Category: Pilar, Argentina

Today I woke up and had breakfast which consisted of these lovely sugary croissants and home made organ juice which is amazing. Then we went to school and put our stuff in a room and walked over to the feilds with our host grade. Once there we divided up into 4 teams of red, pink, light green, and dark green. I was on the red team. We all played each other and it was quite fun. There was always at least one or two really good people in each team that made the game even. My team tied the first game because we honestly weren’t trying that hard, won the second, and tied the last….. Sadly we needed to win the last one to win the tournament but Jacob scored in the last few seconds of the game to tie it so his team won the game. After that we just chilled at the fields casually killing the ball around and talking. Ten we went back to school and and pizza for lunch. After lunch we got to play with the 6th graders and it was pretty cool. They thought me some cool card games an I know other groups played Charlie Charlie. We went to break with the 6th graders and played some soccer then came back inside and ate more food which was so good but we left with our stomachs about to burst. We then chilled outside talking and shooting hoops till school ended and we all went to our houses.

–Brooke

Tuesday June 2, 2015 (otherwise known as “Alpaca Day”)

7:30:  I am woken by the sound of my family’s dog, Alfi.  He barks for every car that passes by.

7:45:  My family has prepared yet again cake for me to eat for breakfast.  It is quite a strange feeling to eat cake in the morning.  They keep placing another slice on my plate as soon as the previous one is finished.  I need to stop eating so much cake.

8:15:  We arrive at school.  I am greeted by the sounds of my 7 and 8 year old fans, all holding their hands out for high fives or waving their hands across their faces, replicating John Cena’s signature move.

8:45:  The room the Americans gather in is quite lively this morning.  It seems as though there is a decent amount of drama to discuss.  Some are more talkative than others.

9:30:  We arrive at the zoo.  I am very excited to see some Alpacas.  We and one other school group are the only visitors at the zoo today.  After taking a photo with the zoo sign, we head in.  The first animals we see are some pink flamingos and a group of white cranes.  While cool, they aren’t alpacas.

10:00:  We are greeted by a tour guide who explains to us the dangerous impacts of using natural resources on the environment.  We then visit a group of meerkats and some sleeping bats.  Fascinating.

10:30:  Our group has ventured inside an aquarium.  Inside are countless fish, stingrays, and sharks.  In a nearby corner, a group of lionfish huddle around an aquatic plant.  Interesting…

11:00:  We leave the aquarium and draw near what at first seems to be an alpaca exhibit.  My classmates crowd around me saying, “Look Jacob! Alpacas!”  But I know better.  There aren’t alpacas, only llamas in disguise. I continue my walking in a silent, sad state, having been fooled by the group of llamas.

11:30  We enter a 360 movie theatre in the zoo.  Scenes of wild animals dance across the screen while magnificent classical music plays.

12:00:  We leave the zoo.  Despite the lack of alpacas, I am pleased.  As well, a large portion of drama was settled between two individuals at this time.  We arrive once again at the school, and I am greeted by my fans.

5:00:  After lunch and some soccer, it is time to leave school. I arrive at home and take a nap.

6:00:  Videogames

9:00:  We have dinner at the house.  As I eat some grapes, I notice that Augustin has a pile of seeds on his plate. When questioned, he tells me that they are from the grapes. I had been eating at least 20 seeds.  He informs me that I might get sick later.  He is right.

1:00:  Sleep.

–Jacob

Meeting with the 4th graders!

–Tatiana

Bread Making

Language Class

I started off the morning with a cup of coffee and being rushed out the door for school. Luli and I arrived at school right on time for the start of school at 8:15. All the exchange students were gathered in a classroom where we were given a schedule for the events that are to go on while we are in Argentina. Carlos, the principal of North Hills school gave us a tour of the school. Their learning environment is much different then ours. Traditional desks and taking notes on paper is the usual. We all met up with our exchange students in the cafeteria for a brunch including foods such as alfajores, dulce de leche, brownies, and coconut cake. We then proceeded to hang outside and  meet everyone from other grades. Kids from younger grades would run up in groups and ask us questions. All of us were the center of attention. After break all of us, including our hosts, went inside to a classroom and played a game where you had to guess which picture was America and which was Argentina. It was quite challenging I must say. Lunch followed and we had rice/ fries with milanesas. My family had served me that the night before and it was so good. From lunch we went to visit the kindergarteners and teach and play some games with them. They taught us a song and then we taught them how to play four corners. We finished our games and then went on outside to participate in PE if we wanted. I hung out with some of the exchange people and then went and played soccer with some of the host girls. School came to an end and Luli took me to one of their grocery stores before we headed to a little get together at another one of the girls homes. Most all the snacks were different from what we have back home. We bought different chips and crackers. We left and proceeded to Delfi’s house. A lot of the girls came with their exchange student and we all just hung out, talked, and played some music. It was quite an eventful day.

