Hola!

It is now my fourth day here in Buenos Aires and it has been a whirlwind of walking, Spanish, and new experiences to come. When I landed on Sunday and was in a taxi heading to my homestay I was full of many different emotions. From fearing the language barrier to controlling my excitement to meet the people willing to take me in for the next 6 weeks, I could barely sit still. My roommate and I walked into our apartment and were welcomed with open arms from two loving parents. They have hosted students before and are experts. Though they have kids that are now full grown, they are constantly visited by their loving grandchildren. The more people I talk to in Spanish, the better! Communication so far has been a challenge but it is getting easier. The Argentine accent is hard to adapt to compared to other Spanish speaking countries. There is a different pronunciation for certain letters that can make listening and speaking no easy feat. Our host parents are patient however and encourage us to ask questions.

Universidad Austral is about a 30-minute walk from my home, so my legs are always moving as walking is an important part to living in this city. The city is in constant motion and walking is essential in order to keep up. I do not mind the walking as it helps to balance all the empanadas I have been eating. The food here is amazing and nothing has disappointed me so far. There are so many restaurants and cafés to choose from. Luckily, I will have plenty of time to try them all out! In between all the eating and walking, I attend class three times a week through the University. I believe the class will be extremely interesting as we are learning about the various economics in Latin America. Tomorrow, I have my first meeting for my internship at Fundación Tzedaká. Fundación Tzedaká is a non-profit organization that helps with the fight against poverty in Argentina. I have no idea what to expect, but I am open to anything that the foundation needs help with. These next few weeks are going to be packed, and I would not want to have it any other way.

As I walk around the city and I look at where I will be living for the next few weeks, I could not imagine being anywhere else. This city has my heart and I hope it will become my home away from home.

I will write back again with more information as to what my internship will entail.

Chao Amigos!

Britany