HERE!

Oh, dear. Where do I even begin? It has only been a week, but everything is so new, so different. I'm absolutely exhausted from thinking, speaking, hearing, writing, understanding (and sometimes not), and functioning in Spanish 24/7. And to think, I am one of the only AFS students who came to Argentina with a solid foundation of the language.

From the beginning then. This is not going to be composed with care or with any particular outline in mind--sorry for jumping between thoughts.

My bus arrived in Rio Cuarto at 6:00 in the morning on the 25th. I was greeted at the station by my host dad, mom, and sister, along with a bunch of AFS volunteers. On the car ride to my new house, I remember thinking, "Holy shit. What did I get myself into?" My new family was speaking Spanish at a rate foreign to my American ears. On top of that, I was absolutely terrified that the rusty, old van was going to malfunction in some way (faulty brakes, flat tire etc...), as it too was producing noises foreign to my American ears. No seatbelts either--just a bench in the back. Thankfully, we arrived at the house (which is about 25 minutes outside of downtown) safely. Claudia (mom) and Rocio (sister) had made an assortment of pastries ready for my arrival. So delicious. You have not lived until you have tried these little dulce de leche cookies! We chatted briefly and then I slept like a baby in my new bed. Never have I been so happy to be sleeping in a horizontal position--after so many plane rides and bus trips, my body was craving a true good night's sleep. That afternoon, Rocio and Ayrton (brother) took me to an exposition in a nearby neighborhood. There, AFS had set up a booth. For the majority of the time, we sat around drinking mate. Then there was a concert...It was like Ricky Martin had cloned himself three times and created the NSYNC of Argentina. The women in the crowd (so, really, the whole crowd) were just drooling over these guys. I'm surprised panties weren't thrown onstage.


My family lives in the countryside. Lots of land, lots of people. The whole extended family lives on the same land, in separate little houses.
House 1: Claudia (mom), Luis (dad), Rocio (sister), me.
House 1 and 1/2 (the upstairs of our house): Chochi (Claudia's mom)
House 2 (just behind our house): Belen (sister, from Claudia's first marriage), Frederico (Belen's husband), Nacho (their 5-year-old son), and Sofia (11 mo. old daughter)
House 3: Patricia (sister of Claudia), Ro-something (her husband), Trini (their 19-year-old daughter)
House 4: Ezequiel (brother, from Claudia's first marriage)
Then, in the neighborhood really close to the house lives...
House 5: Rofi (Luis' mom), Ayrton (brother)
House 6: Fabricio (brother, 1st marriage), Silvana (his wife), Valentino (their 7-year-old son), Lara (11 mo. old daughter)
House 7: Paula (Claudia's other sister), Something (her husband), Camila (7-year-old daughter), and something (their son)
Our house is the gathering place for the whole family. There are always at least 10 people in the house at any given time. No privacy, which I both like and hate. The whole family eats meals together--breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's more like an event than a meal because each one lasts about 1.5 hours. Also, the concept of "un poco" is apparently irrelevant here. Every meal, my entire plate it filled with food, FILLED! My mom dishes out the food like there will be a famine the next day.

A few nights ago, my brother/sister's friends came over. It's true what they say--the men here are absolutely gorgeous! Franco and Facundo (the friends) could be models for Calvin Kline underwear. We made a few different types of pizza (way more delicious than American pizza) and drank some cervezas. The lights went out because of a wind storm (apparently common here), so we played cards (game called Trucha) and played the guitar. I really like how everything here is so simple. That night was so much fun and involved so little--just the company of interesting people.

The night after that, my family and I went to Hector's house (a family friend, author, musician, awesome guy) for coffee. I cannot even desribe how fantastic this man is. He is probably in his late 60's or early 70's, grey/green eyes, white hair. Imagine an Argentine Merlin--that's Hector. He recited poetry for us (has one of the most lovely voices and speaks absolutely impecable Spanish). Then he proceded to play the piano for us. This is a scene I will never forget. Again, so simple, yet so absolutely perfect.

Started school today at an ALL GIRLS, CATHOLIC, PRIVATE school called Carmen. Yeah, I couldn't ever have pictured myself there either. No makeup, uniforms, hair pulled back at all times, no nailpolish. Thought it was going to be really strict, but it actually wasn't. The girls in my class (about 13 girls total) are super friendly and are plannig an asado in my honor on Friday. I felt famous today--while walking to the bathroom, a group of about 25 girls from other classes spotted me (not hard--the tall chick with pale skin, blue eyes, light hair) and proceded to talk to me for about the next half hour. School is from 7:30 to 5...ugh.

That's it for now. Pictures soon.