Today at school there was an assembly in the morning and then no classes because it's "feriado" or a day off. In the assembly each of the upper grades did an act of some kind that is traditional in Argentina. One of the other grades did a folkloric dance and our grade sang a folkloric song. There were about five of us (plus 2 ppl on guitar and one on some traditional gaucho drums) and although it was too early in the morning (about 8:00 on a day off!) it was pretty fun, and I got to participate in an Argentinian custom :) (I'm the one on the left in the white.)

Oh also: the world cup here is super fun, everyone follows all the games and is sure to watch every game Argentina plays in. Tomorrow at 8:30 Argentina plays, and we'll probably get up early to watch even though

tonight we're staying out late and tomorrow is a day off as well. We're going to some sort of gaucho thing with Mario on quadricycles or something, I'm not quite sure what it is but it should be fun! It's so nice to have a couple days off, we have from Wednesday to Monday off, and maybe Tuesday as well since there's a game during the day. And even if there IS school tuesday we'll probably all skip to watch el partido....

On Tuesday I got back from the trip to Iguazu, which was suuuper fun. Freddy did end up being able to go, which was a good thing because if she hadn't the 12 hour bus ride from Salta to Resistencia would have been a killer. we made it fun, although I was only able to sleep 2 hours that night. We all met up in Resistencia and then headed out in another bus. All together there was 16 of us. The first day, after arriving in Porto Iguazu, we went on a rock mine tour (the area is famous for its precious rocks) and then went rapelling and on a canopy tour, although both were pretty short. The next day we got to go to the waterfalls, which were AMAZING. Not as tall as I thought they would be from what I had heard but still huge, and soo cool to see up close...we got to go on a boat at the bottom of them, and got soaked. But even though it was a gorgeous day, it was still really cold to be wet. It was a little crowded, but definitely worth it.

Finals

The last few weeks have been super busy, and I felt like every second was taken up with something. It's the end of the trimester right now, so we just had finals (or trimestrales) and since I have to bring back grades to get credit for the tri here, I had to do well. Over the weekend of the 15th we went to the dique again, which was fun even though it's getting colder here and we couldn't go out in the boat or swim or anything. Me and Yael studied A LOT for our physics test on Monday, and I felt pretty good about it. But for one thing, physics is universal so it really wasn't harder for me than everyone else, and I also had a whole weekend to study, so I was worried about the other subjects since the tests cover everything we'd studied during the tri and at least at the beginning I didn't understand much. Tuesday was the English final, so that went fine ;p and then math (which I also studied a lot for) the next day, chemistry after that which was really easy seeing as I studied all the material this year at Davis.

Friday we didn't have a final, because instead we had an "acto", like an assembly, for the 25th of May, Argentina's Independen

ce Day. It's also the "bicentario", the 200th year of Argentina's independence from Spain (in 1810). Almost every house and business had an Argentinean flag hanging out a window or something and all the schools were decorated with sky blue and white banners. And bonus! we had Monday and Tuesday off from school, so the family planned a trip to Molinos, a tiny pueblo about four hours away from Salta up in the hills. We didn't leave till Sunday morning, so Saturday night Yael and I went to another party in San Lorenzo, and I hung out with Freddy, another exchange student (from New Zealand) and it was really fun :)) except that we got back suuuper late and had to get up at 9:30 to leave for Molinos.

Which turned out to be great probably one of if not the best weekends here. The car ride up was so much fun, I really feel a part of the family. And it was gorgeouuus, with huge

hills/mountains, cactus, etc. amazing :) and the town was cute although really small, about 7 blocks by 7 blocks. On Monday we went into the hills on the quadracicles or whatever they're called, and then to a winery for a tour and tasting. When we got back Yael and I had to study again, we had Biology on wednesday and I had to make a 6 min. video for geography. Biology was soo hard, all the random words and names and stuff are hard enough in English! Plus I don't know basic stuff like higado, which apparently is liver. And we'd covered A LOT this tri so i had to study a crapload :( anyways, Tuesday I got up early to take a walk with Mario through the "town" and take pictures, then we visited the town church and headed out. It was such a great weekend, I didn't want it to end :)

