This weeks here have been flying by. I cannot believe I have been in Argentina for almost two months! Friday night I went to a salsa club with two other girls. It was fun but there weren't a whole lot of guys to dance with because most of the people seemed to be couples only dancing with each other. Saturday I went to a soccer game for the first time. It was so crazy!! The beginning of the game reminded me of my high school football games. A marching band came out and then there were dancers all over the field. Then there were these people twirling umbrellas and then random cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and Spiderman skipping around the field. It was really funny to me, but something that is completely normal here. Once the teams come out, the crowd gets really routy and throws these rolls of paper onto the field. It is kind of hard to describe; it is kind of something you have to experience for yourself. The Argentines have tons of chants that they yell at their teams during the game. The one that I learned is "Ponga huevo que ganamos." It literally means "Put the egg in the goal so we win." It is commonly used when the game is tied meaning "kick the ball into the goal so we win." It ended up being a pretty unexciting game. The game ended in 0-0. That night I went out with Brenda, her friend Jenny from Tucuman (a province in northern Argentina), and Juan Manuel (my host family's grandson, who is my age). I had a midterm yesterday that I studied for most of Sunday and I have another one tomorrow and next Wednesday. Based on my test yesterday, I think the rest of my exams will be pretty easy. After being here for two months, I am noticing a lot of differences in the culture here compared to the U.S. One thing that people from the United States are constantly criticized for here is calling themselves Americans. Technically, Argentinians and the rest of South Americans are Americans too. Also, in the U.S. I pretty sure everyone learns that N and S America are separate continents. Here they learn that N and S America are one. I have gotten in several disputes with Argentinians over this, and they think people from the U.S. are arrogant because we consider Canada, US, and Mexico to be separate. I tried to explain that it is just a different way of categorizing but it never goes over well. I usually just accept that I am wrong about 90% of the time in most cases here. The other night at dinner was pretty comical. We were eating dinner and my host mom, Virginia, has been putting out ranch dressing that my friend Griffin brought for me from the U.S. I told her that in the U.S. a lot of times we eat raw vegetables with ranch. We were eating cooked cauliflower and I told her I usually it it raw with ranch. The word for raw is "crudo," which is what I said. She did not believe me for some reason. She was just like "No! You can't eat that raw." I didn't feel like arguing so I just changed the subject. It is funny how some differences in culture just do not translate. Virginia also asked Liz and I exactly what kind of meat we eat. We tried to explain to her the first week that we do not eat a lot of red meat but we will try it. To her, that really meant we dont eat it at all. So she freaked out when Liz said she ate milanesa (a type of breaded steak), and was just like I dont understand you crazy girls. So I tried again to explain to her, but I still think she is a little confused. For the past two weeks also, Virginia has been confused by my name. Liz's real name is Elizabeth which is obviously pretty common in the U.S. For some reason, all of a sudden she is calling me Elizabeth and Liz- Liz. I told her grandson about it, and he said he would tell her, but she still is calling me Elizabeth. I feel like it is too late to correct her, and she might get mad at me. Liz did say the other day that Vicente referred to me as Elise. So, I think I might just let it go. I am still working on getting pictures up. It just takes so long to download photos here because its not the best internet connnection, and I do not have easy access to internet all the time. I will get some more up asap. I am leaving for Mendoza tomorrow and returning on Tuesday. It is located in the wine country about 18 hours from here in the northwest part of Argentina. Can't wait!!