The First Week, by Chandler

Hola to friends and family--
We're having a great time here in Rafaela and learning so much about Argentina and Hispanic culture and language. After our flight was delayed a few hours last Wednesday we arrived in Buenos Aires later than expected but were still able to take in some of the sights at Plaza de Mayo, the central area of Argentine government buildings. The accomodations at our hotel in Recoleta, a specific region of the very large city, were excellent and the neighborhood very pretty. In the next days we visited an area know as La Boca, a neighborhoood at the "mouth" of the bay at the Ri'o de la Plata that is know for it's Italian design and vibrant colors, and found some great Messi jerseys just in time for the start of the Soccer World Cup tournament. We also visited and ate in many other areas including a new and trendy region of the city called Puerto Madero, where we ate in a buffet-style restaurant that served many traditional meats, one of which some of the boys tried that resembled some kind of intestine... (ew!) The bus ride to Rafaela on Sunday was very long (about eight hours) but fairly comfortable and we were all excited to meet and leave with our host families at the bus station.

Rafaela is a small but very developed and attractive city. The layout of the city centers around a central plaza which is like a park with a few gazebos and sculptural statues and is made up of blocks. The commercial area of Rafaela is primarily in the five blocks surrounding the plaza. The school, La Escuela de La Plaza, is just a few blocks away from the plaza.

On Monday, we went to school for the first time and were "presented" to the entire school. Then we listened to the national anthem, a tradition the school does a few mornings a week. During school, we have various activities such as hearing lectures about Argentine history or education system, attending classes, or giving presentations about different aspects about life in the United States to English classes. On Tuesday, Dylan and Sam gave an excellent presentation about the evolution of music from the fifties to present day in the United States. At La Plaza, almost everyone goes home for lunch, and so now we do, too! We definitely don't mind though, because the food here is incredible! We eat the caramelly, sweet dulce de leche almost everyday, along with delicious sandwich cookies called alfajores. Argentina is also famous for its meat, and we agree that the asado is exceptional. After school we all usually go over to one of our new Argentine friends' houses and eat more dulces and play soccer or talk.

Thursday we did something different. We went on the turismo rural, a tour of several places in rural Argentina, just a few minutes outside of Rafaela. We toured a nineteeth century house, a dairy farm, and a museum and visited a small public school in the tiny villiage of Presidente Roca. The highlight of the day was our trip to a campo where there were all types of farm animals: cows, sheep, pigs, turkeys, chickens, horses, donkeys, dogs, and one kitten (Kohler's favorite). There we also ate asado and delicious pastries characteristic to rustic Argentina. We went on a wagon ride then individual sled-esque rides on a dried cow hide tied to the farmer's horse, creating an activity similar to tubing on grass.

We have had so much fun learning all about Argentina and are excited about the weeks ahead, especially about the upcoming World Cup games! Hasta Luego, or as is common here: Chow!