The vida retreat was great! I was able to follow along with the speakers and the worksheets we had. We received two different phamplets to use while sharing your faith. One with the four spiritual laws and one with the different types of christians (lukewarm, smoking hot!, and non believer). I also got to spend quality time with all of my new friends which was great. And I got to meet the staff and students from la plata another province of buenos aires. This retreat was one of a series and the next one will be held in la plata so i hope i can go!
Other than that I have been strapped down with homework and studying. This is the last day of midterms and my life has been stressful. For my theater class (which is tonight) I had to write a 6-7 page paper in spanish about any topic we wanted that related with what we have done in class. Sounds easy but it was NOT. The directions were unclear and I struggled. I finally just wrote something and I hope its ok. My teacher also grades on grammar in our THEATER class and I got a B-/C+ on the last paper I wrote and that was probably better than this one. haha. But my host mom edited this one with me so I'm hoping that I get a better grade bc the last one was all for grammer. LAME. My two tests werent too bad though. Spanish was decent and human rights was cake. :)
And along with stress from school my right back wisdom tooth has decided to act up. Basically for this past week I have had a puffy check, extreme pain in my tooth, and I'd bite my mouth when I talked, laughed, or ate. So that has been great. On monday night an "emergency" dentist came to my house at like 3 in the morning to look at my tooth. I know I sound like a baby but it HURT. It was painful to just swallow. So he gave me a perscription for antibiotics and toldme to see a dentist. I was going to wait till I got back from my vacation (i'm leaving to travel TONIGHT for 10 days!) but I was able to get an appt for this morning. The dentist told me I should probably get my tooth pulled. He did something to my mouth to help it hurt less while I am gone and said to come back after my vacation. While this may sound horrible it might actually be great. It only costs like $50 AND I'll get to miss class to watch tv. I think I'm a winner here. :)
On a more positive note I AM THE NEW CORRESPONDING SECRETARY FOR THE DORIAN SORORITY OF HOPE COLLEGE! yay. I'm super excited. That means I am on the executive board with the pres, vice pres, other secretary, and treasurer. I had to give my speech over skype to the girls in their meeting and it was great to see them all!
I also interviewed to be a tour guide for admissions next semester. I dont know if i got it yet but I really hope I do! I think it would be such a fun job!
So yeah, tonight I have to go to my theater class and then I leave for Chile at 8:30. I'll be in Valparaiso for a couple days, Santiago for one, and then going to Bariloche (which is in Argentina) for some adventure tourism (more canopying, rafting, paragliding????, and more!). I'll let you know how it goes when I get back in 10 days!
~Lizzie
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The Beach :)
I went to the beach last weekend! It was amazing. I got to lay around all day friday and saturday and get tan! Doesnt get much better. Now its starting to get colder which is nooo fun, especially for traveling.
It was a group of 7 girls and 1 guy. haha. We had a "departamento" which is a hotel suite for 5 but we squeezed in 8. There were 3 twin beds and a king and no worries dad-i shared with one of the girls!
There were venders at the beach that sold "chocolo" which is corn on the cob! It was amazing. They lathered it in butter and salted it up for a delicious treat.
Easter was a bummer though. I put on a my cute white dress for the occasion. But all I did was eat lunch with my host mom. Her daugthers didnt even come over to eat which was disapointing. And we didnt eat anything special. I didnt go to church either. It seems like easter isnt a big deal around here.
This weekend there is a Vida Retreat on sharing your faith. I'm really excited b/c another group from one of the provinces is coming up so I'll get to meet more Argentines and Americans! We were originally supposed to go to them but they just changed the plan. I dont know if there will be sleepovers involved but I hope so!
Miss you all! I'll be home in 88 days!
~Lizzie
It was a group of 7 girls and 1 guy. haha. We had a "departamento" which is a hotel suite for 5 but we squeezed in 8. There were 3 twin beds and a king and no worries dad-i shared with one of the girls!
