We’ve made it to Buenos Aires! As soon as we arrived we hit the ground running and spent all day exploring the city. We are in the good hands of our tour guides and learning all about the culture and history of the city. More details to come soon!
Today was an incredibly hard and emotional day for all of us. I know that waking up in the morning was one of the most difficult things to do– knowing you’d never get quite the same experience. We began the day as we normally did in past days- just sitting in the warmly heated and quite cozy video room. We all took a quiz that tested our “general knowledge” before moving into the large foyer area to complete the rest of our gut-wrenching activities, and that was where the tears began- or continued from the previous day rather. We were counting down the hours to our departure. Counting down the minutes knowing that we’d never have the same feeling again. We’d never be in the same place with the same people doing the same thing ever again. It was a once in a lifetime experience that we were all cherishing together. Together. The people that I’d never talked to on the trip were in my arms. Whether best friends or acquaintances, I didn’t want to let go. We had some snacks laid out on the table to comfort us, but that could never be enough to diminish the heart break that was being expressed on the face of every individual in that room. We stood together. We took pictures together. We embraced each other, and we all felt the feeling of unison and togetherness. We couldn’t believe that this amazing journey we fought and enjoyed had come to an abrupt end, but we left our mark.
We all painted our hands in various, vibrant colors to leave our hand prints behind on the wall as a reminder that no matter the distance or the place, we’re always side by side and hand in hand. And once we had washed our hands clean, after some paint mysteriously ended up on people’s faces (:)), the hugging and tear shedding continued. I would say we were a quite diverse group. We were all from different backgrounds and friend groups and with different beliefs and styles of living our lives, but we all came together and knit an intricately woven blanket of love. I wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere else with any other group of people for my exchange trip, and no matter how the other people felt throughout the trip– on the last day– no one would’ve changed anything. I would repeat those two weeks over and over again if I could. So that’s what we tried to do. We all went back to our usual meeting spot- the video room, to recount all of the events that occurred on the trip. We watched two videos that were compiled of pictures and videos from our trip. We were now counting down the minutes of the last hour, and in that hour, we were going to cling on to the memories that we had together for the meager moments we still had together. The speakers blared and the pictures flickered across the screen as they tried to recount all of the amazing memories that we had in a 7 minute slideshow. But the memories that we shared together would take a lifetime to recount. And we had so long to say hello, and only a few minutes to wave goodbye. Nearly everyone was crying. Arms were swinging in every direction that there was a human being. No one wanted to let go. Everyone felt the pain and agony staring at them from the two double doors that we would exit. Parents, friends, siblings were all there to say their goodbyes. The emotions felt when you heard all of the students endlessly thank their parents was one of most heartbreaking things. They all stood in a line and watched us as we made our way towards the bus. The hugging and crying didn’t stop. Anytime someone got the opportunity to hug someone– whether they had interacted with them or not– they did. We hugged people and whimpered our goodbyes even from the window of the bus, and we rolled away quicker than we rolled in a week before that. Just like that, that exchange trip was no longer something we were looking forward to, but now, now it was something that was purely a memory. The crying faces that grim afternoon will always remain as vivid paintings in my mind. I know that neither I, nor the Cary Academy students will ever forget this amazing experience packed with laughter, love, endless joy, and eternal and unbreakable bonds of friendship.
Airport routine was pretty normal. When we arrived at the airport, we had all settled down quite a bit. We checked in at the kiosks, checked our bags, headed through security and had quite some time to spare. During that time, we all either got some food to eat, shopped at one of the many stores filled with alfajores and dulce de leche, or just sat together to spend our final hours together in Argentina. Despite the fact that the Pilar group was there, we all (Quilmes kids) stuck together. When it was time to board the flight back to the United States, all of our stomachs took a tough turn. There was no hope of escaping now. We all safely boarded the plane, and didn’t really even bother to rearrange our seats to sit with different people or our closest friends because we were all close. We had all held hands through a magnificent journey, and we all came together. We grew not only as individual people, but as a group.
