Hola Bend-Mt

Here is an update for you guys. I've been here almost a month, and am living in Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. I live in the neighborhood of Kilometer 8, meaning I live 8 kilometers outside of downtown – which makes it a little inconvenient to experience the city life, but I'm beginning to master the bus system here. We actually have city busses, running every half hour – and I take these busses to go to school, visit friends, and run errands downtown. I'm learning the system well and how to hold on to handrails tightly as the busses speed through traffic, how to weave through a packed bus of people to get to the back exit, and how aggressively step aboard at a crowded bus stop.

I am going to a biology oriented high school, in the grade called Segundo, which means I'm with 16 and 17 year olds. Initially I thought it was going to be a return to painful immaturity, but so far things are working out quite well. In general, I'd say the kids are friendlier here than in the U.S., helping to eliminate the difference in age. A couple of my better friends are serious rugby players, and generally most of our classmates attend their games, which is also fun and has helped me transition just by spending time outside of school with other kids.

There are discos, called boliches in Argentina, and I've gone to two so far. For 15 – 20 year olds, discos are the most popular way to spend a Friday night. Thus far, the dancing and music for six hours in the middle of the night has been exhausting for me, and then finding a ride home on a 7:00 a.m. bus or with my host mom before she goes to work is also tiring. I guess I haven't really adapted to this part yet; no sleeping and continuous Cumbia, the type of dance music with a slower Latino beat, is definitely all new for me. But my friends here love it and can dance for hours and hours.

Right now, I'm trying to plan a trip to do some skiing in Bariloche, a city about ten or twelve hours away by bus, the ski season ends on October 15^th. I have an exchange friend from Holland who lives there. We just met last weekend at an exchange meeting with all the kids in Patagonia. Later in November we have an 18 – 20 day Patagonia tour, which I'm anxiously awaiting. I'm ready to see some more of Argentina, since my city is mostly desert, oil drills, some windmills, rocky littered beaches, and a ton of wind. I've been letting my experiences with the people here dictate the beauty of the city, but I'm also ready to see beautiful parts of Patagonia. Downtown is its best redeeming quality, I always run into a friend or someone I recently met. Generally I cruise different streets looking for a place to buy grilled meat, since the barbequed meat is the staple of the national diet. Sometimes I do other things than only look for meat, but after being the only meat-eater in an all vegetarian family, I'm enjoying my new freedom.

My Spanish is definitely improving. I'm not fluent yet but can have conversations and talk over the phone alright. My biggest difficulty thus far, has been that Argentine culture includes a lot of rapid speech, laughing, shouting, screaming, and singing. It is in these times I feel slow and lost, understanding nothing. But I have had a few glimpses of fluency where I understand everything perfectly and can say exactly what I wish to say, but usually five minutes later our entire classroom with blow up laughing and singing, while the teacher's probably trying to explain something, and I understand nothing. The dialect here is also different from the Mexican dialect, what I learned in school. I picked up most of the pronunciation differences within a few days, but do fear that when I return to the U.S. and try and speak Spanish with Hispanics that they make think I'm crazy or lost when using the Argentine accent.

For after school recreation, I've joined a basketball team which is a lot more relaxed than the basketball in U.S. high schools. We have practice about twice a week and have one or two games a week. I'm getting a lot of playing time in games, making new friends, and learning Spanish basketball terminology (although, pick and roll is still pick and roll). Usually on Tuesday and Thursday nights I go to an English language institute where my two host sisters study. I gave a couple informal presentations about the United States and Oregon, and just spoke some English to help the professors with their accents. The owner and head professor of the institute desperately wanted to repay me for my time. I didn't need money and didn't accept it, so eventually we worked out a deal where she can work with me on my Spanish grammar after each of the classes I attend. I'm hoping that after her help and all the time in Argentina, I will be able to speak semi-elegantly and even be able to read books towards the end of the year.

My transition with the exchange hasn't been too difficult in this first month. I haven't missed home, but there definitely have been times where it's been lonely not being able to communicate or express a broader range of ideas and feelings with the language. Now I've settled into a regular rhythm of life, the newness has worn off, and I'm just living how Argentines live. At this point, I feel comfortable with the pace of things

That should do it for now. If anyone has specific questions or wants to know more, don't hesitate to email me. And thank you all again for sponsoring me on this exchange. I wish everyone in the club the best of luck.

Chau,

Ryan