1 month, 1 class down!

(l to r) back row: Ricardo, Daiu, Heather, Patrick, Ally, Kelsey, Brice.  in front: me, Michelli 

I may be jumping the gun by two days, but it's (nearly) official!  I've been here for a month now.  My Curso intensivo has finished; we just took the exam today.  I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on the past month.  So, I came here for many reasons.  I wanted to have a true cultural immersion to learn not only about my host culture... but also my own.  I wanted to meet new people.  Finally, I wanted to improve my Spanish skills.  I am having a cultural immersion, but I don't feel like I've quite been here long enough to discuss it.  I have met some great people, but I look forward to meeting even more in the coming weeks.  My Spanish has absolutely improved since I've been here.  It is the hardest for me to speak Spanish in the morning, but everyday I improve a little more and a little more.  My goals are to still expand my working vocabulary and lose a bit more of my "gringo" accent.  I love the accent here and hope to pick it up soon.  Additionally, it has been easy for me to understand people around me since I arrived here.  People say that they Spanish here is "dirty," muddled by the influence of Italian immigrants but I find it pleasing to the ear and very understandable as well.  I love sitting on the bus just to listen to the conversations around me.  Every day it becomes easier and easier to follow along with less and less effort.  Of course, I have my days.  There are times when I cannot string three words together in Spanish for love or money.  (Okay... perhaps that is a slight exaggeration.)  Other days, I cannot keep my mouth shut!  Sometimes I surprise myself with the ease at which I can carry on a conversation with a native speaker.  Other times, I listen to young people talking around me and feel desperate and disheartened.  I don't know if I will ever be able to speak as rapidly and with as wide of a vocabulary as these people, but I am determined to try.  I know that in the next five months, a lot depends on me getting out there and opening up, making friends with locals and other hispanohablantes.  I am actually quite excited to get in the classroom with the other students, for the challenge and the opportunity.  I know that before I know it, I will be writing a review of the past six months I spent in Argentina... but I plan to enjoy it as much as I can and put as much into this experience as I can!