September 6, 2018: I have exciting news...!!!

I didn't come here to play. Unless we're referring to playing the game of eating good food and eating a lot of it. Feast your eyes please.

"Julia, do you eat ice cream every day...?"

Yes. And what are you going to do about it?

So I woke up, ate breakfast, ran, and worked out at the park. My Achilles did not hurt on the run and I'm very grateful for that. I was a bit rushed to get out of the house because another company representative was coming to investigate the ~vibrations~ and Laura didn't want me here for that. I sat in the sun and read for a bit, then walked to see one of my new housing options.

The new house is pictured in the bottom right image. My house is the left half of the building. In the bottom middle photo, the house is located between the building with an owl on it and the white building to the left. I loved the visit. The woman's name is Clarisa and she seemed a little bit reserved at first but warmed up throughout our conversation. For the first hour, we conversed and asked each other questions and she showed me the house. For the second hour, she showed me around the barrio, Palermo Soho. It is so vibrant. There's restaurants and bars and boliches literally on my block, and a plaza at the corner. There's much more people out and about and maybe I'm biased cuz it was a beautiful sunny day but I just got happier vibes. Clarisa even said the people are very happy here and she said, "Es muy barrio acá," meaning it is very much a neighborhood. Her point was proven immediately as she said hello to the next 3 people we passed because she knew all of them!

She showed me an ice cream place so you know I had to get some. This is vainilla con nueces pecan (vanilla pecan - but WAY better than American vanilla pecan holy crap) and Gianduia di Torino (basically Nutella as ice cream). My host mom asked me if I wanted her to take a photo of me with my ice cream so I said yeah lol. Super random coincidence: the boy who served me the ice cream had lived in Bensenville, Illinois for 10 years!!! He spoke English very well and it was so crazy that he'd heard of Park Ridge and had lived right by me. I'll probably frequent that heladería so maybe we'll be friends.

She also showed me some really cool cafes / restaurants, like this one for example. A lot of the buildings have modest doorways and then they extend really far back and have outdoor seating. It's super cool. She concluded the tour by dropping me off at the cafe where I met up with some friends and I felt great about my visit with her!

I met up with Andrea and Hannah and it was so awesome to see them and hear about their experiences so far. Not to mention we FEASTED at this cafe. They both ordered off of the breakfast menu (at 4:45pm lol) and I got a burger. It was a red quinoa burger with hummus, cheese, cucumber, baby potatoes, arugula, and pickled onion sauce. Bro. Wow. My vegan brothers are prob like omgggggg (minus the cheese).

After eating, I walked home, relaxed in bed for a bit, then went to see a movie with Julie! The move is titled Mi obra maestra and it's about an artist and his agent who fake the artist's death in order to sell his "posthumous" pieces for more money. Very interesting. I cried a little - mostly cuz I be emoOoOotional lately - but also laughed a ton. I am really loving Argentine cinema so far!

I came home after the movie and decided I needed to tell Laura the truth about the fact that I visited a house today and am really considering moving. The conversation started off well... I expressed that I was torn and explained why. It slowly got worse and worse until she was criticizing me and essentially telling me to move but telling me I will be unhappy there too. She really made it clear that I'm the "problem." She told me how no other student has left her... but no other student has lived with her when she was dealing with these vibrations either and everyone's experience is different so it is what it is. There really wasn't anything I could say in response to her comments. It's a shame that I've given her the impression that I am ignorant, cannot handle adversity, and that I am ungrateful for her neighborhood, but the reality is that I know who I am, what I think, what I need, and what makes me happy, and I am doing this to make myself happy - not to harm or offend anyone.

So my exciting news is that I am officially moving... let me know if you saw it coming. I am at peace with my decision. Like my mom says, life is too short- there is no reason to spend it being unhappy. And my decision makes me happy. Goodnight moon and happy birthday (in my time zone) mama.

Song Recommendation of the Day: "Oxygen" by Noita

P.S. - Here I am stretching for my run.