Friday morning we met early to leave for San Antonio de Areco, a small town about 2 hours outside of the city. We spent our first day there playing some orientation games outside and learning more about Argentine culture. We also ate tons of good food and I got to try Maté for the first time. Maté is a super traditional drink here that's really important to them. It tastes pretty much like tea, so I liked it. It's served in a small hallowed out gourd (also called a maté which makes it confusing). There are lots of rules to drinking it like you are not allowed to say thank you because that means you are done drinking it and you have to drink the whole thing the first time it is handed to you. We were the last people to sign up for a hotel room so we tried to sign up 3 people for a 2 person room. When we got to the hotel we found out they had moved us into a really nice suite. When we met up with the people staying in the other hostels we found out that some of them didn't even have running water and our hotel had a spa and some rooms had Jacuzzis. That night a bunch of people from the program including all of the staff went to a bar where they was a live band playing. They played a bunch of old English music (lots of Beatles) which was pretty funny.
The next morning Kerri and I went for a walk through town and collected quite a few stray dogs who then proceeded to follow us to the estancia, which is like a ranch outside of town. We spent the morning there relaxing, playing games, and going for horseback rides. Then they brought us out food (including the best empeñadas i've had!). Right after we finished that food they brought us inside for more food; salad, potatoes, asado (basically grilled steak) and gelato. After lunch they had a folk dance show for us and taught us how to dance a little. Then they had a gaucho show. Activities included them trying to spear this tiny ring while galloping past it, musical chairs on horses, a game of Pato (pretty much quidditch), "tubing" behind a horse on a cowhide, a random sack race and tug-of-war. Then we drove back to Buenos Aires and got back just in time for dinner. The whole weekend was a nice time to relax, enjoy nice weather, and get out of the city for a little bit. Check out my facebook if you want to see pictures.
Sunday morning Niki, Kerri, and I plus 2 other girls from the program went to a church that they found online. As soon as I walked in I was so happy and comfortable! It was just so nice to be with other believers and see a little bit of the church here in Argentina. I could understand most of the songs but didn't catch a lot of what the pastor said. Afterwards so many people came up to us to introduce themselves and tell us about small groups of young people that meet throughout the week. We gave our numbers and emails to lots of people and hopefully that will be a great place to meet some other young people. After lunch at a nice spanish-style restaurant, I spent the evening running errands and hanging out with my family.
Today we unsuccessfully tried to go to our first class at la UCA. When we got there we had to find our classroom on a big list of all the classes but our schedule didn't match up with the list. We tried to go to the classroom where we thought it was but once the class started we quickly realized we were in the wrong class! We're going to try to go tomorrow and hopefully it will all work out... Instead of going to class Kerri and I went to register for our classes at the Rojas center. Through the program we can take 1 class there for free. I was trying to sign up for a photography class but they were all full. I ended up signing up for what is basically a painting class with a focus on nature. Then we went to FLACSO where we mostly tried to figure out our trip to Bariloche tomorrow! I will be spending the next week (including my birthday!) there skiing in the Andes and exploring the town. I can't really think of a better way to be spending my birthday!
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