Beaches/Playas

Since Montevideo is just another city and Carnival events were nowhere to be found, we spent Spring Break doing what any other American college student would do: head to the beaches.


Montevideo is located on the Rio del Plata and the Atlantic Ocean.  Rio del Plata is pretty much just a gulf between Argentina and Uruguay, but it's called a river since it's made of freshwater (agua dulce).  The first two days, we just wanted to spend as much time as possible on the beach instead of planning elaborate trips.  We took a bus from the hostel about 20 minutes to Playa Pocitos in still Montevideo.  It was not the prettiest beach in the world, but it was sand, water, and sun.  What else do you need?  Even with SPF 45 applied multiple times a day, I still managed to fry like bacon. Fortunately, thanks to obsessive bathing in aloe, I didn't peel.  However, I'm sure I'll have aged 50 years by the time I start school again in the fall with all the skin damage I'm accumulating.  To our surprise, there were few restaurants, bars, or an beach related businesses along the sand.  I couldn't decide if I missed it or appreciated that Uruguay didn't feel the need to exploit their beaches for capitalization.  In America, where there is a beach, there's someone selling sunscreen, lifejackets, alcohol, cameras, pretty much anything (and usually for an outrageous amount).

Since it was the official holiday of Carnival, there were really no people out.  Of the people that were there, we were definitely the whitest ones.  One man walked past taking pictures accompanied by the usual catcalls, only to return and take more pictures a few minutes later.  I really had no idea how to react.  Part of me was disgusted, part of me wanted to go about my business, and part of me wanted to pose just to surprise him.

Wednesday, we took an hour and a half bus ride to Piriápolis.  It had Spanish style buildings and houses with names.  The sand was whiter, the water was bluer, and the whole town just seemed more of what we had in mind.  The water was freezing but fun to play in nonetheless.  I saw about 30 dead jellyfish on the beach in 150 meter stretch.  I have never seen so many in one place!

We finished the day off at an ice cream buffet. MMM. Sadly, we had to leave pretty early because we went to the soccer game that night.  The trip affirmed what everyone else had already told us; you have to leave Montevideo to enjoy the beauty of Uruguay.  Piriápolis was a more tranquil town before Punto del Este, the famous touristy spring break beach.  Other recommended places were La Bata.

Hostels

Hostels are quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of South America.

For one reason, traveling is so much more affordable.  Our hostel in Córdoba cost US$10 a night and El Viajero in Montevideo, only US$20.  Think about the difference this saves in a week-long trip compared to an American hotel that you might be able to find for US$60 per night.  Hostels provide you with a light breakfast, bedding, and sometimes towels.  While they give you as much freedom as you desire, there are also planned events and tourist attractions should you need some suggestions.


El Viajero served Chivitos the first night, the national dish of Uruguay.  It's a steak sandwich loaded with toppings.  We passed, but ended up trying it at the restaurant we went to anyways.  Another night, they served a traditional asado, or barbeque.  In addition to having a home-cooked local meal prepared for you, it's a great way to socialize with other people staying in the hostel.  Almost everyone staying at El Viajero stayed in for the asado on the rooftop terrace.  People took turns playing Spanish songs on the guitar as we enjoyed steak and chorizo with a glass of wine and good conversation.

Sure, you have to share a tiny room with five other people, but that's the other reason I really enjoy hostels. Since we actually stayed for more than one night in Montevideo, we got to know the other people staying there and meet new roommates every day.  Instead of keeping to ourselves like usual, we had breakfast with the other travelers, went to dinner with them, drank with them, and built what I hope to be a lasting network of friends/acquaintances around the world.  Two people there were reunited after meeting in Lithuania three years ago!!! It takes the saying, "It's a small world," to a whole new level.