There were venders at the beach that sold "chocolo" which is corn on the cob! It was amazing. They lathered it in butter and salted it up for a delicious treat.
Easter was a bummer though. I put on a my cute white dress for the occasion. But all I did was eat lunch with my host mom. Her daugthers didnt even come over to eat which was disapointing. And we didnt eat anything special. I didnt go to church either. It seems like easter isnt a big deal around here.
This weekend there is a Vida Retreat on sharing your faith. I'm really excited b/c another group from one of the provinces is coming up so I'll get to meet more Argentines and Americans! We were originally supposed to go to them but they just changed the plan. I dont know if there will be sleepovers involved but I hope so!
Miss you all! I'll be home in 88 days!
~Lizzie
Monday, April 6, 2009
Flying through the air
So, its been a while since I have updated and I have a lot of topics! I just got back from a weekend in Mendoza, Argentina, a city known for its wine, that is very close to the Andes Mountains. At first I wasnt very excited to go because I do not like wine but I had an amazing time. Thursday was a national holiday which meant no school so we left wednesday night at 8. I had to skip school friday but it was worth it. We took a 14 hour bus ride in a semi-cama (semi bed) bus overnight and therefore did not get much sleep! So we got to our hostel thursday morning and waited while they cleaned our room. After a quick lunch we went on a wine tour. I learned how they make wine as well as sampled a few but it just reinforced my dislike for wine so I bought a grape juice in a bottle--no I havent changed at all! haha.
Then friday we went canopying AND rafting. I was terrified to go canopying but everyone else wanted to. For those who dont know what canopying is ( I had no idea) it is like zip lining over mountains and water. When we arrived I was relieved b/c we weren't literally on the top of a huge mountain but we were very very high up. We thought we'd maybe get to do it once but no- it was a six part course. After the first one though I was just flying high! It was so great and I never thought I'd do it. I went canopying over mini mountains and a lake! Afterwards, we had a 3 hour break for lunch and relaxation and I got some more color (mostly red. haha). Then we went white water river rafting. We had to put on like full body suits, a jacket, shoes, life vest, and helmet before we were ready to go. I had a blast, it was about an hour ride down the river while getting very wet. Our guide was the leader and the best and he let us jump in too. Well he actually made us because he said if we didnt get in he would push us in .haha.
Saturday was active as well. We woke up and went horseback riding in the foothills of the Andes Mountains for two hours. At the beginning of our trek I was the last horse but that was boring and we were going slowly so our guide helped me get the horse going faster. I moved up to the front and my horse and my friend Jaclyn's were like competing to be first in line. haha. It was great. I loved trotting on my horse. I've gone on horse rides before but never that fast so it was a new experience.
Finally, we took the bus home saturday night to sunday morning completing our trip to mendoza :) It has been my best weekend here so far in my one month and 6 days.
Other than that I have continued to go to bible study and vida (CRU). I am very grateful for this connection because they are very welcoming and supportive. Through my bible study I have made a pretty good friend, Agos, who is from argentina. She only speaks spanish so I get to practice with her which is very nice. Last last saturday I went to an orphanage with vida as well. It was a bit frustrating because I couldnt communicate with the kids too well but I'm very glad I went. They go once a month so hopefully I'll get to go back soon. We made necklaces with the kids and gave them a snack of cookies and juice. The kids were about 4-6 years old and super cute but very dirty. I was told they all probably had lice as well so to be careful.
Then saturday night we went bowling for one of the stinters, Turner, (american CRU staff) birthdays. It was fun. I didnt even arrive till 11 and thats when we started. I have never bowled that late. We were probably there until about 2! The first game I didnt do so well but I got 2nd place in the 2nd game and only lost by 4 points!
