At about this time, most of the other IFSA-Butler are just arriving in their countries to study abroad.  However, because I’m in the Buenos Aires Intermediate program, we arrived two weeks earlier to hone our Spanish skills in preparation for the semester.  In that time, I’ve really been able to get to know the city well.  And I love it!

Yes, there are definitely many, many things that are different about Argentine society.  IFSA’s motto is “More Culture, Less Shock” and that is definitely what I’ve experienced so far.  The first day we arrived, we were able to settle down in our hotel, take a city tour and go out to dinner with the program directors.  The second day, we had all-day orientation in which the IFSA-Butler staff taught us all about the school at which we would be studying and Buenos Aires way of life.  At the end of that day, we met our host families and moved into their homes.

Sounds like a lot, right? Well, it was.  But it wasn’t overwhelming at all; the transition has actually been smoother than I thought.  The people here in the city are very nice when you need help (providing that you try to ask them for directions in their native language, which is the courteous thing to do).

All of the students in my group have unique host families.  Many of them consist of older couples, but mine is actually a family of six.  They are very accommodating, and it’s great to get to know the way of life from the perspective of kids my age.

Not to mention the sights! Buenos Aires, as the country’s capital and most populous city, contains so many attractions that I don’t think I’ll ever get to see them all in five months.  La Plaza de Mayo is the center of the city, and it contains almost all the government buildings and is just west of the coastline.  I get to walk through it every day on the way to class.

On Sunday, we went to a live performance of Fuerza Bruta, probably the most amazing espectaculo I have ever been to.  The IFSA-Butler staff brought us, and it was a great time.

Well, that’s about it for now.   So far it’s been a great experience, and hopefully it will get even better!

-Joe

I just spent three days in Buenos Aires and arrived in Mendoza last night. My family picked me up at the airport and it was crazy like José said it would be. There was un motón of families, all frantically waving signs with our names on them. We were all extremely nervous, but it was pretty fun, looking back on it. We lined up and José called out our names then his assistant called out the names of our host families, who then appeared from the giant of the crowd at the little walkway, waving the card. My brother and sister were there waiting for me, excitedly waving a Nicole N. card, which was waved again today, by a neighbor who also has a student from our program when he took us out to see the park. (I live very close to the huge park in Mendoza.) This morning my host mom came home from a trip to a casamiento (wedding) in the north. I got to meet her, and her granddaughter, Mía, and her older daughter and husband. I ate a second, later breakfast with them and tried Maté ! which was pretty good, but nothing like what we call maté in the US. We drink it wrong you see. Here, you fill the little cup completely with the maté and it needs more water every 3 or 4 sips. Also, dulce de leche is delicious and goes well with this cheese they eat here on top of medialunas, or crescent rolls. After lunch, which was pizza and Arabic empanadas, our neighbor came over with Julie, another IFSA student and took me for a walk in the park. It was amazing. The park is beautiful and hey sell artisan crafts and food on the weekend extremely cheap. There is also a free aerobic class which we watched, and is hilarious and long. One moment there are three women standing around shaking to some music. The next, there is a huge crowd of over 50 women and an instructor is yelling Arriba! A la derecha! We played a little soccer with another student, Julie´s host brother and his girlfriend by kicking around the soccer ball in a circle. What fun! I think everyone in Argentina knows how to play soccer, at least better than I do.
Now, I am waiting to see what I am doing tonight. My host-sister is going to a dinner at a friends house that she invited me to, but we are waiting to hear from her friend to see if there is enough food that I can go. You see, it´s a special dinner. They´re eating conejo and the ratio is one rabbit for four people. I´ve never had rabbit before, but I figure if I had my first hamburger in my whole life in March and now I eat beef at least once every day, I can try rabbit in Argentina.

…until I start a whole new life. Wow. It’s hard to believe that I only have less than one two weeks until I will be in Lima. I should probably introduce myself first. My name is Crysta, as you have probably figured out. I am a Senior this year at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. I was born in California, and then moved to Oklahoma, and finally Minnesota. I am studying Spanish and Secondary Education. I love working with kids, and I am so excited to study abroad. I have been fortunate enough to travel quite extensively in my life. I have been to Russia, Spain, and Northern Ireland for over a month each.

The prospect of leaving for five months is still a little scary. I don’t know how to feel about being gone for that long, to be completely honest. There are so many questions spinning around my mind. What if I don’t like the people I am with? What if my host family is not what I thought they would be? What if the classes are too hard or I don’t have anything to do in my free-time? How am I going to plan a wedding internationally?? (I’m getting married in May) The list of questions goes on and on.

When I honestly think about it though, I know that everything will work out. Everyone says that the courses overseas are so much easier that the ones we have here in the United States. I guess being bored is more of my concern than anything. I’ve taken at least 21 US credits each semester since being at Iowa State, and with the plethora of other activities, I haven’t ever had a moment to myself to “do nothing”.

