Yesterday was one of the longer days I’ve had in my life. I met up with my group in the Miami airport around 5pm on the 23rd. We roamed the airport a bit, made awkward small talk and settled into the 9 hour flight down to Argentina. On the upside, LAN didn’t cancel my plane or loose my bags this time. Yay! I was, interestingly enough though, randomly was seated next to Jordan Feldman’s Harvard roommate on the way down there. That combined with meeting a girl I'd seen in Juliana's photos from the Island school just further proves that it is such a small world. I dozed on and off most of the flight, but got no real sleep.

Needless to say, arriving in busting, sunny, B.A., and having no concept of what time of day it was was a bit of a shock. I immediately regretted bringing half of my luggage – almost everyone had a frame pack and a small duffle and it looks like it’s going to be a real pain lugging mine around the city. I should have learned from Costa Rica, that yellow duffle is no good! But that’s besides the point. After the usual immigration and customs (which for some reason I was entirely waved through) we boarded a small bus with our program to an estancia (large extensions of land left over from the colonial days). All exhausted, most of us passed out for the hour bus ride out of the city into the countryside. (It was the only real sleep I’ve gotten so far since leaving the U.S) Unlike any other city in Latin America I’ve been to, the area just outside of the city proved to be quite green and fertile. Everything from pine trees to palm trees (yes, seeing them right next to each other is quite strange) are haphazardly planted along the side of the paved highway. We arrived to find mounted horses, for us if we so desired, a pool, tennis courts and ranch-like housing. So not the Latin America I am used to. I think arriving in the city on Thursday is going to be a big shock. The metro/colectivo system just seems more and more daunting, especially with the lack of coins in the city. More on that later.

Today we did a breif orientation- going over program information, schedules, trips, and safety. It was really the first time we talked specifics and I am more excited than I can describe to start things. We are arriving in B.A. tomorrow to meet our families, do more oritentaitons and plan for our excursions to Salta and Bariloche. It looks like it's going to be a ton of work, and a very hectic schedule but it all looks amazing. Paired with our actual classes at UBA are cultural excursions such as marching with the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo and painting a mural with social protest artists.

That's all for now. It's gorgeous out and we're going to enjoy these few hours off as a group to lay by the oasis like pool and tan. What a life!