We made it. The trip was great. We would recommend you save your FF points and go Business Class, which we did. The school had a car waiting for us to take us to our homestay quarters. Maria Blanca, our hostess, met us at the door of her building. Her apartment is on the first floor (second floor in US). She has three BR's, living room and large kitchen. Plenty of room for her, the two cats and us. No air conditioning, no screens (not necessary) and lots of street noise. I am not sure Jane will ever get any sleep. We are in Palermo, one of Buenos Aires largest neighborhoods (barrios). It is separated into neighborhoods. She lives in Viejo. Chico is about three blocks away and contains the zoo, botanical garden, beautiful residential buildings and some huge and beautiful parks. Hollywood and Soho are a couple of blocks in the other direction and have many shops and restaurants, many of which have outdoor seating.

As you walk these neighborhoods you find that each building is responsible for the sidewalk between the building and the street. Many are tiled. Many are old with loose tiles. The only negative we have discovered is that many dog owners do not pick up the droppings, so you must watch where you walk. Many buildings seem to have some one wash the sidewalk each morning.

Saturday we walked to Recoleta, the neighborhood where our school is. Later we toured the astonishing world renowned cemetery which has hundreds of elaborate tombs for Argentinian families. We tried the subway on the way back to Palermo, very nice, with tiled landscape murals in the stations.

Sunday we walked all over Palermo. The parks and the zoo were filled with families out for the day having picnics. Many people shopping and eating at the outdoor cafes.

They call this the Paris of South America and so far that is exactly what it seems like. The people are very friendly and helpful for people like us Americans that can't speak any of their language.

Each night we have had dinner with Maria at her home. She speaks no English so it has been challenging conversation with each of us using dictionaries to find a word to move the moment along. We have laughed much and enjoyed her cooking.

The quality of things, shops, restaurants, clothing is just like at home. However you rarely see an SUV or any large car. In the parts of town where we have been everyone lives in an apartment or condo. While you get three plus pesos for a dollar, not all things are less expensive than at home. Imported items, like American or Scotish whiskey bring Oriental, NC prices. Meals, taxis, subways are all very reasonable.

So now we are on to our first day of class.