Just add salsa! (A recipe for disaster)

Today was like a J-curve on the interesting scale.

It started off boring, with school (I'm doing waaaay better with irregular verbs, thanks a million to James Esdaile for showing me what's what), and then I had a salsa class which I had signed up for earlier in the week. Now, I thought the class was being taught at the school, but it wasnt, as I found out. The flyer said that it was on Corrientes about a 7 block trek from the school, no big deal).

So I set out to find it, and it ends up being like 13 blocks farther than I thought, as it was on Corrientes, but farther down than I had ever gone. So I'm walking, cursing myself for not taking the Subte, or a cab, when suddenly I stumble in the middle of a small street. As I take a step to get my balance, I look up and what do you think I see?

Club del Comic. The first card store I set out to find last week. Just sitting there, and giving off the "Should'a tripped last week" vibe. God damn buildings....

So I remember it's location, and head on over to my salsa class.

It's sooo much fun. It's a lot like the cha-cha, but with fewer steps, and it's more defined as a sexy dance, rather than the semi-formality of the cha-cha.

I'm in the beginner lever, and I come out of it knowing more about it than I do that tango...

When it's over, I (and a few others) walk a few other people home, and then we part ways, and I load up on some delicious empanandas from the same place as... last night? 2 nights ago? time flows together here...

So I come back home, have some dinner with the family, and then have a wonderful Skype call with mom and dad.

That was today, and I'm ready to go to bed!

As the days go by...

It is my solemn duty to report that nothing particularly interesting happened today.

I woke up, went to class... I'm doing better, but still not as good as I wish I was...

Then I went to tango, where I was hopelessly out-danced by everyone there. I was the only beginner, and the moves that were taught were very hard...

I then walked home and, realizing I was very hungry, stopped at the first place I saw that sold empanadas. Got a few, and continued home.

Not a very exiting day, but if they all were... actually, I can't think of a bad thing to go with that. Too bad...

So long for now!

Just another day in the life

Today was a good day.

I woke up at a decent hour, had a shower, did all of my morning stuff... (breakfast, getting my things together, you know, the usual) and then left for school.

Class was difficult, and I'm fearing I'm the slowest student in our class. It's not a bad thing, it's just a bad realization. I just don't understand how the language works... Not very fun.

But after class, I set out to go find one of 3 comic/card shops that I found using the Wizard's tourney locator... This time I would find it. I just HAD to to break this streak of bad luck in finding things. Long story short, well actually short story long (wasnt an eventful trip), I get there, and poke around. It's not a large shop, but it has many products. Lots of dice, some magic cards (now fewer, haha) lots of comics, and some action figures. I pick out some magic packs in Spanish, a deck, a set of dice (one ALWAYS needs more dice), and then brought them to the counter, only to find that even though it said that they accepted mastercards, they didn't.

No problem, right? There are tons on ATMs around the city, there's bound to be one VERY close by, right? Right. No big adventure, sorry reader... I got some more cash, and got the cards and dice.

I then left, and decided to go see a movie, but I needed to stop by the apartment to drop off my heavy stuff. So I get there, and look up theaters in the area, but there are none that are open. Not very good, as it meant I had no evening plans, but then everyone came home, and we had a lovely dinner cooked by Hugo.

Short story long then short again, I've had a very pleasant day. I look forward to tomorrow, but for no reason in particular...

Until next time!

It takes two...

BIG DAY!! Happy Biseptimanacentennial of the blog!!! 2 weeks baby!!! Did I just make up that word? google seems to thinks so...

Today has been full of surprises.

I wake up at like 10 and leave my room to find someone new in the apartment! He's German, is named Hans, or Franz, or something like that... I'm not stereotyping, he just slurred the name... He's many years older than I am, but I'm not sure how many... He's stayed with the Fosini's before and has near (if not completely) fluent Spanish...

So we say hallo, and then I head off to school... When I get there (at like 1) I find an amusing (but not unforseen) sight. The newbie orientation lunch.

This was good on many levels. Firstly, there were free empanadas on the table (no one was eating them because they were terrible...) Secondly, I got the large couch area to myself to go on the computer and eat a few of the aforementioned foodstuffs, and Thirdly, because I could scope out the new group, and see where peeps are from...

