Today the morning came early. After getting used to waking up late over the weekend, 6:30 AM wake-ups the past two days were tough. This morning, neither Agustín nor I were really into the whole “let’s get going early” mindset so, we had somewhat of a late start. For breakfast, I had my customary cereal and for Agustín…well, having breakfast is a surprise for him! Though we left his house a bit late, we still got to QHS quite early, much earlier than any other CA students. Because of this, I gained a prime opportunity to meet some of his friends (some of whom I learned came to Cary last year!) While everyone else had their morning line up, my peers and I sought refuge in the warmest, homiest room at QHS: the video room. Ahhh, the video room. After warming up for a little bit, a QHS teacher, Señora Julia Pauni, conducted a class on finding similarities between Argentina and the USA history and politics.
We soon realized that there are lots of similarities! For example, I was shocked to find out how similar our constitutions were; they even have the same translated phrases! On top of that, we learned that both countries were colonies to major European powers (Argentina to Spain as the US was to the United Kingdom). After learning all of this information, we all completed a crossword puzzle to figure out the answers to some similarities and differences, with words ranging from Malvinas (Spanish word for the Falkland Islands) to Kirchner (the surname of two of Argentina’s past presidents). After the history class, we warmed up with a nice cup of coffee or tea and hung inside the video room. Some of us went outside during our break, while Jaishree, Salma, and I were smart and stayed in the video room and enjoyed a full sleeve of oreos. I can honestly tell you I have NEVER missed American food more than I do right now. After our break we all came back to the video room to learn a bit about Argentinian art. As we were going to the MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericno de Buenos Aires) later on today, we learned a bit about two different pieces and painters. First, we learned a bit about a famous Mexican painter named Frida Kahlo. Or as some of us very eloquently put it, the woman with a unibrow.
Señora Claudia Alvarez also taught us a bit about a famous painter who painted a painting (yes, I did say painter who painted a painting) that described the many hardships that Argentinians had faced during the 18 and 1900’s. After this, we tried our own hand at making some art. Our groups were given the task of making an inspired painting based on the works of Frida Kahlo or Antonio Berni. Our group (as well as the others) chose the Kahlo inspired task and got to work. After hours of hard work, we finally came up with our masterpiece: 50 Shades of Kahlo. To reward our efforts, we were soon let out for lunch. While Agustín went to lunch with Kaitlyn, Lindsey, Madi and their exchange students, Paloma and Gael invited me to their home to have lunch with Kaylah and Jay. It was very nice to discuss our lives at lunch and their light filled home provided a great atmosphere to do so. After lunch, we were off to the MALBA!
After lunch, we went to MALBA, a famous modern art museum in Argentina. It was about an hour long bus ride, but the art was worth it. I love modern art, and have been to a few modern art museums in the USA. The museum reminded me quite a bit of MOMA in New York City. There was a lot of work included in the museum with the intent to increase awareness of the disease AIDS. There was an entire wall covered with just the word “AIDS”. Another common theme in modern art are shapes and geometric formations. We saw fashion outfits made into the shapes of pyramids. After we had explored that section of the museum, we went to a section or permanent collection, where our tour guide challenged us to a game. She gave each person or pair a word, and we had to find a painting in that section that best embodied the word. My partner, Madi Prentice, and I were given the word “universe”. We found a painting that was mostly black, but reminded us of the big bang, or the creation of the universe. As a group, we also talked about prospective, and our tour guide showed us a famous painting of South America upside down. I personally choose to believe that this art piece means that prospective is everything. We are taught that South America is facing a certain way, but what if what we are taught is wrong, and it is actually pointing the other way? I thought a lot about that on the bus ride back to school.
When we got back to school, we got to hang out and have some down time as a group. It was really funny because everyone was tired that they would laugh at anything, at least I was. When the bell rang, my exchange student, a few friends, and I left school and walked a few blocks to a book store. This trip has really inspired me to learn more Spanish, so I purchased one of my favorite books in Spanish. The group and I then traveled to a tea house for merienda, which is similar to tea time or an after school snack. Even after being here for a week, I am still not used to seeing the price of pesos versus dollars, so I was momentarily shocked when I read that the tea I wanted was $45 which is really like 2.75 US dollars.
The tea was really good, but I miss the way my mom makes it. I’m going to get warm under the blankets and start my book. I’m finally starting to realize how nice the 90 degree weather in NC is compared to the 40 degree weather here. I hope everyone had a good day!