–Lauren

On May 28th, we started the day out by taking a boat to and island called Tigre.  While sailing, I slept and listened to the commentary.  I learned that a lot of people live on water.  There’s even a school that can only be accessed by boat.  The river is like a highway, and people travel with their own boats and canoes/kayaks.  When we arrived to the island, we played on a playground for a few minutes while someone got a soccer ball from the store.  After we got the ball, a lot of us played soccer together.  The indoor field was very slippery, as if was made of tile.  After we played for an hour or so, we went to eat lunch.  The meat course included empanadas, sausages, blood sausages, steak and ice cream.  The vegetarian course was pretty much just different types of cheeses.  The blood sausage was apparently just made out of cooked blood.  It was very pasty with chunks of god knows what in it.  In my opinion, it wasn’t too bad.  The concept was more disgusting than it actually was.  That said, I still wouldn’t want to have it on a regular basis.  After the meal, we played another round of soccer and headed back to the boat.  On the boat, most of us played a game called Mafia together.  After this, we went to a naval museum.  The place was huge, and in my opinion very boring.  That’s probably just because I couldn’t understand anything that the guide was saying.  After we finished the tour of the museum, we got on the bus to go to Pilar.  On the bus ride, we pretty much just talked or slept.  Once we got to North Hills, we were greeted by a big group of students.  After this, my host and I went home and had dinner.  For dinner, we had chicken and beef patties with barbecue sauce.  After this, my host and I played video games until we went to bed.

–Damon

Had hotel breakfast in the morning which was delicious. Headed out to a place called teatro colon. It had beautiful sculptures of famous composers. Inside was like an opera house with all the lavish balconies and seating. After that we headed to a large cemetery in the middle of the city. It reminded me of cemetery’s in New  Orleans with the tombs above the ground. Some of the tombs were beautiful and filled with flowers. Some of the other tombs were broken down and old. After walking most of the morning we all worked up an appetite. Most of us (if not all) went to a “American dinner” style restaurant which helped heal the homesickness some of us possessed. Although the prices were crazy expensive (we had to pay for the silverware) my burger wasn’t that bad. After lunch we headed to a beautiful park with lots of flowers. It was a great photo shoot  opportunity for some of us in the group who needed to keep their Instagram going over the trip. Dinner was very special at a very nice tango place. The dancing and the outfits were very erotic.

–Ryan

Today was Wednesday, May 27. It was our second day in Buenos Aires, (or first full day if you want to be technical). We started the day with a quick breakfast in the hotel before taking off in our tour bus. Our first stop- Teatro Colòn. Teatro Colòn is a grand performance hall with stunning Italian architecture. We were lucky enough to hear it filled with classical music as the ballet warmed up for a show later this week. After that we visited a park, which offered stunning views of the city. Inside the park there was a gated area full of dogs, which we watched for some time. Ryan remarked ,”Wow, I wish we had dogs in the US”, which nearly made myself and a few others fall over laughing. We then walked through an upscale shopping street to arrive at our next destination. Secondly we visited a famous resting place, where Evita, known as the mother of Argentina, lies. The cemetery was filled with rows of statues of various stones to mark the names of their beholders. After our lunch in a mall nearby, we boarded the bus to view a sculpture. The sculpture, which I can’t remember the name of, appeared to be a large flower blooming with four extending panels, made of a reflective metal. Lastly we walked around a large rose garden, before boarding the bus back to the hotel. After our allotted downtime/getting ready time, we attended our “tango dinner”. The dinner consisted of three courses, (appetizer, main and dessert), all of which were fantastic. Afterwards we ended the night watching the spicy tango show, before heading back to the hotel to rest.

