Brooke Thomas - NSW to Argentina 2nd Update

Mon 19 Oct 2009

Brooke Thomas from Coonabarabran, NSW, is currently in Argentina on a semester program. She writes:

“Gday SEA. Thought I’d send you an update and some photos!

I have already been here two months! But it feels like I was born here, I mean that in the best way possible. Everyone here is so kind, friendly and welcoming so I fit right in.

Argentina, I just can´t tell you how beautiful it is! It is the greatest place! Everything has become sort of routine now, and at school I am not so much of a novelty anymore, just a class mate. Initially it was so fun, people here love Australia and Australians, I would walk down the street and I see people talking to other people, and when they saw me they´d point and then give a huge wave or yell "Gday, Hola Australia!". And I got the usual questions like "do you ride kangaroos to school" and what not. I never realised how hard it would be to explain things like "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi" - everyone was so interested, which was good and it really helped me improve my Spanish.

It is actually strange for me to be typing in English, as I never use it anymore, its really uncommon here.

I just recently got back from a trip to the Iguazu Falls which borders Southern Brazil and the very north of Argentina. Brazil is an amazing country too, and the Iguazu Falls are so beautiful, I can’t explain, they even made me a bit teary, and I am not sure why :). I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to go underneath the falls in a boat. That is something I will never forget, it was amazing.

In Brazil we did lots of things: we went on jungle safaris, shopped, visited ruins, shopped, and saw lots of wildlife. I love birds and I have always wanted to see a toucan, and in Brazil I saw so many! In the "parque de aves" one actually bit me on the face! It hurt a little, but it was well worth it as now I can say I was bitten by a toucan! How many people can say that? I also saw a Boa constrictor, many kinds of Macaws and exotic birds and monkeys. I had a really great time!

My town isn’t really sporty which is a big change for me as I play a sport almost every day in Australia. However soccer is like an obsession across the whole country. People here are so passionate about it, it’s frightening. Everything here involves soccer in some way, although there are no girls teams.

I have however been skiing for the first time in my life! Well actually here was the first time I even saw snow. Being from outback Australia, it is not a common occurrence… :) It was so fun and absolutely one of the best things I have ever done. I went with my friends and they were all really really good at skiing. I on the other hand was terrible, which they had a good laugh about especially when I had a really big crash. There was this big hill before a nice easy track. I said I would just take off my skis and walk but no they made me do it! I was going so fast I forgot how to stop, veered off the track, only just missed a big tree, and completely took out an orange safety fence! Luckily my skis popped out and snow is soft like pillows! It was actually fun though, however I am not willing to try it again anytime soon!

One thing that I really didn’t like when I first got here was how everyone kisses on the cheek when they see each other. I mean literally everyone. When you walk down the street you kiss about 100 people! The first few weeks people would you know, lean towards me and I would think what in the world are you doing! For me, in my town in Australia people don’t hug or kiss each other, it is just a strange thing to do so I was really uncomfortable with it. Now I don’t mind it and for me it is completely normal, however sometimes I forget and I think that hurts some peoples feelings a bit.

School is great. Initially I didn’t have to do anything as my Spanish wasn’t very good, but now the teachers know I understand most things so I cant get away with not listening. I even have to do most tests! The teachers are generally really friendly though, and I am treated a bit better than the other students, but it’s all good. There is one teacher though, the teacher of Lengua (equivalent of English for Aussies) who is really mean. She made me read out loud from this book, with words which were like 25 characters long. It was so embarrassing! Maths here is easy because well, I guess maths is universal. English, well I guess I’m a nerd here, although I have to do the test in Spanish. But it’s just things like "what is your name" "how are you" :D. Everything else though is hard, but I am not failing which is good. School is very different, and I don’t like the fact that we don’t get a big long break like in Australia, only two 10 minute breaks, although the school kiosk is like candyland, which makes up for it a little!

After school I have joined a bird watching group, which I love, and on Saturdays we go out on "go sees". I have seen many kinds of unique Argentine and South American birds here. It’s great! At the end of the month we are going on a trip to Chile to see Penguins! This is a dream of mine so I’m very excited about it. I also have one Spanish class a week. I’d like to say that I enjoy it but it’s so hard, and a real lot of hard work.

