I Made It!

Buenos dias! That would be about the extent of the Spanish I have learned so far. Although that is not entirely true. I already new "buenos dias." We haven't started classes yet. From what I hear we won't be starting them until next week. Today I took a placement test. I did ok on the first page I think but the rest I'm pretty sure I did bad on. I tried to figure out the words I didn't know or find a pattern, but I don't think that really worked. I'm guessing I'll be placed in the Intermediate level, but I've been told that shuffle people around depending on how quickly they progress. So if I study really hard then I might move up a level by next quarter or the last. But enough about that, I'm sure you would like to know about my traveling here and the last few days.

Sunday, I packed the last remaining items and my dad loaded up the car. Since I was flying out of Reagan National Airport, we decided to do one last lunch together at my favorite Thai restaurant, Thai at Silver Spring. A few of my friends came, as well as my grandmother, Aunt Marilyn, and one of my favorite professors, Mr. Grant. Lunch was awesome and then we went off to the airport.
Since I already purchased a round trip ticket, my stay in Argentina is technically longer than what is allowed by the Argentine government for tourists. This flagged in the Delta computer and it took 30 minutes of explaining to the guy behind the counter and showing him the letter from the school for me to get my ticket and be able to check my bags. He was really nice about everything too. Once that was done, we headed to the security line. My family waited until I was all the way through security and they couldn't see me anymore before they left.
I was about an hour early for my flight from DC to Atlanta, but I new that once I got to Atlanta I was going to have to be really fast to make my connecting flight. I only had an hour before the flight was supposed to take off and the ticket indicated that boarding was to begin just 10 minutes after I landed in Atlanta. Thankfully, my first flight landed a few minutes early. I collected my things really quick and figured out where my next terminal was. I half speed walked to the train and made it to my gate a few minutes before they started boarding passengers. That gave me enough time to call my parents and talk to them again before my flight.
Once on the flight, I met a girl from the ACA program named Tiffany. She sat across the aile from me. We talked a little bit and ended up decided to get through the Buenos Aires airport together in case we didn't meet up with anyone else. It was a long flight but it wasn't terrible. The food wasn't good but I did get to sleep a little bit.
When we landed, Tiffany and I met Megan. She had organized the Facebook group for all the ACA students in our program. We waited in this long line, but finally an airport representative came and asked whether we were Argentine citizens and, since we weren't, directed us into an different line. The customs officers took our passports and our $160 for our tourist visas. We had to wait in another line to give our thumb prints and to have our pictures taken for them. Megan and I got through at about the same time so we waited for another girl, Vernee', Tiffany, Brittany and her mom.
I found my bags in the baggage claim area pretty quickly. Vernee', however, didn't find one of her bags so a few of us waited for her to talk with the airport people to figure out what happened with her bag. They decided that someone mistook her bag for theirs. She ended up finding her bag later.
When we finally got out of baggage claim and into the airport, we met Haroldo, the ACA coordinator. He had us wait for a few minutes for somebody to take us to the other terminal where the rest of the ACA students were. His wife came to take us there a few minutes later. We had to wait a really long time before we left for the airport. There were some students that were delayed or had later flights. We didn't end up leaving the airport until almost 2 pm. Stephen, a guy from Andrews, started doing card tricks. Some students fell asleep. I stood around and talked to some people, watched Stephen do some tricks, and almost started a game of Kames with Kyly, Khelsea, and Jason but then they told us to go get on the buses.
Of course we thought we were going to leave, but that was not the case. We sat on the buses for atleast 30 minutes before we headed to the mall where we were going to eat lunch. It was a nice mall. I ate with Marvin and Jane, we all got some strange version of Chinese food. It wasn't the worst but definitely not the best.
The bus ride from the mall to the Universidad was about 5.5 hrs. It was a really long trip. We got to the school after dark, waited for the drivers to unload our suitcases, and walked to our dorms.
I have two roommates, Karen and Andrea. They are pretty nice. They know English so it 's hard to force myself to speak Spanish. I have the top bunk, which I don't like because the beds are really small and they don't have rails. However, I can't complain too much because I think I may have more storage space than they do. I unpacked my stuff and went to sleep basically as soon as I was done.
Just for some perspective: my first flight from DC to Atlanta was at 6 pm on Sunday (9-16). Atlanta to Buenos Aires was at 9 pm (9-16). I landed in Buenos Aires at 8:30 am 9-17 (which was 7:30 am East Coast time). We arrived at UAP around 10 or 10:30 pm 9-17. It was a really long day.
Tuesday we had a brief orientation. It wasn't the most exciting thing and since they weren't really telling us much important information I played Sudoku. Later in the afternoon, we were finger printed. The school is going to get us Student Visas this year which I think is really cool. The fingerprinting took a really long time. It started at around 2 pm and ended closer to 5pm. After that, a missionary from the US who is teaching English to the faculty and staff here spoke to us about culture shock.
Chineydu has been here for about a year. She told us lots of things that we may or may not know and the best strategies to adapt. It was a nice little talk,but I was glad when it was over.
Lunch and dinner yesterday weren't terrible but not good either. It seems that they have rice and beans at every meal, but I was told by Andrea that that is not an Argentine thing. Lunch also had a weird mixed vegetables thing but I'm not sure what it was. It didn't really have any taste. Dinner was pizza but it didn't have much sauce so it was more like bread and cheese. I'm definitely going to have to find some hot sauce. Hot sauce can make just about anything be ok to eat. If anything you put enough on so all you taste is the hot sauce and nothing else.
Last night I had a little issue. I didn't realize the key to one of my closets doesn't actually work in the other closet. The key fits and locks the doors but it doesn't unlock the door. I don't have much in there except for one suitcase, my towell, and my toothbrush. The dean didn't have a key to the door either. I was pretty upset because I didn't know how I was going to get in to get my towell or toothbrush. Thankfully they called somebody and he came to open the door.
I finally got the internet to work on my tablet computer last night. I was having problems with it but it's working pretty well right now. The internet is very slow but it works so that's all thaet matters. I have google voice so I'm able to text my family and friends still. I also got to skype with my sister and my parents last night. I was really glad for that.
Today I took the placement test that will determine some of the classes I will be taking. I'm not sure when we begin classes but I hope soon. I heard that the end of November is when we are going to Machu Pichu. I haven't seen a calendar yet so I'm not sure. I think that's all for now. This afternoon we're supposed to go on a tour of the campus and town so hopefully I'll find the store so I can buy full bottles of shampoo and stuff.
Anyways, I hope all is well in the US. Farewell for now.
Oh by the way, I will be posting pictures soon, probably tonight once the internet speeds back up.