Getting Ready to Leave

Hello Everyone!

I am from Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States and am going to Argentina this spring on a Semester Exchange. I am based in Las Pampas, in the city of Santa Rosa and am very excited for this fantastic experience!

I am super excited for this experience and recently got information about my host family, based in Las Pampas in Central Argentina, which is in the plains of the country and (supposedly) where gauchos reside. My city has a population of about 100,000 people so is fairly large, and I will be arriving at the hottest part of the year, near the end of February and just before the school year starts.

I have three host siblings: two girls and one boy, and the girls are seventeen and fourteen while the boy is ten years old. My host father works in the government (although I don't know the specifics yet) and my host mother teaches at the nearby University. My high school is affiliated with the university, so she might also work there. There are no uniforms at my school--students simply wear casual clothing to school, and it normally ends at noon, except for some days when gym or other activities are held after the daily siesta. These naps will be very important, because Argentines are serious about late dinners, apparently eating at ten or eleven, and (on weekends) going out much later.

I have also been busy preparing to leave my current school, and am registering for Senior year next week and my grades are being frozen when I leave, since it is a short enough time before the end of our current trimester so that I will not have to make up any credits when I do come back, which I am very happy about.

Overall, I cannot wait to leave and get to Argentina, and although I have emailed my host family several times, I am sure the spoken Spanish will be nearly incomprehensible. I am so glad to have such a great opportunity to learn such an important and valuable language.

 Thank you for reading and I hope to write again soon!