A Small Speedbump in my Argentina Bliss

I apologize for the lack of posts this week. Since I got back Monday morning my life here has either been quite boring or upsetting, with the former not giving me anything to write about and the latter not motivating me to write at all. On top of my normal class work I had two oral presentations, a debate, and some quizzes. I still like my classes and feel like I am learning a lot, but at the same time I am extremely glad that this was another four-day school week! However, after having such a wonderful weekend and feeling as if Sunday was the best day of my trip, I feel that it was almost inevitable that something would happen to ruin my Argentina bliss. Tuesday was quite a bummer; my purse was stolen out of the Program Office in Casa Verde. As had pretty much become the usual routine, after class Caroline and I left our stuff in the office while we went running in Parque Sarmiento. The program directors assured us that somebody is always in there and that our stuff would be safe. Many students do this, and on Tuesday specifically there were at least five of us with our belongings in there. However, when Caroline and I returned my purse was gone. Thankfully I’m quite careful and don’t carry much cash, my iPhone, my passport, or my debit card with me; therefore, all I really lost was about $140 pesos ($35 USD), my driver’s license, Zulema’s house keys, and my camera. The last two were obviously the biggest problem, and it’s been no fun dealing with replacing those. The police were called and I was forced to stay on campus forever, but once we discovered my purse was gone I had no hope of ever seeing it again; if the U.S. police couldn’t recover my purse that was stolen out of my car last summer, I didn’t have much faith in the UNC police. The nice thing is that the program directors feel really bad and are doing all they can to replace my stuff. Susana (second-in-command of the program) called Zulema for me and explained what happened and told her that they’d pay for her to have her locks replaced. Also, she wants to compensate me for my camera. I talked to her today and she said that she is communicating with the UT program directors to see if it is ok with them to give me money to replace it; therefore, if I don’t receive anything it is purely the fault of Americans. So in the end it really isn’t that bad, and I am extremely aware that it could be much worse. So besides school, talking to police, and replacing my stuff I really haven’t been up to much this week. Today after my classes I had quite a bit of time, so I decided to walk around. I needed a new purse before tonight, and I was determined to find an extremely cheap one. It actually ended up being a very much needed, enjoyable afternoon. After my little streak of bad luck, walking around today reminded me how much I really do love it here. I walked along the pedestrian streets near the plaza and browsed the items that the vendors were selling. Amongst the scarves and hats and movies and Messi jerseys (futbol craze is already rampant here – I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like on Saturday) I stumbled across an artist and was immediately mesmerized by his work. Although I’m not an art expert, I thought his paintings were beyond wonderful. Additionally, my respect for his talent increased exponentially when I joined the crowd that was watching him in action. Quite obviously homeless, he created his artwork solely with spray paint, newspaper, and his hands. I wish I would’ve had a camera and I would have videoed some of his techniques; his style was truly unique, and taking the time to watch him work made my afternoon. If I would have had more pesos I am quite sure that I would have bought one of the paintings! My afternoon around town ended with me finding a purse at a vendor near Patio Olmos. It only cost me $35 (less than $9USD), so I felt like my shopping adventure was a success! I returned home and showered, napped, and then packed for the trip this weekend. I am about to leave to go meet up with the group for our big excursion to Salta that was organized through the program and won’t be back until Monday. I will take many mental notes and Susana said she’s going to lend me her camera, so hopefully when I get back Monday morning I will have plenty of stories and pictures to once again share with everyone!

