The first thing to say is that this country
is everything I hoped it to be and more. The people are exceptionally
friendly, the food truly remarkable and the prices well, you know they’re
good.
My host family is very accommodating, although for the first few days
communication was difficult. However my Spanish is improving quite quickly.
Quicker than I'd expected in fact. I’ve just about
reached the point of holding a conversation, which is quite satisfying. Just
meeting the people here is enough. My ‘new family’ have made me feel very
welcome and I am actually starting to feel quite attached to them. The whole
concept is something I believe you should encourage prospective volunteers
to do. It’s not enough just to stay in a youth hostel and be a Spanish
speaker for a quarter of the day, total immersion is the only way if you are
serious about speaking Spanish.
I am really feeling
part of the scenery here, although the blue eyes are a dead give away of my
nationality. Gracias dios por mi pelo marron! I feel a kind of fraternity
with the people here, give me Argentina ahead of the USA any day.
In terms of safety I can’t speak highly enough of Argentina. As long as you
exercise a degree of self-restraint and common sense then you are quite safe
here. There is also a sense of community and family that we have sadly lost
in the UK. It is quite normal for my family to have a meal with family and
guests, whereas in the UK we reserve this for special occasions. It seems
that everyday here is a special occasion. This country is already beginning
to feel like home. Shame I can’t stay longer really. But university calls
again.
El instituto is a very good place
to learn Spanish. The quality of teaching is high. As you know I am a
student teacher and unlike most students I have a keen appreciation of what
it takes to teach. The class sizes are good and the interaction is one to
one when it needs to be or group work when it needs to be. In terms of the
activities, I have done two so far - A tour of the city and a trip to the
mountains. The tours are well managed and thorough in terms of their
content.
Here's
a proposal. You guys open an office here and I’ll coordinate it.Seriously though. I can’t speak highly enough of my experience so
far. It has been difficult in terms of the language but then I’ve not been
here long. But now I am interacting. Everywhere I go I am speaking Spanish,
about a variety of subjects. This is the advantage of here over Spain, you
can’t get away with speaking English anywhere!
Viva Argentina!!! Y vivo la vida latina!!!!
Peter McBennett about his placement in
Mendoza - Travel Log and Photos!
Hello Vicky,
Hope all is well back in happy-land. All is
well here in what is turning out to be a thoroughly interesting country.
Well here's what I've
been up to.The language course has started to get
a tad on the difficult side. Turns out I am better at Spanish than I had
thought. So now I find myself in a higher group and having to do some work!
D'oh! But I like it really. It's
much better that my Spanish is coming along better than I had expected,
after all it means I can do things like communicate. Quite important that.
As for the pictures, well
this one is from Independence Day , we'd
been out the night before hence the rather disheveled look. The girl on the
left is one of the teachers from the institute. Her name's
Gabriela and she's absolutely lovely.
The same can be said for all of the teachers I've
encountered there. Independence day was quite a hoot. Must be said they do
know how to party here, went out at midnight and didn't
get back until 8am the next day. Was partying with some local lads and
lasses. Excellent.
They are so warm and of the course the prices help but
everything here feels so natural and at the right speed. The one thing, if
you've worked (not if you're
the student type) in the UK, you've got to get
used to is the fact that here you have to stop clock watching. Here it's
like there are 36 hours in day.
This
picture was from my first day when I took the city tour. Was the only person
on the tour. Worth it just for the tour guide. Enough said about that. All
in Spanish though.Quick note, if you really want
to learn Spanish - if you are really serious, come here, there is very
little chance to switch to English, unless you are with other Gringos.
But then if that's the case then why come?
The photos of a statue/monument in Parque San Martin. Lot's
of things dedicated to General San Martin here. He was the guy who got rid
of the Spanish about 140 years ago.
He crossed the Andes and drove the colonialists out of
Argentina, Chile and Peru. He´s like Nelson in the UK. Only bigger. And with
more statues. And with two eyes.
