Updates from Argentina

Boy, these past few days have been a journey. I started in Chicago on Wednesday (August 22nd), saying goodbye to my parents. Then, I took a two and a half hour flight to Miami, where I met my roommate Aidan and the other US exchange students. We had a loooong orientation where we learned about what it means to be an exchange student, reviewed the chain of communication, and played games to get to get to know each other. From my experience so far, I feel confident saying that exchange students are pretty much the best people on earth. (Side note: AFS volunteers said we couldn’t go in the pool because they don’t trust us to not drown, but I went in anyway 😉 ) On Thursday, we did some more activities together, celebrated ourselves with sparkling grape/apple-cranberry juice (I grabbed an extra bottle on the way out), and headed off to the airport with all our luggage. (Well, almost all...I left my charger and charging block in the hotel room 🤦‍♂️ ). Once we checked our suitcase...

The time has come. Tomorrow morning I will be on a plane to Miami to begin my exchange program. I’m going to miss you all so much! Of course, I still have things to do before I leave. I need to get gifts for my host family together, and I need to pack all the miscellaneous items I may need during my year abroad. I’m planning to go to the Oak Park Visitors Store after school. Oh yeah, so I went to school today. I got to say final goodbyes to most of my friends and favorite teachers (love you❤️), and I got to have my last look at OPRF. I’m really going to miss this place. My hope is that when I return, I will have been shaped by my experience and I will be ready to take on new challenges and opportunities in this amazing school. I love you all so much!

AFS sent me my host family's contact info about a week ago and we've exchanged a couple of emails since then. It looks like I'm gonna have sisters! I'll be staying in Paraná, which is about 5 hours from Buenos Aires. My mom's name is Alejandra, my dad is Marcelo, and my sisters are Magui and Camila. I also will have a brother who doesn't live at home named Urs. My new house will have a garden and a swimming pool, and 4 dogs and a cat. I get to have my own room, which is nice. I am super excited to live in Paraná and experience a different culture. The next post will probably be after I arrive. By the way, our new exchange student from Argentina (Jazmin) is here and she's introducing me to real mate (it's like tea but better).