COUNTRY: Argentina
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Lucy Taylor
Our first week has flown by in a whirlwind of new experiences and adventures. On arrival in Buenos Aires we were thrust in to the very foreign South American and European influenced culture with little to no language skills between the three of us. This buzzing cosmopolitan city however has since stolen our hearts.
Our first week was predominately spent in Spanish lessons with our Peruvian teacher Yanina. She spoke very little English to us, and through this immersion we picked up vocabulary and grammar tropes quickly. By the end of a week of daily three hour lessons, we had picked up enough Spanish to understand, if only vaguely, what was being said around us, and even respond in broken speech if needed.
We also spent time getting to know the others living at the hostel and those completing programs such as TEFL and internships with our in country partner. Although we find ourselves to be a minority amongst a sea of Americans, meeting new people from both around the world and locally in BA has been great fun.
A memorable feature of this week was our tango lesson, held in a converted warehouse in Palermo. Equal parts excited and apprehensive, we joined the other “Roadies” for our first exposure to the traditional Argentinean pastime. I myself had little luck with the steps, however my fellow Antips danced with much skill, particularly Bern, who was asked to dance after class by a Buenos Aires local.
On Friday, exhausted after a late night dinner on our rooftop terrace which developed into an early morning soiree with many other hostel residents, we headed to the bus station with a couple of our American roommates for a weekend trip to Mendoza, the wine growing region of Argentina. On Saturday we embraced the aforementioned culture on a wine tasting tour, followed by a parrilla for dinner. The following day we enjoyed a bus ride into the Andes for some hiking, surrounded by vistas which were absolutely breath taking.
Now back in Buenos Aires, after such a busy first week we feel a little more settled into our surroundings and have begun to navigate the city more like locals than tourists, and we are excited to experience that which is to come in the coming weeks!
A memorable feature of this week was our tango lesson, held in a converted warehouse in Palermo. Equal parts excited and apprehensive, we joined the other “Roadies” for our first exposure to the traditional Argentinean pastime. I myself had little luck with the steps, however my fellow Antips danced with much skill, particularly Bern, who was asked to dance after class by a Buenos Aires local.
On Friday, exhausted after a late night dinner on our rooftop terrace which developed into an early morning soiree with many other hostel residents, we headed to the bus station with a couple of our American roommates for a weekend trip to Mendoza, the wine growing region of Argentina. On Saturday we embraced the aforementioned culture on a wine tasting tour, followed by a parrilla for dinner. The following day we enjoyed a bus ride into the Andes for some hiking, surrounded by vistas which were absolutely breath taking.
Now back in Buenos Aires, after such a busy first week we feel a little more settled into our surroundings and have begun to navigate the city more like locals than tourists, and we are excited to experience that which is to come in the coming weeks!
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