Estuve muy infirmo

Hola,

So, let me bring you up to speed. You've likely noticed that I haven't written any entries in about a week or so. Well, there's a good reason for that. Between then and now, I came down with a terrible case of bronchitis. Coupled with a fever of 101+, I really wasn't able to do anything more than lie in bed, watch movies and curse the beautiful weather (yes, spring has begun here). Thankfully, due to a well-timed housecall visit by an english-speaking Doctor, I'm fully recovered now.

Today we had our first exam in Spanish. Essentially the course is structured so that you advance one level per month. Given that this was my first month, I was in level one. The exam was about an hour's worth of written work and then about 10 minutes of speaking/conversation. It went well - I'll be starting Level 2 on Monday. Of course, that begs the question of what I'll be doing for the rest of this week. Well, in 3 hours time, I'll be embarking on a trip to Bariloche, Argentina (in the Patagonia Region)!

Bariloche is supposed to be a place resplendent in natural beauty (i.e. surrounded by lakes and mountains). A group of 4 of us are going from the program, and we're planning on getting in a few days of skiing and snowboarding between now and Sunday. The only tough part is that Bariloche is actually quite a distance from Buenos Aires! It's a 22 hour bus ride or a 2 hour flight. My traveling companions all opted to take the bus both ways (it's about a quarter of the price) however, I've decided to save myself the return trip. I'll be flying back to Buenos Aires on Sunday evening, which will allow me to still make it to work for Monday morning.

Oh, and about the pictures. We visited the Argentina Senate on Thursday evening and I couldn't resist getting a picture speaking from the podium. Fun stuff.