Tripp Chamblin Ecuador and the Galapagos 2019

On the last day of my adventure in Ecuador, my group met on the rooftop of our hostel in Quito to say goodbye both to the city and to each other.  The roof gave us a view of the entire city and the mountains around us about which we had learned folk tales and legends from locals and teachers. We sat in a circle and passed around a ball of yarn, creating a web as we shared our final thoughts.  Every single student, of which there were fifteen, explained that the highlight of their trip was not the amazing sights, living on a sailboat through the Galapagos, or living in the Cloud Forest of Mindo or even in the Amazons, but the connections that they made with fourteen other teenagers from all over the US (plus one from Ireland) and their new Ecuadorian families.  After everyone said their last goodbyes, we cut the yarn into fifteen pieces that serve as bracelets and a reminder of our experiment.

Arrival

The Group outside our hostel in Quito

On July 29, I boarded a plane from Nashville to Miami with John Moore.  As this was my first time flying alone, I waited nervously at the gate wondering what I forgot for almost an hour because I decided arriving early was the best way to mitigate any problems I may have inadvertently caused.  My nerves were, however, eased with the random upgrade to first class that placed me literally in the first seat on the plane. John did not share my excitement as he had to walk past me, already holding a drink with my feet kicked back.  We arrived in Miami at 10 AM, and waited until noon, the time in which I was supposed to meet my group, whereas John had to wait until 6 that night in order to meet his group traveling to Argentina. My group was not difficult to find as there are only so many groups of scared looking teenagers with person-sized hiking backpacks on their backs.  I met the two group leaders, Audrey and Natalia, who later told us that they had only met two weeks before the trip and had never been to Ecuador themselves. I sat down in a hallway-blocking circle with a group of strangers, and, naturally, we started to play Uno in the middle of the floor at the Miami airport in complete silence. I am sure we were a sight to be seen to anyone passing by to catch their flights.  Once we passed through security, however, things began to pick up. We played a couple name games led by the group leaders, and I soon learned the names and origins of my new “mandatory best friends.” Colin, Jose, Sam, Jordyn, Mia, Nina, Natasha, Ella, Andrea, Krissy, Eva, Favour, Elissa, and Naomi. Because of the games, I doubt I will ever forget the names of this group. We took a group photo for insurance purposes and boarded another plane to Quito, Ecuador.  We arrived at a hostel that became our “home base” in Quito at 10 pm, exhausted, and went to sleep.

Part 1: Adventures in Quito

For the first two days, the group toured around Quito, going to churches, buying unfamiliar fruits at markets, enduring orientation meetings, and having short Spanish lessons at the EIL (Experiment in International Living, the program through which my trip was coordinated) headquarters.  The adjustment to non-potable tap water and locals that speak only Spanish was a bit difficult, but these changes were balanced out by the fact that Coca Cola in Ecuador is made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, a vast improvement in flavor. We went to shopping malls which seemed to be the most America-like locations in Ecuador.  Each of our first three nights in Quito were riddled with Uno, spoons, and a Spanish game called cuarenta, or fourties. On our fourth day, we woke up and visited the Equator museum. We learned why water in a sink goes in a different direction in each hemisphere, walked the Equator like a tightrope, and attempted to balance eggs on nails. After, we drove about 20 minutes to the Equator memorial, created in the 1800’s.  Hopefully, the people that built the memorial never learned that their gigantic monument had been built a few kilometers away from the actual Equator.

The view from the roof of the hostel

Part Two: Mindo, Ecuador

On Day 4, the group arrived at 5 PM to an eco lodge in the Cloud Forest of Mindo, Ecuador.  The transition to the hostel was not too different from the US, as we still had reliable hot water and rooms like those of a small hotel.  At the eco lodge, however, the adjustment was much more abrupt. We lived for four nights in completely wooden cabins, each with two light bulbs, situated a twenty minute hike into the forest and across a river that could only be crossed by way of a dilapidated cart attached to a rope pulled by a person on either side.  In Mindo, we hiked to waterfalls, rode in the beds of trucks, played more card games than ever because of the complete lack of Wi-Fi, tubed down a river, visited a butterfly farm, and experienced a town much smaller than Quito. On our night in the town, we went to a community soccer field and participated in a Zumba class before playing soccer with a few boys in the town.  I was humbly reminded that my Spanish skills are much more advanced than my soccer abilities. We also talked with street vendors and bought small souvenirs before eating dinner at a local pizza restaurant. Each morning in Mindo, and throughout the month, most breakfasts included eggs and rice with fruits on the side with either coffee or juice. It is notable that in Ecuador, it is uncommon to drink simply water with a meal.  This practice of consuming only coffee and juice was surely a factor in my dehydration near the end of the month. Lunch and dinner are also eaten with rice, but usually have chicken or beef for more formal meals, and another starch such as potatoes. Living in the eco lodge showed us how it is possible to live with a very small carbon footprint and without some of the amenities that we before considered vital to our existence.  

