So I have decided to forgo the mass email updates in favor of a blog that I will try to keep relatively updated so that I can keep people who are interested updated and so that I don't fill up people's inboxes with really long emails that no will read anyway.

I got to Buenos Aires last Tuesday after a long but relatively uneventful flight (thanks, Drammamine). There were some other COPA people (COPA is the name of the program I'm on) on the flight, including another girl from Tufts, Rachel Geylin. The COPA people were waiting for us at the airport to welcome us and within 5 minutes we were all in taxis going to our host families. My first impression of the city was "why did I choose this??" The first 15 minutes of the 30 minute drive was on a highway where on both sides were slums in terrible conditions with deteriorating buildings, graffiti everywhere, and garbage in the streets. However, the closer we got to the city center where I live, the better the conditions became. (I found out later that it's the inverse as in the US - the suburbs are the very poor areas and the city is where the middle class and upper class live). My initial impression was proven quite wrong when I first arrived at my host family's apartment. It is in a safe section of the city on a main street in a neighboorhood that would be considered middle class in the States, and there is so much around me - a park, good restaurants, shops, a subway station, a mall, an awesome gelato spot (less than $2 for a kilo of gelato!), bars, etc. The apartment I live in is quite big, especially for a large city like this one. It has 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, kitchen, a living room, family room, dining room, an office, and a studio (my host mom is a painter). My host dad works for NBC and speaks English pretty well, but luckily he doesn't speak it to me. They have 4 kids - the oldest daughter, Paula, is married with 2 kids; Fede is 25 and is a professional photographer, Augustin is ~21 and has a 2 yr old, Gala, who also lives with us (but they are moving into their own house August 1), and Nacho is 19 or so, but he doesn't talk much because he is mentally challenged. At least up to this point, I could not say enough good things about my host family. They have been completely accomodating, and since they have been hosting COPA students for 5 years, they seem to be very understanding of foreign students' issues and know what to expect. I am getting along with them great.

I have so much more to write (that I promise is more interesting), but I've been really busy and haven't had much time to get it all down. Pictures are up on Facebook now and I'll put them on flickr or something similar soon for those that don't have Facebook accounts. I'm already having language interference, so if I wrote something that doesn't make sense, please make fun of me.