Here every weekend people go to the "boliche" which is a disco. I had never been to a disco before in my life, so it was a great new experience. Argentines love to party, life is like a party for them! The boliche though is so much fun, I love it. The music is brilliant! I love Latin American music and just Spanish music in general is really awesome. It is stuff you can really dance to, it has so much flavour. Everyone here can dance so well though, salsa like and what not. Me... Not so much, but the people enjoyed the introduction to "the funky chicken" "the sprinkler" "stirring the porridge" and the like :D. There would occasionally play a song by Katy Perry or the Black Eyed Peas. It’s great to listen to Argentines singing in English because most of them don't understand the lyrics and all the words are completely wrong. It is so funny!

I love my friends, they are so great! I have different friends to my host sister as we are in different classes at school. Initially we had a bit of trouble with each other as she really wanted me to be with her and her friends, but then the people in my class really wanted me to be with them, but we are all good now. I’m really sort of friends with everyone, or well, everyone is friends with me! People always wave and say hello to me, and after I think, wait, who was that?! I spend a lot of time at my friends’ houses, walking and looking at the shops and going to the parks. It’s really nice.

My host family really is the best family I could have asked for. I have two brothers and one sister. Victoria is 15, Pablo is 23 and he studies at the university in the town, and Nico, 19, who recently moved to Mendoza (a city about 16 hours away) to play professional basketball. They are all really great people, and although at times communicating can be difficult, we can always have a good laugh. My coordinators name is Miriam. She’s a family friend and she’s great! I enjoy talking to her although I haven’t needed to much as I haven’t really had any problems!

My mother, Silvia, is a receptionist at a dentist and my father, Adrián, is a locksmith. He has his own shop right in the middle of town which is good because we live in a nice smallish village about 5-10 minutes out of town. So for a few hours after school I have time to spend with my friends before he finishes work. Here work hours are from 8-1 and then 4-9. At 1 all the shops close and people go home to have a big lunch and a "siesta" which is an afternoon sleep, before returning to work at 4!

My house is nice, although very small, but all the houses here are tiny! One of my friend’s bedrooms is smaller than my wardrobe back in Australia! I have my own room though which is lucky, as I know that a lot of the other exchange students in Argentina on the same program don’t have their own room. Many don’t have internet, telephones, and a TV with only 2 channels. It is different here and there are quite a lot of poor people, and unlike in Australia they don’t get support from the government.

In my house, I basically just help out with the everyday things, like sweeping, washing up, washing my clothes etc. There is not a lot to do in terms of chores, as we all really aren’t here in the house all that often. As for activities with my family we actually don’t really do anything all together, everyone more or less lives separate lives. Although it is very important to eat meals together.

Here it is also customary to have a super sweet 15th birthday party. I mean the works, MTV style! My sister had hers a few weeks ago, but the family had been planning it basically since I got here. It had everything. The theme was purple so there was the private venue decorated in purple, mountains of deluxe food, drinks, a DJ, the custom made gown, 3 hour hair and makeup, waiters, birthday cakes, a huge dance floor with several disco balls, and a big screen for music videos. Everything!! I kind of wish I wasn’t 15 already, so I could have a party! It is great fun!!

Also the food here is to die for. They have this stuff called "Dulce de Leche" which is like a caramel spread which is so delicious. There is also empanadas (a meat pasty thing). In Argentina I have even eaten the best steak in the world, even better than Aussie steak, which I thought was impossible! :) They also drink this herb called mate (mar-teh). And I really mean everyone does. People walk down the street carrying a thermos and a wooden mate cup. Mate is a herb that you put in this wooden cup, then you pour little bits of hot water on it and then drink it with this metal pipe that’s at the bottom. You can also drink it with juice or sugar. I don’t actually like it so much, much to my family´s surprise.

As for the climate? Well it’s Spring... and it’s snowing! Does that explain it enough? :)

I think I will end my message here only to say that Argentina is the best place in the whole world, and you would be crazy not to come here! I do miss the land down under and its 45 degree heat, but I could never complain about being here.
I have many many photos of my trip on Facebook. If anyone would like to see lots of pics of Argentina and Brazil I don’t mind if they add me as a friend on Facebook to see them on my profile.

Thanks so much for everything you have done for me.

Besos

Brooke”

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