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I was only 16 years old when I participated in my high school's student exchange program with Argentina--typically, only juniors and seniors are involved. Being the only sophomore, I have to admit that it was a little intimidating and difficult having to fit in and hanging out with the older kids, but that did not prevent me from having a blast... and discovering my strong passion for Latin American culture.
Disclaimer: Since I'm technically writing this blog three years AFTER my experience, I will try my best to retell my experience. Lo siento... ):
It was a very new and exciting experience to host my "sister," María Spadafora, for a month. She went to school with me and met all my friends-- our weirdness probably overwhelmed her at times! Some of the most fun things we did together was to hang out in my room to gossip about guys, watch the Twilight Saga movies, teach her to ride a horse, and get her attached to the fattening american foods.
One of the things I most remember about Maru (María's nickname) was her love for shopping. I remember taking her to the mall, where she spent about two hours in Forever 21, leaving the store with about everything she tried on. Because shipping was cheaper in the USA, her parents bought her boxes full of clothes online and shipped them to my house-- did I mention we had to go buy her another suitcase before she left?
The fun stuff to talk about was when it was my turn to go to her country...
I lived in the small town of Bella Vista, Argentina. Maru's parents were divorced, so I had the experience of moving to different houses on various days-- kind of how I'm balancing the days I spend sleeping in the dorms vs. in my comfy bed at my house. I had no problems with her family; she had a younger brother, her parents, and her very sweet grandma who made sure I ate until I was definitely full.(: Perhaps the most difficult challenge was the language barrier that existed between her mother and me. Cynthia spoke absolutely zero English, so
conversations were always quite brief when I would be in the same room as her. At that time, I was still quite shy to speak Spanish aloud, but now I am speaking at a proficient level that I feel I could Skype Cynthia one day and just shock her with my progress! Her father--Gepe--on the other hand, knew English very well, since he worked in international business. He was very funny, and since my father passed away when I was thirteen, it was nice to have a father-figure for awhile. Lucas, Maru's younger brother, was such a fun friend to have around to discuss The Hunger Games and watch Pretty Little Liars with! When I arrived in Argentina, I brought him a gift: an autograph signed by one of The Hunger Games actresses, and a giant poster for Catching Fire. We would message each other on WhatsApp all the time and obsess over the trilogy.
I attended Santa Ethnea Colegio, a private Catholic high school. Not only were their uniforms cute (picture to the right), but every. single. person wanted to talk to me, greeting me with a kiss on the cheek. Maru had a TON of girl friends who were all super friendly to me.
(I'm hoping to post a video of my experience! Please stay tuned....)
Classes in Argentina are very different from those in the USA. Maru's class stayed in the same classroom the entire day, with teachers switching in and out, and there was one short break in the day (not counting lunch).
Another thing that's different about their school: the students are LOUD. They were so loud talking and even screaming across the room that I wasn't sure at one point if class had even started yet. The lack of respect to the teachers surprised me, but now I understand why the Argentines were so bored when they had to go to school with us; teachers demanded our full attention and typically the sound level of our classes was almost silent, students paying full attention to what is being taught.
What I did enjoy the most about going to Santa Ethnea were the hours in which I was sent to do "Pastoral" work-- community service. We worked with the communities struggling with low-income, as many Latin American countries face great poverty gaps. One of the most heart-felt experiences was working at the hospital, the turning point in which I wanted to work to help others abroad. (Click here to read my experience in the hospital)
I went to so many exciting places around Argentina, that's it's too difficult to talk about them in a blog post... stay tuned for my VLOG shortly!
