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Ah, sorry everyone! Live has been a bit of whirlwind as of late, but I promise to update my blog tonight or tomorrow! I definitely have a lot to share!

What a Weekend!

¡Buenas noches, amigos!

Ah, I cannot believe I have been in Argentina for over a week now! Time has definitely flown by this week with having class everyday and on top of that CEA, my study abroad program, has had so many activities planned for us! For instance, this weekend we took a trip to the Tigre Delta, which is the world’s 5^th largest delta in the world!  First we took a boat ride through the delta and then afterwards explored a local mercado (market). Some people bought handmade mates and other crafty such things, but my only purchase for the day was a churro dipped in chocolate….mmm, delicious.  It was a long day though and as soon as we got home and ate dinner we pretty much all went to bed.  Today my “Culture and Civilization of Argentina” class had a fieldtrip to the Feria de Mataderos (Slaughterhouse Fair).  Mataderos is the name of the neighborhood in which the fair is located and there used to be a large slaughterhouse located there, hence its name. Now they host a fair every Sunday in which local artisans set up booths and sell their work.  In addition to booths they also have live music, dancing, and even some stands in which you can buy asado, which is basically Argentine barbeque.  The fair is known for representing the gaucho culture, a.k.a. Argentine cowboy culture.  I bought a beautiful, real leather purse for only 100 pesos, which is the equivalence of 25 U.S. dollars! I also bought a mate which I got to watch them inscribe my name in! Overall, it was a wonderful day at the feria!

Stay tuned to my facebook for pictures from this weekend!

The First Week of School!

Hello family and friends! Sorry I haven't updated my blog this week, but school has been keeping me pretty busy.  I started classes this past Monday and my schedule is Mon-Thurs from 12-5:45 pm.  So tomorrow I don't have class, YAY! Anyways, my first class is from 12- 2:30 and is called "Culture and Civilization of Argentina." It is a really interesting class and we are doing a lot of cool field trips for it, too! For instance, we're going to a tango class next week (hopefully I don't embarrass myself too much haha). My other class is from 3:00 until 5:45 and it is called "International Marketing." In addition to our final exam for that class, we also have to come up with our own international marketing plan for a product, but since there are only 3 of us total in the class we get to work on it together. Today we are having class at a local Starbucks and are going to analyze their global market scheme and such- should be fun! This weekend is going to be crazy busy between trips to a leather factory, the Tigre Delta, and a local fair, but I am excited for the opportunity to take lots of pictures! In case I don't update my blog until next week, I hope everyone has a happy 4th! Miss you all!

Sunday at the Tracks

¡Hola amigos! Today we went to the Hipodromo de Palermo, which is a horse race track near our residencia.  I didn’t bet on any races, but unfortunately the people who did bet didn’t win anything. At least it was a nice day though because even though it was cold it was still really sunny.  While we were at the Hiprodromo they were also playing a local soccer game on the televisions inside because the game was a HUGE deal to people here (soccer is like religion to Argentines).  In fact, I got an email from the U.S. Embassy warning me not to go near the stadium where the game would be held because it was pretty much guaranteed that there would be riots.  This is because basically one of the teams, River Plate, needed to win today or they would drop to a lower division league and in the end they tied with the other team and thus dropped down a division.  The fans went crazy and were crying, hopping over the fence onto the field, and throwing things at the team that won.  Security ended up having to spray the fans with a giant water hose to get them to stop, but even that didn’t stop some of the crazier fans.  I haven’t heard anything yet, but there is a high chance that some fans were injured or killed in the riots.  There is even a high risk that some of the losing team’s players will be targeted.  So moral of the story: you don’t mess around when it comes to Argentina fútbol.