SUMMER!

Today is December 6th. 
Already 106 days in Argentina.

It doesn't feel like December for two reasons:
1. Because it's 80 degrees outside.
2. I've only been in Argentina for, like, a week, right?

Summer vacation is almost here! I'm done with classes, but I have to go in on Monday for an hour to bring up my chemistry grade. 

Current plans right now include going to the ocean, Patagonia, el campo, spending time with friends and my host sister before she leaves for Switzerland, going to kickboxing, aerobics and trampoline classes (I will possibly add a pilates and latin dance class to the mix) and spending tons of time outside by the pool.

My last day of school yesteray was great. The day before I had a migraine and my head still hurt, but I'm glad I decided to go. We had a party/presentation with the entire school. Kids from every course danced and the seniors had drums and confetti and silly string. They played a slide show from various events throughout the year and congratulated the kids who were confirmed, as well as some other things I don't recall. Near the end, one of my friends, Luz, got up, grabbed the mic and started to read from a piece of paper (in Spanish).

This is what she said (using my wonderful translating skills): 
These words are directed to Micah. She was our classmate in 5to economia (my course), since August of this year. At first everyone was very nervous... and her too. It was a lot of work to communicate, but with time her Spanish improved as did our English. Everyone thinks that what's special about Micah is that she's from the United States, but no! The special thing about her is she's sympathetic for all, her smile, and her attitude/ willingness to do everything we do as a class. We are very grateful to the school and to Rotary for letting us be a part of this beautiful (wonderful) experience. We hope that she stays with us until next year and we can share more of these wonderful moments during her exchange. 

(this part was in English and made me cry even more):
MICAH WE LOVE YOU AND HOPE YOU THE BEST. 
Love 5to Economia




It was so sweet and I'm so thankful for all of the people who have welcomed me with open arms. It's hard being in a foreign country and there are days that suck, but the people here in general are so welcoming and make me feel at home. And of course, as always, I'm thankful for Rotary. I'm so thankful that I've been given this opportunity. 

I continue to love everyday, and while there are ups and downs, I've been learning a ton. My Spanish is getting tons better, and I might start writing posts in Spanish. I've done a horrible job at documenting my exchange so far, which is really unfortunate because I have so many funny stories and exciting things to tell. Everyday there is something worth writing about, but I don't have the motivation to write everyday. I promise I'll write a post about my trip to the ocean and Christmas. 

Christmas is right around the corner, which is so bizarre because there are almost no signs of it, yet. There's no snow, no Christmas lights, no Christmas music, no crafts or decorations. I'm sure as Christmas dwells closer there will be more signs (minus the snow, unfortunately), but it's so weird to think that it's December. 

But I'm definitely not complaining. 
If you need me, I'll be hanging around in shorts and a tank-top, going swimming in the pool and siesta-ing until I have to go back to school again in February/March. 

Un gran beso!
Micah 

Trip to Misiones!

So I'm sorry this post is late, but I've tried many times to write an introspective blogpost about how incredible the waterfalls were and how great this trip was, but instead just look at the pictures and know that no words (and really pictures can't either) explain how standing in the midst of the Iguazu falls makes you feel and it's really just something you have to experience for yourself. I was in awe, super tired or afraid my camera would get wet, so many of these pictures are stolen from the other inbounds' facebooks. Anyway, here are the photos from the trip!

Day 1- We spent 45+ hours in this bus.. so glad there was AC!

 I don't mind airplane food, but I'm on the fence about bus food.

Day 2- Wanda Mines!

Too hot to eat!

The group at the mines

Triple frontier- Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina in one picture!

triple frontier!

Day 3- In front of the Iguazu falls on the boat before getting soaked!

Aren't they gorgeous?!

The Devil's Throat!

'Safari' through the jungle that took us to the boat dock

The group in front of the Devil's Throat!

Coatis. They're used to tourists and they'll steal your purse and eat your food.

Evil little creatures. 

And tons of iguanas, too, but they're super fast and hard to take pictures of. 

It was incredible!

I'm so patriotic!

