Terminando las Clases, los Examenes, y Tengo un Mes Libre!

Yes my dear readers, I have completed my first quarter in Argentina. Two months ago I wouldn't have thought I'd have made it to mid December and been happy about the prospect of 4.5 more months here. Despite the bad food, increasingly sweltering heat, salty bottled water, and missing home I have survived almost three months in a foreign country. Once I got adjusted it hasn't been nearly as hard as it was in the beginning.
This week was finals week. On Monday I had my Folklore exam and got a 91%, which means I should have an A in the class. Tuesday was my Composition and Orthography finals. I don't know what my Comp exam grade was but my final grade is an A which was all that matter and my final grade in Orthography was an A-. Conversation, Grammar, and History were Wednesday. I must have an A or A- in Conversation because my professor told me I would be able to move up to Advanced 1 next quarter. Grammar I got an A and I'm still waiting for my History final grade. Yesterday was my free day like the rest of the semester. I spent 3 to 3.5 hours in the ice cream parlour, Gridos, and used their internet to call my parents and some friends from school. Today was my open book Geography final in which we had to create a brochure for two regions of Argentina and advertise the finer tourist spots in those regions. I think I did fairly well on it. Hopefully I've walked away with all A's this quarter so I can boost my GPA a little bit.
I've added a trip to my Christmas Vacation plans. Next Wednesday I'm off with three friends, Megan, Tanique, and Erin, to the beaches of Uruguay. We're going to spend 4 wonderful days on the beaches relaxing and recovering from a rather stressful three months. We return on the 17th and on the 19th I leave for Trelew, Bariloche, Penguins and Chocolate. :-)
Four ACA students are returning home for good at the end of this week. They only planned to be here for the quarter and now get to go home. Two leave today (Molly and Tyler), one tomorrow (Tina), and the last on Sunday (Daryl). It's sad to see them go and makes staying here during Christmas a little harder but next quarter we will be traveling to Iguaze Falls in the province of Misiones and in February, Machu Picchu! April is the trip to Rio de Janeiero in Brazil and May (if plans work out the way we'd like) Megan will be coming down during the last week and after my last final we'll be having our own little excursion through Argentina before I come home. The next 4ish months are going to go by really fast, which is good and bad at the same time. I've been able to recognize that my Spanish is actually improving even though I don't feel like I'm really learning. I use it more readily and I understand more or can pick up the general idea a lot quicker than I used to.
Next quarter I will be taking Advanced 1 language courses (yay!!) and several other classes that will be good as well.
Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! And may God bless.