Part Three: Homestays

We returned to Quito for one night after Mindo, and although the eco lodge was a perspective changing experience, I did enjoy a hot shower in Quito.  We had our first opportunity to do laundry before a five hour drive to a town called Riobamba in which we would live with an Ecuadorian family for a week.  The day leading up to meeting my family was one of the most nerve racking times of the month because I felt unprepared to speak only Spanish all day with strangers and live in their home.  My family, however, was perfect. I lived with my mother, Ximena, my brother, Sebastian, and my sister, Kelly. Ximena is a lawyer but left work often throughout the week to drive my brother and I to various activities and events across the

city.  On the very first morning, my brother, who is two years younger than I, knocked on my door and told me that we were going to walk through the city so he could show me everything. We walked to my mom’s office, my dad’s office, my sister’s favorite places to hangout, and I met some of my brothers’ friends.  Although our conversations were sometimes imperfect, we quickly bonded over the ukulele and bass guitar that my brother played. I came to Ecuador with a little knowledge regarding the ukulele, but I left a bass player too. As a family, we drove to a community pool, bought groceries, walked the city, went to the mall and watched movies, swam in hot springs.  Each day, we also met with the group for activities. Almost every morning, we rode the bus to an elementary school in order to plant trees, paint a playground, create a mural, and repaint a wall. At the end of our work, we put our painted handprints on the wall with our initials. All of the students in summer school watched us and occasionally started conversations.  We also went to cooking classes in which we learned how to make llapingachos, a type of potato based tortilla, and took salsa dance classes. At the end of the homestay, the group met in a park and competed in a scavenger hunt in which we had to ask locals questions and find various statues and monuments in the park. On our last day, we hiked a portion of the volcano

Chimborazo.  It is the tallest mountain in Ecuador, and due to the bulge of the Earth at the center, Chimborazo’s summit is the tallest in relation to the center of the Earth. The weather in Ecuador stays about the same all year long because of its position on the Equator, but it changes from chilly in the morning to a Nashville summer heat in the afternoon and back to below 50 degrees at night.  However, at an elevation of 15,000 feet at Chimborazo, snow formed along the trail. We biked down 40 kilometers to a small town at the base of the mountain where we ate our lunch. On the night of Day 15, the group went to dinner together with their homestay families and said one last thank you and goodbye. The next morning, we traveled by bus to a town in between Quito and Riobamba called Banos.  This city had more tourist attractions than the other cities, and although we stayed in the city for only one night, the hotel resembled that of a resort. We rode horses through the city and into the forest, and visited another natural hot spring. On the way back to Quito, we stopped at another waterfall and went caving. We packed for the Galapagos that night and got ready for an early wakeup call.

Part Four: Galapagos

We arrived at the Quito airport at 7 AM and boarded a flight to the island of Baltra in the Galapagos.  Three hours later, we landed. My initial reaction to the island was surprise because although I expected a lush, colorful environment like that of Hawaii or other tropical

islands, Baltra looked more like a desert. 

Our guide, Ivan, soon explained that many people come to the Galapagos with that expectation, but because the islands are all volcanic and still very active, eruptions destroy most colorful plants and volcanic rock is not a suitable soil for most plants.  However, the wildlife presence in the Galapagos was amazing. Ivan explained that the animals on the island are not afraid of humans because there are very few predators in the island food chains, so the animals have no fight or flight instincts. Sea lions swam around us as we snorkeled and turtles would almost run into us as they resurfaced.  Sea lions lined the beaches and were happy to take a look at the humans around them, and the crown jewel of the Galapagos, the marine iguanas, were omnipresent. We lived on a large boat for the four nights that we stayed in the Galapagos, and each night before dinner,

Ivan would lay out the schedule for the next day, including what animals we would see.  It became a running joke that during the night, the crew members would have to capture the animals on Ivan’s list and lay them out in our path for the morning because it seemed so unreal that all of these endangered animals could be easily found just feet away from whatever trail we walked. At night, we sat on the top deck of the boat and watched the stars, as there was almost no light pollution because the entire area is a national park.  The Galapagos were by far the highlight of the entire trip.

