EIL Intercultural Learning

Leaving Chilecito was a sad day. If you had asked me 10 weeks ago if I would have made such fantastic friends, travel on my own around South America or learn to speak Spanish (still need to improve on that bit!!) I would have laughed at the idea. Leaving Ireland and travelling on my own to Argentina was honestly one of the scariest and bravest things I have done and now that I can look back on it I feel rather proud and the memories from this trip are going to stay with me forever.

So I have some fantastic news. The article that I wrote not only got published, they also put an ad on the local radio station. It was so strange to hear my name and what I wrote on the radio. I was happily chopping my vegetables making a soup for the kids when the ad came on, As my Spanish isn’t excellent I had to wait until I returned to Betty’s to ask exactly what they had included in the piece . It was perfect. A lot of people listen to this particular radio station so the word is out there and you never know maybe more kids will arrive at our doors in the coming weeks .

Hi everyone, so on Saturday evening Marieka, Jan and carsten arrived in Chilecito. They are the fresh new volunteers ready and waiting to begin their year’s stay here. I have to say I am a little jealous. As I live with Betty I never need to go very far for our volunteer meetings or parties and on Saturday evening  we met for some sandwiches and ricotta cake. Seeing the guys takes me back to my first day in Chilecito. I was so scared and unsure about what to expect. I remember attending a similar party where I was the main focus of attention.

After a beautiful relaxing weekend in Catamarca it was time for me once again to begin another week in the comedor. Time is genuinely going by so quickly here is Chilecito. This Saturday night I am meeting the next group of German volunteers who will be working in the comedor. I am very excited to tell the guys all I have learnt over the last few weeks. Betty and I are holding a little welcome party for the new volunteers which will be really nice.

So as you already know from my latest blog the other volunteer working in the comedor( Lea) has left this lovely country to return home to Germany which means  I was working on my own this week. It felt a little strange at first because I  am really used to having the guys with me in the comedor, but it was another little challenge for me to overcome here in Chilecito and I think I did ok.... If I do say so myself

Chilecito is a small city with a main plaza. This plaza is where I hang out, drink coffee and meet with my friends. The plaza is only a 5 minute walk from my host house so I am in walking distance  from the banks, shops and post office. The landscape is extremely dry here, with the only water supply coming from the Famatina Mountains. I feel very lucky to have been granted the individual travel award to volunteer in this beautiful place.

My volunteer placement means that I work Monday to Friday and I have every weekend off. I am using my spare time to travel around this beautiful country and this weekend I travelled to Cordoba which is the second biggest city in Argentina. You can travel all around Argentina by bus, the buses travel throughout the night which is nice. I got the bus Friday night and arrived in Cordoba Saturday morning which was great because I didn’t waste a full day travelling.

It is winter vacations here in Chilecito. The kids have been off from school for two weeks and as a result fewer kids have been coming to the comedor. It has been lovely to work with a small group of kids and I am getting to know their individual personalities more and more. My cooking is improving every day and I am really enjoying preparing the food for the kids. The kids love it when we cook  pure de papa y huevos fritos (mashed potatoes and eggs).

Sorry about the delay in getting my blog up for everyone but time is flying by very quickly here in Chilecito and I honestly can’t believe my first week is over already. I have already fallen in love with everything here  the people, the food (Dulce de leche... Nina you were right very addictive) and my project. I arrived in Chilecito at 9.00 am Friday the 1st of July. The landscape here is so vast and breathtaking, I have probably taken 100 photos of the Famatina mountains already they are honestly so beautiful.

Saludos desde Buenos Aires