Castellano, crazy host moms, and horror movie hospitals. life is good...

So I´ve been here for about two months now. Time has gone by so fast! But when I think about everything I´ve done in the past 2 months, I have kept pretty busy. From my 2 days in Miami to flying to Argentina by myself (Still, the most nerve-racking thing I´ve done!!) I have done a ton of stuff. Something else I´ve noticed is my spanish is coming along very quickly. I struggled so much that first month. Now that I look at it, I loved that first month, being the new girl, meeting new people, etc, but I would never go back! I think to myself now, how did you survive without not knowing what to say?! It´s the most frustrating thing when everyone around you is talking, and you can´t pick up one word. Now I get about 75% of it and I can put the words together, and make sense hah. But imagine my first month here, what if everyone and everything around you, including signs, billboards, magazines, television was like this: "Io asdf ou dil ól pul ñuhn girt tyn viy jnglr hslreh. Yuhnq weer poin!!! Buc qeriop oifv oiur sdklhre lhsñ." You´re thinking, what are you saying??? What does that say??? I have come such a long way since then! =D There are some downsides, for example when I try talking in english or writing in enlish, I switch over to spanish. After my year here, I wont want to speak english at all hehe. I will start a sentence in ingles que despúes estoy escribando en castellano. <---- like that =P This isn´t really important, but just so you know, argentines dont say "we speak spanish" they say "we speak castellano" (kast-uh-shan-oh, the "LL" makes a "sh" sound) Castellano is a different dialect of spanish. A mexican and argentine can still understand eachother, but its difficult with the accent, and we use different words for almost about everything. It´s like an Alaskan saying "Im from Alaska" instead of "Im from the US" haha ;)
Some pretty eventful things have happened in the past couple weeks. Ima be breakin it down in chronological orderrrr:
I went to an english class with my friend Rocío. I really loved it! Everyone was so nice and I have been bored a lot lately because my FAMILY here grrr (I discuss this later) But I stayed for about an hour and now I go twice a week, its good. The best part is that the teacher, Gaby, used to volunteer for my exchange program for 20 years!!! She actually stopped last year. I talked with here and she said if I need anything I could give her a call, she really is great. Its nice to have someone to go to that is "dependable" because my volunteer here, Susanna, is always away on trips, and not a very good volunteer if you ask me... =( But it so happens that about two weeks ago, I decided I wanted a family change. There are numerous reasons: My host mom is insane... she sings, no belches is more accurate, OPERAAA. then she grabs spoons and bangs on all the pots and pans, doing some weird ass tribal dance. my reaction, "wtf." She won´t let me do laundry but she doesnt wash any of my clothes! I said, Claudia, I have no clean pants!" and she said, "ohhh no. Ok, I wash them now" then she forgot, and I was furious. This was the first time we got in an argument. I was talking loudly, not yelling at her, and she was doing the same. She said it was difficult because she was an only parent. I said, "then why the hell would you take in another kid to watch after?!" she didn´t understand because i said this in english, but I do think I have a point. She´s always busy and the house is wayyyy out of town, like 56 blocks from anything. The house is small, the neighborhood is bad, like I dont feel comfortable walking outside. I went to a party last night at a place called Costa, and it got over at like, 6:30 this morning. Claudia was supposed to come get me but was to tired. I waited outside by myself for 45 minutes not sure what to do because the taxi numbers I had in my phone were all busy. Finally my friend Sofi drove by with her dad and asked what I was doing, I said Im really not sure what to do... she offered me a ride (thankgod) and I got home around 7:30am this morning, very tiredddd! I still have a grudge towards claudia because this is not the first time she has let me down... anyways I talked to Gaby about this, and she said it was unexceptable. She talked to the head volunteer, Carmen. She said once I find a house, I can move. I actually got a text from Gaby last night, "I have a new family" all I know is there are two sisters, Sara (16 years) and another older one. I dont know about other family members, but Im so excited to get out of this house because its really dark all the time and just plain depressing. so hopefully in 2-3 days I should be out !!!
Then yesterday, I had my first experience with a south american hospital. oh my. Im just gonna say, we are very spoiled in the usa with our healthcare, thats something I do miss. The hospital was something from the horror movies. Peeling paint on the walls, chipped floors, the floresent lights flickering in the ceiling. it was terrifying! then there was this long hallway with chairs on eitherside, all filled with sick people. they were all coughing and crying and bleeding, ahhhh =O I walked down this hallway holding my breath the entire time!!! then at the end I waited where the doctors/nurses come out of this little room and call a number. First come, first serve. After about ten minutes, a nurse said, "432" which was my number. This nurse was very mean and had cold hands, I didn´t like her. The rooms aren´t like we have in the USA. they are little green curtains that seperate everyone. they dont work worth crap, I could see the entire hallway of people. then a new nurse came in, she was much nicer and new english! which was really great, I think its important when the nurse and patient are on the same page about what is wrong. I told her I had some really bad neck pain, and since I have gotten here, I´ve been tired, always. She told me ok, then the mean nurse came in again. She said she was gonna give me a shot. I waited until I knew it was a disposable one that came out of those little packages because otherwise I would not have gotten it. It was a disposable, then she gave me a anti-inflammatory shot, ON MY BUTT. I was so nervous =/ but it was fine. The meds didn´t do anything, which kinda worries me... so im not sure what to do with the pain =(
Anyways, I cant really think of anything else... Ill try and post a blog sooner than later, but who knows (hehe..)
sorry about the awful grammar/spelling, spellcheck is in spanish :)

