Absolutely Amazing

It was my first time leaving the United States this summer, and I can't express just how rewarding of an experience it was. I met incredible people and did incredible things in a different country, making connections with people from all over the U.S. and Argentina. One of my favorite moments was most definitely during the homestay: I had a 21-year-old host sister, Danna, who took me everywhere, (we became pretty darn close) she was super nice and wanted me to have the best time possible. One night we were out eating dinner with a bunch of her friends and one of her friends happened to be hosting someone from Germany at his house. So, try to imagine Danna, who speaks Spanish and a little English, the guy from Germany who speaks German, a little Spanish and little English, and me, who speaks English and a little Spanish, trying to have a conversation. It wasn't easy, but we managed to hold a decent conversation, mostly in English and me occasionally whipping out my phone to look up Spanish or English words in German on Google translate. At one point Danna asked him if he liked it there in Salta, and he just wasn't understanding the word "like"; he kept thinking she was asking how long he'd been there for. After about five minutes of Danna repeating her sentence slower and slower to him, and him answering it the same way, I decided to look up "to like" in German. I eagerly showed him my phone and he went, "Ahhhh, do I LIKE Salta!" and it was the most amazing feelings in the world when I finally got him to understand. I had a lot of moments like this, where the language barrier felt like it was keeping me from socializing and understanding other people, but this moment reminded me that the language barrier is also something you can bond over. I went into the program being extremely nervous about my Spanish but once I got there I realized how understanding people are, and you can almost always get your point across if you really try. That experience reminded me that a little trouble communicating is never a bad thing; but it does make for memorable moments! That dinner with my host sister and her friends was one of my favorite times in Argentina: everyone was so lively and loud, talking over each other and eating fried potatoes until late that night, I felt closer with everyone there even if I spoke one-worded Spanish sentences to them.