Why not ditch the "personal space" school of American thought for the energetic, adventurous joy of summer camp?  It would do us all some good to rediscover our childlike curiosity and openness to new experiences.  That is exactly what you find in the the personalities of people who stay in hostels.  Most are open to sharing their incredible journeys and equally excited to hear yours.  While our modestly adventurous trip nowhere near compares to those of our hostel counterparts, no one has made us feel beneath them for being part of a more structured, school setting.

In both hostels, we have been both the youngest and the only people in South America as part of a school trip.  It's really humbling and puts my life back into perspective.  Although we are incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to study abroad, it comes with some limitations.  We plan as many trips and activities on the weekends as we can, but work or class will always be waiting Monday morning.  That said, there's only so far you can travel from Buenos Aires in one weekend and have enough time there to make it worth the trip.  I have been living vicariously through the astounding trips of the people I've met.  Victor, a new friend, began his trip in Canada 18 months ago and drove his motorcycle, Olga, all the way down to South America where he's sightseeing and volunteering in medical clinics along the way.  I definitely recommend you check out his blog. It's incredibly impressive.  Our roommate Alana moved from her home in Australia to Europe to the United States to South America before she makes the same route back.

The girls plus CJ, Anna's bf, and Alana, our hostel roomie.

Most people only have a very loose outline at best of their next 6 months to a year.  To me, that thought is liberating and terrifying at the same time.  Coming from the mindset of a soon-to-be college graduate eager to climb the job ladder, it is unfathomable to take a year off of life and my professional aspirations to just travel.  Stay here a week, go there for a month. Living out of a backpack.  That's the other side of the spectrum that puts me back in my place.

Yes, I envy the free-spirited travels of our new friends, but it's really hard to complain about missing home when some of these people haven't seen "home" in years.  Also, as much as I would love my room in Columbia, I am dying to be back in my Buenos Aires bed at the end of our weekend trips.  I can't imagine sharing a room with five people and literally living out of a backpack for more than a month, let alone 18.  Most of these people aren't even in the same town long enough to do their laundry! It is refreshing to share stories that make you feel successful and humbled at the same time.  I always feel re-energized when I return to Buenos Aires.

Montevideo

Well, we've finally made it to the halfway point!  What a more perfect way to celebrate than Spring Break on the beach?!

Last Monday, we crossed the Rio del Plata by ferry and hopped on a bus to Montevideo, Uruguay.  Counting on South American time standards, we got to the ferry station with about five or ten minutes to spare.  Unfortunately, we completely forgot about having to go through immigrations because we were leaving Argentina.  This required checking bags and filling out paperwork which we didn't have time to do. Luckily, the security guards escorted us as we ran to the ferry, which I'm pretty sure was moving as we were getting on.  The door shut immediately behind us and we were off! With all these close calls, we're so lucky nothing bad has happened yet. (Knock on wood!)

The ferry looked like an airport with a shopping center and a restaurant inside.  Upstairs, there was a first class lounge; however, we happily sat downstairs with the average people.  Honestly, I slept the hour trip.

After the ferry docked in Colonia, we boarded a bus to Montevideo.  For the entire hour and a half trip, I had a pleasant conversation with Victor, the man sitting next to me. In Spanish!! We talked about everything: politics, actors, food, the Middle East, aliens, music, religion, you name it.  It's conversations like these that really make the trip worthwhile.  Once you get beyond the basic small talk of, "Where are you from?" "Do you like Argentina?" "What are you studying?" the real Spanish practice begins, and you can really get to know someone.  We politely disagreed on a lot of topics, which I loved.  It's been so long since I've had an intelligent conversation or debate with someone, let alone one in which we can disagree but still walk away respecting each other.  Even more than surprising myself with my capability of holding that long of a Spanish conversation, I was happy to hopefully leave a better impression of Americans with Victor.  He seemed to admire our country and was more curious than stereotypical, but he said he appreciated how well-read I was.  With such a wide range of topics covered, I am lucky I even knew a little about all of it and assured him it was mostly my personal opinion on the subject.  Good thing I'm a journalist who loves to read and keep up with the news!

