Rotary weekend!

This Saturday and half of Sunday we had our Rotary weekend with all the outbounds (people that will go on exchange), inbounds (me!/ people from other countries on Argentina), rebounds (people from Argentina that went on exchange and are now back home), Rotarians and rotex mentors. We had a awesome weekend! All the inbounds got a long so well! We got the chance to make what will hopefully become life long friendships! We are all planning to meet again soon! It was nice to bring some Canadian pride into the group! There were many French and German exchange students. 

Tonight we had an eclipse (moon). I will upload pictures later. I'm still trying to figure out the wifi settings on my camera. It was really cool to see a red moon. 

1 month

Wow! I can't believe I've been living in Argentina for one month today! This is a very weird feeling. One month means one month of culture, adventure and so much more but it also means only nine and a half months left. It is crazy how fast time flies! If I could sum up this month in 2 words they would be new and exciting. I seemed to have used those words a lot this past month. I hope time is flying just as fast back home! Love you guys very much! 

Thank you for keeping up with my adventures! I'll try to post more often :)

Hannah 

IQ test

Today I took a 20 question IQ test. Apparently I have an IQ of 144. 

26 hour record

Sorry about that last post I don't know why it never published. Today if starting to get sniffly.its probably from the lack of sleep. Yesterday I woke up at 5:30am to get to the theatre at 6:30 to go on a bus trip with interact, Clement and an outbound to a rotary conference. They told us to be comfy so I wore my favourite Garage leggings with this kind of tunic shirt over top. We had packed a lot of stuff into the back of the bus. When we got there at 9 and started taking everything out apparently a bottle of bleach broke and dripped on my leggings. It was really embarrassing. I had to go the rest of the day with a red and white streak across my pants. I tired to cover it as much as possible with my purse. Anyways the conference I'm giving a 5/10. I was really hoping to meet more exchange students but I only met a girl from Brazil (who happened to be my sisters first host family! What a coincidence!) and another girl from Switerland. They were both really nice! The girl from Brazil's Spanish was really good since she has been here for 7 months. The girl from Switerland made me really happy because she has been here a few more days than I have and I can understand and speak more than her. Not that it's a competition. ;) (winky face). The conference was super boring when we couldn't talk because one person just stood and talked really fast so I couldn't understand anything the whole time. I think we got back to San Nicolas around 9:30. I then remembered it was Wendy's birthday and Nuria and I were going to her party. We had Virgina's family over for dinner and then at 12 we left. We quickly had to come back because I forgot the key to the house and we wold have been locked out. I'm sure we could have problem solved! We went to the disco at 2:30 and near the end two men started fighting. I was sure one of my friends got a fist to the head but I asked her and she said she was ok. I'll tell out I have never seen a place clear out so fast. I personally had no idea what was happening at the start but my sister pulled me into her and a wall pretty quickly so all was good. When the second fight broke out I thought it was probably time to leave. We left at 5:30 (oh look at me hitting the 24 hour make) and started walking home. Apparently it was pretty close to our house. This couple was walking in front of us and kept looking back at us because I was pretty tired and the Spanish side of my brain wasn't working very well so I was speaking mostly English and French with some Spanish mix. Nuria told them not to worry i was just from Canada. The girl just so happened to be studying to be an English teacher and was going to apply for a scholarship in the U.S. We kept walking with them because they were very nice and then took a taxi the rest of the way hope. I guess it was a little farther than we thought. We decided to cook soy patties because we were hungry. Finally we got to bed at 7am. I woke up today at 2pm which was only 7 hours of sleep. I was supposed to go to a camp today with some friends but I'm not allowed to do the sleepover so o think o will just go Monday. I really need to do laundry and take a shower and it's already 3. 

Frengol

Today I spoke fluent Frengol with the inbound from France today! It was awesome! 

Frengol :

Definition~ a mix of languages including French, English and Spanish

Btw the post from today was meant to be a couple days ago. Today is my 15th day! 