It´s been a whileeee!

hey everyoneee! wow so I´m sorry it has been such a long time since I have written a blog. I´ve just been procrastinating and putting it off, ya know... So it has been about a month since I last wrote, a lot has happened. So I´ll start at the beginning of September:
Things stay pretty steady, I start to make close friends in school, I still don´t understand much in class. The teachers try talking to me, I pick out words and try to respond the best I can with the help of my classmates (compañeras) After school I come home, eat lunch, then take a siesta (nap) for a couple hours. The town is average sized but on weekdays there isn´t much to do. So after siesta I usually go to El Centro (the downtown) with Anii (my sister) and our friends. We hang out, go home around 10pm where we then eat dinner and go to bed.
Around the middle of September I got a cellphone. I like it because I can text people, it makes communicating better too. I have more freedom because Anii has a way to reach me now. The weekend was boring, went to a really lame concert then walked around till 4am. Went to Rocío´s house after and watched some Argentine movie with english subtitles. On monday I went to school with my phone and the numbers here aren´t in the form of ###-####. They are all different. some have four digits, some have 12, or 7, or 8, you get it. so its really difficult to remember! I sit in class because it is sooo boring, I do nothing! I write and draw, anything to keep me busy. Sometimes I copy notes in spanish from my compañeras. I have this one teacher who is so weird! She has this retainer and spits everywhere! But she came up to me in class one day and started asking me how to say animals in english. she said "cabella" I said horse. "pollo" chicken. "oso" bear. and so on. Then she asked me how to say "cabra" I told her goat. she started moving her head in a circular motion, yelling "GOOO-AT" I was like what. the. hell. At this point I feel worried because I haven´t been talking as much spanish as everyone. It seems all the other AFSers know more than me. But this is typical to feel behind, so I know I shouldn´t worry too much.
On September 26 I went to SantaRosa for the day for an AFS meeting and to see my good friend Emeline (from france). At first I thought that my host mom was gonna drive me and Anii there. But then they took me to the bus station and were like, ok wait here for the bus, have fun, bye! I was nervous becuase I had to take a but by myself, but I was fine. Once I got there, Carmen, an AFS volunteer picked me up. She didn´t know any english but I was really surprised becuase I could talk to her in spanish just fine. I understood her, vice versa. After the meeting I walked around with Emeline and it was so good to talk to her! I really love her, she´s one of the coolest people I know. She grew up in Germany but her last year her parents moved to France. She speaks german, french, english, and it took her a week to fluently understand spanish. I dont know how she does it! She loves traveling and we have so much in common, I can really be myself with her. But after hangin out I took the bus back to Pico. Things went back to normal, school got boring, hangin out with friends, that kinda thing.
On october second I went to Santa Rosa again and I stayed with Emeline for the weekend. It was really great becuase she has this big house with a maid and it was fun to have all this food made and our own bathroom and things. I just love her family! Her mom is sweet, her host sister, Lupe, is hilarious!! She´s 16 and the three of had such a great time! She has a great personality. Then theres her host dad, Eduardo. He is just as great. He taught us how to tango dance! And we were all sitting on the couch and he comes in with a mask and crazy hat and tries to scare us. It was really funny. Emeline made a whole bunch of french food for dinner the first night, yummy! It was quiche with tomatoes and cheese. We went to Pavarotti both nights (a disco/bar) so I was soooo tired! We didnt get back until 7 in the morning. Then Lupe, Eme, and me went into the kitchen and ate a whole pizza, we were so hungry haha. And her family said the whole weekend "Come back here any time! We love having you!" I was really happy becuase I was starting to get so sick of my house in Pico. Anii and me don´t get along sometimes and Claudia drives me insane as well, so I had a much needed break. I drove back to Pico with a friend of Carmen, (the afs volunteer) Susanna. She was really nice and I didnt have to pay for a bus ticket, which is good. The best thing was that before I left santarosa, Rita (Emelines host mom) told me that next weekend they are going on a road trip around La Pampa (our provence) and she invited me! I was so excited! Its about three days and I can be with Lupe and Eme! I got to Pico and told my host mom, she was very excited, all for it =) my host mom felt really bad and said "My car is broken but ill get it fixed and we can go on road trips too!" It was sweet and I think I had more respect for her. Not that I didnt have any before, she just drove me insane, but now I know she really does want me to be happy here. But school all this week, then road trip, i cant wait! Im learning more and more spanish everyday, which is exciting. Hopefully by next month I´ll be almost fluent. I met a AFSer named Agustino. He went to Austria two years ago. It was good to talk to him because he knows what Im going through and all the difficulties and everything. I was having a hard time last week, so it was good to talk to someone. But most of the time Im having a really good time here! And I found out that all the AFSers take a trip to Ushuaia, in Tierra Del Fuego. You need to look at a map at this place, its at the very south of argentina, almost touching Antarctica!! Very fun! Well I will try to write next week, or after my road trip with Eme y Lupe! chau!

