Today's post is written by Ana Perreira, Norfolk Academy participant on the exchange:
The day began with the usual rushing around at 7:00 in the morning and my trying to get ready before my host family, which never happens because somehow they get ready in 10 minutes. For breakfast I grabbed 5 medialunas, or croissants, hoping to beat my record of 12 in one day. Antonella, Chiara, and I arrived at Holy Trinity College at around 7:58 as we usually do. Once everyone was present, we went into the Main Hall for our tango lesson. ¡Qué asco! (How awful) I enjoyed myself very much, but I am a terrible dancer and I sincerely apologize to those who witnessed. Finally, there was this last move where the "boy" holds the girl as she does this hip spin thingy. Dom and I completely failed, naturally. In fact, I don't think any of us were successful besides the instructor. I must admit the highlight of the lesson was watching Señor McMahon spin and trip multiple times. After that, I finished the rest of my medialunas and ate number 50. 50 medialunas since last Wednesday!!! (Actually it's 52 now).
As I ate number 50 on the bus, we traveled to the Havanna Chocolate factory. We all put on some really fashionable white jackets and hair caps and followed the guide into the factory. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the smell. It smelled like chocolate, marshmallow, brown sugar, and everything sweet in life. We watched the cookies being made and covered in chocolate and the products being put into boxes and wrapped. Afterwards, we got free alfajores to bring home and had a chance to buy gifts at the Havanna store. With time to spare, we went to a cafe nearby for 30 minutes before going to the Museo de Art Contemporaneo Buenos Aires.
All the guides at the museum wore bright orange jumpsuits which I thought was quite odd. Upstairs, there were three different "rooms" with many exhibits. In the first was this gigantic mattress fort and we immediately took our shoes off so we could go inside. We jumped around for a few minutes and naturally no one wanted to leave. We saw some really weird art but some of it was also really cool and different . A lot of it used bright colors and lots of shapes, some three-dimensional. There was even a huge sea lion, the icon of Mar del Plata, at the entrance of the museum, and it was made entirely of Havanna chocolate wrappers!
Back at school we started to write in Spanish about our time in Mar del Plata (where I was used as a textbook) until our cooking lesson. We were taught how to make the famous empanadas and pastelitos. Unfortunately I wouldn't know how they tasted because I'm very picky so I only ate the bread. Later we finished our writing that will be presented tomorrow at the closing ceremony and met our hosts again to go home. I think I can speak for all of us when I say no one wants to leave Mar del Plata. The beach is beautiful, the students and teachers are kind and welcoming, and the entire city has been an adventure for us all. Though I'm sure Buenos Aires and its 5 hour drive have much in store for us, I have no doubt in my mind tomorrow will be emotional and tear-filled as we depart Mar del Plata and our new friends.
The day began with the usual rushing around at 7:00 in the morning and my trying to get ready before my host family, which never happens because somehow they get ready in 10 minutes. For breakfast I grabbed 5 medialunas, or croissants, hoping to beat my record of 12 in one day. Antonella, Chiara, and I arrived at Holy Trinity College at around 7:58 as we usually do. Once everyone was present, we went into the Main Hall for our tango lesson. ¡Qué asco! (How awful) I enjoyed myself very much, but I am a terrible dancer and I sincerely apologize to those who witnessed. Finally, there was this last move where the "boy" holds the girl as she does this hip spin thingy. Dom and I completely failed, naturally. In fact, I don't think any of us were successful besides the instructor. I must admit the highlight of the lesson was watching Señor McMahon spin and trip multiple times. After that, I finished the rest of my medialunas and ate number 50. 50 medialunas since last Wednesday!!! (Actually it's 52 now).
As I ate number 50 on the bus, we traveled to the Havanna Chocolate factory. We all put on some really fashionable white jackets and hair caps and followed the guide into the factory. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the smell. It smelled like chocolate, marshmallow, brown sugar, and everything sweet in life. We watched the cookies being made and covered in chocolate and the products being put into boxes and wrapped. Afterwards, we got free alfajores to bring home and had a chance to buy gifts at the Havanna store. With time to spare, we went to a cafe nearby for 30 minutes before going to the Museo de Art Contemporaneo Buenos Aires.
All the guides at the museum wore bright orange jumpsuits which I thought was quite odd. Upstairs, there were three different "rooms" with many exhibits. In the first was this gigantic mattress fort and we immediately took our shoes off so we could go inside. We jumped around for a few minutes and naturally no one wanted to leave. We saw some really weird art but some of it was also really cool and different . A lot of it used bright colors and lots of shapes, some three-dimensional. There was even a huge sea lion, the icon of Mar del Plata, at the entrance of the museum, and it was made entirely of Havanna chocolate wrappers!
Back at school we started to write in Spanish about our time in Mar del Plata (where I was used as a textbook) until our cooking lesson. We were taught how to make the famous empanadas and pastelitos. Unfortunately I wouldn't know how they tasted because I'm very picky so I only ate the bread. Later we finished our writing that will be presented tomorrow at the closing ceremony and met our hosts again to go home. I think I can speak for all of us when I say no one wants to leave Mar del Plata. The beach is beautiful, the students and teachers are kind and welcoming, and the entire city has been an adventure for us all. Though I'm sure Buenos Aires and its 5 hour drive have much in store for us, I have no doubt in my mind tomorrow will be emotional and tear-filled as we depart Mar del Plata and our new friends.