Arriving in Atlanta resulted in mixed feelings. People were happy to set foot on American soil, but it also closed the door on the amazing journey that we had partaken in. People dispersed to finally set their hands on chick-fil-a or a smoothie. The chocolates and the goodies from the duty-free store came that we all shared together as a group. I guess we all finally came to the realization that we were in the United States and nothing was going to change that anytime soon, so we had to take what we learned and grow with it. The seed was planted in Quilmes that we have to water everyday back in Cary. Boarding our last flight locked it for us. It was time to return to our families and go back to where we came from without forgetting our temporary families.
This morning, most of us woke up later than usual because we were up late last night at a party the school put on to raise money for the junior class. My morning started off with a breakfast of toast, jam, and coffee. The rest of the morning was very low-key. One of Martina’s (my exchange student) friends had slept over that night so at around 12:30 we dropped her off at her house. Martina and I then headed to Ana’s (another girl from our exchange trip) house for a brunch hangout: our last activity all together. When we got there they had games set up, a ton of different types of food, and tea. About an hour into the activity, everyone decided to go to a nearby field and play soccer. We were soon yelled at because we had to pay to play on the field. Frustrated, we tried to find a way to still play. We found another section of grass and so we set up goals and started play on a mini field that was about 4 feet away from the one we were told not to play on. In the game, the Argentinians won the game, but we won at heart. Once we had gotten back to her house, we had some amazing desserts (like dulce de leche which will be missed by everyone), cried, took pictures, and cried some more. At around 5:30 everyone had left the party to continue the rest of their last full day together with their host families.
With the trip concluding soon, we are all getting some sort of feeling of closure. With only one full day left, all of us are preparing to depart from Argentina both physically, and emotionally. The day began by sleeping in after the late night party last night. After waking up late in the morning, many of us went to the mall to buy presents for family and friends back home. For me, the car ride to the mall was long, but it was definitely worth the trip. The mall felt no different than Raleigh as it had many typical clothing stores. Due to the vast amount of similar stores, shopping did take quite a while, especially whilst trying to find items unique to Argentina, rather than ones that could be found in the United States as well.
Many of us encountered others from the group at the mall, as all of us were out there doing last minute shopping, and that made the trip even more fun. After buying all the presents, I went out to eat with my host family, probably for the last time during this trip, as the next two days are going to be too busy for us to go out to eat.
After leaving the mall along with resting and preparing for the Matinee party, the last late night event of the trip, some of us began to pack as tomorrow will be a busy day and we leave on Monday. At night, after a day filled with shopping, last minute wishes, and friends, everybody let loose and went to a matinee, which is a party that begins earlier than most. And by early it means 8-1 AM instead of 1 AM to 5 AM. There was music, food, plenty of dancing, and Argentinians even paid pesos to take pictures with us (unfortunately we did not get to keep the money)! Overall it was another day of fun and unfortunately it will be one of our last here in Argentina. We’re all apprehensive to leave and have had a great time, but we’re all still excited to come home again.
Today is Friday, June 9, in Quilmes, Buenos Aires. We started the the day in the video room and watched an anti-bullying educational video . This started an intense conversation about feelings and how to treat one another. The video we watched asked us to think about our actions. To ask ourselves: do we hurt others, are we jealous, do we exclude people, do we have preconceived- notions of others that are false? We learned that none of us are perfect we have to stop it! Because there are a lot of other problems in the world that people have to worry about and bullying should not be part of it. We discussed how sometimes in school it’s hard to not join in the group that is bullying others. Also that, it’s hard to speak up, and it’s easier to be a bystander even though it’s not right.
Next, we attended Quilmes High Schools nursery. We took a tour where the 0-2 years olds go to school. We visited multiple classes where there were multiple activities taking place such as music, nap time, snack time, and play time. After our tour we had the opportunity to go into the two year old classes and play with them. During this time, we sung twinkle- twinkle little star and then we had snacks with them.
