Settling In

I cannot believe I have been here nearly a week! Sometimes it feels like I ve just arrived, and sometimes it feels like I have been here for ages. So far I am safe, healthy and generally happy :) I moved into my shared apartment on Sunday and am still getting settled in. I welcomed myself by making a mega-veg meal with zucchini, eggplant, portobellos, onion, garlic...and QUINOA! I was so excited and surprised to find quinoa in the market! It was delicious, though quite an undertaking in my small kitchen that is shared with five to eight other people. When signing up for my accommodation I was under the impression that I would be living in a small and semi-quaint apartment with one or two other women. I imagined we would be great friends and make great food in our small but functional place. Ideally, I imagined the adorably small and perfect studio my sister Kim shared with Moira in Siena, Italy. In reality I am living in a eight room apartment with a fluctuating number of other students. While I was a bit disappointed at first, it is a nice house and it is clean and eventually I will remember everyone·s names. Also, I have a great little balcony window that overlooks the street. Right now it is frigid outside and I do everything possible to stay warm, but soon it will warm up and I can open the window and sit outside! There is one other girl there from the US (near Chicago) and she will be here until December. Hopefully we will continue to spend time together!

I started classes yesterday and they are going very well. My professor is Juan Manuel and he is an excellent teacher. We have five students total and class is from 9a-1pm. The structure is relaxed, but really good. I am impressed by how quickly we pick up information when surrounded by Spanish. I spend a LOT of time looking things up in my English-Spanish dictionary, but that is to be expected. In fact, my wee dictionary has become one of my favorite posessions. I have spent a great amount of time in the grocery store looking up foods in Spanish and looking up Spanish words in English. I also ask a lot of questions :) The unfortunate shop keeper who comes in contact with me is rarely spared fewer than five questions...most of which probably make no sense. Yesterday I spent over an hour in a small natural foods store with Marco, an elderly grocer who spoke no English but was very patient as I rambled and fumbled with my dictionary. Gluten free foods have been surprisingly easy to find because Argentina requires companies to label all gf items. The regular stores always have at least a few items...crackers, cookies, etc. and natural foods stores have many more. Yesterday I found cakes, bread, empanadas, quiche, pie crusts, bread and many other items. These stores also sell lots of nuts and dried fruits so I have managed to maintain my weird food habits quite easily.

Not too much else to report. This evening I will go with a group from the school on a city tour. I have walked around the city a TON, but am still excited to learn more about the history and the culture. It is also a great opportunity to meet more students here at the school. I have been so fortunate in my life to have incredible incredible friends and rarely have I felt isolated and lonely. Traveling alone in a country where my language skills are very limited has initiated a bit of those feelings. I know that I have not been here very long and things will certainly improve soon, but right now I am a bit lonely. I am hoping to continue to make friends within my language program and hopefully a few local porteños too (duh, who woulnt want to be my friend??). In the mean time I remember and am so thankful for my many many friends throughout the United States and the world. I miss and love all of you so much and look forward to seeing you again soon!

¡Muchos besos para todas!