pebbleinabrook

thank goodness its viernes

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 19:02:48 GMT

hello!

my last update was literally a month ago. wow. and now i feel like there are a million things i should be sharing .. but of course, most of them are escaping me. ohhh well. but i should try to write more. anyway. it is officially spring here now, as of yesterday. woohoo. my tan is returning! i see many days of reading on my terrace and enjoying the sun ahead.

i am well into classes- first midterm in one week. i am taking culture of peace and human rights, which is so interesting. the teacher is very well known here.. he was imprisoned (and tortured) during the military dictatorship here in the 70s and won the nobel peace prize in 1980, which i think is incredibly cool. other awesome class: genocide as a social practice. soso interesting and the teachers are great. also taking a literature course about margin US literature.. we are studying toni morrison (one of my fave authors) and louise erdrich and contextual factors such as slavery, native american movements.. etc. its really interesting to learn about these things from a different perspective. i love all three classes but there is a ton of reading to be done and 3 monster papers to be written for the end of the semester. my goal is to be working on them as i go along instead of, well, dying, at the end. ive made some good new friends in classes, too, which is exciting!

next week my cooking class begins! i found an amazing market/vegetarian restaurant called la esquina de las flores. they offer a bunch of great courses for free! so soon i will be starting those.. very exciting. the following week i am going on a trip to córdoba, a nearby province that is supposedly beautiful. a couple weeks later i will be returning to the province of jujuy, which i visited last may and absolutely loved. i joined a new gym, which is a little step up from my old one which was above a laundromat, haha. its a little bit further away from my house, but i dont mind the walk.

i have to leave now for my peace and human rights class. afterward: dinner at home and then out with my friend ashleigh. saturday i hope to get some studying done (with kathleen.. the only other year student from my program. didnt know her last semester, but weve been hanging out a lot and she is goood good people) and then at night my friend diego (incredibly talented musician) is playing a show. sunday going to see the ballet swan lake at the teatro colon (my mom is so jealous). i had a pretty homesick few days last week (and physically sick with some kind of stomach thing), but this week i am much better. i really cant believe i only have 3 more months here.. it seems like nothing! i hope theyre good :)
lots of springtime love and goodness!
k.

primavera

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 17:23:25 GMT

hola hola!

okay, kind of a lot of updating to do. first of all, a whirlwind summary of my trip!
julia, chris & i returned from perú a little over a week ago. it was absolutamente espectacular! the first place we explored was la paz, bolivia. it was such a dynamic city. very different from any city ive ever been to. we wandered around, sampling the fresh fruit from stands on the street (pineapple, papaya) and trying to take in all of the newness. the hilly streets were at times challenging because of the high altitude it was freezing cold at night (no heating in the hostel, YES!) haha. it was hectic with lots of honking cars and people everywhere. but it was awesome. we got on a bus headed for our next destination: puno, perú. we spent part of the day in copacabana, bolivia, on lake titicaca. it was an adorable lakeside town where we enjoyed some delicious trout for lunch. caught the next bus for puno. puno was so cool. we spent a day at the floating uros islands on the lake. these are islands that are made of a plant that grows in the region. for thousands of years the uros people have been living on these islands that they constructed using a base of roots of this plant and then the reeds on top. they put down a new layer every few months so that the islands keep on floating. it was so interesting! we ate some great regional food in puno, including alpaca. sooo good. julia, chris and i had all bought beautiful alpaca scarves in bolivia a couple of days before. like the llama, the alpaca is a truly great animal. other typical foods that we enjoyed were quinoa and corn. more fruit, too. coconut! julias sickness that would last for the rest of the trip started in puno. luckily, the woman who ran the hostel (and her husband, and another guy at the hostel) were kind of stalkerish and took care of her. the woman gave her some kind of pressure point massage and gave her a matecito de coca (coca tea- very helpful for altitude issues). after puno we headed to cuzco. the bus ride was one of the most interesting experiences de mi vida. about 8 hours of new smells and sounds and sights and feelings. we got to see a ton of really rural perú. houses with outhouses. little boys herding sheep. women hauling huge colorful sacks of i dont know what in the middle of nowhere. people pumping water at a water pump. llamas. abandoned buildings. when we would make stops, women would come on the bus to sell things like mandarin oranges (mandarina mandarina!), fresh baked bread, or even freshly grilled lamb. cuzco was a treasure. it was quite touristy but maintained a really genuine feeling. great energy. we wandered around the hilly streets a ton and ate some really good food, again. i didnt really like guinea pig, though. we spent one day at machu picchu. you take a 3 or 4 hour train from cuzco to aguas calientes, where you have to combine with a bus to take you up to the ruins. machu picchu was beautiful and i found it hard to believe that i was actually there. we were lucky to have willy as a guide, who was so knowledgeable and intensely entusiastic and passionate about the ruins and about the history of the incas. julia, chris & i had a nice trailmix lunch looking over the ruins. it was so amazing. the next day we left for lima. lima was overcast and very cityish. i hadnt seen a starbucks, kfc, or payless shoes for 6 months, so that was kind of jolting. but, i did enjoy seeing the pacific ocean again. we sat on the rocks for probably a couple of hours just looking at the ocean. i discovered ceviche, which is a must for anyone who likes seafood. i want to learn how to make it. we flew back to buenos aires from lima. i was ready to be home again.

since then things have been a little crazy. chris and julia have left buenos aires (julia left yesterday). ive started classes again. im taking 3 courses at the university of buenos aires. i will talk more about them in another entry, but so far they are going well!

last weekend we celebrated maras 36th birthday. that was super fun, even though i was still tired from my trip and from having just begun classes. we also went running at the park, which i always enjoy. frida was chasing the geese. today mara brought home a new dog from the park, so it looks like we have a new addition to the family! today is SO beautiful and i think that maybe spring has finally come. bueniiisimo. well, i need to head out. several errands to do today! no class until friday though, so that is good! i only have class monday, tuesday, and friday. definitely not used to that kind of schedule, but i think im going to end up loving it.

loove,
k.

juli, flying cars, bolivia

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:22:13 GMT

my friend julia who is here with a different program moved in with me for the rest of her time here. she had to move out of her house because her host family was getting a new chico. she leaves august 14th to return to the US. it has been a lot of fun even though she is working on a paper still for one of her classes. mara went to gabriels house outside of the city for the weekend, so it was nice to have someone in the house with me! i made ravioli with tomato and spinach sauce and a salad for dinner on saturday night. then we went to a peña, which is an event with lovely live music and dancing. we went to another one about a month ago. they are great. the other night i went to a gay bar for the first time. it was really fun. good music. but i lost my brown seed bracelet from iguazu! it fell off once in the jungle when we were there and i miraculously found it so i dont know why i didnt realize that it could fall off again. and that i wouldnt be so lucky to find it again. ugh. oh well! maybe someone will find it and it will fit her better and it will just make her day. or his day.

