A sad day for Argentina

I woke up this morning to the news the ex-president, and current president's husband, Nestor Kirchner died of a suspected heart attack this morning. He was thought to be a likely candidate for the 2011 presidential election and is known to have quite a bit of power in the current administration. From talking to my host mom and my friends about the reactions of their families, it sounds like most people accept that this could affect the political situation in the country substantially. No one seemed devastated by his passing though, meaning that most of the host families are generally against the Kirchners' politics.

Today was also the national census. The census is conducted on one day here, making it a national holiday where census workers come door to door. One person must be in each household, and they can't leave the house until their census is taken. ALL businesses were closed today, minus a few kiosks that seemed be opened illegally. It made for an eerie morning walking around the city where tourists, census workers, and police officers appeared to be the only people out.

I celebrated the national holiday by having a picnic in a park with friends. We spent almost all day there, and I managed to get a pretty significant sunburn on my back. I brought oatmeal raisin cookies, which my new host mom helped be make. I had gone to a store looking for the ingredients, but couldn't find things like brown sugar or baking soda. My host mom, Laura, went to the store with me yesterday evening and helped me find the ingredients and then helped me use the oven. The ovens here are gas and need to be lit with a lighter and don't have temperature gages. The cookies turned out pretty well considering my rather imprecise measurements in metric units and the oven.

I moved last Tuesday and am so much happier here. My new host mom is amazing. I was welcomed to the house with a few brand new towels (since I'm so tall I needed bigger towels:) and a non-stick pan after I had mentioned that I like to cook. She has been very talkative and interested in learning about me. I've also woken up to her making me breakfast multiple times and insisting on washing all my dishes. I still need to explore my new neighborhood and am debating my gym options, but am quite comfortable here!