The bus broke down about 20 minutes from the station, which was apparently too close for another bus to come, so we were told to get off and take taxis.  That's all good and dandy, except we had no Uruguayan money and had no idea what kind of taxis were safe.  Also, we were conveniently broken down in front of an exchange store.  Helpful yes, but it seemed like a scam.  We changed as little money as possible and tried to get in a cab as quickly as possible since our blue eyes and luggage screamed, "I'm a tourist; come mug me."  20 or 30 minutes later, we made it safe and sound to the hostel.

The most difficult part about Uruguay was the exchange rate.  It's 19.1 Uruguayan pesos to US$1 and who knows what to the Argentine peso.  What this amounts to is dinners listed as $200!!! Talk about sticker shock.  

One of our main goals of Montevideo was to partake in the annual Carnaval celebrations Monday and Tuesday which were national holidays in both Argentina and Uruguay.  While everyone back home was bragging about St. Louis or New Orleans Mardi Gras, I was ecstatic to see the parades, drum lines, and traditional African dancing in the streets of South America.  We knew it was no Brazil, but we still had high expectations.  When we checked into the hostel, we were informed that the biggest Carnaval festivities were during February and that absolutely NOTHING was going on that week.  In fact, the city was a ghost town.  No one was there, and hardly anything was open.  So much for crazy parties!

Overall, the feel of Montevideo was very similar to Buenos Aires, except the buildings were more run down.  The bus drivers were much nicer, even waiting for us to run after them instead of leaving us behind.  The best part of the busses was that they took bills instead of coins and even made change.  It was a good place to stay for a couple days, but like most everyone had warned us, it's much better to travel to the surrounding towns.

Shakira, Shakira!

We waited 7 hours in the suffocating crowds and sweltering sun to see Latin America's pop sweetheart, Shakira, who was born in Colombia.  She has claimed international fame, but although she is very popular in the United States, her songs sound best in their original Spanish version.  She is incredibly talented, speaks five languages, and even does philanthropy work.  Her musical style ranges from love ballads to rock and roll to club songs influenced by sounds of the Carribean, Middle East, and of course, Latin America.  She is the second most successful female latin artist of all time after Gloria Estefan, and her song "Waka, Waka" was chosen as the official song of the 2010 World Cup.  In other words, she's pretty freaking fantastic, and I got to see her live!!

The first opening act was an Argentine singer, Vicentico, whose songs are popular on the radio here.  I recognized a couple songs but didn't know any of the words.  The crowd surged forward, and we became increasingly claustrophobic.  If the opening act was already getting crazy, we couldn't imagine how Shakira was going to be.  Next up was Ziggy Marley.  He didn't receive nearly as much love as the first singer, but I loved it nonetheless.  Reggae is definitely my thing.

Before Shakira performed, she decided to be a diva and make us wait an HOUR after Ziggy Marley finished.  Really? We've been waiting since 2 o'clock!!  The paid seats were still really empty; I guess those people had the luxury of watching all the other shows or showing up just in time, because they had guaranteed seats.