So that was fun... Then it was time for class, which was also fun. It was there that I learned about the various things I would be missing as I had to go to my tango class that night. My friends were going ot go see La Bomba de Tiempo (the Time Bomb). If you don't know what they are, here's a link... So I couldn't go to that. There was also an empananda cooking class held at the school tonight, which I also missed...

After class, I said goodbye to my friends, and walked back to the apartment, picked up my laundry, and then spent an hour on youtube and putting away clothes. Then, at 7, one hour before my class, I leave, and walk to where I thought it was. Now, I've been told 5 different locations all around BA as to the whereabouts of this place, and only one was correct.

So I'm walking around where I think it is, but I cant find it for the life of me. So I walk back to the school (about 3 blocks away from it). Luckily for me, even though the school supposedly closes at 6:30, there are still a few people inside, and I recognize one of my friends who speaks English. I walk in, and tell them my story, and I'm pointed in the right direction.

I find the building easily enough, and it just gets better! the class is very good. I learned 3 steps, and all without either teacher (a younger couple) having to speak a word of English! Now, I'd been told to forget everything I knew about dancing before learning tango, as its so different, but I found that not to be true! I used most of my posture skills, and also leading was sooo much easier!

So, that's coming along nicely... When I get home, I REALLY want to show people hot to tango, it's soooo much fun!!

Two more things: As much as I hate to admit it, I'm really enjoying city life! I never thought I'd say that, but it just feels good!

And lastly, I have my very first piece of bag flair! I purchased a pin with a penguin holding an Argentinian flag for far mor ethat it was worth, but it looked fun, so it's residing on my bag now!

That's everything!!!

Yesterday was fun, but today was a RIOT!

You heard it here first (or not, i have no idea) folks... Riots in the streets of Buenos Aires!!

Don't worry mom, I wasn't anywhere near them, but i saw them on tv.

The reason, dear reader, was this: There was a huge futbol (soccer for you Americans) game between local club River, and another team Belgrano.

The match was to decide River's fate, and there would be riots either way. If they won, the fans would be happy, so they'd riot. If they lost, then the fans would be furious, and there'd be riots.

It was so tense, that embassies sent out emails to their... not sure what to call us... tourists? saying to stay out of that area, and to just watch them match on tv, or the like...

Long story short, River lost, and was relegated down to division 2 for the first time in it's 110 year span. Not surprisingly, this didn't go over very well with the fans... Riots happened as soon as the match ended. For more on that, check out this news post...

The scariest thing is that I had the chance to go to that match, but i turned it down... Some of my friends had gotten a good deal of a tour of the stadium and then the match afterwards. Luckily, nobody I know was hurt.

Now, I turned down that offer in order to go to the The San Telmo Antiques Fair that happens every Sunday. I went with my usual group of buddies, and I had a pretty swell time! Lots of stuff, most of it junk, but some of it very cool! I plan on going next week and getting a Mate gourd among some other little things....

After we went to the fair, we took the Subte back to the apartment (is it weird that we now call it "The apartment", because we spend most of out time there?) and sat down to watch tv. That's when we saw the majority of the rioting, and it was very scary. people were getting very hurt, and it was very intense...

Then we all got pizza and watched tv for a few hours. We watched Transformers (which is actually moderately good when you cant understand the dialogue... [sorry James Malek]), and Dawson's creek, and Dexter. Fun times.

After that, at like 12, Hannah and Nikki went to bed, and so I said goodbye to them, as I wouldn't be seeing them, as they leave tomorrow at 10:30 back to Holland.

So I got a taxi home, and here I am. Quite a day. But It's over now, and tomorrow I have school, but that's life....

Talk to you soon!

Where they like us, cuz we keep comin’ back.

Today was laundry day. I ran out of shirts, which isn’t a good thing, because I have about 2 days before I can pick up my cloths. On the good side of things, it means I have a good excuse to buy local t-shirts!

After I dropped my clothes off at the laundry, I went on an expedition to the comics store “Club del Comic” I knew right where it was on the map, and had passed both crossstreets many times before. But I couldn’t find it! It seems to be my curse. I haven’t found one thing I have set out to find yet!!