FOTOS!!!

Eva Peron´s grave

awww the tres rubios!

I was a bit excited to be in argentina you could say the least... =)

The widest street in the WORLDDDD!

Buenos Aires!

colorful buildings at La Bocaaa!

Esta en General Pico, Argentinaaa!!!

I made it! So the last time you heard from me i was having visa troubles =( it actually turned out to be, like friggin awesome so sorry about all the bitchin in the last blog.. jaja... I ended up staying in Miami, but i met these two guys, Tyler and Tenny, going to Ecuador with AFS. i hung out with them and my awesome AFS volunteer Belkys. She took me to Chili´s =) We all went in the pool regardless of AFS´s rules... woooops. And I left that afternoon to catch my international flight. I was a little scared to go by myself and a different volunteer dropped me off at the airport then literally left me right there haha. i was like what what what? but i found my way and got my flight on time and it was all good. then when i got on the plane to Buenos Aires, i met these two girls who told me to come sit by them. The language barrier was a little hard, but we managed. They showed me pictures and told me what the teenagers were like, it was fun. And then i had problems in customs, and i couldnt understand ANYTHING the lady was telling me, so they helped me through that, it was very nice. I then met up with AFS volunteers who were very very awesome, they bought me coffee and snacks jaja. I waited for like 2 hours in the airport with them while other afsers arrived from Germany, France, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, etc. Once the the group of Norwegians got here, we hit it off right a way. They are so funny! I couldnt remember any of their names so I call them, Lenny, Boston, Madness, J.T. Dahl, Weasel, and Nina. They gave me these little licorice candies that were nastyyyy. and they tried to teach me norwegian jaja, that was hilarious. They were all saying ¨can i have fries with thattttt?´´ making fun of my accent jaja. Then orientation!!! so much fun! we met all different ppl and had a talent show, i hung out with the norwegians the whole time jaja and met an amazing french girl named Emeline but i call her Frenchie. And i really love this one american girl named Abigail, shes so funny. But orientation was deffinately a blast. Then the tour of the city, which was fun too. When we were walking down the sidewalk this one guy was like ´look, BLONDES! pointing at me and madness, and abigail jaja. the italians were fun as well, making jokes all the time. This one, Valentino, made paper cranes and airplanes with me and frenchie. At the bus station we all waited while they called people up to catch their buses, it was sad but we know we´ll all see eachother at orientation in a couple months. Abigail was having a really really hard time, she missed her family and felt homesick so i let her use my phone really quick to talk to her mom. I had to take a bus by myself, it was ten hours =/ but i slept the whole time. i met anii and claudia at the station with their friends, i was so tired and boring though ahha. we got icecream then drove home. I haven´t really started school yet... cuz my host mom told me in very broken english, ¨ take advantage of no school´´ jjaa fine with me. I will go manana though, cuz i can only miss a certain amount of days. I did go to one class with anii, everyone was pointing at me, jesus christ it was annoying. i felt like pointing back jaja. I slept till 1pm yesterday jaja. anii was back from school and i was still in bed. oops. damn alaska to argentina time change... and last night i went to town with anii, her friend ana clara and anii´s boyfriend, Frederico. they are both so nice! they make me laugh so hard. Anii kicked Frederico in the butt, and he screamed, ¨leave alone my ass!´ jaja. And ana clara told me that if i ever needed to be sad and cry, i can come to her because she understands, becuase her dad is away for work and she knows what its like to miss someone. i was like AWWWW! it was the cutest thing ever. But all in all im having a great time, i miss everyone, but all the volunteers and returnees say wait till xmas time when you really get homesick... yikes. But i do love it here! And its amazing how much español i have learned in the four days ive been here!!!

