Day 10 •• June 5

     This was just one of those days. Breakfast was blah. Classes were blah. Lunch was blah. Spanish class was confusing. But the bright spot came when we found out we were skipping PE and having a personal history class, instead. Myself, Sarah and James (the other two had already gone to PE) were given a lesson on the history of Misiones. (If you check out Andy's blog www.svaargentina.blogspot.com you can get more info from one of his posts.) We're going to be visiting one of the abandoned missions in Las Marias on Sunday. Also, that lesson prepared us for the movie we watched after supper; The Mission with Robert De Niro as one of the lead roles, and Liam Neeson in a minor role, as he wasn't popular, yet. Arturo played the movie in a room adjoining the library. It was great, sad though. We all hung out on the couches and ate snacks. Good ending to a pretty blah day.

Day 9 •• June 4

     Wait... we've only been here for 9 days? Sometimes it feels like either we just got here, or we've been here forever.

     When I jerked awake after an intense dream, I was disoriented. Where the heck was I? Oh. So I rolled over and when back to sleep. 25 minutes later, I dragged myself out of bed, threw some clothes on and stumbled down to breakfast.

     It looked so familiar! And Hannah, I know you'll be amused to know that I didn't eat the apple, thus continuing my apple fast. (I only eat apples in September/October, long story.) Classes were eh. I'm understanding more, though. And during Sociology, while the students were taking an oral test one at a time, one of the girls in my class came up and introduced herself. But, like my father, I'm horrible with names, so, yeah. Anyhow, she has a love for languages, and has been learning English. She offered to be a translator and to help me learn Spanish, in return for English practice. Yay!!!

     For lunch, most of the Junior class (and I) when to the small restaurant across the road from the school. It was Kenny's birthday (a boy in their class) and so we celebrated by having pizza and hamburgers.

     These two ... don't get me started. It's a love/hate relationship. Friendship! Friendship! (I'm envisioning Sarah's reaction.)

     We helped with the Inglés class afterwards, then chilled in the library until 3:30 when it was time to go to town. In town, we bought some needed small items, toured a small museum and learned about the local culture.

It was enjoyable. Overall, our group gets along quite well.

When we got back to the school, it was the middle of supper. We quickly ate, then hurriedly dressed for Wednesday night vespers at the church. After worship, Sarah and I got permission to spend some time in the library with the college students, to obtain wifi. I've enjoyed my time here, so far. As I told Uncle Andy, this week I've decided to just listen and not talk much. I'm picking up on the rhythm of the words and the accent. Slowly, I'm learning to say more and more. I'm hopefully that by week 4, I should be communicating with more ease.

Day 8 •• June 3

     It was an internal struggle, but when my alarm went off at 6am, I departed from my warm bed and took a shower. Thank God for hot water. 

     Classes were good. I had orientation classes today, which means I have specialized subjects based on my major. In Cs. Política we were taught about Popular vs. Neopopulation. Unfortunately, I had just studied that a few weeks ago in Sociology. Language & Literature was next. Then Math III. I got worried when I saw the students pull out their calculators. I've only done Algebra I&II and a little Geometry. (My minor, Marketing, calls for College Algebra, so I've been concentrating on that.) But when the professor started drawing on the board I calmed down. How to find the circumference of a circle. Seriously?! Kevin (who was an international student to SVA last year) leaned over and told me that the math here is ridiculously easy. Perfect. I zoned out for most of class. Towards the end, Kevin and I looked over his piano music in his backpack. 

     After lunch, I did some Algebra in the library, then headed to our Spanish class. It was us 5 students and the older 3 Rivera kids. Our teaching is the Literature teacher. She used to be the Spanish teacher in Buenos Aires; she would teach international college students. Unfortunately, we only learned about different objects, such as picaporte (doorknob), ropero (dresser), servilleta (napkin), etc... Hopefully on Thursday (we have Spanish class on Tuesday and Thursday) we'll learn difficult sentences. I feel bad for Sarah, Julia and Reiss. Sarah has taken 3 years of Spanish, and Reiss & Julia grew up speaking Spanish at home. But for the rest of us, it's pretty good. 

     Right after class, we had PE. Supposedly it was gymnastics, but all we did were exercises. Hopefully Thursday will yield better results. The rest of the day was uneventful, until after vespers. Then Sarah and I hung out down the hall with a group of girls we've become friends with. They made grilled cheese in a panni maker, and hung out and listened to movies. Some of the girls were checking out pictures on my phone and the found the movie Thor that I had on there. Fangirling is universal. Or at least Chris Hemsworth is adored by girls everywhere. We all had fun. Plenty of group selfies were taken. Times like that are what make me begin to feel included in the ISAM community.

•• pictures ••

     Okay, I am so wicked sorry for not posting pictures more often. I´ve been trying to post pictures for 3 days, but the wifi has been acting up. Even as I type, I´m attempting to download pictures to this library computer so I can upload them to here. Ugggg. 

