Monday February 1

Sorry it has taken me so long to start posting again, but it has been pretty crazy getting back into the swing of things and settling in! I have everything sorted out now, and will stay steady with the blog. Let’s embark….

I arrived in Buenos Aires and I saw some of my Pepperdine friends who also landed at the same time. We shared a cab to Casa Holden, which would usually cost about 100 pesos. But when we got there, the driver wanted to charge us 400 pesos! My friend Tyler went in and got one of the ladies who works in the casa, Maria, and she came out and gave him a piece of her mind. We ended up paying 150, thanks to Maria!

It was great to see everybody again, and there was a bbq that afternoon for us. We all caught up and talked for a while, and then went home to have dinner with our families. Grace is doing well! I brought some Dohr to Door jam (thanks grandma and pops!) and she has been raving about it for a week now. I switch into the bigger room which is much nicer. I have a desk now, and sliding doors that open to a tiny deck overlooking the street. Over the break I had some requests to take pictures of the apartment, and I will take care of that pretty soon. I will have to switch rooms in about a month though, because another girl is coming, and she’s automatically entitled to the big room. Eric is staying here with me now. He’s a really cool kid from Canada, so hopefully he’ll want to come out with some of my friends and I.

The weather here has been crazy. It is SO HOT! It’s been hard to sleep, especially because I love sleeping in a cold room. I have my fan running all the time, but it’s only blowing hot air. The air conditioning is only in the main room of the apartment. Everyone keeps saying how abnormal this heat is, and I hope it goes away soon! The humidity is probably the worst part. They have cut our power a few times because everybody is using so much energy. I’m sure it will get better though.

The first night back we went out for my birthday. We headed to a bar called Jobs after dinner. It’s the bar where you can play games like Jenga, fooseball, and they even have an archery range inside the bar. Don’t ask me how that’s a good idea. We didn’t play any games, we were all too busy talking and enjoying being back together. Then we left for a club called Kika for American Hip Hop night. Of course. Apparently everyone leaves the city during the summer here, so the social scene is very dead right now. The city seems weirdly empty. When we got to Kika it was closed because everyone is gone, so we walked around for about an hour before finding a club called Madagascar. It was pretty fun, and there were a lot of Pepperdine kids. Overall, my birthday was a success.

The next three days we had intensive Spanish for four hours a day, which wasn’t too much fun. But that’s over with now, and we’re back into the swing of our normal schedule. I’m looking forward to having a little more free time this semester. I’m taking Humanities 313, Spanish 252, Poly Sci 104, Weight Lifting, and of course Surfing. I can’t complain about that schedule. Our surfing class only lasts for one weekend, where we take a trip to Mar Del Plata and surf for a couple days. I’m stoked for that.

This weekend was pretty docile. Thursday Grace had “cousin night” like usual, and one of her former students, Brad, came to dinner. He just moved here from the US to be with his Argentine girlfriend and look for work. I talked to them a bunch, and this weds they are going to introduce me to some of their Argentine friends. I’m pumped! This semester I want to meet a lot more Argentine’s so this is a good way to start I guess. Plus, Brad’s girlfriend, Flor, mentioned she’d introduce me to some “amigas”….

Friday I met a couple guys at a bar by Ron’s house, and we had a pretty calm night. Everybody was tired because they had all gone out the night before while I was at cousin night. Saturday night a bunch of us went to a bar called Sugar, and I had some great conversation with my friend Jack. Then everybody went to a club called Asia de Cuba. (I have no idea why the club is called “Asia of Cuba” and why it is in Argentina…) But when we got there they were charging a fairly hefty door fee so I decided I’d rather go get some ice cream and go to bed. My friends Bobby and Kayla went with me, and we had a good time. Sunday I slept in and had a relaxing day. I met up with some friends at the Casa and we watched The Hangover (funniest movie ever!) and played some xbox. Then I went to starbucks around 11 at night and there were some friends that were there to have a bible study, so I joined in on that, which was nice.

I am really excited for this semester, and can’t wait to have some crazy adventures. I’ve been reading the book Wild At Heart and it has really been inspiring me to really explore over these next few months. I can’t wait to tell you guys all of my great stories, and make some incredible memories. I have much higher expectations for this semester, and can’t wait to learn and grow. Stay tuned, and I will be updating this bad boy regularly!