Already a month?!

Despite the reputation some exchange students have for being lazy and procrastinating when it comes to matters such as writing a blog or participating in school, I think I speak for all when I say that this reputation can be unfair. Trying to be the ideal exchange student and ambassador, I wrote about all of my experiences three weeks after I arrived. Due to circumstances out of my control however, such as an almost laughably horrible wifi connection in my first house, I was not able to upload the blog. I recently moved houses even though I have only been in Argentina for seven weeks, which I will explain in my next blog, and in my new house I can actually use the internet! Therefore, apologies to all; below is the first blog that I had hoped to originally post.

Before my actual arrival into Argentina, I had my first taste of the culture and people on my final flight from Atlanta to Buenos Aires. After a fiasco in the airport during which security confiscated a present for my host brother, causing me to miss my flight, I was fortunate enough to be put on a different plane. For those wondering, it pains me to admit that the present security confiscated was a knife. Well done Kelly. One would think that as a mature 18 year old who had traveled many times before, it would have occurred to me that security just may find a knife to be threatening, yet this trivial detail slipped my mind. After I took my seat on the plane, I began to cry the ugly, sobbing kind of cry out of relief, nerves, and exhaustion. To my embarrassment, the man sitting next to me, from Argentina, witnessed it all. Instead of requesting a seat change, which is what I would have done in his case, he kindly asked me, “Todo esta bien?” In slow and broken Spanish, I began to tell him what I was doing and explained that I had just said goodbye to my friends and family. I had heard that Argentinian people were very warm and welcoming, but that description does not do justice to how kind this stranger was to me. He helped on the rest of the flight, he carried my luggage, and upon our arrival into the country, he waited for me and made sure that I made it into the right line to pass through customs. This man’s kindness was only a sample of what I would begin to experience.

            Not only did my host family meet me at the airport, but several members of Rotary and various exchange students did as well. As I walked out, they all came to kiss me on the cheek in the traditional form of greeting, which I nailed thanks to Sebastian Camargo who showed me what to do! They refused to let me carry my own luggage, and ushered me into the car to drive to my new home in Mercedes Oeste, a city of about 50,000 people located an hour outside of Buenos Aires.

Trying Mate for the first time!

Colegio San Patricio

 I attend a private school, Colegio San Patricio, which has 6 grades. In my district, there are actually three other exchange students. Sven, a boy from Germany, and I go to the same school, started the same day, and are in the same room. Here in school, even though I am 18, I am in the 5^th year so that when school ends in December and begins again in March, I will be with the same classmates. There are about 30 kids in one classroom, and they stay together all year long. During the day, the teachers change rooms while the students stay in one room. Sven and I were the first exchange students the school had ever had, and so the best word to describe my first day of school was pandemonium. The director introduced us in front of the entire student body, and when he set us loose, chaos ensued. We were truly swarmed by kids wanting to touch us and talk to us, and I felt like I was an animal in a zoo. There is a courtyard outside with glass windows up above, and when we looked up, the glass was full of faces eagerly pressed against the windows to get a better look at the “foreigners”. All day long, every time I did something, I had a million people watching me with fascination. I went to the bathroom and it was like people had never seen anything more riveting. Although all of the energy was exhausting, it was very flattering as well. During class, Sven and I felt like celebrities because everyone wanted to talk to us and could care less what the teacher was saying. Needless to say, I was rather exhausted after my first day of school. Shortly after my first day, the school was closed on a Thursday and Friday due to “cleaning”. What everyone failed to mention, however, was that this cleaning was actually a disinfection process to rid the school of rats. I thought it was a joke, but no. There are actually rats in my school. Welcome to Argentina!! 

My rowdy male classmates

   A week ago, along with several other exchange students in my district, I went to an annual festival here that is entirely dedicated to Salami! Mercedes is famous for peaches and salami. The festival is three days long, but I only went the first night as it is not very common for people my age to go. A band opened the night with the national anthem of Argentina while various "queens" paraded around. There is a queen of salami, and various others for corn, grapes, etc that come from different parts of Argentina to participate in the festival. I was incredibly surprised to learn that there is no queen dedicated to Dulce de Leche, a type of caramel sauce which the people here consume on an hourly basis. It doesn't matter if the food is already sweet, Dulce de Leche is a necessity. Cookies with chocolate? No, definitely not sweet enough, let's add some dulce de leche! :) At the festival, there were small kiosks that sold all kinds of sweets, plants, scarves, and succulent food. There was dancing and singing, and I half expected to see some fireworks in the shape of salami, but was sadly disappointed. Additionally, I think I would have enjoyed the festival more if I actually like salami, as it is one of the only meats that I do not like. I did not think that the festival was the best time to mention this, however, so I graciously forced down every different type of salami that the vendors wanted us to try. 

At the Salame Festival with the Rotary Club President and exchange students from Oklahoma, Germany, and Switzerland

With the various queens!

  The people here are incredible, the food is riquisima, and every day I learn something new. I am pleased to find that although I may not understand every word, I can definitely understand the meaning of the conversations here. When people speak slowly, I understand almost everything. Although I have only been here for two weeks, it feels as though it has been a month because the past few days have been filled with activities! I know this is the beginning of an incredible journey, and can’t wait to see what lies ahead. Besos!

I have friends!