Day 9 Highlights:
Ben’s Post:
English version: In order to get to Quilmes High School at the correct time, I need to wake up at quarter past six, and we usually leave at seven. In Argentina, people generally don’t eat breakfast, so in the mornings, I have been the only one eating. My host family has been amazing and have prepared breakfast for me every morning even though they’re not eating. I am so happy that I have a perfect match with my partner and family.
Quilmes High School is very different from Cary Academy and I like it a lot. The buildings are much older than the Cary Academy buildings but they are charming. They don’t use very much technology and have a specific room for computers. Yesterday we attended two classes, a Spanish literature class and an English class. I liked literature class a lot, and we talked about the differences between monotheism and polytheism because they are reading a story by Borges that talks about different topics in religion. Also, we talked about cults and the negative consequences that can result from them.
Before the classes, we had a presentation about the three houses at Quilmes High School, Livingston, Hudson, and Shackleton. The three houses are named after famous explorers, and there are competitions between the three houses at the school. After the first class, we had a guide to kindergarten, kindergarten, and elementary school. The little ones were adorable and we really enjoyed playing with them. We sang and danced and played other games with the children in primary school. We had lunch at Juan P’s house in Quilmes and ate empanadas and hamburgers.
After school, I and some people from Cary Academy and their exchange students watched Smurfs in Spanish with English subtitles. During the movie, we ate sandwiches with meat and a lot of sweets. I left early though because I was very tired. This morning I also got up very early and went to school.
Today, we didn’t attend classes, but we prepared alfajores and picture frames instead. Also, in the morning we had a presentation of CAS (an organization within the school with student volunteers who help people who do not have the same resources). There is a particular school that they help. This school is in a shantytown and has a lot of poverty. We are going to go to this school tomorrow to give them the alfajores and frames that we prepared. In the middle of activities or classes, we have ten minute breaks. During breaks, we play a game that is similar to four square, but it has nine people and you can only use your feet and head.
For lunch we went to a brewery that had a restaurant. This brewery is in Quilmes and the man who created it also created many houses for the workers. These houses were made in the colonial and English style. We ate milanesas, which were delicious. Milanesas are meat with breading and tomatoes, cheese, and ham on top. I also ate chocolate mousse. Everything was delicious. In the restaurant there was table soccer and we played it (I won).
Afterwards, we went back to school again and went to the younger students’ classes and did a question and answer activity. They gave us sweets and recommended a brand of alfajores that they really like. I tried this type of alfajores and I really liked it too. Then I went to Matilda’s house for an hour to prepare for the ballet at the Teatro Colón. During the car ride I slept because I was tired. The ballet was amazing. The theater was magnificent and the dancers were amazing. Matilda’s parents said that the men looked like Greek statues with perfect proportions and very defined muscles and I agreed. Also the music was amazing and the whole experience was perfect. I think that their dancers are the best that I have seen. We got home at half past ten and ate chicken sandwiches. It was overall a great day!
Spanish version: Para llegar al Quilmes High School a la hora correcta, yo necesito despertarme a las seis y cuarto. Nosotros salimos a las siete. En Argentina, la gente generalmente no desayunan. En las mañanas, yo era el único que estaba comiendo. El viaje a la escuela estaba oscuro. Quilmes High School es muy diferente de Cary Academy pero me gusta mucho. Los edificios son mucho más antiguos de los edificios de Cary Academy pero son encantadores. Ellos no usan mucho tecnología y tienen un cuarto específico para los computadoras. Ayer nosotros asistimos a dos clases, una clase de literatura en español y una clase de inglés. Me gusta la clase de literatura mucho, y nosotros hablamos sobre las divergencias de monoteísmo y politeísmo porque ellas estaban leyendo un cuento de Borges que habla sobre temas diferentes en religión. También, nosotros hablamos sobre sectas y sus consecuencias. Antes de las clases, tenemos una presentación sobre los tres casas en Quilmes High School, Livingston, Hudson, y Shackleton. Las tres casas tienen nombres de exploradores famosos, y hay competiciones entre las tres casas en la escuela. Después de la primer clase, tenemos una guía del jardín maternal, el jardín de infantes, y la escuela primaria. Los chiquitos eran adorables y nos gusta jugar con ellos. Nosotros cantamos y bailamos con los chicos en la escuela primaria. Nosotros almorzamos en la casa de Juan P en Quilmes y comimos empanadas y hamburguesas. Después de la escuela, yo y algunas personas de Cary Academy y sus estudiantes intercambio vimos Smurphs en español con subtítulos en inglés. Durante la película, comimos sándwiches con carne y muchos dulces. Yo salí temprano porque estaba cansado. Esta mañana también me levanté muy temprano y fui a la escuela. Hoy, nosotros no asistimos a clases, pero preparamos alfajores y marcos de pinturas en su lugar. También, en la mañana tenemos una presentación de CAS (un organización dentro de la escuela con estudiantes voluntarios que ayudan personas que no tienen los mismos recursos). Hay una escuela en particular que ellos ayudan. Este escuela está en una villa y tiene mucha pobreza. Nosotros vamos a ir a esta escuela mañana para darles los alfajores y marcos que preparamos. En el medio de los actividades o clases, tenemos descansos de diez minutos. Durante los descansos, nosotros jugamos un juego que es similar de four square, pero tiene nueve personas y solo puedes usar tus pies y cabeza. Para el almuerzo fuimos a una cervecería que tenía un restaurante. Este cervecería está en Quilmes y el hombre que la creó también creó muchas casas por los trabajadores. Estas casas tiene el estilo colonial y de Inglaterra. Nosotros comimos milanesas que eran deliciosas. Milanesas son carne con empanado y tomates, queso, y jamón encima. También yo comí mousse de chocolate. Todo era deliciosos. En el restaurante había metegol y nosotros lo jugamos (yo gané).
Ike’s Post:
I got to school around 7:30 today, and was excited to hear that the students of Quilmes had constructed a presentation to give to us. CAS, a short acronym meant to summarize important fundamentals the school for their students in Senior 5 (Juampe, Justina, Juliana, Matilda, Guille, Etiene) to learn. Care and Share involves the students into helping their community. So, in summary, the fifth years are in charge of setting up volunteering opportunities for the whole school to join. An example of this is this year the students of Quilmes gathered clothes and food to give to a poor province in Argentina called Misiones. This is very similar to our food drives, and it’s really heart warming to see people gain a sense of empathy for their community.
In order to give us the Care and Share experience we made alfajores to give to the elementary schoolers.
Step 1: Grab two cookies
Step 2: Spread dulce de leche on the inside of each cookie and squish them together
Step 3: Surround the outside with sprinkles or coconuts
After making the alfajores we all went on the bus with all the buddies and went to a restaurant in Quillmes that is famous for the beer and meat. It was so interesting learning about the history of one Argentina’s most famous trades. For the appetizer we all had empanadas which is sort of like a baked dough with some type of filling ranging from ham, queso, beef, and more. The main course however was one of Argentina’s most common dishes the milanesa, a grilled piece of either chicken or steak. Wow, were we all full by the end of lunch.