Youth Exchange - August 11, 2016

 

 

 

Ruby left for La Plata, Argentina in August and came back recently. She provided a slideshow of her time in Argentina over the past several months. September was all about first impressions for her. She spent her time getting to know the city. She loved the beautiful buildings but was surprised by the amount of graffiti on them. She attended one of the best schools in Argentina; albeit the oldest school.

 

In October and November , she barely spoke Spanish but managed. She them started to focus on the language with a new intensity. She began to understand the finer points of the language from people she met in school. She noted many differences between Argentina and Maine: They ate dinner around 9:00 or 10:00 at night much later than she ate at home. She started to eat/drink customary foods; a tea that was bitter but believed to give lots of energy, a cookie that everyone ate all the time, and BBQ. The Argentinians would cook their meat over grills outside all day for the evening. She said the people had a lot of passion. 

 

By November, she was finding her personality in the language. In December, she switched host families. It was challenging but she made it through and was grateful for the new family she was placed with. There are no real Christmas traditions there and it was hot. She watched snow falling on her computer and sang Christmas songs to feel a connection to the holiday. In Argentina, people have a nice meal and open gifts on Christmas Eve and that is it.

 

In January, she went with her host family to the beach four hours from the city. This was the place that her host parents met and now they go there every January for a month to celebrate. In February, she took a two week trip with 50 other Rotary Exchange students.

 

March and April she attended several marches to protect various things; one was for teacher rights.  April was the month of celebrations. May, June, and July were about absorbing the culture, and speaking the language. She attended another Rotary sponsored trip too. Overall, she has more confidence and knows not t to be scared of what the future holds. She has great friendships there and a new perspective of the world.

 

When asked what she missed most while in Argentina, she replied, “sushi, family, and dogs”.

When asked what she missed most from Argentina, she replied, “dancing, the people, and the types of friendships she had”.

When asked if she attend any Rotary meetings, she replied, “Once a month, Thursday evenings with woman”.