último dia de la facultad!

So today is my last day of school o my gosh! I´m all done after tonight, well besides having to study all next week for the final on the 28th. I already turned in my term paper via email because my professor is out of the country so we dont have class tomorrow. As of 10 pm tonight I will oficially be on summer vacation with one final to take eeeek! Unless I do awful on my term paper but I actually am pretty proud with what I wrote. My friend who corrected it last night told me that is was really good and that I´m an amazing writer in Spanish, there were only stupid little errors that I probably wouldve made in English as well. Its always prepositions that are the hardest for anyone and a foreign language, there just arent any rules. Anyway, so yesterday was such an amazing day! I just had a really good day. I woke up, went to class, where I dont have to see that awful negative teacher anymore thank god! Got my grade, 8 or A yay! And then went with Coralie to meet up with Tiago to watch the Brasilian futbol game. I was wearing my Brasilian tshirt and all the guys were going crazy. Argentines love Brasilian girls, it was hilarious. Everyone tells me I look Brasilian because Im colorful and beautiful lol. O well whatever o and the legs, Argentine girls have little stick legs and Brasilians have legs more like me. Anyway, then I went to my yoga class and afterwards met up with my girlfriend so that she could correct my paper which turned out to be an amazing help because I never wouldve thought to change my paper the way she did gramatically. Then we walked together and chatted about life to the bus stop. She is an amazing girl, she is from here but started learning English at 4 so she is basically native in both languages. However, I just never speak English here and she always says to me Boluda you freaking speak Spanish so well, I feel like Im talking to a native. I love it. Anyway, then I got on the bus and this city is so strange, I saw my friend from the gym on there at 2am and she was with her best friend, we chatted for a bit and some girl overheard that i was from California and said o I really want to go there! Its been my dream forever. And she was a little out there, honestly kinda goofy. SO I said well where in California? She said o I dont know i just love it all. I said well its a big state, lots of different places you could go and its completely different everywhere. She asked where i was from, so I decided to quiz her haha, so I said well its the capital do you know where the capital is? she said LA and then i made a joke saying nope you failed you cant enter california. haha. it was funny. I made a joke in Spanish, im back to my old whitty self, something I couldnt be in the beginning of my adventure here because of my lack of complete fluency in Spanish. But now look at me Im back I feel great! I speak two languages like they were equals. Anyway then today i helped out a girlfriend with her English, she read to me and I corrected her pronunciation, she actually read really well. Argentines are great! They are so eager to learn more than one language. I wish we were more like that. But i guess thats what makes me unique. Then I came home and started packing up my summer clothes since Im freezing my ass off here. I also threw away all the old junk that I dont need, school work, old papers, etc. I have one suitcase all packed. I know I still have two weeks to go but Im just soooooooo excited and i know its going to just fly. I mean 50 weeks flew by like a flash, whats two more? Well, Im going to get ready for my last classssssss! Yay! Tomorrow at 830am is the Argentine game, Im going to try and get up for it, we will see lol.
Chau all, see ya in two weeks, Im so ready for California summer weather. Im soooo cold!
Besos
O and I have almost finished my scrapbook, just the despedida and the salida left to fill but those havent happened soooo....yeah, chau!

Una obra espectacular!