july 20 was day of the friend, or día del amigo. i went with mara to a party and it was super fun! i like her friends a lot. we just ate pizza and drank beer and talked and danced a bit. afterward i met up with some of my friends.

last night i went bowling!! it was super fun. i remain the most random bowler ever. strike, gutterball, spare, gutterball. on the way to the bowling alley i was in a cab with a few friends. the cab driver asked us where we were from and then started talking to us about flying cars. he said that they exist in the US. apparently there are 3 different models. they run at a million bucks each and proud owners include tom cruise and michael jackson. very interesting, no?

sooo, on august 5th i am flying into la paz, bolivia. on august 14th i will return to buenos aires from lima, peru. yaaaaay. wish i had more time to explore up there, but classes begin the week i get back and i have to be here up until the 5th for registration stuff. very excited!

im at the my programs computer lab right now. its so strange because i have no idea who the other kids here are! and i dont know where all of the others went! strange strange strange. luckily among the new faces i found ALLY, a fellow SIS kid who is now in my program here! it was so great to see her. we are hopefully having lunch tomorrow.

i am wearing my new and awesome converse today. and the sweet decemberists shirt that richmond got me and my mom brought to me when she visited. it is sunny and springish and lovely in the city. going to the travel agency now to do one thing for the trip, then going home. tonight going to a goodbye dinner for another friend that is leaving soon. this week i will be perusing the course catalogues and trying to construct a schedule that is interesting and not too hard. registration next week.

okay chicos, chau chau

k.

hace mucho tiempo, chicos

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 20:43:44 GMT

where to begin?
i finally got through the semester and i think it ended up just fine. i was definitely ready for it to be over and exhausted from so much studying. it's strange though, now i don't really know what to do with myself! my mom left yesterday after spending 2 weeks here with me at my house. my favorite thing about that was showing her the little things about my everyday life. drinking tea and mate at home, sitting on the terrace (although she preferred the stairs outside of her room), walking to the subte, going to the lavadero and the locutorio, taking the #39 bus, walking along santa fe, etc. we did so much! spent a lot of time talking in cute cafes all over the city. we went to a great tango show. went out to some really nice dinners. walked a ton all over the place. she got to know mara (my host mom) and gabriel, her boyfriend. a couple of times the 4 of us went out to dinner and it was always interesting and very fun. it was strange to speak so much english! we traveled to uruguay and walked around the old colonial gem that is colonia. also went to iguazu national park in the northeast of argentina. the waterfalls were breathtaking. it was also nice to have warmth and sunshine (although thats how it is today in buenos aires... the climate has been so strange!). we saw the falls from several different trails. they are huge. saw some cool animals on that adventure: toucans and other birds, incredible butterflies. on that trip we also visited an indigenous community where the guaraní live. we went on a boat ride on the iguazu and paraná rivers and at one point where the rivers join you can see argentina, brasil, and paraguay at the same time. it was very cool. my program had a going away party (most students only stay 1 semester) while she was here, so that was cool because she got to meet my program directors, my tutor, and some of my friends. it really was a great time. it also kind of inaugurated the next chapter of my experience here. i'm really looking forward to this coming semester. i know how to navigate the city and am very comfortable with the language at this point, so i think my remaining months will be even richer than the preceeding ones. it will be sad to say goodbye to a few of my friends from the US who are leaving in the next couple of weeks, but i feel okay about it. I have a good amount of people who i care about here and who care for me who aren't going anywhere. in the time i have left before classes begin again (i wish it were longer!) i plan on relaxing and enjoying life. i am also hoping to get to peru and bolivia soon.
i'll try not to go so long without writing!
paz y amor

k.

end of the semester and world cup craziness

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 19:21:45 GMT

hola!!!!

so i'm coming up on the last few weeks of the semester. i am quite ready for it to be over.. i realized that i took too heavy of a load and i want to let it go! next semester i am going to take fewer classes and not stress as much about my schoolwork. in the time that remains i have 3 more exams, 2 ten page papers due, some translations for my internship, and a portfolio thingie. but, i'm hanging in there... i'm going to get it all done and i'm not going to forget to have fun also! i'm almost there. i'm trying hard not to get too stressed.

my mom is coming sooo soon to visit me!! she comes in july 5 and is here for 2 weeks. in my spare moments i am planning lots of stuff for us to do... i can't wait to show her around the city. i'm hoping for us to travel to the waterfalls in iguazu and also spend a day or 2 in colonia, uruguay. it is just about an hour boat ride to get there and it is apparently a very cute little city. it will be so great to see her.... i am sososo excited. she is bringing me goodies from trader joe's and some of my warmer clothes that i am beginning to need here. after she leaves i plan on traveling.. but haven't really planned that yet either. i'm hoping to get to bolivia and perú. we'll see. annnnd ally is coming to BsAs in july... hooray for another SIS kid here with me! i think it should be a nice break. classes will begin again around mid august.

so argentines are absolutely craaaazy about the world cup. whenever there is an argentina game the city basically stops and everyone is glued to the tv. this morning argentina won 6-0 against serbia & montenegro. cars that drive by the cafe i am in right now are still honking to proclaim their contentment.. people are walking down the streets clad in blue and white banging on drums...people are waving argentine flags out of car windows, etc. it really is a lot of fun.

ummm.. what else? lately i have been spending a lot of time studying. i still like a couple of my classes a lot, but there are a couple of others that i am definitely ready to be finished with. yesterday i went with my friend chris to the centro cultural borges where there is currently a picasso exhibit. it was very cool. the other night i went to the theater; we saw "electra shock", an intense and very risque version of electra by sophocles. it was entertaining to say the least. theater is huge here; i want to try and see more shows. mara and i are thinking of going to something else next week. a couple of weeks ago i joined this little hole-in-the-wall gym in my neighborhood! it is so funny. it is tiny and the equipment isn't exactly new and everyone knows each other. and all the weights are in kilos! definitely a big change from the gym at school... and i really miss spinning... but i like it.