     ...anddddd, it´s not working. Okay. So plan B. Check out my Instagram (click the word "Instagram"). Yeah, the picture just started to download but it said 23 minutes remaining. Uh, no. No, thank you. Sorry! 

Day 7 •• June 2

     I'm sick. So is Sarah. Yesterday, we both had a headache and sore throat, but today was worst. I'm terribly congested and Sarah can't get warm. 

     This morning, the temperature dipped down to around 38°. Today was also our first day of classes. I'm in the senior class (5th) and the others are in 4th. The grading system is different. 1-7 is elementary school. For secondary school the grades are 1st (8th grade) through 5th. The average age of my classmates is 17. Based on your major, some of your classes are specialized. Since I'm a Communications major, I have economics, sociology, and law classes aside from the mandatory history, literature, and mathematic classes, to name a few. Class starts at 7am, and go till 12:30 with a total of 8 classes a day.

     Today, I began with three Inglés classes. But instead of translating from Spanish to English, I reversed the process and now have learned the Spanish names of different professions. Next, were two Filosofía classes. As that went totally over my head, I spent the time transferring my schedules to a spreadsheet on my phone. Then we had a Bible class. Our teacher is also the Master Guide leader. Thankful, he speaks slower and pronounces his words, so I was able to understand at least half of the class. Then came Literature. By this time, a dozen of us had been in the same room with only two, 5 minute breaks. People started getting restless. By the end of the second Lit class (two classes back to back, forming one long class) virtually no one was paying attention.

     After lunch, basically all the students went to work. Us exchange students are helping out in the additional English classes. I feel bad for the students; English is so hard to learn! Spanish is so much easier, in most ways. After work, myself, River and Reiss went with Uncle Andy across the road to the university. But before we left, Reiss fell in love with one of the stray puppies. I warned him not to get attached, but soon the adorable perro had a name, Lion. Anyhow, at the university, Uncle Andy talked briefly with the English class. Surprisingly, not many of the students know English that well. (We were lead to believe they did.) 

     When we got back to the main school, I worked on Algebra in the library for an hour or so. After supper, Sarah and I skipped Vespers and went to bed. We're just too exhausted to do much. Hopefully this viruses ends soon.

Day 6 •• June 1

     After my sub roommate's alarm went off 3 times (6, 6:15, 6:30) we both got up at 7am. Breakfast was somewhat normal, with cereal and fruit. 

     When I was down at the music building, I saw kids wearing Pathfinder scarfs all heading towards the library. I went over to watch. They formed up in front of the flag poles in a square. Then the AY and Conquistador flags were raised. Then they all (50+ kids!) sang the Pathfinder song. Then after a short worship and prayer, they broke into groups to work on different activities. 

     I went back to the music building, connected with home, posted pictures and blog updates, then Skyped. Then Nicko decided to kill the wifi by downloading junk. So I took a nap until lunch. At lunch, Sarah and I sat with 4 boys who were learning English. We decided that they could only speak English to us, and we could only speak Spanish to them. That worked out pretty well. 

     After lunch, us exchange students were made to join the older Pathfinders (a Master Guide class) as they hiked into the forest to practice building fires. That was fun, but kinda easy, as all you had to do was simply light the tinder. After everyone finished, our leader (who is the Bible teacher) told us about an expedition that's happening the end of the month. It's basically a 20 mile bushwhacking trip through the rainforest. 

     Anyhow, when we got back it was almost time for supper. The food here is good. After supper we had vespers in the dorms. I went to bed quite soon after.

Day 5 •• May 31

     Ah, today was muy bueno. It was Sabbath, which means we can sleep in until 7:50, as breakfast is at 8am. After breakfast, we had about 45 minutes to get ready for Sabbath School and Church. SS was okay. The class I went to with Sarah and her roommates was taught by Carolina, who's from Texas and is perfecting her Spanish here for her senior year. Church was kinda boring, as I couldn't understand much. During the song service I recognized some of the hymns sung. So I either sang in English, or attempted to sing in Spanish by reading the words from the projector. Lunch was quite good, but Nicko (who's from NY and in 8th grade) said that it's only good on Sabbath; we'll see. 

     In the afternoon, we're allowed to chill. My substitute roommate (my original two went home for the weekend) took a nap, so I hung out with Sarah, River and Nicko in front of the music building, as that's where the wifi is. At 3:30 there was a movie for the seniors, but it was the Ben Carson movie ... and I'm not meant to be anything medical. So I just hung around until 5, when AY started. With help from Nicko (who is so happy to have other Americans here) I was able to understand 30% of the meeting. Supper was pizza. Yay! While we were eating my sub roommate (Martina) decided that she'd help me learn by writing down words in Spanish and translating them to English. Maybe there IS a chance that I'll learn Spanish! 

     After supper most everyone when up to the parque, which is their huge enclosed gym-like building. I played volleyball with the students for over an hour. Well, it wasn't volleyball, we just stood in a circle and passed the ball to each other. But I improved in that time. I'm looking forward to playing again. But right now (9:30pm) I'm tired. Our group is still exhausted from traveling. Buenos noches!