So I gave up and went over to Victor’s. the usual crowd was there (Tyler, Nikki, Hannah, Becca, Victor, James, and Tyler’s friend from Tasmania Rebecca) We talked for a bit, and watched the end of the movie “Behind the Blackboard” on tv. After the movie, Tyler, Victor and I ordered steaks from a place that had delivery, and the rest of them went across the street to this vegetarian place that they like.

The steaks came at like 8:50, and I was done at 8:56. As you can probably guess, I was very hungry. Ravenous, you could call it…

Then, at 9:10, we left for Fuerza Bruta. We took the subway, which went smoothly… Then we were at Luna Park. There was a crowd outside, but there was no line at the box office. I got my ticket, and then waited with everybody else.

At 9:30, we went inside, and I almost wet myself. The space was amazing. It was enormous, and the theater tech in me went to town, rating the usage of the space, looking for other technicians, and just gawking at the lighting rig. I must’ve looked pretty funny, because my friends were teasing me about being “such a stagecraft”. Good times. For just a taste of what the space looked like, let me describe it for you. There was a center area with people standing in it (they had purchased more expensive tickets, and were right in the middle of the action). Around that, there were about 35 rows of seats facing inwards, and one side (the side farthest from me) was a large stage type area.

Then the show began.

If I was to sum up my initial thoughts about the beginning, they would go something like this:

LOUD!!!!!!!!!

It was sooooooo loud! There were big taiko drums, and people screaming into microphones, and just so much noise!!

But the show itself is beyond words…

There were people flying around on cables, and a guy running on a conveyor belt, and lots of confetti and so much more and oh my god it was loud!

The show was so incredible, I cant believe it was real.

From a tech standpoint, it was a work of genius. The crew was spot on, and it flowed seamlessly the whole time.

After the show, every one of my friends came up and asked me: “So, pretty awesome stagecraft, huh?”. It was a great night.

After that, I went back to my homestay, and here I am…

That’s all for now, talk to you tomorrow!!

Thursday and Friday

Not too much happened in these two days, not many adventures... My buddies got me a bit tipsy through some drinking games, but nothing too serious. I had the best empanadas of my entire trip, but that's not saying much, as I haven't had many.

On Friday it was the last day of school for the majority of my friends, so I'm rather sad about that... I'll miss them all...

On a happier note, we're all planing to go see FUERZA BRUTA tomorrow night. Because you're not familiar, here's a link to the trailer that got us interested...

So, loving it here, can't wait for more weeks to come, and more friends to be made!

LOST POST: Wednesday in La Boca and Nightlife

**Warning: This post contains alcohol use**

Yesterday Victor, Emily, Pryia, and I planned to meet at the school at 9:30 to take the bus to La Boca (Neighborhood in BA, one of the bigger tourist destinations). But when we (Victor and I) got to the school, the girls had failed to show up. We waited around for a bit, but still nothing.

So we get on the bus, and ride for about 20 or 30 minutes. As it turns out, La Boca is WAAAAY bigger than we guessed, so we go off the bus in the bad part of the area. so we walk around, trying to find out where we want to go, and how to get there, and without asking any locals for directions (we both hate doing that) we set out for another 20 minute walk to get to the tourist area.

When we got there, the first thing that struck me was the colors of the buildings. The walls are painted very bright shades of reds, blues and yellows. And the people! So many! I'd liken the atmosphere of the locals to one of disneyland, but way more aggressive. There is no subtlety in the aggressiveness in which they try to get you to part with your money. There are people dressed in tango costumes in the street, some of them dancing, some of them waiting, with extra costume pieces, so you can take pictures in tango costume... It was crazy.

We walked around for a while, looking at the statues, the walls, the paintings (pictures on facebook). We had a very good time. And then it was time to get back to school, or we'd be late for class... So we hop on another bus, and rode it back.

