¡Bienvenido (Welcome)! I have one more day until I leave for Buenos Aires. I leave from the Columbus airport to Houston, where I will have a five-hour layover until embarking to Argentina. The trip is becoming more real to me as it gets closer and as I say goodbye to friends or relatives.
I am beyond excited.
More than anything, I feel extremely privileged to have this opportunity. Very few people have the ability to study abroad, and I am grateful to my parents for helping me accomplish this. During the 2014-15 school year, 1.5 percent of United States students studied abroad, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Although the number of students studying abroad is increasing, I realize how fortunate I am to be one of the few.
With only one more day left, I have finished packing and preparing for the trip. Everything fits into my suitcase, which weighs 44 pounds. It is still under the maximum weight of 50 pounds, but it will be interesting trying to lug it around myself. Packed; I am ready to go!
I cannot wait to walk the city streets of Buenos Aires and also try all the food. I am expecting to be in a large, metropolitan city with a melting pot of different people and cultures. Similar to the U.S., Argentina’s population is made up of immigrants. I am looking forward to seeing this mix of cultures in the cuisine and architecture.
My study abroad company provided me with some information about my host family, which also added another level of reality to my trip. I, along with two other students, will be staying in a house with one 80-year-old woman. I suspect she will be able to teach me a lot about Argentina and the Spanish language.
The house I’ll be staying at is a 10-minute walk to the Universidad de Belgrano, the school in which I’ll be studying Latin-American studies. Belgrano is one of many neighborhoods in Buenos Aires and is filled with a variety of restaurants, movie
Learning all these details about my trip has added to my excitement, and I keep reminding myself of how fortunate I am to experience this. I ultimately hope I come out of my study abroad trip with a better understanding of Argentine history and culture, and I hope I will be fluent or at least more proficient in Spanish.
Thank you for taking a look at my second column, and I hope you keep reading when I am actually in Buenos Aires! In addition to these weekly columns, I have created a blog that will act as a log of my experiences in Buenos Aires. If you are interested in seeing pictures from my trip, feel free to look at my blog: jessicahillsite.wordpress.com. ¡Hasta
Jessica Hill is a sophomore studying journalism and global studies. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Have you ever studied abroad and have any interesting stories about it? Contact Jessica at jh240314@ohio.edu or tweet her @jess_hillyeah.
