Everything is New

I sit here at my desk writing, six thousand miles away, in another hemisphere far south of the equator. Winter is not officially over here, though the weather hovers in the sixties with gorgeous blue skies and penetrating sunshine which warms everything it touches. This light now peaks through my fourth floor window and the roar of the city street below fills my ears as my cafe con leche grows cool.

When I arrived in Buenos Aires after an exhausting full day of travel, an ominous fog hung over the landscape. Stepping off the plane I knew immediately that I was in a different world. Conversations filled the air around me but I could not understand them the way I do at home. Straining, I clung hungrily to the familiar words and expressions that I was able to detect.

My Lexia group assembled in the main hall of the airport. There are twelve of us, all very different and all never having met before. We boarded a bus wich would take us to our host families. We would remain there until 8 o´clock when a taxi would arrive to take us to an orientation dinner. Dinner in Argentina is usually taken at 9:30, something we would need to adjust to. The bus dispersed us individually around the gigantic city. I was nervous to find out where I would live and to be left alone for the day. Each time the bus braked my heart lurched forward in anticipation. I was one of the last to disembark. My host parents, I was told, were not home for another day, but an American student was living in the apartment and could help me adjust.

I must say I have been adjusting well. Despite the difficulties with language, navigating the busy city, and forming new relationships in a strange place, I am very happy here. In fact I am suprised by the smile that I wake with each morning. Three and a half months of adventures lay before me and I have already met so many wonderful people and seen so many new things. My only responsibilities here are to learn and explore and that is exactly what I intend to do.