A Roller Coaster

I came on this trip with a group of upperclassmen from my school and I barely knew any of them as I was the only freshman. I had one clear goal for my stay in Argentina, and that was to improve my Spanish proficiency. Despite this narrow-sighted objective, these three weeks proved to be much more - academically, linguistically, emotionally, and personally. When we landed in Buenos Aires, a wave of panic hit me as I started to doubt my confidence. The two weakest components of my Spanish skills were speaking and listening, and as our group switched from speaking English to Spanish, insecurity crept up my spine. The first few days were definitely the toughest for me, but my confidence slowly rose as my Spanish was improving. Listening to my friends' talk on day one and on the last day was such a cool experience because their improvement was evident as well. I can safely say that by the end of the trip, the quality of each parts of my Spanish skills had improved tremendously. I was not afraid of conversing with locals anymore; in fact, talking with my apartment's doorman and with my host mother nightly were some of my favorite interactions during the trip.

On a separate note from the linguistic development that had come from my classes and the immersion component, the most valuable experience that I gained from this trip was the relationships I made with my fellow classmates. Spending the afternoons going on cultural excursions and the nights going to the mall or just talking at a local cafe were invaluable. I would have never expected to become close friends with some of the kids. Instead, our group became a small family, as weird as that might sound. Saying farewell to our host-mother was an experience that I will never forget. I could not believe that the three weeks had already come to an end; although we were all tired and ready to go home, it felt like I had only been in Buenos Aires for a couple of days.