It has been over two weeks since I returned from my adventures in South America. It’s been hard to analyze my feelings and emotions since re-entering the United States. Two words describe how life has been during the first two weeks back in my hometown, surreal and stressful. I arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport at about 10:30 am on a Saturday to my eldest sister and niece waiting for me near my baggage claim. Their timing was impeccable. It was good to see familiar faces. Waiting in the van [...]

As I waited for my flight back to America recently, I did some reflecting on my experiences living in Buenos Aires for over three months. Many people who have participated in study abroad programs claim that they change more, as a person, in three months than they do in years. I would have to agree with this notion. Opening your eyes to an entirely new world changes you drastically. I’ve noticed that my perceptions of South America and the United States have changed and adapted. I’m also better able to [...]

There’s no other way to describe my trip to El Calafate and El Chalten, Argentina than truly amazing. Not only was I able to see South America’s second largest glacier, I climbed it! The glaciers were breathtaking earth forms that stretched for miles and stood as tall as some skyscrapers. There isn’t much to say other than I had a great time traveling to Patagonia and I met some really nice people from across the globe to share in with my experiences. I’ll let the pictures do the rest of [...]

I decided it would be best to not mope around Buenos Aires over Thanksgiving and think about how much I miss spending the holiday in the U.S. In addition, there was still a large portion of the country I had not yet seen: Patagonia. I’m blogging live from my hostel in El Calafate. There will be a post later on what I’m doing here, but as for now I want to share my own personal Thanksgiving lunch today. That’s right, pizza, Patagonian beer, and flan for dessert. Perfect. Happy Thanksgiving!

I’ve written a lot about Argentina’s Capital city of Buenos Aires, I do after all spend 95% of my time there. I haven’t, however, written very much about the rest of Argentina. While doing research on the country last Summer I quickly realized how diverse the Argentinian landscape is. I thought I would dedicate this post to the many beautiful and precious landscapes that make up the 8th largest country in the world (by land area). If only one had enough time and money to visit each of these landscapes. [...]

For my week-long Spring break I set out for the indigenous nation of Peru, located in West-Central South America. I knew it would be a long and mostly spontaneous journey, so I chose to make it alone. My main reasons for traveling to Peru: experience one of the more indigenous regions of the planet and of course visit the ancient “lost city” of the masterful Incan Empire, Machu Picchu. Day 1: I started my long journey by running to catch a bus to the International Airport here in the Buenos [...]

Another great weekend getaway to the very peaceful nation of Uruguay. Last Friday, my class boarded a ferry and crossed the Rio de la Plata to the historic town of Colonia del Sacramento. The town of about 22,000 people was founded in 1680 by Portugal. Since then, the country has gone back and forth for centuries between Spanish and Portuguese rule. In 1828, Uruguay became an independent nation, with Spanish as it’s official language. Colonia, the oldest city in Uruguay, holds much historical significance and the city itself has been [...]

Words cannot describe how great this past weekend was. On Thursday night, me and four friends took an overnight bus from Buenos Aires to Mendoza (a 13 hour ride), a city located in the West-Central portion of the country and on the foothills of the Andes Mountains. About 110,000 people inhabit Mendoza, and upon arriving I was genuinely surprised by how nice the people were, and how well kept and quiet the city was. A pleasant change from the fast-paced and sometimes rude Buenos Aires. The Mendoza Province is of [...]

Imagine having to completely start over. Imagine being placed in a new city, a city not even located within the same continent. You’ve never been to this place before. People are speaking a different language, one that you don’t understand. They live their lives differently than you have ever lived yours. You move into a new house, on a foreign block, in a foreign neighborhood, within a foreign city, country, continent. You live with a different family, go to a new school or maybe start a new job. You know [...]

As I was eating breakfast I looked out of the kitchen window to see two calabash gourds sitting next to an empty bottle of Spring Grove Pop. I thought the symbolism would make for a great picture.  The gourds are quite ubiquitous in Argentina and in other Latin American countries. Natives use them to drink Mate (pronounced ma-tay). Mate is a traditional drink that is prepared by steeping special herbs in hot water. It contains a lot of caffeine and many natives drink it throughout the day for an added [...]

On Friday my class hopped on a bus and headed West to the antique Estancia Los Talas, a traditional cattle ranch located on the outskirts of the city of Luján, Argentina. The ranch was founded in 1824 and the granddaughter of the original owner still resides there with several family members. Everything inside the ranch house was nearly all original and very upscale. A huge library is also on the ranch. The library houses thousands of books, some dating back to the 1500s. Today, the collection of rare books are [...]

When someone is placed in a new environment, an environment that differs from their own and one that they are not used to, they are taken back, anxious and uncomfortable. Culture shock is the popular term to describe this phenomenon. On a short vacation to a foreign country, one is not likely to experience this because of the many “tourist settings” available across the world, and the mindset that the stay is only a few days or weeks. Since arriving in Buenos Aires, Argentina over a week ago, I have [...]

It’s everyone’s favorite topic: food. After all, everyone must consume it to survive, so why not enjoy it a little. The food in Buenos Aires has been exceptional thus far, although as one can expect, there are several differences in how people from the United States eat/drink to how the Porteños eat/drink. Breakfast I must admit, at my homestay, I am getting fed more like an American than a Porteños. It seems like my serving sizes are slightly larger than everyone else’s in my family. A breakfast tray is put [...]

Today ends the first week of class and nearly the first week of my time here in Argentina. Tomorrow, my class will take a tour of the city of Buenos Aires and spend time in the barrios (neighborhoods) not frequented by us students on a daily basis. This will provide a great opportunity for us to see the rest of the city, which consists of about 13 million people, and for me to take photos of the city, which will be shared with you. This week, as one can imagine, [...]

I’ve learned that the only way to grow as a person is to step out of one’s comfort zone. There’s nothing that reflects this notion better than my stay so far in Buenos Aires, Argentina. My host mother and host brother speak very little English. The downside of this is that we only converse if it is essential. The upside is that I will be forced to learn and practice Spanish, which was indeed a main goal of my study abroad experience. Today the program participants took part in a [...]