well, i came here to study and i've really just emailed, facebooked, livejournaled, and peoplewatched... so i should probably hop to it!! i'm so glad it's the weekend. and monday is a holiday here, which makes it even better. contemporary spanish literature exam on tuesday, wish me luck!

lots of besitos para todos

k.

coca tea, llamas, and being above the clouds

Fri, 26 May 2006 15:58:56 GMT

im finally getting around to writing about my trip to jujuy! we returned last sunday and this week has been kind of hectic, settling back in and catching up with schoolwork and stuff. anyway, i loved jujuy. we flew into the city of jujuy which is the capital of the province, and then took a bus to tilcara, a pueblo even further up into the mountains. i had a headache the first day from the altitude, but other than that things were fine and only one person on my trip got altitude sickness. the place we stayed was gorgeous and set in between 2 cords of mountains. when we first got in we had dinner at the place we were staying (we had dinner there every night except for one), and it was incredible! the food in the north is very particular and a definite contrast from buenos aires. corn is very important for the region, so there are lots of dishes that incorporate that. anyway, at that first dinner we ate the most delicious corn tamales i ever hope to eat! while there we also ate other typical foods of the region like lentils, quinoa, goat cheese, and llama!! llamas are officially the coolest animals in my book- they are so useful and have been used in the andes region for transport, wool, and food for since way back and continue to be important today. one night we could go into the pueblo and eat dinner wherever we wanted to, so i went to this little restaurant with live music with a couple of friends. i had this llama stew that was quite good! and, it only cost 4 pesos, which is a bit over a dollar. qué bueno.

the pueblo was so cute. in the center there was a market every day with people selling tons of interesting things. lots of sweaters, scarves, blankets, etc. made from llama wool (SO soft). also little ceramic pots and vases, handmade jewelry, etc. everything was so inexpensive and so great that i ended up buying quite a bit! we also went on day trips to several really cool places. we visited 2 other pueblos, humahuaca and purmamarca. both were very cool just like tilcara. the contrast from buenos aires was striking. buenos aires is very much influenced by europe in terms of its layout, architecture, etc., not to mention the fact that most inhabitants are descendants of spaniards and italians. jujuy is completely different. the pueblos are small with cobblestone or dirt roads, the buildings are modest, and the indigenous influence is obvious. i loved the music we heard there. the instruments are so cool and produce songs that are just beautiful. i remember when i was little this group called the los angeles incas would play at the farmers market in santa monica. my mom bought the cd and we would listen to it a lot at home. so, it was so awesome to be taken to the roots of that, to be where the incas actually lived and hear the same type of music.

some of our trips brought us even further up into the mountains; the highest we went was a bit over 4000 meters. i think someone said that is about 12 or 13 thousand feet, but conversions have never been my specialty, so anyone is welcome to help me out with that! we drank coca tea a lot and also sucked on coca leaves in order to fight altitude sickness. coca leaves are what cocaine comes from, but the process to get the leaves to cocaine is a very involved one. the leaves themselves, like i said, are used to help with the altitude and are a minor stimulant. the taste of coca is mild, it actually kind of reminded me of pumpkin seeds! random. the mountains were incredible. some of the landscape we saw reminded me of the west of the US, like Utah or Arizona. there were green mountains, red mountains, and multicolored mountains. lots of cactus. it was absolutely freezing, by the way. we visited a place called salinas grandes, which is a vast desert of salt. i felt like i was seeing snow for as far as the eye could see, but it was salt! very interesting. we watched men working to harvest the salt. they looked kind of scary because they wore facemasks because it is very easy to get burned from the sun´s reflection.

we saw ruins of indigenous groups, like the tilcara, who lived in the region before the incas. later, the incas would expand their empire and come into the spaces of civilizations such as these. whats really cool is that the pueblo of tilcara is basically an active archaeological site; they are always finding new things in the ground. at the museum in the town they had all kinds of cool pottery and tools as well as human remains that are thousands of years old.

after dinner the last night we went into town to a bar where there was live music and dancing. it was super fun and my program provided an open bar (!). i wanted to try this drink called chicha, which is a corn liquor that indigenous groups in the region began making waaay back and is still made today. but, i didnt get the chance to because that place didnt have it. it was still a really fun night of good music and dancing. later i watched the stars with some friends for awhile.. stars like ive never seen! absolutely incredible.

hopefully i will get the chance to post photos from my trip on facebook soon (and from my last trip too), this week has been a bit busy, like i said. it was nice that yesterday was a holiday here, so i didnt have class. i went to see the president speak in the plaza de mayo, but i missed him. it was still a cool experience though; there were a ton of people there. saw my tutor this week; i continue to love our sessions. this time she was explaining something to me for like 5 minutes with a cigarette in her mouth, just flopping all over the place, but never falling out. it was quite skillful! she just won an award in spain for a book she wrote. victor had a friend visiting from brasil this week, but im sad because they left last night to travel around argentina for a couple of weeks. after his trip victor is moving out and going back to brasil. i will miss him! i am glad that it is the weekend. tonight i am going to my friend coco´s show. now that i have written a novel i am going to work on something for my internship (@ FEIM, fundación para el estudio y la investigación de la mujer, i´m helping translate their website into english) and then head home. the weather is gloomy so being in my bed reading and/or napping is becoming very appealing. okay, CHAU! espero que todos estén bien!

parciales=pesadillas

Mon, 15 May 2006 21:03:55 GMT

finally done with midterms! the one i took today was such a bummer. i think i did well, but it was totally keefe-style. 3 essays in 3 hours. it sucked because i could write essays about all 3 themes, but that is simply not enough time to form 3 coherent essays. not to mention your hand gets really tired after writing for 3 hours straight... it is just too much! but, it is OVER!

this wednesday i am off on another trip with my program. this time we are going to jujuy (pronounced who-whoey), which is a province in the northwest, near bolivia. we are flying there. i am super excited for this one. but, it makes more sense to tell you more about it after i get back =)

i dedicated most of last week to studying, the weekend too. i decided to only go out on friday. so, i took the bus to julias house and we hung out with her host brother and his friends for a while (they are nice even though they are piratas.. if you want to know what that means, ask me later). we drank fernet with them, which is this type of liquor that is very popular here. gancia is another one that is very typical. you drink fernet with coke and it is absolutely awful, haha. anyway, then we went to this show in san telmo (old barrio with great antiques and markets and architecture). some other friends were there, it was fun. went to a study group on saturday, slept a lot, and studied on my own on sunday. it was a gorgeous day and quite warm. spent a lot of time on the terrace and got a little bit of a tan. dreading winter paleness.

