You'll Never Change

enjoying my mojito

Heidi, Heidi, Jennifer, Po

Carlos, Me, Jennifer, Po

My last week of vacation went unfortunately very fast.

Wednesday I went to visit my cousin Cynthia who recently had a baby. Her newborn, Mia, is the cutest little baby girl in the world and I am so glad I got to meet her. Cynthia lives right next to the Zoo de Buenos Aires and it's really easy to get to from my house. Mia was being restless and we thought a walk around the neighborhood would calm her down, so we set off around the zoo, where there are tons of parks and great things to do. It was a beautiful day and an awesome opportunity to catch up with Cynthia. She offered me a part-time babysitting gig which I happily accepted!

That night I headed over to my dad's friend, Mago, to have dinner. His son and I are right about the same age so we had a bunch to talk about. They promised to invite me for lunch Sunday.

Thursday was probably the most important day of my week. I had University of Palermo's orientation at 11:00 am that morning. After looking for the school for about an hour, I arrived regrettably late and went straight to the room. Turns out the orientation hadn't started yet, but everyone was already waiting outside. And by everyone, I mean about 30 kids, all mostly from France. Not one was American. I knew it was going to be a long day.

Our orientation leader explained to us everything, from how to register for classes and where the best night clubs are! It was great to get a bit of information from someone who knows.

I made three French friends who I found to be really friendly, very different from the rest of the group. Adriana, Benjamin and Cedrick are now my foreigner friends!

After orientation my uncle called me and we headed over to Alto Palermo, where we had lunch and some ice cream. We did a lot of catching up. About 5 years worth. It's nice to talk to someone who can give some insight to life, but still has a young mind.

Now, last night was crazy! I first want to mention that I saw Inception. Which I have nothing to say but, AMAZING. GO SEE IT.

I met up at the movies with Heidi, and I was introduced to Carlos, Jennifer, and Polin. All three of them are super cool, and we decided to meet up to go out that night.

Heidi, Carlos, Jennifer, Polin, Matt, Mitch, Benjamin, Cedrick, Brad, Gina and Gina's friend, and me all met up at Palermo Soho, where we sat at a bar and shared delicious mojitos. It was a great time, and at about 2 am we headed into none other than Kika, where Heidi and I really enjoyed last weekend. While the music kind of sucked, it was very fun to be in such a large group. Heidi and I headed home at around 5 am.

Today, I will be enjoying my laziest day so far before I head over to Hillel for a night of dancing and stand up comedy with Becca and Gus. Later we are meeting up with Heidi to party the rest of the night away.

My life here never stops. Classes start monday. Maybe, that will slow me down.

Crazy Argentina

So friday night with Heidi and Katie was insane. Originally, there was four of us, and we all met outside of Becca's apartment and headed over to Santa Fe and Scalabrini Ortiz to Plaza Del Carmen. There, we ordered wine, original Italian pizza and some other stuff. After we had polished at least half of the wine bottle off, Becca didn't feel well and took a taxi home. I went with her and re-joined the girls at the restaurant. We were down to three, but we were prepared for a good night out! After paying about 60 pesos, 25 dolars each for dinner (which included wine, champagne and coffee!), we headed over to the hip district of Palermo Soho.

Palermo Soho is nothing like what you'd find in the States, unless it's obviously in New York. As soon as you arrive in the area (usually by taxi, since its kind of dangerous to take any form of public transportation at that time), it's usually 1 am, and bars are already filled for pre-game. Heidi, Katie and I all sat down at this cute little bar, which had outside heating so it was comfortable to just sit outside. We drank a bit, and then headed over to Kika.

We met one of my friends at the door, who knew a guy, so we got in without a cover charge which was awesome! Inside was crazy, with two dance floors, one for electronic music and the other for hip hop. While hip hop is not my favorite, it seemed to be more american music and not so much noise, so the three of us just stuck to that side. By 4 am, the place was packed. It was so hard to dance or even move! But, it was amazing. While you kind of have to fend off some men, it becomes really funny after a while. It's just an all-night kind of party.

We called a cab around 6 am, and I got in bed at around 7. I slept til 2 the next afternoon. It will take a long time to get used to this life.

Saturday, my uncle picked me up and we headed outside the city to my aunt's house. They live in a quite suburban neighborhood, where my mom, her sister and brother all grew up. My aunt currently lives about 10 blocks from my grandpa's house. It's a bit sad to walk by there.

That night, the whole Luftman clan got together and we all shared wine, pizza and lots of sweets and cakes. It was fabulous, and it didn't end until about 2 am. It was definitely one of my best memories so far. As much as my family can be a pain in the ass, I love them when they're all together. I slept over.

Yesterday I left my aunt's around 4:00, and I headed back over to the city. I met Becca for dinner at around 7:30 and we chatted about our weekends. I was glad to see she was feeling better, but I started to feel a little sick. I bailed on dinner early, and I've been in bed with somewhat of a flu since. So today, I am taking it easy.

