A Last Few Things.

I am starting to get a bit nostalgic about this place because I am leaving Saturday. My friends here and I are cramming in some last minute fun—we had our two finals today and afterwards went to the zoo.
There were super cute lemurs, polar bears and free animals walking all over the place (half bunny/half deer creatures) but the BEST part of the zoo was … the parrots. Why you ask? Because they speak in Spanish. You want to have a fun afternoon, let a Spanish bird say “Hola! Hola! Hola!” to you a few times. That was great.
Also… walking to school this morning Argentina was playing in the world cup—that was so fun because the city was absolutely and completely dead. No cars, no walkers, no nothing—stores were closed down. Grace and I were a little scared that they were losing the game (soccer) and we would be walking down a street with a country full of furious Argentines- until all of a sudden for about 45 seconds people started yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs, blowing horns, stomping- you name it.
This may not seem that funny but I’m telling you walking 8 blocks to school, depending upon the types of screaming- you could decipher what the score of the game was. Argentina beat Korea 4:1. Obviously they would because the Argentines are OBSESSED—with “futbol.” Other than that.. tonight at dinner our mom asked what we were doing, we said hopefully dancing but we weren’t sure where- so she called in our doorman to join our convo and give city tips. This seems sweet but really it’s a tad odd, she has him come into the apartment nearly every day and yesterday morning he was in here at 7:00am.. why? Nobody knows.
Apart from loving my trip and having a blast, I am almost ready now to come home. Mostly due to sanitization issues. I’m not talking about a lack of deodorant. There are cockroaches infesting my room. Still. So that’s gross but it’s also complicated because for a few nights now I’ve been sleeping in the other girl’s room on her futon—and not telling Carmen (mom), and Carmen found out—and was upset, yadda yadda- she had people come clean the room again and sprayed poison all over the place. I don’t care- I am still going to sleep in Laura’s room. Oh and the turtle slept in our room last night too. Side note. : )

Hasta Luego,
I’ll be home this Sunday! HOME SWEET NORTH AMERICA, WAHOO!

Las Cataracas! (Waterfalls)!

This past weekend was by far my favorite, we went to Iguazu which is on the Argentina/Brazil border and saw the National Park with the waterfalls which were really awesome. The biggest one we saw was called "Devil's Throat" and was so powerful that standing at the top you couldn't see the bottom due to all the misty air.

The trip was also neat because we got to see the more "South American" South America, what with the jungle and we even got to see an indigenous tribe! However, after we got back, about half of the kids on the trip got sick with seriously bad colds because-- of course-- we decided to ride a speed boat that took us under the waterfall, good idea at the time but remember, the seasons are switched so we are in winter and it was the COLDEST experience of my life! No joke. But other than us all turning into human icicles, it was really great.

We had to walk a ton through the National Park to see all of the waterfalls and it was fun trying to spot animals. I was super determined to see a toucan, duh, but unfortunately I had no such luck. I DID however get very very close to many coatis, which are their racoons, but more fun because they are not scared of people. The little coatis would come right up to you and steal food out of your bags, I saw it done to a lady, the little racoon snatched an orange right through the plastic bag she was carrying and ran away. Very very cute.

Also-- we got to stay in a hotel which was sooo nice because although I love my house here, it is not always the best.. aka my cucarachas (cock roaches) haha. but really. Anyhow we have been back from that for a week now and Grace and I decided we need a mental health day so we're skipping our classes today. Also we're really excited for tonight because we're going to "La Bella y La Bestia"! (Beauty and the Beast) So cross your fingers that "Be Our Guest" is sung in english because otherwise I will be seriously disappointed! Hahha just kidding. But really.

Until later, Hasta Luego!!

Caught Red Handed.

CAUGHT and HUNGRY.

Update. 8:00 at night, Carmen just left to talk to her amiga “Elsa” upstairs. She still hasn’t started cooking dinner. 8:15 still chatting and I can officially be classified as a starving child.

I wonder what the matter is—normally she cooks for an hour or two prior to our 8:00 dinner. I haven’t eaten since a friend and I split a cafeteria lunch at school. So HUNGRY. Then I remember, early today Carmen and I were "taking our mate" (to be explained later)—and she asked what I wanted to eat for dinner… I thought I said “anything”… but maybe I accidentally said “nothing”--- sometimes I just say yes to everything and hope she doesn’t know I can’t understand her. Damn.

