Week 3 in BsAs

Hola family and friends,

Well we have finished our 3rd week here in BsAs. One more week to go and then it´s back to the U.S. and then back to work. This past week was a full week. Over the weekend we were at the Penta, which is a huge Rotarty Conference. (It was Friday - Sunday). At the Penta, we were able to meet the President of Rotary International (William Boyd). He is a very personable man. He has a big heart and is doing a lot of things for Rotary. Friday we met the 4 other GSE groups - 2 from England, 1 from Italy, and 1 from Venezuela. Everyone was very friendly and was enjoying their time in BsAs. Friday night we went to a banquet and Saturday all GSE groups did a 20 min. presentation about themselves, their profession, and their country. There were about 300 people in attendance. A few of us were a little nervous about speaking another language in front of so many people, but everyone (all GSE groups) did very well. After meeting people from these different countries I know want to visit Venezuela, England and Italy...one day.

This past week we visited the YMCA, which is a school. This was very interesting because in the US, we do not have YMCA schools. The majority of the children at this school are immigrants from Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, and other parts of South America. They come to Argentina for education because it is free and very good. The parents of these students are hard workers and want the best for their children, hence, they come to Argentina. The parents pay a small amount to have their kids attend the YMCA school. It is a half day school and the rest of the day they are in After School programs. I am going to keep in contract with the Director of the school and see what material from my YMCA I can send them to help. (The school is in a poorer part of BsAs)

Friday we visited another YMCA - this one was strictly a Gym; however, they did had students from a near by school to come during their P.E. period to have recreation at the YMCA. I was able to meet the students and they were informed that I work at a YMCA in CA. They were so thrilled and excited to meet people from the U.S. I took plenty of pictures and was greeted by every child. They all wanted to know what my name was, what time of food I like, what the US is like, etc.

Later that day we visited a school Gobierno De La Ciudad De BsAs. This school is literally a huge castle and was built and funded by 2 men. One had the land and the other the money. The interesting thing is that this huge school was built in the middle of a low income area...Why? Because they wanted the children of this area to have the best education. This school is not just a school, they had a doctor, a dentist, and a psychologist. Each child (approx. 4,000 students) get a dental check up once a month. In addition to this, the school has a museum inside, with several educational wings and each wing focuses on a different topic. Such as: The arts, science, history of different ethnic cultures, animals, and much more. OH, there is a huge theater - stage. Honesty, it looks a Broadway theater...also an Olympic size pool....Seeing this school makes me wish I was back in Elementary school and was able to attend this school.

Overall, we had a good week and we learned a lot about the school system, the poverty areas of BsAs, and the health system. Also, the more I learn about the school system and the projects the Rotary clubs out there are involved with, the more I want to be more involved in service work. I would also love to live in a Spanish speaking country were I can study Spanish and become fluent.