Adios Argentina! Te extraño!

Today, I woke up at the extremely early hour of 7 am. For some of you early birds it might be normal. However, for me, it is exceedingly early, especially during the winter break. I did not complain when my roommate woke me up because I knew I had to get ready to leave Mar del Plata via bus to travel to Buenos Aires.

I still can't believe I'm leaving Argentina in a day! It's too soon, I don't want to say goodbye! I've gotten so used to the lifestyle here, primarily the weather. Have i mentioned it's 80 something degrees here?! My body will become frozen the moment I step foot onto NY soil! I'm only kidding, or am I?

In addition to not wanting to pry myself away from the marvelous weather, I also don't have the heart to part with the prices here. Riding in a taxi here is 1/4th the price of riding one in NY. The price disparity also holds true for food and other goods. Beverages which would cost $6 in the Big Apple are $2 here. Food items that would be $20+ in the Empire State are only $5 here.

My biggest complaint about leaving this paradise is that once I get back, I wont even be able to relax at all. The day after I get back, school will start up again, and I will be stuck in an unending cycle of work. Don't get me wrong, the work will be enjoyable, because I am taking classes that I am interested in. But, it's always hard to get back into the vicious cycle of school. So now, all I have left to do is mentally prepare myself for it. I'm sure that won't be too hard, now will it?

"Vacationing" almost over

I am Finally FREE from the Horrendously Agonizing GASTROENTERITIS!!! I don’t even know how I contracted it! It must be the water! It’s so amazingly dirty here as they don't even filter it…go figure! It first started with me feeling groggier than usual that I didn’t want to get out of bed. How could I not want to go out?...It must be too sunny here in comparison to frigid New York. I reluctantly dragged myself to school at 8:30 am. After an hour passed, I could not bear the pain anymore. I told the teacher that I thought I had a fever. A fever, indeed, I did have. I went to the doctor in the hotel that I was staying at; however, she didn’t know what I had.

For a while, I was terrified that I would die from some nameless Argentinean disease. However, that fear subsided when they figured out that I had gastroenteritis. That diagnostic was after two whole days of suffering from that dastardly infection. The first three days that I had the infection, I was so listless to the point that I couldn’t even stand for more than 5 minutes. My stomach felt like it was going to experience an eternity of excruciating pain. During that week, I could only eat a few things, such as chicken and rice; I was not permitted to eat anything that was fried or uncooked. I’m in Argentina and I am not allowed to eat any of their delicacies…my life is wonderful.

Argentina’s loves meat, especially steak. In fact, they have international renown for their steak. I don’t get what the big fuss is about; their steak tastes the same as NY steak. All the restaurants ever serve is ham and cheese!...This would be a very disagreeable place to visit for vegetarians.

When I returned to class after my not-so-splendid sick days, I felt so behind. Everything turned out to be fine, as the professor was reviewing the material that I didn’t have the chance to learn. My small group welcomed me back and updated me on what the week’s project was.

As I got back into the Argentinean pace of life, I opened my eyes to the city that was in front of me and took advantage of my remaining days. I went to the beach, walked along the coast and rode a banana boat, and gallivanted around town, in several days’ time, of course. Have I mentioned how cheap everything is here? It’s a shopper’s paradise! I must get all my gift shopping done soon as I am leaving this sunny land in less than a week.

I can’t believe that school is starting in a week! Can you believe it? It’s unjust that they make me go back to school in NY after letting me study abroad in sun-drenched Argentina. They must be cackling to themselves, knowing how much it would annoy me. But, I can't say I am not looking forward to it. Anyhow, I must go and speak to a native Argentinean now! See you later!