Before going to bed Sunday night, I decided to set my alarm for 6:45am to make sure I had everything packed up. However when 6:45 occurred, with the painful noise from my alarm clock, I decided to tap snooze and hope my remaining stuff would magically pack itself. As potentially possible as my thought was, it did not happen. Consequently, I woke up at about 7:07 in a panic to get myself and stuff together. I neatly shoved my sweaters and shoes into any remaining space I could find. By now, many of us are sick, so I woke up with a nice congested nose and sore throat: a lovely present for my future day of travel.
However, I did not let this bring me down. Instead, I decided this would be the day I would try mate, a traditional hot tea. Luckily, I was given sweet mate, and it was a lot better than I thought it would be. After our quick breakfast, I went back upstairs to gather my belongings and encounter yet another obstacle. I had to figure out how I was to bring my giant red suitcase down the stairs. I managed to shimmy the 49.8 pound bag that was nearly my height, giving me the confidence I needed to take on the day. Once the car was all packed up, we were off to my final day at North Hills. I dramatically glanced out of the window to fully soak in my surroundings one last time. We rolled in slightly late, but that is nothing I am not used to. As I reached to grab my suitcase out of the trunk, the car started rolling forward. I was confused whether I was hallucinating from my lack of sleep or if the car was actually moving. Luckily, we realized the car was actually moving just in time for the car to only, slightly, nudge the car in front.
Once I walked into our meeting room, I was applauded by my fellow classmates for showing up late. We started our last day of school with traditional and common card games in Argentina. The first game I played was called Truco. Truco is played with a deck of cards that have set values depending on the number and drawing. Each player is handed 3 cards. Then, you go around the circle and place down your best card. The person with the highest value card wins the point. The game can get more complicated; however, we decided to keep it simple. Also, I happened to win all the rounds. Though they say it is a game of luck, I believe it is a game of pure strategy. The next game we played was called Tutti Fruity. This a pretty simple game. One person decides on a letter, and we all had to write a Name, Place, Animal, Food, and Famous Person.If you write a word that has been used by others, you get 5 points. If you write a word that others did not write, you get 10 points. Then, we played Janga. Following Janga, we had a snack break at 9:44. Next, we went to the cafeteria to make empanadas.
We finished around 11:30 and had another break, during which I tried my first Oreo alfajor. This was a thrilling experience. Imagine this: 2 Oreos beautifully paired together with creamy milk chocolate. It was wonderful. However, my happiness would come to an end. I had to face my final task of the day: our goodbyes. It was very hard for me say bye to everyone, and I will cherish these past weeks forever. I made such good friendships, and I hope to keep in touch with everyone.
We had a very sad bus ride from around 2 to 3:20ish, and then we were off to Atlanta and Raleigh. I would like to conclude with a huge thank you to Señor Quesada and Ms. Caccuitto, along with all the North Hills faculty and families. I learned a lot about Argentinian culture and family life.
–Maddie