 The group at La Aripuca!

Yerba mate and rose petal ice cream!

Day 4- a different view of the triple frontier!

A photo-op on our walk! I cut the bottom of my foot on a broken wine bottle.

We learned how to make swans out of apples!

I was pretty proud!

Day 5- Before ziplining in the jungle!

Wheeeee!

The waterfalls.. 

And rappelling down them!

Tons of fun!

So many gorgeous places to take pictures!

Day 6- Halloween! We went to a Duty free shop and got our passports stamped!

Day 7- Visiting some Jesuit ruins!

So that was our trip! And while the excursions we went on were absolutely amazing, it made it a thousand times better that it was all with other exchange students.

Life is still great, but being at school is not nearly as fun as seeing some of the greatest waterfalls in the world and hanging out with exchange students. But I'll hang in there given I only have 4 weeks left of school, and then 3 months of summer vacation. ;)

Micah

I've been robbed...

of wishes! In Argentina when you blow out the candles on your birthday you make 3 wishes instead of one! Other than finding out that my life is short 32 birthday wishes, I had a wonderful birthday here in Argentina! So read on and ignore my excessive use of parentheses.

My day started like any other day... woke up at 6:10, hit the snooze button and slept until 6:20 (which I keep telling myself makes a difference, but let's be honest, 10 minutes of half sleep really doesn't help anyone) and took a shower. I slipped on my school uniform (Monday means jogging pants and red t-shirt) and walked into the kitchen. The lights were on so I knew someone else was up. I grabbed some cereal (maple-honey cheerio type things) and milk, but when I turned around I realized that there was a tray of food and a birthday card sitting on the counter. I grabbed my camera and took pictures (you have to document everything when you're on exchange), and my host mom came down and was disappointed that I discovered it before she could give me breakfast in bed. Oops.

The wonderful birthday card my host mom and Thiago made me!

The breakfast!

My host mom brought the rest of the family into the kitchen and they hugged and kissed me and gave me a present- clothes for clubbing (and for birthday parties)! I ate and got ready for school. I grabbed the birthday cake my host mom so kindly made for me, and my host dad dropped me off at school. The school day went on normally, but all of my teachers and classmates gave me hugs and kisses. We had the cake during my economics class. Throughout the school day they sang 7 times (in Castellano and English). We ended up not having gym class so I texted my host-mom to tell her and she said that she could still pick me up. Right before school got out she texted me that something came up and she couldn't, so I walked home. 

Because I usually eat lunch at school or the plaza on Mondays and Fridays (respectively), I had already eaten a ham and cheese sandwich so I skipped lunch and slept a siesta. I slept for 2 hours and at 4 Cami woke me up and told me that we were going to el shopping (mall) at 5. My host mom told me to wear something nice because we would be going to a restaurant afterwards. So I got dressed (wearing a new cardigan and blouse I had received earlier), we picked up one of Cami's friends and were dropped off at the mall. Cami told me she needed a dress for her graduation ceremony, so we went from store to store and had her try on dresses. At 8:30 we were picked up by my host father and from here on I should have figured it out. 

We dropped off Cami at the corner of our street (for a reason I didn't know why at the time) but Cami's friend and I stayed in the car while Amadeo picked some things up at the store. When he was done we drove home. Cami greeted us and opened the gate and Amadeo told us that he forgot his keys so we had to go around to the back. There was a strange vehicle in the carport and none of the lights were on and I was so confused. So we go around back and I see tons of peoples' silhouettes and SURPRISE! 

Looking back there were way too many clues that I should have put together but being an exchange student I'm just used to strange things happening and me not understanding why. Until I got home and saw the surprise party I honestly thought it was just going to be a low-key birthday, with a dinner out with my host family. I would've been happy with anything, but it really was a perfect night. 

My host mom had called one of my friends from school to ask her to invite the rest of the class. About half showed up which is really nice considering that it was a Monday night. TNG (Cami's friends.. and mine too) came, as well as my Rotary counselor and my friend Leonie. It was such a surprise and I had no idea what to say. We had empanadas and patties and torta and it was just so great. 

