Why can't all weeks end on wednesdays?

English breakfast tea

chicken wok: "soy de pollo"

Still feeling slightly under the weather. Which means, no running club today. Gahh, i've gone a whole week without running and I feel so guilty. And I was doing so good! But I've been trying to feel less guilty by telling myself that I'm actually doing myself a favor by letting my body rest. I literally argued back and forth with myself for FOREVER at lunch -delish, btw; we went to Tea Connection on Federico Lacroze; yummm :) Part of me wanted to force myself to run and maybe sweat out some of the impurities in my body. The other half of me thinks I'd pass out. But Steph finally brought up a good point: since it's all in my respiratory system (most likely a sinus infection), running without being able to breathe will not make me feel any better.

café con leche y cupcake de Lady from NY

  So today has been more about indulging myself; I think it's completely respectable to spoil yourself when you're sick. I've been thinking about those cupcakes from MUMA's ever since me and Carmen went last week, so I finally caved and went back today. I picked the "Lady from New York" cupcake, which isn't actually a cupcake at all, but cheesecake in the form of a cupcake. And I'm all about some cheesecake. It was heavenly! Seriously considered licking the paper cupcake holder; which I did not do because there were people around. But I thought about it. The couple sitting at one of the little tables outside next to me ordered muffins and juice. Yes, the muffins were huge and looked delicious, and I'm sure the juice was super fresh (it always is here), but who comes to a cupcake shop and orders muffins?? That's just wrong in my book. And you can bet I was judging hard-core (while being a fatty and devouring pure sugary goodness). And I totally got a cupcake to go (carrot cake=can't wait!). So next week I'm vowing to eat super healthy again and go to running club. But not today. Or tonight. Margarita Miércoles Round 2, complete with margaritas, guacamole, and chips and salsa. Let the indulging continue.

cupcake = devoured. me = fatty.

¡Feliz Pascua!

Happy Easter everyone! I hope everyone back home is having a fabulous easter, hunting for eggs, opening easter baskets, and getting all gussied-up in their adorable pastels for easter service. Easter was always one of my favorite holidays when I was little; I loved getting to wear my new easter dress (totes a girly-girl from day 1) and spending easter with my family and our neighbors at our tiny little church down the road from my house. We always had a huge easter egg hunt following sunday service, and since me and my sisters were the only little kids for the longest time, we were totally spoiled. After church, we would always have an amazing sunday family dinner. That's one thing I really miss now that I'm in Argentina. Now that we're all getting older, and Charlsey and Scott live all the way down in North Carolina, and Michaela's more concerned with spending time with her friends than with her family, it's so hard for all of us to get together for nice, sit-down family dinners like we used to. 

LAZIEST. DAY. EVER.

literally, would wear this sweatshirt ALL THE TIME

Seriously, I don't know what's come over me lately. It's like I have ZERO motivation to do anything. I don't know if it's this incredible longing for home, my family and my sorority, and the comfort of everything southern, or maybe it's the sudden change in the weather here in buenos aires. fall is definitely around the corner. Or maybe it's a little bit of both. Whatever the reason, I've turned into the world's biggest bum. I'd like nothing more than to lay in my cute little twin bed, in my comfiest pajamas, and watch movies all day on cuevana. (which is like the greatest thing ever; endless streaming movies and tv shows totally gratis; on the other hand, it's totally feeding my laziness. gah!) After waking up super late (after 11:00, I never sleep this late!) I piddled around in my room for what seemed like ages. Listening to country music (which I shouldn't do, it only makes me miss everything that much more). Reading TFM and creeping facebook. And all of this was done whilst still in my pjs. It took everything in me to make myself change out of pajamas and into real clothes. Feeling somewhat more productive no longer wearing pajamas, I fixed myself a very simple (yet still delish) lunch of tuna and avocado on crackers. No need for breakfast since I literally slept through it!

my lovely cama at my home-stay

After that, I fought the urge to lay back down in my bed, and ventured out into the busy street in front of my apartment (which was noticeably less-hectic today; I'm assuming everyone was taking advantage of Semana Santa and relaxing). And where did I go? The tanning bed, naturally. Literally less than a block from my apartment. Somehow, I've found a way to indulge my guilty pleasure even in a foreign country. I know it's a horrible habit, and it always makes me more tired when I get out, but I love it. So I'm a little self-absorbed, who isn't? I did manage to wander around Palermo Soho for about an hour and a half, window-shopping and making mental notes of which boutiques I want to come back to. Since then, I have literally been in my bed, on my laptop, exactly as I am right now. I changed into my stitched letter Phi Mu sweatshirt (physically comfortable, and personally comforting) put on a country-music playlist, and have not moved other than to make a cup of hot tea and take the occasional pee break.

tesoros escondidos en Bs.As.

