¡La Vida Argentina!

So far, planning for Argentina has involved me thinking of things such as transportation into the country, visa requirements, necessary vaccines, transportation while inside the country, trips I’ll take inside the country, and much more, but the thing that I haven’t planned for is how I’ll spend my time there on a day-to-day basis. Since I’ll be there for four months, my day-to-day activities are going to be a major part of my life in Argentina. While one of my goals for studying abroad is to experience a different culture, I want to make sure that I spend my time there in a way that helps me experience the culture like a local and not like a tourist. To do that, I’m going to use the local resources as much as possible. A few of the MANY resources I want to use are mynhost family, the community at Universidad Blas Pascal, and the community of Córdoba.

As for the resources available to me in Argentina, I think that staying with a host family is one of the best resources that I have. Local life in the city and local college life are both important, but being able to live with a host family and to do things in the same manner as them (ESPECIALLY if they have kids!!). I think a big part of living like a local is understanding the attitude of the locals. In my opinion, there’s not a better way to get an understanding of the attitude than by living with a family. I’m really looking forward to having a relationship with my host family and not just seeing them as a four-month hotel (although I do appreciate that part too).

When I’m not with my host family, I’ll be spending a lot of my time at the college. Forming friendships is one obvious way of getting a local perspective through the life at the college, but I’ll need to be careful of my time with the other exchange students. While I’m very excited to meet other people who are studying in Argentina and sharing the same experience that I am, I want to make sure that I still step out of my comfort zone to hang out with locals more than exchange students. In order to make friends at the college, I want to spend a lot of my time involved in on-campus activities. One thing that interests me a lot about Universidad Blas Pascal is that there is a really great sports/recreational program. On their website they have a list of times for everything from ping pong to paddling to soccer... QUITE the list of my hobbies. It’s extremely appealing to me and I’m really going to enjoy the things that I’ve already developed an interest for and things that the locals have an interest in. While I won’t fully know the ways I can make friends until I’m there and in the swing of things, my general mindset for understanding the Argentinian way of life in college is to put myself out there and to go out of my way to be in situations where I’ll meet people.

Outside of the college and my host family, the huge cultural resource for living like a local is the life of the city. From parks to mountains to professional soccer teams, Córdoba seems to have it all. One thing I’m very interested in is volunteering for a local non-profit organization. I’ve been drawn to that type of thing here in Maryville, and I think it would be a great way for me to be thrown into the culture and to get an experience of how people are helped in Argentina. While I won’t know exactly what I’ll do in the city, I definitely have a goal of using it to help me live like a local. It may be that I go to soccer games and cheer on the team with other locals, or it may be that I use local friends from college to help me understand what locals do in a big city like Córdoba, but I certainly plan on taking advantage of the numerous activities in Córdoba. For example, the night life (concerts, festivals, etc.) in Córdoba is something the city is very proud of. I’ve never really been one to experience a “night life” here in the US, but I may found myself drawn to concerts and other events in order to meet people and get a feel of the local way to spend time.

Overall, I think it’s very important that I use my time in Argentina to learn how to live like a local. If I spend four months in Argentina and I leave still acting and living like a tourist, I won’t be happy with myself. While I don’t know what I’ll do on a daily basis, I do know that I’m going to take advantage of the resources offered to me. Not only will this help me have a better experience, but it will also help me develop an understanding of way of life in Argentina.