It was a little cold.. but it felt more like my actual birthday with the weather, than with the 75+ weather that we've been having here in Bs. As. 

Almost always do birthday cakes have sparklers here!

There are no words (in Spanish or English) or pictures that can capture the essence of just how perfect this moment was. Right after this picture was taken the lights were turned off and it was completely dark other than the sparkler and candle on the cake. I was surrounded by people that I've grown to love singing choruses of "Que los cumplas feliz" and this sparkler just kept burning and all I could do was sit there laughing and smiling. As the sparkler dwindled to a small flame, I blew out the candles and realized that I didn't need to make a wish, and that my life wasn't robbed of anything. 

I want to thank everyone who made my birthday so special.

It was one of my favorite nights here.
I love you all so much.

Micah 

(but before I go... more pictures!) 

With some of my classmates!

Thiago and Eze!

My counselor and host parents!

Some of Cami's friends!

My host sister and some of her friends!

Leonie, Cami and I!

So Happy!

So this post is going to be a little different.

While I'm here in Argentina not only do I want to try new things and learn Spanish, but I also want to grow as a person and learn more about myself.

If you're my friend on facebook then you might have seen my status:
So I can't wait until January... I'm starting my New Year's resolution now.
Each day for the next 365 days I will try my best to write a letter, facebook message, skype, email or contact in any way one person that I need to say thank you to or tell them how much I appreciate or love them or how they changed me as a person. 
If you get a gushy facebook message from me in this next year, you don't have to respond or say anything back, just read what I say and know that it's 100% true and that I'm glad you're in my life.

Scientists say that people who express gratitude are happier. Recently I was sick and watching youtube videos when I stumbled across this video:

This video is what gave me the idea. So far it's only day 3, but the 3 messages I have sent have at least made me somewhat happier, and the responses I've gotten back have made me smile, as they said that my message made them smile. It's a win-win situation for everyone. 

So while it might not be very realistic that I contact one person a day and tell them I appreciate them, I'm going to try my best. I pick the person at random, so if you're number 1 or number 365 I appreciate you all the same. I might send you it on your birthday or just a random day. You might be surprised you're one of the 365 people that I send something to. If  I don't send you something, it doesn't mean you aren't a super great person, it just means that I can only pick 365 (and probably less than that.. I know I'll forget some days or I won't have access to a computer). Maybe I'll repeat some people if I feel like it. The nice thing about this is that it's my project. I can do it how I want, and it's not a challenge, it's just something that takes five minutes and makes me happy. 

I've been doing a lot of thinking (what else is there to do when you're sick besides sleep, watch videos on youtube and think?!) and I'm so happy I'm in Argentina. Even when I'm sick. Even when I'm homesick (which is usually only when I'm sick-sick). I couldn't imagine myself in any other country. It's my perfect fit. I love the accent of Spanish. I love taking siestas. I love the food. I love the weather. I love that school is so different. I love that it's not a huge country but it's so diverse: there are big cities, mountains, volcanoes, glaciers, waterfalls, beaches, farms and salt flats. I love that life is generally slower here. I love that I can go clubbing and it's socially acceptable and I won't get in trouble. I love that everyday is different and exciting. In general it's not as mundane as my life in WI. 

There really aren't things that I hate. There are things that are different and things that I miss, but nothing I hate. 

Last weekend we hosted a young boy, Juan,  from a different province. It was a mini basketball exchange. Juan stayed with our family for four days, and in November my host brother will go live with either Juan's family or one of Juan's teammates. My host brother's basketball club had activities set up and then they also played against each other. It was all very Argentine, I feel like something like this in the US wouldn't work as well, or people would be weary about having their young children live in someone else's house for four days. (It's different than a year long exchange.. I'm 16, not 9, and the families that I stay with have background checks). 

