My goal was to study my passions for nature and Spanish. My program requires me to spend five years studying. I also have to spend one of those years at an international university.
In my fourth year, and with 21 years of life behind me, I am finally traveling abroad. I have had the amazing opportunity to travel to the small northwestern province of Argentina called San Miguel de Tucumán. Argentina is a gigantic country in South America that reaches almost all the way to Antarctica! Can you find it on a map?
I have chosen to live and study in Argentina for a whole year because I believe that three most important things about studying abroad are experiencing the culture, making friends for life and adventuring through natural wonders! Argentina is rich with culture such as music, rico (delicious) food and very friendly people. It also has many different natural environments as well. Here, there is one of the driest places on Earth called the Atacama Desert. Within the same province, you will find a unique jungle full of wildlife called the Yungas. Argentina has some of the largest waterfalls in the world, called Iguazú falls. It also has wild land hardly touched by humans in the southern part of the country, called Patagonia.
My home until December is Tucumán. I have chosen this city, buzzing with people, because hardly anyone speaks English. I have the great honor of taking environmental classes with the rest of the students from the university! I am surrounded by Spanish every day. Now, I am getting better at Spanish quickly. I also have the opportunity to work at a nature reserve focusing on wildlife rehabilitation. And last but not least, I am making friends that I will keep for the rest of my life.
