I'M IN BUENOS AIRES!

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M IN SOUTH AMERICA! I have been waiting to go abroad since before I even chose a college, and have been dying to travel since I can remember. Once I committed to Pepperdine, Argentina was always the goal. Student typically spend a full academic year abroad, but I am doing a program just for the summer in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eeep!

MI FAMILIA

My journey started at LAX where I met up with the group of students and professors going to BA. We had roughly a 9 hour red-eye to Lima, Peru and then another 5 hours to Buenos Aires. Our first night there, we were picked up by our host families where we'll be staying for the next 8 weeks. I live with my madre and padre, Stella and Jorge, and also one other student from Pepperdine named McKenna. I have my own room in their apartment and we all have family dinner together every night.

LA CASA DE PEPPERDINE

Pepperdine has its own campuses in each of its abroad locations, and Pepperdine's Buenos Aires campus is known as the Casa. Here, we have our classrooms, library, group meals, offices, kitchens, hang out spaces, etc. Pepperdine also sends professors down here with us who reside on the campus. I live about 15 blocks away from the Casa, which means a 30 minute walk to school every morning. It seems long, but I really don't mind. Walking means I will become very familiar with my part of the city by the end of the program.

MIS CLASES

There are 4 different academic programs that are all happening at the same time in BA: GE classes, human rights, upper division Spanish, and internships. I am here with the upper division Spanish program, as one of my majors is Hispanic Studies. I'm taking one class on Argentine culture and another on Latin American literature. There are only 4 students in my program, which means that my smallest class is 2 people and my biggest class is 4. The 4 of us took an oath to only speak Spanish while we are here. I do this to the best of my ability but as an RA of the program, I have to speak to other Pepperdine students in English most of the time. The part that is most difficult for me is listening to the native Argentine speakers. They speak very fast and have a very specific accent. I often need my host family and professors to repeat things a few times, but I have hopes that that will improve.

OTRAS COSAS

1. My family doesn't eat dinner until about 9 pm (very normal here).

2. There are dogs everywhere and people will walk 10 or more at a time.

3. Argentines prefer carbonated water, so when I go to restaurants I actually have to ask for "agua sin gas" (water without gas).

4. The lines on the road are completely irrelevant to drivers.

That's covers the basics, I think. I 'm really excited to get to know this city better and see more of Argentina. Next stop.... MENDOZA!

Thankful there are palm trees here,

Danielle

#college #travel #BuenosAires #Argentina