I just finished a piece of Brazilian chocolate a classmate brought in, and made an amusing discovery when checking the wrapper. It had the nutrition facts in English and Spanish (which is weird, no Portuguese), but I found it interesting that the serving size on the English label is 2 pieces, but on the Spanish only 1 piece! Inflated American portions!

Aside from that, I’ve really been enjoying traveling, but I’m tired of seeing a negative balance every time I check my bank account. I need to start working immediately! But luckily, it looks like I might have some job leads. I have an English teaching interview Monday, and another one Wednesday for a waitressing/bar tending job at the Alamo, a semi-American bar in Recoleta. So hopefully I will be employed by this week!

Last weekend we went to El Calafate, which was incredible but also the cause of the overdrawn account. 450 pesos for an all day excursion trekking through the ice and glaciers! Worth it, but everything adds up so quickly. But aside from the cost, the trip was wonderful. And I can say that I’ve been to Ushuia, the southernmost city in the world, because our plane stopped there before flying back up to El Calafate. Once arriving in the airport, I was surprised by the prices, a cab to the hostel was 50 pesos and it was less than a 15 min drive. But we found out that the city is known for being more expensive because its really only a tourist destination. From then on, it was horseback riding around the lake and fields and then the “Big Ice,” the following day which had me questioning survival at moments. The wind was probably the strongest I’ve ever experienced, I had moments were I was forced to run because thats what my walk turned into. Also, we ate the best asado I’ve had since I’ve been here, the meat was incredible!

From there, I had a nice 16 hr bus to Comodoro Rivadavia to stay with my vecino and his family. I got to see a 2 day old baby! And the beaches and mountains there are beautiful. 25 hrs later, back in BsAs after yet another fun-filled bus ride. Now that finals are over, we’re starting plans for another adventure. We’re looking to hit Brazil, Bolivia, Lima, Santiago, and maybe even Mexico. Hopefully the job pays well.

Tomorrow going to see my host sister compete in a dance competition. There’s going to be ballroom, samba, mambo, reggaeton, all types really. And checking out a Brazil club tonight!

Just returned from Bariloche last weekend, it was amazing! We found round trip plane tickets for $200, so we spent a little more to avoid the bus trip which would’ve been over 40 hours. It’s great staying in hostels too; they’re always so cheap and you can meet really cool people. Ours was about $10 a night, and while we had some annoying roommates the first night, after that we shared with 2 Colombian girls who were really great. Although the Colombian accent was a bit of a shock at first!

Ski season ends mid September unfortunately, but there was still tons to do there. The first day was spent getting used to the cold and buying a warm coat, because sadly my zip up sweatshirt was not cutting it. The online weather forecast is never reliable here, when I checked it said temperatures in the mid 60’s but it really felt like 40’s, sometimes even colder. After that fun surprise, we regrouped in the hostel and lined up our activities for basically the whole trip. We did a day of kayaking, horse back riding through the mountains, a day long boat trip and excursion into the Isla Victoria, and forests, and a chairlift that brought us to an incredible view of the lakes and mountains. And in between that, eating lots of free chocolate samples in all the chocolate stores. It’s like the chocolate capital of the world! It’s a good thing we were very active, otherwise I think I would’ve returned a few pounds heavier. But the city is really beautiful, we kept joking about all the possibilities for pensive moments, because everywhere you look could be the poster for some natural spa retreat. And it was nice to return to the sun and warmth after much cold and wind!

This Saturday was Creamfields, one of the major electronica concerts. It’s an all day event that started at 3pm and went until 6am, but we went later around 9 when the more well known DJ’s were playing. I’m not a huge fan of electronica, but it’s really big here so I figured it would be worth it. The concert was in a bit of a dangerous area though, so I was warned not to dress sexy and to be careful with cameras, money, etc. But the dressing was not an issue, it was way to cold for anything remotely sexy. I had sweatshirt and jeans, but as the night went on, I found myself wishing for my coat from Bariloche. I was dreaming of that coat it was so painfully cold! Besides that, dancing all night and laughing at everyone with their sunglasses and water bottles was pretty entertaining.

I’ve also officially decided to stay here for another semester, so tomorrow I’ve decided to be productive and drop off my resume and cover letter to some magazines and see if I could do an internship anywhere. Friday was spent calling many departments and writing emails within Binghamton to make sure it was ok if I stayed, so everything’s set except for next semester’s housing. I’ve been looking through Craig’s list and have already seen some promising ads with various Argentine girls around my age, so I’m feeling optimistic. I also need to get a job asap, but the optimism isn’t continuing with regards to that. For one, it’s depressing that anything pays 3 times less than in the states, so for a job that pays $20 pesos an hour, I’m only really making about $7. And then I’m not sure what I could do that would be worth my time. At home, I’ve always waitressed, but here the tipping is less and people stay at the tables for longer, so it’s not really as profitable. English teaching jobs are fairly easy to find and pay relatively well, but I’ve never been a teacher so I’m not sure if I could do it. But I may not have a choice. A friend of mine who’s decided to stay long term here and find “real” work has a bunch of contacts from when she used to teach English, so maybe during my productivity tomorrow I’ll make some phone calls.