Finally, the pop princess took the stage.  I imagined flying in from the ceiling, fireworks, or some sort of ridiculously large spectacle of an entrance.  Instead, she entered through the crowds shaking hands and giving kisses while singing a beautiful ballad.  I was so surprised, and yet it was perfect.  Everyone around us was in tears.  The calm adoration lasted only that song.  When the next song started, thousands of people were jumping up and down, including on my toes!!! The crowd was complete chaos.  People were continuously pushing forward trying to get closer.  At one point, someone said there was a snake on the ground, so everyone tried to get away.  My upper body was being pushed and only supported by the person in front of me, while my feet were still stuck back somewhere near where we were.  If the person in front of me fell, I was going down with them.  We could only see her on the big screens, but it was still worth every penny.  She played an absolutely perfect mix of slow, pop, more Hispanic sounding songs, and Indian sounding belly-dancing songs.  It was one of the best set lists I've heard at a concert.  She never ceased to entertain the crowd.  Her beautiful voice was stunning, and of course, she didn't fail to provide incredibly elastic hip-shaking that everyone has come to expect from Shakira.  Costume changes kept things interesting along with club mixes of familiar songs with accompanying light shows.  She even invited girls from the audience to get on stage with her and taught them her dance moves.  (I'm not sure pelvic gyrating is appropriate dancing for young girls, but they went crazy all the same.)  It was an amazing show.  Even though I only saw her on stage twice, I had the time in my life.  It was by far my most fun night in Buenos Aires.  Once she finished, we sand a bunch of local chants asking an encore.  She came back out for 3 more songs.  What a generous gal.  Except Yani, who came with us, said performers usually encore here and don't make the crowd wait nearly as long as in the U.S.

Leaving took quite some time as the thousands of fans poured into the streets of Buenos Aires, but eventually we caught a bus by our school Austral.  I have never been so physically exhausted, but I'm still on the emotional high from the concert even today.  I'm so grateful for that experience.

Cliff jumping and condors in Córdoba

Last weekend was one of the most fulfilling parts of the trip so far.  I am sure they will be some of my favorite memories of Argentina.

With 2 papers and our intern reports out of the way, we started the trip off by walking to the bus station at Retiro where we boarded our double-decker cama suite bus.  In a cama suite the comfy leather seats are wide enough to sit "Indian-style" and recline all the way back to lay a flat 180 degrees. It was a 10-hour trip so we booked an overnight trip hoping to sleep on the way and arrive refreshed and ready to hike.  Shortly after we started moving, they served us dinner which was topped off by a complementary shot of whiskey.  Yes, please! What better to help you fall asleep?

Why has this service not been invented in the States yet?  Tourism would have to increase greatly.  Surely everyone would would travel more if they didn't have to pay for gas, stop for bathroom breaks or snacks, or even pay attention to where they were driving.  You would never get lost, just go to sleep and wake up at your destination in the morning, all for about 100 bucks.  That's a great deal! I would have seen all of America by now if we had that.  It's strange to think the trip to Córdoba was the same as the flight from Houston to Buenos Aires, but so much more comfy.

We arrived around 7:30 in the morning and power-walked to the hostel since we had a hike booked for 8:30 a.m.  We cleaned up a little, ate some breakfast (medialunas, of course), and headed out. The trekking excursion was arranged through the hostel to be sure we had something planned for Saturday without spending all our our time in Cordoba researching.

Paula, our guide, drove us about 2 hours in her rugged Land Rover through the winding roads of the mountains to cross the Sierra Chicas before arriving in the Condor Gorge National Park (Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito) which is in the Sierra Grandes .  We hiked about 12 km (7.5 mi) stopping along the way to take pictures of the beautiful views and giant quartz deposits.  We also saw the diques (water reservoirs) of the towns below provided by the mountain water.  The main spectacle of the park in the Condor Gorge.  It's a huge gorge where the endangered condor, the world's largest flying bird, still resides.  Sadly, we didn't see any condors, but the view was still breathtaking.

That is, before I got stung by a bee!  I felt something on my neck so I swatted at it, not knowing it was a bee.  After stinging me, it remained stuck to me and I had to try not to scream like a little girl in front of everyone while someone tried to get it out.  Not a big deal, everyone gets stung by bees, but I'm allergic and didn't know how I would react.  I tried to tell the guides several times that I've never had problems breathing from stings, but they radioed the rangers for epipens and advised that we head back.  Oh well. Better safe than sorry.

