Submitted by Kimberly Tomlinson on the 2012 fall semester program in Buenos Aires, Argentina…
Hello all!!
Here I am in the beautiful Buenos Aires, Argentina! The last few days have honestly been a bit of a blur!
After more than 24 total hours of travel (including layovers and waiting for baggage and all of that awful stuff) on Friday and Saturday, we finally arrived Saturday night! The group as a whole had no problems in the airport, which to me was a miracle! No luggage was lost, everyone had their important documents (although I can’t tell you how many “I lost my passport/baggage info/wallet/etc. scares there were! However, in every case, they were not gone forever!) and all in all it went pretty smoothly. Our program director, Alfredo, met us at the airport and schlepped us all the way to our school, Universidad de Belgrano, where our host mothers were waiting anxiously for us!
Following our introduction to our mother, Grace, we discovered that not only would Monica and I each have our own room (an unexpected surprise), but we would be living with another girl named Alyssa from Wisconsin! At last we arrived in our homestays where we ate (cheese ‘ravioli-type pasta’ with bread and carrot spread, qué rico!) and then at long last went to sleep.
Sunday morning, we were required to meet at our school around noon for an orientation meeting. Prior to our meeting however, Grace gave us a little bit of a walking tour which was helpful for orienting ourselves with the streets near our house and school, but it also gave me a little bit of insight into the culture. For one thing, Argentineans love their dogs. Everyone has a dog…or two. However, the rules about walking dogs in a city (or in general) are a bit different. For that reason, you must watch where you walk…at ALL times. There are quite a few landmines all over the sidewalk. Another thing I discovered was that (at least during the day) everyone is incredibly friendly. Neither Grace, Monica, nor I had a clock so Grace simply asked people what time it was. It was interesting and ended up being helpful later in the day because we then knew that it was acceptable to stop people to ask for the time.
Besides (a FEW) customs, these last few days have given me a lot of insight into what I’ll be eating a lot of, and the future is bright! My host Mom is very into healthy foods. She likes vegetables and fresh things! However, in three days I have eaten more empanadas than in my entire life prior to this trip. I have had two different kinds of chicken, ham and cheese, and beef. I might be in love. I also have had a lot of café! There are coffee places on nearly every corner, but I feel like every time we have a meeting of some variety we are fed coffee. As a bit of a caffeine addict, this is like my heaven! I love it.
All in all so far I am having a very successful trip. Tomorrow I have a meeting with my advisor because our classes begin next Monday, but for today I just plan to explore!
Besos!
KDT