Time sure does fly. But not fast enough!!

The famous "La Boca"Oh man. I’m so excited, I can’t contain myself. I find myself talking about Argentine to anyone, whether they want to hear me or not. We could be talking about chemistry and somehow I’ll incorporate Argentina in the conversation. Anyway, the main reason I took this class/independent study was that I had been concerned with the fact that I wouldn’t be able to look back on my travels with clarity because I hadn’t documented them. I simply wanted to articulate my experiences in written form. This class has definitely helped me to do that. Sometimes I feel that I neeed some structure in my life, and this class provided that with ease. Having a set topic to discuss and knowing you’ll get feedback is very encouraging. The topics were so helpful because it forced you to think about things that you might not have otherwise. For instance, our topic on authenticity, isn’t something I’d normally give much thought because of the subjectivity of it, but it is something that shouldn’t be taken for granted, especially as a visitor in another country. I do wish we had more open topics to share, but I guess we could always just submit more posts if we see fit.

Also, I feel that it’d be much easier for me to speak on Argentina once I get there because at this point it all feels like an imaginative place to me. Since I’ll be taking the Art of Travel course, I can’t wait to go to Buenos Aires and compare my original thoughts with how I feel in that exact moment: what is exactly how I imagined it to be, what is a complete myth, do they really wear mullets still? You know, the important stuff. I’m excited for the street art and street culture that seems to dominate BA. I’m also excited with the prospects of possibly interning for an NGO teaching English to children or doing some translation work. I’m extremely hyped that I only have two classes a week which will give me time to take recreational classes outside of NYU like photography, tango, cooking, etc. as well as I’ll be continuing my language studies in French and Portuguese so it’ll be interesting be a student of a language other than Spanish in a Spanish speaking country. Going to Argentina is significantly cheaper for me had I stayed in NYC so I plan on taking advantage of the close proximity of Argentina to other countries. I already have a list of countries that I will be going to visit, and if I must, I’ll go by myself. I can’t wait to take pictures also. I already have a DSLR but had to be a point and shoot today because I don’t think it’s cute to carry a big camera inside of a club. Oh and the clubbing. I think I’m going to need a new heart.

My concerns? I hope that I get along well with my homestay mother/family. I know these things are a hit or miss, so I have to leave it up to chance. But I’m sure I’d much rather live with a family than live in the fascist dorms. I’m not going to lie, I have some, albeit small, concerns with being black in Argentina, simply because there are no black people in Argentina and 98 percent of Argentine people consider themselves white. I had very interesting experiences traveling around Spain being black, so if it’s anything like Spain, 1. I know I’ll be prepared for anything and 2. I’m going to have a lot of stories to share when I get back home.

And with that, I bid you farewell with this masterpeice of a dance that's the big thing in Buenos Aires right now