A Day in the Mountains

Sunday was by far my favorite day that I’ve spent in Argentina thus far. We had all signed up to go trekking and canopying in the mountains, and after a quick breakfast in the hostel our bus came and picked us up. The trip out to the mountain base was about an hour and a half long, and it was probably one of the most gorgeous drives that I’ve ever been on. As I already mentioned, I’ve kind of fallen in love with the Andes. We saw an area coming up in the distance that was, with its huge sapphire blue lake surrounded by mountains, beyond beautiful, and were all excited to find out that the mountain base was located right on the lake. We got out of the vans and took pictures and played with the dogs that were there until our guides came and introduced themselves. After stowing any of our unnecessary items in lockers, we all piled back on the bus for about an eight-minute drive to the trailhead. Once there they passed out water bottles, and then we officially set off for what they told us was a waterfall. The trekking was so much fun! We had to jump over streams, balance on rocks, and climb up boulders, and much of the time we were following trails that were located in brush that towered over even the tallest people. Although most of us kept concentrating on where we were putting our feet, we continually helped to remind each other to look up; the views that surrounded us the entire time were gorgeous! We hiked for about forty-five minutes to an hour and then we finally saw the waterfall. After admiring it for a few minutes, we had fun jumping from rock to rock to cross the stream and go behind the waterfall to take pictures. I then glanced over at one of the guides and saw him pulling out harnesses, ropes, and helmets. None, or at least most, of us hadn’t realized that rappelling was part of the trekking package and we were all super excited to find out that we got to go down next to the waterfall! After fitting the harnesses and distributing the other supplies, all but one guide climbed with us up to the top of the cliff. They set everything up and gave us a safety talk and then we started descending the side of the rock. It was so much fun! In the middle of my turn it finally hit me that I was rappelling next to a waterfall in the Andes, and the feeling was absolutely surreal! I was in the second group to go and after that we stood at the bottom to take pictures of the rest of the group and cheer them on. After everyone was back down we packed everything up and took another trail back. Whereas the first trail was nearly all in a valley, the return path went up and followed along a ridge that provided an even better view than before. We enjoyed just looking at the landscape and taking pictures, and we even saw a wild alpaca! We finally made it back to the trailhead and took the bus back to the base in time for lunch. The restaurant there offered one meal of the day for thirty-five pesos (which is about $9USD), so we all told the waiter that we would have whatever it was. Not really knowing what to expect, we weren’t aware that we were in for a treat! While sitting on a deck overlooking the gorgeous lake and mountains, I felt as if I was served a five-star meal; it was three courses, and I’m pretty sure we were each served an entire half of a chicken. For nine dollars. I know, crazy. After our mid-day feast our guides came back and took us over to the shed to give us the supplies for canopying. For those of you who, like me when I first heard the term, have no idea what canopying is, it’s basically another word for zip lining. Furnished with all of our safety equipment, our group hiked up to the first platform to receive the safety instructions. After that we set off to fly across the Andes, with yours truly being the first to go. I had never officially been zip lining before and it definitely met my expectations; with lack of a better explanation, it was soo much fun! We got to go on seven lines, and the final two both were about 400 meters long and went over the lake. With only a few crash landings and one ripped sweatshirt, the group held the unanimous belief that the whole experience was awesome. We walked back to the base and put up the equipment and all boarded the bus and headed back to the hostel. We arrived around 6:00pm and grabbed a quick dinner before we took taxis over to the bus terminal to head back to Córdoba. We left right at 8:00pm, none of us wanting to leave behind Mendoza and the wonderful experiences we had had there.