okay, i am going to go home now & maybe take a little siesta..
my next entry will be more interesting, i assure you.

cariños

k.

livejournal slacker

Mon, 08 May 2006 19:06:15 GMT

hello all,
i feel that i have been slacking on the updates hardcore. i'm so overwhelmed with things to share, so sometimes it's easier just not to bother! haha. i've had a good couple of weeks. last weekend was really fun, julia and i explored some areas of BsAs that were unfamiliar to us.. the A-line of the subte, caballito. went to this awesome brazilian dinner. my friend coco (trumpet player in this cool reggaeish band here) invited me to this party that was in my barrio, only a couple blocks away from my house, so that was super fun. julia slept over and we spent the entire next day just sleeping, talking, eating, laughing, and laying around in bed.. it was AWESOME. gotta do that once in awhile. i went to the italian opera don giovanni at the teatro colon, this beautiful, old theater. i've started seeing a tutor for one of my classes, and that has been a great experience so far. it has been confidence building, for one thing, because she lives in an area that is very unfamiliar to me, and i have navigated my way to and from her house via the bus system several times now. yes! her name is gabriela and she is super cool. i am in love with her house.. it is so cozy and there are a million books and photos on the wall of el che, borges, etc. i love our sessions, we sit there and talk about el siglo de oro, el humanismo, el amor cortes, cervantes, etc. while she smokes a cigarette and drinks mate. last time she invited me to drink the mate with her.. i felt special, haha. hans left the city while i was on my trip.. it was so good to see him. he is off to bolivia.

last wednesday i left the city to go on a trip with my program to the northeastern provinces of misiones and corrientes (look on a map!). i wasn't looking forward to the trip that much because i have so much going on in the city and midterms coming up. but, it was incredible. we visited and stayed at estancias, which are working farms on huge plots of land. i ate some of the best food i've had in argentina. the steak was incredible. the milk was so delicious. it felt so good to eat so freshly! we rode horses a bunch and also went in little boats out into this lagoon, where i saw lots of crocodiles! the wildlife was so diverse. throughout the trip i saw an owl, parrots, ñandús, and other cool birds, these weird animals that are supposedly the largest rodents in the world, huge beetles, scorpions (in the shower!), frogs, crocodiles. also, a ton of cows, horses, geese (!), etc. on the estancias. the landscape was breathtaking. i have never seen so much green. the soil is rich in iron and very red; the contrast was beautiful. we saw the paraná river, and could see paraguay on the other side! it was so incredible to look out toward the horizon and not see anything but green. i also saw a couple of intensely beautiful sunsets. i made a couple of new friends from my program. we had a campfire. we saw a couple of different groups play the traditional music of the region, chamamé, and danced! we visited the ruins of a jesuit mission (for the guaraní people) that began construction in 1696. that was pretty incredible. there was this adorable market where they sold tons of crafts and stuff for insanely cheap, and i just wanted to buy everything! hmm.. what else? i don't know, and i think that is enough rambling for now.

i need to head home and get serious about studying. i have my first test this thursday and another on monday. then, on wednesday, i leave for another trip with my program. i am reallllly looking forward to that trip.. i will tell you all about it afterward, though. these weeks are a bit crazy! more soon. BESOS!

¡mendoza madness!

Mon, 17 Apr 2006 18:52:46 GMT

hola chicos, i want to share the last week with you! it was so incredibly fun and crazy and amazing that i know i won´t even be able to fully describe it. here is the whirlwind tour: we arrived last wednesday. our hostel did not have our reservation. we were a group of six without a place to stay during one of the busiest times to travel in the region. i couldn´t believe our luck... we found this adorable random little bed and breakfast that had room for us. the dueña was so sweet. we had 2 rooms, a terrace, and a bathroom all to ourselves.. it ended up being way better than a hostel! we just hung out and talked and ate and drank wine on wednesday. then, on thursday, we headed into wine country. we went to this place where they make liquors and chocolates and jams and olive tapenade and other delicious things by hand. it was such a beautiful place and they showed us how they do it all. we went to this winery that this guy´s great grandfather started when he came to mendoza from italy. we ate amazing fish for lunch. we went to a tasting at a wine store next to our bed and breakfast. on friday we left early in the morning and took a 4 hour bus ride up into the andes mountains, right near the chilean border. it was absolutely breathtaking. it was absolutely beautiful. it was absolutely freeeeezing!! there was snow and there were icy brooks and battering winds. there was this cute ski-lodge type place where we bought chocolate to eat after spending some time trekking around. there were wild horses. then we took the long bus ride back to mendoza and went out to dinner at this cute mexican restaurant (not mexican food like you´ll get in LA, but still quite good!). saturday we got up early again to go river rafting. once again, a very cold day! the mendoza river was pretty mellow, but it was super fun! you should have seen the 6 of us in the raft, trying to follow our guide´s hollered commands. adelante! atras! derecho atras! etc. at the lodge where we left from to go rafting they grilled up some meat for us for lunch. after lunch we headed out to this ranch, where this guy very reminiscent of a gaucho led us around through the mountains on horses. again, the beauty was unbelievable. sunday was a gorgeous, clear day, and we wandered around mendoza and ate a laid back, delicious lunch in the sunny courtyard of this amazing resaurant. our bus left last night at 7pm from mendoza (a 15-ish hour ride back to BsAs), and here i am! i just had class and now want to head home to unpack and take a breath!

the city of mendoza was so cute. very clean and much less hectic than BsAs. the fresh air felt so good. they produce so much great wine there and other stuff too like olive oil, jams, cheese, honey (hi honey), etc. Sooo yummy. i definitely feel like i got very close with the people i went with, even though it was only a 5 day trip! i had been spending a lot of time with julia prior to going, but didn´t know the others too well.. they are her friends from middlebury and are all here with middlebury´s program. they are all very sweet and funny. we spent a good amount of time just sitting around in our room and talking. laughed a ton. developed countless inside jokes. had a photoshoot where we all pretended to be high fashion models. definitely drank quite a few bottles of wine! it was a truly great adventure.

it´s good to be home though. home? yes. i haven´t seen my host mom yet since i´ve been back and i really missed her! she sent me a couple of text messages asking me how i was doing and sending me love.. she is such a sweetheart. today i recieved a package from my grandma.. easter basket i presume! she is so sweet. i think now i´m going to rush home to open it. sorry for the rambling... hope all is well with everyone who reads this.

con un monton de amor,
k.

mi vida acuatica... more rain in BsAs!

