A long post...

Me with a LOT of sausage at the Exposición Rural.

This is by far the biggest cow I've ever seen :-)


BBQ at the food stands


Adventures in Buenos Aires continue! This weekend was particularly productive. Thursday night I went out for dinner with Vivian's cousin's cousin's family. They were absolutely lovely, and I had a wonderful time getting to know them and enjoying a delicious meal. I'm so lucky I have so many connections down here and people to get to know!

Friday morning I woke up early to go and take a Spanish exam for one of the universities. Afterwards I went out for lunch with a few friends, went to an orientation session (a recurring theme!), and then to a synagogue for services. It was a very lively and spirited place, and we were sad that we came late and missed Kabbalat Shabbat, due to some problems with the bus. Afterwards we went to a friend's house for dinner, where they had a make your own sushi theme. Lots of fun! Dessert was dulce de leche + banana sushi, which was absolutely delicious. Dinner turned into the major social event and I saw/met lots of very interesting people. The highlight of the night was an in depth conversation with one girl about international law (IN SPANISH!).

Taking a quick break from my schedule, I noticed another recurring theme in my conversations, "maldichos" (lit bad sayings). As a non-native speaker, and someone who is still learning every day Spanish, I accidentally curse rather frequently. Luckily, people realize that I'm just making mistakes and I'm not actually trying to say something rude or inappropriate. Words that are fine in other Spanish speaking countries are curse words here, as are some literal translations from English! It makes for quite the interesting conversation when people try and explain to me what I just told them...

Back to my weekend. Saturday morning went to Jabad, where I met some Israelis who had been travelling and had a long conversation with some interesting (argentine) girls about the different universities in BA. Saturday afternoon I went to the Rural Exposition - there is no good equivalent of it in the states. It's equal parts State Fair, Livestock Show, and Rodeo. One part of it was animals - some of the largest I have ever seen! Another part was crafts and food, and a final part was a horse show. The horses were beautiful. It is very difficult to describe the horse show, so bear with me. There were approximately 8 teams of 10 horses each. However, these horses did not have riders! One horse/rider guided each team, using a horse with a cowbell. With all 8 teams on the field, they had the horses do beautiful and intricate maneuvers. At the end, all 80 horses ran across the field together, a truly beautiful sight.

After a long nap, Saturday night my friends and I went to a Tango Show/Dinner. It was a lot of fun, very delicious, and very interesting. The dancers alternated between Folkdancing and Tango. At the end, the folkdancers take members of the audience to dance with them. Being the wonderful people that they are, my friends decided to volunteer me for this! So I, Rebecca, danced Argentine folk dance in front of a room filled with people! Luckily, the professional dancer I was dancing with was very nice, and had a good time with me :-)

Today was a lazy day that I spent mostly by myself. I got up late, enjoyed a casual afternoon in a cafe, reading and people watching. Then I went to a fair for a little while, but it was a bit too cold outside, so I went to the National Museum of Beautiful Art (Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes - anyone have a better translation?) which has a very impressive collection of European painting. I went to see some friends later in the afternoon, and then came back and had dinner with Bocha. Now I'm watching a movie (with Audrey Hepburn, where she's a nun) and enjoying a relaxing night at home.

That's all for now folks! A few shout outs - Yaya, I'm so happy you're reading this! Jordyn, my mom told me you can't write comments, but it's so cool that you're following this! Mom, keep letting me know what's going on at home. AB, Reenie, Maddy, Jake, Desh, etc. - way to be awesome and keep up with me. Everyone keep me informed about life in the US and your own lives.

Besos (kisses),
Becca

PS. A few pictures...