Viva Argentina: Happy Holidays!

Hello Everyone! I hope all had a very Merry Christmas and are getting ready for a happy and prosperous New Year! I know it's been way too long since my last post. I always find myself sit down to write and then get distracted...it's pretty easy to do when you have a whole new country to be exploring! Like last post, everything continues to be going great. It goes without saying that I've been a little homesick over the holidays but, of course, I was expecting that. However, that definitely doesn't mean my holiday season hasn't been good. My mom sent me a box that I received the week before Christmas with a Santa hat, some candy canes, five packs of gum, sugar cookie ingredients and frosting, cookie cutters, and a letter. That was really fun to be able to bring that tradition to my family and make sugar cookies with my cousins. They really enjoyed that activity and thought they were absolutely delicious. A few days later, I received a box from my Grandma and Grandpa Harmon with a 2 lb. bag of Reeses, 2 lb. bag of Sour Patch Kids, a pin for my host mom, two ornaments for the Christmas tree (it needed some...bad), and a letter. My friends and family have been absolutely fascinated by all the sweets sent and various people have recently promised me that they'll send me dulce de leche if I send them American candies when I get home. I celebrated Christmas by going out to dinner with my host dad, his girlfriend, and my two siblings late Christmas eve. We went to this huge buffet that pretty much had every type of food you could imagine: asado, seafood, sushi, asian, salad bar, etc. Obviously there aren't many gifts here because of the financial status but my host dad and his girlfriend gave me a jar of dulce de leche :) Then, after dinner, we went to the my host grandma's house (Nuki's mother) where that part of the family was. I opened two gifts: an Argentinian flag and a little bathroom bag with a caramel inside. On Christmas Eve, my host siblings and the older host cousins went out to go dancing but I decided to come home and pass the night with my younger cousins, aunts and uncles, and the grandparents. On the 25, we slept in until 12 or so and then left for the Aunt's house 40 km. outside of the city to spend the day. It's nice to go there when we're going to be together for for than a few hours just because it's more spread out and there's more space-like the cabin or ranch. We ate lots, swam in the pool, walked to the river to go swimming, and played some cards. For New Years, we will probably meet up on the 31st at the grandma's house to eat and chat for awhile. Then, at 7 am on the morning of the 1st, my cousins and I are planning on walking to my aunt's house. It is 40 kilometers away and we are estimatiing 6 to 7 hours of walking. Lots of water and sunscreen will be used that day for this girl!! I'll have to let you guys know how that goes :) These last few days I've just been hanging around. I really don't have much time left so my excuse that I have plenty more time to buy things here doesn't work too well anymore! I went to the Paseo de los Artes (artisan street market) with my host sister and I've met up with a few friends in the center to do some shopping and to eat lunch or dinner. Sometimes, I just go for a walk for a few hours on a main big street close to my house where I often find a few things I like and sit down to eat at some cute little cafe :) A few days, I've met up with friends from either school or AFS to go to a park and share some mates and chat...that's something I'm going to miss when I come home. It's been so so hot here. The 24th was 104, the 25th sbout 95, and the 26th 103....I seriously don't think it's dropped below 85 or 90 the entire past week and 75 in the night. That will be a nice welcome to Montana come January 17th...wooh. Speaking of which, January 17th is only 19 days away. And January 13, when I leave my friends, family, and new home is even sooner-15 days. That's two weeks and one day, so so crazy. I'm trying to use every last day that I have here to it's fullest and enjoy every last second I spend here in Cordoba, Alright, chau amigos (bye friends) Hasta luego (until later)...nos vemos pronto (muy muy pronto) (see you all soon (very very soon)!!! <3 Kerri