Verano

Hola! 

No, I did not forget about my blog. I have just been very happily busy this summer break. There's way too much to tell you in one blog post so I'm going to be explaining my summer in three installments; December, January and February.

December

December was the start of the party season. Unlike Christmas in the United States, Argentines do not stay in and go to bed early so they can wake up the next day to open their mountains of presents.  They go out to the club and dance until eight in the morning! The whole month of December was full of clubs opening in preparation of the holidays as well as receptions; something very similar to senior ball or prom in the USA, but only for those who have recently graduated. 

All of the receptions were basically the same. They consisted of dressing nicely, going to Complejo- an outdoor club that was big enough to have the stage, seat everyone and still have room to dance; and watching the long presentation of all the girls walking down the stage in their fancy dresses and the guys in their nice suits (very similar to the Grand March for prom) accompanied by boyfriends or girlfriends, siblings or parents. Then the graduates would dance waltz for a little before a big fireworks display before the whole party transformed into night club with music and dancing.

A very popular pass time for everyone in Chilecito during the summer is going to the pool. My second host family had a very nice pool that I spent a fair amount of time swimming in. In the featured photos, I'm in a finca, which is like a camp or a second home in the country, of one of my friends. I also touched a cactus. Yes, I'm very proud of that.

Bregje and I took a swing at making a traditional food of Argentina; empanadas. Empanadas are similar to calzones, but with meat, eggs, potatoes or ham and cheese, among other things, inside. The empanadas we made are traditional to La Rioja with meat, eggs and potatoes. We made them a little too big ...

Christmas was a very, very, very big party. The biggest party I've ever been to in my life. On Christmas eve we stayed in the house, cooking and preparing for the night. Then, around eleven in the evening, we went to the house of the mother of my second host mom. There we ate a satisfyingly large meal and at midnight went onto the rooftop to watch fireworks go off all around the city. I could spin in circles and see fireworks everywhere! Then, we went into the streets and lit off a few of our own fireworks/explosives like the Fourth of July in the USA. After, we ate dessert and got ready to go to the party. At about three in the morning we arrived at the night club. The DJ was some lady who's famous in Argentina and the place was so packed you could hardly dance. 

                                    

The theme of the nightclub was circus! Here I am with one of the fabric artists. It was so exciting to be up close to circus again!

Fiesta de disfraces.

The costume party. Without a doubt my favorite party of all the parties I've been to here. In October so many Argentines expressed extreme jealously that there's Halloween in the USA and not here in Argentina. They have no reason to be jealous. Without a doubt this costume party is a hundred times more fun than any Halloween party I've ever been to. How the party went was groups of friends gathered and decided on a costume theme. My friends decided on zoo animals. Then everyone makes their costumes and in the evening of December 28th we all gathered in the plaza to parade around and show off our costumes! All of the costumes were judged and after, when we were all in the night club (in Complejo, the same place as the Christmas party and all the receptions), winners were announced for best costumes. My group was one of the winners! The prize was money.

Here are a few samples of the other costumes!

The little man in the traditional Indian costume is Ojas, the exchange student from India.

The theme of this costume is "chaya", a traditional festival in La Rioja but primarily in Chilecito. This festival is highly anticipated every year and takes place in February. Though I'd include some foreshadowing with this photo. 

That's the Pope with his bodyguards. They actually had a car and the man was kissing babies. Very dedicated to the roll.

The girl in the center dressed as Mrs. Claus is my host sister in my third family, Gabi Botta!

The best party ever.

That was my December. I went to pools, receptions and other parties! School ended the 6th and my other activities quickly wound down as everyone, and I mean almost literally everyone, started vacations. It was a great month and I'm so thankful that I spent it with my second host family, the family Paez, and that my siblings helped me go out and meet so many new people! 

I love Argentina!