Today I woke up at 10 am, had a light breakfast, and we headed out to Chinatown. The weather was beautiful, and luckily my cold is almost recovered. I went with Mateo, Cole, River, Fran, Nathaniel, Roxy, Leti, JuanFran, Max, and a few others. Once we arrived, we started by going to a Japanese restaurant where we had a great meal eating teriyaki, Ramen, and sushi. After that, we spent some time strolling around Chinatown before heading back on the car to drive to an ice cream shop. There we ate icecream while I had a cheesecake. After a bit of talking, we wrapped up our stay in downtown pilar and left for las palmas pilar, a large mall. I decided to buy a scarf for my mother and a cologne for my father, and then some alfajores to bring back home. Everything was so expensive! I had to choose my items very carefully. Then we crammed together in Roxy’s car as we headed to Fran’s house. There we had a light snack and then went to eat at a restaurant called Ayres, located right in his neighborhood. I had a massive sandwich that was probably fit to feed a small village. Then we were headed for our final activity of the night, and that is a party at Agus’s. I think I can speak for everyone when I say this: the party was bittersweet. It was fun because we got to talk with friends, play ping pong, and even just dance. However it was also sad because it was the last night of our exchange. We tried to save the memories as much as possible by taking photos, but we were each wishing that we could stay just one more night at least. I am going to miss this trip experience, I really am. Moments like these reminds me how nothing in life is permanent. However, let’s be glad that it happened, not sad that it will be over. —Eugene
After a late gathering at Lucho’s house last night, I woke up at 11:00 the next morning. It was a much needed rest after getting up early for school in the past few days. Today, Delfi had a large family gathering at her house. I met her aunts, uncles, cousins, and her grandparents! They were very sweet and asked me about my stay in Argentina, what food I liked, and my life in America. I even got to converse a bit in Spanish. For lunch, Delfi’s mom prepared traditional Argentinian foods: matambre a la pizza (beef topped with cheese like a pizza), guiso de lentejas (broth with beef, potatoes, and lentils), churrasco (beef similar to steak). For dessert, Delfi’s aunt made chocotortas. When I first tasted it at North Hills I didn’t really like it, but these ones were so good that I even came back for seconds! After lunch, Delfi and I watched a horror movie. Then we got ready to go meet up with a few friends at the mall Palmas, where we coincidentally bumped into a few more exchange students. I bought a box of alfajores for my parents from Havanna. Then we headed to Fran’s house and ate dinner at the clubhouse. After dinner, we headed to Agus’s house for the last gathering of the exchange. There was food, just dance, and ping pong and I had a great time. We left at around 12; I’m so sad that tomorrow is the last day of the exchange. Good thing we took many photos to commemorate. I will miss everyone! —Sherry
When everyone else woke up we had lunch together, and after having lunch I went to a shopping center with a few other people. I wanted to look for clothing as a sort of souvenir for the trip, and I also bought some alfajores there to bring back home as gifts.
After that we went back home to eat dinner before going to a party as a sort of “final day” activity, which for me consisted of a lot of ping pong, which is really popular at parties amongst this group. It’s pretty bittersweet to hang out like this for the last time together, we took a lot of pictures.
When I got home I just packed my suitcase and went to bed. –Ty