Part 5: Amazons

The group returned to Quito for one night before hopping on the bus again to go to the Amazon rainforest.  We stayed in another, slightly more luxurious eco lodge, but this time we were accustomed to sleeping with mosquito nets in the open air.  We boated on large canoes to indigenous islands where we learned about traditional foods, tools, and how to hunt with a blowgun.

We spent hours hiking with the local guide, Domingo, who knew every single plant and tree in the Amazons, and although he knew no English, always laughed along with our jokes.  After many attempts to use the Wi-Fi at the eco lodge, I decided that it would be better to go unplugged, and I spent almost four days without using my phone at all. We learned about all of the animals

that lived in our region of the Amazon, including green anacondas that can grow up to 10 meters long. Immediately after learning of the dangerous wildlife, we went tubing in the Amazon River, a slightly scary experience, but a fun one nonetheless.  After four nights in the Amazons, we drove back to Quito and said our goodbyes before boarding the plane back to Miami.  

Thanks

I would like to use this platform as an opportunity to express so much gratitude to the Wilson family, my own family, Mr. Paolicchi, and all of my language teachers for making possible this opportunity to see the world.  I have not only improved my Spanish skills, but also experienced a culture and people far from home, as well as made life-long friends and even a new family in Ecuador. Thank you all again!

Luke Morad Wiesbaden Exchange

Luke Morad Wiesbaden Exchange

First Impressions:

On my first day, we visited a fort on the Rhine

I did not know what to expect going to Germany for four weeks with a host family. Since my exchange partner went to MLK, I did not to what to expect of my family either. Once I arrived, I bonded very well with my family from the start. Just the drive into the Wiesbaden from Frankfurt was an informative and cultural lesson. They described Wiesbaden as a whole and asked me more questions than I was prepared for considering the long flight. The family was very welcoming and engaging with me when it came to comparisons between the USA and Germany. In the first few days, we often sat around a table after dinner and talked extensively about the two cultures. On day two of being in Germany, I told my host family I needed to run every day for the cross country season. Florentin, my exchange partner, decided to join me on my first day of running. After a bit, he decided to get his bike. From that day on, Florentin kindly led me around his city atop his bike while I ran my cross country miles.

Wiesbaden as a City:

Weilburg Schloss Garten

To say that Wiesbaden is different than Nashville is an understatement. Although smaller than Nashville, it is just as vibrant and even more close knit. One time, I went to the park with Mickey Kelley and his exchange partner Linus. On the way, Linus stopped multiple times in the span of ten blocks in order to talk to everyone he knew. I asked Linus how he knew so many people to which he replied, "I have no idea.".  City squares and parks are something that I will miss. Having expansive parks in the middle of the city was something I found interesting because the city seemed to open up into a social environment. On my runs, I saw a majority of the city especially near the Rhine. One day, I tried to run from Wiesbaden to Mainz which was roughly eight miles round trip. I remember running through the factory district and seeing so much of an industrial setting. The grandparents also lived in the house with us. They both grew up in Wiesbaden and provided interesting insight into Germany during the Cold War. The grandmother was constantly worrying about me in a good way. She deemed me to be too skinny and always told me to eat more. She consistently asked how long I ran each day. After converting it to kilometers, she would always repeat it a couple of times and become worried that I would overheat and that I needed more to eat. 

Cultural Differences:

My new favorite fruit- Ground Cherries

What I gained from this trip was not only stronger language skills but also a world perspective. I often found myself discussing culture with my friends and host family.  I remember going to a school function with Florentin and seeing how casual they are with their teachers.  They even have cookouts together. Relationships and interactions between genders are also different in Germany. In Germany, all of the guys give handshakes and girls hug everyone no matter how well they know each other. Overall, I observed that more people date in Germany and there are more co-ed friend groups. 

My new found favorite fruit is ground cherries. They look like cherry tomatoes, have the paper-like shell of a tomatillo, and taste like sweet oranges. I found then for the first time when I ordered a coffee. With the coffee came this strange fruit. After trying it, I bought half a kilogram of them at a street market. Since then, I have scavenged farmers markets and supermarkets searching for this fruit. Simply the difference in fruits and juices amazes me. One of the things I will miss most is having coffee after every meal. Although, I continue to make coffee at my home, after lunch on weekends when it works out.  It is a nice memory.

