First Day of Classes

I began my intensive Spanish course today. I've been looking forward to immersing myself in Spanish grammar to give me more confidence when I'm speaking it. Like most first days, today was basically all review, so it was a little redundant, but I'd rather go too slow than too fast. There are a few grammatical aspects of Argentine Spanish that are different and I'll have to get used to temporarily. However, I'm not really too stressed about that, and it is interesting to learn some of the variations in the language. It makes it feel more real and alive to me I suppose. After class I pretty much walked for 6 hours straight up until dinner. I am tired, that's for sure. I ran into some cool neighborhoods during my travels and took the picture above in a random plaza I found along the way. I plan on doing some kind of significant trek every day to get to know the city better and orient myself a little. Honestly, I've got all this time to myself, plus I've been wanting to get into shape so the only reason for me to stop walking at the end of the day is because it's dinnertime or my legs give out. 

Before I forget, there are a few differences between Chileans and Argentines that I want to jot down before I forget. Argentines roll their r's more than Chileans, and pronounce the y sound more like a sexy j. Also, they use pepper and salt, which I was not used to seeing after four months of pepper-less Chile, they claim that it is unhealthy...but that doesn't stop them from eating ice cream and dulce de leche so I don't buy that logic. Argentines are noticeably stylish, it's impossible not to notice really. Even the old ladies are well dressed and strutting their stuff better than I do. That is not to say that I like Argentina better. It is more exciting perhaps, but I do not have that same sense of home and stability that I have in Chile. Yes, I realize that I have been here for less than a week...but still, I doubt I'll get as close to my host family as I did to Marcelo's. Plus, with it being summer and all, there are no Argentine students in the university. I see this as almost a personal retreat. I have much more time and freedom to do exactly what I want to do which is study Spanish, read, and walk till my legs fall off. It is important to me to eat dinner with my host family, especially since that is really the only time I see them. In the bigger cities it does not make sense to try and get everyone together for a big lunch, which I understand. Still, it means less time together, but more freedom and independence for me. I think for the next two months I will be living a life that more closely resembles my life in Seattle. I am looking forward to having the day to myself and really motivated to walk off the extra weight I happily piled on in Chile. However, come March I know that I'll be ready to go back to Valdivia and start up my simple small town life I established there.