Las bodegas de Argentina

After a little over ten hours on a bus, we pulled up to the main bus terminal in Mendoza around 7:30am. We all crowded into taxis and rode to our hostel, Lagares. The first couple of hours were a little hectic; we had planned on going on an all-day wine tour, but once we got there the company wouldn’t answer or receive our calls. Additionally, check-in at the hostel wasn’t until noon and we arrived before 8:00. However, the hostel was really nice (in quality and atmosphere) and we worked things out quickly. They allowed us to stack up our bags in the lobby until we were able to move into our rooms. Also, they had a big board that listed all of the activities you could do and, if you chose to go through them, they would make the reservations for you and arrange for you to be picked up right outside of the hostel. We decided to do the half-day wine tour and give ourselves the morning to see the city. Caroline, Mary and I headed out close to 8:00 to take in the city of Mendoza. It was just as pretty as I had heard it would be! It is known for being the cleanest city in Argentina, and I would easily accept that as the truth. The streets were all lined and canopied with huge trees that were every shade of orange, and we seemed to frequently stumble across random fountains and landscaped areas. We walked all the way to and around the main plaza, Plaza Independencia. It was gorgeous with fountains, sculptures, manicured green grass, and a half-way underground art museum in the center. The three of us stopped at a bakery near the plaza for coffee, and after headed back to the hostel to check on our things. On the way back we stopped by a store for an Argentina-based chocolate factory to browse, and then I made them stop at a street vendor so I could finally purchase my Messi jersey in order to be prepared for the start of the big games next week! After arriving back at the hostel we were able to put our stuff in our rooms and change. Mary had read in her travel guide that Mendoza supposedly has a very large, famous park, and we decided that we wanted to go see it. After walking for over an hour and nearly across the entire city, we finally made it and I can without a doubt say that seeing the park was well worth the walk! It was probably the most beautiful park that I’ve ever seen; the main entrance was marked by a wrought-iron gate that was covered in banners left over from the bicentenario and a stretch of trees lined a driveway that gave way to what seemed like a forest, which opened up to a view of the Andes. Additionally there were thick groves of trees of all different shades that surrounded fields where numerous young people were in the middle of soccer games. Although we only were able to stay for about fifteen minutes we were all extremely glad that we had taken the time to go see it. We rode a cab back to our side of town, picked up lunch, and then got on the bus for the wine tour a little after 2:00pm. The drive out to the wineries was probably one of the most scenic drives I have ever taken. I feel extremely lucky to have seen many beautiful places in my life, but I honestly don’t think that I will ever forget the sight of the seemingly never-ending rows of red, orange, and yellow grape vines, the evergreens behind them, over which towered the snow-capped Andes against the clear blue sky. Just thinking back to it still puts me in a complete state of awe. The first place we visited actually wasn’t a winery, but instead was an olive oil factory. It is apparently a growing industry in the area, and although we weren’t really expecting to go there the tour was kind of interesting. I now know the exact meaning of “extra virgin” and “virgin” olive oil, and have seen the process in which the oil is squeezed out and collected to be filtered. However, I think everyone who was there would agree with me when I say that the best part was the taste test at the end! The second stop was a relatively new, small winery. We went inside and got to see the storage areas and the barrels of reserves. The tour ended in a sort of underground basement area (which we nicknamed “The Bat Cave”) that contained reserve bottles of wine as well as a spotlighted glass table. We all took our seats, had a short lesson on the pre-process of drinking wine, and then got to do our tasting. The last stop on the tour was an older and better-known winery. We toured this one as well and got to try a few of their wines, and afterwards the bus dropped us back off at the hostel. When we had first gotten to the hostel the man working there had told us that they had a grill on the upstairs deck that we were allowed to use. Following the idea of one of the boys in our group, all 15 of us pitched in twelve pesos each and Josh and I went to a supermarket to pick up supplies for our own little asado. After a minor setback with starting the fire in the grill, things went well and we all had a lot of fun! While the boys grilled we all enjoyed appetizers of wine and bread dipped in olive oil, and after the cooking was done we had steak, salad, beans and grilled pineapple for dessert. I had so much fun hanging out with everyone under the night sky of the southern hemisphere, and couldn’t be more thankful for being able to spend time in such a beautiful place.

Guten Tag a Argentina!

