The Rest of December

Well I have almost been here 4 months now...crazy to think about. Heres how the rest of december has gone so far.

A while back, I believe it was the 18th of 19th, a few family friends of my Moms passed through Còrdoba. Susan and Tom are members of our Temple and were taking a swing through Argentina. Well the morning they left I went over to their hotel for `breakfast`(which consisted of a cup of coffee) and we had a chat. It felt really really good to be able to see some of the people I know from the States in this context, and we had a lengthy and intensive discussion about the societies of these two countries. I explained to them what I have learned; about the stereotyping, state of maintenance, political and economical crisis's and the great attitude of the people. I told them a few of my funnier stories and they gave me a few trinkets. 1) Thanks to Mom for sending me that stuff. It gave me some gift fuel for the holidays and was nice to see. Susan and Tom also gave me some Cow memorabilia from some sort of milk company they visited. It was cool.

The next thing I knew it was already Christmas time. For Christmas in Argentina, or perhaps the Catholic religion, they do all their celebrating the night of the 24th. So we traveled to a little town on the outskirts of Còrdoba to a nice house of the Uncle and Aunt and had a big 23 person family dinner. We at Asado (which is the staple meat product of Argentina, a very rich cow meat cooked slowly over coals) and generally had a good time. They also had a ping pong table and it felt good to be able to play again. For Christmas there was a lot of gift exchanging. I personally received some nice after shave and a few other trinkets, and when we got back to our own house I gave my own presents to my family. Earrings for Silvina, a Rolling Stones shirt for Mariano, a thumb drive for Pablo, a hat for Marcos, a diary for Julieta, and the promise of omelets at a moments notice for Roberto, the father. The next day, funny enough, was like any other day and one only knew it was Christmas because you added ``Feliz Navedad`` to Hola when greeting someone.

On December 27th I officially finished my college applications. What a mountain of relief that was. I am excited and anxious to find out where my future lies. Thinking about that kind of change is great, but seems a little less...I dont know...like a complete reverse of what I know because now I have this experience abroad. If I can live with 6 other people in a house, 2 others in a tiny room with people constantly shouting and having issues then I can surely survive dorm life.

Now...my 18th birthday is only 5 days away...wow. Its kinda crazy thinking about being an ``adult`` and how fast time goes by. I am a little bummed I wont be able to spend it with my family but I will have a great time and I look forward to it.

The next time I write I probably will be 18...soo this is my last Chau as a minor.

Im finally legal.

Haha.

Just kidding guys :).

Chau