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June 7: Day 13

No description of my last weekend in Pilar would be complete without recounting the dinner I had Saturday night. Along with our neighborhood friend Juancruz Reynoso, my host family and I enjoyed asado, a traditional Argentinian barbeque prepared by my exchange student’s dad. Sr. Villanueva , a wonderful chef at home, cooked 6 dishes in his wood fire oven. The first was a sandwich consisting of a sausage (chorizo) cut down the middle and placed between two slices of bread (pan), hence its name “choripan”. Next was the daunting blood sausage (“morsilla” in Spanish), which was surprisingly tasty when shown how to eat properly. Other dishes included asado de tira, jugosa, pork meat, and molleja, which comes from the neck of a cow! It was one of the most memorable meals of my experience in Argentina, and the lucky Ron, the pet dog, got the leftovers!

The next morning, Agustín and I woke up very early (9:30 a.m) for one more adventure. We went to play paintball with other North Hills students at a place called El Tanque! Juancruz came, too. As I had never played paintball before, I was quite nervous. But with all the protective jackets and gear, getting shot didn’t hurt, which is fortunate because I was shot many times… The fact that Agustín and Juan, the best players, were both on the opposing team didn’t help matters! Though my team badly lost all four rounds, I had a great time! Thanks to Agus, my jacket has a large green splatter on the back of the hood.

We spent the rest of our day relaxing in the neighborhood. We walked the dog, played on swings, and watched a movie in English on Netflix. I’ll really miss my host family and all my friends from North Hills… Luckily I’ll get to see some again next year in Cary!
–Pranay

Today I woke up from a sleepover with Ryan and gaston. We all had a sleepover together the night before.
In the morning, we went shopping at “Tortugas” mall. We had to go to the mall, but Santiago had to go to his rugby match, which he won. At the mall, I bought a soccer Jersey and gifts for my family. After the shopping, we went to hangout with Ryan and gaston. At Gastonia house, we played video games, had lunch, and played soccer. We also rode a dirt bike, and while I was riding, I fell off. After that, we went to “Las palmas” mall. At the mall, we met up with almost all of the exchange students. We bought gifts for our families. I bought alfajores and cookies. After the shopping we all went out for dinner at Taco Box. After we went to dinner, I went home and packed. It has truly been a great trip and I will miss all of the exchange students so much.
–Sam

June 6: Day 12

¡Buenos días! Last night the parents hosted a party for all the exchange students and the students in the grade we are staying with as well as the students we hosted. After the party was over, a big group of girls slept over at my exchange student’s house. We put mattresses all over the floor of one of the rooms in her house. We managed to fit 17 of us in just one room. We slept in until 11:00 in the morning. We tried making pancakes for everybody, but we spilled the batter all over the floor. Instead we just had cereal, alfajores, and other snacks. We all hung out together until about 3:30 in the afternoon. Then I went with my exchange student and her mother to a shopping mall called Tortugas. This mall was very similar to the malls we have, but this one was very big. We had a late lunch and then looked around a few stores. My exchange student was looking for new platform shoes which are very popular among girls in Argentina. When we got back home, we just hung out until dinner time. For dinner we had empanadas which are very common in Argentina. The most popular type has meat and olives inside, but they have many variations. Then for dessert we had chocolate cake with dulce de leche.

–Anneka

Today was the second-to-last full day in Pilar. I slept in, after not getting to bed until around 2 or 3am on Friday night, because of a party and my cold. I had some yogurt and corn flakes for breakfast and then met some of my host student’s friends and family. His cousins came over and one of his friends wanted to meet me, so he came over to our house as well. We played a lot of card games and poker, and his friend taught me a few magic tricks, too. For lunch, we had homemade asado (which consisted of grilled veggies for me, since I don’t eat meat) and other side dishes. We played more cards and watched the Champions League Fútbol final and then the Argentina national team soccer games. After the friends and family left, my host and I walked across the neighborhood to the country club’s restaurant and ate some pasta there. We walked home and I went to sleep around 12, which would normally be late for me in America, but is quite early in Argentina. It was a chill, relaxing, final Saturday in Argentina, and I am ready to make the most of the last day tomorrow!

-Matthew

June 5: Day 11

¡Buenos Días!

Today I woke up at 7 am at Laura’s house to get ready for school. I had slept over the night before with Anneka, Laura and Agustina. Since Anneka and I both hosted Agustina when she came to the USA, it was great for us to get to spend time with her again. School starts here at 8:15, so we had to hurry to get dressed; however, today was the day all the girls wore their hosts’ uniforms. We were all very excited to wear the uniforms, so when we finally got to school at 8:30 (a little late), we all started taking pictures of ourselves. Also, we knew it was going to be a fun day because the plans included playing games and cooking with our hosts as well as the students we hosted. First, we played traditional Argentinean card games and board games with our host students. After some competitive games of Jenga and Twister, it was time for break. We started taking pictures again. After break we cooked with the students we hosted; we made Argentina’s famous “Choco Torta”, Ham and Cheese Sandwiches and “Oreo Cake”. While we were letting these cook, the class had prepared a presentation on “Mafalda” for us. “Mafalda” is a comic about a girl who talks about her political views. Then we had the lunch the school served us and talked outside with our friends. After lunch the students of 4-6 grade in secondary school have gym so we participated in their class by playing soccer and basketball with them. The gym class lasted until the end of the day so when it was over we all went home and took naps before a party that was hosted by the parents. We all had a good time being with both our students and the ones we hosted on our last weekend here.

