Argentina

My experience so far in northwest Argentina

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.

Cordoba city

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.

Vacaciones del invierno en Chilecito

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).

 

My First Week in Chilecito

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.

Life after losing a job

I feel privileged to have had an experience volunteering in Argentina. The hardest part was saying goodbye to my host family and the children and staff in the Comador Infantile.  I know if I hadn’t lost my job I wouldn’t have done this, and as one Argentinean friend said ‘a chance to share smiles so far from home’.

El Regreso - Back to Ireland!

Hi everybody! I'm back from Argentina about 3 weeks now and I'm already finding it hard to believe that I was really there! It turns out coming home is almost as hard as leaving in the first place. I'll tell you all a bit about my last few days in Chilecito, the journey home and what its like to be home!

Snow in July (!!), Dia del Amigo, Bouncy Castles and a little bit of DIY!

¡Hola from Chilecito, Argentina! I've delayed posting this for a few days, because I stupidly stood on my camera lead, and now I can't upload my photos! I'm annoyed because I took lots of great photos to accompany the blog but unfortunately I just can't find a way to get them on the computer! Anyways the show must go on...

Bienvenido a Chilecito

Greetings from Argentina, where World Cup disappointment has slightly dampened the mood here in Chilecito!! Argentina´s 4-nil defeat by Germany has not upset me too much after an incredible first week and a bit here!!

FELIZ DIA DEL NIÑO !!!

Happy Children’s Day! And what a great day it was. Children’s day in Argentina is on the 11th of August but we celebrated it in the comedor on the 16th of August which was yesterday. It was a special day. Families from the neighborhood came to the comedor to eat nice food, play party games and get a present before they went home.