This summer I am living in Kansas nannying for four of my cousins. I love the kids, but it is going to be a nice break in Peru to not have four children running around wanting attention 24/7. I haven’t started getting ready at all. Nothing. Being in Kansas has been great, but there is the minor problem of me not being able to pack until I get back to Minnesota. I will have three days to get everything packed, ready, and out the door.

I am really excited for the semester. I have been communicating via email with my host family and they sound amazing. I had very specific hopes when I requested a host family. I wanted a family that shared my religion and had similar morals and beliefs to me. I couldn’t have asked for a better match. IFSA-Butler has gone above and beyond in the aspect of matching me with a compatible host family. My host family is also strong in their faith, and they have a small child (which I also requested). Furthermore, they are a very musical family, which I am very enthusiastic about as well. I can only hope that my host family turns out to be as good as they sound.

I have had a lot of people ask me why I decided to study abroad in Perú. They think it sounds like a strange place to go, and as weird as it may seem, I chose it because of an experience in elementary school. When I was in fourth grade in Oklahoma I had to complete a research project about Machu Picchu. Ever since then I have had the life goal of going to Perú, and it is finally coming true. I have heard rumors that they are going to close Machu Picchu to the public in a few years due to the damage that is resulting from the massive amounts of tourists. I am really fortunate to be afforded the opportunity to visit such beautiful locations, and I hope to learn more about the country of Perú and South America in general while I am there.

For now I can only imagine what it is going to be like on August 2nd when I arrive in Lima. The semester is sure to hold many new experiences and opportunities. I just need to make sure that I take full advantage of each opportunity that is presented.

Next time I write I’ll be on Peruvian soil! ¡Hasta luego! (Below is a picture of me with one of my cousins)

We also went to see Auckland’s museum. My favorite part was watching volcanic eruption in a room where the whole room shaked and caught us by surprise. It was a wonderful first week without any rain to spoil our experience. Thanks to New Zealand’s IFSA Butler Orientation Team for making our week so wonderful!

My name’s Adam, and I’m a rising junior at Northwestern double majoring in journalism and urban studies.   I have two hilarious (sometimes even intentionally) parents and two younger siblings I’m going to miss terribly while I’m abroad. I’ve run a half marathon and I’m the messiest eater you may or may not have ever met.

I hope to use this blog to explore some of my own questions about the city, country and continent I’m throwing myself into in two weeks. In the process I hope to answer a couple of yours too, but even more than that I hope you’ll let me know what other questions you have. There’s room for comments on this site for a reason.

For my first post, I combined some video of the street I now live on with  some advice from my parents and sister.  My brother was unfortunately already at camp when I shot this.

(Video warning: I’m still figuring out this Flip camera, so the first clip is too loud, the others are too quiet, and the transitions are choppy. Next video will be better.)

Link to video: http://vimeo.com/13468828

Words of advice from Adam Sege on Vimeo.

Hi Everyone,

I guess I should introduce myself. =)  My name is Nicole Najecki and I study Spanish and Photography at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. I’m leaving for Argentina on Tuesday, and I keep bouncing back and forth between being really nervous and maybe a little too calm. I’ve traveled a lot in the past; my mom and I have been to the Bahamas, Paris, Italy and Canada along with trips around the United States to places like the Grand Canyon and a dude ranch in Wyoming. I spent my first year of college at Tulane University in New Orleans, and last summer I studied in Guatemala with a group of students from my university. Still, I’ve never lived outside of the U.S. before. This semester, I will be living in Mendoza and attending the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. I need to take a couple of art courses, but other than that, I can study whatever I want. Which is a good thing, because I won’t know what classes I can take until I’ve been there for a little while! This is a little nerve-racking due to my very organized and planned nature, however I’m sure everything will work out fine.

I found out last week that I will be living with a three person family, a mom, a son and a daughter, both of which are around my age. I  got pictures of them with my family information and they look really nice. I was surprised how much the simple act of learning who I am living with calmed my pre-departure jitters even though I still haven’t met them.

I’m really excited to head out on this adventure. I’ve been reading the guidebooks, and I want to take some mini-trips to Iguazu Falls, Tren de las Nubes, and the Glacier National Park. I’ve never seen a glacier before, and they say Iguazu is better than Niagra! I’m also excited for spring break when my family is planning to come down and visit. I’m trying to convince them that we should go to Patagonia.

I’ll let you know what it’s like when I get there =)

Nicole

First of all, I’d like to introduce myself to everyone and give you all some background information.  I’m Joe, I’m 19, and going into my Junior year at Drake University.  I’m studying International Relations and Spanish, and I’m set to study in the Argentina Buenos Aires Intermediate program for the next five months.  I’ve never left the country before.

And I’m leaving tomorrow!