The School:

Seeing the Humboldt school's classes interested me a lot. What stood out to me the most was their Latin class. Contrary to MBA's teaching style for Latin, it was entirely immersion and used a completely different form. It was interesting to see the difference. At the school, every class had taken their exams before the school year had finished. This meant that a lot of our class time was spent in discussion and films. The high school culminates with the Abiball which is their graduation. This experience was especially intriguing because of how much it differed from graduations in America. For starters, it is a catered banquet for only the graduating seniors and their family. As each student walks on, they are allowed to play music to walk on to. After some seemingly inappropriate songs, I asked Florentin if there were any rules on what songs could be played to which he responded, "no, none."  Fascinating.

Munich:

Hofbrauhaus Pretzel

After three weeks with the host family, we met the other exchange students at the train station and departed. Seeing the Neuschwanstein Castle has been one of my goals in life since I was little. Before I even knew its name or was able pronounce it, I had already made a complex model of it out of miniature Legos named Nanoblocks. Munich had very lively atmosphere. During our nightly free-times, I really enjoyed just walking around the city and talking to my friends. One night, I really wanted a pretzel. Since we had no plans for the nightly free-time, I went with the others to the Hofbrauhaus and bought the largest pretzel. I also ran my cross country miles through the English Gardens every morning where I saw people surfing in the river just after sunrise on some days. Seeing the BMW museum was also of great interest to me. I like cars a lot and enjoyed learning about the various models and the history of BMW. One of my favorite museums is the Deutsches Museum. It was a huge six or seven floor building that contained every section of science from smelting to astronomy. The sheer breadth of material amazed me and I think it would have taken me days to explore the whole museum. The food was so good, I took a picture of one of the restaurants in case I ever return. I ate German specialties every day because it is too difficult to find schnitzel and bratwurst in Nashville.

Vienna:

Seal at the zoo

The first thing I noticed of Vienna was that all of the buildings look the same. I loved the white facade of every building. After a long climb up 343 steps, we got an amazing view from the Stephansdom church. The city was very flat and uniform. Seeing the Vienna zoo was also interesting. I like to visit zoos in different cities because they are always very different. On the last day in Vienna, we went to the famous amusement park with the Ferris Wheel. They had a ride that gave an amazing overview of the park, and then we got another view from the Ferris Wheel.

Thank You Wilson Family:

Thank you very much for making this experience possible. I feel like my language ability improved exponentially throughout my time in Germany. I gained an immense understanding of the culture in Germany. Being fully immersed in German offered a new prospective and allowed me to grow as a person. Thank you to Florentin and the entire Heinrich family for hosting me. You always helped me develop my ability even when I was incoherent.  My parents also thank you for making sure I was well fed with all my running. Thank you to Herr Dougherty for being such an amazing teacher. When students recommend MBA German class, they always mention how great of teacher Herr Dougherty is, and I have found this to be true. He showed us nearly everything in the giant cities and talked to us extensively about German and culture.  This was an experience that I will never forget.

Alex Wang Colombia 2019

The Arrival

Visiting a Latin American country was the experience of a lifetime for me, and while waiting for our flight to Bogota, Colombia, I was filled with excitement and anticipation. We arrived at Bogota around midnight and were greeted by our wonderful host families all eagerly waiting for us behind the glass wall. Once we finished our grueling customs experience, Ben and I went our separate ways and set off with our host families. Lucky enough for me, their house was on the school’s campus because Martin’s, my host, mother was the headmaster. Once we arrived at Martin’s house, it was well past one in the morning. I greeted Martin’s mother, Silvia Medellin, and his sister, Susana. Soon after we went to bed. I was excited to start my first day in Colombia and could hardly sleep that night. 

Claustro Moderno

During my stay in Colombia, I did not need to get up very early unlike the others. Every

morning I would get up around 7:15 because there was no need for me to catch a bus. Silvia and their nanny cooked breakfast which consisted of arepas, eggs, fruits, and cereal. Martin and I walked down to the school after breakfast and began our day. The students at Claustro Moderno, and Colombians in general, were very extroverted and were extremely nice. As soon as I stepped foot into my first class, I was swarmed by a mob of classmates wanting to greet me. The classes in Claustro Moderno were essentially the same as MBA, as they had Chemistry, Math, English, Spanish, Literature, but one class they did have that we do not is Philosophy. In Philosophy we learned about Greek philosophers and read about Greek gods and goddesses. After about three class periods, we had a break. The break was about 15 minutes and I played basketball about every single break. At Claustro Moderno, it seemed that basketball was more popular than soccer which amazed me. The basketball court would be crowded on most days and would be utter chaos. I met a lot of friends playing basketball and won’t ever forget those intense games with crowds of little kids cheering us on. Followed by the break we had about three more classes and then lunch. After lunch was two more classes and then we all headed home. We had no homework while at Claustro Moderno but we did participate in a science fair. Ben and I prepared a 5 minute presentation about sustainability in MBA. At the science fair we learned about many other projects that the other students had been working on such as the dangers of the internet, or how to water plants while being away from home. The science fair was a nice experience because it allowed us to see the innovation of the students at Claustro.

