Short Term Exchange to Argentina
Posted by Bill Molesworth
Alison introduced Kaila Frostad who spent July and August in Argentina.
Kaila said she was grateful for the opportunity to share the experience and to express her gratitude for the opportunity to learn about another culture and to meet so many new friends.
She travelled 9,000 km and discovered a place that spoke Spanish and enjoys family, eating and dancing and that became a second home to her.
The host family was terrific, welcoming and warm, and she lived on a working ranch. Their winter is warmer than ours - snowed only once - so she enjoyed the sun and the scenery.
Kaila's host sister there, Jose, is coming here in two weeks. They have a lot in common and though it was hard to leave her home here she found that, once she picked up a bit of the language, that she adjusted to her new home, thanks to the warm welcome.
After a few days in Buenos Aires they travelled 5 hours to her new home in Henderson. After a few days her new family took her on a two week tour around Northern Argentina and she experienced marvellous scenery, new food and new friends.
School starts there in August so she and Jose had a routine that involved traveling into town for breakfast Jose's grandmother's, then a nap, then lunch and then, finally, to shool.
Students stay in the same room and the teachers rotate through till about 5. She made a whole new bunch of friends there and leaving was hard but, as she said, a farewell is necessary before we can meet again.
She had edited about 1,500 pictures down to about 280 which she proceeded to show us before saying thanks to Rotary for a life changing experience and promising to bring Jose to a meeting.