Dean Rapelye Says Hey

I just finished writing a letter to the Dean of Admissions and I figured it made an excellent excuse for a blog post - a gushy, sentimental summary of my year so far in Argentina.

Dear Dean Rapelye,

To write specifically what I have been doing for the last year would probably make it seem boring. I went to high school from from August 22 to the beginning of November. I learned a bit about Argentinean history, but in truth, the classes were dull with material I'd already learned. In November, I went on a two week trip to Patagonia, including whale watching, penguin spotting, a visit to Bariloche and San Martin de los Andes (the beginning of Che Guevara's route), Ushuaia (the southernmost city on Earth), and my personal favorite, glacier trekking on Glaciar Perrito Moreno. The trip was organized by Rotary with 59 other exchange students from Europe and North America. I will be travelling with the same group in April to northern Argentina.

When I arrived back in my small town of San Vicente after the trip, school had almost ended and summer was ready to begin. Summer in San Vicente is slow and hot - afternoon siestas are mandatory because it's too hot to do anything else. During the summer, I made some day trips to nearby cities of Santa Fe and Rosario, both three hours away by bus.

School begins again in a week, as do my accordion lessons. In April and May, I will be travelling to northern Argentina and hopefully to Brazil as well, and then in June I come home.

As I mentioned earlier, to simply list the itinerary for the year makes it sound like not much. I know though that I have changed in ways since I first arrived. During high school my mind was always set on a long-term goal and my days were spent trying to achieve that goal - grades, extracurriculars, etc. Here, with only a certain amount of time in this country and no real "end goal," I developed a carpe diem attitude - make every day count. I have become more adventurous, eager to try new things, ready to do whatever is necessary to make my day a memorable one. Three hour bus rides to a nearby city seem like a short trip; I have no problem sending a text message to someone I might have just met last night saying "let's get together sometime."

What I have found to make this year worthwhile in the most significant ways are the many people I have met along the way. On an exchange program in a small town (7000 people) like San Vicente, it's incredibly easy to chat with anyone. People always want to talk to the "yanqui" as we Americans are known here. I have spent time with many interesting people here, sipping mate in the plaza (a shared yerba-based drink), making an asado together (Argentinean barbeque), or chatting in a boliche (Argentinean disco). It is all these people who have made my year incredible. They have shown me new perspectives, Argentinean culture, and in some cases, just a good time. It is those days, the ones spent with friends in San Vicente, that have made my year special.

I try to keep my thoughts away from my return home, but I am extremely glad that I am really just hopping from one journey to the next. I still plan to attend Princeton and I am looking forward to it with even more excitement than before.

Sincerely,
Brandon Davis