Well I have finished my final term paper for the semester. All I have left to do is my final in Macro on the 28th and I am dunzoooo. WOw my term paper was super hard and detailed. I am looking it over now but I think all in all its going to turn out great. Besides the teacher isnt even going to be in class on the last day and we are emailing them to him. I take it this class doesnt really matter to him..anyway, thats how it goes here in Argentina. Good education with teachers who expect so much out of you but dont go to class. Anyway, nothing else. Tonight I went to see a show at the theatre that Cris works at, it was amazing! It was called Cariño, which means honey in Spanish. It was super crazy and spectacular! I cant explain it! It was just soooo cool! There we two guys, with amazing physics, one was a ballet dancer and the other was some sort of dancer but I dont recall, anyway freestyle dancer, doesnt matter and then a girl who had this most amazing voice. It was just really interesting. They acted sooooo I dont know emotional and inspiring, then when they were acting they were doing all of these strange things like screaming at each other, and speaking 3 different languages perfectly at once, then rubbing each other like a Madonna Vogue video. Everyone got naked on stage. Then the ballet dancer, male btw, walked around the stage for 5 minutes on his tiptoes with his ballet shoes doing all sorts of interesting and amazing things. Did I mention his legs? They were so defined! And all three had voices that were so amazing! It was definitely a show I will never forget and yes it was not anything normal, very underground theatre with lots of sex and sensuality and very very very good monologues. It was amazing that´s all I can say, enough said. Anyway, so I have three days of school next week then I have a week to study then the week after I have finals and chauuuuu! Off to USA, o my goodness! wow its really happening, its really ending. I cant sleep at night because my mind is turning in circles! Its going 100 miles per hour thinking about everything! Im so excited but yet super sad! Its such an emotional roller coaster! I wish I wouldve met my friends i have this semester last semester, well just more reason to come back to South America no? So Argentina won today, I am seriously in the best country besides Africa during the World Cup. They are crazy fanatics here! I love it! Brasil plays on Tuesday! Go Brasil! Anyway, hope all is well family and friends! Falta pocoooooo
Besossssss
R

A really good good day!

Today was an amazing day! I found out Steven got the job he wanted at Dimple Records, my boss at Starbucks told me that I can have my job back at Starbucks when I get home, and in my Macroeconomics class, because I studied so hard over the weekend, I understood everything and the teacher asked me a question in the class and I was able to answer it intelligently. Not like a stupid foreigner who cant speak the language well. Im so so so happy! And now that I have 4 weeks left, I feel super happy! Im so happy to come home and Im so happy with my Spanish and now my Portuguese. Im just in such a good mood! yay! So what happened in the class was we were discussing the exchange rates and how everything is in the perspective of the US Dollar and when it says that the exchange rate raises, this means a depreciation of the US Dollar. So the teacher said, this is very difficult because its opposite and we dont think in dollars we think in pesos argentinos. Then he said ok Ms. California what does this mean when you raise the exchange rate, why does the demand and production diminish. And I said it is like this because when the exchange rate raises, the dollar depreciates and this makes foreign products more expensive for us to buy, so we have less renta, less, production, and less demand. But I said this all in Spanishhhhhhhh yay! Im so so so so happy. Then I got home and read my email with my boss saying that he needs to know my exact date back and hopes that I still want my job. yay yay yay! What a good day. So next Tuesday I have one final, then I have another on the 28th and 30th. I still have to write a paper of 17 pages or less about Global Warming Issues and Integration in Latin America but everything will get done, especially once Im not in class anymore and I can just focus on finishing up my term papers and studying for finals. Its nice to have a 10 day break from school to study for finals haha. Anyway, family, friends...its almost here! I just paid my last months rent yesterday. Its been a wonderful year, now its time to make the list of things I want to bring home with me and what I want to see before I leave. I love you all!

Love happy Rachel

One month to go!

Me o my! Its one month to go! I cant believe it! Life here is going well, I have been focusing more time on hanging around the city and with friends as opposed to studying ooops. O well, in do time, everything will get done, just depends on how much time i give myself and if I rush things haha. Anyway, its rained all day yesterday so I took advantage and studied after leaving my friend Tiago´s house. It was nice to lay in bed in the rain and study with mate and coffee from Brazil mmmm. Then I went out to a friends bday party with a bunch of crazy ass ppl! I had to keep asking them what they were saying, not because I didnt understand what they were saying in Spanish, but because I didnt understand what they were saying in any language. I think they were either super high or drank too much. It was definitely a challenge on my language skills haha. I went with my friend Coralie who told me she is going to cry when i leave in a month. I told her if she does that I will punch her haha. Anyway, I have 3 weeks of classes and then a 10 day break for studying and then finals and then chau! I gotta get my list together of things I want to bring home, I believe a big bucket of Dulce de Leche, a soccer jersey for Dad, yerba mate, a bottle of red wine, Argentine flag, and I have no idea what else....any suggestions? o Effei´s surprise for her baby hehehe! Anyway, I love you all and I cant believe my little adventure here is almost over, this last month is going to fly by! I gotta take lots of pictures, go to Teatro Colon, una Estancia to see the life of a Gaucho haha, and an Argentine soccer game. That´s all I REALLY want to do! Anything else will be extra and a nice addition to my culture aquisition of Argentina. Anywhooooo its a lovely day, Im off to run in the park and do some meditation. My friend Tiago is coming over later to go to Barrio Chino and then Im going to make him some Feijao from Brazil, he just broke up with his BF...pobre. Chau todos!

