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Janelle Brown Janelle Brown,
our club's 2007-2008 outbound student arrived in
Belgrano,
Dolores,
Argentina on Saturday August 18, 2007. She reports that
while she has only been there one day, she is already enjoying it
there. She is having a great time, though feels frustrated
that she can not fully communicate yet. She is confident her
Spanish will improve with time.
Janelle is a
Senior at Saguaro High School. In August, after graduation she
will depart for year as a youth exchange student in Argentina.
At Saguaro, she was selected for the outstanding student leader
award. She has studied Spanish under Scottsdale Rotary's
faculty advisor at Saguaro, Peggy Owen. Ms Owen reports that
Janelle is one of her finest students.
Janelle's Journal
MAY....
I had another fabulous
month here in Argentina!
In April I travelled to the countryside to an old farm where I
wore the authentic gaucho clothing and had a good time. I also
went to the Rotary District Conference. We put on a
presentation, and it was nice to get together with the other 40
exchange students. Later on I went to Buenos
Aires to do some sightseeing and shopping.
It is so nice that I
understand Spanish well enough and can participate now in class. In
the beginning of my exchange I couldn´t do much. As exchange
students we are not required to do the homework, but I´ve picked a
few classes that I enjoy and participate. I get a lot out of
the classes and the teachers help me out too. Wow only 2 months
left! I am having a great time and I know it´s going to go
fast!
JANUARY.....
Christmas
here in Argentina
was different from the states. There weren´t Christmas commercials
or many Christmas songs. The feeling of Christmas
just wasn´t the same, but it was still really neat to be here for
the holidays! On the 24th we dressed up nice and
had a family dinner (consisting of salads and sweets like fruit cake
and candies). Then after dinner at midnight ¨Papa Noel¨ came (or
Santa
Claus) and everyone got a few presents. Then all the
teenagers went to the center of town to have a party in the street.
New Years´ was very similar to Christmas
(only without the presents). For New Years there was a lot of
firecrackers- different kinds (some bright, some loud). The holidays
were a lot of fun!
A few weeks
ago I went to Buenos
Aires with my tango class to special tango lessons.
Tango is so beautiful, but somewhat difficult to dance. It is
very male dominated and the female must follow exactly. At the tango
club I practiced walking with my partner to learn how to feel where
to be led. Then after we got tired of dancing tango we went to a
salso disco, where we received some instruction. Salsa is really
fun! I can´t dance it very well but I had a great time
trying!
I´m
enjoying the summer, it is really wonderful here. I have good
friends and I am progressing with the language.
I hope everyone
enjoyed the holiday season!
Janelle
Early
November...
Hola! This past month I went to an authentic Argentinean cow
and bull live auction with my host father in the countryside. It was
pretty cool! It last all day, starting in the morning with examining
the animals, then a huge lunch with tons of meat (the best meat that
I have ever had in my life!), and then the auction later on for the
rest of the day.
I
also went to a car race, it was kinda like the town´s own NASCAR! A
lot of the businesses in town sponsored a car and other cars from
other towns competed too. Since my host family co-sponsored a car, I
got to be where all the action was (in the pit stop area), which was
awesome. They also made a fire on the ground and cooked meat-
barbeques here are delicious!
I
went to La Plata (the capital of the providence of Buenos
Aires) for a day and went shopping with some of my host
family. I also went to Mar del
Plata for a day to walk on the beach and do some
shopping. Mar del
Plata is about 2 hours south of my town, and is a really big
tourist city.
In
Dolores they are just starting to celebrate Halloween
(I think they started last year). A lot of the little kids dressed
up as witches and other costumes and went to the main plaza in town,
had little fireworks, and asked everyone for candy (which no one
had!). Most of the stores that sell candy closed because they
got tired of the kids asking for free candy! A lot of the adults
didn´t really approve because there really is no valid reason to
celebrate Halloween
(in the spring). A few days before Halloween
though I went to a costume birthday party (I dressed up as a
bride!). So, I did have somewhat of a Halloween!
Argentina
had a big election last week, and it was really interesting to
watch. Voting is mandatory, and it seemed like everyone was involved
and talking about the elections. The week before the election the
town was full of a lot excitement, lots of car parades and other
events. My host mother ran for an office and won! She now
works in the mayor´s office. (Editors note: It was
at this election that the wife of the former president was elected
to succeed her husband.)
Well I´m having a great time learning the language and
customs!
In early
October, Janelle reports that
I´m still loving Argentina!
This past month I went to a cultural festival in my town. There are
a lot of different nationalities that live here (people from Spain,
France,
Italy,
Lebanon, China).
The festival was really neat because each nationality brought types
of food that they eat in their country. I got to try some really
interesting food samples! There was also a cultural dance festival
with many different dances.
It is finally spring here in Argentina!
To celebrate its arrival we celebrated with three parties in a
row! I´m learning how to dance to their cumbia music, it´s a lot of
fun.
The last week in September was to
celebrate the young and there were all kinds of activities
throughout the week. The Rotary club hosted a competition to see
which school is the most knowledgeable. The Exchange students helped
tally points for the competition. There are 4 Rotary Exchange
students here in Dolores from Denmark,
Belgium,
and Arizona
(from a different district than ours).
I´ve been to 2 Rotary club meetings (the Rotary club of
Dolores). I am still working on learning the language. Here they use
a lot of words specific to Argentina.
They also use ¨vos¨ instead of ¨tú¨ and use a different verb
conjugation for vos (for example instead of ¨tú sales¨ they say ¨vos
salís¨). It is challenging to learn the language, but a great
experience!
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I
love Argentina!
This is definitely the best place to be! My new city is small and
the people here are great. My family lives above a pharmacy (which
is where they work). I have been staying busy with lots of different
things. Another exchange student from Denmark
and I go to a ceramics class, tango class, and we go to the gym
everyday. I also have lots of new friends. I am in the same class at
school as my host sister and all of her friends are my new friends.
School here is really different from what I´m used to. School is
from 7 to 1 and afterwards everyone goes home to have a big lunch.
School is not very demanding and students don´t have very much
homework.
The food here is amazing. They eat a lot
of meat and they like sweets (thank goodness!). One of my favorites
are alfajores, which are like cookie sandwiches with dulce de leche
or caramel between the cookies.
It is somewhat cold here right now, and
I´m so glad I brought a coat!
My biggest problem is definitely the language. They speak so
fast and it is really difficult to understand (they have a distinct
accent). A couple of weeks ago I came home from an all night dance
and day in the country and the family told me that we were going to
Buenos
Aires. My host sister and brother live in Buenos
Aires and we were going to take them back to their apartment
after the weekend. So, I hurried and got ready for what I thought
would be a short trip. However, Buenos
Aires is 2 hours away. After we got there and had
dinner I walked into the room and everyone was laying down and going
to sleep! I had no idea that we were staying for awhile! They are
really easy going people and they themselves didn´t bring much for
the night (otherwise I probably would´ve noticed!). So, I went with
the flow too and just layed down to go to sleep for the night. The
next day they took me sight-seeing in Buenos
Aires. I will be so glad when I can understand everything
that they say!
I´m enjoying it all!
Janelle-Sept
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