argentine niña

Breathe. Deep Breath. Focus, and Move On. Today, September 27th, is now 5 weeks that i have been with the Pawluk Family, in little Santo Tome, Argentina. I have already learned so many things about myself, and cannot imagine what more i will learn in the many months of this journey yet to come. Similar to last blog post, I am struggling with SOMETHING everyday. Wheither it be stopping the tears, or trying to communciate to my 5 year old sister that you cannot put your finger in the bird cage, because they WILL bite you.
In the past 2 weeks i have really made a stronger bond with my Mami, Claudia. I had spent 3 weeks trying to figure out why this woman wasnt treating me like my mom in the USA, and finally realised it was because i wasnt treating her like she was my mom. I had depended on letting all my feelings and sadness out 'the next time i talk with mom, dad and tam' UNTIL i figured out, i needed to let this new Claudia into how i was feeling. I now know how my Mami and Papi met, that my Mami's parents have been married for almost 60 years, and in January my family and I will travel to Brazil for 20 days, in a beach apartment, right on the brazilian beach. I was quick to ask 'and all we do is sleep, and go to the beach for 20 days, right?!' (in spanish, of course). My Mami laughed, and anwsered yes. It should be really fun :)
I have now gone to the disco 3 times, and love it more and more each time. When i have a really hard day with the language, my family, or anything, it feels so good to enter a room where there is no speaking. It is all about dancing, and it is where i always feel home. I am taking a dance-aerobic class with my Mami right now, and our dance instructor is known in my town for her dancing. She is really great. So i pulled her aside after one dance class, and asked if possibly REALLY soon, she would teach me how to dance like an argentine girl, because it is the first time that i can remember that i truly feel challenged with dancing. I CANNOT dance like an argentine girl. BUT, with that said, not many people in the disco can dance like an american girl :) so at least i have that going for me...
School is still really hard, but i am begining to build relationships with my teachers, and am also starting to not feel as scared to raise my hand, and flat out tell them i cannot understand anything they are saying, and if they could have someone explain it to me SLOWLY. all my teachers are nice, and compassionate, but we dont understand eachother very well. Except, english class. I love english class so much. I actually taught english class last week :) it was really fun.
I have taken SO many pictures, and want to show all of you! But unfortuantly the 'kids' computer in my house is broken, so i cannot upload my photos, but im trying to upload them at some of my friends houses, and when i do, you will get to finally see my little kitchen, ALL my new friends, my town, my family, and all the animals in my house (14 in counting, now counting the fish)!
When talking with my mom (in the USA) the other day, i was explaining to her that being here for only one month, i already have so many habits that will be hard to shake when i go back to the USA. for example, everyday of the week, in the middle of the day after lunch, i take a 2 hour nap, wake up, and make myself my favorite drink of milk, chocolate milk mix, and coffee mix. it is fantastic.
yesterday i traveled with my family to the capitol of Corrientes, Corrientes. It was a 10 hour trip, all together, in one day, but i had alot of fun shopping, and going to the movies with my mom, alone. We also traveled to Posadas, the capitol of Misiones 2 weeks ago. We travel alot because my town is so so small that we need to have fun somehow :)AND my Mami really loves to shop.
As it is begining to get colder in New England right now, it is begining to get really hott in Corrientes, Argentina. When New England is getting snow, i will be stuck in my pool because of the heat. I cant say im ready for this, but im gonna try and enjoy it :) haha.
DID I SAY I HAVE HAIR EXTENSIONS?! i love them :) they are blonde, my hair color, and pretty long! my Mami gave them to me as a present, it was so nice of her. Thats one way of my Mami showing me that she cares about me, whereas my mom in the USA would just give me a big hug, and tell me she loved me. Its hard, and very stange to get used to, the different ways of showing love between my two families.
I still love all my friends so much and thank them everyday for all the time they are taking to teach me new words, and how they take the time to pick apart my rocky spanish. They are such a huge support system without even knowing it. BUT, sometimes i forget that they wont understand my strange squeaky noise, or crazy faces, because they dont honestly know Abbie yet, but im really looking forward to learning so much from them, and hopefully i can teach them a little something too.
To everyone who has sent me a card, letter, hug, thought about me, sent me positive vibes - i have recieved it all, and want to thank you so so so SO much for all of it. I know its really inpersonal thanking you in a blog, but even sitting down for this half an hour to update my blog is a little hard. Your cards, and letters have made me cry, laugh, miss home, and sometimes appreciate that im NOT home :) some days i wake up, and miss home and everything along with it immeditatly, but i get up, maybe do a quick cry (im good at those now), walk outside, skip, sit, think, and try to find the beauty in everything i see, think about, and talk about.
i miss home so so much, but im still laughing, dancing, and sqeaking and speaking and speaking, so i know that im okay :) i have a family that i think really cares about me, i have friends that i have already planned my trip back to Santo Tome, Argentina for our class graduation and trip with, and when all else fails, i have you guys, email, blog, and thankfully, my music to keep me going.
I just re-read my blogs before i left for argentina, and man... i had no idea what i was about to do. Its funny :)
Again, Thank YOU for all your support, and i promise to do another update SOON!
Love, amor, and some more love,
Abigail.
ps. no spell check :( sorry. with spanish running through my mind now, along with english, there is bound to be many mistakes :)
pss. In the first photo, that is a picture of the girls i go to school with, and almost all of the girls i hang out with all the time (a couple are missing) from the left - Anita, Me, Marian, Beluu, Karen, Eli, and Anyu (Mica, Justina, Eli, and Flor are missing). The other photo is me and some friends at the disco :)
MORE PHOTOS SOON!