I also have decided to drop my tango class. It is tuesday nights from 6-10 but adding transportation times its like 5-11 so its a hassle. I'll still have 15 credits without it but only 12 might count towards my major/minor but I'm willing to do that. I'd rather enjoy the time I have here and not be stressed out. Plus, now I can go to the Vida taco nights at a place like chipotle b/c those are tuesday too.
Finally, this past wednesday/tuesday night was the first time i was very sick. I dont know what I ate but something gave me terrible stomach cramps and tuesday night I went to the bathroom like 6 times. My host mom called the doctor wednesday morning and he came by to check me out. I was so nervous that I wouldnt be able to go to Mendoza that night but I got increasingly better so I went. :)
Interesting fact of the day: Many argentines have the same names as americans. Example: Elizabeth, Kevin, ect however its funny b/c when we say those names they have no idea what we are saying and same when they say it b/c we all say them differently!
~lizzie
Then friday we went canopying AND rafting. I was terrified to go canopying but everyone else wanted to. For those who dont know what canopying is ( I had no idea) it is like zip lining over mountains and water. When we arrived I was relieved b/c we weren't literally on the top of a huge mountain but we were very very high up. We thought we'd maybe get to do it once but no- it was a six part course. After the first one though I was just flying high! It was so great and I never thought I'd do it. I went canopying over mini mountains and a lake! Afterwards, we had a 3 hour break for lunch and relaxation and I got some more color (mostly red. haha). Then we went white water river rafting. We had to put on like full body suits, a jacket, shoes, life vest, and helmet before we were ready to go. I had a blast, it was about an hour ride down the river while getting very wet. Our guide was the leader and the best and he let us jump in too. Well he actually made us because he said if we didnt get in he would push us in .haha.
Saturday was active as well. We woke up and went horseback riding in the foothills of the Andes Mountains for two hours. At the beginning of our trek I was the last horse but that was boring and we were going slowly so our guide helped me get the horse going faster. I moved up to the front and my horse and my friend Jaclyn's were like competing to be first in line. haha. It was great. I loved trotting on my horse. I've gone on horse rides before but never that fast so it was a new experience.
Finally, we took the bus home saturday night to sunday morning completing our trip to mendoza :) It has been my best weekend here so far in my one month and 6 days.
Other than that I have continued to go to bible study and vida (CRU). I am very grateful for this connection because they are very welcoming and supportive. Through my bible study I have made a pretty good friend, Agos, who is from argentina. She only speaks spanish so I get to practice with her which is very nice. Last last saturday I went to an orphanage with vida as well. It was a bit frustrating because I couldnt communicate with the kids too well but I'm very glad I went. They go once a month so hopefully I'll get to go back soon. We made necklaces with the kids and gave them a snack of cookies and juice. The kids were about 4-6 years old and super cute but very dirty. I was told they all probably had lice as well so to be careful.
Then saturday night we went bowling for one of the stinters, Turner, (american CRU staff) birthdays. It was fun. I didnt even arrive till 11 and thats when we started. I have never bowled that late. We were probably there until about 2! The first game I didnt do so well but I got 2nd place in the 2nd game and only lost by 4 points!
I also have decided to drop my tango class. It is tuesday nights from 6-10 but adding transportation times its like 5-11 so its a hassle. I'll still have 15 credits without it but only 12 might count towards my major/minor but I'm willing to do that. I'd rather enjoy the time I have here and not be stressed out. Plus, now I can go to the Vida taco nights at a place like chipotle b/c those are tuesday too.
Finally, this past wednesday/tuesday night was the first time i was very sick. I dont know what I ate but something gave me terrible stomach cramps and tuesday night I went to the bathroom like 6 times. My host mom called the doctor wednesday morning and he came by to check me out. I was so nervous that I wouldnt be able to go to Mendoza that night but I got increasingly better so I went. :)
Interesting fact of the day: Many argentines have the same names as americans. Example: Elizabeth, Kevin, ect however its funny b/c when we say those names they have no idea what we are saying and same when they say it b/c we all say them differently!
~lizzie
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