Next on the agenda, we attended a Tango class in the Primary School theater and the class was taught group by two very talented professional tango dancers. Our CA group got into pairs and learned several variations of an eight-count routine with their partners. We all had a lot of fun and learned a lot. While many of the Argentinians laughed and took videos of us, we all improved a lot during the class. During lunch, most of us went our separate ways to restaurants or our homes to eat. There was even a few lunch dates between Argentinian-American couples <3.
When we all came back togethe after lunch, we traveled to a very poor public kindergarten. There we met many wonderful children between the ages 3-5. The Alfajores workshop that we had earlier in the week, allowed us to create the snacks that the children ate, and it made the experience all the more worth while to see how happy they were eating their snacks. Together we created flags, read books, and much more. It was very interesting and a wonderful experience to see the differences between that kindergarten and the Quilmes Kindergarten.
Tonight there is a party at Agustino’s house that should be a lot of fun.
The day started off well, unfortunately… You see, many of the CA and Argentine students have become ill over the course of the trip; the teachers, in their infinite wisdom, saw fit to grant everyone several extra hours of sleep. I cannot speak for any of my peers, but I know that to me it was extremely beneficial.
After the late start, we departed in two buses for the Quilmes High School sports field. The day was unusually cold, so we hurried into the large field house. There was a nice building like a cafeteria/club house. A another CA friend and I were challenged to a game of Truco by two grinning Argentinians. Things were just beginning to heat up when a man with a whistle announced that it was time to play dodge ball.
There there was a P.E. coach waiting for us. He told us the rules and some of the Seniors helped to translate and explain the game we were going to play. Dodge ball: Argentinian dodge ball that is. To the astonishment of the American students, Argentinian dodge ball is played with only a single foam ball. The way it was played was that each team had a side of the gym. Each team also had 2 captains. Those captains would go to the other side of the gym and stand behind the other team. Their team would throw the ball and they could try to hit the other team. If you got out, you would also go stand by the captains. The game was really fun. At the very least, it was an interesting lesson in herd dynamics. It was the CA kids versus the Quilmes High-School group. The CA kids barely won. Once the game was concluded in favor of the Americans, we returned to the field house, were we dined upon empanadas. They where really DELICIOSO.
After lunch we went back to the gym. We then taught the Quilmes HS group how to play the American version of dodge ball. It was really fun. We had 3 rounds of that type of dodge ball. With mixed teams, the first two games were neck and neck, decided primarily by luck. In the third, only a single student remained, faced by three skilled opponents. Yet, to the shock and awe of all, those three opponents were steadily eliminated. In the end Adam’s team ended up taking the victory. After observing that incredible feat of determination, we retired to the field house to finish Truco and eat pastries, alfajores, and cake..
Truco is a fascinating game. At first glance, it appears to involve a relatively high level of luck, comparable to poker. However, an even moderately experienced Truco player can tell you that it is all about bluffing. The first game went to the Argentinians. In the second, the Americans took a strong lead. At this point, a wager was established. The losing team would have to post to each and every one of their social media accounts that the country of the victor was superior. Though the Americans started off very strongly, the Argentinians slowly began to gain (luck played no small part!). At the end, each team needed only three more points to win. And victory went to the Argentinians.
Before the day ended, we celebrated/mourned the retirement of our dear Senora Diez. Grace S., Tommy, Salma, and Anna spoke saying good bye to Señora Diez, and how we’ll miss her. She appeared quite touched by the effort that we went to, with a speech and a cake. She will be dearly missed. We also celebrated the birthday of Fernada Vargas the Coordinator of the Quilmes HS exchange. It was a happy celebration!
