Wine, Beef, and Tango!

As incredibly cliche as it sounds, I don't even know where to begin to describe life so far down here. It's 8:00 pm and I'm sitting on our back patio, surrounded by old vines, trees, rose bushes, and half-planted teracotta pots. Looking up I can see the balconies of all of the rest of the people in the building that live above me, and the other three buildings surrounding ours. There is a light on four floors up and someone is playing the piano - I'm completely overwhelmed by the beauty and friendliness of the city, and I am quickly falling deeply in love.

This past week we have all gotten a quick taste of almost all parts of the city. We've seen the Obelisk, a huge white monument that resembles (or we copied...) the Washington Monument in D.C.. It is only a few blocks from my house, and marks the center of Avenida 9 de julio - the largest Avenue in the world...as the portenos like to brag.

History factod!: El 9 de julio (the 9th of July) is the independence day for the Argentine people when they separated from the rule of the Spanish.

My host mom is wonderful. Her name is Ana Maria and she is a fabulous cook. I have tasted something new every meal, and really gotten in to the swing of eating at such strange hours (10 pm for dinner!). There are three, count them, three shoe stores on my block, not to mention an adorable little cafe with desserts in the window that look divine! The coffee here is great too...and by great I mean that is one thing that I already know I will REALLY miss. Coffee here does not exist in grande or venti portions - there is absolutley no such thing. Even if there was, no one would buy it because the coffee is so rich to begin with. Here, the sizes are small, smaller, and espresso shot. But it is delicious nonetheless.

To be continued...(i need to start another message because I'm running out of space!)