Last Wednesday we went on a tour of the
Bodegas. Much Vino was tried. A good time was had
by all. I bought a bottle a bottle of the finest they had for the princely
sum of $15 Pesos, which is less than 3 Pounds. Unfortunately it won't
be sampled by the folks back home. Hard to keep the cork on a good bottle of
vino tinto here.
The Malbec here, specifically in Mendoza is
some of the best in the world and I can honestly say (having
lived in France) that the local produce here really is exemplary.
So this picture is
from a botega, that's a winery to us Gringos.
This picture is to
demonstrate the advantage of it being winter here. In that I am up at dawn.
That is what I see on the way to classes.
Better than the number 103 bus into central Birmingham.
As you can tell it is rather sunny here.
Midwinter. Known it colder than this in July in the UK. It´s the
meteological equivalent of late January in the UK. It´s 11.20pm. 15 degrees
celcius. 22 at noon.
Can´t complain. Oh the winter sun.
This is me and
some pals outside of a vegetarian restaurant.
Yes, even here in the land of bife de chorizo and
heartburn there are superb restaurants for veggies. Although I´m a proud
carnivore happy with my place in our manmade food chain I have overdosed
somewhat on the old steak.
Quality meat and wine in a superb restaurant for around a
fiver per head (Something that would cost ten times as much in the UK, only
here the girls are prettier too!!!) tends to lead to over consumption. So I
decided to plump for the healthier choice.
I must say that la comida was really top notch.
As for my plans for the rest of
the week and the fin de semana in particular. Well, I've
adopted the local laissez-faire attitude. But needless say all my time is
already accounted for. Friday night out with my Yanky friends.
Saturday afternoon shopping with a girl from my house and
the night I'll be off out with my Argentine
friends and Sunday..... well most likely sleeping!!!
And the weekend after? Buenos Aires. Again.
Not Mendoza but I'm sure it has it's
compensations.
Richard Brister on his Adventure Tourism Placement in
Malargue, Argentina
The
Adventure Tourism programme, based in Mendoza allowed me to really get a
feel for kind of work and lifestyle of working within the tourism industry.
Starting the placement with very little knowledge of Spanish, I was also
pleasantly surprised how quickly I was able to pick it up, through the
support and encouragement of those I was working with.
In terms
of what I have been doing: when guests arrive in Malargue to go skiing, I
show them around the resort. For example where the cheaper restaurants are,
where one can buy classes, help with the rental of equipment and buying of
passes, the filling out of the discount vouchers for the passes etc. I also
help with the transfers to and from the ski centre and the loading and
unloading of the “camionetas" (vans). During the day I am skiing!!!!!!!!!!!!
I also
helped with the excursion to “Caverna de Brujas” (Witches Caves), and the
falls nearby. One of the best features is how much Spanish I seem to be
learning, but also I am getting a general feel of the working environment
within the tourism industry.
Nicola Sandy on her Mix and Match placement in Malargue
Hi Vicky,
[Vicky Boughton is Travellers UK Project Co-ordinator for Argentina],
At the moment I'm in Marlargue
working at the museum. Everyone there is very friendly, although I have to
speak Spanish all the time as no one speaks any English! Every day is
different. Sometimes I help with the cataloguing of the fossils in the
paleontology department, sometimes I work with the archaeologists to
identify and classify finds from a dig last summer, sometimes the historians
explain the local history and today I was making model dinosaurs!
They also drink a lot of mate at
the museum, and I've become quite addicted to it.
I only work in the mornings which leaves my afternoons free to go horse
riding, or a trip to one of the local sites, like Pozo de Animales which are
bizarre craters caused by underwater soil erosion.
I am also teaching English to one
the museum staff's sister a couple of times a week. I'm hoping to go skiing
this weekend, as its the first time we've really had enough snow. I'm also
going to a BBQ on Saturday. As you can see, I'm very busy here!
Nicola
.
+44 01903 502595
