Getting adjusted...

Hola mis amigos y familia! I hope you're enjoying your cold winter while I lay out everyday in 90 degree weather down here! (Haha don't worry, it'll change to winter here and I'll be missing SC's beautiful summer and then you'll be the lucky ones)

So, I guess the biggest news I have is that my package arrived! My mom sent it almost 3 weeks ago and the post office here is supposed to tell my family when a package arrives for our house, but they didn't! (thanks a lot!) So I've been worrying that it's lost the whole time and it was just waiting at the post office! The most important thing in there was my computer cord, so now that I have that I can use my computer to talk on skype! My skype name is berkeley.bagwell (the advantages of having a weird name...) so search for me so we can see and hear each other for free! Yesterday our class time changed from 9am-12pm to 2:30pm-6pm, so besides 11:30am-3pm Greenville time, I should be able to talk! Shoot me a message on facebook or send me an email (bbagwel@clemson.edu) and let me know when you can talk!

So the past two Sundays I went to an incredible church called Centro Crecer in downtown Córdoba and I love it! The pastor, Sam Masters, is a missionary from the States, so his sermons in Spanish are a lot easier to understand than if he was a native Spanish speaker. I met the college pastor the first Sunday I went, and this last Sunday I met with him, another guy in my group (Kevan), two girls in another study abroad group here, and an Argentine female student for a prayer and praise & worship time before the service, which doesn't start until 8pm! I loved it! It was so great to hear that these students have a heart for missions like I do. Hopefully it will become a weekly thing! Pray for more college guys to join our group for Kevan!

We had our second tango class yesterday and, pretty much, the boys hate it and the girls love it! Haha...shocker! Also, we have horseback riding lessons every Wednesday and, since I slept through the first lessons two weeks ago, this past week was my first time every riding a horse! I didn't like it at all! My stomach and legs hurt the whole time! We're going horseback riding in the mountains tomorrow, so that should be interesting! But I really like tango--I think I'm going to continue taking tango lessons throughout the rest of the semester and then do some type of volunteer work for my other cultural experience. I'll post some short videos soon of us in the tango class this week! They're pretty funny!

Friday we had our midterm for the intensive Spanish course that we're taking this month and we got them back yesterday. It wasn't very hard, and, overall, the teacher said our class did very well, so that's encouraging! I can definitely hear a progress in my Spanish-speaking abilities, which is exciting! Earlier tonight, I talked with my family about the US education system and I communicated my thoughts a lot easier and more quickly than I would have 3 weeks ago! I can't believe this is the 3rd week! It's going by so fast!

Last night, I skyped with my parents and they got to see and talk with my family here (I had to translate a little)! My Córdobes family said that my parents were welcome to stay here when they come to visit at the beginning of May! My mom said she would fix some meals from the US to thank them! I'm really excited about that!

Saturday, the group from UBP (the university I'm studying at) took a 1 1/2-hour bus ride to Jesús María, where we toured an estancia used by the Jesuits, the group of people we studied last week. At the praise & worship meeting Sunday, the two girls from the group studying in Córdoba's national university told me that it was really cool that on Saturdays we tour the places that we study about the week before. I'm not sure if they get to do that. I feel so fortunate to be in such a great, experienced program and to have Alejandro, the person in charge of the Clemson program, here to help me whenever I need it.

After the tour, we ate hamburgers (with ham on them!) and choripan, a classic Argentine dish. Then we went to a gym and played frisbee, volleyball, and basketball, which was so much fun! I didn't realize how much I missed sports! (Brandon, my brother, would be so proud!)

Thanks so much for reading and remember--look for me on skype now!

Singing on the way to Villa Maria

Here´s a video from the trip to Villa Maria! When we got there, we all had a blast listening to folklore, rock, and tango bands in a huge stadium with 12,000 other people!

And the classes begin...

Hello devoted blog followers! I hope this post finds you doing well and enjoying Valentine´s Day with those you love! This past week was a great first week of classes for the UBP exchange students! I can already see huge improvements in my Spanish-speaking abilities and in some of my classmates´ as well! For this month, we meet every weekday from 9:00am to 12:30pm for an intensive Spanish language and Argentina culture class and, so far, it hasn´t been too stressful! I was a little worried when I saw the word ¨intensive¨ but they know how to teach us a lot of material without stressing us out! :)

So, Monday, after the first day of class, in which we learned how to use the word ¨vos¨ that Argentine´s use instead of ¨tu,¨ we took a Spanish placement exam. Exciting news! I got the highest score in the class! Thank you Jesus! :) So, what they usually do is split up the class into two groups, advanced and beginner, after looking at the test scores. However, even though a few people got really high scores and a few people got really low scores, most of the class seem to fall somewhere in the middle, so they decided not to split us up. Therefore, all 14 of us are in the same class every day! I hope it will work out and that some people won´t feel lost because we´re going too fast or that others won´t get mad because we´re going too slow!

So, anyway, Tuesday and Thursday we learned more about the Spanish language and practiced speaking to each other. Everyone´s definitely getting more comfortable making mistakes and speaking out in class. Our teacher is really patient and encouraging too. Wednesday, we had our first Argentina culture class with our other professor and we learned all about gauchos, which are like Argentine cowboys, who played a big role in Argentina´s history. What I have loved most about this program is that we´ve incorporated things we learn in class to the trips we take as a group. Tuesday, we took a tour around downtown Córdoba, visiting the Jesuit University (the first university in Argentina), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, and some other famous locations and monuments around the downtown area. Except for the Jesuit University, the entire tour was led by our Argentina culture professor, so the next day in his class, before we started our discussion on gauchos, we discussed what we had learned the day before.

