My first experiences in Argentina

The flight...
Our flight was delayed 3 hours out of Dallas but it ended up being very fun because I made some good friends that were going to Argentina too. Talking to them helped calm my nerves because they were all as nervous as I was! haha... We finally get on the plane at 12:30 am, and it takes off at 1 am TX time. Despite the length of the 11hour flight, it was fairly smooth and I slept off and on for about 5 hours (which is good on a plane for me!) We landed in Santiago, Chile at 11 am their time, thank goodness the time change isnt too significant! The snow capped Andes Mountains were GORRRRGEOUS!!! I got a couple of pix that I will post when I can, but they were easily the most beautiful I have ever seen from a plane if not in my entire life. For lunch we ate at the airport: a sandwich with beef and plastic like cheese (it wasnt so bad if you just didnt think about it! haha) Our last flight was to Mendoza and it was a shoooorrttt, only about 45 minutes.

Meeting my family...
Well, as soon as we landed we were all kinda freakin out because we knew that our families were eagerly waiting around the corner after we picked up our luggage. Everyone was nervous because we were aware that our families know little to no English, and that is just kind of terrifying!!! Well, sure enough Claudia (mi mama) and her friend Flavia were just SO excited to see my nametag as I turned the corner from baggage claim. It was really quite precious and eased my nerves quite a bit. Even though my Spanish is not perfect, I knew that they would love me anyway because Claudia is the cutest thing Ive ever seen (sorry Christian! haha). We loaded up my stuff in Flavias TINY car, and I feared for my life as we drove home for the 1st time (dont worry mom, everyone drives terribly in Argentina so its actually quite safe!) We pull up to their lovely, quaint, CLEAN house and I am feeling even more relieved. Its in a very safe barrio (neighborhood) and its super cute! I meet my sisters, Selene and Julieta, and Julietas friend Pilar, they are all SOOO sweet. We all talk for a while in the living room, they were able to understand what I said most of the time so that was good! I unpack my stuff in my room and then Mallorys mom Susannah offers to take me to the outdoor shopping mall called Palimares.

Palimares...
They pick me up in their car and I meet Susannahs daughters Milagros (12 yrs old) and Valentina (9). They are super adorable and I squeeze in the back and hold on for dear life as we drive to the mall. We arrive and it is SO nice, it looks like its straight out of Malibu, CA! We walk around, speaking Spanish and eating palomitos de maiz (popcorn that tasted like Kettle corn only BETTER!) After walking around SUsannah drives us around some really cool places in town, then takes me home.

1st night home...
I finish unpacking and take a shower, aka drizzle. The water pressure is pretty horrible, but you know, I got clean and thats all that matters! haha, after my shower my mom and I had a miscommunication and she thought I needed food at that very moment (dinner is very late all over Arg), but I really could have waited. Dont worry about it, she brought me a slice of pizza and crackers with ham to my room for a snack! haha, sooo cute but Im thinking, oh my gosh Im gonna gain so much weight here because I had to eat DINNER like 30 min later!! For dinner we had delicious empanadas, salad, and of course red wine (it is a huge part of their culture)! Dessert was dulce de leche... AMAZING! I went to bed shortly after dinner because I was verrrrry tired from traveling and I slept very well in my new bed!

Orientation at the university...
NEVER had I ever been so excited to go to school! haha, after speaking only Spanish for 12 hours, hearing my friends speak English was like music to my ears! haha, we had orientation from 9am til 1 pm, then I came home for lunch. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day here, so we had fideos (noodles) con broccoli with ajo (garlic...mmmm!) It was really good! I promise mom, I offer to help with the dishes but my mom Claudia NEVER lets me, she tells me to just relax and that it is her job to clean! haha, daaaang! Monday and Tuesday were national holidays in Argentina, so my mom took me and Mallory (our moms are really good friends) downtown to experience the events of the day! SOOOOOO neat, pictures to come I promise! Many students from Baylor havent left their houses yet, so Mallory and I decided that our moms are just AWESOME and they really want us to experience the Argentine culture.

More posts to come, prob not this detailled because class starts tomorrow so Im sure I will have homework and my blogs will suffer because of it!

Kendra