I had class then, so I’ll go into that for a bit…

My class is amazing. It’s around 7 people, ranging in age from 17 (me) to 28 (Pyria). The level of learning is just right for me, and I’m learning so much. The class is great, and so are the people. We are very alike in many ways, but different is so many more. The names and nationalities of my classmates are: Harry (California, Sonoma County); Tyler (California, San Francisco); James (Australia), Pryia (England), Tom (England), and Victor (California, Los Angels). We joke around, and have a great time every class, but we are also studying hard…

Ok, so tonight…

After class, it was decided to go to one of the hostiles in the area that Tyler was staying at, which had a club of sorts (bar + dance floor), but we needed to get one of Victor’s roommates before that, so a group of us went back to Victor’s apartment. I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen, but I went along anyways…

There were 6 of us when we went back: Myself, Tyler, Victor, James, and two of victor’s other roommates, 2 Dutch girls named Nikki and Hannah. We got back to the apartment, we got Becca (the roommate) and then it was decided that it was far too early to go to the club, so a few of the guys went down to the store nearby, and picked up a couple of 40’s.

When they returned, it was found out that I had never had alcohol before. Now, at this point something amazing happened. For the first time, instead of saying: “YOU MUST DRINK NOW” that usually happens, they said: “We respect that. If you change your mind, we’ll respect that too…”

So, there’s no pressure. So, they start talking about they’re favorite drinking games, and drinks are poured. I’m not feeling the odd man out, as I don’t have a drink, as they include me in all of the reverie (laughing and telling stories). I’m having a good time, playing the drinking games with no drink (they’re pretty fun, even if you don’t have one).

After a time, it dawned on me that one of the main reasons I was IN Buenos Aires was to branch out, take risks. So I ask for a sip.

Everything. Halts.

And then a cheer goes up from the majority of the people there, and I get handed a glass of beer. Not gonna lie, I was terrified. But I take a sip anyways.

FREAKING. NASTY.

I’m not joking, I don’t understand how or why they like it… But it was a big moment, and they decide to take pictures… Fun times…

Then its time for me to go to my evening tango class, as I haven’t been to one yet… So I go out looking for it (I have the general location on my map), but to no avail. I search and search, but I cannot find it for the life of me. I ask people, but with the language barrier, it’s tough at best, and they don’t know where I’m going either. So after about 20 minutes of searching (plus a 15 minute walk there beforehand) I decide to hang my head in shame and return to the apartment. As I get back I’m greeted by the rest of the group leaving to go to a hostle to find another friend who said he was going to meet us there. So I walk with them, not knowing what to expect from it, yet again. It turns out the hostile has a club of sorts downstairs (dj and bar) so we hang out there waiting for the friend, who never shows… but that’s not really important… But they all had hard alcohol, and I convinced myself to have a sip of what I later learned was vodka and redbull. Not a good choice, but life’s full of those…

Continued from yesterday's post.

And so we took a cab back to their apartment, and then spent the next few hours playing games like "Never have I ever" (everyone kept sniping me) and then it was time for bed.

We woke up at around noon (people joked about not remembering on account of how drunk they were, but it was all in fun) and then I went back to my homestay (got some clothes, my SHAMWOW, and dice) and to the phone store (replaced my phone). And then it was time for class.

We're on our 20 minute break now, so there'll be more updates today, most likely... If I have another night like last, there might not be, haha....

That's all for now....

AAAAAAAAAAADVENTURE TIME!!! (Subtitles added for your benefit)

You know what time it is....

Today was the first day of school, and my first time walking alone in BA. Now, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't singing "Buenos Aires" from Andrew Lloyd Weber's rock opera Evita the WHOLE walk to school...

That said, it was a pain to get up at 7am local time.my body's sloooooowly getting used to the time change, and this didn't help... But knowing i might be late to my first day of class got me out the door with time to spare...

So, it seems that my internet isn't fast enough to post pictures, so those'll come tomorrow, I promise. I'll give them their own, separate post...

So, let me spill the overflowing cup of leche (milk) that is my brain...

Firstly, I'll describe the streets... I'm not sure what to make of them... The people seem to always be in a hurry, never making eye contact. There is a lot of graffiti, some pretty, some not. There also is a strange sight for me to see, dog poop. People with ding dont stop to pick it up, so you have to watch where you step VERY carefully.

Which brings me to my next item. Dogs. Now, I've never been a dog person, but here in Argentina, EVERYONE seems to have dogs. And it's never just one, oh no... It always has to be at LEAST 6, all at once. Some on leash, most not. During my adventure today (which I'll describer later on), my friends and I went through a park, and there must've been at least 50 dogs there!!

