Does anyone notice anything strange about this first picture?? :P (Please click on it)
Today I went to La Plata. It is a capital of the province Buenos Aires. I went with Vicky, a friend of Virginia (Virginia is from La Plata also). Right now I am finding myself thinking about these things in spanish and translating them into english! I guess that is good, right! Anyways, first, before we caught the bus, Vicky and I had a little breakfast at this place called Aroma, and it reminded me of something we would have in the US with the nice
atmosphere and stuff, kind of like a starb
uck's. And then, we took a bus to La Plata, which is about an hour ride. But omgah, just getting out of the city feels AMAZING. It's like, I don't know, I feel trapped in the city, I don't even realize that they actually have places that are like what I'm used to, in Argentina. I mean, with houses with yards and people driving cars, almost no cabs, a whole bunch of trees, and no huge tall buildings. I saw a WALMART! I should've gone in to see if it's the same. It probably is, which would be good because I really miss being able to go to a store that has everything.
So, I got to meet Vicky's family, and of course they were really nice. That is one thing I absolutely love about the culture here. The way that they visit with each other.
The way that, everyone you meet, you kiss on the cheek. Everywhere you visit, they put out a snack and tea, and talk for a very long time. But it's so nice, it is like they connect with people in general more. So, I met Vicky's parents, and her sister Florencia who is good friends with Virginia, her husband and their 2 young kids, and then Vicky's 2 brothers and other sister. She has one more brother that is in Spain right now. And Florencia had just gotten
back from a trip (she illustrates for children's books) where she went to England and Italy. She doesn't speak very much English, and her agent only speaks English, so it made it a fun and interesting time for her.
And, they talked alot slower and made sure that I was following the conversation the whole time, which was nice. Usually what happens is that at first people try to keep me in, and then they just wooooosh leave me in the dust and every once and awhile slow down and explain. So I really enjoyed myself. And the food was
riquisima. We had empanadas and they were really good. I got to see this huge cathedral, that looks really old but actually they started building in the 80's. And the government building. And just, the whole area I really really liked.
And it's really nice talking with Vicky, because when she was about my age, she went and lived in the United States for 3 months, in Michigan. So we can talk about things in the U.S. and here, and also about the experience of living in a different country. Everyone should do it, because it doesn't matter if you read the newspaper, or think you understand
when someone says "oh, people live differently in different places," you just realize so many things about the world and life in general that you can't any other way. I can look at my own country in a different way. For example, I love how organized the U.S. is, the department stores, the fact that you can pay with a credit card everywhere. But also, I now realize more than ever that Americans (especially Americans with American parents) really live in the bubble that is the U.S. In general, we don't listen to music
from different countries (except some from England), we don't watch movies or shows from other places. Granted, most movies nowadays are made in the U.S. and I like that I can watch familiar things here and that people here are familiar with movies that I am. But they also have movies from Europe. I watched one that was originally made in italian, dubbed in spanish. But also, I'm sure when anyone leaves their
patria they feel as if they have come out of their bubble at least a little bit. I hope that I will get to travel to many different countries after this, because I know that I will learn so
much with each experience.
Today I went to La Plata. It is a capital of the province Buenos Aires. I went with Vicky, a friend of Virginia (Virginia is from La Plata also). Right now I am finding myself thinking about these things in spanish and translating them into english! I guess that is good, right! Anyways, first, before we caught the bus, Vicky and I had a little breakfast at this place called Aroma, and it reminded me of something we would have in the US with the nice
atmosphere and stuff, kind of like a starb
uck's. And then, we took a bus to La Plata, which is about an hour ride. But omgah, just getting out of the city feels AMAZING. It's like, I don't know, I feel trapped in the city, I don't even realize that they actually have places that are like what I'm used to, in Argentina. I mean, with houses with yards and people driving cars, almost no cabs, a whole bunch of trees, and no huge tall buildings. I saw a WALMART! I should've gone in to see if it's the same. It probably is, which would be good because I really miss being able to go to a store that has everything.
So, I got to meet Vicky's family, and of course they were really nice. That is one thing I absolutely love about the culture here. The way that they visit with each other. 
The way that, everyone you meet, you kiss on the cheek. Everywhere you visit, they put out a snack and tea, and talk for a very long time. But it's so nice, it is like they connect with people in general more. So, I met Vicky's parents, and her sister Florencia who is good friends with Virginia, her husband and their 2 young kids, and then Vicky's 2 brothers and other sister. She has one more brother that is in Spain right now. And Florencia had just gotten 
back from a trip (she illustrates for children's books) where she went to England and Italy. She doesn't speak very much English, and her agent only speaks English, so it made it a fun and interesting time for her.
And, they talked alot slower and made sure that I was following the conversation the whole time, which was nice. Usually what happens is that at first people try to keep me in, and then they just wooooosh leave me in the dust and every once and awhile slow down and explain. So I really enjoyed myself. And the food was riquisima. We had empanadas and they were really good. I got to see this huge cathedral, that looks really old but actually they started building in the 80's. And the government building. And just, the whole area I really really liked.
And it's really nice talking with Vicky, because when she was about my age, she went and lived in the United States for 3 months, in Michigan. So we can talk about things in the U.S. and here, and also about the experience of living in a different country. Everyone should do it, because it doesn't matter if you read the newspaper, or think you understand
when someone says "oh, people live differently in different places," you just realize so many things about the world and life in general that you can't any other way. I can look at my own country in a different way. For example, I love how organized the U.S. is, the department stores, the fact that you can pay with a credit card everywhere. But also, I now realize more than ever that Americans (especially Americans with American parents) really live in the bubble that is the U.S. In general, we don't listen to music 
from different countries (except some from England), we don't watch movies or shows from other places. Granted, most movies nowadays are made in the U.S. and I like that I can watch familiar things here and that people here are familiar with movies that I am. But they also have movies from Europe. I watched one that was originally made in italian, dubbed in spanish. But also, I'm sure when anyone leaves their patria they feel as if they have come out of their bubble at least a little bit. I hope that I will get to travel to many different countries after this, because I know that I will learn so
much with each experience.
Something very strange. A fire spread in the Delta island
s 11 days ago, and they still haven't been able to put it out. I think those islands are about an hour away from here, and today, the whole city is under smoke. It is so gross. I'm enclosing links to articles about it that have videos, so you can see what it's like.
In this picture you can kind of tell how the buildings look blurry. And so now, since the government is still having issues with the campo, they are blaming it on the farmers and saying that they did it on
purpose. Anyways, for once, I am hoping that it rains soon! Also, roads are blocked in the north going in to Buenos Aires because the smoke is so bad, there's not visibility. There has been a bad accident because of it.
to el Tigre. I only saw a part of it, and it really reminded me of a lake, where people have a lakehouse and are doing water sports. It's not really islands, more like land that has a bunch of tiny rivers running through it. So people around there travel by boat on the litter rivers! (like behind me in the picture) The water was really really brown, so it wasn't too pretty. Some peopl
e have told me it's because of pollution, and others because of sediment washed into it. I think I believe the second. I don't think the area with the houses got on fire, the area that I saw, I think it's further out where they have farming. What a crazy thing to happen though, right?
I've learned. So here is the english version of the list:
leche, and ice cream!
I took this pictures a couple of days ago, but yesterday Marta told me not to go near Plaza de Mayo because they had a huge manifestacion, or protest, made up of people that do back up the president. Es un quilombo.
