My despedida! Chau Argentina!

Hola!
So I just completed my second--and final :( 8-week summer project this Friday...wow, I can't believe it went by so quickly! I can't believe how far my relationships with the kids and adults in the Villa have progressed in the last 8 weeks and how close I grew with many of them. For my last two days here in Córdoba, I honestly can say that I spent them "partying"-- if there is one thing that Argentines love to do, it is throw a fiesta. Once all of the different groups of people I was working with heard that I was leaving, they all wanted to have a fiesta to celebrate my "despedida," or a good-bye party.

This seemed like the perfect occasion to have a "magazine revelation-presentation" fiesta too, so I solicited all the kids in my class to make flyers for our last class session--to give to parents, relatives, friends, and anyone else they could think of. I had been saving their articles for the past few weeks so I could give them a complete, bound magazine with all of their articles inside on the last day--laminated too, so they would actually last!

The day of my last class was possibly one of the worst days Córdoba has seen all year--it was the first time I had seen rain since I'd arrived, there was a protest downtown that made my bus to the Villa half an hour late, and I was getting worried that they had given up on me. When I finally arrived with the magazines, snacks, and some more volunteers in toe, my kids and their families were already there! They were eating food that they had baked/brought themselves, playing very resourceful games with cardboard boxes (think skeeball/horseshoes combination), and some teenagers that I had never even seen before were dancing and blasting reggaeton music on a portable boom box.

Needless to say, the despedida was a success--when the time came for the "revelation," the kids presented their magazines to the crowd and promptly slipped away on their own to examine their work. They started comparing their magazines, showing it to their friends and family, and talking about their articles--all of which made me very proud of them. As with all goodbyes, it was hard to say goodbye to these kids--they asked me the familiar question, "When are you going to return?" and I finally felt like I had earned the trust of their parents and the other members of the community.

It was equally hard to say goodbye to the women at Casa de Maria who I had come to love so much--they were all so receptive to everything I had to say over the last few weeks and gave me such a touching surprise on my last day with them--a "goodbye" meal, composed of all the healthy food that we had talked about in previous discussions. It was all there--fruit, vegetables, and whole grains! It felt so good that they had taken our discussions to heart, and I can only hope that they will continue these healthy habits after I leave.

Thank you for sticking with my infrequent blog posts--this has been an amazing adventure and I am always so glad to have the support of my friends and family on these life-changing trips. I will try to do a better job of staying in touch with everyone as I go off on my next adventure!
Besos,
Jessie

Happy 4th of July!!

Hola! If anyone has been thinking about me in the cold down here/sending some summer heat my way... thank you! The last couple of days have been beautiful and a much needed break from my usual turtleneck-and-gloves getup. For the fourth tomorrow, a beautiful 21º! (Yes, I'm learning to use Celsius here...) So you better believe I'm having a party.

About 2 weeks ago, I started working with some women in the community that used to be homeless but are now part of a halfway house called "Casa de Maria," in addition to teaching my class for the kids in the community. Some of them live there, some live with other family members, but they are all in the process of getting back on their feet again. They eat their meals at the house, help each other cook, and play lots and lots of cards at the house.

A leader at the community center approached me and asked me if I would be interested in talking to them about exercise and nutrition for women- which was quite a compliment; of course I said yes! I've started going on routine walks with them and giving presentations about exercise and nutrition every week. We've talked about cholesterol, obesity, and how exercise is different for women than men--especially in a country where women are expected to spend the majority of their day in the kitchen. These women are so loving and appreciative of any time I have to offer to them--working with them has been such an enriching experience and has allowed me to really get to know the young and the old in the community.

With that, I decided to have a party for them this Saturday for the 4th! Argentine Independence Day is the 9th of July, this coming Thursday, so I proposed a type of Independence Day-cultural exchange for the women in Casa de Maria. (They LOVE cooking for me, every day after our morning walk, they beg me to stay for lunch and eat with them... and I usually say yes; who can resist like 10 loveable new grandmothers?) Tomorrow, I'm bringing some friends with me, some sugar cookies with red and blue sprinkles, some patriotic tunes, and my horrible singing voice to show them what the 4th is like at home, and on Thursday they will do the same for me! I can't wait. I've (hopefully) attached some photos of them and some photos of the kids in my class to this post--enjoy!