This is literally my dinner if not anything else. It seems to be almost traditional here. It's rice, a soy patty with cheese and shredded carrot. I'm lucky because even though I happen to be a very picky eater, I enjoy this often prepared meal. :) 

This is a picture of Wendy (left) Nuria (middle) and I before going dancing Saturday night. There were many other girls too but i look tall in this picture. :P (tongue sticking out smiley face) 

Canadian playground comes to Argentina

Yesterday I taught the class a game I used to play in elementary school. When I came back to school in the afternoon they were playing the game to perfection. I was like oh my goodness they are playing my game! And when they saw me they all started cheering. I was very proud of them and they totally made my day. :)

Buen dia

Usually my mom wakes up before me takes a shower gets dressed and heats milk for my breakfast. Soon she started waking up to my alarm. Today I jumped up really quickly to turn it off, I got ready and made my own breakfast while turning on as few lights as possible in hopes she would stay sleeping. Of course at 6:45 she woke up wondering what time it was and why I didn't knock on her door. I was almost a little disappointed she woke up at that point because I was done everything and just had to be quite and wait. If it wasn't for that spider I found on my jacket...

Boo (more like boom there goes all my belongings..)

Every morning when I walk to school I meet a boy at the corner. Today I got there before him and decided to hide and jump out when he got there. Lots of people were looking at me funny wondering why I wasn't walking. I just so happened to be looking at one of these funny looks (in the opposite direction) as Simon appeared. I tried to say boo but I only scared myself and dropped all of my things on the ground. It was hilarious. We had to run after my downhill rolling water bottle. 

Gasolina

Rotary tells us to say yes to everything for reason. So today when my mom asked if I wanted to accompany her, to be honest I don't even know where we were going, of course I said yes. I must say this was just after I was done exercising and we left right away so I had no time to get changed or smell better. We were driving and partway through town when my mom slowly pulled over. I knew this definitely was NOT our stop. I thought that maybe she had to run into a store or something on our way. But then she tried to start the car again, and again and so on.. Obviously by now I realized we were out of gas. Oops! My mom started laughing really hard because we were only three blocks from the gas station we are trying to get to. She picked up her phone to call my dad but the problem was it had just run out of battery. We couldn't help ourselves but sit in the car and laugh. No gas, no phone batterie and no credit in my phone. We decided to walk to the gas station. A very nice worker helped us out and we got back to the car safely. We tried to start the car again and at first it worked! Yay! Look at us being independent women! Oh no just kidding.. That didn't work! Good thing we were smart enough to buy me credit for my phone at the gas station. So giving up, we called my dad who eventually got to us and was able to fix the car! Gracias Papa! But of course we had to return back to the gas station to fill up with more gas and drink some tea or coffee and eat some chocolate. It was quite an adventure. Can you imagine if I would've said no to that?!

Day 12!

So basically the other day the kitchen in one of the restaurants in our city centre took flames. It was sad because I wanted to try that restaurant.. The best thing is no one got hurt! 

This was lunch today! I'm not exactly sure what I was eating but it was delicious! 

I was with my friends today and this guy decided I was a good person to sleep under! Isn't he cute! 

Wow I just realized I've been here for 12 days! I don't know if it's felt longer or shorter than that but it's been great so far!  

Food and family :)

This was lunch yesterday. I have no idea what that green veggie is with the carrots. It was good though! 

Mi prima!! This is my beautiful cousin! She joined us along with her mom for dinner last night :) thank you for keeping me company! 

Es frío!! (It's cold!!!)

It was six degrees today and I'm realizing that I should have brought the fuzzy socks... 

Happy birthday Cj!!!

FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS HERMANO!! Te quieres muchísimo! (Happy birthday bro! I love you so much!) 

I hope you have a great day! I can't believe you are already 14!!! My baby bro is growing up! I'm sending you many hugs and kisses! Love you! Xoxoxoxo 

Oh and this is my house key, it's kinda different and vintage. I like it :) 

2 days ago

Look at this cutie pie! 

There are way more dogs on the street here than in homes. Luckily this sweetie has an amazing family! 

This is what my rotary club looks like after a few people have left. Yes... They have minions on their juice bottles... As you can see it is a bit different from the rotary clubs I'm used to back home. Our president is female! Go girl power!  

This is the 4 way test in Spanish! 

