The Inaugural Post

Preparations are starting to ramp up for my trip to Argentina; finals here in the spring semester are reaching a climax. Once those are done, it's all about getting ready for the trip to 'The Paris of South America'. I will arrive in Argentina roughly 12 days before I need to report for duty, so to speak, and I will spend those days exploring. I hope to make it to Machu Picchu and Cuzco for a few of the days, and perhaps travel to Uruguay and Brazil as well. These are just thoughts; nothing has been set in stone yet.

The fact that I'm going to study in Argentina in complete Spanish has not really sunk in yet; perhaps the fact that I haven't signed up for classes there yet is part of that. I won't know what classes will be available until most likely the moment I get there, so that's one less thing to worry about for the moment. I'll be able to take classes at any of four extremely different universities, ranging from the several hundred thousand UBA (Universidad de Buenos Aires) to the quite small Universidad Católica Argentina.

I will also be staying with a local Argentine family. This will truly be an immersion semester; there will be no other foreign students studying abroad in Bs As in the house, so no English for me. It's definitely the way to go. I'm going to have to acclimate to the Argentine style, however. There are many differences, from accent and speed to their unique use of 'vos'.