I know the end is near...

...because my peanut butter ran out!

Countdown: 5 days until I get into the E.E.U.U.; 9 days until CA!!!

Tomorrow I move into the hostel to stay with my friend Sylvie for a couple of days, then I'm coming back to my host mother's house for the last night! Look how adorable the hostel is!

I'm reading a lot, trying to stay sane by listening to more Harry Potter and taking walks to the library. I can't wait for all the fun things to come after all of this stress and reading! Tuesday about noon, I'll be free (and a senior in college).

Wow its going fast.

[Also--ARGENTINA LEGALIZED GAY MARRIAGE. No H8!!!]

Los últimos abrazos

The last three days have been jam packed with tourist sites, hugs, goodbyes, and lots of reminiscing. Niall, Kara and Mel left today to go home, back to our "real lives", which means that this porteña life is officially coming to an end!

Above is my favorite picture I took at El Caminito en La Boca. Its a really dangerous area, but we heard that we HAD to see that street with the colored houses, so we took a cab there and back--just to be safe. It turned out to be sort of a let down--just like most hyped-up tourist attractions. It was fun to wander and see a different part of the city that we have lived in for so long.

After La Boca, we went to Plaza de Mayo to see Las Madres de los desaparecidos (Mothers of the disappeared). They are the mothers, and some grandmothers, of the citizens who were unrightfully captured and obviously killed during the dictatorship that ruled between 1976-1983. In many ways Argentina is still in a post-dictadura phase, and the country is still very much hurt by this terribly violent and oppressive rule. These mothers' faces are so sad, and many of them hold the picture of their lost child. Some people (like Niall's host mother) HATES them, even though they were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for all their lobbying. Its mainly because many of their sons/daughters could have been criminals and so many people don't see why everyone feels so sorry for them. I'll tell you why--there is NO REASON ever to kill another human being!

The day after was 9 de julio which is Argentina's Independence Day! We went to Tigre for our last hurrah. Above is a beautiful Van Gogh-y pic of the river!

Here is us (minus Sylvie the amazing group photographer) on our last night out. We were toasting all of our favorite, and many of our not-so-favorite memories, being silly, and expressing our love for each other. Mel said it well when she said "I'm really surprised that I like you as much as I like you." We really did get super lucky that we found such beautiful people to spend this adventure with, and I feel so blessed to have all these contacts and life-long relationships!!! This experience would've been so different without them!

And now back to reading and writing...

Disgust

I am disgusted by Arizona's new law.

I am disgusted by people who think that they are somehow better than others on grounds of identity, beliefs, religion, sexuality, beauty, etc.

I am delighted that people are speaking out against Arizona's violation of our constitution.

Desmond Tutu's take on this injustice is beautifully written with parallels drawn to South Africa's apartheid. Read it here.

I hope that someday our country's ideals of freedom are realized for EVERY citizen in every way. We are all equally living on this earth and we have to respect each other's dignity!