–Claire

Buenos Aires, May 26th, 2015

Today, we landed in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, at 9:05 AM. It took a while to get the entire group through customs and baggage claim, but once we finished and exited the terminal, we were greeted by Leticia, our tour guide for the duration of the trip. She guided us outside, where we waited about 20 minutes for our bus to come. The ride into the heart of the city took about 40 minutes, and in that time, Leticia told us about Argentina, the seasons, the different provinces, and fed us alfajores- all in Spanish. We quickly learned that nothing here would be in English and therefore we needed to adapt to understanding and responding to Spanish as quickly as we could. Once we reached the hotel, we quickly shoved our bags to the the corner and tried to connect to the wifi! After a quick stop at the hotel Conde, we walked to the Cafe Tortoni, which featured  world-famous hot chocolate. After relaxing in the cafe for about an hour, we toured the city further on foot, then arrived at our lunch destination: Il Gatto. The food took a whole lot longer than we expected to arrive, but we amused ourselves by playing hangman in Spanish and drawing on each other’s hands. Once the food arrived, we quickly devoured it and looked forward to a nice nap at the hotel- only to find that we still had a while longer before we checked into our rooms. Now, we were headed towards El Caminito, a colorful little crook that had little local shops we bought presents at, as well as many sculptures and graffiti. By this time, it had begun to rain, so we took the bus to the Cathedral, and then stepped out to explore the inside of the church. It was gorgeous! Many pictures were taken, both of the architecture inside the church, and the sculptures and frescos inside as well. After the church, we returned to the hotel, where we were given about two hours to relax, take naps, and get ready for dinner. As Señor Quesada noted, we were to be downstairs in the lobby at promptly 7:25– which we were- and at about 7:50, the bus arrived to take us to our dinner destination: La Bistecca. Unanimously voted, this buffet-style restaurant was one of the best we had ever visited. There were dulce de leche fountains, chocolate fountains, and all types of meats and cheeses available to come back to again and again. After a delicious dinner, we walked along the promenade and took artistic pictures of the Rio Plata at night and the surrounding lit buildings and bridges. After spending a good ten minutes on the bridge, which involved stray dogs that tried to follow us everywhere, we finally returned to the bus and back to the hotel, where we were set free to finally get some much-needed sleep. ~Khushi

As it turns 9 o’ clock in the morning, our Delta plane touches down in Buenos Aires, greeted by chilly, but comfortable 60 degree temperatures. As I struggle to keep my eyes open, I look around and see a similar sense of sleepiness in the air. My friends and I have been through 10 hour plane ride of straight movies and no sleep, which puts us at about 26 hours of operation. Once off the plane, we are greeted by heavy Coca Cola advertising and Argentina customs, or “La Aduana,” as my Spanish teacher Sra. Ade explained to us 2 weeks before the trip. Thankfully it is early morning, and not many flights have made it through the international terminal, and unlike the tedious customs of Japan, we smoothly make it through enter the country with our fellow Atlanta passengers in under an hour. At first glance, the city seems a lot like a city I am familiar with – Taipei, Taiwan. It has the same air of urgency, and the same air of pollution. The cars are also of similar build. Of compact body type; perfect for hugging the tight corners of big city streets. As we struggle against our sleepiness, we settle our bags temporarily in the lobby of Hotel Conte, and set off to Cafe Tortonni, our first destination on our tour.

Cafe Tortonni has an attitude of tested and tried style. The walls are adorned with framed photos and plaques of stars and artists of an age past, as well as photos of the founders scattered on the walls. The Cafe Tortonni hot chocolate differentiates itself from any American offering I have ever encountered. Unlike the blatant sweetness of milk chocolate in the US, Tortonni hot chocolate rings through my mouth with a sweetness enchanced by a deep resounding cocoa in the background. The intake of sugar provides us a temporary boost from the sleepiness of the plane, and we leave the cafe feeling mildly awakened as our hours of operation clocks in at around 30.

As we continue on with our excursions, we snake along the roads of the busy city, our tour guide Leticia pointing notable attractions in the city such as the pink presidential house, and the streets filled with musicians. As I listen more closely, I begin to hear that she pronounces the “Aires” in Buenos Aires, stressing the “Ai” until it makes a “AIE” sound, almost like Buenos AIEres. She also pronounces the two l’s (ll) in a word with a “j” sound, possibly something signature of the local dialect. Leticia says that there are different neighborhoods (barrios) with people of different cultures much like New York. She also shows us the stadium of the Boca Juniors – a professional soccer (futbol) team with blue and yellow team colors similar to those of our school. Our tour concludes with a show of the cominito, a street that was turned into a dump, but then made beautiful by the murals of artists. At a local shop in the cominito, I purchase a plate – a LEATHER plate, to take home and show my parents.

Our tour temporarily ends here as we head back to Conte Hotel and hang out for a few hours before heading out to dinner. My roommates Pranay Tankala and Damon Blair set up camp, and hit up the shower to wash off when…SURPRISE the water is freaking orange. An opaque, rusty orange. And in fact, as we ring up the front desk, we discover that there is indeed RUST in our tap water. The rust is unavoidable, pervasive through both the hot and cold water of the shower as well as the sink (duh, its the same source), rendering us unable to wash for a while. Oh well. Pranay and I settle for wetting our hair with bottled water as Damon steps our of the shower with soap still in his hair.

Three hours later, we board the bus again to go to dinner. It is at a place called bisteka, and the food is superb. I never cease to be amazed by the glass soda bottles. Our first day in Argentina came to a close, clocking 40 hours of operation, and leaving me excited for the rest of the trip.

–Justin