"Every new begining starts from some other beginning's end.."

Taking naps is usually one of my numerous talents, but I'm having trouble falling asleep in my hotel room in Buenos Aires. Plus, I haven't updated in a while so I figured now would be a good time so I don't forget the millions of things that I've done in the past week.

It's crazy how time works when you're traveling. Sometimes I feel like time is passing really slowly since we're cramming so much into each day, but at the same time it feels like just yesterday that we walked off the plane in Cusco to start our adventure.

Anywhere, where did I leave off? Ah, sandboarding. Definitely something to check off the "Do This Once in Your Life" list. I've never been snowboarding, but I plan to sometime in the near future and hope it's at least a little bit easier than sandboarding. Even Layla and Laura who are veteran snowboarders had a bit of a rough time on the dunes. So, you can only imagine what I looked like. I was by far the worst of our group, having two speeds: 1) really, really fast and 2) on my butt. Most times down I was in gear 1 for about 1/3 of the hill and then gear two for the rest. Apparently I'm "goofy" (meaning I naturally put my right foot forward on the board), and for some reason the only direction I could even go in was left. Zach and Hils, you're going to have to give me some lessons.

Despite being intensely sandy (I swear I was still finding sand in my ears/belly button for 3 days afterwards) we really enjoyed the rest of our "tour," which included walking through a cave followed by a little bit of a hike up to an absolutely incredible view of the sunset. Our guides took us to an aread further away from the normal tourist place where most people go which was awesome. The internet here is mediocre at best so I can't put up any pictures right now but promise to upload some once I get to my homestay. I have some great ones of the sunset (and of me spilling...)

On Saturday (our last in San Pedro) everyone was feeling a little bit restless from traveling, so we all split up and kind of did our own things. Layla and I ended up walking to the edge of town where, just 15 minutes away from a fairly touristy destination we found ourselves completely isolated except for a few occasional passersby on bike. We're both complusive picture takers and spent the afternoon experimenting with all of the different settings on our cameras. Some of them turned out really well (and I'll eventually put them up). In the evening we took a bus to Calama, another city in Chile to spend the night before our hectic day of travel.

Sunday/Monday ended up being a bit hellish, since Maggie and I while planning had the admitedly no-so-brilliant idea to take a flight from Calama to Buenos Aires, then take a ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay and then a bus from Colonia to Punta del Este. All in all it was a 24-hour ordeal, but it saved us a couple hundred of dollars so I think it was worth it in the end (read: Mom and Dad will be appreciative!)

Punta del Este is a picturesque beach town where I'd been 4 years ago when visiting my friend Agustina (who's from Montevideo). I think we were all a little thrown off at first at its similarity to the East Coast in the US (it reminded me of Stone Harbor/Martha's Vineyard/what I imagine Cape Cod to look like), especially after we had gotten so used to blatently looking like foreigners in our previous travels. We got some good beach time in, and it was definitley a nice way to relax before we all began our semesters.

On Wednesday we met up with Agustina who was an amazing tour guide for us (and who managed to make us feel a little less tourit since we were with a real Uruguayan..). She took us around the old part of the city, which is incredibly charming, and then drove us along the coast and to a little park over looking the ocean and the rest of the city. It was very serene, and as we sat in the grass I kind imagined us taking this big collective deep breath before we dove into study abroad. Later, we got to hang out with some of Agustina's friends (who all play men's field hockey) which was a lot of fun. I'm amazed at how friendly everyone is down here.

Yesterday we took the ferry from Montevideo to Buenos Aires. Alex and Maggie split off to do their own exploring of the city while Laura, Layla and I began our orientation. It officially began today at FLACSO, which is our university/program headquarters (but we'll be taking classes at several different universities, kind of confusing). It was long but not too boring. I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed by Americans at the moment (which I guess sounds dumb considering I'm American and was just traveling with 6 others, but I think I just got used to being the minority) but my two roommates at the hotel are really nice and we've been hanging out with 3 of the other girls from Georgetown who are all really cool. Tomorrow we move in with our host families! I'm really excited. I got an e-mail from them the other day - they're a mom, dad, daughter (19) and son (15) and they sound very nice and welcoming. I'm definitely ready to get settled/do some laundry/stop living out of a backpack.

Alright, well I'm sure you've all been tempted to stop reading by the point (I know I ramble), plus I should start getting ready for dinner (we're planning to leave around 11... I'll have to explain the Argentine concept of time in my next post). Hope everyone's doing well back in the EEUU, lots of love from BA.

p.s. Don't judge me for still liking that Semisonic song.