After over 24 hours of traveling, we finally made it to Argentina! The bus ride from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata took almost nine hours instead of the typical five because everyone in Buenos Aires was trying to get to Mar del Plata for the beautiful long weekend. They are celebrating both Carnaval and 200 years of the Argentine Navy with a parade of tall ships in the harbor and with a four-day weekend Warm 80 degree weather welcomed us to our new home by the sea in Argentina.
We pulled into Holy Trinity College, our sister school, around 6 pm Saturday evening, to be greeted by our host families, Federica Valenzuela, the Head of the Middle School and the Student Exchange Coordinator, Carolina, the Head of the Upper School, and Marcela Tovo, one of the two Headmistresses. We had a welcome ceremony in the school’s living room, and each student met his/her host student. The students departed to spend the rest of the weekend with their host families, exploring Mar del Plata and enjoying the end of the Argentine summer together.
The following is written by Erica Moy, Norfolk Academy student participant on the exchange:
Though the travel to get here to Mar del Plata was quite long, it was worth it when I got to meet my host family. My host, Eugenia, is very nice and sweet. They all speak Spanish really fast and it's pretty hard to understand what they're saying. I also got to meet a lot of Eugenia's cousins and relatives who were visiting their family for a couple of days. The first thing I learned then was that everyone kisses each other's right cheek as a way of greeting instead of a handshake. I was kind of surprised when it first happened to me but then quickly realized that it is the norm here and they do it all the time. The first night, we decided to just stay in and rest since I've been traveling for so long and I didn't get a lot of sleep on the plane or bus. On Sunday morning, I woke up early because I didn't want to sleep my time away in Argentina! We decided to go for a walk to the beach and explore since it was such a beautiful day outside. It was sunny and in the 70s, and the beach was extremely crowded. We got into the water and even though it was summer, the water was absolutely freezing! We were at the beach for pretty much the whole day just hanging out and relaxing. At the end of the day, we packed up our stuff and headed back to the house and had dinner. Even though I've only been here for a little over 24 hours, I've already learned and seen so much about Argentina and its culture and I'm excited for what the rest of the trip has in store for us!
We pulled into Holy Trinity College, our sister school, around 6 pm Saturday evening, to be greeted by our host families, Federica Valenzuela, the Head of the Middle School and the Student Exchange Coordinator, Carolina, the Head of the Upper School, and Marcela Tovo, one of the two Headmistresses. We had a welcome ceremony in the school’s living room, and each student met his/her host student. The students departed to spend the rest of the weekend with their host families, exploring Mar del Plata and enjoying the end of the Argentine summer together.
The following is written by Erica Moy, Norfolk Academy student participant on the exchange:
Though the travel to get here to Mar del Plata was quite long, it was worth it when I got to meet my host family. My host, Eugenia, is very nice and sweet. They all speak Spanish really fast and it's pretty hard to understand what they're saying. I also got to meet a lot of Eugenia's cousins and relatives who were visiting their family for a couple of days. The first thing I learned then was that everyone kisses each other's right cheek as a way of greeting instead of a handshake. I was kind of surprised when it first happened to me but then quickly realized that it is the norm here and they do it all the time. The first night, we decided to just stay in and rest since I've been traveling for so long and I didn't get a lot of sleep on the plane or bus. On Sunday morning, I woke up early because I didn't want to sleep my time away in Argentina! We decided to go for a walk to the beach and explore since it was such a beautiful day outside. It was sunny and in the 70s, and the beach was extremely crowded. We got into the water and even though it was summer, the water was absolutely freezing! We were at the beach for pretty much the whole day just hanging out and relaxing. At the end of the day, we packed up our stuff and headed back to the house and had dinner. Even though I've only been here for a little over 24 hours, I've already learned and seen so much about Argentina and its culture and I'm excited for what the rest of the trip has in store for us!