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 19:20:32 GMT

buen día,
¿cómo andan todos? i´m doing well... today has been really interesting so far. we are in the process of choosing an organization to work with for my service learning course (aprendizaje y servicio), so today i went to this children´s program that i´m considering volunteering at. there are several organizations that we can choose from and i´m having a hard time because they all seem super interesting! the place i went to look at today is called casa del niño. it´s kind of like an after school program that was created to provide a place for children to eat, play, to homework, etc. while their parents are still at work. without this place, they would be fending for themselves on the street without any supervision or guidance or structure. casa del niño is about an hour south of the city, which is a really poor area. one of my program directors accompanied 3 other kids from my program and myself in a van to go check the place out. i was glued to the window the whole time. the outskirts of the city are the poorest areas; it´s pretty much the opposite of most major cities in the US where the poor live in the inner city and the wealthier people in the suburbs. we passed tons of tiny, dilapidated dwellings with tin roofs and the like. i saw some horse-drawn carts hauling fruit and other things. it was so interesting to see how much things changed going only a short distance outside of the city. anyway, we arrived at the place and i totally fell in love with it. i have kind of been planning to do my volunteering at FEIM, which is an NGO that focuses on women´s issues. but, i thought i´d check out casa del niño just for the heck of it, and now i don´t know what to do! so anyway, we went into the different classrooms and greeted all of the kids. they were so freaking cute. there were some that were really little, the youngest are 3 years old. there were also some older kids, i think the maximum age is 12. it´s a great program they´ve got running there that makes a huge difference in the lives of these kids. the work i would do there would consist of helping them with homework, playing, talking, etc. the only thing about it that isn´t that great is how far away it is. i´m visiting FEIM on thursday, and then i´ll decide between the 2. even if i don´t end up working at casa del niño, i really enjoyed the experience of going and seeing where it is and how it functions... not to mention interacting with those absolutely adorable little ones.

last weekend i went to this concert in a park with julia and my new friend lea and some others. also found a new bar in san telmo that i absolutely love. saturday lea and i hung out with our argentine friend, diego, and he took us on a crazy adventure around the city in his little stick-shift. yesterday afternoon i went to the movies with seth; we saw la era de hielo 2 (ice age 2!!).. i´m not gonna lie, it was awesome. then at night victor and i rented a video (as in an actual vhs, haha) and had a mellow night at home. we watched vida acuatica (the life aquatic).. definitely one of my favorites ever. i´m excited because tomorrow i´m going to see the documentary salvador allende with my politics class.

mendoza!
next week is semana santa, basically a celebration of easter. we have thursday and friday off of school and basically all of the porteños (people who live in buenos aires) travel during this period. i´m really excited because i´m going to mendoza with julia and 4 other people from her program (middlebury college). i´ve been spending a lot of time with julia and have also hung out with the others, chris, another chris, jeff, and mio. they are all really good people and i think we will have an awesome time! we are getting there next wednesday morning and leaving on sunday night. mendoza is in the west of argentina, almost to chile. it is argentina´s wine country and also a great location for outdoor activities like hiking, horseback riding, rafting, etc. i´m so excited! yay!

i talked to my mom a couple of days ago and she told me that my aunt eileen and her boyfriend mark got engaged! i´m so happy for them!
also, richmond might be coming here in july! how awesome is that!?

okay, time for class. hope all is well with all you guys up north-

besos,
k.

el otoño ha venido

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 21:19:51 GMT

hola chicos!

well, yesterday i realized it was autumn. it is sunny and beautiful, but the past couple of days have been chilly. the weather has been kind of all over the place... heat, then rain, then heat, and now quite brisk. my host mom (absolutely love her) told me that it is this erratic climate that has caused me to get a cold. i was fighting a minor sore throat for about a week, and i think that going out over the weekend pushed me over the threshold into full-on sickness. ugh. i hope it is short.. having to be on the go all day long does not mesh well with a cold. neither does exhaust from the cars and the buses or all of the second hand smoke.

on a happier note, i did have a really fun weekend, and have been enjoying all of my classes. it feels so good to get back in the swing of school. my work mainly consists of reading, and it is all really interesting stuff. for my 2 literature courses we are reading a lot of poetry right now that i am absolutely loving. a couple of my other classes are very reminiscent of SIS courses and are awesome. for one of them, we spend the first 20 or 30 minutes of each class discussing current events in latin america. the teacher basically just asks us what we´ve seen in the papers recently, and then we talk. buenos aires has a couple of really awesome newspapers in publication, so i feel like the gap i felt for the lack of new york times has been filled! i like all of my professors a lot and feel that i´m learning a ton of new things. i have this class, a writing course, at this language lab- and it is so interesting because everyone in the class is foreign and are all here studying spanish for different reasons.. there is this korean woman who moved here awhile ago with her husband whose work brought him here...there are 2 germans, a french woman, a brazilian girl, a guy from ireland, and a few of us from the US. in the 2 classes so far we´ve ended up just talking about random things.. our perceptions of buenos aires and its people, etc. it´s all very cool.

over the weekend i went with victor (the brazilian student who lives in my house) and a couple of his friends to tigre, which is a series of little towns on the river (río de la plata) north of the city. the weather was perfect and the place was super cute. we had an awesome lunch.. lots of meat fresh off the grill. lucky for me, there was also salad and some other stuff. but, i did have some of the steak and chicken and tried a couple of other things that were there, a couple of kinds of sausage, and... liver. i went into it with an open mind, but i honestly absolutely hated the liver.

back in the city that night we went out to this bar until 6am and had a blast. i had also stayed out until 6am a couple nights before that, so i figure i´m starting to get accustomed to the nocturnal habits of argentines! but, i will definitely have to put that on hold for a little bit until i get rid of my sickness.

oh! today i got a package from MEGAN! a letter and a ton of photos she printed for me. a little taste of home. thank you love!

okie.. now i´m going to go over to seth´s for a bit to have some mate (it´s good stuff) and then go home and read and sleeeeep.

con cariño,
k.