Yesterday I went to a friend's house (mine.. not Cami's!) for the first time! Sad, I know, but it's hard making friends when there's a language barrier. School gets better everyday and I'm actually surprised with how much Spanish I know. I still have troubles, but it's been less than two months and I knew very little Spanish before hand, so give me a break. I can understand pretty much everything in normal conversation, people just need to slow it down a little for me. Teachers' lectures is another story. But I've gotten to the point where I know better Spanish than most of my classmates know English, so 95% of the time I speak in Spanish and they dumb down what the teachers say for me. 

I was going to go clubbing with Cami last night but an hour before leaving I got sick. I was really looking forward to going with her, but she has her fiesta de egresados on Thursday and I'm going to that. Plus I still have 8 months to go clubbing! 

So being sick sucks but I'm happy and I don't want to go home any time soon. 

I miss and love you all. 

Look out for a letter/message/skype date in the next year when it's your turn to receive something from me about how much I appreciate you ;) 

Micah 

Clubbing and Campo and Cataratas, oh my!

Life continues to be great!

On October 3rd I went clubbing for the first time! It was probably the strangest experience I've ever had, but definitely fun and I can't wait for the next time I can go. Each schools' seniors plan and throw a party at a club to celebrate that they're graduating and to raise money. Basically all teens in the area are invited, and the one that I went to there were over 6000 people in attendance. However this was the first one of the 'season' and it's one of the largest/most important secondary schools, so the others are typically smaller. There were people everywhere dancing, drinking, talking and smoking and you had to hold hands and form human chains with your friends anytime you went anywhere otherwise you wouldn't see them again for the rest of the night. The building was huge, but it was so crowded. We went to one of my host sister's friend's house before to hang out and then we all got into taxis and drove to the club. We arrived at the club around 12:30 and stayed until a little after 5 in the morning. Keep in mind this was a Thursday night.. and either 6000 students in the area would either be super tired at school in the morning, or they wouldn't show. But I didn't get to sleep (much) or go to school! My friend Leonie from Switzerland and her host mom picked me up at 8:30 and we drove 4 hours to el campo!

'El campo' basically means the country or farms. We stayed Friday- Monday on the farm that Leonie's host family owns. The land was absolutely beautiful and it was crazy to stand outside and do a 360 and not see a single other house or barn or tractor in the distance that didn't belong to them. They had dogs, chickens, sheep, cows and horses. It was all very similar to Wisconsin, except they had these:

A farm with palm trees!

It was a very relaxing weekend. I've never seen so many stars in my life! The sunsets were just as incredible! The food didn't always agree with Leonie and I so we drank a lot of tea, took quite a few siestas and watched movies. We also were our goofy selves and took tons of pictures and I even got to ride my first horse! I'm not sure if I liked it all that much- I guess I had higher expectations. In the movies it's always a rider who just hops right up with the wind blowing threw her hair as she's sprinting through a field or down a dirt road. In reality for me, it took a lot of effort to get up, the horse had a bad shoulder so we couldn't go very fast, it was kind of uncomfortable and I didn't know how to use the reins. Plus the horse kept stopping to eat various plants in the yard. I'm glad that I can add riding a horse to my reverse bucket list, but I don't think I'm really cut out to be a cowgirl. Oh well. All in all I had a great time, despite a flat tire on the way back and a few stomach aches from the (delicious, even if it did make me a little sick!) food. 

If you notice the title: Clubbing and Campo and Cataratas, oh my! You'll notice that I've included the Cataratas as well. While this isn't something that I've done yet, 10 out of the 11 inbounds are going at the end of October/beginning on November. I've included it just because I'm so excited! As Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, and we'll be on the trip on the 31st, I've convinced the other inbounds that we're going to celebrate it with costumes and candy and a scary movie. I think they're excited too- they've never celebrated a Halloween (even if it's not the same as dressing up and going door to door begging for candy). 

I'm not going to tell you exactly what the trip is, because I want you to be surprised with the pictures when I get back. Stay tuned, and sometime in November you'll get to read stories and see pictures of the trip! 

I'm so happy here. 

Thank you to Rotary and my family and friends for this wonderful opportunity. 

But before I post, here are some more pictures from my weekend on the farm: 

Until next time!
Micah