Lately, I've been feeling nostalgic for kentucky. I miss the normality of greeting a stranger with a smile and a wave. I miss hearing accents that sound like mine. I miss the ease of chatting with mom or my sisters on the phone and seeing my beautiful sorority sisters on the daily. Luckily, I've been surprised with random tastes of home. Abuela can cook a mean pot roast; although no one cooks quite like Judy Butcher. And me and some of the girls have started a new tradition, MARGARITA MIÉRCOLES.There's a great mexican restaurant in Palermo Soho, literally a 10 minute walk from my apartment. Wednesday, me, Lauren, Jessica (and her host brother Francisco), Devon (a fellow sorority girl, love it), Rebecca, Kirsten and Quynh-Le met up at Xalapa at 11:00 (totally still early here). We ordered a round of margaritas (plain for me and Jess, Gold for everyone else), some chips and guacamole and celebrated the start of a lonnnng weekend. Thank you, semana santa. Margarita miércoles is def. becoming a weekly tradition, and margarita martes might start up pretty soon as well :)   (Side note: there is a bar here in BsAs with a telephone booth at the entrance and it requires a password. I have found the entrance to the Ministry of Magic. more updates to follow.)   Thursday, I explored the rest of Palermo Soho with a girl from the running team (which is going great, btw. I'm running for 40 minutes straight, or about 3 miles, which is a MAJOR improvement) We found a shop that makes super fun, super delicious-smelling soap. I bought 3 bars of miel (honey), canela (cinnamon) and chocolate. We had an amazing (and healthy!) lunch at this hip little cafe called b-blue or algo así. Guacamole wrap with papas fritas and jugo de mandarin, mango, jenibre y ginseng. delish. And, for a perfect sweet treat, Muma's Cupcakes. I had a banana tropical (banana con dulce de leche) with a large café con leche, and I bought a Patagonia cupcake for later. It's going to take all my will power to keep from going there every other day. So far, this weekend has been just what I needed. Relaxing and comforting. A brief taste of KY in the huge, crazy city of Buenos Aires. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade this amazing experience for anything. I love discovering new cultures, new people, stepping outside of my comfort zone and pushing my boundaries. But there's no place like HΦΜE.

la semana del diablo

Life has been pretty hectic the past couple of weeks, hence my silence from the blog world. Having finally restored some tranquility to my schedule, I'm taking a break from mi tarea to write an update on my amazing life in Buenos Aires. Last week was a true test of how I manage stress; first, my very first presentation in ARTE: I spent a sunday walking around BsAs, through the Museo de Bellas Artes, choosing 6 different works of argentine art to present to the class, I walked from mi casa on Scalabrini, down Pueyrredón, to el museo on Avenida Libertador. From there I walked down Libertador to Sarmiento and around the Jardín Botanico and finally back to mi casa. I thoroughly enjoyed my stroll, walking by myself gives me this feeling of peace; I'm completely alone with my thoughts. Monday was spent actually putting my presentation together; the paper consisted of artist name, dates of birth/death, name of work, material, and 5 characteristics of the art movement that can be identified in said work. Not hard, a little tedious, yes, but hard, no. Then, while I was making a very spiffy powerpoint to use during my presentation, I had a small stress freak-out and knocked my bottle of water onto the keyboard of my laptop. After a second mini-freak-out, I managed to clean up all the water with no visible harm down. That being said, my ENTER key no longer works :(  (hence, the reason everything is a never-ending paragraph)  Not having a fully functioning keyboard really made it hard to finish my presentation so I put everything on a jump drive and took it to Belgrano, to use the school computer lab, which, guess what, does not have a printer. Nevertheless, I get things done. I finished my presentation, printed all the necessary materials, and made it to class early. Then, once I'm actually sitting in class, our professor calls roll, asks me if I did the homework, and then asks me to explain which of the six works I chose was my favorite. That was my presentation. Just one more thing that's different in Argentina. The professors here do not expect you to go above and beyond, it's almost like they discourage it. Also, last week was my first week on the running club of Belgrano. I got off to bit a a shaky start, Monday I barely made it one lap around the lake before I had to stop. Wednesday I made it a full 2 laps. Major improvement. A little more than 2 miles running. To top off my week, I spent 4 hours on friday at the hospital solely because I needed a document signed that said I was healthy. And el médico insisted that I had a tetanus booster shot. Oh joy. Friday night and the weekend that followed more than made it for it though. Friday, I met up with some of the girls from Belgrano, and we decided to hit up a free concert at a cultural center. And when I say free concert I mean a band made up of 3 random guys and when I say cultural center I mean someone's basement. It was definitely not what we were expecting but I had a blast. Then Saturday, we headed out to Rosario for an ISA excursion. We toured the city, which is the birthplace of Ernesto "Che" Guevara and the hometown of Lionel Messi, who plays fútbol for Argentina. The girls and I had an amazing birthday dinner in honor of Stephanie's 21st, complete with champagne and a boliche, that ended with Stephanie passed out in the hallway of the hotel. birthday = success. We spent sunday roaming around Rosario, wandering through the street fair, and coming upon a rollerblading competition straight out of the '90's, music included. And somehow, I managed to step on a rusty wire, thank god the doctor insisted on that tetanus booster. We grabbed a delicious lunch at Messi's restaurant, and then made our way back to the restless city of Buenos Aires. Even though it's only Tuesday, I can already tell this week is going to be much less hectic. But in the city that never sleeps, there's always a little craziness.