Day 8 Highlights from our first day of school!
Abigail’s Post:
Today was our first day at Quilmes High School. Upon arriving at the school with Justina, we attended the opening ceremony and witnessed the flag raising alongside the rest of the exchange group and of-age Quilmes High School students. Following this, we all went to a room to learn about some of the school’s history and their house system, which was reminiscent of the system at Hogwarts in Harry Potter, a parallel I find most intriguing. Afterwards we had a mini-banquet of various pastries, my favorite being the croissants, as per usual. They’ve been my go-to breakfast since the start of this exchange.
After getting to chat with the Argentinians for a while, we began our morning tour of the nursery and kindergarten. It was interesting to discover how early the children were exposed to English at the school. We got to sing some English nursery songs to the young children, who were absolutely precious, and I believe all the others greatly enjoyed this part of the tour, along with the photo-posing on the playground structures.
After the nursery, we checked out the kindergarten and spoke with some of the kids there, though they did seem rather shy upon the first interactions. After that tour was complete, there was an opportunity to play some 9-square game in the break area while we waited for the next activity. It was entertaining to watch with the ensuing chaos, and I found that I was greatly lacking in the foot-eye coordination department when I attempted to join in later.
After some afternoon classes and an introduction, dance, and celebrity-level karaoke session with the primary schoolers, I left school with Justina and several others to head to a movie night at Matilda’s house.
The movie night was quite enjoyable, and we watched the Smurfs movie in Spanish with an array of candy and popcorn at our disposal. There was one gummy-like candy that I was particularly fond of that came in the shape of blackberries and raspberries. Also, despite all the great things I heard about it, I still believe the sweet popcorn is inferior to the salted, buttery kind. Simply an opinion, though. The day was amazing and I had a great time hanging put with everyone. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the trip goes!
Chikezie’s Post:
The first day of school was amazing. They welcomed us with a warm greeting calling us up to ask how we felt about Argentina. Then we were told to go to the video room to listen to a presentation about the history of the school of Quilmes, which has been around for 120 years. Next we shadowed our buddies for their classes in the morning where we had many breaks. Also, I’m that morning we got to see the little ones in their classrooms to meet them and take pictures. It was very adorable because they were all so friendly and happy to be at school.
For lunch, we went to Juan Pedro’s home where his father prepared us fresh burgers on the grill. We took many pictures. When we came back to school we met the students in primary school where they had us play them in activities. The first game was who knows more about the other’s country. Then we competed in dance. There was also karaoke, which I was a part of and I sang a song in Espanola with Hugh. Then we started doing more activities with the little ones and they were all asking for autographs which boosted my ego. This was where our school day came to an end. After school, we went to Matilda’s house and watched a movie.