September 2011: International Youth Exchange student, Stewart Gibson, shares about life in Argentina:
Stewart Gibson
Unfortunately, I have been quite sick recently but I’ve finally come right now just in time for the International Exchange Student orientation weekend in Huerta Grande. I have learned that the climate is very difficult here because of the extreme heat during the day and the cold at night. This is why a lot of people get sick during this time, but my host grandmo there was amazing, forcing me to stay in bed for a week or two until I was perfect. So, in good health, I was off to Córdoba for the Rotary orientation weekend. All the new exchange students that recently arrived from the northern hemisphere were there, along with all the outbounds from Argentina. It’s sad that some of the outbounds can’t come with us on our trips, as some of them are now great friends and we realise we’ll probably never see each other again. But that’s the life of an exchange student.
We met with other exchange students from another province in Córdoba at about 0630 because our buses arrived about the same time. We left the bus terminal for the centre where we had a coffee and some breakfast, and sat round talking for about 5 hours until a shopping mall opened. From there we went to the food court and sat and waited some more as all the other exchange students started to trickle in. By the time it was time to go to the bus, there were about 50 of us. The New Zealanders had a rugby ball, so what else to do but to start playing touch rugby in the middle of the square in the centre of town? The orientation weekend was amazing – everyone really got into it and it was put together very well.
There were a lot of games played and we had an excellent time at the dress up party on the Saturday night, and there was a talent show on the Friday. Of course, we performed the haka and everybody loved it. On the last day we had a traditional Argentine BBQ, which was a first for some of the new exchange students. All in all it was a fantastic weekend. I am still loving every minute of my exchange. Stewart