When we got back to the hostel, we finally got our first good look of it.  It was my first hostel experience, and I admit I was as much nervous as a was excited.  We met people from New Zealand, England, Holland, and Isreal.  The common language was obviously English, which was kind of nice instead of working to speak Spanish all the time.  Kylie, Max, and I stayed in the Verde room with 3 other people.  Bunk beds, yay!  There was a living room where everyone hung out together when they weren't out doing something. I almost died when I saw the guitar leaning against the wall.  Even though it's been so long since I've played that there are few songs I still know by heart, I was thrilled to play around.  I haven't gotten to play guitar or piano since Christmas break, and it sure felt good.  We also met David from Holland who went out to dinner with us.  He invited us to a party after dinner but as we were all exhausted from hiking and anticipating another early morning, we opted to stay in and go to bed early.  Before returning to our rooms, Ya-el, one of our roommates taught us a Hebrew card game, Taki.  It's a lot like uno, and it was so fun to learn new cultures.

Sunday, the group split up and did separate things.  Kylie and I headed to La Cumbrecita, a small German town outside of Córdoba.  The couple in our room was going too, so we walked to the bus station together.  It was about 3 hours with many of the road still in the process of being carved out of the mountain.  We also got to see the diques we had seen from the top of the Sierras the day before.  It reminded me of the Lake of the Ozarks with houses and docks lining it's shores! We ended up spending the whole day with the couple from our hostel. It was great!  La Cumbrecita was a cozy pedestrian-only town nestled in the mountains.  It was very touristy in the sense that other South Americans came to visit.  The layout of the town was kind of a circle, and we accidently saw everything in the perfect order.  The first lake we saw had a small waterfall and we we're already content for our choice of activity for the day.  However, our main goal was to find La Olla (the Pot), a natural swimming hole.  A few minutes down the road we found it.  It was perfect.  There were large boulders to lay out in the sun, a swimming hole w/ a waterfall slide, and rocks perfect for jumping off of.  We spent a couple hours just hanging out at La Olla.

It was getting close to leaving time so we made our way to the last stop, La Cascada Grande (the Big Waterfall).  It was more of a hike than anything else we'd done that day.  We definitely climbed a LOT of stairs on a path completely surrounded by trees.  You couldn't even see the sun or hear the water anymore.  It was worth every step when we finally came to the opening.  It was a magnificent waterfall embedded in a lush, jungle-like wall of rocks, vines, and trees.  Once again, we were SO happy we'd chosen La Cumbrecita.

The way home was a little more stressful.  Our bus back to Buenos Aires from Córdoba left at 10:45 p.m. When we left La Cumbrecita, we allowed plenty of time, but of course, in South America you never know what's going to happen.  On the way from La Cumbrecita to Córdoba, you have to switch busses in another German village, Villa General Belgrano.  We stopped for ice cream and made it back to the bus in plenty of time when they wouldn't let us on.  Our tickets were for return, but they didn't have a specific time.  Oh well, we were still early.  We fixed our tickets and had to wait another 20 minutes for the next bus.  Except it was late. Alright, we're starting to cut it a little close.  Not yet freaking out, we boarded the bus and headed on our way.  Until the one-way highway traffic halted to a complete stop. For miles. It didn't look too bad, just a rush hour traffic jam or something until we got to a corner and could see the single file line all the way down the mountain.  Luckily we made it back to the bus station without 10 minutes to spare and said our goodbyes to James and Jemma, the couple spent the day with.  Dinner and bedtime in the cama suite; life was good.

Where's the ark when you need it?

Once again, I have been failing my duty to update my blog. Sorry Mom and Dad! I have decided to make a few changes though.  For starters, shorter posts! Better for everyone right? Also, I'm going to add a page about my work stuff because it's all really exciting but not quite as exciting as our daily adventures.

Last Thursday (2/17), I had my first online meeting with the AAUW Voices Project.  Someone spoke to us about the ins and outs of writing op-ed articles and how exactly the project would work.  AAUW is teaming with another company (I can't remember the name) who has a network of over 10,000 media outlets, so they guaranteed we would get published! I'm so excited.