Science Fair

Campus of Claustro Moderno

Excursions

We had multiple excursions during my stay in Colombia. During our first excursion, we travelled to Chicaque National Park. We hiked miles upon miles, but the views we saw were definitely worth it. In Chicaque there were llamas just chilling outside of some campgrounds and seemed unfazed by the tents and people surrounding them. On another excursion Ben’s host family invited me to go to Boyaca where we rode four wheelers and visited the Villa de Leyva. On the four wheelers we were able to ride around Boyaca and see it’s beautiful landscape and also drive through large puddles of mud. After we had tired ourselves out from riding four wheelers, we went to the Villa de Leyva. The Villa de Leyva was breathtaking. The buildings made it seem like we were in the 16th century with their old architecture, and we even saw a traditional cumbia dance. Later on we went to the Catedral de Sal with Martin, Ben and some other classmates. The Catedral de Sal is a cave rich in salt and was dug into a mountain.In the Catedral de Sal we saw the many stages that lead up to Jesus’s crucifixion. 

View from the edge of a ledge in Chicaque

Driving a four wheeler

Weekends

During the weekends, Martin’s friends and I went to the mall, went bowling, played cards, video games, or sports. They all loved to play card games, and often we found ourselves playing the card game ERS for hours. We often went to el Corral, a "Colombian" fast food burger restaurant which is loved by many. Martin's friends often joked around saying that el Corral was the most American restaurant they have been to. El Corral seemed to be everywhere. If we said that we were going to get something typical of Colombia, we would somehow end up in el Corral. A typical weekend in with friends Colombia was very similar to what my weekends are like here in Tennessee. One event that was very exciting is when we were invited to go the a Mercedes Benz car show. There were extremely antique cars and more modern ones. I had no idea that so many people would participate in a show like this. Silvia told me that since most Colombian citizens cannot have large houses due to the lack of space in Colombia, they buy extravagant cars that tell people that they have money. Martin's uncle gave us some money to buy food and we all bought tons of obleas con arequipe which is now one of my favorite desserts.

Mercedes Benz car show

Mall with friends

The Trip of a Lifetime

I had a blast visiting Bogota, Colombia. All the places I visited, the friends I met, the food I had, and the overall experience was something I will never forget. The people in Colombia are unlike anybody else in the world. I am still in touch with many of my friends from Colombia, and we often communicate about how life is in Claustro now that I am gone, or how life is at MBA. One of my good friends that I made in Colombia is actually coming to MBA for his exchange, and I am eagerly awaiting his arrival. Thank you Claustro Moderno being so kind and welcoming, thank you Silvia, Martin, and Susana for looking after me, providing a home for me to stay in, and all the jokes and tricks we played on each other. Thank you Mrs. Victoria for helping us adjust to life in Bogota, and finally thank you Sr. Paolicchi and the Wilson family for giving me the opportunity to travel to Bogota. I had never thought of ever going to Colombia in my lifetime, but after having gone on this exchange, I am eager to see if I can go to Colombia again later in life.

Summer in Argentina 2019

I  woke up on the 2nd of July to head out to BNA to start my adventure. I traveled from BNA to Miami with a fellow classmate of mine, Tripp Chamblin. He was flying out of Miami to go on a separate trip to  Ecuador. We shared our thoughts, excitements, and worries about our separate trips, but nevertheless we were both very excited. We got to Miami, Tripp met up with his group seemingly immediately, but I had about 8 hours of layover before my group was slated to meet.

Monument in Downtown Buenos Aires

Eventually, we were all together. The group had convened at last. Our leaders, Vincent and Taylor, had us play basic get-to-know-you games such as zip zap zop, an instant classic with the group. We got to know each other, and then late that night we started on our eleven hour flight to Buenos Aires. We got there the next morning, red-eyed and needing showers, and so naturally, we immediately went sight seeing. We saw things like the famed mausoleum, the presidents home, and their beautiful city parks. However, the thing that I was the most interested in was trying out the Argentinian cuisine. It came as quite a surprise to me in fact. The majority of all food that I ate usually consisted of some type of meat with french fries on the side. There were always  french fries on the side, it was like the American dream. In the following three days, we went around the city of Buenos Aires, sight seeing and being tourists, but after that we got on a flight to the northern province of Salta. Salta is where the majority of our trip would take place.

