So in the past two months, a lot of things have happened. For the most part, the awful waiting game is over. In the middle of June, I finally got my host family placement! I'm placed in Formosa, Argentina, which is at the very north of the country in the subtropical region. The winter in Formosa (which is going on right now) is only about 10-15°F cooler than our summer, with occasional cold fronts. So this winter when it's -20°, just remember that I'm living in 90°F and laughing all the while. According to the AFS motto, "It's not better, it's not worse, it's just different," but in this case I think it might be a tiny bit better. Anyway, I'm living in the capital city Formosa of the province Formosa. The city is on the smaller end of Argentinean cities, with 200,000 people. The city borders the Paraguay River and Paraguay itself, and I'll be living less than a mile away from the border. My host family is a family of four. I'll live with both parents and their two kids, a younger brother of 11 and sister of 6, which is really exciting. I've been talking via Skype to my host mom in Spanish. She's an English teacher at one of the local high schools.
Speaking of schools, I still haven't gotten my school information but I know that the school my host mom teaches at is a possibility. It's a technical school, which would be a bit of a change from STJA.
Just a couple days ago I received my departure date, which was a relief. I leave for Miami on August 22nd for an orientation with the other Americans going to Argentina. The next day we leave at night for a flight to Buenos Aires, and there we have another 1-2 day orientation with all of the international students traveling to Argentina. From there we will be sent off to our host families, in my case taking a 14 hour bus ride. Which I really don't think will be that bad, because I heard that it's super comfortable and it will be a way to see some of the other provinces.
So now, all that's left is getting my school information, packing, and flying down to Miami. It's amazing how quickly my time left has gone!
