Argentina?

This time next week, I will be in Buenos Aires, but it honestly hasn't registered with me that I will even be leaving yet. Perhaps when I get off the plane it'll be real.  But for now, I'm just staring at the suitcases in front of me with no rush to put anything in them (plus packing for 5 months in 2 suitcases is a bit of a daunting task so I'm avoiding it).

So, why Argentina?

I've always wanted to study abroad, and for the longest time, I thought I would be going to Australia.  I've always wanted to go there and beautiful beaches filled with men with beautiful accents were both so appealing.  But deep down, I've always had a fascination with the Spanish culture.  As a wee little tot in a car seat, my parents told me I would become quite the dancer when the Spanish radio station came on.  Even to this day, I've been known to be seen busting a move to some Spanish dance music in my car. No shame.

I went in to my junior year knowing that this was the year I would be studying abroad, because I definitely didn't want to go my senior year.  I thought I was set on Australia, but something just wasn't right. Part of me still wanted to go to a Spanish-speaking country, but I thought my only option was to go to Spain, and for whatever reason, I do not have a desire to go there. So I finally made an appointment with the study abroad office at school and they really helped me work through this great struggle I found myself in.

After explaining my life to the study abroad people, they helped me realize that going to a Spanish speaking country was more what I wanted.  Australia would be great, but it wouldn't be that much of a culture change from America.  It would really be more like a vacation, and I know that I would go to Australia on my own at some point.  Now, a Spanish-speaking country would challenge me to grow and really get out of my comfort zone in many different areas. And most likely, I wouldn't choose to visit places in South America on my own in the future.  Plus, I think I would regret not learning another language. And lucky for me, I had options other than Spain for traveling abroad! There were programs for both Chile and Argentina.  I used to have family that lived in Chile, so I didn't want to go there because I felt like that territory had already been claimed, so Argentina it is.

So. In four days, I will be traveling down to Buenos Aires, Argentina for a semester.  I don't think I really know what I've gotten myself in to, but thats my tendency.

I hope you all will be able to keep up with me in my travels- I'll try to keep you updated frequently!