We arrived in Salta after a very pleasant two hour flight, and our first thing on task was to meet our host families. We took a bus about an hour from the airport and arrived in our small, home-stay town of Chicoana. Chicoana was very small, with a population of about 2,000 and it was the type of place where you were bound to run into at least 3 people you know walking to the market from home. So, I got off of the bus and met my two host brothers, Jorge and Maxi. They were very friendly and they helped me with my bags as we walked to their house. Inside the house, I met my host mother and my host sister, I encountered my host father later that night because he is a police officer. We got to know each other a little bit, but my family was very quiet and it took me a while before I could fully understand my mother's accent.

My host family in front of their house

The first night I recall sitting in the kitchen and being very nervous. The family was at work preparing sandwiches, because they ran a delivery sandwich shop out of the house. I tried to jump in and help cut the potatoes, but I'm pretty sure I did it wrong, because a few moments later I found myself sitting at the table again and my mother was cutting the potatoes. Regardless, the first night I was there was by far my favorite night. Right when I thought it was bed time, my brother told me to come with him. It was midnight at this point, and I was very surprised. We walked about half a mile and arrived at a huge festival, where it seemed half of the town had gathered. At first it was a rodeo, and then the gauchos and the horses cleared out, and it became a massive dancing festival. It was so much fun, I learned how to dance a common folk dance called the cacherera and I met my two best friends of the trip, Flor and Matias. We danced and laughed, and Jorge and I did not leave until seven in the morning that day. I remember getting home that morning and thinking "I really don't know if I can do this every day." I later found out that that was quite the special occasion, but still their daily schedule was very much different than ours here in America.

After the first night, my daily schedule started to set in. I started my Spanish classes that I would go to every morning, and then I would always go back home to lunch at the house. My host mother was an amazing cook, and and was always asking me, or in some ways, telling me to get a second plate. I could never refuse. After lunch we typically would go meet with friends to do things like go on hikes, ride horses, or play basketball or soccer. However, my favorite thing to do was drink matte.

Me and some friends horseback riding

Matte, of Yerba Matte, is a type of tea that is loved by Argentinians. Nearly all of them drink it, and it is the perfect drink to bring with friends and share. This drink is one of the reasons that I got to know my friends Flor and Matias. They invited me to drink matte with them one day after we rode horses, and I'll be honest, I was a little scared. Matte, for those who have not tried it, is a a very bitter and herbal drink that is not exactly pleasant upon first sip. However, I was dying to try it because the cup with the straw interested me so much. I drank mattes with them, and quickly realized that sharing a matte with someone was not about the drink itself, but about the people you share it with. This tea in a wonderful way, brings people together by being a binding unit that allows people to come together and share in conversation. It has so many social uses as well. Matias, who was very interested in American culture, explained to me that matte's social aspects are similar to coffee's in America. Where a first date can often be a coffee, or a business meeting, or just friends meeting after a long day. The difference I found between the two, is that mate often facilitates a slower and more personal connection than coffee. The reason being that you cannot simply buy a matte at a shop you have to have it yourself, so often you will meet in a park or on a hike, instead of at a restaurant or store. If there is one thing I am bringing back and keeping with me other than my big improvements in Spanish, is my matte satchel and what it means (I bought a whole satchel to hold the thermos, cup, straw, and tins to hold the yerba).

Me trying matte for the first time

My week went on and I learned more and more about Spanish and Argentina. I met more and more people, and got very attached to the the town and its people. However, at the end of 10 days it was time for our group to leave. The departure was sad, and we had a big dinner at a restaurant in town with all of the families, where all the families said a few words about their student. In fact, I even had to say something to the whole crowd, in Spanish I may add, because my host brother and his friend thought they were very funny, because when Nikko, the host, asked for any closing remarks they both pointed at me.

We left Chicoana the next day and started off on our adventure part of the trip. We traveled to the capital city of Salta, Salta City and met our guide, Sergio. We toured the city a little bit, but mostly we were there to visit an orphanage that we had made benches for. We played with the kids there and all of them were very sweet and very grateful. We painted a nursery there and did some waste removal, but following that we said another set of goodbyes and went off to the ranch to start our horseback riding and camping part of the trip.