Okay so naturally I go looking in her cookie can and get a big one out and head for the dulce de leche (carmel) jar in the pantry to dip it. Just as I have my head stuck in the pantry I hear the key turn in the kitchen door.

I freeze. I dip the cookie. Then literally leave the lid off and run. I’m 50% sure she saw me sneaking out of the kitchen with the cookie. So awkward. But also worth it at the same time. Update: it’s now 8:30 and I’m still not eating. FEED ME WOMAN! My thumbs are starting to look delicious.

Argentina update: it’s sunny and cold. The picture at the top is from the elite's grave yard/cript. Super creepy place. Lots of cats.

A Few Cultural Experiences..

Cultural Experiences

1. Tonight Grace, Laura and I went for ice cream and mine burned me. Our mom Carmen wanted some so we got ours to go and I didn't realize it was wrapped up with dry ice. I thought it was just cold, nono it's burning.

2. I had my first Argentine margarita last night.. but we asked for sugar on the rim, instead they mixed the whole drink with sugar and Grace and I woke up with stomach aches. But we decided it was worth it.

3. Last night coming home around 1:00am the taxi driver sang (in spanish) to Grace and I. Some of the drivers are very very friendly. He was from New Jersey.

4. While we aren't in a "rich" family, our personal manicurist did come yesterday. For 20 pesos= 4.5 dollars. Bargain. She also told me where to go at night to find a boyfriend. Cha ching. Thank you, nail lady. Can't put a price on insider tips like these.

5. We can't find our turtle. I check under my bed every few hours. Just in case she's under there somewhere.

6. This past weekend was the Bicentennial, kind of like 4th of July, and the streets were PACKED full of everyone, it was super overwhelming and I felt like I was being robbed every time someone knocked into me. I'll add a pick of the streets.

7. Grace and I want to see kids our age. We can't figure out where they are. The night-life thing is actually true here, we know they work, go to a little school and then sleep all day and wake up for night. Grace and I are trying to decide if it's worth it to stay out all night to finally see some of them. We tried to go to a club last night and the "bouncer" acted like we were nuts because it was 11:00 pm and the restaurant didn't become a club until 3:00am. Dangg Argentine kids. You're soo wild. Also, I think it may be because Buenos Aires is a lot prettier at night. When you can't really see all the crapy parts. Hahaha.

8. I've made it my goal to accumulate as many pictures as possible of dog walkers. Sometimes I have to run after them to get a good shot. I hope I win the TCU photo contest. I think I have it in the bag.

9. The beds and the coffee are still WAY too small.


***Hasta Luego, See you on Skype!! (7:30 your time)
Samantha

Just a few cositas (little things).

1. Grace and I are two college sorority girls living with a little Argentine grandmother named Carmen.

2. Grace and I can barely understand her and we do a LOT of nodding and
then try and figure it out later if it’s important.

3. We always knew we had a turtle. Even though our packet we received said no pets… but the news is, we just found out that Manuelita likes to sleep under the fridge. Perfecto.

4. Grace and I eat breakfast every morning with Carmen, Grace was making small talk by saying the neighbors (who leave their connecting window open) were coughing all night. Just an observation… until Carmen decided to call up the said neighbor, tell neighbor the “chicas” were complaining about her, ask what the heck was wrong, and had the neighbor come over. Perfecto.

5. Carmen really likes Obama. Grace’s dad is a doctor… last night’s conversation= soo much fun! : )

6. I am becoming a man. There are cockroaches in my room. I kill them. I OWN the raid bottle. My Toms are no longer Toms, they are THE ROACH DESTROYERS.

7. Carmen saves everything. We knew there had been an economic crisis in 2002. What we didn’t know was that there is a purpose in hanging onto old toilet paper rolls.

8. Carmen is on the phone literally all the time. So many amigos. And we can hear her talking about us all the time. But we can’t understand what she is saying. Talk about some freakin’ motivation to learn Spanish. Sheesh.

***SIDE NOTE*** I sit on skype around 7:30 your time most nights. : )

Hasta Luego, Samantha
(Carmen refuses to call me Sammy. Duh.)