Muchaaaaaaasssss besos!
-mariaaaa margaritaaa!

Chillin in Miami... and I hate geese with a passion.

So this visa stuff is ABSURD. crazy, stupid, not on time, i hate ittttt! why you ask? I'll give you the run down:

August 18th, leave Alaska at 6am fly to Seattle, then Miami. Get to Miami that night, grab a hotel with my friend Eva (also going to Arg.) then fall asleep, oh-so-very excited for my international flight the next day (or so I thought.) All while I am getting to Miami this lovely August 18th, my visa was supposed to be flying from Alaska to L.A. to FINALLY get approved then ship off to Miami. oh, but wait. As the plane is flying to L.A., A FRICKIN GOOSE FLIES IN THE ENGINE. WTF?!?! so the plane has to turn around and stay in sitka another night. This totally f's me up cuz now the visa didn't get there till today, where it was stamped, then sent to Miami where it will arrive tomorrow morning for my pickup. The only problem? Everyone left for Argentina today, abandoning me in Miami all by my lonesome cuz I am passport/visa-less. I was the only one whos visa didn't go through. =( So everyone took off a little while ago, and i said goodbye and I'm sad that i'll have to miss out on the first day of orientation, but I cant do anything about it. Now im just chilling in the hotel by myself, being bored and what not... and I don't even know what time i leave tomorrow, grrrr. Its all so last minute... all the other afsers get to arg. tomorrow morning at 5am, i get there 24 hours later. haha... yea.... but I guess its all parta the adventure... This will be one of those things I look back on in 10 years and laugh about. yea... well g'night everyone.


peaceeee.
-maryjane.

I'm down to the countdown... LEAVING TOMORROW MORNING.

IN A MATTER OF HOURS I WILL BE ON A PLANE LEAVING ALASKA AND HEADING ONE STEP CLOSER TO MY ARGENTINE DESTINATION. whew. It's all happened, like, way fast. Between the visa (aka pain-the-ass), passport, packing, immunizations, applications, etc., I'm so thrilled that tomorrow morning, I will be heading out on the 6 am flight to Seattle. Then Miami, where I'll overnight, then Argentina the next day. The hardest part of everything was the visa. Alright let me tell ya, what a royal pain. We had to get all these apostilles and signatures and translations, not to mention the extremely tight deadlines. And then, once we finally get it off to the consulate, the jerk face man in charge sends it back because he decides he wants like, some FBI report or something. WHAT. But we finally get it off AGAIN, and I'm leaving town tomorrow with my visa not even accepted yet. A little nerve-racking because it still might not be there when I get to Miami. If it's not I'll be S-O-L, and I can't leave until they accept it. blahhh this is awful. I just gotta cross my fingers and hope for the best. And get some sleep cuz im getting up at the cracka dawn to catch my flight. Ohhh but i'm so excited to meet my host sister, this visa shtuff better all work out, pronto. Alright, off to bed. Buenas noches! =)


Peace n' luvvvv
-maryyy.

HOST FAMILY!!!

I GOT MY HOST FAMILY!!! hence the title. There's a mom (Claudia) and a daughter (Ana) Ana is 16 and mega cool. I talked to her on msn and she skateboards, and likes to go out on the weekends. She knows pretty good english. She said that I will have a very good time there, and I think were in the same class together. Yay!!!! It's in a town with like 55,000 people, called General Pico. In the La pampa province. I added everyone going to Argentina with me on facebook. They either all declined, or sent me emails saying "why the hell did you add me" I'm feeling the love. I of course told them that we were going to Argentina together which led to "omg-where-are-you-going-i'll-see-you-at-orientation-i'm-so-excited" Well now im just countin down the days. Any my departure date has actually changed because the visas are taking to damn long. And my gateway city it miami!!! hellzzz ya. I can't wait to meet everyone. So glad im going for a year...!!!

adios- MaryJane.