Gracias!

Back in the states now and missing my friends in Córdoba! also catching up with american friends here and thankfully 2 of my best friends speak spanish!

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who kept up with my blogging in argentina. It's been as fun for me writing about my experiences as i'm sure it was for you reading about them. If you ever have the opportunity to go abroad I would highly recommend Argentina-there are just so many things to see and the US dollar to Arg. peso exchange rate cannot be beat!

As for the future, i'm starting my senior year at W&J this fall and will be looking for a job this semester too. Hopefully I can work in some sort of translation position for a company, that's the goal anyways.

It's been fun!

Final day in córdoba

So today was my last day in Córdoba. Last night was a surprise despendida con los chicos de la iglesia en alfonsima- un restaurante cerca de la feria artesanía. Fue lindisimo y me surpreso mucho porque estabamos ‘buscando’ un lugar para comer empanadas supuestamente. I thought sadly as I looked down the table of about 40 or so friends from church that this will be the last time that we are all together. But we have the bond of Christ and it’s like a brotherhood. I was comforted by the thought that we could have this dinner again in heaven. Today was my last day and I made my way to the center in plaza españa to meet up with Raquel and I got a caja feliz at mcdonald’s and she got her last grido ice cream cone con dos bolchas. funny how us Americans spent our last lunch in Cordoba at a mcdonald’s. After that I headed over to caro’s apartment to hang out with her, micaela, and alexis for the last time- These girls helped me through the tough times with the passing of granny. I love these girls so much! We drank some mate, exchanged some gifts, and took some fotos. I will see alexis tomorrow in the airport because we have the same flight to Santiago. After stopping there I walked to my bus stop and was a little annoyed to see a manefestacion/protest making its way down the street – which meant that my bus would be arriving very late so, I decided to walk home which kind of sucked. The 45 min walk reminded me of the time when I had to do it when the center was flooded by people after the argentine win in the mundial. That time I had been walking away from crowds cheering for victory. The people of argentina are very in touch with their government and making their voices heard. I will for sure miss the people and their ability to not lay down judgment on others. I’ll miss those darn colectivos that I waited for every single day. I’ll miss walking and getting to know my city better. I headed over to the Field’s house (the australian missionaries/my vecinos). We ate dinner and I met an Australian girl who’s going to work in an orphanage until December. Later on I hung out with the abua group from my business faculty at the university. A perfect day to say goodbye

I late post update from my travels around Argentina in July

So I just got back to Córdoba recently from my trip with my parents to visit the most beautiful places in Argentina. The trip was amazing and God blessed our entire time traveling. First we headed to the southern most city in the world Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia and avoided a plane crash which was a little terrifying- we were arriving at night in the dark and right before the pilot was going to land he shot the plane almost straight vertical into the air and aborted landing- we think that he almost hit the water because the airport is kind of an island. Surprisingly it wasn’t extremely freezing cold and we were able to trek in the national park of tierra del fuego and sail the Beagle Canal which connects the pacific and atlantic oceans. The national park was incredible and we were followed by giant wild foxes at one point which was kind of scary but luckily they were distracted by some other tourists. I think in total we trekked 8 miles on the icy paths. The next day we went on a boat excursion to sail the Beagle Canal, which is picturesque in every direction that you look. We saw wild seals, penguins, and the lighthouse ‘at the end of the world’. We also were lucky and stopped at an island to trek around and see where the indigenous people settle. Some history about tierra del fuego is that the argentine government used to send the absolute worst criminals there and you can still see ruins of the prison (kind of like shutter island I guess). Next, we spent 3 nights in El Calafate, Santa Cruz- home of the national glaciar park. We got to see the most famous glaciar Perito Moreno which is actually blue. It’s amazing and you can actually hear the ice cracking which sounds like avalanches. The next day we took a boat tour to see all of the glaciers in the national park. This excursion was one of the most memorable for me because we were lucky enough to see the whole front of a glacier collapse in front of the boat AND I caught it on video. After those 3 nights we headed north to Iguazú- national park in Puerto Iguazú, Misiones- home of some of the tallest waterfalls on earth. I had already been there before on a trip with some friends in May so I knew my way around town. The pueblo was so crowded with people because right now everyone in Argentina has vacation. The weather had been rainy there but we managed to have a descent 2 days in the national park and saw wild monkeys. We headed back to Córdoba by bus on the 24 hr. ride on Friday. My parents stayed with the Australian missionary family-my neighbors- whom I have been able to connect with here through friends. They are one of the sweetest families that I have ever met! We brought them and their kids gifts from the states and showed them how to make s’mores which was pretty memorable. Today, Tues, my parents left córdoba to head back to Pittsburgh in time for my sister’s 24th birthda. I think they liked argentina and I couldn’t help but to compare myself to them. I think that here I’ve learned not to expect much from people or quality of things and just to live simpler. In the states it’s so easy to get around and live. Here for example you might have to go to 2 or 3 supermarkets to get groceries because they don’t have selection because everything is imported and more expensive. And hardly anyone owns a car and people take buses and walk everywhere. It’s just different and I’ve really enjoyed living here for the past 6 months. Looking back at my time in córdoba I’ve had so many opportunities that I never imagined for myself. I’ve traveled basically everywhere in argentina that’s well marked on a map and I also had time to volunteer with poor children in a local pueblo every weekend. I guess I’m just grateful.

Soy córdobesa now and I will be planning a trip to come back in the future, I don’t know when, but I will be back!