Friday we got to go on our day trip that was organized through the program. We all met up at Patio Olmos at 8:45 in the morning and got on the buses a little after 9:00 and left for Alta Gracia. After about an hour and fifteen minutes we arrived at our first stop: the Jesuit Estancias. Over the years the town has grown up around it, but originally it was one of the first Jesuit established ranches in South America. We learned that the difference in a mission and an estancia is that a mission was purely church related whereas an estancia was an actual ranch with a trade school in addition to the church. The estancias were self-sufficient and produced all of the supplies for themselves and the missions. We got to see the church and some of the old living quarters including bedrooms, a kitchen, and the blacksmith house back behind the main areas. There were also old items that had been used hundreds of years ago by the gauchos, religious art that had been made here in Latin America, and tools made and used by the Jesuits’ slaves. Although it wasn’t the most exciting place I’d ever been, it was very interesting, the grounds were kept up very well, and I thought it was all really pretty. Our next stop was the Ché Guevara house museum. This was cool since I had just done an oral presentation about him on Tuesday in 318. Although he wasn’t born in Alta Gracia, his parents moved there when he was young and he spent nearly all of his childhood there. The house has been preserved and set up to look exactly like it did when he was growing up. We first watched a documentary that the museum had made in which they interviewed people, including some of his teachers, childhood friends, and his nanny, about how he was as a child. Afterward we got to walk around and see how his family lived. Our guide had told us that while we were there we should think about how someone with such a seemingly “normal” childhood could turn out to be one of the most famous and violent socialist revolutionaries of all time. It was a very interesting concept to think about while we were there. After the museum we once again boarded the bus and drove another hour to, for lack of better knowledge, the middle of nowhere for lunch. However, even though it was the middle of nowhere, it was extremely enjoyable. After driving for a long period of time and seeing nothing but countryside, we came upon a place that looked like it could be a bed and breakfast, or maybe some sort of hunting lodge, in the middle of the Sierras de Córdoba. The Sierras of Córdoba are smaller than mountains, but much bigger than hills, and stretch for quite a large distance within the Province of Córdoba. After getting off of the bus we went around to the back of the lodge to the porch and were surprised to see it overlooking a field full of llamas. They gave us some time while they were finishing preparing the food to hang out, play on some playground equipment, and interact with the llamas and miniature horses. We were all quite hungry by the time we were served our lunch, but it ended up being quite a disappointment. The meat we were served was not very good; we didn’t think there was any possible way that it could be beef, and we were all convinced that we had been served llama. There is no reason to worry though, because we asked the program leader and he assured us it came from a cow; furthermore, he promised us that none of the llamas we had been playing with were in danger. After lunch a small group of us went on a walk with one of our tour guides down a path that went past cabins and horses and a little farm shed. We were able to play with puppies and a cat and on the walk back we saw some more llamas. I can honestly say that I have now witnessed what I guess is a “llama call,” and I have to say that llamas make some of the strangest noises. After a while we headed out to our last stop, a little town in the Sierras called Belgrano. They told us that upon entering this town you would feel as if you were in Germany. Although I had my doubts, I definitely agree after experiencing it! The reason for this is that back in (I think) the early twentieth century, a large group of German immigrants settled in the region. Not wanting to leave behind their culture, they imported all of their building materials from home and built themselves an entire town using German architecture styles. Additionally, they established a beer and chocolate factory. Although it is now a big tourist area, it originally started as just a quiet town of Germans settlers and their ancestors. We were sad that they only gave us about 45 minutes to be there; the town is so cute I am pretty sure we all could have spend the entire afternoon looking around! Of course we all hit up the chocolate factory first thing, and then after that some people went to go try out some of the beer while the rest of us just enjoyed taking in the design, and mostly the bizarre concept of, the town. All stocked with chocolate and some full of beer, we got back on the bus one last time for the two hour trip back to Córdoba. We made it back right before 7:00, and those of us going to Mendoza only had about an hour to go home, eat, pack, and leave for the bus station. I was definitely extremely rushed, but I made it in plenty of time and the whole day was worth it. Once at the bus terminal I was very glad that we were in a big group and with people who knew what they were doing. The ticket said that our platform was “1-10,” which I was later informed meant that our bus could be at any of the platforms between 1 and 10. Although I was initially very confused, things calmed down quickly and we located our bus and everyone arrived in plenty of time. The buses here are really nice and are two-stories with seats that lean really far back and have footrests. It still isn’t the most comfortable way to sleep, but I would say as far as room went it was definitely much better than a plane. We set off for Mendoza at 9:00pm, which served as both the end of a great day and the official start of an awesome weekend.

Speaking Partners, Semi-Camas, and Tango…Elements of My New Daily Life in Córdoba

Last Wednesday and Thursday were fun but quite low-key. Wednesday I just woke up, ate breakfast, and took the bus to class. I have to say that I’m becoming a pro at riding the bus; I have yet to have any more cospeles issues, and I am now an expert at the phrase ¿Va a la universitaria? I had a 312 listening quiz and a 318 composition test on Wednesday, but overall classes went ok. After class I had SO much fun! I had scheduled to meet up with my listening partner, and we really enjoyed getting to know each other. We went to one of the cafés on campus and bought some empanadas for lunch. Her name is Victoria, or Vicky, she is 21, originally from Córdoba, and a literature major. She has long strawberry blonde hair and is super pretty (one of the times we hang out I will definitely take a picture and put it up). She didn’t have class until 4:00 and we talked all three hours until then. We have many common interests and talked about things from traveling to boyfriends to our dreams for our futures. She has been studying English since she was very young and continually amazes me at how well she is at it. She told me that she has always taken classes, although not necessarily always through school. Her mom thought that it was very important for her to learn the language, so for much of her life she has gone above and beyond to attend classes outside of her regular school hours. Even now she leaves her house in the suburbs at 6:30 on Tuesday and Thursday mornings to attend English lessons downtown for two hours before she starts her actual classes at the university in the afternoons. Our entire visit was extremely enjoyable, and when we had to leave I already couldn’t wait for the next one. We scheduled to meet again between our classes on Monday, and her family has already invited me to go spend a weekend with them when I can. She told me that her dad is planning a big asado (Argentine barbecue) for me whenever I can make it to their house! Anyways, after we parted I walked home and took a small siesta and then worked on homework. Thursday we had our quiz over the first of our four chapters in 312, so it was another serious class day. It’s so crazy how quickly we are moving through the material! I know we spend hours in the classroom every day and I feel like I have learned so much. But at the same time whereas a chapter took about a month last semester in 312K, we have already finished one in 312L in exactly a week! I had not yet mentioned it, but a guy named Wes had started trying around Monday to get a group together to take a weekend trip to Mendoza, and I decided that I wanted to go. Mendoza is a place that, since starting to learn about Argentina, I have really wanted to go to and I figured that although it would cost money I have already paid quite a bit to be here and I did not just want to sit around the apartment for another weekend. So, after classes on Thursday, our group of 15 caravanned in taxis over to Córdoba’s main bus station to purchase our bus tickets for the weekend. The bus terminal is crazy! There is a myriad of counters for different bus lines and different choices and levels of buses, such as camas (beds) and semi-camas (semi-beds) and just basic ones. It took a while to move us all through the line, but after about 30-45 minutes we all had our round-trip tickets to Mendoza! After the chaos of the bus station I walked back to campus and left my things in the program office, went on a run in the park, and then bought some coffee and did some homework at a campus café. At 5:00 about half of the students in the program (the other half were still in class and have their lesson following ours) met up at Casa Verde and walked for about half an hour to the place where we have our tango lessons. It was an interesting place; the top part looks like a very nice restaurant and the room where our lessons are held is downstairs in the basement. I didn’t know what to expect for the lessons but it ended up being a lot of fun! I was very surprised by the boys in our group and their extreme enthusiasm and concentration. In our group they actually outnumbered us girls! We switched partners every few minutes so everyone could get a chance to dance with everyone else. Although, as with all forms of dance, it is much harder to learn than it looks, after an hour and a half we could all (or at least all of us thought we could) do some of the basic steps pretty well and everyone was looking forward to our lesson next Thursday. After the lesson was over I walked home, ate dinner with Zulema, talked to Sergio for a while, and then went to bed semi-early to prepare myself for the next three days.

