Carnival!

Carnival- huge floats and crazy costumes!

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What a crazy weekend! About 15 people from my program, including Monica, hopped on a bus at 7am on Saturday morning to drive 3 hours to Gualeguaychu for the last weekend of Argentina's Carnival. After snoozing the entire ride there, we arrived at the Gualeguaychu pools where we could lay out, go swimming, or hit up one of the many cafes for lunch and refreshments. The sun here is very intense and although I applied sunscreen multiple times, I got very burned in the few areas I missed. I have very weird peeling/red spots around my bathing suit line and some spots on my back, but now I have learned!

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At about 7pm our bus returned to the pools to pick us up after a day in the sun. We went into town and got dinner and rested up for Carnival! If you have ever heard about Rio's Carnival (in Brazil), this is very similar. Google image search "Gualeguaychu Carnival" and you will see exactly what I mean. Everyone is dressed in huge costumes, feathery headdresses and gold from head to toe. The women wear extremely skimpy outfits, so I saw a lot of butts and boobs, very interesting! The floats are massive and the music is loud, it was definitely an experience I will never forget. After the long night, we all slept very well on the bus ride home at 5am.

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Once we got home I helped Monica pack up and get ready to leave for her study abroad in Peru. We checked her out of the hostel and came home for a much needed siesta. I told Sara (my house mother) that we were going to take a nap in my room, but Sara insisted that Monica sleep in her bed! Sara is one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met, I am so lucky! It was so nice having Monica here this last week and a half so I will definitely miss her, but I'm sure she will have an amazing time in Lima!

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This week I started my first classes! Only the Catholic University (UCA) starts this week, so I had my first day of my Argentine Literature class Tuesday. Although I have read a few of the books we will be reading, I am so excited and am definitely staying in this class! All the books/stories are by Argentine authors written about Argentina. We read our first story, "El Matadero" for class on Thursday and I really enjoyed it. The class is taught in Spanish but there are students from all over. Some of my classmates are from England, Mexico, France, and of course many students from the United States. The class size is small, about 12 students so I'm sure I will get to know everyone very well. I am so excited about this class and cannot wait until next week to see what my classes will be like at the other universities and if I will enjoy them as much as I do this class!

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It is truly so stressful trying to pick classes and enroll successfully. Every university has a different procedure and day/time to register, and many times even if you get the timing right the class fills up and you cannot take it. It has been very stressful this week trying to figure out how to pick classes I will like that all fit together when I have to travel for 30min-1 hour between Universities. I'm sure I will figure it out but for now everyone in my program is going crazy! Also, we have to drop the classes we don't want to take in a few weeks and I don't know if I will have a good feel for which ones I want to keep and which ones I don't, hmpf! Hopefully it will all calm down in a few weeks.

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I continue to meet new people (Argentines and people from the world around as well), get to know the city more, and try new and delicious food. We went to McDonnalds for lunch one day and although you would think they can't change a burger much it is definitely a little different here. I couldn't order a happy meal (those of you who know me very well know how sad that makes me) and they don't have onions, katchup or mustard on their burgers. Very strange, but still delicious! I am getting very used to eating at 9pm or later and staying out until late in the morning, because here that is normal. I am amazed by how nice and helpful Argentine's have been, and it is very common that as soon as they find out we are American, they practice speaking to us in English while we speak back to them in Spanish.

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This weekend many of us are going to Mar del Plata to enjoy the beach and a few more care-free days before the rest of the Universities start in these coming weeks. I am going to try to be more careful with my sunscreen and sit back and take in the views of the oceans before I'm pent up in libraries again. Hope everything is well with everyone, I am definitely still loving this country! Love and miss you all!