Life Keeps Moving Along In BA . . .

Well, it´s Tuesday. Happy Valentine´s Day everyone!!! Things seem pretty routine here. I´m getting more and more comfortable in my suroundings. I haven´t used my map for days!

Sunday I wandered around for a bit and then spent several hours at a cafe sipping wine, doing homework, reading the paper (in English), and writing letters. I was surprised that all the shops and gyms were closed on Sunday. The only thing that was open were the cafes and the internet/phone place that I come to (which always seems to be open).

Yesterday I had class and then went to the park with some wine (in a giant juice box - haha) and champagne and hung out with friends. Then a few of us did another bar and went out for Mexican food. I was really excited to see my first Mexican restaurant, however, the food was extremely disappointing in the sense that it was entirely unmexican. The margaritas came as shots and the taco type things were more like empinadas. No rice to be found anywhere on the menu. Oh well . . . . Can´t have it all I guess. At least they have decent pizza here.

Today, I had a doctor´s appointment before school. I contracted a nasty case of ¨white dots¨ on my shoulders and upper chest caused by the sun while on SAS. They didn´t bother me too much in Chicago, but now that I´m here and wearing considerably less clothes (due to the fact that it´s summer) they have really been bothering me. The doctor was supposed to speak English, but her English was only slightly better than my Spanish. Anyways, she didn´t have her perscription pad with her today, so I have to go back on Thursday and pick up a perscription. She is giving me four pills to take once a week for four weeks. Then, I should be able to even the dots out with the sun. I kind of wish I had this taken care of before I left, but I kept thinking they were going to go away. Plus, my $15 doctor´s visit here would have cost me ten times that at home. After my appointment, I went to school as usual. I am learning. It´s really hard to take it all in. And, sometimes I feel like I´ll never really put together a conversation. But, each day, I notice that I know a little more. When I dropped my laundry off this afternoon, my conversation was considerably better than the first time.

As tonight is Valentine´s Day you might expect that I´d be doing something with Ben. But, I´m not. I told him that first time the day came up, last week, that I did not want to celebrate it and I thought we should do seperate things on V Day. I just thought that something like that was too much pressure for a new relationship. So, apart from a Happy Valentine´s Day text message, we are not celebrating it together. I am, however, getting dressed up and going out with my girlfriends for a fancy dinner this evening.

So, you´re pretty well updated now. Can´t think of much more to discuss!!! I´ll try to write again soon!

Chao,
Amber