After that we all piled back onto the buses and headed back to the school. Later that night a few of us went to escape rooms. In my escape room we had Tommy, Anna, Madi P., Abraham, and Augustín. The room was dark and creepy. We barely managed to escape in time. The other group was in a different escape room with a Simpsons theme. They also escaped. It was a wonderful day.
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!
To start the second half of the day, we took an hour long bus ride to La Plata. The first thing we did was go to the cathedral, which was designed like a castle. It was designed in the Neo-gothic style and is the largest of it’s kind in Latin America. After posing for a couple of pictures, we went inside to look at this GINORMOUS and BEAUTIFUL cathedral. The ceiling was super high up and created an echo effect no matter the volume of the voice. The interior was made of stone pillars and walls that had loads of beautiful sculptures and stained glass depicting multiple saints and of course Jesus. We learned that the oldest stain glass windows came from Germany, the majority came from France but the most recent were made right here on site at the glass workshop by local artisans. The most beautiful one, in my mind, was the one attached as a photo. It had multiple colors that shone so brightly that they put you in shock and awe.
We then finished off viewing the cathedral and all of its artistic glory and went downstairs to the underground museum. After that brief overview of what the displays talked about, we went up to the top of that very display, the tower of Mary. The elevator ride put us 63 meters high!!! The view was incredible as it allowed us to see above all the other buildings in the area. After exiting the tower, we finished off the tour by going back to the museum one last time. During that visit, we saw some more models of cathedral from different vantage points. Finally, we finished up by getting some food at the cafe and went back to school.
We started the morning by going to the HS assembly where they played the Argentine National Anthem and raised their flag. We then walked over to the primary school for their morning assembly, where we all cuddled for warmth under a warm air vent in the chilly 6 degrees (Celsius!) weather. The primary school students sang for us and gave us some candies before we left. Some of the little girls even asked Will for his autograph!
Afterwards we headed to an art museum and looked at all the exhibits.
We also went to the photo museum of history, where they had a collection of historic photos of Argentina as well as different cameras through history. We then took the bus over to the transportation museum. They had an antique collection of horse drawn carriages all from Argentina.
We headed back to Quilmes High School to get lunch with our students. Martu and I went back to her house and had pollo con arroz, or chicken with rice. Delicioso! After siesta, we went back to the school.
We walked over to the primary school and made traditional alfajores. It was similar to making sugar cookie sandwiches with dulce de leche icing in the middle. We topped them off with some coconut along the sides. While making the alfajores, the primary schoolers noticed us in the window. They banged on the glass and yelled joyfully until we came outside. Once outside, they all surrounded us asking for our autographs! It was like we were celebrities. Tonight we have a surprise party for Alex’s 16th birthday. ¡Que rico!
The night of June 3rd was a super cool fashion show that ended around 12 am and left us all tired out. After this, I went with a group to a sleep over. Today, June 4th, we all slept in because we were worn out after the event last night. After we woke up, we enjoyed waffles for breakfast before my host family picked my partner and I up. My host family took me out to a restaurant by the name of “El Gaucho”. It was a lovely cafe with a welcoming atmosphere and wonderful food! They brought us two types of bread and green olives as soon as we sat down. After that, we started off with a plate of various meats and a salad. I got to try a lot of new foods from the plate of meat! I tried chorizo, which is a type of sausage, as well as blood sausage. Both were very good! For my main plate, I ordered spinach ravioli with white sauce. It was also very good.
After lunch, we went to an open air market in Buenos Aires. It may seem trivial, but I enjoyed the drive from Quilmes to Buenos Aires. As we drove down the road, I got to watch the skyline and buildings change drastically. It was intriguing to see, because back home we would have to drive for longer before I started seeing skyscrapers. We soon arrived at the market in Buenos Aires. The market consisted of a sea of tents set up along the sidewalks in a city square. It was interesting to see the variety goods being sold. I loved going out to various places and, most of all, spending time with my host family! I enjoyed spending time with them before heading out to “Fuerza Bruta” in the evening with the exchange group.
