Firsts

There have been a lot of new things that I have tried or learned lately.  I'll let you in on the good and the bad.
1. Some of my friends and I went to the Recoleta Fair yesterday.  It was amazing and was an explosion of culture in one single park.  There are tons of venders that set up shop in the park every sunday and it is an excellent place to buy artisan goods and souvenirs.  (maybe you will be one of the lucky ones who gets one!)  There was also lots of musicians and carts selling food from cakes to corizpan (it is like subway sandwiches but 1000 times better!).  Actually, get the subway image out of your head because you can not even compare it to that.  But you know what kind of sandwich I'm talking!!

2. I attended a Catholic mass last night with one of my friend's host mom.  I have never attended an actual mass service so it was very interesting.  The priest talked super fast so it was often difficult to understand what he was saying.  There was a lot of up and down movement of the congregation.  What I mean is that we sat and then we stood up many times as they recited prayers.  After the service everyone exits out the main door and gives the priest a hug and exchanges a few words.  I thought this was a pretty cool gesture because the priest was not just someone in the front of the church giving a message, but makes a conscious effort to know everyone that attends.  It is cool to reflect on the fact that God knows every single language in the world. GEEEZZ thats a lot of knowledge!  Here is one of the verses that I love.  (It is in Spanish, so LOOK IT UP! You won't be disappointed!)

"Siempre pido en mis oraciones que, si es la voluntad de Dios, por fin se me abra ahora el camino para ir a visitarlos." Romanos 1:10

3. IT IS A LOT COLDER HERE THAN I THOUGHT! holaaaa winter!

El sello de mi universidad nueva

4. Today I went to my orientation at the University of Belgrano.  This is where I will be taking half of my classes.  It was awesome and the orientation consisted of all the international students from all over  the worlds.  I talked to many people from Sweden, Germany, and France.  One of the neatest phrases the director told us is that, "we are not citizens from our specific country, rather, we are citizens of this world."  Once I got home today, I remembered him saying that and what a powerful phase that is.  There are no lines of division, but we are are here to be educated and learn from each other about different cultures and customs.
5. I saw a demonstration of Tango today! woah. oh. my. word. I do not think that will be possible in my book.  Especially thinking back to my time as a cheerleader (that lengthy time of 1 year in high school), I was off by either 1 or 2 beats for every dance and chant.  I'll let you know how it goes when I go to a Milonga (Tango dance bar).
6. I got a Subway card! Now I will be flying in the undergrounds!
7. The ravioli here is not your typical 3 cheese, but it had a meat and other ingredient mixture inside.  Not a fan.  
8. Ok so here is the history lesson for today. (Feel free to zone out if this is not your thing)  Buenos Aires is a very old city.  For instance, one of the churches I visited was built in the 1700s.  In the beginning many residents in Belgrano lived in La Boca (neighborhood).  However, when yellow fever hit Buenos Aires decades later and wiped out 1/3 of the population, the rich folks moved to a distinct neighborhood in Belgrano.  They did this because it was less population which created a smaller chance of them catching the disease.  Therefore, as you can imagine, this neighborhood is like the Beverly Hills of Buenos Aires.  The starting price for many of the smaller residences is 5 or 6 million dollars.  The majority of the houses have their own private security man that stands in front and many video cameras.