For me, Buenos Aires was always the right choice.  Why? As a Spanish and IR student, I wanted to focus on a specific geographical region, and South America was obviously the best fitting place for both of these.  Buenos Aires is a enormous, modern city that, at least according to what I hear, never runs out of things to offer, and it’s known for great steak and pasta, which happen to be my two favorite things to eat.  So why not go to Buenos Aires?

The question I have asked myself so many times thus far is, “How, having never left the United States before, are you going to be able to survive on your own in a totally different world for five months?”  Truth is, I feel a lot less nervous the day before leaving than I thought I would.  IFSA-Butler has provided us with so many pre-departure materials and things to read, and I’ve done a fair bit of researching myself.

Plus, I just found out two days ago who my host family is!  It’s a family of six people, one boy and three girls, and two kids are college age.  This will be a perfect way to get a quick grasp of the young culture and slang.  Oh, and they have a dog, which can only be a plus.

I think that one of the most difficult things about going abroad will be getting used to the difference in pace and timing of daily life in Buenos Aires.  Dinner at 10:00?  Not knowing anything in my schedule for the next 3 weeks until Monday? On the weekends, no one going out until 2:00 AM?  I’m going to have some adjusting to do.

But, that’s all part of the experience, as they say.  To all the prospective students that are wondering they could do it, let me say that if I am going to be able to handle the experience, you can.  I, as many of my friends would say, am a bit set in my ways.  But this is one time when you can let go of all that, embrace a totally different lifestyle, and there’s something so liberating about that!

Of course, there is still studying to do.  Let’s not forget about that.  But for the next few days, time to enjoy the new atmosphere!

I always said, “I am planning on going to Costa Rica.” I was accepted into the program months ago, I read the email updates and newsletters from IFSA-Butler, I did an orientation at my home university, I got courses approved by my advisor, and I bought my plane tickets. Even then, I still said, “I am planning on going to Costa Rica.” Finally, I realized that this wasn’t some day dream or possibility. It was happening. When, you may ask, did I finally grasp this reality? Two weeks ago. Needless to say, I panicked slightly. Irrationally and absurdly, I thought about calling the whole thing off. What was I thinking? I couldn’t spend a whole year in another country more or less by myself. I was not prepared for that sort of thing. I hadn’t thought things through. I hadn’t mentally simulated different scenarios. But then again I couldn’t quit now; I had already spent a lot of money. Besides, I had been overseas before; I should be able to handle this. Ok, so I have only a little time left…how on earth do you prepare for a year-long study abroad

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It’s a sad day in Blogville. Due to the fact that my daily activities and thoughts are having less and less to do with Costa Rica, my life is becoming less and less interesting to any current and future IFSA-Butler blog readers, so I’m gonna have to hang up my keyboard in this little niche of cyberspace that I’ve enjoyed for the last however long. Though it’s probably for the best because my 5-day weekend card has expired and it’s back to doing things like studying (more like “doing what I forgot how to do in Costa Rica”), working (more like “donating plasma”) and cooking (more like ”heating up”). The only thing is that after having so many trips and fun things planned for so long, now I feel like there´s nothing. to. do. No more rafting, no more snorkeling, no more new passport stamps… how did I ever live like this before?! Forget culture shock; I’m in activity shock right now. Part of that has to do with a large number of my friends being gone for the summer (and our fitness center being closed on the weekends!), but that’s also been a  good thing because I’ve been able to spend more time with our new classmates and reconnect with other students on campus. 

Before my Gross Anatomy class that started this week I had barely even dissected a frog, but I now find myself elbow deep in human fascia on a regular basis. Of course, as I like to say, I find it all very “fascianating.” But while digging around in a bunch of dead bodies is educationally edifying, there is no doubt that I’d rather be spending my summer down in Texas. I’ve come to realize that my summers as I used to know them are basically over because I’ll have one PT commitment after the other until I finally get my job which, unfortunately, does not end in May and pick back up again in late August like I’ve been classically conditioned to do. The amount of material in this course is astounding, and the smell of the formaldehyde and embalming fluid mixture is enough to put one over the edge. Some people have also been told that I should expect to never be able to look at roast beef the same way again, but I think they underestimate my unconditional love for meat. 

Marielos and I have got to email each other a little bit and she says they miss me too and will always remember me, especially at meal times. Well, at least that’s something, right? Oh, how I miss those magical Marielos meals… I don’t think I could ever get tired of the frozen pizzas I have reverted back to up here, but I think I may have bigger problems than palate dissatisfaction if I keep that up for too long. So I’m going to end this blog before that day comes! That’s right, the time has finally come for me to “blog out.” I hope you have enjoyed reading about my experiences as much as I have enjoyed writing about them. I don’t anticipate returning to the blog world any time soon, but it was fun while it lasted. Have a great rest of the summer, everybody!