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend... again, send some heat my way and I love and miss you all!
Abrazos,
Jessie

Hola... finally!

Hi friends and family! I have finally gotten around to writing a blog post... sorry it took so long! I guess that means that I've been busy... which is definitely a good thing. I work every day in this neighborhood called Villa la Tela. It is the poorest neighborhood in Córdoba, but you might not know that as soon as you walk in. True, there is trash everywhere and sickly looking stray dogs roaming through the neighborhood, but some families really value cleanliness and you would never guess that they live on dirt floors because they work so hard to keep their clothes clean daily and make their children look presentable. However, after spending some time talking with them and getting to know the people that live there, I've learned a lot that has surprised me about their daily struggle to have food and shelter. One of the saddest things about Villa is something they cannot control at all--it is the heavy prejudice against them from other neighborhoods, even other poor neighborhoods. The rich people are prejudice against the poor people, the poor people are prejudice against the really poor people, and etc. They feel trapped by their circumstances and many of them feel like they will never leave Villa and never be able to improve their lives. There is not even a school in Villa... which means that a majority of the kids will grow up completely without an education.

It was slow getting going at first--they are slow to trust outsiders coming into their neighborhood and I didn't want to appear like a foreigner who "knew all the answers," thought they were inferior to me, or who unintentionally flaunted my wealth in front of them. The kids are obviously much more trusting than the adults, but it is the adults' and elders' opinions that matter the most when trying to integrate into the community. I went to a couple of meetings in the CIC community center (Centro Integrador Comunitario) where some village elders and various outside organizations meet and try to help add structure to the community. They talked a lot about potential programming, drank a lot of mate (their favorite national beverage), and... adjourned the meeting. There was a lot of talking and not much action, which I finally picked up on after a few meetings. I encountered similar cultural differences with the adults last summer... so (I'd like to think I was a little quicker on the learning curve this year) I looked to other venues of neighborhood development and found a great group of teenagers and pre-teens that were energetic, ambitious, and bored--constantly looking for things to do.

I'm teaching classes after school now for a group of 10-13 year olds with some of the young adults helping me as student mentors. My classes are called "Quién soy yo?", or in English, "Who am I?" The purpose of these classes is for them to have some time to think about themselves and their dreams, goals, and what they actually like to do. They have such little time in their everyday lives to plan for the future or think about what they like to do that they often do not even know their hobbies or interests. The first day I was there, I asked a group of little girls what they like to do... and they all looked at each other and said, "I don't know." I asked them if they liked to play, run, dance, and any other simple activity that kids like
to do... to all of which they responded "yes" and agreed. It seemed like they were just taken aback by someone actually asking them a question about themselves and their interests.

Okay, so I got a little sidetracked... but anyways, my classes. So we're making autobiographies in the form of magazines--all about them. Hopefully they will realize their goals for the future and will develop a sense of neighborhood pride through the articles they are writing. For example, last week I focused on health and nutrition articles. We made recipes of traditional Argentine food (they either had the recipes memorized or asked their mothers for them.) I think it made their mothers feel good and gave them a sense of validation and pride for all the hard work they do on a daily basis. Another activity we did last week was make public service announcements. I gave the kids disposable cameras to take pictures of things that they though were interesting inside their neighborhood, and got them developed. The photos were shocking... there were some of a little girl standing in a mound of trash, some of the insides of homes, and some of the millions of stray dogs running around on the streets. The kids wrote captions that were equally as moving as the photos--some of them were begging neighbors to clean up trash, protect the ozone layer, and to even vaccinate dogs.

My classes are definitely the highlight of my day, and I'm starting to feel safer and more accepted in the neighborhood. The adults near the community center know me now (one woman even invited me into her home to see her daughter's pet armadillo last week...) and I arrive to find the kids waiting on the doorstep. I'll write more later (and with not as much time in between, I promise!)
Chau/Adios/Bye!
Jessie