“Choose a meaningful picture and write fewer than 100 words”
was the prompt.
Here, some of the responses:
Hello parents! This picture was taken inside the synagogue of the school. Before this, I had not experienced Jewish service but nonetheless it was very interesting. The rabbi was very kind and spoke to us in both English and Spanish. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was about to experience my first Bar Mitzvah. All of a sudden, Beckett was called up to the stand and the rabbi said we were going to do one for him. We all were a bit shocked but quickly went along with it. Beckett even ended up with a new Jewish name, David! Needless to say, this event was very eye-opening. Ciao!! 😙 — Lilie
Amigos en la puente de golden gate real. 😜
I don’t have the photo of all of the boys together, but if I did, that would have been the best representation of our time in Argentina. All of the boys, Argentine and American, have formed a tight group. Every day after school, we meet at one of the boys houses to watch movies, play ping pong, kick soccer balls, and have a good time. It took us about 15 minutes to start cracking jokes and making fun of one another, and we haven’t stopped since. With our arsenal of Spanglish phrases, we are constantly making one another laugh. Estamos disfrutando mucho. Ciao de 🇦🇷 -Jesse Benitez
We took this photo in one of the buildings of the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. During this day, we were touring important memorials of the dictatorship, including those of the University honoring people who fled or became desaparecidos. Amongst all the walking and learning, we took a break inside. It has been very cold during this trip, so we had to huddle for warmth. This picture of Katie, Kate, Evelyn, Kiki, Beyoncé, and I shows us taking a brief break. We were so fortunate as to experience downtown Córdoba which was bustling with stores, cafés, tourists, and locals, but the constant rush of city life was a little overwhelming for us suburb girls. We wanted to take a moment to honor our weariness, take some deep breaths, and get ready to continue the tour! Overall, we’ve been having tons of fun exploring Córdoba and bonding with each other and our host families. ¡Hasta pronto! Maddie.
This is a photo of (left of right) Eitan (Jorge’s host), Naza (Jesse’s host), and Fede (my host). In this photo, we are taking a break from a pickup basketball game. During our time in Cordoba, we have had a great time getting to know our host families. After school every day, I really enjoy hanging out with them and watching movies, playing games, eating BBQ, and listening to music. Overall, I have really enjoyed having the opportunity to immerse myself in a new culture and meet new friends, and I want to thank the hosts and the host families for making our experience here so special. Brandon
Yesterday, we went on a hike at Casa Bamba with the fourth year. When we arrived at the train station, we were greeted by a few stray dogs. Mangy and underfed, the dogs were sadly skinny but very sweet and undeniably adorable. They ended up accompanying us on our entire 3 hour hike. The trek was, at times, more like a rock scrambling expedition, but the dogs leapt across the stream, shimmied over boulders, and wove throughout the woods while our group of 39 stumbled along the trail. We reached the end of the hike, a modest but pretty waterfall and clear pond. There, the dogs scampered from person to person picking up scraps of sandwiches (and even an entire pile of dumped out rice at one point). In this photo, Maddie is ignoring the side eye the dog gives her as she explains to it that its eyes are bigger than its stomach. Evelyn
This is a photo of our walk to school every day, which occurs at the desolate hour of 7:30am. As someone who lives 10 minutes away from Poly and usually leaves at 8:18 since school starts at 8:30, it was, obviously, a slight shock to arrive here and wake up at 6:50am. However, even I, stumbling through the freezing 32°F Córdoba air, can admit, the sunrise is very beautiful. I came to understand why my younger host sister loves taking similar photos. It’s almost nice to wake up and be able to see a new day start with my host family. While I’m still not a morning person (sorry) this is just one way Argentina has taught me to be more open to experiencing new and different cultures. Katie
Yesterday we went on a hike at La Casa Bamba. The trek was arduous, and we ended up at a waterfall and admired its serene beauty as we ate lunch (Milanesa sandwiches). The coiled branches and rocks obstructing the trail tested our balance, but we prevailed (except for Beckett who fell on his “culata”). As we followed our path into Argentina’s natural landscape, we also got to know our kind hosts more. The Poly students have worked tirelessly to learn and use Argentinian slang, so you can imagine how this opportunity, where we were trapped single file on the trail with them, was exciting for us. Milla
Before this photo was taken we had trekked for miles up and down the hills of Casa Bamba. It took perseverance. It took a liter of sweat. It took fending off dogs trying to take our food. But from the attitudes of the gallant Argentinians, we had role models to keep our head up, to win the day because “tranca palanca” always applies. The Argentinian way inspires us to be “campeones del mundo” because with tea flowing through our veins and galletitas in our stomachs, no mountain can beat the tenacity of Argentinian pride. Beckett
Hola! On our second day, we visited the universitario and a museum with an exhibit with paintings of the testimonies during the dictatorship. For the second half of the day, we returned to school for physical education class. We played many rounds of caballo and laughed a lot together. We then decided to go to the playground, where we took this photo of Maddie holding on for dear life as we spun her around. We had lots of fun together and can’t wait for what comes next! Kate
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