city don't cry

Thu, 16 Mar 2006 17:19:35 GMT

it is absolutely pouring here! definitely glad to be indoors.
this week has been pretty mellow. i had my first class on tuesday, which was literatura española contemporánea (contemporary spanish literature). i spent about 45 minutes being lost in the university, which was so frustrating. i asked about 6 people for help, but no one got me where i needed to go! luckily i got there super early to allow for this, and i made it to the correct room just in time. i think the class will be good. it was a bit daunting being in an unfamiliar school surrounded by people i don't know, not to mention the fact that the class is given in a language that is not my best... but, i figure that this is the hard part and that it will get easier. i have another class tomorrow morning- siglo de oro (another literature course). this time, i know where i'm going! the rest of my courses start next week, which are: america latina en la política internacional (latin america in international politics), cuestiones culturales en la historia argentina (cultural matters in argentine history), taller de escritura (a writing course), and aprendizaje y servicio (a one hour per week course accompanied by doing volunteer work in the city). i realize that i have been out of classes for as long as i was during summer! i'm ready to get going again.

mar del plata!
i spent last saturday through monday in mar del plata, a beach city about 5 hours south of here by bus. i went with 2 girls from my program. a ton of people travel around the region by bus, so the system is very well developed. the bus terminal kind of reminded me of an airport- there are different gates for the buses, food, places to sit, etc. it was very cool! and the bus was very nice. the seats were like airplane seats except bigger and more comfortable, and they recline very far and also have a leg part that pops up. so, i was able to sleep comfortably for a lot of the journey. we drove through the pampa. it was so pretty. so much green. cows with plenty of room grazing happily. i did have a wave of homesickness, though. i feel like i've been going and going and going and for the first time i was able to just relax, look out the window, and listen to my ipod. my music brought me back to faraway people and places. it made me feel kind of lost and really miss the comforts of home and the physical closeness of people i love. i know these feelings are bound to emerge at certain times, but oh, it's hard!

anyway, the beach was gorgeous and the city was lively. we had a couple of incredible dinners and went to some fun bars. my tan has reached a level which makes me very happy, haha. we stayed at this hostel called casa grande, which was so cute!
something that made me feel really good was that i missed my house in buenos aires! by the end of our trip i was ready to return to my cute little house with mara, frida, and victor.

last night i hung out with seth, an SIS kid in buenos aires! he has already been here for about 6 months with a different program. i didn't know him very well at pacific, but we got together last night. it was nice to reminisce about stockton, SIS, etc. he took me to this jazz show that was incredible! i came to the realization that red wine and good jazz is a beautiful combination:)
tonight i think i'm going to a movie with julia.
oh yeah!! today i got letters from my grandma and from colin!!

les extraño a todos y les mando un abrazo,
k.

julia kaminsky, foosball, and feminism

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 21:17:33 GMT

last night i went out with julia! the story of julia is kind of confusing, but interesting. julia is erin`s best friend from middlebury. erin is my longtime friend from home. anyway, we are both studying in the same city so we decided to hang out! i had a really good time with her.. we got along right away. we met up last night at this bar in palermo where you pay 5 pesos and get a huge beer and a piece of pizza. ha. anyway, i got to meet some of her friends from middlebury that are studying here as well, and they were all really nice. i also ran into sacha at the bar, who is another friend from home´s friend from school. whew! also at the bar were several kids from my program, one of whom julia knew because she was roommates freshman year with julia´s friend from home. annnd this other girl in my program, heather, went to high school with one of julia´s friends from middlebury. the connections were crazy.

anyway! the bar was really fun. we played foosball, and i guess argentines are serious about their foosball because it is table is bigger and it´s 3 on 3 instead of 2 on 2. playing made me think of erin and me at cali-camp.

on to the best part! today julia and i went to a celebration of international women´s day, buenos aires style. it was kind of a demonstration/protest/party type thing. a ton of women were gathered in the plaza outside el congreso nacional. this was the starting point; later they would march to the plaza de mayo. lots of different organizations participated. julia met this woman at a fiesta from a group called la mesa feminista who invited her to come. i´m glad i went along too! in addition to recognizing el dia internacional de la mujer, it was awesome to be out in the city, participating with the people. abortion is illegal here (as in all of latin america), so there was a lot of dialogue about that and signs proclaiming ¨aborto legal¨. there were a lot of other issues pertaining to women´s rights (human rigths) discussed as well. it was a great experience.

i´m also glad to have made a few new argentine friends, and obviously i´m glad i met julia. it seems that we have a lot in common. i´m going to go home now and try to plan my schedule (stillll doing that) and also try to plan an excursion to the beach this weekend!
chau chau

momentito

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:41:51 GMT

hola a todos,
just a quick hello. this week is going well so far... much calmer than last week, i think. last week i was incredibly eager to experience the night life.. the day life... and just everything here. we found this super fun hip hop club that seemed to be very popular with young argentines. i must admit it was strange to hear songs like drop it like it´s hot and what not in buenos aires. it kind of confused me. i was like waaaitt... where am i? at a frat? haha. it was fun though. it was this girl´s birthday, so we also went to this brewery. i thought it was interesting that they had mumm wine there. mumm is a winery in napa that i went to with richmond and his family.. weird! i also had a really nice time with my friend amanda at this bar called carnal, where we just had some wine on the gorgeous terrace and talked. it seemed to be a popular spot for couples, though, which was... annoying. i swear everywhere i go i see dozens of cute young couples holding hands. aww. that night after i got home i just had to call richmond! luckily he was there.

the weather has been awesome here. one day was a bit uncomfortably hot, but other than that i´ve been loving it. i think some of us might go to the beach this weekend. buenos aires is on the coast, but there are a couple of really nice beaches a bit south of here. last weekend some kids from my program took a 4 hour bus ride and spent the weekend there. apparently the buses are quite nice and they had a good time. so, we´ll see... i´d like to go considering summer is coming to a close.

so i´m still struggling to complete my schedule for the semester! it seems like whenever i think i have something that works i realize that there is a time conflict. i think tonight i´m going to sit down and work on it until i have something that works. looks like my classes will begin on march 20. it is SO weird that my friends at pacific are about to go on spring break and i haven´t even started classes! i wish i could go to mexico again with colin, jen, richmond, etc... but that´s okay. they are going to have a blast! but, so am i :)

well... i think i´m going to go to the subte and head home to work on my schedule and have dinner with la familia!

