Updates from Argentina

Okay. Some stuff has happened. Wednesday and Thursday of this past week was Estudiantina at my school. Estudiantina, for those of you that are unfamiliar, is essentially a party/fun-fair at school, when we don't have to wear our uniforms and play games instead of attending classes. It's a fun time.  Some student made the sign above in case any students forgot and arrived in their uniforms and carrying their books. On Wednesday, it was mostly party games like musical chairs, egg balancing, and cup stacking, along with friendly soccer games. Someone also brought a pack of water balloons, and things kinda got out of control. I'm not sure if you can tell, but everyone in the photo above is soaked. The water balloons got used up early, so it turned to squeezing water bottles onto people's heads, which then escalated to buckets and hoses. Then came Thursday. So, on Thursday, the main event was stage performances, which ranged from singing and playing guitar to ...

Okay, so, the food. It's amazing. It's much better than food in the US, and way cheaper too. For example, a basic hamburger here costs about 40 pesos, which translates to about one US dollar. And because Argentina has one of the best beef industries in the world, it tastes amazing too. I actually told my family last week that when I went back to the US, I would definitely miss them very much, but I would probably miss the food more.  That's a picture of one of my first breakfasts here. In case you can't tell, that's a dulce de leche pastry with hot chocolate. Bread and bread-based foods are a staple here, common at almost every meal. My host mom has a favorite panadería where she likes to buy the best pastries.  Those are photos of asado, being cooked and then served. Asado is a traditional meal that happens every Sunday, where different kinds of meat are grilled for lunch or for dinner. One of my favorites is chorizo, a type of sausage. And I must say, asa...

Man, studying abroad is hard. Excluding the first night, I slept a lot. It gets very exhausting to translate every word in my head. I put all my clothes in the dresser, turned on the space heater (cause it gets real cold in a house with no central heating) and put away my suitcases. I mostly spent the first few days getting to know my host family. My host sister Magui took me to her school and introduced me to her group of friends. I eventually ended up going with her to a birthday party for one of them. I also got to try various types of mate (which is a traditional Argentinian drink, like strong tea, that is shared among friends). Then came my first day of school. I arrived on my first day wearing the school uniform with the exchange student from Switzerland (Maria). I was introduced to my class of about 15-20 kids and given a bag of Argentinian candy and a jar of dulce de leche as a gift. The rest of the week pretty much consisted of me struggling to understand my...

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).