Friday, we were delighted to meet one of Anna's friends from home, Maddie.  She is staying with a host family in Mendoza this semester but came a week early to visit Anna and Buenos Aires.  While the other girls were all at Anna's finishing their homework for the week, I got bored and decided to try a new look.  One thing I love about Buenos Aires is that it only takes about 30 minutes to get ready.  No one wears makeup, and I wear my hair naturally wavy EVERY day.  That being said, I wanted to do something different and decided to straighten my hair with an iron.  No, not a CHI, a clothes iron.  Checking with the ever handy "pros" on YouTube first, I proceeded to straighten my hair with a towel in one hand and an iron in the other.  It's probably a little extreme considering I really don't care how my hair looks or not, but it was great.  I'd forgotten how much something so small can make such a big difference in the way you look in feel.  But of course with my luck, the second we got out the door it started pouring.  Glad I spent an hour for nothing.  At least we got pictures!

new hair and new friends : )

We walked around Palermo in the rain until we happened upon a restaurant, Mandala.  It was delicious and cheap, our kind of place.  There was cool artwork and definitely a hippie feel.  They were also playing the Beatles, but that can be said of almost everywhere in Buenos Aires.  Maddie and I shared crépes with squash accompanied, of course, with a bottle of wine.  All of the wine we've had here is from where Maddie will be staying (and where we plan to visit), Mendoza.  The typical kind is called Malbec, which is high quality red wine/vino tinto made from French grapes grown in the mountains of Argentina.  Yummm.

Be welcome in our humble kitchen and sit as in your house.  Enjoy the food and be happy.

After dinner, we walked to Club Niceto a couple blocks away.  It has two sides and is considered different bars on different nights.  That night it was Club Invasion, and we were on the list!  No cover and a free tequila shot upon entry.  The best part was no trance music! It was like 50's jive music for lack of better words with some Hispanic music thrown in.  People were literally doing the twist.  It was fantastic.  I had so much fun dancing! Not jumping, not fist pumping, not grinding, just good ole fashion dancing.  Then, to our surprise, there was a live band!  They probably had 10 people including trumpet and sax players.  I wish I knew how to describe the ska-ish? music.  The female lead singer sort of reminded me of Gwen Stefani.

Saturday 2/19

My baby brother's 19th birthday!! I was really sad I couldn't be there to celebrate with him.  However, I gave him his present for I left in January.  I can't believe it's his last year as a teenager.  In the afternoon, we went to Plaza Serrano in Palermo.  It's another plaza/square of shopping, except it has a lot more clothes all made by local designers.  The designers set up shop inside the many restaurants surrounding the square.  I got a lot of great things including presents for friends and family back home.  We also had fun trying on harem pants.  No one was brave enough to actually get them.  I think it would totally catch on in the States.  

Saturday night was one of the strangest nights of my life, not just the trip.  For a girls' night out, we planned to meet up with Yani, Kylie's friend from work.  Since she had met all of us, that was our chance to meet her friends.  The bar we planned on visiting, Sugar, was shut down.  Passersby told us it's because it was often caught exceeding capacity and frequently closed for 3-6 months as a penalty.  It's a shame, because it looked great online.  Once again, it started raining.  We walked for what seemed like forever until we finally found another bar Yani and her friends thought would be fun.  Apparently, the rest of BA thought it was fun too, because it was one in, one out.  The rain was now pouring.  We waited in line for probably 45 minutes, huddling VERY close under the awnings of buildings when there were any.  FINALLY, we got inside.  With just enough time to get the bartender's attention and have one drink, the power went out.  Oh well, we just waited forever to get in and it's raining cats and dogs.  Bars are dark anyways.  Before too long, the chandelier in the main room started dripping water, and we were quickly escorted out for fear of electrocution.  Perdóname?  As everyone was herded out the door like confused sheep, the rain was now coming down so hard you could barely see across the street, meaning no empty cabs.  Not knowing the area, not having our trusty maps, and no cabs to be found, we put our full trust in Yani to get us home.  She must have been miserable leading around the Americans in the rain. As we got onto a main street, it was underwater.  Most of BA had begun to flood.  There is absolutely no way to describe the madness of trying to walk/trudge/swim 30 minutes home after a couple drinks with a large group.  There were a few times I thought cars might come drifting towards us.  When we were most of the way home, we finally found a taxi, except Libertador, the main road, was closed because of the flooding.  We sat in traffic miserable soaked racking up the meter because there were no other open road.  Then we noticed water in the cab.  I'm still not sure whether it's from people before us or if it was leaking.  Either way, I have never been so happy to be home (barely before the sunrise). We were exhausted.

