Yes, you have read right, it seems the never-ending story finally terminated. After not having heard anything from the university’s exchange coordinator for international relations during nearly two months, I was slightly running out of time as my tourist visa only allowed me to stay 90 days. So I went again to the international relations office to personally see the exchange coordinators and explained them I would become illegal in the next couple of days. Magically they were just about to finish the missing documents needed and then told me I should go to Mar del Plata the next day, city where the “oficina de migraciones” would finalize my visa application. I wasn’t quite prepared to that, but being spontaneous is kind of essential when living in Argentina, so the next morning I took the “colectivo” to Mar del Plata, which costs 50 Argentine pesos (I eventually received my student’s certificate and now get 20% reduction on nearly every price concerning travels through Argentina) and takes two and a half hours for the trip (this time can be used, for instance, to catch up on sleep, since the omnibuses are extremely comfortable – by the way, Latin America’s bus system is really a plus compared to Europe, much more flexible and offering a very dense network).

In Mar del Plata we (I went together with a Brazilian guy) took a “remis” to the migration’s office and stayed there for about 5 hours, of course all the time mostly waiting for nothing to happen. But at the end everything seemed to be ok and after having paid the 600 pesos I received my student’s visa, allowing me to stay 90 days more here in this amazing country

We used the rest of the day to walk a bit through the city and at least saw the beach and the sea, but it is really not worth it to go there once again. This town is really not beautiful and apparently unbearable during the summer, as nearly every “porteño” (inhabitants of Buenos Aires) wants to stay there on holiday, making the town triple (!!) its population during the vacation period.

Otherwise I continue improving my Spanish language skills (I will probably attend to the CELU exam) and I am still learning more and more about the Argentine culture, by watching the Superclásico between River Plate and Boca Juniors (terminated 2-2) on TV (accompanied with an incredible amount of propaganda from the government, showing the Kirchners as saints), listening to the educational program “Filosofía aquí y ahora” and trying to read Argentina’s most important literary classic “El Gaucho Martín Fierro” by José Hernández – really difficult to understand but a must for every Argentine pupil, it is studied intensively at school here right like Goethe’s Faust in Germany.

And I’m also preparing for the Tandilia, a 11.111km (both horizontal and vertical meters) race through the whole town, with many participants from all over the country and a supposedly great atmosphere …. but how will I be able to finish with 3 or 4 kg more than when I arrived (the food is very nice but too nutritious and I’m missing vegetables)?