chau, besos

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 17:02:24 GMT

i finally made it to buenos aires! i got here about a week ago, and since then have been doing things pretty much nonstop. this city is incredibly rich and there are a million things to do! since i've been here i've mainly been doing orientation activities with the other kids in my program. i've met students from all over the US. it's cool to have new friends who are interested in the same things i am.. latin america, spanish, international studies, the world, etc. the orientation has been very useful- we've learned about the culture, differences in the language (argentine spanish, or español rioplatense, is in a category all its own) and have wined and dined and done other fun things. one night we went to a dinner that was followed by a tango show. after that, the tables were moved and the place became a boliche (club). it was so fun! everything here is a bit later... dinner is usually eaten between 9:30 and 11, and everyone stays out for hours and hours after that.
for the first 3 nights we stayed in a hotel, and after that i moved in with my family! it's not really what i expected... but i absolutely love it. mara is a 35 year old professor of literature. she is super fun and sweet. she has an awesome dog named frida who i took with me on my errands yesterday! also living with us is victor, a 22-year-old student from brazil. he is here studying spanish. he is extremely nice and it's cool to have someone my age in the house. the house is probably the cutest thing i've ever seen. very small, but absolutely adorable. on the corner there is an ice cream shop (heladería) and a little cafe, as well as a fruit market.
this past weekend mara took us to the tango festival and also to a pool outside of the city. i got to meet a lot of her friends, who frequently take trips throughout the country. they suggested some great places to travel. i learned that day that argentines, in general, absolutely looove to talk and laugh and drink mate (something like tea). it was a really good experience. living with mara, i feel like my spanish has improved with each day.
classes start in a week or 2, depending on where i am going to attend. i will definitely be taking classes at FLACSO (facultad latinoamericano de ciencias sociales), which is where our orientation stuff has been taking place. there is also a really nice computer lab there (where i am right now!) and it also has wireless. our program directors are ridiculously sweet. they are all young, fun, and very helpful. anyway, in addition to taking classes at FLACSO, we can also enroll in UBA (universidad de buenos aires), UCA (universidad católica argentina), an art school, and a cultural center with all kinds of cool classes. there are over 1000 classes that we can take. it's all kind of overwhelming! there are many courses that interest me. i'm anxious to have my schedule all planned out. but, soon enough.
this city is absolutely gigantic. luckily, they have a great public transportation system, which most people take advantage of. to come to FLACSO, i have to walk 4 blocks from my house to the subte (subway) station. the subway then takes me to a few blocks away from where i need to go. i've done it by myself the past 2 days. there are also colectivos or bondis (buses), and tons of taxis that are very cheap.
speaking of cheap! the prices are awesome here. for food, wine, jewelry... whatever.
well, i'm going to go get lunch now... i'll update again soon....
chau!

faux summer x2

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 06:38:45 GMT

i spent today at the beach and it was lovely. i've had a peaceful couple of days after a few unpleasant, anxiety-stricken ones. getting my student visa proved much more difficult than necessary; i attribute this mostly to the wrath of silvia. silvia is the woman in charge of student visas at argentina's consulate general of los angeles. a few days ago, equipped with all of the necessary documents, i went to meet with silvia at the consulate. the consulate is located at wilshire and highland, and for my non-los angelean friends, that is not very close to my house. one of the papers i brought apparently was not the right one. also, she would not accept a check, only cash. so, i went to my mom's office, which is close by. i called my program adviser, kelli, who is in maine, but couldn't get in touch with her. she ended up calling me back a couple of hours later to tell me that there should be no problem with the paper in question, and was confused as to why i was experiencing difficulty. unfortunately, silvia only deals with student visas until 11:30 am, so i would have to go back to the consulate the next day. i drove home in probably the worst traffic ever. people are insane. honking, weaving, running red lights. one of my objectives for life at this point in time is to not have to rely on driving. it's expensive, it's bad for the environment, and, at least in a big city, it can drive you near insanity! i'd prefer to walk, thanks. when i returned to the consulate the next day, silvia remained obstinate regarding the form. so, i called kelli on the spot. thankfully, she picked up and talked to silvia. she ended up basically inventing a form saying what silvia wanted it to say and faxing it over to the consulate. i went and sat down, waiting for silvia to let me know she had received the fax. after waiting for an hour and a half, i called kelli to ask her if she had faxed the form. she said she had over an hour ago. so, i went up to talk to silvia, who was like, "yeah, i got the fax". then she told me to walk to a bank of america on wilshire and la brea to pay the fee and bring her back the receipt. when i did, she finally had my visa ready!!
sorry to ramble about that experience. getting my visa is one of the last steps, though.. now all i really have to do is pack and say some goodbyes. it's getting close. richmond is coming in a week. i have a couple of appointments next week and am hanging out with friends.. so i think it should go by pretty fast.
some random things: the other night i went over to katie's house and hung out with her and marianela and a couple of other people.. then we went to the new restaurant leo is working at. i guess the owner of gaucho grill opened this new place... it's called the lodge and it's on la cienega at wilshire. it was awesome.. by the time we got there it was late so there were just some people at the bar. since we knew leo the bartender gave us free drinks.. mmm, cosmos. for my star-struck friends (megan!), apparently courtney cox had dinner there that night, as well as adam sandler. oh, and justin timberlake had a reservation, but was a no-show. the menu was insane... steaks for like 50-60 bucks. leo said that a party of 6 spent 3 grand that night, not including the tip, which had to be around 500. he said servers go home with like 400 in tips a night. crazy stuff. anyway, after that we went to forty-deuce, which is this amazing club- there is a jazz trio and these dancers that are absolutely incredible. i can't even explain it.
so, i've been walking a ton lately. i never really appreciated my neighborhood before. there are tons of cool places around. there are 2 old movie theaters close by, some used book stores, a branch of the LA public library (which i have been taking full advantage of), some cute cafes and restaurants, a farmers' market on sundays, etc. yesterday i kicked it up a notch and walked to the brentwood coffee bean as well as whole foods. got some blackberries that are to die for.
i hope this good mood i'm in lasts.. i've been kind of all over the place lately. it must be anxiety about leaving. hopefully it will be smooth from here on out, although i know that saying goodbye is not going to be easy.
almost there!!
buenas noches.

have you seen her?