Love Rachel

Brasilllllloooo

Well I have returned safe and sound from Brasil, it was amazing! I had such a great time but I am exhausted, we did so much in so little time as usual. We went to Porto Alegre which is in Rio Grande do Sul also known as the Gaucho part of Brasil. The Portuguese is more similar to Spanish in this part which is probably why I actually spoke Portuguese while I was there. I cant believe it, the amount of Portuguese I understood and was able to speak, I am literally on my way to being trilingual Im so happy! Anyway, we had a good time, we ate lots of food, lots of Feijao which is a black bean guiso sooooo good! lots of rice, lots of fruit, lots of chocolate from a part called Gramado. Gramado is a city outside of Porto Alegre which is really similar to Lake Tahoe and it has a bunch of little chocolate shops. It was really amazing, the whole trip. Tiago, my little Brazilian friend, well his family told me to come back always, they are soooo sweet and they wouldnt let me pay for anything! And I felt so bad because they accomodated for me for everything because I dont eat meat or milk products, ugh I felt so awful. Brasilians are the sweeetest ppl! I have to live there one day! I must! I know that if I lived in Brazil just six months, I could be fluent easily. Im going to look more into it later for my graduate studies. Anyway, what else? Not much, just back here in Buenos Aires with o my god! 35 days left, and I have to write a paper consisting of 17 pages, and then I have 3 finals and thats it. Wow its really ending really soon and then back to good old California lifestyle, right? English, surfing, and big breakfasts with eggs, bacon, and sausage haha. Well, I gotta go study now and get back into my workout routine and yoga! I havent done yoga in 5 days, I feel so mushy! Talk to you all soon!

Love Rachel the world traveller

I have 6 countries now on my list! US, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil! Yeah! Now I gotta go to Europe and Africa...
BESOS

Long time no see

Sorry friends and family, Dad, haha! I havent written in so long. I just wasnt really having anything too interesting to write about. My weeks are quickly coming to an end here. I have 5 weeks left in school and 6 weeks until I come home o my gooodness! Time to come home and speak English once again, itll be so weird! So lately, things have been going really well and I have been having a lot of fun. I also have been studying a bunch too though! I finally dont have to use a dictionary when I read and definitely when I talk, I have learned how to either just explain the word and then figure it out or most of the time I just know it and then pronounce it wrong or sometimes if Im lucky I pronounce it right haha. So what´s left for school? Well, I get my Macroeconomics midterm back tomorrow night and if I didnt pass I have a second chance to take it on the 31st, then I have my final on the 28th, then for Mercosur I have to write a paper about Integration and Global Warming in Latin America and my final for that class is the 1st of July. Then for Globalization I have just my final because I passed my midterm so I dont have to do anything special for that. I believe all I have to do is write a one page paper and talk with the professor about what I wrote about and thats it. Thatll be on the 15th of June so in one month that´s nothing! That teacher loves me anyway because I actually read the newspaper and know history on Argentina and it helps that I have lived here for the whole year and actually know the politicians that he complains about. haha! Yesterday was Buddha´s birthday and I went to my friend Cinthia´s temple and celebrated, it was really nice. I believe I will be going back to the temple on Saturdays to do some meditation with them. The Argentines who are Buddhist really remind me of my friends in Sacramento, especially all my yogi buddys. Guess being a yogi and practicing eastern spirituality when you are not Asian makes you act similiar no matter where you are. I love it, it makes me feel at home because ppl here sometimes dont understand my diet nor my love for yoga and think Im just doing it for exercise when it actually is something so much more. O and Friday I went with my buddy Coralie to go dancing which was amazing and super Argentine because as usual we didnt get home until 6 am haha. which is early! We walked home and saw a Transvestite Prostitute get into the front seat of a cab and then later a taxi driver with his pants down peeing on the side of the road and then a bunch of nuts doing other things. The morning hours of Argentina are crazy. Anyway, it was a good night, I am REALLY going to miss Coralie. She is sooooooo fun! and she loves to walk and study and I dont know I just really love her and her two friends also. And I love that she HATES to speak English too, we always speak Spanish even though she speaks English because she is Canuk but French Canuk. Anyway, Im going to visit her when she gets home in January and of course I will force her to come to Sacramento and ride bikes with me. Well, today Im going to meet my Argentine friend for lunch and then a walk to the Planetarium, Im going to try and convince her to go to the MALBA because they have a Cuban Art exhibit going on right now. O and on Friday morning I will be in Brasilllllllllll until Tuesday night! YEAH! Itll be fun! Gotta get caught up on some Portuguese before I go hahaha. Im not as good as I wanted to be but I guess when i get home I can practice more since i wont be so confused with Spanish and Portuguese when I live in California.

