Ticking off the bucket list before saying "Adios, Argentina!"

COUNTRY: Argentina
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Clem Rocks

I have tried to start this blog about 5 times now and every time I have chickened out because I don't want to face the fact that we are leaving Buenos Aires. To sound as cliché as ever 3 months has just flown by. The fact that we are packing is incomprehensible and the thought of leaving the Reina Madre tomorrow is constantly being forced to the back of my mind, though despite that I will try to wrap up the last 3 months as best I can.

On the weekend Tarun and Andreas went to Patagonia, to which I will hand you over to Tarun… "Patagonia was an amazing experience, definitely a highlight of the trip. In El Calafate we walked on a Glacier and in El Chalten we scaled a mountain, two adventures that I certainly will not forget any time soon."

A couple of weekends ago we attended 'La Ventana', one of the best tango shows in Buenos Aires, and it certainly lived up to its name. Beginning with a (very successful) Tango class, then dinner and a show it was definitely a highlight of our time in BA.

We have spent our final few weeks in BA ticking touristy things off our bucket list as well as revisiting our favourite places. A spontaneous trip to Tigre for a grand total of 15 cents, a graffiti tour, a trip to the Japanese gardens and a Halloween party were some of the highlights. We bid farewell to our token American Zyanya, thus making the 8 amigos a group of 7 again. We have dedicated our final week to eating our body weight in food from our favourite restaurants and plan on spending our last day in Buenos Aires at the final tourist attraction on our list, Floralis Generica.

Saying goodbye to Buenos Aires will be tough, but not as tough as it was to say goodbye to the children in the villas. Our last volunteering day was a weird cocktail of reminisce, sadness and a pinch of happiness that the kids exude everyday. As we drove out of Villa Luango for the final time I hoped that we did- however small- make a difference to the lives of those we met volunteering along the way.

We have a crazy week ahead of us as we part our separate ways. Georgia is the first to leave, home to the Gold Coast on Sunday night. Tarun and Andreas leave with a lovely 3am taxi to the airport on Monday bound for Sydney and Brisbane respectively. Which leaves Joe, Jaci, Annabelle and Clem to galavant around South America for another month or so!

We've frozen in the snow in the Andes and cycled in 34 degree heat through Misiones. We've eaten our weight in $2 pizzas from Fabricas and spent a day in Uruguay. We've met some interesting people, from loud Germans to sassy Argentines and everything in between. We've played puzzles, read (very poorly) to children in Spanish and woken up with sore muscles from piggybacks in the villas. We've laughed, we've cried and we've spent a bizarre day in Paraguay. It's safe to say that we've had fun as the Seven Michael Bevans (the only thing that rhymes with 7) and I couldn't have asked for a better group to share this insane experience with.