Submitted by Olivia Kerlin on the 2023 winter session program in Buenos Aires, Argentina…
This past weekend was our free weekend, which means that the students on the trip were allowed to go wherever they wanted in Argentina. I went with a group of other girls to the city of Mendoza. Mendoza was about a two hour flight from Buenos Aires, and we got there Friday afternoon. That Friday, we went to a bodega, which is a winery. It’s called Renacer and it was absolutely gorgeous. We took a tour and learned about the process of wine making. It was really interesting to see how grapes become wine. The wine in Mendoza was really good. It is the wine capital of Argentina, after all. Saturday was a really adventurous day. We woke up early in the morning to go paragliding. I had never done that before, so I was really nervous. It was such an amazing experience! There was a guide that went with me to make sure everything went well. It was really fun! Afterwards, I went with three of the other girls to go horseback riding in the mountains. I had also never ridden a horse before, and we were riding for about 3 hours. It was fun, but I was so sore after. Sunday was the last day I spent in Mendoza. We all went to get a late breakfast with each other, then split up. I went with some of the other girls, and we walked around to each of the different plazas in Mendoza. There were a lot of plazas, so it was a lot of walking. I was so tired when I got back to Buenos Aires, but it was so worth it. My weekend in Mendoza was definitely one of the highlights of this trip. (Submitted during Week 4)
I’m writing this final post from my home in the United States. Looking back on the month makes me realize how fast it went by. But these past few days felt especially fast. I didn’t really do anything new this past week. I instead decided to go back to places that I had already gone to and wanted to visit again. A friend and I went back to La Boca to do some shopping and to check out the stadium of the city’s soccer team, Boca Juniors. We didn’t go in, but the outside of it was still impressive. I also went to San Telmo, which is known for its antique market. I really like antique things, so I spent a lot of time there. I also went to a shop called Casa de Dulce de Leche, which had a lot of dulce de leche food items. I made sure to buy some to take home because dulce de leche tastes really good! The day before last we had our farewell dinner. The restaurant was very good and the food was delicious, but it was still very sad. I couldn’t stop myself from crying a little. It was a very bittersweet moment. I’m glad to be back home, but I do miss Argentina. I made so many friends and memories on the trip, and I know I’ll never forget it. Studying abroad was such a unique and amazing experience, and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to do so. I’ll treasure the memories from Argentina forever. (Submitted during Week 5)
