Time Flies

It's been over a month already!

 I apologize for not writing... crazy, exciting things have been happening. If I'm not blogging it's because 1) I haven't done anything exciting to blog about OR 2) I'm having such a wonderful time and I can never find time to blog about all the fun things I've been doing. Thankfully it's the latter!
Before starting my exchange I read tons of blogs about other kids who went on exchange. A lot of them stopped blogging half-way through the year or they would only blog once every month or two. I had the best intentions of not being like them (and it's still not too late) but I have a feeling that as the year goes on blogging will definitely slip my mind. I'll try to keep you all informed on what I'm doing, but I'm always either at school, doing something fun, or sleeping because I'm exhausted from doing fun things (and Spanish- oh my gosh, it's exhausting. I loved to take naps in the US, but here it's almost mandatory to keep myself functioning. And Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn.. I can't imagine having to try to understand Arabic or Thai or Chinese all day long).
I'm getting used to everything, even the things that would be totally bizarre for you, and used to be for me, are becoming normal (or at least I'm just getting used to expecting the unexpected).

 I'm comfortable here. I love my host family and school, but school still continues to confuse me. If a teacher doesn't show, we don't have a sub, we just talk or listen to music. I still haven't figured out exactly when we have break... bells ring (randomly? I don't know.), kids randomly leave the classroom, even when a teacher does show we have at least one period a day where we do absolutely nothing, and then 2 or 3 times a week they'll have a test and I can't help but wonder how or when they got the material. I'm sure as I learn more Spanish I'll understand exactly what goes on, but it's already been 3 weeks in school and I feel completely useless. I take notes and try to participate as much as I can, but keep in mind I've never taken an accounting class, a law class, an organizational management class (I still don't know exactly what this class is), a politics class, or a geography class, let alone in Spanish. Yesterday I was told we didn't have school Thursday or Friday, but today I was told we do have school Friday, which is fine, it's just different.. in WDP we know at least a month in advance that we don't have school on a certain day, unless it's a snowday or something.

We had a Rotary conference about two weeks ago. It was tons of fun! There are 11 inbounds. We all speak either English, French or German and they're all so cool. I can't wait for the trips that are planned! Our first is in October- we're going to the Iguazu falls! Then the day after we get back from that trip 2 other inbounds from the US and I are going to Uruguay to get our visas renewed- all the others are getting them renewed in Brazil when we go to Iguazu, but because we're from the US we would need a visa to enter Brazil, and we don't need one to enter Uruguay.  The conference wasn't as organized as they are in the US (nothing here really is), but that's one of the things I like about Argentina. This year already has taught me to relax more- I never know what's going on and I've learned to just follow what everyone else is doing.

 I do feel like a child, though. I have to be told what to wear, because I never know what's appropriate, and the only way I understand what you're saying is if you speak to me like I'm 3. That and I have no idea how to get from one place to another, or how to use the microwave, or  when it's appropriate to *insert action here* or say a certain thing. And I don't have as much independence here. One, because I'm an exchange student and thus I can't do certain things, but two because kids here don't always have tons of independence. All summer long I was used to waking up, being the only one home, making my own breakfast, driving somewhere to visit a friend, run an errand, or working. Here I'm rarely home alone, I rarely have to clean anything or make my own food, I can't drive (not that I would really want to- traffic is ridiculous here, and about 95% of the cars here are manual and I have no idea how to use a stick shift) and if I have to run errands it's with my host mom or host sister. A lot of families here have housekeepers that help clean, do laundry, and cook lunch, a stay home mom, or both (like my family) at least for part of the week, so a lot of children don't have to clean. It's also not common for teenagers to have jobs here.

Another thing that I like here is that siestas exist because night-time isn't just for sleeping, it's also for partying! I've been to a birthday party that started at 9 on a Monday night, and sleepovers are super common on school nights. This Sunday I'm planning on going clubbing (which I've been told most kids here start doing when they're 14) with my host sister and her friends and she told me that means that we won't sleep in between clubbing and going to school. That's what siestas are for. (But if I'm really tired my host parents said that I'm allowed one 'sick' day a month to stay home and sleep).

Aniyways, life is great! Plenty of things have happened that are worth telling you about, but if I go through what I've done everyday this month, this post would be 20 times as long.

I miss and love you all!
Besos!
Micah