Sunday 2/20

Due to the hysteria of the night before, Sunday was very lazy.  We didn't wake up until 2:30 p.m. and never made it out of the house.  I feel no shame; we were still processing the events of the previous night.  We searched all day for news and pictures, but there were none to be found.  Come on, Argentina?  You can't tell me, torrential floods like that are not breaking news.  Back in Columbia, some low-on-the-totem pole J-schooler would have been swimming through the streets with a camera to get a story like that.  There's culture difference for you.

"I get by with a little help from my friends."

I had an amazing day today, and it always goes back to the power of positivity.  I've been getting overwhelmed lately with the amount of "back home" responsibilities I'm having to maintain from 1000 miles away.  It's nearly impossible to imagine finding a house for the lake this summer or Columbia in the fall from Buenos Aires.  Yet, I'm not the type to just let someone else decide my fate for me.  On top of that, I'm really nervous about the responsibility of providing Anna, my CoMo roommate with the trip of a lifetime!  I mean, she paid $1500 for a flight to see me; it better be one hell of a trip!  We also have our first two essays due the 25th, and class registration for my SENIOR year of college is coming up soon.  See what I mean?

Today's biggest obstacle was trying to get my taxes and FAFSA done before the March 1 deadline.  Pretty much all my school is paid for by financial aid, and my life changes dramatically for the worst if I don't get this application in on time.  Mizzou has a ton of red tape about giving information to other people, and I don't have a phone, so I couldn't have been more stressed.

I started feeling like this trip might not have been worth all the money and the hundreds of hours of work that have gone into planning it.  Luckily, I got a pep talk from Alyssa, who put things into perspective for me, when I realized I'm not doing ANY of the "get what you give" actions I preached before I left.  My life had been so balanced and calm before because I made an active decision every day to see the best in life.  True, it's much more difficult here with no familiar friends or coping mechanisms, but why haven't I been meditating or staying positive?

Kylie came in as sidekick roommate number two of the day and made me an awesome playlist with only happy songs.  She is one of the most positive, optimistic people I know.  I must admit, I was a little nervous for an over-the-top Bieber mania playlist, but it was just what I needed.  I don't know why, but most of the music I've been listening to lately has just made me homesick.  This is tragic when music has never failed to be what gets me through anything.  I was not only lacking happy music but late nights of driving around listening to my favorite songs screaming along at the top of my lungs.  It's the perfect anecdote to any foul mood.  So as we managed to be somewhat productive, we sang along to oldie-but-goodies like Hanson.  Oh yeah, take me back to 3rd grade bliss.

We ended the evening with a Día de los Enamorados celebration of pasta, champagne, strawberries, and chocolate.  To top things off, Kansas lost in basketball to Kansas State.  M-I-Z! I finally feel cleansed of all my negative energy, and can't wait to start the workweek tomorrow.

For all the reminiscing I do about being with friends back home, I couldn't be more grateful for the patient, caring, supportive roommates I've been blessed to have here on this sometimes overwhelming journey.

Hasta luego,
Amelia

"The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispostions and not on our circumstances."  -Martha Washington