The past few days have been all about making new friends and spending time with the ones I have already made. On Sunday, when I last wrote I spent the day with my adopted family beside the pool. We ate a delicious huge lunch out on the patio, all of us in our bathing suits, grandma included, and then just relaxed. Later that I evening I returned to my house, and thought that I would turn in relatively early for once, when I got a call for an invitation to eat fideo, pasta. Half an hour later I was picked up by Simon and Brooke, and we drove across town to his sailing friend’s house. Guille is his name, and he cooked some delicious homemade pastas for us. We sat for a couple hours and enjoyed the delicious meal with his wife and sister and their super active one year old daughter. The house was small and cozy, and the magnets on the fridge from all over the world inspired good conversation about travel. We left the house around midnight, and little Catarina was still awake and active. I smiled to myself, thinking how “go with the flow” they seemed.

On Wednesday I ventured downtown early before my tango lesson to go meet Brooke and a friend George to go see a movie around three. It was so hot that when I got to the place where we were supposed to meet my face was red, I mean RED, and I was sweating like crazy. Unfortunately, when I got there the lights were out so we weren’t able to see a movie. Here in Cordoba because of the continuous heat they have been having they have to cut the lights in different barrios every day for a couple hours at a time as a result of too many people using too much energy. That means that sometimes all the shops down town and everywhere don’t have lights. It’s a pretty big inconvenience to live with, but I think its kind of funny sometimes, walking around somewhere that doesn’t have light. For example, that day I went to Grido, which is the ice cream chain here that they have about every two blocks here, and sat in the dark eating ice cream for a couple of hours talking till we had to go to dance class.

It has been too hot here (today it’s supposed to get up to 39 degrees Celsius) to go many places during the day, so again, I have spent much time at the Armenian club, swimming in the pool and drinking mate. It is nice to meet so many people, and the more I go, the less shy I become, and am able to talk to them better. I love how spontaneous asados are! Last night we were all drinking mate and playing cards at the club when one person mentioned something about eating, and then the idea of an asado came up. Soon there was somebody buying the meat, somebody buying the veggies, somebody preparing the grill, everybody doing something small to contribute to the asado. In the end there were about 20 of us all gathered around a bunch of put together tables, passing around the various types of salads, breads, and meats. I felt so comfortable and welcomed there with this huge group of people, passing the time talking and laughing, they all are very willing to explain different parts of their culture to me, and ask me questions about mine. After it’s all over everybody helps clean up (there are almost never left overs) and then its time to say good bye. That takes a while though; considering you have to kiss each person on the cheek every time you say hello or goodbye. That’s probably one of my favorites out of the beautiful culture of Argentina.

Here I have left you with some pictures of my trip, the first two are of when I went to Carlos Paz, the third one is of hanging out down town, the fourth of tango lessons, and the last one of my asado last night. Hope you enjoy!

I have been away from home for almost two weeks now, and I am slowly learning to manuver myself around the city. Cordoba reminds me a lot of Denver, it is about the same size, has about the same amount of public transportation. So, since I know my way around Denver pretty well, I figure I will be able to learn my way around Cordoba. I bought a map of the city the other day, and always orientate myself on it when I venture into a part of the city I am unfamiliar with. As of now I have learned most of my neighborhood, and know how to get downtown, and to my dance classes.
Yes, you read correctly, I have started taking Tango lessons! I actually started taking them last Wednesday but haven't been able to get to a computer until yesterday. So yesterday I went to my second lesson with Brooke. The first time we went we met all of our instructors who were very welcoming, and learned how to walk, just a slow, rythmic walk that is the base of the Tango. We had only been dancing in the little old room with a cracked mirror for a little while when the instructors decided that the poor little celing fan couldnt fight off the opresing heat, and moved us out to the courtyard. There we danced the rest of our lesson, trying to master our ochos, a tango move. After the lesson Brooke and I navigated ourselves back to through the center and caught the bus back to her house, where we ate empanadas with her family around midnight. This is really normal here, to eat this late, and today with my dance lesson I realized that It is mostly because the heat here is so bad during the day, that no one wants to do anything at all until later in the day when it has cooled.
The next couple of days after that I spent at the Armenian club, which Brooke's family is a part of, in their swimming pool. Everyday somebody brings mate to the club, and then, always around 6 in the evening you see various people gathered around a few of the many picnic tables, getting ready to drink a mate. Somebody supplies the mate, and somebody else will pitch to buy the criollos, which are the costomary little breads that acompany mate. Then everybody enjoys a nice mate, passing it around, and talks with one another. I really enjoy this "tea time" as it has given me the opportunity to really meet a lot of new people.
Yesterday I went to my second tango lesson, and we didnt even bother trying to be in that little room, and went straight to the courtyard. This time we really worked on our ochos, and on combining them with a basic 8 step. At first we just practiced alone, and "on the wall," but then, as we have been towards the end of every class, we had to dance with one another. By the time class ended, each girl had to dance with each guy there was to dance with at least once. I thought this was a good way to learn because it really gave us the feel of actually dancing, and not just practicing steps. It was aslo very difficult, but good to see, how not everyone dances the same, and when you begin to dance with someone, how you have to learn how they dance quickly. Dance classes are a lot of fun, and I'm always excited for my next one!
The palce were I take my dance classes is located in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Cordoba, and each weekend they have kind of like a farmers market, but with arts and crafts thing going on that spans throughout the neighborhood, and lasts until late into the evening. It is one of the coolest things I have ever seen!!! All the shops and galleries around are then opened and there are crowds and crowds of people. It reminds me a lot of first friday, only it is every weekend. After my dance class we meet up with another cousin of Brooke's family, and wondered around the "paseo'' as they call it.
Today is Sunday, and here it is a day when the center is closed, and everybody stays around their neighborhood, and relaxes. I think I will be swimming again since it is so hot...
Hope everyone at home is well, and its not too cold there!

