Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Another cold and sunny day. In the morning one of our Spanish teachers took us to a fruit and vegetable shop to practice our Spanish on a poor unsuspecting local shopkeeper. It was no challenge for Christie as she had already interrogated this poor man the day previously on his prices. After lunch we headed into the city with one of the other teachers. We went to the South American Explorers club, a small place situated near the Obelisk. They had heaps of information on travel throughout South America, and more importantly some travelers who have already been to the places we were heading for. One English girl had lived in Venezuela for a year and had heaps of good tips and contacts, which has pretty much sorted out our agenda for Venezuela. I shall contact the Spanish teacher she recommended over the next few days. An important feature of this teacher is that she is Venezuelan and money paid directly to her will contribute to the local community and not to off shore European and North American companies exploiting the people. One of the most significant messages I am getting from this trip is the history of how the resources of these countries have been plundered by unscrupulous foreigners, and now this extends to learning Spanish in community. This reminded me of the film, 'The Motorcycle Diaries' which was set in South America and had a similar message. Whilst the locals may benefit from pesos used locally, the schools themselves may be owned by foreigners and hence most of the money paid for lessons and tours goes overseas. The locals do not receive much. I will be making a concerted effort to ensure that any tours and Spanish lessons we go on are paid to companies owned by local companies. At the South American explorers club Christie participated in a game of cards called Truco. She is now an enthusiastic player. This club also has a book exchange. Christie has already read all of her books and this is a great opportunity for her to swap her books for some she has not yet read. On the subway a local who spoke English warned me about the way I was carrying my rucksack, apparently you should have it loose over your shoulder. If it is strapped to your back it is a handy target for pickpockets. We headed home on the rush hour subway which, although was packed like sardines, is no worse than the london underground or the paris metro.
Jodys Story
Today we had more Spanish Lessons. We had to do 4 hours again. We made animal sock puppets. After that we went to Pizza Bum. Next we went back to the school and went on the subway with Geraldine (our teacher) and went to the South American Explorers Club! After that we had dinner, brushed our teeth and went to bed!!!
Niamhs Story
This morning we had another 4 hours of Spanish Lessons. After our lessons we played ping-pong and had some fruit for a bit. Then we had lunch at pizza bum, we After that we went home.