The Simple Things

I have to begin this post by proclaiming that today has been a fantastic day! After all of the homework last night today’s classes seemed to go well; I was able to understand the new professor a little better, and my homework load is significantly less. After class Caroline and I changed, left our bags in the program office, and went for about an hour run in Sarmiento Park (the big park right next to campus). Despite the fact that everyone from here looks at me like I’m completely crazy when I wear my running shorts and t-shirt outside, the weather today was beautiful! We found a running trail that circled a big, beautiful pond in the park and ran a few laps around it. It was nice having someone with me, and I really enjoyed talking while we ran. After, we returned to the office to retrieve our things and started heading home. Before we went on our run some of the other students had been talking about wanting to go to the zoo, but since I had already planned on doing the run I had decided that I’d just have to miss out on the zoo. However, the other students had gone to get lunch and we ran into them on the edge of campus. I joined back in with the group and we all walked to the part of Sarmiento where the zoo is. For those of you who I am close to, you know that I have wanted to go to the zoo since last summer when I didn’t get to go in Germany; therefore, you can only imagine how excited I was! The entrance cost was only fifteen pesos (so only about 4 dollars), and we (at least I) had a blast! The place seemed nearly deserted, but to be located nearly in the middle of town it was huge and had all of the animals I could’ve wanted to see. We were there for a few hours and it was nice to hang out with the other students instead of just going home; additionally, two of the speaking partners were there with us and it was fun to get to hang out and talk with them. We got to see hipopotamoses, cebras, un camello, monos, leones, tigres, jaguars, un elefante…the outing turned into somewhat of an animal vocabulary lesson! After a while we decided that our zoo longing had been fully satisfied and we all set off for home. Just when I thought that my day couldn’t get much better, I passed by the store near my house where I’ve been wanting to go and it was open! To explain this excitement, you must know that I’ve been on a mission for the last few days to find a travel mug for my coffee in the morning. To those of you back home I know this sounds like an extremely simple task, but you must know that in Córdoba this is no easy feat! I have little time for breakfast in the morning, and having become accustomed to enjoying my daily morning cup of coffee I have been suffering from daily caffeine deprivation since I started my classes. Yet once I started my search for a mug to take with me I was surprised to discover that I couldn’t find them anywhere. Back home it seems like everywhere you turn different stores are trying to sell them; however, they seem to be a scarce commodity in Argentina. I don’t know for sure, but I’m assuming this phenomenon is related to the fact that the culture here is more laid-back and less on-the-go than back home. After two or three days of looking, I finally saw one in the window of a store on the same street that I live on and I was so excited! But my excitement was short-lived when I realized that the store was closed, as it has been on all three days that I have passed it since. Not expecting much, I walked by once again on my way home today and it was open! I rushed home to get more pesos and immediately returned to make my purchase. Forty pesos (or a few cents over ten dollars) later I left the shop feeling as if I had just purchased a new Coach purse or designer jeans. A trip to the zoo and a coffee travel mug…it’s amazing how we can experience such happiness when we allow ourselves to fully appreciate the simple things in life.

