COUNTRY: Argentina
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Kelvin Wicks
I don't know what I was expecting when I came to Buenos Aires. I was told to expect a people of great culture, an energy for night life and a passion for football. Buenos Aires delivered and in so many wonderfully unexpected ways. It's only when you are able to live somewhere that you get the most out of a city and that's what made this trip this special. The volunteering was difficult but rewarding and despite feeling inadequate and unhelpful often, you come to realise our little effort is just a piece in the puzzle that is necessary in helping those less fortunate.
Volunteering was the focal point of our stay and we ensured the distractions of BA didn't interfere with our work. It's always one thing to watch on television and hear about those struggling but it's only when you witness it first hand that it really sinks in - or at least this is what I came to feel.
South American football holds no parallel in Australia. The cultural obsession with football is an integral part of Argentina. The passion for football displayed is ever present and being a part of an Argentinian soccer crowd was something else. Watching Messi play and the joy he brings to people leaves him as a symbol of hope. This was where I came to understand the true power of football and this was seen trickling down into the slums as most kids wore the famous 10.
Travelling outside of BA was another feature of the trip that we all thoroughly enjoyed. Wine tasting in Mendoza, marvelling at the Iguazu falls and volunteering in a remote village in Missiones, this trip really had it all. Also driving through the Andes and staring at all the snowy peaks in awe of its sheer size was something to remember. This taste of travel gave some of us further excitement for our own travels later but for now we will miss what we came to call home.
For many of us, Argentina is not our last destination on our travels, yet it holds a quality which is hard to find. A brief sigh was always let out when one of us would return home from a few days away sight seeing. Living in the one place for the last 3 months has afforded us the opportunity to live in Argentina. We treat it as we treat home. Substituting days out for days in and feeling all the range of different emotions from boredom to excitement and plain exhaustion! With this, some of us are going to find it hard to leave.
As the last two weeks have shot by, we scrambled around frantically trying to get last minute gifts, sight seeing or simply revisiting favourite spots. We said farewell to the kids in the slums and anyone else who we met outside of the roadhouse. Whether that be other volunteers, local friends who we've met from going out or ultimate frisbee. Now it's time to move on to the next phase of our gap year and many of us hope to be returning one day.
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