An Amazing Experience in Argentina

My month in Argentina was hands down the best month of my life. I had such an amazing experience and learned a lot. I met so many new people who are now some of my best friends and family.
I loved the homestay in Salta. My family was very welcoming and excited to have me. They helped me improve my Spanish a lot. My older sister knew some English but she wouldn't use it around me, forcing me to use more Spanish. They'd ask me questions to make me talk more. My younger sister was awesome too - she introduced me to her friends and showed me around the city. She came with our group to do community service and hung out with us at the mall. The hardest part of my trip was saying good bye to my family, especially my younger sister.
After Salta, we stayed in Chicoana and did more community service. That was the most rewarding part for me. I loved working at the school, especially the day the kids were there. I spent over an hour in the garden with three sixth grade girls, talking to them about their life and breaking down large chunks of dirt. They snuck me back into their classroom after and pretended I was a student. They showed me all their books and what they were learning in english. While in Chicoana, my host family surprised me with a visit! They drove the couple hour drive to come see me and my group again and give me some empanadas. It was so nice and unexpected.
From Chicoana, we went to ranch and went horseback riding and camping for three days. That was so much fun and adventurous and slightly out of my comfort zone. We went to the bathroom in the woods and learned how to saddle horses and to gallop. The gauchos told us crazy ghost stories and baked us fresh, delicious bread. It was a memorable couple of days.
I will never forget my amazing month in Argentina. There are so many more things that we did that I want to share because it was all so wonderful. I hope to go back and show my family all of the places we explored and introduce them to my Argentine family. And I plan to stay in touch with the great friends I made too. On the night before we left, our group made a web of string. It represented how we are connected because of this amazing experience. We all went around and talked about what we would take home from this trip. Then we cut the string and we each got to keep a part of our connection. I tied the string around my wrist. It's been over a month since we were in Buenos Aires that last night. I haven't taken it off and I don't plan to :)