Ok, on to the adventure...

So, I get to school, and get settled down at one of the computers (I had arrived tragically early, around 7:45 for an 8:00 class). Other people start to show up, and I go on facebook. So, us using computers start to chat, and there's someone from New Zealand, here for a week while her husband is in the area on a business trip, there's a guy from England, a guy from L.A., and me.

So, we start chatting up a storm (all the while me cheering in my head every time someone with an accent spoke) and we have a nice time... And then people leave to go to the common area, and I join them, under the self inflicted amnseia that I like coffee (Every time I drink it, I forget I don't). So I drink it, but that's not important. I sit down, and begin talking to people, there's people from SF, LA, Australia, Cambodia (I think that's what she said), Italy, NYC, all over...

So after a time (at like 8:30/9), a man comes out and tells us when our classes will be, and I get pegged in the afternoon group. So, the morning group leaves, and then a guy names Victor asks me if I wanted to come with him while he goes with him and just check out the city. I say "Of course!" and so then we wait a bit while he asks other people, and then returns with two girls in tow.

We set out, and make our way down towards this hot yoga studio that one of the girs had heard about online, and wanted to check out. So we head down that way (about a 20 minute walk), and we make introductions, and the inevitable "oooh you're so young" comments are made (those of you at the JC know what I'm talking about, haha) After checking it out, decided to go find a bite to eat, as none of us had had a proper breakfast yet. It kind of amazed me, how acute my sense of direction is. I never really notice it back home, but I knew EXACTLY which direction was ours, even when nobody else did.

So we walk back in an esceula-ly direction, and stop at a cafe. Nothing to write home about, but I'm doing it anyways. After that, we walked back, and stopped at some shops to get some more stuff we needed (notebooks, pens etc...). and then came back to the school for the empanada lunch spread they had for us. As we sat, the heads of the school explained all the details of everything to us, and then sent us off to our afternoon class. It was a good class, but my brain hasn't had a 4 hours class in soooo long, I got pretty antsy after a while...

Then, after the lesson, a group of people went out to dinner, but I didn't, because... well, I dont rightly know... Not a good choice to decline though... But that's life... I pick up a SIM card for my phone in that time, so its not a total loss... Bad news is I cant use my phone until tomorrow...

But at 7, they had a tango lesson! SO. MUCH. FUN. I can now say that I've learned Argentine tango in Buenos Aires. Good times bro... Victor was there, and we made plans to go to La Boca tomorrow morning, so that'll be grand...

So, after that, I walk back to the apartment, and here I am!

TL;DR is: I had fun today...

Day 2, in which our hero walks to school.

Today was a day of learning where I am.

I start off the day with some delicious (homemade bread) toast for breakfast, followed by looking on the weather websites to find out how the climate is today... Sorry Sonoma County, the temperatures today were in the 50's...

After a bit, Hugo take me to the door, and shows me how to get in and out of the apartment, as well as safety tips for the area...

Then we're off!! We walk towards the school (about 10 blocks), and it's a lovely time.

We pass all kinds of stores, clothing, cell phone (going to stop by one of those tomorrow to get my SIM card), etc... All the while Hugo tells me about the eclectic style of architecture in BA. How it's the most European-ized of any city in South America, and boy it shows! One block will have an Italian style of building, and the next will be French, then British, and so on! Very neat to see how all the styles flow together to make a seamless whole... Then we reach the school, and I mentally mark its destination (not like that helps, but it makes me feel better, haha)...

I've still been having problems with jet-lag... Now, 4 hours might not seem like that big of a deal, but it's just enough to get VERY annoying, VERY fast. so, I've been going to bed at 4, and waking up at 2. that can't last much longer, I need to get up tomorrow at like 6:30, to be at school by 8...

So, tomorrow's going to be my very first adventure day... I'm going to go to school, then I dont know what! Maybe go to a card shop, maybe get a SIM card, I dont know! Oh, and pictures, lots of pictures tomorrow, I hope...

Day 1, in which our hero sleeps away half the day and unpacks.

Buenas Tardes!

I've arrived in BA, and had my very first night.