It hit me last night how homesick I am. I guess being sick and far from home kind of did it. It's going to be a long trip, so I better brace myself.

Chocolate

These past 4 days have been a blurr. I can't believe its been four days! It only feels like one.

This week I have been pretty much relaxing and trying to get acquainted. The streets here and very confusing, and you have to make sure not to get lost and end up on the wrong side of town. But, unfortunately, the only way to do this is to explore, and since everyone I know here is either taking exams or have programmed activities, I'm pretty much left to do it by myself.

I have been pretty much getting around by Subte D, which is the only one I have been able to master so far. It's easy because all I do is go to Becca's apartment and come back, which is right off the subway line. I am a master at this.

Yesterday, I told Becca I'd go over after she was done with exams, and I found myself greeting about 8 girls when I arrived. I met Maria, Alexis, Stephanie, Carrie, Katie and Maya outside the apartment building and then we all walked towards Alto Palermo, to get them all cellphones. We went to the same place I had gone to when I needed one, and the sales guy recognized me. He is a guy about the same age as me, and he was so happy that I brought him so much business. He thanked me by giving me a new Argentina jersey! It was awesome!

After that, we all headed over to the food court to get a snack, but the lines were soo long. Argentineans are everywhere, all the time. Everywhere is crowded, all the time. But, I was so glad to have been able to spend that time with the girls, everyone seems really nice and its comforting to know people here that aren't directly related to me.

Today, I woke up knowing all I wanted to do was get a haircut. I needed one so bad, and for those of you who saw me in Baltimore before I left, you know it was so long. So I cut it. And dyed it...I am now a auburn brunette, and I love it.

Last night the real homesickness kind of took over. I realized I really miss my family, my friends, and definitely my boyfriend. It's kind of hard not having people here that I can be myself 100% around, since I don't want to freak them out just yet (hehe!), but I do miss everyone...already.

Tomorrow is a new day, I am exploring the city with Heidi and then going out at night. Which by night, I mean like 1 am, because apparently Argentineans do not go out before 1. It's not cool. And you must be out til 7 am or you're a loser. I'm going to need a long nap.

Whirlwind

So, it has been a whirlwind the past 2 days. So many things blend together that I am doing my best to keep them all straight! We left Washing Reagan Airport the day before yesterday, after having a very tearful and emotional goodbye with our parents. We headed over to the terminal where our Miami flight was leaving from, and after 2 hours and some turbulance we touched down in very rainy Miami International Airport. From there, we had 20 minutes to walk all the way across the airport in order to reach our flight in time. The stewardess was already calling out our last names over the intercom.The flight down to Buenos Aires was absolutely delightful. Becca and I ended up having our own seats, so I spread out and passed out for about 75% of the flight. I woke up refreshed and anxious, an hour and a half before arrival.Once at the Buenos Aires airport, we hit up immigration and customs, where it also took us about an hour to get our bags. We figured that's what things are mostly like in Argentina: slow and irritating. Hispanic people are so relaxed!After passing over to arrivals, I looked all over the place until I pinned down my uncle who was waiting for us. We walked to his car where we immediately headed over to my grandparent's house.

My grandparents are lovely and I am so happy to be able to stay with them, even if it for such a short time. While my grandma talks a lot and is always in my business, she really cares about my wellbeing and that I am very grateful for. My grandpa is more concerned with making me electronically connected, so that's cool too.

After my grandparent's, we headed over to the hotel in which we were to stay for the night.Caseron Porteno is a wonderful little bed and breakfast, where the stay is cheap and breakfast is obviously served. It was comfortable and warm and that's all we needed.

After that, we headed over to a parilla or grill, a very cute and upscale place in Palermo Soho. I filled my tummy with nothing but beef, and we celebrated our arrival with some wine and champagne (I love Argentina!). There, my aunt Maru joined us and we had a great time just chatting and catching up on life.

It was a long day. We returned to the hotel and fell asleep.

Today was an even longer day. After waking up at 10 am, we had breakfast at the hotel and headed over by taxi to Becca's house of stay. Her neighborhood is wonderful, and after chatting with her "mom" for an hour or so, I realized she is at the right place.

We left her house to go to Alto Palermo where we could get cellphones, and where we met up with Maya, my friend from Goucher. The 3 of us had lunch and enjoyed just talking about Maya's experience, since she has been here since March. It was wonderful to hear some stuff from her.

Once we were done, I dropped Becca off at her house and I left with Subte D to get home. While I was jammed packed on the subway, I also felt a huge since of independence and happiness. I am at home. I arrived safely and I quickly started unpacking my things, and of course checking my e-mails.

I am now off to bed, since it is almost midnight here. I have a huge day planned tomorrow and the next. Definitely a huge weekend, so check back for updates!

It is here that I will keep all my memories from my adventures!