Let’s just say…. it’s not easy. I got lost for more than an hour yesterday morning after deciding that I’d rather walk to the university than take the subway. Good exercise, I figured. Turns out I was overly confident in my abilities. I ended up getting lost for over an hour. Scared to death of looking like a foreigner and becoming prey, I just kept walking around blocks, figuring that I’d find a street that looked familiar and that I’d find my way. I was too scared to take out my phone and I didn’t even bring a map. Smart, I know. Needless to say I started totally panicking after a little while, but I was trying to talk to myself and calm down “no Lauren, you are not going to die, nobody is going to kidnap you, nobody knows you are lost, you can just take the test another day…”. I kept telling myself that I would find something familiar and find my way and to just stay calm. Finally, I found the subway and followed my familiar route to the ISA office (just as it began to pour), where I effectively buzzed in, walked up the stairs, and burst into tears the moment I got in the door. My proudest moment thus far…

I ended up testing into the intermediate 1 level, and was really pleased and surprised with that. I’ve figured out that my Spanish is a lot better on paper than it is in conversation. A lot of people tested into the beginner level so I was shocked that I tested into intermediate, but it turned out not to matter since they were only offering two classes: one in the level below me and one in the level above. I chose to go to the beginner level, and I’m glad I did because even on my first day today it seemed to be moving really fast. I love my teacher, she is a sweetheart, and so helpful. She speaks solely in Spanish, but does it in a way that we can understand which is an act of genius. I think I learned more ( and more useful) information in the 5 hours of class today than I have in 2 semesters of Spanish at UMass combined. Seriously. She’s good, and the class is good…very conversation based with a lot of practical information. The book is an activity book built by my teacher herself, and offers a lot of interesting knowledge and information about Argentina and it’s unique culture. So class seems really great so far.

Not the greatest shots, but the areas outside the front and back of my school.

Anyways, that’s pretty much it for this post. I bought a phone also, and you should have seen me attempting to speak to the guy at the cell phone store. They really oughta teach commonly used/ helpful phrases in Spanish when they teach Spanish in the US. I could barely say anything to the guy except telefono prepago, meaning prepaid phone (which was a correction to my first attempt, telefono preparado- prepared phone). I feel so stupid when I just sit there silent because I can’t figure out what to say! But I guess that’s why it’s called total immersion.

Quick comment on the food here, before I go. It is absolutely delicious, though you have to be very careful because some of it is heart-attack- inducing. They like to serve pastries and breads and cakes with dulce de leche for breakfast which is so tempting, but I won’t do it! My residencia has a chef who cooks all our meals from scratch, and all of it is delicious. She cooks in the kitchen and then you just walk in and fill your plate with food from the pan. Last night was fried steak…see what I mean about delicious and killer? We always have salad though, and there are a lot of good things to put on it. Fun fact: here, they only use oil and vinegar for salad dressing. Nothing else. When you buy a salad they give you a small thing of oil and vinegar, and that’s it.

Well, hasta luego amigos!