I am sitting on the white couch in the living room of my new host family's house. I am kicking around a blue balloon that is lying on the floor, left-over from the 80th birthday party they had for a friend last night. There is an overload of left-over cake(Dulce de leche and two chocolate cakes) in the fridge and I keep going back for more. I am home alone at the moment, Leigh is running, my host brother- Leandro, from New Orleans is in Iguazu for the weekend. My host family has gone to their country home, Quinta, for the weekend and left Leigh and I all alone. Ah...finally time to myself!
Balloons
Let me start with a little background of who I am living with. The Livingston's consist of two parents- Roberto and Patricia and their four children; Roberto, Alejandro, Carolina, and Fernando. Roberto and Patricia met while they were living in New York 45ish years ago. Roberto was a surgeon and Patricia was working with the embassy of Spain. They met at a party, fell in love and had their four children.They raised their children in New York for the next 8 years, after this they moved to Ushuaia( The capital of the Tierra del Fuego province of Argentina). Some may know this as the southern most city in the world. There was more work for Roberto in Ushuaia than in New York, so they stayed here for the next ten years. Some of my facts may be incorrect because of my in-fluency of Spanish, but I'm doing the best I can. After raising their children, working non-stop for many years the Livingston's moved back to Buenos Aires, retired(5-6 years ago) decided to host students through IES(abroad program) and to build a hotel in Ushuaia, where their daughter, Carolina and her husband now work.
Dining room
Please check out their adorable hotel...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g312855-d631106-Hotel_Austral-Ushuaia_Province_of_Tierra_del_Fuego_Patagonia.html#22320910
The Livingston's have hosted 38 students in 5ish years, now run a hotel in Ushuaia, and have a country home an hour outside the city. Patricia paints beautiful pieces of art while Roberto maintains the hotel, apartment and country home. They are energetic people, endearing, full of knowledge and experience and are completely comfortable having people live in their home- take note this is Leigh's and my third day at their lovely home and they completely trust leaving us alone here.
Me and Leigh's room- I have top bunk!
Roberto is their eldest child(about 41). He is living in the same apartment with us because he got a divorce two months ago... he has the most precious daughter- Uma who comes over three times a week and is SUCH a joy to play with. Roberto is fluent in English, but only speaks to us in Spanish because he knows we need the practice.
Alejandro is the next child. I believe he is a doctor, lives about 15min away on the train is married with three boys. Then there is Carolina, she has two kids- girl and a boy and works at the Hotel in Ushuaia with her husband. Fernando is the youngest and is expecting a child in the net few months.
Living room
Living with this family has been a joy. Sure, I have only been here for two days, but these past few days I have truly observed a porteno family. It feels nice to be made a part of this family. I almost wish I had decided to live with a host family a while ago, but it's useless to think like that. I loved living in my apartment with my friends, Leigh and Ian. We had great parties, dinners, talks, drinking games, get togethers, etc...but after 3ish months, I started to get tired and began craving a family. I craved home cooked dinners(anything other than my daily veggie burgers would be sufficient)a mother figure, knowledgeable portenos, and a "HOME". Moving in here was purely luck. To make a long story short, my dear friend Emily Driscol's little sister lived here when she studied abroad in BA. Upon hearing that I may be homeless in BA for the second time in 5 months, she told me to call up the Livingstons. So desperate and lost I took her advice. To my luck( a pure blessing) the girl who was supposed to be living with the Livingstons had just canceled and Patricia told me there was a free room. She also told me she would let Leigh move in with me and we could each pay half of the original amount they charge. We got a great deal with this here situation. We are each paying a certain amount and in return we get an amazing family, breakfast and dinner served to us everyday, a clean apartment, our beds are made every week day, bathroom is spotless and we get Spanish conversations all the time. I couldn't ask for a better situation and a better way to spend my last two months in Buenos Aires.
The best thing about all of this is that I am living two blocks from the Roadhouse...(the first place I lived upon moving to this country). I know the neighborhood, the metro stops, the shopping, grocery stores, laundry stores and good running routes. Life is great! I am so thankful for the way things turned out and I will only be able to enjoy my last few precious moments on this South American Independent journey...
Home in just a few weeks...
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