1st photo: the restaurant, El Gaucho
2nd photo: me and my host family our at lunch!
3rd photo: the streets of downtown Buenos Aires
To start out the day, we woke up around 11:45 and left her house at 12. We went to her cousins birthday which was in the city so it took us around an hour max. From there, we went to see her family which were all very nice and surprisingly a lot of them spoke English. The kids of her family were all her cousins and all were very excited to speak English around me. We went to hang out at a playground in the plaza we were in. We did this for about an hour as we wanted choco torta before we had to leave. We left around 4:20, however, we stayed and played a little basketball and a lot of ping pong. I ended up being very good at ping pong for some reason, so it was fun to play against a lot of people. We had choco torta and it was surprisingly really good. Usually for me, dulce de leche is very sweet and I can’t eat much of it at one time. This time it was very nice and toned down, which I liked.
Once we left, we went to the Fuerza Bruta show. It claimed to start at 6, but really it started at 6:10. I know, what a let down (sarcasm). Once the show started, it started with a band. The band was singing words that nobody knew (trust me, I asked) but it was really fun as you could feel the drums in your chest and throat. Then, it got wild. A man started walking on a treadmill that was on stage to begin. Then, the stage was moved out to the crowd and people were herded behind ropes so that they would be safe in case something fell. We didn’t know what would possibly fall until it started. The man kept running until he was “shot” and then went into what I understood was an emergency room due to the music. Maybe it wasn’t an emergency room, but it made sense to me that way. He did this a few times alternating between a dinner setting, walking through people, and eventually going to “sleep”. After he went to sleep, a dream like scene started to play. There were girls walking on a holographic curtain as they were held up by supports. This lasted for at least 5 minutes but it was really cool to watch as they eventually ran after each other in the air. This ended before a water scene played out. There were women sliding around on a wet pool like surface (it was weird, yes, but bear with me.) They eventually lowered the pool structure and we got to “hold it up” and feel the material. It was sad because I’m really short compared to everyone else so I barely got to even touch the thing. Adam was one of the tallest so he really got to it before everyone else did. They then jumped on it, and a lot of us were a little timid as we were like “maybe it’ll break and we’ll all get soaked.” That didn’t happen, thank god. It started to wind down, as we thought, and let me tell you why. It got dark and people were inside of an office building scene. They then “broke the walls” and threw all of the office equipment out of the stage. We had to back up again for this reason, and I’ve never had so much trouble trying to put my phone in my pocket. They danced in the crowd for a while before a firefighter horn blared. As it blared, water came out in a mist/rain mix form. People were dancing and jumping everywhere. It was lit. It gave a familiar feeling of GSD, but way better. The show then took a turn as a tarp like thing covered the crowd. The same man who was running from earlier was back, and flying. He popped his head out of a hole in the tarp and makin’ his way down from above. He grabbed an inflatable tube and went back up, and everyone was waiting for what would happen. We didn’t have to wait long, as suddenly the tube expanded and went upwards by a fan. This man came back from the sky and pretty much sky dove through the tube. He was a really good actor, in my opinion. He made it look like he was struggling to stay down in the tube (I mean I have no doubts he was having a struggle there, but it was cool.) Then, more people came down from the sky holes and came to have a good time on the ground. They found styrofoam and “smashed” it on each other’s heads and had a good time. Then they partied and danced with the crowd before the room went black. It lit up again, and suddenly it was raining in the middle. Speaking from experience, don’t go to the middle. It is cold here and wearing layers that aren’t rain proof makes that an issue. I’m still cold even though I’m wearing different clothes. As I write this, I also would like to tell you that when you go to the middle, you can’t see for a while. I know a lot of our exchange group was there only because in the beginning I could see. The vision ended about 1/2 a minute later. It was fun, and I would definitely do it again, just maybe in the summer where I won’t freeze halfway to death once I step outside.
