Well how I have been spending most of time, one might ask. I certainly have not been blogging, but instead focusing on having experiences which to blog about. No, not really, but I am still in that phase which most everything is new and exciting in some way. I have become very accustomed to life here in Buenos Aires - the hour of eating, the nocturnal way of doing things, the packed subways - people literally are on top of each other, the kissing saludos, so many different little cultural nuances. If it was possible to fall head over heels for a culture, then I would definitely say I am in the process. There are moments when I suddenly realize, "Oh my god, I am in Buenos Aires," and then there comes a little excited feeling usually followed by euphoria.

I was talking with a friend the other about sharing our experiences in Buenos Aires with our friends and family from home. Ironically we both had the same ideas:

1. There is no possible way to convey all the of feelings, new experiences, etc.
2. There are times when you really wish you could share those new experiences because sometimes a certain sight, activity, smell, feel triggers the memory or an association of something / one specific from home.
3. There is also a desire to not share your experiences especially since they are difficult to convey, and you want to tell the person to just come here and experience it for themselves. I highly recommend this option.

For those of you who are not here experiencing or will not have the opportunity to experience, I am witting this blog. Keep in mind though that what I write is only a very small slice of what I take part in on a daily basis. If I were to accurately and adequately document my experiences, it would take the number of hours I sleep per day. Sleep or blog writing? Well, one is a necessity in order to survive.

So what have I been up to? I do attend classes, the normal school stuff, an internship, playing Ultimate Frisbee, and yoga. Very broad categories I know, and to hash out the details of every activity would probably be a little tedious even for me even considering the length of some prior posts. So let's start with the fun highlights...

Frisbee. I have played Ultimate frisbee pick up games in the states numerous times, so when I heard about an Ultimate game here on Saturdays I thought I would check it out. Needless to say, I am very glad I have been going; I now feel as though I am officially part of DiscoSur, the only Ultimate Frisbee team in Argentina. On Saturday we had the first all women's ultimate fribee game in Buenos Aires, a historic event to say the least. Two Sundays ago our frisbee team had an asado, an Argentine barbecue. This all day event took place at one girl on the team's country house. A bunch of us met and took a bus to Pilar, an hour outside of Buenos Aires, and then a taxi service to her house which was about 10 minutes outside of the town. It was an adorable country house with a small pool in the yard and of course a parrilla, a huge barbecue grill. We ate like kings, but not until after we had played a game of frisbee. An idea of timing, we arrived at the house at noon but did not eat until three, so we had to do something while we waited. Why not participate in an activity which makes you hungry. The meal was delicious after all that fun!! Unlike American barbecues, Argentine asados focus on the meat; there was little to no sidedishes. A few grilled vegetables but those were to add to the choripan sandwhiches (a sandwhich with chorizo). The main dish was the meat and there was lots of it: chorizo (two types of it), beef cuts, pork cuts, and blood sausage. After the asado, we played a little more frisbee and soccer, had a sing along and not in a cheesy way. We did not even the leave the house until 8 PM, meaning that I did not get home until about 9:30 which was completely fine with me. Sometimes at parties in the United States, everyone seems to be rushed to get their next destination or go do something else, but here that is definitely not the case.

Classes are going well, I feel. Unlike Rhodes, your grade here is only composed of a few things, usually one or two tests. I had my first test in my Cultural Questions class last week. It was fine: I knew the questions, I knew how to answer the questions. After I turned in the test though, I realized I was prouder of myself for having finished that test more so than if I had completed a normal test. All students take tests and feel a sense of relief after completing it, but I learned the material in another language and the vocabulary necessary to discuss it on a test, quite an accomplishment.

I don't have as much homework here as I do at Rhodes which is nice, and the homework which I do have doesn't always get done. As I told my mom, my learning experiences here take place outside the classroom environment. I learn more about speaking Spanish by talking with friends, my family, interacting with vendors, cab drivers, creepy men at bars, then I do in my way too easy language class. Not to say that my school experience is not enriching or I am not learning anything it just mainly takes place out of the classroom.

One thing in particular which has been a great learning experience for me the service aspect of my service and learning class. For the past three weeks, I have been spending about 12 hours per week in the office of HelpArgentina, an NGO which aims to strengthen Argentine civil society through the mobilization of donors and volunteers and the promotion of best practices. I specifically work with InsightArgentina, a program which recruits volunteers to spend time in Argentina. (visit www.helpargentina.org for more info and soon enough the page will have been written by me) My first project was to rewrite the English web page of InsightArgentina. The task was not daunting by any means, but it was more difficult because Spanish is the language office. Constantly switching from speaking Spanish to writing in English takes more effort than one might think. Its like a complete 180 degree switch in your thought process. Even though it can be strenuous at times, it is definitely worth it. Experience in a bi-lingual work environment at this age I feel is invaluable. Even better, I actually feel like I am contributing to this organization. Many people in class choose to work more directly with the social issues in Argentina with kids from poor neighborhoods so the impact of their actions are felt immediately, and I was concerned that I might just be doing office work, however that has not been the situation at all.

Lastly I've taken up yoga. Well I've done yoga before but never practiced it this consistently. I joined a yoga studio which teaches swastha yoga. I really enjoy it and people there are very nice. Everyone likes talking to me in Spanish and it helps my language skills a lot. Yoga classes are also a great way to learn the body parts in Spanish.

This next weekend I am headed to Tilcara in the north of Argentina on a trip which is paid for by FLACSO, my host organization. This region is very different and I will surely have lots to write about in my blog!

Also I have pictures of most of these activities I describe in web albums. If you would like to view them I would be more than happy to share them, but I need your email address. If you send me an email at callismr@gmail.com, I would gladly allow you to share my web albums. I hope everything is great in Missouri!