Week One from the Argentine MTC

I've only been here one week, but it feels like a month. This is definitely not the same experience as being in the Provo MTC. You probably don{t have to learn a new keyboard layout in the Provo MTC. I'll just give you a brief overview. It's hard to do because so much has happened. Everyone tells me the first three weeks here are the longest three weeks of your life, the second three weeks go fast and the last three weeks are slow again. I believe it. This week has lasted forever. The time stretches really far...which is good because I have a lot to learn. Flight: Elder Pike, Elder Lancaster, and I flew to Dallas and waited around in the Dallas airport. Slowly, 3 more missionaries showed up. Elder Gardner(Arizona), Elder Taylor(Memphis), and Hermana Hite(South Carolina). The flight from Dallas-Ft. Worth to Buenos Aires Argentina is really far. I slept maybe an hour out of the ten. We got to the airport in Buenos Aires and had no idea what to expect. We changed the money into Argentine Pesos we were supposed to change at the airport. (Doesn{t look like I´ll really need it), we went through customs and immigration, and got out into the general area of the airport. There were lots of drivers waiting around wearing suits and holding signs. None of them were for us though. We got to the front door of the airport and a lady in a tanktop came up to me and spoke spanish. Lucky I knew as much as I did. She asked where we were going and as I started to answer, she cut me off and said that we were coming with her. We were...very hesitant. She said she was taking us to the CCM, and i figured no one would really know the name of it unless they really were, so we went with her. So Silvia drove us to the CCM, the Centro Capacitación Misional, our new home for nine weeks. It is nine weeks. I got here and realized I wasn{t as good at Spanish as I thought. I´m really good at reading and alright at speaking, but...hearing. They talk so fast and I can't hear it very well yet. I am getting better, but it's hard. The way the CCM works is that Latinos come and learn teaching for 3 weeks and Norteamericanos come for 9 weeks to learn spanish. They presented me the option of being in a Latino group, but took it away again when they heard my spanish ability. I'm a little ahead of my group now, but it's fine. I'm still learning a lot. We were assigned into our compañerismos and because there are 5 Elders and 1 Hermana, I ended up in a trio with Elder Pike and Elder Taylor. Being in a trio is rough. We shared a room with a Latino trio the first few nights. Elder Taylor has since been transferred to Elders Lancaster and Gardner's compañerismo, so we're not in a trio, which is really nice. The spanish is coming very well. I can understand most of what our Latino roommates say now and when I can't, one of them speaks perfect english so he can translate. Elder Cáceres is a wonderful translator. I'd feel bad for Elder Gallegos if he wasn't there. Anyways..time's running out for email and i'm trying to prioritize this email. I don't have my running shoes or my p-day shoes. They're really hard to send, but it is possible. We can receive packages as long as they're in envelopes--like those padded manila ones or the fedex cardboard ones. Probably shoes can't fit very well. My Vans should fit alright. Even having those would be great until I get out of the CCM. I'm not sure if I'm missing anything else. Oh...one thing. One very important thing. If you don't send shoes, i'll be just fine. One thing I really could use is a Corbata Fea. There's a tradition every Wednesday night that requires an ugly tie and I've been missing out because all my ties are so classy. If you could send me one of dad's old ugly ties that he doesn't want, that would be fantastic. I love you all. I miss you all. I love it here even the time goes so slowly. We play Futbol or Frisbee every day en actividad fisica time, so it's really fun. I'm figuring this place out and it's getting better every day. The food is really good half the time and not so good half the time. If you find a recipe for Medialunas con Jamón y Queso, I think you´ll love it. I do. It's just what the name implies--a crescent roll with ham and cheese and we've had it a couple times at breakfast and it's...sweet somehow. I'd look it up. Okay. I better go. Time's up. Buen día (The keyboards have a genius system for typing accents and ñ(enyay, if that doesn't show up in your font). I wish I had it all those years doing online spanish homework.)