Arrival - check

So I'm here and fairly settled in. Everything on the airport end of things went very well. No delays, I had an extra seat to myself and I was able to get a decent amount of sleep. I'm getting to know some of the other kids at the dorm and they seem very nice. Apparently, I'm going to go with a bunch of them to a local amusement park tomorrow. It's about an hour away and we're going to take the train. I'm not a huge amusement park fan, but hey, I need to meet people, so why not.

I ate lunch and dinner at the dorm. There is a supermarket right across the street and several more in the area, which is very nice and convenient. I didn't get too exotic off the top, just a turkey sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner, but it worked. I was curious to see what everyone else does and there seems to be a wide range, but the general consensus is that its a lot cheaper to eat in, so they do it. I've watched a lot of TV today. The TVs are in the kitchens, so that's where people tend to congregate. There is a lot of American TV and English movies, but all have Spanish subtitles, so that's really helpful because I can hear the English and read the Spanish. The people have a wide range of Spanish abilities. About half of the residents are native Spanish speakers, mostly from Argentina and Colombia from what I can tell. The rest are mostly Americans and I've met one British girl as well. I've been able to follow a good number of Spanish conversations, even catching a few things and having to help some of the other Americans, so that's a good sign. The accents are definitely different and young people talk fast, so those are both barriers that I'm going to have to learn to deal with. The dorm's website is: http://www.azul-residencia-universitaria.com/ and there are pictures there. Here is a picture of the building. I'm on the top floor.
Things went pretty slowly today. I went on two little walks around the area, just searching out what's here. I also took two naps for a total of 2.5 hours, which was wonderful. My bed is comfortable and has a really soft fleece blanket that makes me want to curl up and go to bed every time I sit on it. It's chilly here, but not really cold. When the sun went down and the wind started to blow it was brisk, but after walking around I warmed up enough to take off my scarf again.

Apparently this is a party dorm, so we'll see how that goes. Some people were talking of going to Palermo (the hip district) tonight, but that won't happen til midnight probably. This is why afternoon naps are key according to my roommate. I did have this really weird feeling when I woke up from my first nap that I had forgotten where I was. I figured it out quickly, but it was funny. There is enough English spoken here that it feels a lot like a hostel. Everyone is here to have a good time, they just hang around more and cook more.

I've written a lot now, so I'll stop, but I'll be sure to update after the amusement park adventure.