Sat, 28 Jan 2006 00:57:16 GMT

originally i was pleased with the prospect of having this huge chunk of time before argentina... a chance to read books, sleep, relax, clear my head, etc. but, lately, i'm kind of resenting it and wanting to get this show on the road. yesterday i was kind of down... just feeling hugely unproductive in life. everyone is working, studying, accomplishing, and i'm not doing much of anything. i feel better today though. i talked to my mom about it last night and she helped me realize that i shouldn't feel guilty for taking some time for myself to be lazy.. i mean.. restful. and, it is true that this is the last chance i may have for a very long time to do so. soon enough i will be taking a full load in a new school in argentina. in spanish.
sooo, i got back a few days ago from stockton. it was great to see everyone. i even went to class with colin and jen.. what a nerd. how could i not? i spent a lot of time with katie and megan as well, and obviously richmond, and went out to dinner one night with diana. it was great to laugh and reminisce about our freshman year together. we were essentially inseparable. R's roommate, blake, had a party on saturday night, which was quite fun and produced some priceless photos. i haven't really figured out how to put photos on here, or do much of anything...i should perhaps seek a tutor (andrew?). it was hard saying goodbye to people.. and the way i deal with that difficulty is minimization. i can't really let it sink in.. i just have to hug and run off. i won't see colin or jen for a year and a half. shit!!!!!
R is coming down to LA to spend the weekend before i leave here. i think i'm a little bit in denial that that will be the last time i see him for a year. it is likely that it will hit me like a sack of bricks at the last possible second.
tonight i'm cooking dinner with my mom and then hanging out with katie and maybe some other gauchos. this weekend i'm babysitting for kai quite a bit. haven't seen him since summer and i'm excited to see how he's grown. i've watched jadyn a couple of times lately and have fallen in love with her all over again. R, don't be mad :)
okay, back to my book. some tea, too, i think.
K.

modern girl

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 07:29:05 GMT

even though it's not that late i'm so ready for bed. but, i wanted to write a quick update. i was super excited to get emails from erin and melissa today! erin has been in italy for a couple of weeks now and it's the first time i've heard from her. she is loving it so far. melissa's email was quite exciting because she is in chile and things are going well... we definitely want to plan some kind of visit.. she and megan will probably come to buenos aires to stay with me. i would love to go to santiago, too. i guess mel is living with a family and liking it so far.. the email was brief, but made my impending departure seem more real! megan h. is leaving for south africa in a couple of days. i'm pretty much the last one to go. the other night i visited gaucho (the argentine restaurant i worked at last summer) to visit all of my friends there. that also rekindled my excitement. i think i had slipped into a state in which nervousness was the dominant emotion.. but, i'm back into excitement mode. i LOVE the people at gaucho.. they are so awesome. i want to hang out with them more before i go. working there was such a great experience. leo said that he is going to be in buenos aires in a few months.. i hope that's true so that we can hang out and i can meet his family and all that good stuff. i can't believe i still have a month to go...

on a completely different note, my cousin had her baby yesterday! i still can't believe she's a mom. maybe because she's the same age as me? life is crazy.

i'm going to stockton in a couple of days. can't wait to see richmond and everyone. i can't believe they all start class tomorrow! colin and jen and all my other SIS kids are going to be sitting in classes like international politics with gigi and i'm going to be sitting at home. weeiirrd. i am in such a strange place right now. not too excited for the drive up there though.. ugh. it's not my favorite thing to do. oh, I-5..

modern girl is a great song that R sent me. it's awesome when people know you well enough to know things like precisely what song you will be obsessed with. ok. sleep.

orange rooibos tea & candlelight

Mon, 09 Jan 2006 06:52:36 GMT

it's a windy night, and i'm looking forward to being cozy in my bed in awhile. today katie and megan left after spending a few days here with me. it was so great to have them here; i felt like a little girl again- having sleepovers with my friends, talking and laughing late into the night. the weather couldn't have been more perfect for their visit. it was clear and warm. we spent one day at the beach... is this really january? it does not seem like winter break at all to me, i guess because i'm not going back to school this semester and i'm at home for so long. anyway, i also showed k & m around... the promenade, westwood, hollywood, etc. today we went to the flea market on melrose and i ran into 3 friends from high school. i'm surprised i haven't run into more people. it was good to see carolyn, andrea, and mike. also took the girls to brentwood coffee bean, where they met lil, amanda, and andrew. my mom made a delicious dinner last night & we had a bit of wine, some of us perhaps a tad too much (ahem, katie!). a few nights ago we saw brokeback mountain. we all thought it was a great film. after much dialogue, katie succinctly summarized our conclusion, which is, "love is love is love". and, of course, while in westwood, i had to bring them to diddy riese. we brought back some classic games... think UNO. we also dabbled with boggle when we had our cute little picnic at clover park. and, perhaps most importantly, we went to the schnapp shop. hah.

well, my loves from pacific keep rollin' in-- my original oregonian, colin, is coming to my house tomorrow and staying a night before heading to campus to do RA stuff. so, we'll probably just hang out and have dinner and get coffee and catch up for a bit. i was told by jen that she would be coming to LA... and i await her call like it's my job. just kidding.. but i do miss her a ton. i also miss richmond. he has been driving and having adventures all over the damn place with michael, who is headed for north carolina for the semester. we just talked & they are currently in south carolina. in a couple of days R will fly back to school to join colin in the thrills of being an RA.. you know, door decs and such.

so, i'm basically submerged in a pool of denial regarding leaving my friends and family for a year. it's just too much for me to grasp right now. i'm trying to figure out what i'm going to do for this next month before i leave. i know i'm going to go hang out at school to see everyone and say goodbyes and stuff... but they're all going to be in class and at work and at meetings and i'm going to feel strange. but, i do want to go.. it feels like it's time for me to go back. being home has been relaxing, calm, fun, exciting... but, yeah. i'm ready to go back to my classes with all my SIS nerds and eccentric teachers (giraldez!), spin class, tiger yogurt, the bfc, and being the 5th roommate at monagan 105.

i am simultaneously getting quite excited to go to argentina... i bought my ticket the other day and it was the best feeling. i can't wait to go to the beach (it's SUMMER there) and go dancing and drink wine and speak spanish and watch tango and soccer and meet new people and SO much more. this, too, is too big for me to comprehend right now. so, i'm just kind of going day to day... drinking my tea, reading my books, spending time with loved ones, waiting... maybe waiting for it to hit me that i'm actually doing this-

until later,
k.

aquí estoy

Sun, 25 Dec 2005 08:15:39 GMT

i decided awhile ago that i wanted to create a live journal when i went abroad. that way, my friends and family would be able to see what i was up to and how i was feeling whenever they wanted to. at first, the notion of a public journal was strange to me. i've always kept journals, but never intended to share them. nevertheless, i am plunging into the unfamiliar.... and a bit early too. i have just under two months left at home before i leave for my argentinean adventure. for some reason, tonight, as i was sitting in my purple bed writing in my real (?) journal, i had the urge to start my live journal. so, i did. starting a bit before i leave is a good idea, i think. yes. well, that is all for now~
goodnight