Oh right and then this last week was busy too, studying again, and finals everyday, and then on the weekend Yael went to Buenos Aires for a temple thing. On Friday I went out to dinner with the family and then we went to the bowling alley, which is new here, and I won :p haha it was fun. After bowling Moni dropped me off at the house of one of the girls from school, Stefi, and from there we went to another fifteenth birthday party. This one you had to wear a costume to, so Stefi's mom found an old dress for me to wear since I didn't have anything. We danced and stuff and again got back pretty late, but this time I got to sleep innn :)) aha and had a relaxing weekend after the crazy two weeks of finals. We had Ken on saturday (I don't remember if I've explained what Ken is, it's where the older kids from the Temple organize activities for the younger ones, from 3 to 5:30) and then I went to an AFS thing for students from Salta who want to be exchange students. Freddy was there, although none of the other exchange students here because pretty much they're all on the trip to Iguazu that left in late May. Freddy said that she might be going too on the on that leaves the 3rd of June, so maybe we'll be going together. If it's not too late already. (I'm already signed up, but she's not.) And then that night went to dinner and bowling with the family again, which was even more fun than the night before :) and Sunday went for a walk/run with Moni while Uri and Catu rode bikes in the park. Once again, another good weekend! And finals are oveeer!! woot woot! Today I got back the one for psychology (got a eight! yes!!), physics (10!), and chemistry (9!) so I'm pretty happy, at least I know all my studying payed off. Even if the teachers go a little easy on me ;)

Even before I got the surprise package, today was a good day. In the morning I had my second guitar lesson (which I loved) and went to tennis (which I also love). Everyone at the tennis club is great, they're all happy and hilarious :) Then at school one of our teachers didn't show up, so we all just sat around talking and making those knotted bracelets that are common in summer camps in the states. It was super fun! :) And then, when I got home from school, there was a package waiting on my bed, addressed to Salta, Argentina from Colorado, U.S.A.! It was a total surprise, sent from family friends Kent and Lu. Inside was chocolate chip cookies, a book (in English!) chocolate bars, tea, a letter, Times magazine, and an adorable drawing by their son Kieran. It was great, I couldn't stop smiling (thanks guys!). But that's not where it ended; later I decided to look through the magazine to see what's happened back home since I've been gone, and came across the feature article. All about how "Obama's epic victory in pushing forward health reform revitalized his presidency" and how the health care reform passed! woot woot! aha I guess I've been pretty cut off...so anyways, today was a pretty good day =)

Last week Moni's sister came to visit from another province in Argentina. When she comes to visit, her and Moni always go out to watch the Folklore performances, so this time I went along to see some traditional Argentinean music and dancing. The performance was at a restaurant, where all the tables were squished together around a big stage at the front. There were dancers dressed as traditional gauchos (Argentinean cowboys) with big drums that they played while they danced. The women had big skirts like in a Mexican mariachi band and there was live music, which was actually really good (I was a little afraid that it would be boring). While they performed we ate a typical Argeninean dinner: first they brought out a basket of bread with different sides, like roasted beans and eggplant and this sort of avocado dip. Then we ordered empanadas, some each of cheese and carne (beef) and glass bottles of water, coke, and, for Moni and Mario, beer. After a while they brought the main meal, which is usually carne asado, sometimes with potatoes and salad. After the dancers there was a band, with a guitarist, a singer, a basist, and some other stringed intruments...there were four or five guys in total. It was pretty fun, and the place was packed. We stayed until around 2 a.m., and at midnight they sang happy birthday the Argentina in castellano and english, because Friday was a holiday to celebrate the independence (?) or birth of Argentina as a country. Which was nice because we got a day off from school :) and on Friday there was a big party in the streets. I didn't get to go though, because apparently there is a lot of drinking and it's really crowded and my family/friends don't really like to go. It's true what my new Spanish tutor here says: you don't apreciate what you have. They're so used to all the festivals and traditions that it's not interesting for them, but for me it's a cool cultural experience! Jaja anyways, I'm still having a great time :) and my spanish has gotten a LOT better!! Haha I can actually understand some of what the teachers say now, and a little of what the girls at school say, although that's still pretty hard. But I'm soo much better at understanding already! =)

Today my host family headed off to Miami to visit family there over Pesah, so I moved to Moni's best friend's house. The family is really nice, they have three kids but only one is here right now. She is nine years old and best friends with Uri, but is a little annoying. Very nice though. They also have two boys, but they aren't here right now. The mom, Mariela, is super welcoming and told me to make myself at home, just as if I was at Moni's house. I feel perfectly comfortable here, not awkward at all. I will be staying here for the week, and then they are flying to Buenos Aires to visit family (they're Jewish too) and so I'll move to another family for that week. The mom of the next family I'm going to is the president of AFS here so I've met her before, and she's nice but not as warm as Mariela. Now that Yael is gone, school is a little harder because I don't have someone explaining things to me or to go to for help with the homework. But the girls at school are very helpful so I can ask them to explain things to me. I feel like I'm getting better at Spanish, I understand more already and can speak a little better, but I'm not so good that I understand most of what the teachers say in class. Especially my physics teacher, who talks in a monotone and mumbles. But I think I'm going to get a Spanish tutor to help me out, so hopefully I will get a lot better. We went to another AFS reunion thing on Saturday and pretty much all the exchange students who have been here for around seven months speak really good Spanish (or Castellano) so I'm hoping I will be at that level too when I leave :)