ARGENTINA!

Groggy and tired, the group flight kids met up with solo travelers, most of who have been traveling round South America for the past 6 weeks. Already accustomed to the language, they started speaking Spanish to us and there was some awkward tension as it sunk in that the program was starting and we would have to give up speaking in English. My hives got worse.

We all hopped on a mini bus and headed out to a hotel out in the campo. The two girls I'm rooming with here for two nights are great, one is from nyc and the other is from Minnesota. They're both very chill and smart, and not at all overly peppy. Most of the people in the program seem really cool, and I'm excited to get acquainted with everyone.

After the “welcome to Argentina” lecture and going over our schedule for orientation as well as for the entire 15 week program, i started feeling comfortable. We eat 4 meals a day since dinner is VERY late, sometimes as late as midnight. I realized that it was okay that I didn't already know everything, that i would neither be too smart nor too ignorant in this program, and that while it would be challenging, it would also be incredibly educational. And fun. At the end of the day, every student received a gift from our directors. We opened them up together to find that we were all given silver mates and bombillas with our names engraved on them.

I'm getting the sense that this will be somewhat of a life changing (or at least influencing) experience. I'm already imagining minor changes I hope to incorporate into my life back in new york: speaking Spanish with neighbors, slowing down my pace, shopping for local produce, drinking mate constantly.

My hives have all but disappeared, and hopefully they were just scary signals of stress.

The People in My Program

While we're all of a similar sort (the type who would want to study regional integration in lain America) we are a pretty diverse bunch. We come from Caracas, Laguna Beach, Berkeley, Connecticut, Madison, Wisconsin, you get the drift. I'm one of four New Yorkers here.

But we still all know the lyrics to Redemption Song.

I am very impressed with everyone here. Everyone seems so enthusiastic and genuine, and it's nice to feel separate from the superficial focuses very prevalent in New York. We're all starting to speak Spanish a lot more with one another, which is very nice as we're eager to help each other out.

And yeah, maybe all of us knowing the words to Bob Marley is a bit cliché, but hey, it's a good song.

“deja que el mundo te cambie, y podrás combiar el mundo”

This place is crawling with the cutest kittens! And fleas. Fleas everywhere. In the grass, in the kitten, on the dog. Not so yay.