I think I have arrived.

So we took a 12 hour bus ride to get to Villazon, where we would cross the border into Argentina. We arrived into Villazon, in the south of Bolivia, around 8:30 am.

What ensued ended up being the longest day of my life---
So we got off the bus and somehow ended up following a little Bolivian man into a bus agency. He wanted to get us on a bus that left from the bus terminal in the Argentinian side at 11:30. So we bought tickets after about an hour of meandering to take out money and make sure we had seats on the bus. The bus ride would be about 20 hours long to get to Rosario, so I wanted to make sure the bus had reclining seats and that we definitely has seats on the bus -sometimes they give you tickets when there aren't seats.

Then the little man took us to get our passports stamped on the Bolivian side and said that that was as far as he took us. Afterwards, we headed to the insanely long line being formed to cross the border. Unfortunately, on this opportune day, there was only one official working at the immigrations office to cross into Argentina. We stood in that freaking line for 6 hours. Well, mainly I waited.
So as we waited in the line, I went and chatted with an officer trying to find out whether or not I had to pay an entrance fee to get into Argentina. Ryan had told me a few months back, that as of January 1st, US citizens had to pay a fee of $100 USD in order to get a traveler's visa. But after some lovely chatting, I discovered that luckily while the law had been passed, there was no one currently at the office to recieve and officialize the payment. So I was somewhat lucky in that respect. While waiting, I also went the bathroom in some weird market, bought water and cigarettes and chatted with a couple in front of us, who later ended up playing the guitar and singing for a bit. I also ate a sandwich, paced, and read.

Eventually, Manu went to the office where we bought our bus tickets, FlechaBus, to change them to a later time, so we would not have to deal with it, once we crossed. While he was there, some soldiers came by asking for the passports and DNI's (a type of identification card from Argentina) of Argentinians, so they could process those first and help move along the line. By then it was around 1:30 and by the time Manu came back, all the Argentinians in the line were placed outside of the line to recieve their identifications and cross into their country. So he crossed. I waited about 2 hours more and eventually as the line moved at a snail's pace, I made it to the front of the line.

Of course, the guy at the desk, strangely enough, while looking at my US passport, asked me if I was Argentinian. I told him, No, but he was convinced since I spoke Spanish so well. I am gloating there, if you didn't notice. He then stamped my passport and let me go. Another official checked my small backpack without ever looking into my big pack - weird. And I finally made it into Argentina!

So we got some food and beer and headed onto our bus. It left at 4:00 pm - and it was definitely more than a 20 hour bus ride. I think it was about 24 hours in total. But it stopped a bunch of times so everyone could eat and go to the bathroom. There was also a snack at night, a toilet on the bus, some bad movies, and a brief change of buses at 11 at night.

And after all of it, I made it into Rosario.

Rosario - the second largest city in Argentina, after Buenos Aires. And it is only about 4 hours from Buenos...I have been here for about two weeks and it has some type of familiarity to Sevilla. It is definitely a city but at the same time, it is small enough to feel quaint. (I also live in the suburbs here, which is probably why it resembles Sevilla so much to me - I lived in Tomares and would have to take the bus to get into Sevilla). But for the most part, I am getting pretty comfortable here. I have internet whenever I want, the town is on a river, the people are lovely - in all the ways one can be, my living situation is good (Manu has a dog), and little by little I am getting acclimated. I am working on getting a job here - I am thinking waittress but well see how that works out. And I've been writing and running. My routine is coming together. So it looks like I will be here for a substantial amount of time....so if anyone is interested in visiting me, you should definitely come! You will love Argentina. I love Argentina, even though I have only seen Rosario.But I am pretty settled, so think about it....