It's raining today :)

This was the picture taken of me and Estrella being happy. Allan, was jealous and kept nosing closer. I decided he was probably warming up to me so I start to pet his head. Less than 4 seconds later he randomly jumped up and tried to bite my arm. Apparently he doesn't like scratches behind the ear. No problem though! I have mighty fast reflexes and Papa gave him a lecture a long with a slap of the wrists (more like the nose in this case). 

These are some of my friends from school.. They like taking selfies :) 

Also Símon, Emi and Leti made me this really cool pamphlet thingy to help me learn Spanish! They are so sweet! 

Nueves amigos

Here are a couple photos from today :) I'm trying to sit in a different area of the class each day to get to know everyone! 

Mini oasis!

It's just my back yard but I was looking for some sun this after noon. It's quite nice, makes me think I'm in California or something :) (smiley) 

First day of school! :) (smiley)

My boy looking uniform...

The people here (like I've said a million times) are so friendly I get to school and the principle takes me to my class. As soon as it was announced that I was new everyone went crazy. It was so weird. Everyone wants me to sit with them. The teacher pointed to where I was to be seated (thank goodness! Didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings). The whole day I had a wall of people circling me, they were rapid firing questions in both English and Spanish. It was very odd being such a big centre of attention. People literally straight up asked me if they could be my friend. On the outside I had a huge smile and said yes but I was thinking "um ... Yes? What kind of question is that?!" I was invited out to dinner and other outings. Only half way through the day I already had a headache from all the loud talking. School was short only 7:30 to 12. Most of the time we didn't do much work. Over all I can say my first day of school was a success :) 

Yours sincerely, 

Hannah

Uniform update

Of course I told you about mi Mama y yo shopping for my uniform. The part that I left out was that I didn't buy the pants. They were ugly blue sweat pants and I told my mom I already had a pair at home. This was not a lie, I have a pair of blue yoga pants from my friend Sophie. Today as I was preparing for bed Mama told me that I couldn't wear them because they were fitted in the bum. She said I could wear jeans. I told her I only brought capris and asked if that would be ok. I got a probably not response. So now I'm stuck with one pair of track pants I brought and a big frumpy sweater. I hope I don't have to wear this all year round! Can you say heat exhaustion! What's that phrase again? No Problema? 

No Problema!

"No Problema!" Are my new favourite words! Because here there are no problems! (Well.... kinda...) (don't worry you'll understand what I mean). Everyone here is so friendly and loving! They will take amazing care of you! 

No Problema came in handy tonight. (You're just going to have to wait for it!) It was Nuria's friends birthday and my first Argentinian party. We got to her house at around ten and stayed until 2:30 when we left for the "Disco". 

This was incredibly new to me and was also my first Argentinian dance lesson. 

Dancing was so much fun! 

But.. 

Broken shoes? No Problema! Keep dancing! 

People spilling drinks on you? No Problema! Keep dancing! 

Hit in the face my swinging hands? No Problema! Keep dancing! 

As long as the music is playing there are no problems and you can just keep dancing! ( or at least trying...) 

We arrived home just before 6 AM. (You know just in case you were wondering) 

So now my eyes and feet are tired so I think I will go to bed! 

Buenos noches! 

~ Hannah 

Saturday is always busy

Saturday's are always busy! This is not a sleep in day! First my mom and I went to buy a school uniform. I am not taking a picture of it because it is very ugly and I look like a man. I didn't know why it was necessary to buy one because you don't actually have to wear it... Maybe there are special days or something.. 

Afterwards I went over to Virgina's house (the girl taking the selfie) and, we walked around to pick up all the others. We ended up at Memi's house where we are cake and Tiramisu. 

We went to "the club" (a gigantic sports training place). I met many of the girl's boyfriends there and had my first cup of Mate! Actually it was Tereré, Tereré is drunk cold and with juice, Maté is drunk hot and with water. 

Road Trip to Rosario! :)

Yay!! I finally got to meet my brother! Rosario is the city where both my brother and Nuria go to university. The city is quite a bit bigger with 3 million inhabitants. Leo (Leonardo 21) has an  apartment close to the school but Nuria commutes the hour long trip. The city reminds me a little of Paris and has some amazing views! 

