Sweet Fifteen

Turning 15 is a big deal for girls here. Like a really BIG deal. It's the equivalent of turning 16 in North America more or less and is basically an excuse to throw a big party. I was invited, along with my host family, to a cumpleaños de quince on Saturday night. Honestly it was absolutely ridiculous. We got there at 10pm, left at 6am... The birthday girl wore a huge prom dress thing and a little tiara. Everything was decorated white and green and there were pictures of here EVERYWHERE. Activities included: dancing, some singer/entertainer guy, talking and eating. To be honest it was boring and I would have hated to be the birthday girl. So much attention, I think I wouldve gone crazy. To me the whole thing seemed a lot more like a wedding then a birthday party and in general a waste of money... But who am I to criticize?
Other then that, my December has so far included many lazy days at the pool, an end to school (finally), and a significant lack of sleep. I am changing host families this week and I am going to really, really miss this house. I feel like I'm moving away from home agin, but I atleast I'm only going 10 blocks away not to another continent.

home sweet home

pool timeeee. (me with milito :D )

Year end rotary meeting. (with Liana-USA and Dries- Beligium)

Baby, it's 3am I must be... on a bus on to Buenos Aires.

I had to travel back to BA last weekend and then on to Uruguay to renew my visa. I could’ve renewed it at an office in BA but apparently the wait time is ridiculous and it’s really more fun to go on a trip. The bus to BA left Los Toldos at 2am, we arrived at 8:30am and then I took the ferry to Colonia, Uruguay at 12. Uruguay is BEAUTIFUL. I loved it. Ines (a lady from Rotary) and I spent 3 or so hours wandering around and having lunch. It was really lovely, I really enjoyed it J. Back in BA, Norberto and I spent the night at his cousin’s house and then caught a bus home the next day at 4pm. It was another 5 hour bus ride home, for most of which it rained, but that didn’t stop me from going out that night and coming home at 6:15am (oops). Anyways, the successful trip to Uruguay means I have 90 more days here in Argentina!!

In other news, I am sick and tired of school. Not only is it horribly boring, but the school is now insufferably hot AND the dress code does not allow shorts, tank tops, open toed shoes or skirts. WHAT THE HELL I'M 18 LET ME WEAR SHORTS TO SCHOOL. It's awful, I don't know how these kids do it. It's 30 degrees here with humidity; wearing jeans is basically child abuse. Luckily it will all be over muy pronto. I can't wait. We filled our little pool up yesterday afternoon and I used it this morning after my run. A frog was using it so Norberto had to come remove it with a rake haha. Other than school, I'm still running almost everyday and I go to the gym every evening. Hockey season seems to be winding down, but I still practice every now and then. Also, I am changing host families in just over 2 weeks. I'm a little nervous since I've really settled into my life here with the Rossi's. But then again it's just another step in my adventure in Argentina so I intend to embrace it.

a BA trip

we got a cake... with our faces on it.

All the inbounds headed to Buenos Aires last weekend to spend some time together and to visit the big city. It was an AMAZING trip. Our inbound coordinator, Miguel, was nice enough to let us all stay at his house in a suburb of BA, so we got to be together all weekend. I took the bus to BA with two other inbounds, Pacome (France) and Anina (Swizterland), who both live about 45 minutes away from me in Junin. Friday was mostly a travel day, we didn’t arrive at Miguel’s until past 9pm. Everyone else was already there, we had dinner and chilled in the enormous rec room/garage. It was like a North American basement rec room with a pool table, fuseball, ping pong, darts, a sound system.. the whole nine yards really. Saturday was our Buenos Aires day. It was a longgggg day; we left around 9:30am and didn’t get back until 11, but it was also extremely entertaining! We started at la Boca and then made our way back through town. Some of the places I’d already been, like the Plaza de Mayo and el Calle Florida, but it was the company that made everything so enjoyable. Around mid day we started to meet up with more and more Rotexes (rebounds). They took us to the oldest cemetery in Buenos Aires, which, trust me, looks nothing like a Canadian cemetery. However it did remind me a lot of the cemeteries mum and dad dragged Tess and me to when we were living Mexico. The graves are more like small housesand I swear half the homeless population of BA could be housed in this cemetery. A number of famous people are buried there, including the great Evita Peron although it was hard to get a good look at her grave/house because it seemed to be the most popular one there. After the cemetery we headed to the Buenos Aires Hard Rock Café, on route to which IT happened. IT is referring to Austin (USA) getting lost. It was a worrisome 20 minutes while the Rotexes frantically searched and called people. But the good news is they found him! He was a little shocked but fine; he’d accidently started following someone he thought was Elise (Belgium) and ended up going the wrong way. So with that panic over, we made our way to the faculty of law (I’m not sure which university it is a part of or if it’s its own school) and then to see the giant metal flower which has solar panels on the inside and closes at night. After another photo shoot at the flower it was on to our last activity of the day – TANGO LESSONS! I must admit I was not stoked in the least. Dancing terrifies me at the best of times, and by this point in the day I was tired, sore, sunburnt and really just wanted to take a nap. However, I ended up having a ton of fun goofing off and learning some basic tango steps. I’m not saying I did them well by any means, but it was a great experience to try something that Argentina is known so well for. The next day we wrapped up the weekend by having an asado (like a bbq) at one of the Rotex’s house. He had a pool so we got to spend the day lazing around, chatting and drink tereré (mate made with cold juice instead of hot water, SO GOOD). It was the perfect ending to end awesome weekend. I fell in love with Buenos Aires and I can’t wait to go back there and spend more time.

