E-mail to Cara

Hey, congrats on making the upside down ! - I still don't know how to do it on a laptop because it doesn't have the extra number pad...
So, clearly, I am checking this email address, but I've been kinda lax about writing the last week because Randy's parents were visiting us. They left this afternoon, and it was very sad. I think some more visitors from the US would cheer me up!
They have TONS of pictures from their trip alone (really, really, lush) and from here. If you come visit us, I promise we'll do cool stuff - just look at their pictures. We went out to awesome restaurants, saw the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, went to Uruguay, shopped till we dropped at the craft and antique fairs, contemplated in Japanese gardens, drank mate in the park, petted feral cats - a good time was had by all. But a good time won't be had by Torpe if you tell her I've been slutty with the homeless kitties.
Oh, yeah
- last night we smoked (mostly) Cuban cigars on our balcony as a
send-off,
after we got sloshed on $1 wine.
:: Ben - there's a cigar with the Juras' for you. The brand name is
Juwel. It's pure cuban tobacco, but not technically a cuban cigar because they
import the leaves from cuba and are rolled by Argentine cigar-makers. The guy at the
store was telling me they're fourth-generation cigar-rollers, and not
even being a cigar smoker, it was still pretty good to me.
I also sent back CDs of our pictures to my mom and dad so you can see
the parts of our trip down south, except the coolest parts because our
camera had been stolen by then...
Finally, classes started yesterday just as I was really getting the hang of
the months-long vacation. I can understond *most* of what's going on the
lectures and feel pretty good compared to the other international students
(except those damn latinos!) But mostly the students I know are other
international students, mostly from the US. I'm trying to branch out, but I
see how exchange students in the states get sucked into little enclaves of
exchange students. Quick, go now and befriend some foreigners at Tech - they
WILL appreciate it, I promise... But today was only my second day of class.
This morning I had history of Precolombian art. I don't think it will be as
bad as history of craft, or other art history classes because there's not a
slide projector in the room!
Randy says hi as he's on his way to read bilingual ee cummings poetry.
So, I could go on for hours about every little detail of what happens here, because after a couple of months, I'm not at all tired of it and not at all homesick. I'm only sick for a couple of people and Torpe. I have no desire, whatsoever, to have to come back to UT for another full year. But these are the prices we pay to finance more trips overseas!

much love,
anna