Well loves! I love you all and I cant wait to see your shining faces! Its almost been a year can you believe it?????
XOXOXOXOXO
Rachel

56 dias hasta el final

Only 7 more weeks of school now I cant believe it. I know all my finals dates now so now this dream is really coming to an end. I have one on the 15th, one on the 28th, the 30th, then the 1st. Im not sure right now of the one on the 30th so until Im sure I cant say when I will be home exactly but Im thinking of taking a flight if available on the 1st and be home by the 2nd. awww sad but happy all at the same time. Im really starting to feel like I live here in Buenos Aires but I cant stay forever, I have things I still need to do there in Sacramento and the US as a whole. well all my classes are going really well, I do need to do some more work on Portuguese because I have been focusing too much on my Political Science classes which is good but I would love to be able to speak a decent Portuguese some day in the future. O my! Last week I had to in my Macro class do two really embarrassing things. First off, we were in groups so I had to say my name in front of the whole class in order for the teacher to write it down on the paper for the group. Rachel Barry is a real touch name for a Latino hahahaaaaaa! I was definitely the foreigner in that moment. I had to spell it out o my gosh I was so embarrassed. Then I had to explain the mulitplying factor of an equation and how it affects consumption from year to year. I was nervous and shaky. O well its over! Atleast now I have spoken my Spanish infront of them. Its ok whatever, I gotta speak Spanish in front of natives later on soooo...might as well do it now, in a professional atmosphere. So what else? O the guys are moving! Tito got a job in the south, almost to Ushuia the culo del mundo, the ass of the world. Its like a days drive to get there from the capital. He is leaving in 15 days to set up base and see how the city is, then Cris will follow him in about 3 months, after I leave, and go find a job and such. They are going to live there for a year or so and save up money because it is double the pay. Tito told me here he loves his life but he cant enjoy it because he works soooo much. So if he has the chance of being able to save up some money, he is going to take it. o but now i have to say goodbye to him in 2 weeks! Im so sad. I made him a scarf for the cold. Its freaking freezing in the south! They will be soooooo close to Antartica! eeek! But its good, I was going to have to say goodbye sometime right? Then yesterday I said goodbye to my Taiwainese friend who is from here but moved to Taiwan 10 yrs ago and came back to visit her parents. I met her in my portuguese class. She is leaving today, we spent the day together, her, me and Eli an argentine girl. We walked around San Telmo and were being real nerds drinking mate and looking at all the stores with all the antiques. Eli´s boyfriend says that she loves all the crap in those stores, all the stuff that is unusually small. hahaha. O man she is a good friend and a neighbor too. And her boyfriend lives in another city, so she is in the same boat as me. Shes a good person to have here in the city when you get lonely or just want to chat. What else? Nothing much...things are coming to a close. Im going to see if I can make it up to Brazil before I head out of here because I really want to go and who knows if I will have the chance to later on or in the near future....later on yes but now would be better.

Anyway, love you all!
Chau chau!
Rachel