Front row seats to BA!

La Boca

The Inbounds rocking Buenos Aires

One of the streets in the cemetary

We got really intense about our tango skills-
me with Dries (Belgium)

The Dog Days

I realize that I haven't been updating this blog quite as much as I should, but now that I have settled into life here I think that posting everyday might become a wee bit repetitive. And besides, who really has time to read about my life every single day? So the past days have basically consisted of sleepless weekends and painfully slow school days. Two weekends ago was Mother's Day here, so the whole family headed to a town called Chacabuco, about an hour away. Unfortunately this was on a Sunday, and I had come home at 7am that morning. We left at 10am. I nearly died. I spent the rest of the week recovering from that trip (as in sleep through all my classes because I just couldn't possibly keep my eyes open anymore). School is passing pretty much the same as always, although yesterday I had a great class of chatting and joking with my classmates, but I don't think the teacher was at all impressed. Ooops. I try to stay out of the way and not be a distraction, but now that my spanish is better the other kids want to talk to me. And I'll do anything to make the time at school pass faster. 

Now for the big news of the post. We got a puppy. Well, it's actually Franco's (a birthday present) and his name is Bart (like from the Simpsons). And he's an evil, biting little weasel. So far we are not friends. Everyone else coos and spoils him, but I usually end up yelling profanities in English at him because once again he's gnawing on my backpack or my leg. The other member of the family who is not a Bart fan is Mimicha. She hates him and takes swats at hime whenever he ventures near enough. She also has started hanging out with Josefina and me upstairs in our room. Which was fine until the day she decided to hide in my closet. Josefina and I were sitting in our beds, chatting, when suddenly we starting hearing weird sounds coming from the direction of the bathroom and then the bathroom door shut all on it's own (the wind). We looked at each other, kind of freaked out, but chose to get over it and keep talking. Then we heard knocking and scratching coming from the same area and we were convinced that someone had come into the bathroom through the window. So Josefina started yelling from her dad and the whole family came running upstairs. Of course there was nothing in the bathroom, so they left and told us we were crazy. Not two minutes later I look over and there's a furry arm coming out from the bottom of my closet (which happens to be right beside the bathroom). I jumped up and yelled 'EL GATO' and proceeded to start pulling out one of my drawers. Franco and Norberto made it back to the room just in time to see Mimicha making a break for it back downstairs. So scary at the time, but now it makes a great story!

In other news, I am now going to the gym. Between field hockey, running and the gym I am finally getting my amount of activity up to a reasonable/normal level for me. I did a dance class with Josefina on Monday which I completely failed at, but it was a good work out and I'm going to go again because I've told myself I will learn to dance like the girls here. 

I made another cake!

It was Karen's birthday on Monday so we all got together for dinner.
Back row (left-right): Jenny, Lujan, Flor, Colo, Mari, Vicky
Front row: Josefina, Pachi, Karen, Milito, Me

Bart. What a rat.

Just chilling at school.

Better late then never.