PS. I will try to upload some photos of my trip later today.

The past couple of days have been wonderful! On thursday I got to go out to the Sierras, which are the mountains north of Cordoba, and go to this beautiful place called Carlos Paz. Carloz Paz is a town that borders a huge resevoir, and the town is a pupular vacacion spot, and celebrity destination (I saw one!!!!), kind of like Colorados Aspen. The beaches are the stereotypical celecbrity beaches witha whole bunch of girls out sunbathing in skimpy bikinis, and a whole lot of shirtless tan boys playing football... American football. It was pretty funny. Brookes family is part of this sailing club in Carloz Paz, and they have a friend who has a sailboat, so, low and behold, I got to go sailing!!!! It was proabably one of the best things I have gotten to do since Ive been here. We got up to Carloz Paz around three, and stayed out on the water until the sun set. The middle of the lake was sort of a sancutary to get away from all the people, and the noise, and made it easy to forget about everything else. There were 7 of us all together on the boat (me, Brooke, Lena, Brookes host brother, and three of his friends), and most of the time we spent talking, swimming, sun bathing, and just plain relaxing. It was fun to swin beside the boat, and I got to do a couple dives off the side. Sailing was a such an awesome new experience! I hope to go again while Im here.
Right now I am at my friend Augus house who I met on thursday evening, she is a cousin of the family that Brooke is staying with, and lives right next door. I have come over here to hang out everyday since then. She has a pool in her backyard, and outdoor speakers that we always listen to music on, and dance. We also watch movies from a nifty projector outside that displays on this huge wall above the pool, and it is just like being in a movie theatre!! The other night us kids all made dinner together (noodles with Pesto, garlic bread, and chocolate cake for dessert) and then watched Juno outside. Each house here has a place for an Asado, which the equivilent of an American BBQ, so we always eat outside on the Asado Patio.
Today I am going into town to go check out the Passeo de Artes, which is the place where I am going to be taking dance classes. There is also a crafts fair there every weekend. Auguss mom is going to be giving us a ride soon, and I have to go help clean up the room.
Hope everyone is well, and I will write again soon.

Hey Everyone!
I made it here safley after my loooong journey. When I got to Cordoba, the city that I am staying in, Brooke and her friend Lena (who in German), and Brooke´s host brother picked me up. Although I had not slept the last 24 hours, they still made me go out with them! :) We went to the Armenian club, which is more like a community center that is open all the time to the Armenians, since we live in the Armenian part of town.
The this moprning I woke up at around 10, and drank tea, nad then headed downtown with Lena and Brooke on the trolley. The city is really cool, it had a lot of european influence, and we saw some churches that were REALLY amazing. We also went to this art museum that was really interesting. It was in an old mansion, and the architecture of it really added to the whole experience. After this we went out to eat at a little restaurant and sat and talked for a long long time.
Argentina is really a beautiful place, it is very green here, since it has rained recently, and FLAT! I never realized how mountainous Colorado really was till I came here. The whole 10 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires to Cordoba I didn´t see a single hill. I know there are mountains further north, but this far I have seen none. Argentina is also really cool for me, because I feel like it is the merganence of what I remember of Germany, and what I remember of Honduras, which have always been complete opposite in my mind.
Well I am having a wonderful time and am off to go eat some ice cream!
Hope to hear from some of you too.
-Maria
PS. Someone needs to print this off and let my grandparents read this! hint hint: dad :)

Introduction: Welcome!

On Monday I will be heading to DIA on my way to spend two splendid months in Argentina doing my Senior project. For those of you who don't know, a senior project is a requirement at my school to graduate, and it is a project that each student must design and do for themselves, about anything they want basically. I have always been interested in dance, but have never really done much with it, and so, for my senior project I decided it was time to learn how. My best friend Brooke is in Argentina, and since I am also interested in traveling, I thought why not combine the two? In the end my denior project is to go to Argentina for two months, learn as much about the Argentinean dance culture as I can, and then bring some elements of it back to PS1 in form of a dance workshop.
I have set up this blog as a way to inform every one at home about how my trip is going. My goal is to post on it at least twice a week while I am there. This way, people can always come here to see how I am doing, and I won't have to e-mail twelve million people sepperately. :) I hope that this blog may also inspire future students who may, or may not be so excited by their projects, and to inspire those who have the urge to travel in there bones, but have not yet found the confidence and courage to take flight. If I pulled it together, so can you!!
I will gladly read any questions or comments you leave me, I want to hear from everyone too. Thank you for reading, and if I don't see you before I leave, see you in a couple of months!!

Things im excited for:
1 Seeing Brooke
2 Dancing
3 Getting out of this dreadful cold!!

PS. My spelling might not be the best...