On February 1st 2018, I arrived at Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires Argentina. I had the adventure of a lifetime as I explored the culture, history, and food all around me. While I could try to summarize my experience, I am not quite sure I have the words to describe what an eye opening experience it was. I can start by saying that as an adventurous person I definitely  dove headfirst into my experience. Before I even left the United States I was the guinea pig for the Spanish department. Then I took my first plane flight amounting to thirteen long hours of travel ending with my first time traveling to a foreign country. Buenos Aires, Argentina also happens to be the tenth largest city in the world and the first city in which I ever lived. To add to my list of firsts was my first rollercoaster, and first time taking a trip on my own.

As I toured the Andes, visited Iguazu Falls and explored the oldest city in Uruguay, I always took time to reflect. It was truly brilliant how many new ways of living and working I experienced. I remembered one instance where there was an announcement that all public transportation was going on strike. While I was desperate to find a way to get to class, my host family and other ciudadanos never missed a beat. As I walked three hours to my one afternoon course, I could see all of the stores open and running as usual. The ferrias or local markets were operating too. In all the chaos and confusion, I found myself to be the only one thrown off balance. The flexibility and resilience of the people were astounding.  That is not to say I would ever wish for all public transportation to stop or that I would ever hope for the instability which brought about five different presidents taking office within a week. However, I could take a cue from their calm problem solving. I could allow anxiety to slip away and focus on the task ahead of me. I will be taking their advice, never put into words, but evident in their actions. We cannot control everything and sometimes bad things happen that affect us in negative ways. There is not always something to be done about fixing that problem, but I can take solace in knowing that I can handle whatever comes my way. No matter how rough things get, I can work through it one step at a time.

While I was discovering this new way of life, I sent occasional updates to friends and family back home. The process kept me in touch with the people I cherished most while learning about my new environment. Some of these updates are recorded in the document below.