Goodbyes and Tango

Greetings from hot and humid Buenos Aires! Lots of changes haven happened in the last week. To start, yesterday marked the last day of classes, seminars, group visits, and our days of traveling as a group of 15 are over. And this morning I had to say goodbye to 8 of my friends because they are heading back to Chile to spend there last month in Santiago and Temuco. I was more sad than I thought I would be…it is a weird feeling to know that I won’t see these people until Dec. 4^th because I have pretty much seen them all everyday since I have been in South America. I am sure this next part of the trip will be wonderful and I am so happy that there are still 7 of us who decided to stick around in Buenos Aires but the rest of the group will definitely be missed.

Last night we had our final dinner her in Buenos Aires, at a wonderful restaurant with all of our host families. We had empanadas, beef, chicken, ice cream, enjoyed live music, and a tango show (I was in it!!). For the past two weeks I have been taking a Tango class from a girl in my programs host sister. There were 5 of us in my program who went to the 4 private classes where we were taught many basic steps of the Tango. I was excited to show my skills off to everyone when I got home but I didn’t think I would be debuting my new skills (if you could call it that) to anyone here. During our last class our teachers choreographed a skit for the 5 of us to Tango to! We didn’t tell anyone else in the program that we were going to put on a short show so when we started our little show everyone was pretty impressed…I think we impressed ourselves too. It was very cute and we all did really well. I am going to have to keep practicing if I want to remember anything for when I get back! Even though I could possibly be the worlds worst dancer and I normally don't have the patience taking classes and putting on our little performance was a wonderful experience that I will never forget about my time here in BsAs. After our amazing dinner the whole group, all 15 of us, went out to a bar and a club for one last hurrah before some of them head back to Chile...it was a blast and by the time I got home the sun was about to rise! If you go out before 2:30 here people think you are crazy and let me tell you, leaving a bar or club before 8am is also crazy...not sure I will ever make it that late (well I guess early but you get the picture). At the club there was a great show of break dancers...they were so impressive!!

So some of you are probably wondering what I will be doing with my next month here since I have no more classes or seminars or what not. Well, Monday officially starts the Independent Study Project (ISP) portion of my study abroad program. I am both excited to have this whole new world of independence and lack of structure but also incredibly nervous. On Monday I handed in my ISP proposal and was very happy to have it approved. I am going to study sex education in the public school system in Buenos Aires. In 2006 a law was passed that sex ed classes were going to be a requirement in all schools in Buenos Aires but right now there is no developed curriculum and sex ed classes tend to consist of one class a year with older students talking to the younger students. With teen pregnancies and teen parents being so common here and abortion being illegal here, I thought this would be an interesting subject to investigate. I am going to visit two schools who claim to have a sex education class and I will observe the classes, interview the students and teachers, as well as hold interviews with people in charge of sex education in the ministry of education here in BsAs. I will be conducting all my interviews in Spanish and although I think I am ready I am sure it is going to be exhausting…the whole process is going to be exhausting but so rewarding I am sure. By the end of the month, Dec. 4^th to be exact, I will hand in a 20+ page paper in Spanish about my investigation…wish me luck?

In other news I am slowly being to learn my way around the city. Buses, although still ridiculously challenging, are getting a bit easier. I don’t get lost every time I try to leave my apartment and things are starting to look familiar. The shopping is just as great as it was last week although my wallet is getting lighter and lighter.

I hope everyone is well, wherever you may be in the world.

Besitos y Abrazos,

Ana