I am well aware that this post this overdue. I've been meaning to write it for quite a while, but fun opportunities kept coming my way that I couldn't possibly say no to. After all, I am here for the cultural experience. The last 10 days or so have been rather busy. I've celebrated my one month anniversary here, been to a 3 day Rotex Camp in another town and done a day trip to Buenos Aires. In between those big events I have been sleeping, running and going to school which keeps me going pretty much flat out (if you consider sleeping going flat out, which I do). The Rotex Camp was in Arrecifes which is about 2 hours from Los Toldos. It was organised by the "Rotex" who are the rebounds, the kids who have gone out on exchange and are now home. It was great getting to see the other inbounds! Since I'm alone in Los Toldos, I really enjoy the district camps and meetings when I get to see the other intercambios, speak a little English and A LOT of French. It was also nice to talk to the rebounds, since they've been through the whole exchange process before so they really know what they're talking about and they understand the problems that us inbounds are having. 

The District 4825 Inbounds 2011/2012

The above picture was taken in Arrecifes of the 11 inbounds to my district. Since there's so few of us I'll name them and their host countries. So from left to right: (starting with the boy) Austin, USA; Antonia, Germany; Oliver, Germany; Ricarda (Rici), Germany; Elise, Belgium; Margaux, France; Anina, Switzerland; Dries, Belgium; Pacome, France; Liana, USA; Me, Canada! The three adults are our coordinators and presidents, I'm not really sure what each of their titles are.

I went to Buenos Aires yesterday. At first we were going to go for the weekend but then there were some complications so it became a day trip. Which was fine, just longgggg. We got up at 4 and got home at 10. It's like taking a day trip to Vancouver except on Argentina time. We had to go because my host sister, Josefina, had an appointment at the French Consulate to get her student visa for her exchange. Buenos Aires is HUGE. It really pretty cool though, I actually really like the city and the architecture is fabulous. I'm going back with the Rotex and other inbounds at the beginning of November and I'm pretty stoked. I was trying not to be to touristy with my host family, but I really wanted to stop and take pictures of everything.

It's so big!!!!

Lara's being a tourist.

I have also started baking here! So far so good, I've made an apple cake and banana bread; both of which turned out beautifully and went over very well. I have never baked so unprecisely. I have to guestimate all of my measurements and hope like hell they're right. I'm pretty proud of myself and I'm really glad I tried, I was starting to really really miss cooking and baking. 

Mate and banana bread- diversity at it's finest.

Round 1: Apple Cake.

when september ends..

My class.

Notice that I am by far the tallest girl on the team. 

Wake me up. Okay not the best song to quote, but it's actually relevant to my first month here. And it makes me think of Nate :). The truth is, I have spent a lot of the month of September sleeping. There's something about doing an exchange that makes you tired ALL THE TIME. Now that I have a routine and friends and a bit better grasp on the language my tiredness seems to be subsiding a bit, but I still find myself taking little naps in school when I can't bear to listen to another word of Spanish.
So I have officially been here for over a month (it was a month yesterday). I can't help but feel exceedingly proud of myself. Month #1 is the hardest and longest month and also the month in which the most weight is gained. I am pleased to report that despite consuming copious amounts of dulce de leche, I don't think I have gained any weight (I don't know for sure since my family here doesn't have a scale, but I am currently wearing my tightest pair of pants which fit quite comfortably). It would be a complete lie to say that this month has been easy, because the truth is far from it. But it would be the truth to say that in this month I have learned the most I have ever learned in my life. I have learned things about my new country, my new city, my new culture and my new language but I have also learned quite a lot about myself and my home country. I have come to appreciate Kamloops, BC and Canada in a whole new light. Before I left choices like 'leaving home to go to university' had a pretty simple answer 'yes, no problem'. But after being here, I'm beginning to think twice about moving across the country and away from my family again. I know I'm not a homebody, I love to travel and I'm loving this experience, but why am I in such a rush to move so far away? Maybe by the end of this year I'll know the answer.
In other news, I joined a field hockey team! It's great playing an organized sport and it's an awesome way to make new friends. Josefina isn't exactly the athletic type, so it's just me but that's totally fine. We practice about 3 times a week which it gives me something to do most days after school. I like to keep busy; it makes the weekend come faster! Next week I'm going to go see if I can join the handball team too since handball isn't a common sport in Canada and it'd be cool to learn a new sport while I'm here. I also might get to play soccer a bit. My gym teacher is the coach of the girls team in town, and he says that when the season starts up again he'll invite me to come join. Between new sports and fully booked weekends for all of October, I have a feeling that November is going to be here in a flash.

District inbound t-shirts.