weekend

Today is the final day of dentist visits, and my mom is looking and feeling much better. We'll be leaving for Campinas on Wednesday (we have to be at the airport at 3 am, so it'll feel more like Tuesday).

I'm really happy to be going back to Brazil. I'm curious about my job there, and the people I'm going to meet once I start working. I've already had some contact with some of the other teachers and staff at EAC, and everyone is really amicable. The overall vibe in Campinas is really positive, and everything is "bom" and "legal" for the Brazilians.. I'm glad I already have a network of people that can make me feel more at home and settled. Its always hard to move, and it makes me feel more at ease that I'm getting messages in my inbox on Facebook and gmail from people that have heard I am new to the school, and want to invite me out places.

I love being in Argentina, but its so different being here in winter than in the summer. The main purpose of my visit this time was to see family, and I saw tons of cousins, aunts, and uncles the first few days. I'll also be seeing a bunch of them tomorrow for a going away party they've arranged for us. Still, I am happy I'll be in the southern hemisphere for a while.. From now on, I'm keeping my visits to Argentina for the summer time here (December-Feb) and going to the states for the summer there. No more cold weather everrrrrrrrr. Argentina is so beautiful in the spring in summer too. The lakes are full to the brim, people are out enjoying the sun, and there are millions of wildflowers all over the mountains. It's a very different story here when it's cold because the climate is so dry and there is very little rain. Everything dies. In the last 6 years I've only been able to visit in the winter because of my summer breaks in Florida. I also get moody in when its cold.. I can't even take air conditioning at restaurants sometimes! My body just isn't made for weather below 50 degrees.

Following warmer weather will be easier now.I also looked up the weather in Campinas and it's 80 degrees there. AND its winter there too. I'll say yes to tank tops and 75 degree weather over 25 degrees and snow anyday.

This weekend I followed my folks to several neighboring cities here in Cordoba. La Falda, Cruz Chica, Yanti, and Cosquin. Cosquin is known as the capital for folklore music. We ended up arriving on the last night of their winter folk festival, and bought tickets to a peña. Basically a peña is a folk music gathering, where artists come in and play about 5 songs each. Folk music here varies greatly from region to region. You have Sambas which are mainly played with classic guitars, and drums called bombos, which I really like. As well as Altiplano music, which comes from way up North where there are more indigenous tribes so the music includes flutes and other Bolivian instruments So while all these bands are playing, you eat, drink, clap, and an MC introduces everyone and gets the crowd participation going. At one point they selected me to participate in a contest where I had to yell, almost like yodeling. It's a noise made by natives to show they like the music that's being played and it's kind of like an 'aay yayay yay yayyyyyyyyyyyy". It was super embarrassing, but I ended up winning because the other lady up there with me was too shy to yell very loud. I won a box of alfajores.

We also stopped at this amazing waterfall in Yanti, in a little cove that used to be inhabited by Comenchingones, a native tribe that used to live in Cordoba. It was such a relaxing little place, and the waterfall kept the place so alive because of the moisture. It was nice to see so much green, the only green I'd seen here thus far. Super beautiful.

I will be adding pictures to this blog at some point,by the way. Once I have a dependable internet connection again, I promise to upload some visuals. My apartment, food, trips, all that good stuff.

I've been studying Portuguese like whoa.

Eu estoy aprendendo muito Portugues. Eu gosto muito de falar, mas preciso de empezar as clases na sexta feira pra falar melhor,.

( I am learning Portuguese. I like speaking it, but need to start classes this Friday to speak better)

I think I wrote that the right way.. Grammer is a bitch in Portuguese. Its the articles that get me... meu deus.