Last days

             As my time in the wonderful country of Argentina is coming to an end I am left with mixed emotions. I am excited to get home because I miss my friends, family, and my dogs, but at the same time I am dreading the fact that I have to leave. I have made amazing friends because as others have pointed out before me the people here are very warm and welcoming. Along with the friends I have found a family that has welcomed me into their home and made me feel as if I am actually a brother or son. I cannot believe how fast the time has flown­; it feels like just last week we arrived at Colegio Del Salvador basically sleeping as we were all exhausted from the flight, and now we are leaving tomorrow and my bags are basically all packed.

            I am in charge of writing about our last weekend in Argentina, so here it goes. Friday morning we arrived back in Buenos Aires after an excruciating 14.5 hour bus ride from Mendoza. It was not as bad as the bus ride to Mendoza because I was exhausted from hiking and riding horses in Mendoza so I was able to sleep almost nine hours. Once we arrived at the bus terminal a few of the host mothers picked us up and we took taxis back to the school for a closing ceremony with Eugenia(the head of the English department), Ricardo(the president of the school), and Jorge(the head of the Secondary School). At the ceremony we received certificates for completing the trip and we talked about our experiences and our favorite parts of the trip. When we finally got home we had lunch with only part of Nacho´s family because the rest were at school or work, and then I took a much needed siesta. At dinner when almost all of his family was home I was able to tell them about our trip to Mendoza and show them all of the pictures I took.

            Saturday we went to Nacho´s grandmother´s house for lunch with one of Nacho´s brothers and his girlfriend from California who just arrived in Buenos Aires and is staying for about a year. After lunch the four of us went to Avenida Florida because I had to buy some more presents and we just walked around since it was Quiquin´s(Nacho´s brother) girlfriends first time walking through the city. On Saturday night we went to a fiesta as most of us were doing other things Sunday so it was our last night to go out with friends we have met down here. It was an emotional night for most of us because we realized this may be the last time we see many of the people at the party, hopefully not the last time for me.

            Sunday we woke up and went to Nacho´s country house for a big asado with his whole family and his sister´s friend, Quiquin´s girlfriend, and his father´s cousin and aunt even joined us. After the asado we just hung out all day and night playing fútbol and checking out all the animals he has like geese, chickens, horses, dogs, rabbits, baby rabbits, and wild animals that live on the conservation land behind their property. The majority of the group from Boston went to a Tango show during the night, but I was at Nacho´s country house so I do not know anything about the show. Well I will see all of you in just two days; it saddens me thinking in less than 48 hours I will no longer be in this country.

Chau,

Nick