I'll start off by describing my homestay family and bedroom.

Eugenia and Hugo Fosini are two of the sweetest people I have every met. For example, today at lunch (Hugo made some of the most amazing pasta I've ever had, and told me about Argentine culture, how it's VERY Italian, but the language is Spanish) Hugo toasted me, saying "Welcome home, Harry". I'm just guessing, but I think I'm going to love it here. It's obvious they're really good at homestay kids, as they aren't overly pushy/intrusive at this point. They've given me lots of space, and I'm very grateful for it.

My bedroom isn't very large( neither is the rest of the apartment), but it's nice. There is a desk, a dresser, a bed and a bedside table with a lamp on it. I'd post a picture, but I can't find an angle that captures it well. It opens from a small open air hallway off the kitchen, so I'm assuming I'm near the laundry spot...

Last night there was a MASSIVE thunderstorm here! It was noisy, but not unbearably so it didn't keep me up...

This morning, I unpacked all my stuff, and just as I finished, I got this HUGE wave of homesickness, to the point where I just lay down. Not very fun, but it's given me an excuse to blog, so you be the judge...

That seems to be it for now, if you leave comments on what you want to hear about, I'll try to put them into the next post!

Oh, I'll post pictures when I have them...

The Terminal Man

What an evening it's been.

This is the tale of my adventures in Dulles International Airport.

Well, I get off my plane, and phone home. I say hi, all that stuff, and then ask mom where im supposed to go from here. She tells me to go look for the departure boards. When I find them, they're blank.

"Okay" I think to myself, "this isnt a good sign". As i walk around, i finally find a sign that has things listed on it. But no dice. Or my flight, for that matter...

So I set off in search of someone to tell me why my plane is missing. as I ask around, I'm told that there has been a "Nationwide System Failure" which means that EVERY United terminal IN THE WORLD has gone down. At least I got the impression it was the world...

So there I am, wondering what to do. I ask people, nobody has any idea what goes where, or who says what. People are just POURING in to the terminal, and I guess it would be a normal amount on a regular day, a plane every couple of minutes bringing on a fresh wave of people isn't fun. People are EVERYWHERE. Packed like sardines, they were. It was mad! And all the while I'm unusually calm. I kept thinking how crazed I would have been if I had my family here.

So im wandering around, I find a spot to sit and use my laptop, I blog... Then I get up again and start to wander. It's not a Terribly LARGE terminal, but it is very looooong. I went form one end to the other, and still nopony knew what was going on. FINALLY, I find a place to sit down and charge up my stuff (walljacks are VERY hard to come by) and then, not seconds after i sit down, things start happening. Lots of announcements, people running to and fro, so I pack up my stuff and join the throng. As it tirns out, I should have stayed put. It was just some domestic flights were being let go, so the people who were on them were going to them.

So I go to the Help Desk, and they tell me I'm in the wrong letter terminal (D instead of C) so I work my way towards C. When I get there, there is what appears to be a feeding frenzy of pillows and blankets going on near another Help Desk. I snatch a few pillows, and a blanket, and sit down to gather my wits, which were starting to wear thin.

Not seconds after I sit down, however, the computers go back up. I get up, pack my things, and leave the pillows. I take my blue blanket with me. I think I will keep it forever.

ANYhoo... enough of the crazy talk. After i get up, i ask around to try to find out where to go. It's then that I see that my flight has been delayed unil 10am the next morning. Good new everyone!! It's not cancelled! and it will get me there that same day! So I mosey on over to the gate, set up shop (bag as pillow, blanket starring as 'blanket' and laptop serving as my window to the world.)

And here I am, waiting for the sandwich shop across from me to open to get some breakfast... It's 4:01am local time, but im running on adrenaline and pacific time, so I don't think I will get any sleep tonight. Might still be proven wrong though...

That's all for now, thanks for listening to another post...

And then there were none.

Ok, first thing’s first. Happy birthday to Sawyer Brand, finally among the teens!

Ok, on to business…

I woke up today with an intense feeling of dread. I didn’t want to leave, and I was going to miss everyone and everything like a starving man misses his dog… but I got out of bed, and got ready to go nonetheless. We stopped in SF’s Chinatown, and loaded me up with lots of yummy dim sum deli food (SCORE!!!), and then I was at the airport.

