He Llegado

Though it still hasn’t completely hit me, I’m here in the Big Apple, and the adventure is underway. 

After a long flight through the night where sleep was not existent, we exited the plane to begin a long venture through the airport. After you go through customs, you pick up your bags, and then you have to go through another security check point. No problem! Except when the line is so long and not structured that no one in the airport knows whats going on…but we made it out, greeted by some of the program organizers, and headed on buses into the heart of the city towards our host homes. 

So far, all I have seen of the city is what I saw on the bus ride, but it’s incredible. There is an aura about the city that reminds my of NYC. Whenever I see or even drive past NYC, I can feel the magic radiating from it: it’s culture, it’s mystery, it’s history, it’s people, it’s restlessness. Maybe it was either the lack of sleep or the constant lingering of the smell of beef in the air causing this, but I swore I could feel a different but similar kind of magic driving through our neighborhood. 

What am I doing here?
For the first 5-6ish weeks of my journey, I am studying and interning abroad through UGA en Buenos Aires. I’ll be taking a Latin American Film course at La Universidad de Palermo in the mornings and interning with Las Madres de La Plaza de Mayo in the afternoon. Being able to work with Las Madres, an INCREDIBLE organization, is a dream of mine and I still cannot even fathom that it is going to happen. Study abroad was something I was iffy about doing in the first place because I did not want to be stuck in a UGA bubble, but I don't think that's going to happen here unless I actively try to do so. 

I’m living with a host family about 5 blocks from the university. They are incredibly warm and welcoming, seem really down to Earth, and I’m excited to spend time with them and get to know them better. The even compost - how awesome. 

After this program is over, I will be in the country/surrounding areas for a bit over 5 weeks. What am I doing then? Well, I’m not quite sure. Bolivia, hopefully, Salta, Patagonia, maybe WWOOFing at some point? If you have any suggestions for afterwards or even while I’m here in Buenos Aires, I would love to hear them and talk to you! You can Facebook or email me.