Well I decided to start a blog just because it is much easier for me to communicate with my friends and family when I am in Argentina via this blog, rather than sending emails to update people on what is happening. I have no idea how much internet access I will have but I will try to update as much as I can.
Right now it is exactly two weeks before I take a plane to Buenos Aires. September 11th. That is the day. Yes, I know, a bit strange that I pick this day to fly on, but at the end of the school year Karl Oskar, Isabell, and I had decided that we wanted to leave around September 10th. Can you believe that tickets were 200 dollars cheaper on September 11th than September 10th?? It surprises me that people still don't like to fly on that day, even 6 years later. The funny part is that I am not even flying through the US. I go Edmonton to Toronto and from Toronto all the way to Santiago. From Santiago I take a 2 hour flight to Buenos Aires. I will arrive on September 12th in the afternoon.
From there I must take a 4 hour bus ride to the house of Bruna's daughter where Bruna and her husband Ernesto will be. They will drive me to Parana. All in all, it should be a solid two days of travel.
I am nervous right now. Mainly about the Spanish part. My reading and writing have improved a great deal but speaking and understanding is still very difficult for me.
However, my host mother Nancy seems extremely nice. I have been emailing with her a lot over the past two months. My Spanish teacher Graciela also seems like a lot of fun and I think the Spanish classes I take will be interesting and probably I will learn a lot in a short period of time. Finally, Bruna has been working tirelessley to make our preparations as smooth as possible. I am quite exicted to finally meet all these fantastic people. Not to mention learning about and working for the organization, Barriletes. Of course it won't hurt that I get to see Karl Oskar and Isabell again.
I am missing people from my college a lot right now. Mattie just left on Sunday after staying for a week. We had a lot of fun and I'm really glad she could come visit. During the weekdays I had to work so that was too bad. But on the weekend we went out with my friends (celebrated Jayce and Lindsey's birthdays).
This is my last week of work so that excites me! I want to ask my boss if it is possible for me to work here again next year as the summer student. I will do it tomorrow I think. I am also going to bake the Snikkarbua chocolate and cheescakes for Friday as I way to say thankyou to everyone at the office. It has actually been a pleasant place to work except for the fact that I find my job extremely boring and tedious.
Well I will probably be updating as September 11th draws closer, I need to go now.
Oh and btw, I am on page 100 of Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal. I want to keep track of my progress on this book, as it is my first chapter book in Spanish.
Here is the current currency conversion for Canadian Dollars and Argentinian Pesos. It will be interesting to see how this changes over time.
1.00 CAD = 2.98 ARS
1.00 ARS = 0.335 CAD
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The boardwalk "la rambla" in Montevideo, Uruguay
A place where I can communicate with my friends and family when I am traveling.
The boardwalk "la rambla" in Montevideo, Uruguay
6 comments:
I am glad you decided to start a blog, Thanks Rochelle. I still want my own private emails though.
Hey girl its Bailey! I have not talked to you in a VERY long time! Miss you! Your life sounds interesting! Cant wait to here form you again on your trip!! I work for Shell Orion, its twenty minutes out of Cold Lake where I have been living for a year now. (Actually in three days it will be a year!!) But I am at work right now just thought I would say hi!!!
Take Care miss you tons!
Hey Bailey! It's good to hear from you. I miss you too! I hope you are enjoying Cold Lake. I am leaving very soon, but maybe when I come back in March we can get together...
And Mom, nope, I've never writing another email again! :P
Good to read this, Rochelle! I didn't know you were going to do your third year option in Argentina! And Parana, of all places! Interesting city, kind of the gateway to the Argentinean northeast... Loads of places to see and stuff to do.
So, tell me, what is "Barriletes" about? How did you hear of it?
Don't worry about your Spanish... I didn't have the fortune to see it develop this last year, but judging from the work i saw you do the year before, you should do fine. You may have to strain your ears the first couple of weeks, but after that, you'll ace it. Just try to keep a bit of neutral accent and don't become another Klara or Ayesha, who now sound more Argentinean than Argentineans themselves... Nah, i'm kidding, el castellano platense rocks!
Big hug, all the best... And I'll keep reading!
PS: Hope you can make it to Mendoza...
Hey Chelle...I am very glad to hear that I can be kept updated while you are gone was worried i was going to have to last til march lol! I know you will have a fabulous time! Talk to you before you leave!
Miss ya
Love Latisha
Rochelle, I finally got around to reading your blog. You make a perfect volunteer as you seem to adapt readily to new situations. We have friends in Bolivia. The husband is from Argentina. How are you adapting to eating dinner so late? What seems to be the usual dinner menu..breakfast? It appears that the people in Argentina are as friendly and understanding of us trying to speak and understand their language as we found them in Bolivia. Thanks so much for sharing your journey.
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