Yesterday, our Spanish language class was really like a culture class as we studied famous mysteries and myths in Córdoba´s history. We studied the most famous ghost in the history of Córdoba, ¨La Pelada de la Cañada,¨ another mythical ghost named ¨La Mujer del Angelito,¨ and Córdoba´s mythical werewolves. It was really interesting! Then, after class yesterday, we took another trip to downtown Córdoba to get our student visas and then we took a ¨ghost tour!¨ I´m pretty sure they have something like this in Williamsburg, VA too, but there are tour guides here that take groups around to different old buildings and locations in the city where ghosts supposedly used to visit and they tell you the ghosts´ stories. The tour was in Spanish, but studying about these same ghosts that day in class really helped us as we tried to keep up with the tour guide´s speed talking!

Before the tour yesterday, we attended a tourism presentation on the city of Córdoba with another U.S. group that is studying this semester at Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Before I left the States, my mom introduced me to a Christian girl from USC who was studying abroad this semester in Cordoba at the national university. When I heard that another group was there from the States, I thought, ¨Wouldn´t that be so funny if this was Laura´s group?¨ And, guess what? It was! Laura and I only talked over the phone in the States so I was so glad to finally get to meet her! She is involved with Navigators at USC and one of the guys in my group is in Navigators at Clemson. They both went to the Navigators´ fall conference this past year, so they had already met! She visited a church last Sunday in downtown Cordoba and really liked it, so that´s where I´m going to go tomorrow! I´m so excited! I´m really missing Christian fellowship right now!

Well, I´d better run! Our group is taking another trip tonight to Villa Maria for its annual ¨Festival Nacional de Peñas¨ and we have to interview people there about the festival, then write a paper on it for Monday!

HAPPY VALENTINE´S DAY!!

Eating asados, speaking Spanish, adjusting to life in Cordoba, swimming with the fam, meeting new people, and having a blast!

Today, it was a nice 90 degrees outside and I got to lay out by the pool and swim with my family! I feel so at home with my family and, being a people-person, I love having so many people around. With two parents and three sisters, two of which have boyfriends, there are always plenty of people with whom I can converse in Spanish!

Yesterday was the orientation at Universidad Blas Pascal and I had a lot of fun getting to know the other exchange students. About ten students are from Clemson, two girls from Canada, two girls from Germany, one guy from Rhode Island, and one guy from Nebraska. We were given good advice to help us adjust to life in Cordoba, learned about our health insurance plans and our class schedule this month, had a BBQ (or ¨asado¨) for lunch (Argentine asados are known for being the best beacuse of their delicious meat), given a tour of the campus, and played some fun Argentine games. We also met the tutors the program gives us to help us adapt to life in Cordoba. There is one tutor for every two exchange students. Mine is Gaby and she seems great! The campus is very nice, since it is a private university. They have free WiFi on campus and a nice-sized computer lab with very up-to-date technology!

Last night, the UBP exchange students went out as a group to Nueva Cordoba and had a great time! The picture is of me and two other girls from Clemson, Anna and Holly, before we met up with everyone else. It was a great opportunity to get to know the other students and our tutors.

Well, I guess that´s it! Look for my next update! :) Hasta luego!

I´m here!

I can´t believe I´m finally here! I had a great flight and I am definitely glad that I flew here with Anna, my friend that is participating in this Clemson study abroad program with me. I slept probably 3 hours total on all of the different flights, so when I got in around 2:30am Greenville time (5:30am Cordoba time) I was exhausted! My host parents were waiting at the airport to take me to their house when I arrived. They are so sweet! They have 3 daughters who are in their late teens and early twenties. The mother´s mother lives here too! I drank mate and talked with the mom, two of the daughters, and the grandmother earlier today. They are so sweet. The middle daughter studied for a year in New York, so she can speak English pretty well, which helps a lot. But overall, I have not spoken much English today, which is good! I have learned so much already! I am living in an apartment that they have as a part of their beautiful home! It is SO hot here, but they have a swimming pool and I can´t wait to use it!

I am so blessed because my family has Internet in their home, which I´ve heard is not common. I´ll be on Skype today around 4:15pm Greenville time to chat. I can´t chat for long though because I forgot my computer charger, so my mom sent it as priority mail yesterday after she got back from the Charlotte airport where she dropped me off. Pray that it gets here quickly!

This Monday, I and the rest of the Clemson group will begin an intensive spanish course that will meet M-F from 9am to 12:30pm! The first day, we´ll be taking an exam to determine how advanced we are in the Spanish language. Please pray that the test results will correctly evaluate my abilities! Tuesday, we´re taking a tour of the city of Cordoba, which I am very excited about! Every Wednesday and Thursday we´re taking horseback riding lessons and every Monday (except for this coming Monday) we´ll take tango lessons! Then, March 5th we are taking a group trip to Buenos Aires (where I will see my friends that I made last summer!>>see http://www.berkeleyinba.blogspot.com/ for more details about that trip) And then from March to June I will be taking 6 Spanish courses at Universidad Blas Pascal, which is about a 30-minute walk from my house. Pray for safety as I walk there and back everyday! Thanks for reading! I´ll update soon!

Thanks for reading!

I'm so excited you are interested in reading and watching the updates on my experiences in Córdoba, Argentina as I study Spanish there through the Clemson University Córdoba Center! I am living in Córdoba from February 5th to June 28th! Please pray for me as I, along with the other believers on this trip, look for a church family. I have many contacts for different churches and they may too, so pray that God would guide and direct my heart to the church He wants me to be a part of while I'm there! Muchas gracias!