Todo Sobre de Mi Madre

So I got another email from my Host mother, Mimi, today. It was short, but it was soooo funny, and I think I'm gonna love her!
Basically the email said how she realized that my arrival date was so soon, and that she can't wait to meet me, and telling me that it's really hot in Argentina right now. (I like that news. I like warm weather!)
But the funny part of the email was that she asked if I could do her a gran favor and bring her Advil and "Pleasures" by Estee Lauder, because she's crazy about different perfumes.
Of course I can bring advil, but I don't know how much the perfume would cost, but it was funny how she went on about how collecting perfumes was her hobby.
That's all for now!

WebChat!

So today CC-CS hosted an hour long webchat for students going to Argentina for this spring semester. It's good thing I participated in the webchat, it helped to clear a lot of jitters.

So basically they have everything arranged so that there will be someone there to pick us all up at the Córdoba airport and bring us straight to our host families homes. And the orientation process will also include helping us get our visas and cell-phones. According to the chat, cell-phones are pretty cheap in Argentina. (I'm guessing if you're getting a go-phone type.)

Jennifer Walton (another Hollins student) was also on the chat, so that was fun! We both mentioned how we'd be glad to be rid of "Moody food" for a semester, and no one else knew what we were talking about.

I'm actually kinda bummed my suite mate, Taylor, didn't join the webchat. It would've been nice to get to know him a little better before we met in Córdoba. But I guess I could just contact him over facebook.

Also, we talked about traveling to other places during our semester in Argentina. Shana, one of the CC-CS "officials" asked if anyone would even be going so far as visiting Peru! I would love to do that, but I don't know how feasible that would be on my budget. Not that I don't have a lot of money, but I'm trying to be realistic.

The one trip I have to make is to Villa Maria which is north of Córdoba. That's where Lorena and Maggie live, and I'd love to make the trip to visit and see them again!

I'm even more excited now to be going down, and now I'm more excited to meet the other CC-CS students as well!

I've actually talked to Lorena a little bit yesterday over facebook. Basically she was warning me about how hot it was down there right now. Apparently they've been consistently in the 90's! But she said the heat is bearable.

And this may be a little TMI for some people, but be mature about it. Today, I was reminded that although I can just buy pads down in Argentina, I should probably bring down my whole supply of American tampons. For those of you that don't know, most foreign countries don't have tampons with applicators, and that doesn't sound fun to me.

Also, I want to say that I can't wait to go down to Argentina and BE FREE OF CISCO CLEAN ACCESS SYSTEM FOR A WHOLE SEMESTER! It is such a pain in the butt!

It's already kicked me off the internet twice while typing this one post up! Good thing blogger autosaves drafts as you're typing them. It saved me from a LOT of re-typing.

That's all for now! See you!

First Post

Hola! Soy Victoria!

I'm going to be heading down to Córdoba, Argentina on Feb 4th. Well, that's when I leave the country, but I won't actually be arriving there until the 5th.

I'm so excited and nervous at the same time. Excited because I'm studying abroad and will be spending an entire semester in an awesome country (and I LOVE to travel!) It will also be my first time visiting the continent of South America, so now I can finally add that to my travel history!

But I'm also nervous for various reasons. Some reasonable, some not so reasonable.

I'm nervous about forgetting my Spanish and not being able to communicate, and not understanding my professors and not doing well in class . . . But that's the point of my studying abroad. I guess I'm also nervous about the other CC-CS students, like if they'll show off about possibly being better in Spanish, or who knows what.

I'm also just a little bit nervous about getting along with my host mother. Her name is Mimi, and from the one and only email I received from her, she's "happily divorced" and seems really excited to have me over.

I guess the last thing I'm worried about is getting kidnapped into the sex trade, or anything else similar to that. It may seem ridiculous, but it's a problem in every country. I know I can easily avoid that as long as I don't get drunk around strangers. The thing is, I go to an All-Women's University, so I'm not used to interacting with guys that much. I mean they're not that foreign. But I'm definitely not used to catcalls, and the student handbook from CC-CS basically warns all female students about machismo, and how to properly brush it off.

I'm actually not that nervous about having a male suite-mate. Heck, I grew up with a younger brother, so I'm just assuming it'll be like living with Stephen.

I'll be posting more as I prepare for my trip down to Argentina.

Hasta Luego!