travelling

Travelling - Paper Lions

                

time

exchange students in Córdoba

Today I've been here exactly for two weeks. Two weeks and two things I feel.
On the one hand it feels like I've only been here for a day but on the other hand it feels like I've been here for years.
It's a feeling you can't describe and you can only understand when you go through the same experience.

Cara
♥♥♥

first weekend

Now my first weekend with my host family is almost over. I had a lot of fun but I’ve also been really tired all the time. Before I start explaining what we did I wanted to say that I’m pretty sure that this wasn’t a typical weekend for Argentina. Normally they go a lot to clubs but because today the Argentinians have to vote for a new president the clubs here in Arroyito were closed.

Saturday:

In noon my host mum woke us up for lunch. Yes, we skipped breakfast and directly ate lunch. After that I just relaxed a bit, watched friends and did nothing. I also got my sim card that day. In the afternoon my host sisters friend came over and she gave me one kilogram  of “Dulce de Leche”(<- the reason why I'm going to be fat when I'm back in Germany). Best present ever I would say! I got ready and then I talked to them and we drank mate. Then two girls from my class came to pick me up and we went to the primary school because there was a theater play of “One thousand and one night” and the best thing is that it was in English! I had a lot of fun and I’m glad that I made something with people from my school. After I came back home, my host sister, her friend and I watched “Orange is the new black”. In my opinion one of the best shows ever! I watched every single episode and I’m glad that my Spanish isn’t good so I wasn’t able to tell them something they didn't knew, yet…

Later in the evening my family and I went to a restaurant and after that my host sisters visited their friends. They asked me if I want to come with them but I was way too tired… So I just drove home with my host parents and my little sister and went to bed.

Sunday:

The day started really similar to the day before, we woke up and ate lunch. But this time we had visitors. Familiy and a friends. We ate all together but I wasn’t able to eat a lot because I was still full from the day before. I feel like the only thing they do here in Argentina is eating and I really can’t see food anymore. Okay “Dulce de Leche” is the only thing I could always eat but that’s it.After we finished eating, me and two of my host sisters went into our room and we just layed down, watched some Netflix, listened to music and slept. We had a really relaxed and enjoyable time.After a few hours the oldest of my sisters and I watched some photos of my family and friends and then we baked a cake. When the cake was finished we ate it with “Dulce de Leche” and we drank mate. I showed her some German music and when the rest of the family came I showed them where I live in Germany. I really liked the day because I got the feeling that I finally arrived and that I start to become a part of the family.

Now it’s almost 8pm and I’m still wearing my sleeping clothes. I don’t think we’ll do something besides eating dinner. Tomorrow school starts again, what I’m not really excited for. But in the evening I will try out spinning. I hope I’ll like it because I really need to do some sport!

Besides spinning I want to start playing handball.

I'll tell you about the after school activities really soon.

Take care,

Cara

♥♥♥

sushi and emapandas

Yesterday, me and my sisters got invited for dinner at my local coordinators house.

All the exchange students staying in Arroyito have been there with their host siblings.

There have been so many people that I still don't know who they were.

At the moment there are four exchange students here in Arroyito. 

A girl from Japan, she has been here since February I think, a boy from the US, but he'll leave on Monday and then there is Selma and me. Selma is the girl from Denmark I mentioned before.

I was so glad to be able to talk in English with people who understood me.

Hina, the girl from Japan, made us sushi and we also had empanadas. I barely ate anything because here in Argentina they eat so much that I wasn't able to eat even more that day.

We talked a lot and the exchange students showed where they live on google maps which is quite funny because if you look for my house you only see field because when the picture was taken our house wasn't build yet.

Some people also showed how talented they are in playing piano.

All in all it was a great night but I was so tired when we came back home! 

This evening I'll go to a theater with some of my class mates and I'm really looking forward to that even though that I'll understand nothing!

After that me and my host sister will meet some of her friends which I'm really excited for.

Talk to you soon,

Cara

♥♥♥

first week of school

Today is Friday which means that my first week of school is now over.

My school here in Argentina is really different compared to my school in Germany.

Let's start with the most obvious thing: the uniform.

In Germany it is not common to wear a uniform unlike here in Argentina. Almost every school has a uniform. I don't have my pants yet but I hope that I'll get them soon and then I will show you a picture. 

I always thought German schools aren't strict but now I know it better. Here everyone is so relaxed.

Yesterday there was this street dog running around in our class room and nobody cared... Also you hug some of the teachers when you see them or share mate with them. That would never happen in Germany.

Also the lessons are different. I haven't seen somebody raising his hand in this whole week, which would never happen in my school at home. If they want to say something they just shout it into the class. But to be honest, school here is the most boring thing I've ever experienced... Especially when you don't understand the language it's just sitting there and staring at the watch waiting for the bells to ring.
I hope that will get better with the time... But one thing that German schools should have too is wifi! No, I'm not kidding, there is wifi for the students! Germany, that's how you should do it!
I don't know if it's everywhere like that but in my school you can chose between two kinds of classes. There is the economics class and the science class... Since my host sister is in the science class they put me in there too. I wish they would have asked me because I'm really bad in science and in Germany I only have Biology and Maths because I have to.
Yesterday one teacher asked me if I want to change to economics and to be honest yes I'd like to be in economics but now I start getting to know my class and then it would be hard for me to start all over again because it's really exhausting being new somewhere and you barely know the language...
Lucky me, grades are not that important and maybe I learn some things I'll be able to use when I'm back.
I think that's everything I can tell you about school... If I forgot something I'll tell you in one of my next posts.
Now, I'm going to enjoy my weekend and I hope that I'll get some sleep because I've been tired the whole week.
On Sunday I'll be at my host family for exactly one week, which is really exciting!
I'll talk to you soon!
Take care,
Cara
♥♥♥

this is the beginning

I'm with my host family since Sunday.

They picked me up at the hotel were we had the preparation.

I was so happy to finally see them but the communication was/is hard.

I could barely understand what they said and I've been really embarrassed because of that.

On our way home we stopped at a petrol station, where we bought something to drink and crisps...

There we also met Selma, an exchange student from Denmark. I already knew her from the preparation and we're in the same school. She is in the class of my host sister which means I'm one grade higher than her what I don't understand since we're both sixteen.

On the rest of the way we drank mate which is amazing! I tried mate before but I love it more and more every time I drink it, which is a lot.

My host family is amazing, they are great even though the communication is still really hard but somehow it works...

I share a room with my host sisters which is not a problem for me but I wish I could talk to them more.

Since it's only Friday there's not a lot to tell about, but I'm sure that there will be loads of new things really soon.

The next post will probably be about my school here so you can look forward to that.

I talk to you soon and take care,

Cara

♥♥♥

Preparation

The first four days in Argentina I spend in a hotel near to Córdoba City with loads of other exchange students from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Japan, the USA and Germany.

We learned a lot about Argentina and again they told us a lot about their rules… As if we never heard about those 10000 rules we have…

It was great spending the time with all the other exchange students but to be honest, the preparation was a disaster…

We had to stay in the hotel almost all day and weren’t allowed to go outside alone. Every day we had 5 hours of Spanish lessons but we didn’t learn anything because we were so jet lagged.

To be fair, the food was really good and my (and everyone else) highlight was the city tour in Córdoba City. We learned a lot and it was the first time we really saw something from Argentina. Argentina is incredible… When you walk around outside you feel like the time stopped here… But it also has it’s bad sides… There exists way more poorness than in Germany and on my way to the host family I even saw children playing in the trash on the side of a big street...

I will tell you about my first days here in Arroyito really soon in my next post.

Take care

Cara

♥♥♥