So the last thing I expected when arriving in Argentina was to be cold. I thought of the culture, the people, the Spanish; I prepared for the sun, the heat, and every kind of sickness you could imagine. But I have to admit, I overlooked the fact that San Juan does in fact have winter like every other city in the world. I am now stuck in fourty degree weather and having to hussle my butt off to collect the necessary supplies to survive the winter. I feel like some kind of squirell that got the late notice on collecting nuts and is now walking on thin ice. I have got a lot of catching up to do. People keep asking me if I am cold here and I tell them yes. Everytime the reaction is "But aren´t you from Washington where it is even colder?" Well, technically yes it is colder in Washington but I never said I was warm there! Anyone that knows me well knows that I always have on more layers than everyone else. Secondly, I was not mentally prepared to be cold here. I have to get used to the fact that I will have to be careful to check the weather before I go out so I don´t end up an ice-icle. And the thing is, just because I am "cold" doesn´t mean I am uncomfortable. If I ask any one else in my class, they say they are cold and nobody seems to make a fuss. But when I say I am cold, it is like saying that I am one the verge of hypothermia and need some hot tea this very instant or my fingers might fall off!
Before I left the U.S., I had been informed that it could get down to thirty degrees here in the winter but at times everyone suffers from a litte stupidity and I only brought two long sleeve shirts. Two! I have no idea what I was thinking. I did bring a sweatshirt and a nice jacket but nothing at all that would actually keep me warm. This last week I have been managing by layering three different undershirts, a long sleeve, and a sweatshirt all at once just to stay warm when going outside. And even then, the cool breeze always manages to find its way up my pant leg or down my neck to give me the chills. The other thing I was surprised and utterly horrified to discover is that my class room apparently isn´t going to be heated unless it actually gets down to below freezing temperatures. We have a heater in our room but my classmates, who I am going to kindly refer to as idiots at times :), decide to put paper and food in it which consequently makes it so we can´t run it. So this past week when it has been fourty degress out side, I am sitting in a class room for sic hours that is not much above that. Thankfully, my uniform includes heavy winter coats and the warmest sweatshirt I have ever worn in my life (all in the school colors of course).
After discoving that my school is going to be cold all winter, I was anxious to here about my house. I now I would learn to manage with it, but it would be nice if I didn´t have to dress like an escamo inside as well. Thankfully, we do have a heater and we actually began using it the other day when if was awfully cold. But even so, I was still lacking enough clothing to not have to wear the same thing every day for the four months of winter. It quickly became apparent that I would have to ship some stuff from home so I don´t have to purchase as much. As of this last Tuesday, I have a package on the way that is filled with longsleeves and a vest. Unfortunetelly, that is going to get here anywhere between one month if we are really lucky and three months if we are not. Yesterday, I went shopping for some longsleeves that I can use before then. Not to mention, a couple sweaters that I can use for layering. I have been suprisingly successful here for I figured that I wouldn´t be able to find anything that has long enough sleeves. But actually, it is as easy as it was back in the U.S. I have purchased a few shirts and also a scarf for the wind really creeps down your neck, but I am deffinetelly lacking a little. For one, I need to purchase a turtle neck that I can wear to school under my uniform shirt. During the winter, everyone trades out the white t-shirt for a white turtle neck. I never thought I would where those again. When I was little, I used those all the time until I started to think they were a little dorky. Well I guess here they are just fantastic and everyone uses them all the time. I guess I am just returning to old habbits.
One last thing that made me want to run inside and hide under my warm covers - we have P.E. outside all winter long. Rain, shine, snow, or freezing hail, we are running and playing our freezing behinds off out in the concrete court. Unfortunetelly, today is one of those days and I actually have to go get ready. Send me some warm wishes!
