Meet the Parents

" The world is a book and those who d not travel read only one page"


It's been a crazy past few days, but man has it been incredible. After a few days of being oriented to the program and Buenos Aires (if that is even possible in two days, ha!) we finally met up with our host families on Friday evening. I was a bit nervous, as I was one of the only students given a family on the outskirts of the city and the only one whose "parents" were under the age of 30. How do you think of someone as a figure of authority if they're only 6 years older than you are? Needless to say, though, after ten minutes with my "parents," who prefer to be called host siblings, I realized my fears were ridiculous.

I am so incredibly lucky. Nati grew up with exchange students in her home for years. Her parents had hosted SIT students for six years, and when she moved in with her boyfriend, Fede, they decided they wanted to do the same. They live in Barracas with their turtle, PepaThey are both architects in their final year at UBA. My first night was spent here sitting on a table about 6 in above the floor, listening to music and Fede playing guitar while talking politics. I didn't realize it before, but having parents that are 27 offers such a distinct perspective on what is going on down here. They have both lived the history and understand the perspective of the new, globalized generation and the combination is truly fascinating. We have debated history, Obama, Iran, Iraq, the Argentinan crisis of 2001 and the rise of Blockbuster and Starbucks in Argentina's major cities in the past few months. At first the langauge barrier was a bit tough, being that spanish class just never really taught us those kind of works, but after only a few days I'm having a hard time thinking clearly in English. (This entry, has taken me forever).

That's pretty much all for now. It's been a long pair of days, between hanging out with Nati and Fede, exploring the barrios around ours (which is really on the border of the Captial Federal) and meeting the whole family, who lives a few houses down. Today was Nati's mom's birthday, so we all went over for a typical asado by the pool. It was lovely, but I was a bit out of it, as last night was my first night out with other kids from the program. It began at 12am and ended around 6am this morning. Apparently that is early for them. It's going to be a long semester.


Time for some rest. Classes begin tomorrow and I've got an hour commute by bus. Should be interesting!








(Nati and her nephew)