I had never been horseback riding before in my life, and truthfully, I was very scared. The people that were our guides for this period of the trip were a group of people called gauchos. Gauchos are like cowboys, actually, they aren't like cowboys they are cowboys and they run ranches and herd cattle. They took us on treks up the mountains on horseback and showed us some of the most beautiful views I had ever seen in my life. We did this for a few days, going out on horses, eating a big meal, going back out for another ride, and then falling asleep upon return. An interesting fact about gauchos, they wear a certain type of shoe that has been a staple of gauchos for a long time. The shoe looks exactly like the brand that is very popular her called Tom's. In fact, if you look at the tag on Tom's brand shoes you can see it is the same design as the Argentinian flag. I am now convinced that Tom's are the biggest scam of all time.

Horseback riding up the mountains

We left the ranch after a few days and headed back to Buenos Aires. At this point the group was very close, and this last day we had together we spent remembering all of the good times we had, and talking about attempts we would make to visit each other. It was finally time to go to the airport and we set off for another flight for 13 hours. We arrived in Miami and said our last goodbyes, and I guess it was only fitting that I had another 9 hour layover until my flight to Nashville. However, it gave me time to think about my trip. I realized that while not all of it was the greatest, as a whole it was the greatest trip I had ever been on. I( made friends both in my group and in Argentina that I know I will see again, in fact two of my Argentinian friends plan to visit me next summer, and more than that, it gave me a new perspective on how I live my life. I saw the way that they lived in Argentina, how happy they are and how important friends and family are to them, and it has made me act differently since I've been back. Moreover, my Spanish has never been better, and I am confident now getting dropped into any Spanish speaking country and being able to not only survive, but thrive. Thank you so much Wilson family, this was a trip of a lifetime!

Great memories!

John Wallace- Spain 2019

Arrival 

William and I arrived at the Nashville airport for a reasonable 11:30 flight departure for Dallas. After a simple two hour flight and a lunch stop at the airport Applebee’s we embarked on our second flight to Madrid: a grueling nine hours. After nine hours of movies and NBA playoff basketball, we arrived at the Madrid airport in Spain and I could already tell we were in a much different place as the airport had high skying arches, gigantic light figures, and tan walls. Thinking our travelling was over, we hopped on a bus for a two hour ride to Salamanca, where we would be staying for three weeks. When we arrived at the bus station in Salamanca, our host mother Genoveva greeted us with hugs. We walked through the streets back to her apartment and admired the antique architecture and arrived at her apartment. We settled in our college dorm-style bedroom, ate a meal of rice and eggs, then promptly slept for the rest of the day.  

Stay in Salamanca 

On the roof of the Cathedral in Spain

Night View of the Cathedral in Salamanca

Outside the Cathedral in Salamanca

Plaza Mayor in Salamanca

For the following three weeks, we were in Salamanca. Things started off quick on the first day. We woke up at seven in the morning for eight o’clock classes. Our breakfast for that morning and the next twenty mornings consisted of three pieces of white bread, a croissant, plenty of nutella and strawberry jelly, and milk with chocolate powder. Immediately after, Genoveva led us through the streets of Salamanca to our school. We passed shops, went through the beautiful Plaza Mayor, and passed through some on the antique streets. We took classes from 8:45 until noon. The classes were all in Spanish and consisted of a combination of grammar lessons and discussion classes with our peers, college students as there were no students present our age just yet, and teachers, Alvaro and Angel. We would talk about our lives, comparing and contrasting our lives from the US to Spain, or just any general concerns we had. It was definitely some of the most fun I have ever had in classes. After school we would head back to Genoveva’s apartment for lunch, which consisted of a meat, soup, salad, bread, and fruit. For the first few days after lunch, we would participate in the siesta, or nap, since we were still very tired from the flight over. For the rest of the days we would explore the city and all of its wonderful places. We would walk through parks, shops(where we could see the clear difference between American and European clothes), gardens, churches, the college town, or anything we found interesting. One thing that we found most fun to do was playing basketball in the park next to our apartment. There we spoke the locals and although we were up against grown men twice the size of us, we were able to keep up with them and play some good basketball. We would also have culture activities in the afternoon which consisted of sports, tours of the cultural sites, or salsa dancing, which is more enjoyable than expected. Then we would come back for a dinner at 8:30 p.m., which was about the same as lunch. Then we would stay out until 11 and explore the nightlife of Salamanca and enjoy gelato in the Plaza. Some nights also consisted of stopping at a food truck festival for some food after dinner, seeing fireworks at the Puente Romano to celebrate the city, seeing a light show on one of the walls of the Plaza Mayor, or watching concerts for an art festival of Castille y Leon. These were really fun because we knew we would not be able to see anything like it in the US.

