Peace Out, U.S.A.

Vale. After a surprisingly productive couple of weeks working/bumming around DC, I’m finally getting ready to leave for BA. It’s only, what, about a month after everyone else has left for their respective study abroad sites, and a paltry two months since I last sat in a classroom. As much fun as squatting in the top bunk has been, it’s about time that I get get a move on.

This isn’t to say that I’m not sad to leave. It still hasn’t registered that I’m not going back to Georgetown next week, and that I won’t be seeing my friends and family for a full five months. I also have yet to do very much to prepare for my trip. There’s a very good chance, for instance, that I’ll get off the plane and find out that I can’t access my bank account or make a phone call. Oh well, I guess it’s all part of the adventure…?

Speaking of adventure, here’s what I know about my trip so far:

–> I will be in Buenos Aires from February 21 until about July 19, with some flexibility depending on my exam schedule. (P.S. If you have some free time and some extra cash, come visit!)

–> My host mother’s name is Gabi, a child psychologist in BA. I’ll be living with her and her daughter Marina, 17, and son Pablo, 20. Gabi sent me a letter last week and sounds so so nice (hopefully I’m not jinxing things here). She also told me I’ll have my own “bright and spacious” room with two windows and my own bathroom. Hot. Oh yes, and I can’t forget to mention – their last name is Schwartzmann. Typical.

–> There are about 100 American students in my program, 15 or so from Georgetown. We all will be living throughout the city, and can take classes at FLACSO, the program’s headquarters, as well as Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) and the Catholic University, la Pontifica Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA). Classes will be all in – ahhhhh – Spanish, meaning I’m going to be like the American equivalent of that awkward Scandinavian exchange student we all went to high school with. The FLACSO staff seems really energetic, though, and everyone I’ve talked to has raved about how supportive they are. The three cultural coordinators on the staff are all students and, based on the email I got last week, are quite foxy if I do say so. Did I mention that everyone in Argentina is supposed to be beautiful?

And, other than the fact that I need to take a chauffeured car from the airport to the Hotel Lyón once I get in, that’s about all I know about my trip. My host mother didn’t mention which neighborhood they live in, so I have no idea where exactly I’ll be staying after orientation. I also have yet to choose my classes or make any travel plans, though my friend Tom, who will also be studying in BA, and I have discussed a few places we’d like to go. I figure, however, that the fewer expectations I go in with, the better off I’ll be.

While I still have access to a reliable Internet connection here in New Jersey (woot woot NJ), I guess it’s a good time for me to note that I have no idea what I’m doing with this whole blogging thing. I think I’m just going to write whenever I get a chance and/or whenever something strikes my fancy. Hopefully I’ll stick with it throughout the trip – we’ll have to see.

On that note, welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy your stay.

EDIT: Anyone who knows me well won’t be surprised to know that I’ve decided to include some random trivia in every post. See below:

Random Argentina Fact #1: A phonetic study conducted by the Laboratory for Sensory Investigations of CONICET and the University of Toronto showed that the accent of the inhabitants of Buenos Aires is closer to the Neapolitan dialect of Italian than any other spoken language. In other words, yo soy screwed.