Less waste/My Spanish/Difficulties here

I just wanted to jot down a few ideas before I forget them.

It's really interesting to me how small of a footprint (waste-wise) my host family leaves compared to what I'm used to at home and school. My host mother in Madrid was the same way. For example, the trash cans. I don't even have a trash can in my room (I've started using a plastic bag because I often have to throw something away). There is one small trashcan in the bathroom, and one small trash can in the kitchen. They're both about1.5 feet tall. In the kitchen, we eat all the food except for bones (My host mom doesn't like to throw food away because she can see people starving on the streets). Other than food, there aren't many packages and things from food because people buy more fresh ingredients that aren't wrapped in boxes and bags etc. The milk comes in a bag so that doesn't take much space to dispose of. (Apparently milk came in a bag in lithiania too, back in the day). In the bathroom I throw away the hair that falls out in the shower and a tissue now and then, but that's it. Everything just seems more simplified. And it also doesn't seem like this family is constantly buying new things and having to throw out the packaging.

Also, the kitchen shows this minimalism. For example, there are 4 poeple living in this house and we have 4 glasses, 4 wine glasses, and 4 mugs. That's it. It makes sense, one per person. In these small apartments, it's not like my host mom is throwing dinner parties or anything. The kitchen is full of just the things they need and nothing more.

The other, completely different topic I was thinking about yesterday was what makes my spanish better or wise. "What" meaning, what conditions. Besides learning the language and such, in some situations I can speak faster and more accurately and in others I feel like I'm just running into a wall over and over again. Of course, whenever I'm tired, it gets much harder to get the words out and think quickly. I also notice that I sometimes speak better when I'm forced to. For example when I speak to younger people who talk faster. Sometimes I don't think so much, I just try to get the idea out at their pace and it works. Although sometimes they just speak to fast and I have to say "what" after everything they say. Of course then there are accents. When people have accents that I'm not used to it is very difficult to have a conversation with them. Some people say that when they drink, they speak better because they're more relaxed. I found that after I drink I had more trouble speaking. Maybe I was tired that night though, it's hard to separate all the variables. Sometimes I also have trouble forming sentences after I've been speaking spanish for a long time. Since it is exhausting for me to speak, after a day of struggle my spanish usually worsens. I guess that's related to being mentally exhausted (agotada=exhausted).

One third random thing: The other day my host sister gave me a comic book that she read as a young girl. It's called Mafalda, by Quino, a famous argentinian comic book author. Apparently there is Plaza Mafalda nearby with statues of the characters. My host sister told me I could ask her any questions I had about the book and its content. She said it showed a lot about argentian culture. I thought that was sweet that she was reaching out to me. I learned a lot of new words from just the biografy of the author in the beginning.

Ok one last update. To follow up on the honeymoon period ending etc: This is still a strange time because I still dont' have a fixed schedule and I'm trying to figure out how best to spend my time. But it's still nice becuase I just feel like I'm on vacation. Something that really helps to make me feel comfortable is that my host parents completely respect my space here in this room. They never ever come in here or even knock on the door to say something. They really try to make it like my apartment or something. Having that personal space and privacy makes me feel a lot more comfortable. It's a place where I can relax or hide if I'm feel exhausted and feel comfortable that I won't have to jump up and intereact with other people. I feel like that is one of the difficult things about studying abroad. You aren't in your comfort zone at all and sometimes you don't have a space that is really yours. Some host mothers will come in whenever, clean your room and move your stuff around or what not. With out this personal space, one can feel like they always are exerting themselves or have to be presentable. It's already stressful enough that you always have to be thinking al ot when you speak in the foreign language to all the people. Anyways, I just wanted to note here the value of this personal space, I think it has helped me through the post honeymoon stage. But nothing was very difficult about this post honeymoon stage in general. I feel like things get better every day as I meet new people, spend time with friends I've made and see new places.

Yesterday night I took my argentinian friend Carito to get some icecream. Apparently there is an icecream place right next door and we went so that I could try argentian helado for the first time. AYY QUE RICO! I had dulce de leche flavor, it was so rich and creamy of that delicious caramel flavor. Then I had una bola de tirimisu, which ahd pieces of amaretti cookies soaked in coffee and a creamy mascarpone icecream. It was some of the most delicious icecream I've ever had. Plus I got to talk to Carito about places to travel. I think I'll go with Tomas to Cataratas, the big waterfalls, and she said we can stop by her uncle's yerba mate farm if we want. How argentinian!
Today I'm going to an estancia, which is a little farm in the provinces. We are going ot eat asado (steak), mayne ride horses, swim, play music, and hang out with the gauchos! I'll try to take lots of pictures.

Luego,
Kati