–Remi(:

June 4: Day 10

Today we visited the downtown part of Pilar. While we were exploring, our exchange kids were in the city hall talking with the mayor of Pilar. The reason they did this was a project the school gave them where they talk with the city about a plan to add something to improve the city. Anyways, while our kids were at the city hall we went and explored the city of Pilar. While exploring we saw many things such as a market where many of us bought pants and clothes from Argentina. Then we proceeded to see an art gallery of an artist from Pilar who makes art from vinyl. Lastly, on this tour we went into a building and had meat empanadas. After that we returned to the school and did art work with some of the children. After school my kid and I went out with some kids in his neighborhood and hung out until dinner time. During dinner time we had chicken milanesa sandwiches. All and all today was a very fun and eventful day.
–Vincent

June 3: Day 9

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

June 2: Day 8

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

June 1: Day 7 continued

Meeting with the 4th graders!

June 1: Day 7

Today we are drove to school and tarted a cooking class. We started to learn to bread using a special furnace. The furnace looks like a dome mixed with a pizza oven. It was very cool to see steam coming off the top. The breads ended up being delicious! Then we attended English class with the students who take sciences. In English class, we learned the history behind the language of Lunfardo. It is a dialect and a way of speech but not a language.l after he language class, we got ready to eat lunch. After lunch, we meet he 4th graders to practice English with them. They were the sweetest little kids ever! They loved the movie Alice in Wonderland. During their break, I got to play with Delfi. She wanted to play tag and soccer. Then, I went to Deflinas house for mariena and to hang out with friends. Overall, it was a fun relaxed day

–Tatiana

Bread Making

Language Class

May 31: Day 6

¡Buenos días! After a fun party Saturday night at Lulis house with all the exchange students, my Sunday morning started around 10:00 am. We all went horse back riding and had a barbecue at a ranch called La Marca in Estancias del Pilar. As we all got there, we were divided into 3 groups so everyone could go on a trail ride at different times. I was in the second group, and as we waited, we mingled with all the students and enjoyed the gaucho playing the guitar and singing to us in Spanish. After about 45 minutes, it was my turn to go riding. My horses was named squirrel in Spanish, which is ardilla. We trotted among the beautiful scenery surrounding us. Matthew’s horse broke it’s ankle and fell over with Matthew on the horse! It was scary. For lunch, we all ate bbq sandwiches and had little slices of pizza. The meat here is so delicious! 🙂 After our day at the ranch, we all went to Nico’s neighborhood and played a game of soccer. Nico’s mom served mate, which is a very common drink in Argentina. As I’ve been here, I’ve realized that soccer is such a popular sport. At break, all the boys always play a friendly game of fútbol (soccer) together. We join in and play too.

I returned to Joaquina’s home around 7:30. For dinner, we had milanesa (breaded meat) with spinach and squash. We had a dessert called Choco Torta, which is cookies stacked with dulce de leche and cream cheese in the middle. ¡Es muy delicioso y rico! After an active day, I was extremely tired, so then I crashed and got a good night sleep.😊

-Liza

Today a lot of us went out to a farm to go horseback riding. We went on a trail that went past a lake that was beautiful. While we were at the farm for lunch we had asado, which is their meat for the barbecue. It was very good. After we went horseback riding we went to a gym that had an indoor soccer court. We played a few games of soccer and some of us tried to figure out how to do the aerial silks. While we were there one of the exchange students made some mate that we were able to try. After a while of playing soccer we went back home and had dinner. For dinner we had this mashed potatoes and meat that was almost like a pie. It was very good, and after dinner we went to bed.

–Mackenzie

May 30: Day 5

Today we had a very late start. For the first time in my life I slept to 11:30am. When I woke up my exchange student was waiting on me, and it was kind of awkward. We then proceeded to have a sugary breakfast with cake and croissants with tea. Then after that we went and played with the newborn golden retriever puppies who still wiggle around on the ground and have yet to open their eyes. They are soooo cute. Finally we got dressed for the day ahead of us. We had planned to go shopping, a hobby my exchange student and I have in common. After we got dressed we ate lunch which consisted of more sugar and pizza with salad. After that we passed time playing with the puppies once again while we waited on Khushi and her exchange student to come pick us up. We went to to a mall just 5 minutes away and spent nearly 4 hours shopping and enjoying some Argentinian Starbucks (very different but very good). I got a couple of gifts for my family and so did Khushi. Everything was quite expensive so I didn’t buy too many clothes which were quite cute. After a long day we ate dinner at about 10 with the family which I enjoy. After that my exchange student and I watched a movie together, but in Spanish so I had to pay close attention. Finally at about 12 I was able to get some much needed sleep.

–Jilly

Today I slept a lot, woke up a las doce y media. Tomas went to a soccer game a las diez and lost badly. He got home when I was showering, we hung out for an hour then went out with his dad and played ping pong. After we played, we went a la casa de Augustine and Jacob to eat dinner. We ate dinner and played video games. After that, we all drove to a party in Tomas’s neighborhood. We arrive 3 hours late and everyone was bored, including ourselves. After that, we walked home to Tomas’s house and played ping pong. It was Jacob and Tomas versus me… We played 5 sets to 21 and I won 4-1. We went inside, ate ramen and played video games. At this point it was… 4 in the morning? We went to bed and Augustine and Jacob slept in a separate room.

–Patrick