I'm home

I just got back from 24 hours of travel time and it is so weird to be home. I miss Argentina and everybody already.

The final banquet was amazing!! There were 300 people there and the whole night went fantastically. We performed our Tango show and Tanner made a really cool movie of the whole semester. All of our host families went. After the programmed time, we had a dance party until 2 am. It was really fun to all dance together. After, a lot of us headed over to the Drink Gallery. They kept it open especially for us to celebrate our last night in BA. It was a fun night hanging out with everyone and then staying out really late...con mi amigo. I got home at 4:30 in the morning and then got up the next day to finish packing and leave.

It took me 3 flights to get home. 4.5 hours to get to Lima, 8.5 hours to get to LA, and then 1 hour to get home. I slept most of the time because it was at night and I only had 3 hours of sleep the night before. I can't believe I'm home. It is weird that everyone speaks English, so Kelsey and I cannot just talk normally and expect nobody to understand what we are saying. I also have almost spoken Spanish so many times to different people...especially ordering food and saying thank you or excuse me. The culture shock is weird. It sucks going from being around so many fun people to practically no one. I am sad that this experience has ended, but I cannot wait to reunite in the fall. This will be a time of my life that I will never forget.

Tango pictures

Here are pictures of us practicing for the final banquet:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051083&l=13994&id=8505998

Spiritual Retreat/Visiting Estancia

This past weekend 15+ pepperdine students and our faculty family went to an estancia just outside Buenos Aires. Right now there is a fire burning the campo outside of BA, which is creating horrible smoke throughout the city. We thought that by getting away, the smoke would be better, but it was not that much better. The weekend was fantastic. We had Friday off of school, so left that morning. Thursday night we went to LOST, the best hip-hop club in BA and stayed out until 4. So the beginning of the retreat was spent sleeping. We only had programmed time at night, so there was tons of free time. Kelsey and I got massages for 50 pesos (less than $20). We rode horses, slept, read, and just hung out.

The theme of the weekend was "change" and looking at the ways we have changed over the semester, whether it is our prospective on the world, on God, or on our values. We spent time in small groups talking about about specific reflections of the semester. My group really bonded and we talked way into the night about our experience. As a whole, the weekend was really rejuvenating and I got to spend quality time with people I hadn't gotten to know very well, as well as Kelsey and Jessie. I was dreading coming back to a week of finals.

This is my last week in Buenos Aires. We have classes Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and finals on Thursday and Friday. I have absolutely no time outside of school this week, which is not how I want to spend my last week here. This next weekend, I have nothing planned, but I will be done with school, so will be able to truly enjoy my last weekend. Next Monday, we have our final banquet where all our host-families come and we thank the staff and teachers. Part of my Tango class will be performing as well as a band of Pepp students. I am excited for this week to be over and to start the weekend.

pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050876&l=4500e&id=8506204

Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca!!!

So I just got back from Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca and it was a fantastic week. Kelsey, Jessie, and I flew out Saturday Morning to Cusco, Peru. We spent Saturday and Sunday in Cusco, adjusting to the altitude and shopping. You have no idea how many souvenirs we purchased. We ran into Russ, another student, and went to dinner with him both nights. On Monday morning, we woke up really early (before 6 am) to head for a train to Aguas Calientes. We saw part of the Inca Trail on the train ride and were so glad we chose to take a train instead of the 4-day hike. Aguas Calientes was a pretty boring town, just a stopping point for Machu Picchu visitors. We went to the hot springs, which were quite disgusting and smelled gross. All of the restaurants begged for us to stop there, all of which offered all-day happy hours, 4 for 1. We got bored half way through the day so decided to walk down the road along the river to see where it would take us.....Randomly we see Russ and another Pepperdine student, Brian. They had already been up to Machu Picchu, so we got advice from them and then Brian almost missed his train back. We went to bed early to get up before dawn for the second day in a row to take a bus up to Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu was amazing. When we got there, the clouds were still covering most of the ruins, but the view of the Andes was amazing. We got to walk along part of the Inca Trail and saw many llamas. There is one mountain next to Machu Picchu called WaynaPicchu and only 400 people are allowed to climb it per day. We decided that was a must and head up at 8:30 ish in the morning. The hike was straight up and took about an hour. We were dying and didn't know how we would get down. I took a picture of the path and later I looked at it and couldn't decide what I was trying to take a picture of. We were practically rock climbing. Once at the top, we stayed there for several hours, reading and eating lunch (haha...a really early lunch). We spent the rest of the day wandering around the site and sitting and reading in the beautiful Andes. That night we took the train back to Cusco.

Wednesday, we headed in a bus to Puno and Lake Titicaca. The bus ride was uneventful. We got off several times to see various sites, but all were pretty boring. Once we got to Lake Titicaca, we were so glad to be staying in a hotel. For the past 4 days we had been staying in hostels and packing and repacking almost every day. It was nice to have our own room and bathroom. It was also so nice to not have to worry about having to pack everything up. Puno was also a pretty boring town, but the lake was beautiful. Lake Titicaca is the highest lake in the world. It was cold, but very sunny. Thursday we just relaxed and wandered around Puno. Friday, we went on a boat to Uros Islands and some other island. Uros islands were made of over 40 man-made floating islands. It was soooo cool. Everything was made out of reeds... the ground, the houses, the kitchen, the boats, everything. The next island we stopped at was actually an island. We walked around the island and had lunch there.

Saturday, we returned to BA!!! Overall, I really liked Peru. The people were nice and the country was surprisingly clean. The food was horrible and hot chocolate was disgusting. Peru has beautiful landscapes and the best souvenirs. I like Peru, but i was so excited to return to BA. I only have two weeks left here. That is both a sad and happy thing. I am so excited to go home, but I am going to be sad to leave this group of people and sad to leave Argentina.


Here are pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050311&l=6e7df&id=8505998
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050312&l=76c46&id=8505998

Update

I feel like I haven't updated in a while. School has been busy with tests and a lot of work, which really sucks. I am so excited to go on Spring Break to Machu Picchu tomorrow. This week for our group convo dinner, we went to a Greek restaurant and actually threw plates! so crazy. I didn't want to throw mine, but Kelsey made me. We had Wednesday off, so Kelsey and I went to Cafe Tortoni, the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires. That night, we went to see RENT el musical and it was entirely in Spanish! I know the storyline, so I was able to follow. I also could understand what they were singing and the differences between English and Spanish are pretty funny. Last night I practiced for the Tango show that we are doing at the final banquet. I am still loving Tango a lot. I'm leaving tomorrow, so I will be out of contact for about a week.

Here are pictures from Iguazu and Bariloche:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2048546&l=92f0f&id=8506204
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049725&l=2078e&id=8505998
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049726&l=68f7b&id=8505998
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2049728&l=250c8&id=8505998