Keep you posted 

~ Hannah 

Out with Mama

Today my host mom and I went to the bank. Of course ,just like with all mom's, one stop turned into ten stops. This was actually nice because it gave me a chance to get to know my city better. One our way home we parked in the middle of the street again. Ana told me to wait a minute so I sat in the car trying to read the Spanish words on the buildings around me. All of the sudden the my door (of the car) opened. It was a teenage looking girl approaching me. I didn't know what to do so I just let her hug me making sure that my purse wasn't in the car and that I was holding my phone tightly. This was a little bit of a scary surprise because I didn't know who is was or why she was getting into my car. She introduced herself to me as Flor's (Flor is my sister who is on exchange in Brazil) cousin. This was a major relief! She was not trying to steal anything or kidnap me, she was just coming to say hello. How nice of her :) 

A Muggy Breakfast

The newfound breakfast! 

Step 1: Heat milk 

Step 2: Add chocolate, tea or coffee to the warmed milk. 

Step 3: Pour into a mug. 

Step 4: Add cereal 

Step 5: Enjoy! 

*Side note!* Remember to keep adding cereal once you eat it all! Don't just drink the left over milk! 

Something different

Have you heard me talk about Dulce de leche? Because I LOVE Dulce de leche!! Imagine toffee, thick Carmel, and pudding all in one place! That is what is inside of these crossaints. 

People (everyone!) including my host dad parks in the middle of the street when they are just getting out of the car for a few minutes to get something. For example this picture was taken when Miguel decided to grab the delicious treat above. 

These thick shoes are everywhere! Even their boots are this thick and high! Crazy but comfortable! 

Another day in San Nicolas :)

This is the other friendly dog Estrella. 

Speaking of dogs... This is how I felt today. 

I spent all day with la novia de mi hermano (Nuria 21) y su hermana (Rocio 26). || my brother's girlfriend and her sister ||

They are both super sweet! <3 (P.S. It's a heart mom) We ate a lot of yummy food and spoke a lot of Spanish! It is truly amazing how much you can learn in one day! We danced in the kitchen and walked downtown so I could get to know the city a bit better. San Nicolas is very religious and industrial so they don't have much to do, like go to the cinema. 

( A very important church in my city) 

Later in the day, when their mother came home, we walked to their grandma's house. 

(Me and my brother's girlfriend's mom) 

I stepped in poop on the way and we couldn't figure out what it was lol! 

At grandma's house I met one of my class mates, la primo de Nuria y Rocio. ||Their cousin|| This was nice because now I know someone for when I go to school. Everyone I have met are extremely friendly! I hope it is the same at school :) 

Until next time, 

~ Hannah 

Hiding from the dog

This is Allan the pitbull. When I tried to take a picture of his sister he wasn't very happy and tried to run after me. I have now locked myself in my bedroom. I don't know how to tell the parents that I accidentally let the dog in the house. The rules about Allan are:

Don't touch 

Don't look 

Don't speak (to him) 

Well I guess I looked at him and now he doesn't like me. His sister has an interesting name I cannot pronounce. She is very friendly. I can touch and look and speak to her. But I still don't have a photo of her. 

Now that I am locked in my room I may as well tell you about it. It is painted white and purple but has no windows. If I go upstairs I have a huge closet. It has 3 doors. The first leads to my brothers bedroom (he is away at university), the second to the kitchen and the 3rd to the bathroom. Because there is no windows it can be very dark and silent. This makes it very easy to fall asleep but hard to wake up. I need to start setting an alarm. A four hour time change doesn't sound like much but when waking up at 10 means waking up at 6 it seems like you don't get very much sleep. I am trying not to spend time in my room, but yesterday I slept a lot.  Yesterday I also went to my first Rotary meeting which was very long. It was a good thing I had Nuria to keep me company. Even though communication is limited it, we seem to make lots of jokes and laugh a lot! Hopefully soon I will be able to show you more pictures, I would love to take some of the house right now but I'm still hiding from the dog. Today my host dad Miguel and I drove around San Nicolas. I took a paper and pen to write down different words that I could learn. He showed me where was dangerous and where was safe. He made those areas very clear which was good. My school is only 2 blocks from my house which is very convenient. I have much more to tell you but I think my mom and I are going somewhere now. I'm really not sure. 

See you later 

~ Hannah