Wow, what a shock to be back in the States -- no noise in the house, no busy street noise, and no Spanish. I am having trouble adjusting to all the changes and not being around my friends all the time, but it is only the first couple of weeks. I suppose this is what they call 'reverse culture shock'..something I thought was a load of rubbish when they talked about it during orientation.
Anyway, my final days in Buenos Aires were spent soaking up any last minute sights and spending time with my API family. On Thursday, the girls and I went to Esma, a concentration camp during the Dirty War in Argentina. Sadly, we were only able to enter two buildings so our time there was very limited. We then went out for lunch and then off to class to receive our final grades. I am pleased to say that I received all As!! Afterwards, we walked around the botanical gardens which quickly turned into a photo shoot of the three of us (sorry I have no pictures as Becks has yet to upload them!!) That evening we joined the rest of the API group at Magdalena's then we ventured on to Crobar with our VIP entrance.
On Friday I cleaned my room and finalized all of my packing. It was an extremely sad day as I also had to say goodbye to my host-mother as she was traveling to visit her mother who is ill. She had been absolutely wonderful to me over the past four months and I have been assured that I have an open home in Buenos Aires and to visit soon! That evening all API members went to our resident director's house for a despedida dinner, where we met the summer students. I still do not understand why anybody would study abroad for 1-2 months. It takes that time to adjust to the new country, meet new friends, and navigate the streets. Anyway, the food was tasty and the new group was great! Sarah, Rebecca, Lauren, and I went to my friend's house party afterwards. Later that evening, we met up with the rest of the group, however Lauren and I did not wish to hang out with everybody as they were constantly upset about leaving and dragging out the goodbye. So Lauren and I decided to meet up and say goodbye to a couple of our Argentine friends over a drink. It was a great way to spend our last night in BA with good friends and good conversation which kept our minds off the dreaded idea of leaving the next day.
Saturday was the day everybody was not looking forward to. It started fairly early when I met up with Sarah and Rebecca for Obelisk and 9 de Julio pictures. It was also my turn to say goodbye to Sarah. I knew saying goodbye to my two best friends would be difficult, but nobody can ever be prepared for it. After a few sheds of tears we went our separate ways and I went home to have lunch with my host-sisters. After lunch, my sister handed me the phone with my mother on the other line and all three sisters came into the living room. They handed me a bright pink box with my name written in glitter. Inside was chocolate with dulce de leche (my mother knew this was my favourite) and various sweets for the plane. It also contained a box with the pink Argentine stone pendant for a necklace in the shape of a heart and a note written from my mother. It was all a great surprise and all five of us were in tears. It was very difficult saying goodbye to what is now my second family! Before I knew it, Rebecca and I were in a taxi headed for the airport saying goodbye to the city we had grown to know and love (sadly we were not joined by Sarah as her flight was cancelled so she did not leave until Sunday evening).
(my 3 amazing sisters!!)
I arrived late Sunday morning and was welcomed by 100 degree weather, perfect weather to lounge around the pool and catch up on my tan which I have missed out on for the past month or so!
This blog was intended to keep my friends and family informed of my time here in Argentina, as well as for me to remember for the future. No matter what I write, words and few pictures do not even come close to what my life was really like. There are no words to describe my experiences. So a big thank you goes to all of my new Argentine friends, my wondeful host-family, my amazing API family, and finally to my parents for being able to financially allow me to fulfill my dreams of traveling and expanding my language skills.
I hope everybody enjoyed my updates and I hope my experiences and adventures in Argentina have influenced your thoughts and opinions of South America and perhaps you will make it your next vacation hot spot! Until next time, ¡hasta luego!
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