Bienvenido!

Welcome to my new blog! Thanks to everyone who made the jump from Palermoita. I intend for this blog to be about my daily encounters in La Plata - from day-to-day aggrevations and excitements, to my language-speaking improvements (hopefully!), and to my project with Biosfera.

As for me, I have settled comfortably into my house family´s house. They are wonderful people and welcomed me in a traditional Argentine manner - a conversation over a shared-cup of mate. My house is a bit outside of the city, but La Plata is very small so not that far. FSD has lent me a bike and will be giving me a transport stipend for the bus. My barrio feels more like the country than a city. I will post pictures soon. However, internet is a bit of an issue currently, as I don´t have it in my house. I´m working on my options...

Orientation ended today. We did a scavenger hunt in the rain, which I was not too thrilled about, but ended up enjoying. It was a great way to get to know the city and talk to locals. Plus, I bonded with one of the other interns. After, we watched an Argentine movie, Tiempo de Valientes (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462570/), in the FSD office (Spanish w/ Spanish subtitles). I got the gist, but the conversation was a difficult to follow. It was fine, kind of an Argentine version of "Analyze This."

This weekend, my new boss is already putting me to work. I am handing out fliers tomorrow with the 2 other interns from my office. My organization is protesting the building of a new industrial park outside the city of La Plata, among agricultural fields. My boss is amazingly passionate about his work. The 2 times that I went to the office this week, he was giving radio interviews about this issue.

Monday is my first day work. My first 2 weeks are dedicated to understanding the organization - so lots of reading of past projects.

Next weekend, my host parents invited me on a trip to Bahia Blanca (SE from here), which I will most likely take them up on.

So far so good in La Plata. Two thumbs up :)