My flight to D.C. was… interesting, to say the least.

I'm walking down to my row, and dreading the inevitable old/smelly/obnoxious person who awaits to be my seatmate, and with me on the window side, there would be no escape of the tales of how AMAZING their respective daughter/dog/sports team was the best, or cutest of most likely to be prom queen (respectively)…

But no! Sitting there is a girl of about my age!!!

In other words, dream come true, for that particular adventure…

So I sit down, and get all prepared for take off, all the while texting mom… and listening to her tell me to talk to her. And I cant muster the courage to. And my inner voice is saying: “you coward, is this how its going to be the whole time?” and then I see my way in! she pulls out a Travel Companion to Spain! Bingo! I have my opening line! “So,” I say, turning on my charms to full, “you’re visiting Spain?” “Yeah,” she responds, and then tells me how she is going with her parents, and then meeting a friend in France or something….

And that’s it. We only exchange 5 more words the whole flight. They are: “You have ‘voted’” oh, thanks” she was playing scrabble against her ipad’s computer. FML

So, the flight isn’t too bad after that, I watch some “How I met your mother” and “big bang theory(score!!!)”

And then I get to the terminal, where I am right now, and the adventure continues!! United Airlines is experiencing a nationwide computer brainfart, and so we are in what they call an “infinite ground stop” which is airline for: “we’re broken, so we get to keep you here foreeeeever (pinkie pie ftw)”

And so: no leaving, no wifi, and I don’t know where im supposed to be, which is Harry for: “FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU”

Well, the wi-fi is back up, so im going to post this and get on facebook...

A well articulated sum-up of my thoughts as of this moment.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11!!1!11!!!!!!one!!!!!

OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!!!!!! IT'S NOT REAL!!!!!!!

HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Feelings as of 10:14pm

Trepidity, awe, fearfulness, anxiety, consternation. These are all synonyms of the main feeling I'm right smackdab in the middle of:

Terror.

It's the only way to describe it. i cant find another word that matches the pit in my stomach, or the feeling of walking through some kind of jam-like substance (YEAH TOAST!).

Today I woke up at 9:15, and then stayed in bed until about 1, not able to get up. Everybody keeps telling me that: "it will be amazing" and "you'll have such a blast!" and even though I know that I will, it still is the most daunting thing I think I've ever done. I'm reminded of a quote from the claymation movie "Chicken Run". The quote is: "You see, flying takes three things: Hard work, perseverance and... hard work." The point meaning it takes twice as much hard work as perseverance.

Not really sure why its coming to mind, but it seemed like the right thing to post...

On account of my mental scattering, I'm just going to talk about memorable portions of my day. I went to my local meditation class, which has just begun it's newest series (Shameless plug is shameless), throughout which my main thought was: "what am I doing (in breath) what am I doing (out breath)" Add in the semi-hyperventilation that accompanies stress, the result isn't a pretty one.

That's all for now, and I'm hoping to find a better way to end these posts... Please give me some ideas!

YOU WIN THIS ROUND, THOUGHT!!!

The Grand Kick Off

"Space. The final frontier. These are the-" Wait a sec, that's the wrong intro. Let me find the right one... "In 2108, war was beginning..." No, not that one... Let's try this one? "I had never given much thought to how I would die." OH GOD!!!!! NOT THAT ONE!!

Ah, here it is:

These will be the chronicles of my experiences in the wonderful country of Argentina. I will be leaving in 3 days to go on a month-long study abroad program in the city of Buenos Aires, to study Spanish and the Tango. This is my first blog, and as such will be poorly set up, worded and organized. But we make do.

That said, it's 3 days before my trip, and I am freaking out. Packing is going well enough. I still need things, but I'm working on it. I know the trip is going to be amazing and glorious, but right now all it looks like is just a daunting wall of... something, I don't know... Mom has been showing me lots and LOTS of tango movies, so I can say I know what it's SUPPOSED to look like...

Well, as the think tank drains, this first entry comes to a close...

Not really sure how to end these... I'm up for suggestions...

Anyhoo...

UNTIL NEXT TIME, INTERNET!!!!