William and I at the tower in Granadilla

Excursions

Next to a pig statues at the Alberqua

Alba de Tornes

We also went a one day excursions to towns or historical sites around Salamanca or in the same region with our program. These places included the Alberqua, Alba de Tornes, Cacares, and Granadilla. At the Alberqua, we walked through a small, but culturally rich, town in which we saw a family house that was still in the same condition as it had been hundreds of years earlier. We also walked through small streets and besides streams going through the city. The Alba de Tornes was also a small town, but it had a tower that we were able to climb up and have views of the rest of the city and the landscape beyond. There was also a beautiful bridge with many arches. The next weekend we visited Cacares which is a city a bit smaller than Salamanca, but has a medieval town next to the Plaza Mayor. We were able to see the medieval architecture and the mix of cultures and religion in the town. That same day we visited Granadilla, which is an abandoned town with a tower in the middle that overlooks the mountains and lakes surrounding the town.

Travel Week

La Alhambra

Plaza de Espana

Bull Fighting Arena in Madrid

After our three week stay in Salamanca and saying goodbyes to friends our Genoveva, William and I made our way to the train station with our hiking backpacks to meet Sr. Paolicchi for a week's worth of travel through the southern region of Spain. After eating some bocadillas de jamon and a somewhat stressful train ride due to ticket problems, we arrived in Sevilla at around lunch time. We immediately left our luggage at our hotel rooms and went to a restaurant for ensaladilla rusa. Then we Sr. Paolicchi gave us a tour of the city. We saw the Plaza de Espana and the outside architecture of the cathedral and the bull arena. That night we went to an authentic tapas bar in which we had many little courses of food, but it added up to a lot. The following day we had tours of important sites in the city including the cathedral and the Royal Alcazar, a former palace of the royal family where we saw a beautiful garden and architecture. That night William and I attended a flamanco show and then enjoyed a dinner of seafood and steak with Sr. Paolicchi. We took a train to Granada the next day and stayed in the Hotel Sacramento, right in the middle of the action. The first thing we did was go to a seafood restaurant and we had mussels, calamari, some other fried little fish that still had the heads and tails. It was definitely the most seafood I had ever had. Then we toured around the city and hiked up to a location where we could get a fantastic view of La Alhambra, the gigantic fort looking over Granada. That night William and I went wandering throughout the small streets of the city and then met up with Sr. Paolicchi for a dinner of very nice looking tapas of salmon, Iberian jam, and hamas. We had a tour of La Alhambra the following day and we saw lots of gardens and carefully designed rooms and buildings at the fort. We were also able to get a great view of Granda as La Alhambra is so high up. That night we ate a luxurious meal of fish, meat, and different desserts. It being our last night in Granada, we

Real Madrid Futbol Field

went to the spot with the view of La Alhambra to see it when all the lights were on. The next morning, we left on a very nice bus to arrive at our final destination of Madrid. When we arrived in Madrid, we immediately got on the Metro and used that to travel to a stop near our Hostel. For lunch we had hamburgers, but with a Spanish twist. Then Sr. Paolicchi showed us around the metropolitan city so we could get our bearings since we would be there for three days. At first I thought it was just another big city like New York, but as we wandered more and more outside, we could see that there was more traditional parts than we thought.The next day, William and I had a scavenger hunt to complete in which we saw many statues and had to interact with the people to get our information. After completing it, we went to the Palace of the Royal Family. We then got patatas bravas and vistied the bull fighting arena, and fortunately there was no fighting going on. The next day we went to Toledo. We admired the architecture and the magnificent cathedral there. We were also able to see fantastic views of the landscape and city on the outside of the town. On our final day, William and I were able to choose what we wanted to do so we went to the soccer field of Real Madrid, wandered around the city to make sure we did not miss anything, and got some gift shopping done. The travel week in Spain is something I will never forget.

Toledo

Thanks

First, I would like to thank the Wilson Family for providing me with this amazing trip to Spain. There was not a better way to spend my last summer as an MBA student. Because of this experience, I was able to make memories and friends that will last a lifetime and I was able to become a much more proficient Spanish speaker. I also feel that I have a better perspective of the world now that I have traveled more. I would also like to thank Sr. Paolicchi for spending a week of his summer showing us around Spain and making the travel week a wonderful experience. This trip was amazing and I am truly thankful.