Preocupado

Hola,

I have been very busy, and at the same time not busy at all. The culture here is much different than any other place and I feel like I have learned more about it than I knew of Italy after three months.

There are several students taking classes here at the language school right now. There is an older german couple, a college couple from Chicago, my roommate from New York (Jasmine) and Jo who just came from Peru. We had to take a test when we first got here and somehow I am in the intermediate-advanced Spanish class with Jasmine and Jo. They are very advanced. Jo just got back from Peru, so of course she is fluent, and Jasmine grew up in Puerto Rico. It is tough, but at least I am learning. We have classes for 4 hours a day with five minute breaks. It is very intense.

Maria is the name of our mom. She puts out bread for us every morning to eat and then makes supper for us. She always makes very interesting local dishes. The food here is very bland. They have beef in everything.

Yesterday I had mate, their national drink. They drink it from a gourd and use a bombilla, a special straw, to drink it. It tastes like Earl Gray tea. They are obsessed with it. It has more caffiene than coffee. I need some of it for school!

We start class at 9 a.m. and get out at 1. So we have the rest of the day to do whatever. They have our American movies playing constantly on tv. Jasmine and I have watched several movies with Spanish subtitles. The other day we went to a shopping mall. It is painful to walk around too much because it is incredibly cold outside. It was even cold in the house for the longest time until Maria brought in gas heaters.

The men here can be like the Italians, but for the most part they are considerate. As long as they dont see my blue eyes we can usually avoid unwanted attention. The culture in general is very interesting.

This weekend we are going to Punta del Este, a famous beach resort for the rich people of Sudamerica. It should be interesting. Buenos Aires is a 30 minute ferry ride away, so we will go there one weekend as well.

Entonces, necesito practicar mi castellano. The Spanish here is muuch different that in Mexico. Te amo.