The days leading up to the departure were as predictable as one would expect. Emotional goodbyes, the occasional panic that something horrible was going to happen if I went through with the entire thing. The weird sensation to cry at almost everything.
I pretty much had to leave vegas in a blur. Darn procrastination getting the better of me. My dad, brother, and I went to stay with my cousin in Lancaster Friday night after Ryan got out of work. I thought it was a golden opportunity to spend with the family. So naturally in a moment of brilliance I feel asleep 20 minutes into the drive. Then of course upon arriving, I have another brilliant moment and fall asleep less than ten minutes after arriving at Lamont's house. We made up for it the next morning. Got to spend time with family, and before I knew it, Ryan was heading to a gig that Lamont was already going to and my dad was taking me to LAX. We ran into my uncle who had just arrived and the two of them made jokes to lighten the mood about how customs may have their way with me and being potentially left in some foreign country during a layover, you know, the whole supportive bit.
Then, as if a bird, i was in the air. I knew it was going to be a long flight, and I'd like to think I held my composure for the most part, but somewhere in that last 2 hours, I sincerely began to lose it. I think I would have lasted the whole time if I knew how much longer we had left.
Customs, confusion, and a shuttle later, I arrived at my homestay house. This place is pretty darn nice. It's on by Suzy and Hugo, a VERY nice couple who I pray I don't annoy the heck out of for my lack of spanish masstery. They were so polite and nice, I really felt comfortable minutes after I walked in. Turns out there's another person staying here while studying. Her name is Brittany and she is from San Diego. She told me a lot about the city and while it will help me learn faster if I'm not talking in English, it was nice to have someone to talk to in english. At least for day one. I don't know how fortunate I'll be with that one in the days following.
Then I went out and met up with my friend Kurt. That's right, the one who got me interested in Argentina in the first place but sort of fell of the universe? That's the one. Turns out he lives about 4 blocks away from me. Which I thought was amazing since Buenos Aires is FREAKING huge! He and his friends showed me all over the place. Pictures and stories on that to follow, since I've had about 2 hours of sleep in the last 18 hours
So status report of day one. Cool living situation. Friend is really close, I appear to have a somewhat constant access to an internet connection....
don't want to jump the gun, but I think I just might survive this trip.
2 comments:
Holy Jesus! Sounds like your first went super-amazingly.
Glad to hear that no crazed customs agents torched your luggage, and to see that you have internet access. Sounds like you lucked out on the house and a location near your buddy. Turns out that it really is a small world, eh?
Do classes start immediately, or do you get to hang out for a bit? Are there beaches? Can you surf? You should! Plus you would look AMAZING in a wetsuit.
It really was!
I didn't know how customs was going to work. I thought it was going to be like an interview to make sure I wasn't a terrorist or something. It was honestly a glance at my paperwork and a pound on my passport.
I TOTALLY lucked out on Kurt being near me. The drive from the airport to my homestay was not a short one. Buenos Aires is a huge city! So I definitely got lucky. Especially since other homestays in the program are further away from him.
Classes started today (or the day after this original blog entry was posted. So I got to hit the beach for a little. There is no beach here in BA, but apparently the school has excursions, hopefully the beach will be one of them. I don't clean up as well in a wetsuit as I do in a suit, but the former totally makes me look like I have a butt. :) Thanks Eric!
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