Wait...¿Vos vivés aquí?!?

I thought yesterday was going to be too boring of a day for me to devote an entire post; however, that all changed around 9:30pm. The morning started with my usual routine; I got up, ate my normal breakfast, and went to the university. Our 312L professor was finally back from the United States, but our excitement about meeting her was quickly diminished once class began. Although she seems like a very nice woman, she is difficult to understand. I wouldn’t even say that it’s her accent, but instead that she just has a very raspy voice; I doubt that I would be able to understand her well if she spoke English. Also, since we hadn’t yet had to do any homework for that class, she decided that we needed to make up for it and assigned us about thirty workbook pages. I’m choosing to stay positive about her though, and am hoping that the large assignment is only to catch up and that after a few days we will get used to her teaching style. As usual 318 went well and after class ended I walked home. When I got back Zulema and Hugo were getting ready to leave to go to their drawing class, and once I was home alone I decided to go running. I set off in the direction of the river that runs through town because I’d heard that there was a park with a running trail there. It’s about a twenty minute walk from where I live, and I got to see a whole new part of town. The park was really pretty and many people were there jogging, walking their dogs, playing soccer, or just hanging out. It was so nice to get some exercise and the weather here is beautiful right now! I was gone for a little over an hour, and Hugo and Zulema returned not long after I did. I started homework while Zulema was cooking, and after a while she came to my room to deliver some great news…the heater is fixed! I didn’t notice much of a difference yesterday, but I assume that it will take a while to heat up the whole apartment. For dinner she made tortilla con papas y queso, which was like a pie made of potatoes and held together with chesse…muy rico! After dinner I took my shower, changed into pajamas, and got back to work on my tarea. Little did I know that I was about to encounter the most eventful part of my day! Since I arrived last week Zulema has always talked about Sergio, her international student from Mexico. All I ever heard was Sergio likes plátanos con dulce de leche, and Sergio eats so much he gained 5 kilos, and Sergio has so many friends that he was always going out. She had told me that she has hosted more international students than she can count, so I just assumed that Sergio was her last student; however, my assumption reveals just how awful I am at Spanish. As I sat at my desk focused on Spanish vocabulary, I heard the front door open and shut and then a male voice conversing with Zulema in the kitchen. I thought it was Hugo, and even though it struck me as a little odd I didn’t think too much about it. Then I heard them walking down the hallway and Zulema called, “Kyndal! Meet Sergio!” and a guy about my age appeared in the doorway. I was completely taken by surprise and very confused, but we introduced ourselves and talked for a few minutes. Then he left and my next thought was ok, he’s back visiting…? Or maybe he’s an international student living with a good friend of Zulema’s and he sometimes hangs out here? Looking back I feel really dumb, but at the time I was totally not comprehending the situation. He seemed really nice though, and I thought it might be fun to be friends (he had told me that I could go hang out with him sometimes if I wanted to) and therefore had decided that later I would ask Zulema for his number. After some time I went to the kitchen for some water and, when I walked in, I saw Sergio sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner. Still not understanding, I asked him “¿Dónde vivés?” (Where do you live?), to which he responded, “Aquí.” In my awful Spanish I told him, “I know you live in Córdoba, but where?” And he looked at me like I was crazy and again responded, “Aquí,” and pointed at the room around him. STILL not understanding and completely confused at this point, I said “En este apartamento? Con Zulema?” And in Spanish he said, “Yeah, where did you think I lived?” I was speechless, still trying to fit the puzzle together, and must have been stuttering. He interrupted my thoughts by telling me that I could speak English and he would understand, so I blurted out, “Where in the world have you been the whole last week?” So after that I sat down and we continued talking and I found out that he’s been living here since the end of March but spent the past week traveling around southern Argentina. He’s 22 and also a student at the university and will be here until August. It was fun talking and having someone else around who is closer my age and can understand English. So I now have a roommate that I’ve apparently always had and didn’t know about (I mean, we have our own bedrooms, but roommate as in we live in the same house). I feel like it’s going to be like having a live-in speaking partner; he even told me that he will help me with my Spanish and I can help him with his English. Sounds like a good idea to me…welcome back Sergio!