The REAL fun begins!

I'm finally in Mendoza! After touring more parts of Buenos Aires, we ended our stay with a lunch along River Platte. It was freezing, but the food was good, and the river/rest of the view was beautiful! After an amazing dessert of dulce de leche, we drove to the airport and finally left for Mendoza. At the airport, many of us discussed how weird it was that our program really hadn't begun yet. After all of the activities and stuff that we had learned, we had felt that we had already experienced a good portion of the program. Not the case, as our five month stay here has barely begun!

After a forgettable 2 hour flight, we arrived. Everybody was nervous, excited, anxious, and ready all at the same time. My host brother Dan was there to meet me with his girlfriend Diana and his aunt and uncle, who are also host parents. Dan took me to our house for the next 5 months were I met my host mother Lucy and her friend who made dinner for us. Lucy showed me around the house and asked my about my life. It was overwhelming and nerve wracking talking to her (I didn't want to sound like an idiot, but in my flustered state I got in my own way, didn't pay attention, and asked her what "hombre" meant... really...), but this is why I'm here! To Learn! At dinner, it was a very relaxed affair with Lucy and her friend having a conversation, and me chiming in every now and then. I can understand bits and pieces and so far I don't think my contributions suck!

I'm loving my time in this country so far! Tomorrow is a holiday here in Mendoza, so there isn't anything I have to do as far as the program is concerned, but there are still a lot of things I need to do, like change my money and buy a list of things that I don't have but do, in fact, need.

Tomorrow is my first full day in Mendoza and I can't wait to see what it brings!