Argentina Blog

June 7, 2008

The Lobo volleyball team will have a different player blog each day during our trip to Argentina. Check back each day to see what we are doing. A large photo gallery will become available within the week.

June 7 - Senior outside hitter Jeanne Fairchild

Our trip had now officially concluded and we are back home in the 505. Eleven days has never seemed to go by so fast. It seemed like yesterday we were just barely finding out about the cancellation of our trip to China, and now our trip to Argentina has already come and gone. This trip was truly the experience of a life time. We learned so many things while we were here. Here is a list of 10 things I learned during the trip:

I learned...

  1. That the Spanish classes I took in high school really did prove useful even though, at the time, I found them unnecessary and complicated. (I should have paid more attention :)
  2. Not all toilets have TP so be sure to pack some tissue just in case.
  3. Bruschetta (or however you spell it) in the U.S. (tomatoes and cheese) is completely different than that of bruschetta in Argentina (chicken liver).
  4. People are friendly if you take the time to be friendly as well.
  5. You can never have too many pastries.
  6. You can never have too many pastries filled with dulce de leche.
  7. Always check your chicken.
  8. Don't go #2 on an overnight sleeper bus (no consequences of personal experience, but simply because we were told not to by our bus drivers).
  9. Take the experience for what it is worth.
  10. Be grateful for what you have. By this I mean that in Argentina we truly saw what it means to live on the other side of the tracks. One side was completely wealthy and livable, but the second we crossed the railroad tracks, it was like nothing any of us have seen before. Poverty stricken streets and stacks of houses built out of metal ramshackle sheets and some adobe-like looking material that was barely holding up, that continued for block after block.

 

 

Everyone had different experiences and each girl seemed to write about a certain event that occurred on their "blog day". Since my blog consists of summarizing the entire trip, it would be rather difficult to write about every memorable experience, so I will choose the most recent, and probably most comical event that happened to me personally while on the trip. Please understand the exhaustion and lack of sleep that was present when this happened to me and Mo (Melissa Middleton). Sorry, Mo! : Yesterday evening we arrived at the Buenos Aires International airport to head back home. We checked in, checked our bags, paid our airport tax (that was a first) and then went through security. We had some time to kill so Mo and I decided to get some coffee. We ordered and paid, then moved to the side to pick up our purchase. I reached for a small packet that resembled the small sweetener I had used all trip as a sugar substitute. I tear it open, pour it in my coffee, stir, and take a hesitant sip, not wanting to burn my mouth. My tastebuds cringed as the coffee hit my mouth and the foam tasted rather salty. Thinking Argentina somehow had salty milk, I opened up another packet (the same as before) poured it in my coffee, stirred it again, took another sip, and became even more disgusted as the foam tasted even worse. I asked Mo if her coffee tasted the same. She had copied me by emptying the same small packets into her coffee, and she said 'yes'. DING! LIGHTBULB! I was so exhausted and tired that I put salt in my coffee! I threw it away immediately and ran to a kiosk to buy, something, anything to drink as fast as I could. I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth and when the soda machine ate the few pesos I had borrowed from some team mates, I knew it was going to be a long trip home. I guess you could say the 11th thing I learned while in Argentina is to always, ALWAYS check what you put into your coffee.

All in all, this trip was truly amazing. We played volleyball, saw a new part of the world, and made it back home in one piece to tell about it. I want to take this time to thank everyone who was involved in putting this trip together in such a short amount of time. It was seriously amazing and honestly unbelievable.

Adios for now see everyone in the fall.

CIAO!

Jeanne

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