Bittersweet

Well I have officially failed at blogging. It has been over 3 months since I have written in my blog for a number of reasons.

1. My computer broke

2. I'm lazy

3. I don't have a third excuse

4. I'm busy?

The thing about exchange is the phrase "I'm busy" is a hard one to use, especially for an exchange student in Argentina. On exchange you're always busy but never busy at the same time. The exchange students out there understand what I mean . You may have free time to do what you want but your plans are constantly changing due to your host parents, rotary club and even friends. There is an added pressure of being an exchange student living with a host family and getting used to their own family's customs and culture.

Describing exchange in Argentina:

What my family thinks I do:

What my friends think I do:

What rotary thinks I do:

What I actually do:

The countdown of my days here looms over my head everyday. I now have less than 2 months of my exchange age left. It is a weird bittersweet feeling. Also given that I am one of the oldest exchange students in my district and most of Argentina, I feel like I am more eager and anxious to return and start studying at University. Making time for all of the people I love in this country has been difficult but I am trying my best.  

If you know me well, I can be pretty indecisive. After applying to 20 schools and waiting a whole year to decide, I have decided on Butler University! I will be studying Natural Sciences and Spanish.

Christmas and New Years were hard but I managed to cope with the homesickness by skyping my family all celebrating. I had no idea that Argentinians go out to clubs on Christmas Eve. I learned quickly that this aspect of Christmas wasn't for me.

High school in Argentina begins in March and ends at the beginning of December. Therefore I have only been in school for 3 months and have recently started again. So I guess you could say that the majority of my exchange is a vacation. After 4 years of high school, going back this year has been a struggle to get through. However, I have made a lot of friends from school and like all of the people I have encountered in Argentina, they were welcoming and always help me with the language and any problem I have. It has been an adventure adjusting back to the school schedule (to say the least) when I had been going out to plazas with my friends at night and playing Truco (Argentinian card game) and drinking mate (a custom argentine tea-like drink) until 4am.

I quickly realized that I was definitely a night person and thrive on the summer schedule of Argentina.  I fell in love with the late night culture filled with “charlas” (talks) and walking around the city at night.

My parents came and visited me in February and it was so amazing to have been able to show them my life here and what I have accomplished on my exchange thus far. Constantly having to translate for my parents was good practice but exhausting at the same time. Sometimes I would accidentally reply to my parents in Spanish instead of English which always left a puzzling look on their faces until I corrected myself.

I could have not asked for a better experience with the 2 people I love most. We drank good wine, ate good meat, laughed when they cried and cried again when the left to go back. I am so incredibly lucky to have both of them in my life and for them to support me in this opportunity. We will definitely be back to visit, with my brother and sister.

It was the best being able to see them and hard to see them leave. I am so glad to have their endless support on my exchange and they know that I can be independent and trust me with everything.  I definitely feel more independent and able to be on my own.   

I am writing this on the plane coming back from Las Cataratas Iguazú which my generous host family planned for me. I was talking to my host parents at dinner 2 weeks ago and was telling them that I was not going to be able to go on the rotary trip to the famous Waterfalls in the North of Argentina. A usual response would be something like: well that sucks. Instead, they went on to ask me what date I would want to go. That is the argentinian generosity at its finest.

The Cataratas Iguazu were breathtaking and my pictures don’t do it justice! The famous waterfalls are located in the north east of Argentina bordering Brazil, so there are two sides for the two countries. I was only able to go to the Argentinian side because I didn’t have a visa to visit Brazil. They require people from the United States and Australia to get visas even to visit the country because we make Brazilians to do the same.

I had a great time with all of my host family visiting the north of Argentina. Thank you to the Fitzsimons for always being so generous and making my time here memorable. I truly feel part of the family and will never forget what you all have done for me.

Until next time

Chau for now