Home Sweet Home

Hello from the USofA!

So, both my suitcases were overweight by about 15-20 pounds each. Oh dear. There is a US$150 fee per overweight bag. Luckily, the customer service agent asisting me in Buenos Aires took pity on me. As I went to sign the recipt, instead of US$300 it only read US$150, he winked at me and told me to have a nice flight home, PHEW! The flight home was easy; there were no delays, no swine flue scares, no screaming children on the flight, and the cheese ravioli dinner was even good. I landed in Boston at Logan Airport without a hitch where I was greeted by my boyfriend Jason holding 2 dozen pink roses just for me :)

I've been home for almost 3 weeks now and the time really seems to be flying by. In the last 3 weeks I have been quite busy and very active. My first 2 weeks (July 8-20) were spent in Boston. My first few days were spent unpacking in my old apartment, saying hi to old friends and getting settled in Boston. Sunday, Jason and I took the ferry accross the Charles River to Charltown and toured the Tall Ships which were at anchor in ports around Boston taking a week long break from their Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge. Monday, I was excused from jury duty and attended game night with Jason and his boys at Jillians were we bowled and played pool. Tuesday, I went to Jason's New Hampshire property to play in the woods and on the lake. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I worked at Grace Lutheran Church and Needham Massachusetts Public Library doing community service work. I did, however, take a break from community service work to see the new Harry Potter movie which was great, although, as always not as wonderful as the books. Saturday and Sunday, Jason and I attended a fantastically fun graduation party for one of my sorority sisters in Newport, Rhode Island. Monday I finished up my community service and again attended game night, I bowled a 93 (a vast improvement from last weeks showing), yahoo! Since I'm 21, I had a couple drinks at Jillians, I'm officially a fan of the dirty martini.

Tuesday I almost missed my flight to DC but in a strange stroke of luck made it to Logan Ariport in 15 minutes via cab and arrived early in DC. I saw my dad for the first time since May and we took a flight together to West Palm Beach to stay with Grandma Hannah and Grandpa Milton for a week (July 21-27). We played tennis every day, my serve is coming along quite nicely and I was even able to play sets with Grandma Hannah and all her tennis gals which was a total blast. My Aunt Janet made the 2 hour treck from Melbourne, FL to West Palm Beach, FL twice to hang out with all of us which was also lovely.

Yesterday evening, I arrived HOME in Washington, DC. My mom picked us up at the airport with my puppy Lilly (who is actually not a puppy at all and is actually 13 years old). It is so nice to be home, I've missed this house and my room and of course my Mommy Carmen! I'll be spending a week here in DC (July 27-August 5) and then heading back to Boston.

I have had a wonderful study abroad experience, I loved Argentina and all the people I met there. I want to return someday soon to visit the wine country of Mendoza and the UNESCO Jesuit site in Cordoba. I know I will find my way back to the land of bife, malbec and tango it is just a matter of time. But now, for a little while, I am going to savor being home in the United States of America beacuse I really love it here too.

This concludes my semester abroad and this blog, thank you for reading!

Abrazos y besos,

Raquel