The journey from Johannesburg, South Africa to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe then to Victoria Falls proved to me that there is truth to the saying “Its not the destination, but the journey”.

For those of you who would like to know what my life is like instead of just looking at nature photos, this post is for you!

The boys are back in town–and what a wild ride that was, let me tell you.

The blog you’ve all been waiting for! BIRD PHOTOS!

Alas, I don’t have an identification book yet. My host family took me to the  librería, or book store, after hearing me lament the absence of this book for days. The store’s selection didn’t include anything Quito-specific or under $78, though, so I’m hoping for better luck at the University book store.

I’m the worst.

But seriously, I am. In less than a week, I leave my home in upstate New York for the adventure of a lifetime in Amsterdam. While I am excited beyond belief, I’m not exactly prepared.

First of all, I don’t know any Dutch. Like none at all. From what I understand, it’s easy to get by with English in the Netherlands, but the thought of living in a country for four months and not knowing the native language makes me nervous. Can anyone buy me Rosetta Stone?

Last weekend, the entire IES group traveled to the nearby township of Gugulethu to spend the night in Tambo Village as a part of our home-stay program. We arrived in Tambo Village late Saturday afternoon and were greeted by many energetic children running around in from of Mama Knox’s house, who coordinated the home-stay program.

As you will find out, I love watching birds. My luggage was packed to the maximum capacity, 44 pounds, not because I brought too many outfits or shoes or hair products, but because I couldn’t choose which books to bring. I ended up with the whole library: field guides to the wildlife of the Galapagos, field guides to clouds, natural histories, novels, textbooks. The one book I couldn’t find was a field guide to the birds of Quito, so it’s on the list to buy first thing tomorrow!

I’m sitting face-to-face with a Boeing 737 through a wall-sized picture window. A toddler is bawling from the chair on my right, while all my electronics charge on the chair to my left. For once in my life, I’m a little too early, sitting at my gate a full 2 hours and 3 minutes before my flight is scheduled to take off.

The first couple weeks in Buenos Aires have been overwhelming but amazing. Little by little, parts of the city are becoming more familiar to me. Within these first couple weeks, we’ve taken tours of different parts of the city including Recoleta and Boca, as well as a trip to San Antonio de Areco, a farmland area a couple hours north of Buenos Aires.