends, updated while I am overseas. I arrive in Buenos Aires, Argentina on February 1st, and although the daunting task of packing is still ahead of me, I cannot wait. I have been brushing up on my Spanish and eating all of my favorite American foods the past few weeks. I am nervous about living in a new place, and am anxious to meet my host family and get settled in. I will be in South America for three months, and I am living with what seems to be a lovely older couple whose children have all grown up and are out of the house. Since phone calls from me are going to be rare in the next few months, this blog as well as email is the best way to stay in touch with me. Also, remember that Buenos Aires is 5 hours ahead of Pacific Time. Keep me in your prayers, as I hope that God will help me to learn a lot on this trip! Check up on my blog too! I love you all.
Los besos y abraza. ¡Adiós!