Mi familia y mi segundo día en Córdoba!

Aquí está mi familia!! 
From left to right: (me), Flor, Juan, Marcelo, Nena, y Alejandra

I actually only live with Nena! Alejandra is her daughter, whose husband is Marcelo. Their kids are Juan and Flor. They live just a few houses down from me, so they are hopefully going to be around a lot. I love this family already. They are so nice to me and are VERY forgiving when it comes to my Spanish!! Man, do I have a lot to learn! haha! 

Today was the first day of orientation and it was really nice to meet other intercambio students! It was helpful to see others in the same situation that I am. It was a long day of a lot of information, but it was helpful and I'm very excited to get to know the students more! One of the girls in my program actually lives directly across the street from me, so it was nice being able to navigate the bus and walk home together. It is pretty easy to figure out though! 

Today, right after I got home, Nena asked if I wanted to go bike riding and of course I said yes! Flor y su amigo, Mariano took me all around the area! It was fun, but also a little scary, because sometime we were riding directly next to the cars! The city is absolutely beautiful. I am not directly downtown (I guess you could call it a suburb), and I am very thankful for this! The area is really interesting to me, because it contrasts so highly between rich and poor. Sometimes there are horse-drawn wagons on the streets (which are apparently only for those who can't afford cars), which is interesting and they feel VERY out of place. The bike ride was really neat though. We stopped at a small plaza (park) and ate cookies and they taught me the "bad" spanish phrases that are ok to use when you are with your friends! :) haha! Overall, I'm already starting to love this city! 

Leaving los Estados Unidos!

Currently I am sitting in my room, in Argentina. The last part still blows my mind. I have spent months preparing for this trip and I still cannot believe that it is actually here! 

The travel part was interesting. I had three separate flights, the longest being 10 and a half hours from Houston to Buenos Aires. I have never traveled alone, nor have I ever traveled for 15+ hours by plane! It was quite the emotional roller coaster. There were times when I was completely content and resting in God's peace and others where I was both physically and emotionally exhausted and on the verge of tears. It was incredible however, how God continually answered my prayers and provided for me along the way. 

Before my flight to Buenos Aires, I was incredibly nervous. In Buenos Aires, it would be necessary for me to switch airports, which happen to be almost an hour apart. I honestly had no idea what to expect in regard to traveling between the two. However, after my flight switched gates in the Houston airport (for the third time), I ended up next to a woman and her daughter who happened to be from Buenos Aires! I talked to them in Spanish and they helped me understand what the situation would be. I felt so much better after this. THEN when I was on the plane, I happened to sit next to a man who is a travel agent in Buenos Aires and he also helped me understand what to do with the airport situation, but this time he explained mostly in English! God was clearly showing me that He had already gone before me and would take care of me every step along the way. It was incredible. When I actually arrived in Buenos Aires, things went pretty smoothly, but the bus I was supposed to take wasn't going to get me to the airport in time, so I was forced to take a taxi. I was honestly almost crying at this point because I had heard that the taxis aren't very safe. Thankfully, my driver was amazing and super kind. He talked to me a lot and helped me with Spanish. Once again, God was totally providing for me. 

By the time I finally reached Córdoba, I'm pretty sure that I had gone through just about every emotion possible. It was amazing to finally meet my family though and it was such a relief to finally be with someone who I knew would take care of me. I didn't do much the first night. I got to see the house (which is definitely a cute, grandma house! :) ), unpack my things, eat dinner, and then Skype my family! It was a very smooth transition. Thank you God!