Chau Buenos Aires, hola Iguazu...

Hey,

So it´s been awhile since I´ve written, I hope people are still reading this. My motivation to write now comes from the fact that I am leaving today to go to Las Cataratas de Iguassu (Iguazu Waterfalls) that lie up North between Argentina and Brazil. I´m reaaaaaalllly excited. These falls are supposed to make Niagara look tiny. And I´m really excited to take a break from the city for a while and see something beautiful. LB and I are taking an overnight bus for 18 hours there, spending two nights in a hostel, and then busing back overnight on Saturday. Woo bus!

To update on the last two weeks, where to start....I went to a milonga (tango bar) and took tango and salsa lessons. It was a big group lesson and hard to see the instructors feet, and I don´t have the best coordination, but I still learned a few steps. It was good too, because they had us keep switching partners, and this one time I was with this guy who was like "HOLA co-mo te YamAS" and I asked where he was from and he said the US, Virginia more specifically. And I have to say he made me feel better about my Spanish, haha. He said he thought I was a porteña (from bs. as.). Anyways, it was a cool atmosphere at the club, old people, young people, good dancers, bad dancers, and everyone was dancing with everyone. I would definitely go back.

On Saturday night I went to a party with Mari, at the house of some Colombian exchange students in her program and had such a good time. the difference between parties with Colombians, Argentines, and others from Sudamerica and the US, is that PEOPLE DANCE. And they all dance well. Talking to Liz about dancing she said that Luciano (her boyfriend) said that people from Australia and the US don´t dance, but they "squeeze"- I have to say that´s a pretty accurate way to describe it. The other difference was that even though the only person I knew there was Mari, everyone was so nice and welcoming, I feel like parties at home are much more cliquey, but maybe that´s not an Argentine thing, but more the community of exchange students. Everyone is here away from home, and their closest friends here they have probably only known for a few weeks. Works for me.

The week before last was rough, probably one of my lowest since I´ve been here. Just felt lonely and missed home and counted the days until I go back. But it all seems to come and go in waves, because now I´m frantically counting how little time I have left. I got a package from my mom and that definitely helped and talked to some people on the phone. It feels good to know that I have people I can call when I´m feeling that way. Thanks.

OH! I almost forgot! And this weekend, at shindig/jam session at LBs place I met a guy from Buffalo who is planning to go to Grad school at BU. At first we were speaking spanish and then he asked where I was from and I said Boston, and he was like "I love Boston! I´m going to BU next year" so there it all awkwardly started, but I found out that he had been an anthropology major in undergrad and he had just finished 3 years doing the peace corps in Ecuador. He stayed an extra year because he loved it so much. When I told him I was thinking about it he said I absolutely have to do it, he said it was the best thing he ever did and that with my background and Spanish ability I´d be starting out much further along than he was when he started. It´s funny how people just fall into your path like that, telling you the things you´ve known all along. He´s really got me thinking about it, him and this whole experience has got me thinking that I want to do the Peace Corps after graduation. Vamos a ver, We´ll see...

Ok, I think that´s it for now. I wanted to post pictures (of me walking on a slack line in the park!) but this computer doesn´t have the hook up, so next time I will have fun pictures and falls pictures!

Miss & Love.

Jill