Hey All!
Sorry that it has been so long since the last post, I figured that I would wait until I was done with a week of school so I didn't bore you all with the daily little things! Wish I wouldn't have waited so long because this may be a little lengthy : ) bear with me here!

So Tuesdays and Thursdays are my "full" days of classes, 1-5:30, rough life eh? I start with Contemporary Argentine Art, Social Economy in Latin America follows and I end the day with a bang with my Tango class! : )) All of my classes are taught in Spanish except for the Economy class, I thought I would give myself a break with that one, business is hard enough to understand in English for me! I think that the Art class will be a big challenge but I am excited for it, right now it going through alot of background info about regions of Argentina and there art there. The hardest thing has been that I don't have a Spanish vocabulary of art words so when he is saying that columns of churches from the Neoclassical period have three components and this is what they are.... It's a tad bit hard to follow : )) But that's why I am here right?? To challenge myself and grow as a person so I see this as my academic challenge : ) I think that we will be visiting museums in BA to write reflections so I think that that will be very fun, as far as I can understand ; )) The social economy class is really awesome so far, the teacher is young and very energetic and we do a lot of group discussion. Our first assignment is to watch the Leo Dicaprio documentary, The 11th Hour, I started it and it's some pretty heavy stuff! I can't even imagine the kinds of conversations that we will get into in the class with so many people from so many back grounds, it will be amazing to see everyone's distinct opinions!

Tango is pretty much as cool as it sounds so far! Every Tuesday we have "lecture" where we learn about the history of the Tango and about the music and culture, already the info that we have learned is very cool! It is a very rebellious dance with a fun history, actually started by the wayward sons of Gauchos (Argentine cowboys : )). Thursdays is when things really get fun! We get to dance the entire 1.5 hour class! There are about 30 kids in the class and actually a sufficient amount of male partners that only a few girls have to sit out each time! We learned the basic steps and then some variations to them! I think that I will have to put in some work behind the scenes haaha, I don't quite have a knack for the whole rhythm thing , but it is SO much fun! My favorite part was dancing with the seasoned Tango dancers that help with the class, they are so good that they completely move you where you need to go haha. Our teacher so kindly informed us that we will be performing a choreographed dance at the International Students Fiesta at the end of August, AYE CARAMBA! : ) There is a boy that lives in the same building as me but just a few floors up who goes to school at the University of Nebraska Omaha... CRAZY! It worked out so perfectly because "coincidentally" the only night that I have class till after dark he has the same class with me so I don't have to walk home in the dark alone, just another way God is taking care of this girl in this BIG city : )

I had my first mishap in the kitchen  this week... We will call it a Bailey Moment most definitely. Well they use gas ranges here and I was making some coffee on the stove and proceeded to move the hot pot with a towel, well unfortunately I forgot to turn off the flame prior to moving the pot and coincidentally the tea towel went up in flames... OOPS! haha. Luckily the wet sink quickly exterminated them and only the edges were singed : ) I left a not for my mom, apologizing a thousands times with promises to buy her a new one. I returned home to the sweetest note from her on my door, similar to this in English--> It's no big deal at all, it was old! You are SO cute! Later we can talk if it is difficult for you to make the coffee.... hahahah, well first mishap was survived, I am so lucky that my house mom is so nice and understanding : ))

Fridays we don't have classes (sweet : )) and so Becca and I spent the morning walking through shops and all around the neighborhood, we met up with Nena and Emma and spent the afternoon soaking up the sun at the Plaza de Mayo. I still can't believe this is my life! It still is a bit of a struggle to just let the day happen and realize that it's ok to just sit and enjoy the moment, God is really teaching me a lot about enjoying the blessings that each moment brings, it's really easy to get ahead of myself with trying to plan things out here...

Friday night brought it's own newest adventure, Azucar, a salsa dance club! Nena, Becca and I met with with 2 other girls (one from Missouri and one from Romania) and a boy from Turkey and I made my debut appearance at the salsa club : ) Come to find out it's a club for super legit, really incredible salsa dancers, not small town girls from the midwest without a rhythm bone in there body! Actually it was a blast, Becca taught me some more "steps" and by the end of the night I stepped all over 2 different guys' feet as I tried to dance the salsa! O man was it fun though! Just sitting back and watching the different couples dance was incredible and the men that I danced with were incredibly patient with my lack of ability. My face hurt from smiling : )) We made it back home at about 4:30, so I guess I can say that I have officially spent a night on Buenos Aires time : )

Today 8 of us girls met up about 1 and went to a parrilla restaurant very near to our place! Parrillas are the massive, sizzling combinations of meat that you think of when you think of Argentina. (pictures below). We split one for 5 people between 7 and there was more than enough to eat. Beef, pork and chicken and all the parts included... Kidney, intestine, tongue, steaks, blood sausage and many mysteries as well : )) hahahahah. I tried it all of course and would eat it all again (except maybe just a tiny bit of intestine because the texture was exactly what you would expect hahah). We had plans to visit a museum after lunch but instead spent the afternoon in a massive park, it was alive with people and action and so much fun! It was a great day with some amazing girls, beautiful weather and a beautiful life : )

Sorry this was a pretty long post, I will do better this coming week : ) Thank you to everyone who has kept up on me, love you guys!

We sat at the base of this statue for a good hour or so on Friday : ) The Casa Rosada is in the background. The Argentine president works but doesn't live there!

Good times with good people : ) Becca was a bit tired nearing the end of our long day of exploring.

The 8 of us in from of Primo Parrilla! Do we look like a pack of Americans or what?! : )

The Parrillada Especial de Carne is what we ordered : ) 

Chorizo=sausage, Morcilla= black pudding or blood sausage, Chinchulin= intestine, Rinon=kidney, Molleja=gizzard, Asado=roast, Cerdo= pig, y mas= and more... hahaha 

Here is a bird's eye view of the parrilla

I know that I have told some of you that I don't like bacon, I know I am most likely the only person ever...Buuut this was the most delicious bacon-ish thing that I have ever eaten. I say ish because I have no idea what it was! : )

You can see the Chinchulin (intestine) on the left : ) The rest is but a mystery, but so delicious!

Kind of signifies life here... Never know which way the day is going to go : )

Park from the very edge looking in. The trees are incredible!

The lake in the middle of the park! You can rent paddle boats and there are swanlike birds swimming so it reminded me of Doane : )

A free Latin American dance exercise class in the park! The city offers free classes every weekend and you better believe that I joined in today : ) The shirtless strangers on the stage are 4 young rollerbladers who hopped on stage to help lead the class, only in BA : )

"1 Minute of You" It was a volunteer group that organized an event in the park where passersby stopped and decorated backpacks for children in need. We were there when they reached their 1000th back pack, I signed up for more info about the group so hopefully there are some things I could help out with : )