The First Post (para empezar todo)

Better late than never, right?

A little more than a month into my life here in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I finally feel like I can give you the welcome you deserve.

**Obligatory explanation about me**

For those of you who don't already know, I am in my junior year at Susquehanna University, studying a whole mess of languages (Spanish, Chinese, and Italian) with a dash of International Studies and Linguistics thrown in there too.

There are a lot of things I love about Susquehanna University, but one of the things I love most is the cross-cultural experience requirement of our curriculum (AKA mandatory study abroad), especially now that I'm living it. As a little background for those who don't go to Susquehanna, not every student is required to study abroad for a full semester, but as a student with a major in a foreign language, I am required to do a full semester abroad living and taking classes in a my major language of study (which is Spanish for me -- if the Spanish incorporated all around hasn’t already given that away).

THAT’S RIGHT.

So that means, being here in Buenos Aires, Argentina, one thing that makes my program a little bit different from some other GO programs (GO programs = Global Opportunities programs/study abroad programs; we also use GO to refer to our Global Opportunities Office, which coordinates all things study abroad related - just for future reference) is the fact that MY LIFE IS IN SPANISH.

My classes, my homework, my homestay, and obviously every interaction I have with everyone anywhere in between.

Pray for me and my confusion.

(View from the street corner of my program office)

**Obligatory explanation about my program**

At Susquehanna we refer to full semester programs like mine as “GO Long” programs as opposed to the alternative “GO Short” programs, which typically last a couple weeks instead (really glad I clarified those totally arbitrary and obscure terms, right?).

So, my GO Long in Buenos Aires, Argentina is a program that is actually organized outside of Susquehanna University in cooperation with one of the most established study abroad coordinators in the U.S., called IFSA-Butler (Institute for Study Abroad - Butler University).

Here in Buenos Aires, their program consists of a centralized program office (AKA our home base for all things academic and personal) where we can find all the program’s directors of things like academics, residence life, etc.

Academically, like I already hinted at, EVERYTHING IS IN SPANISH and it is A JOURNEY (but a super, amazing, fun one). There are approximately 50-60 other kids in the Buenos Aires program, so if nothing else, you’re not alone in your struggles.

Because the focus of the program is centered around learning Spanish and the full-immersion experience, students of this IFSA program (called the Argentine Universities Program or AUP, for short) get the amazing opportunity of taking classes at (you guessed it) Argentine Universities here in the city with other Argentine students. However, the IFSA program office itself also offers classes, which are not integrated with actual Argentine students, but are still taught entirely in Spanish and are taught by professors from the Argentine Universities in the city.

Adentro del programa de IFSA, there are also several smaller, more specialized programs (which some refer to as learning communities) that students can elect to become a part of, which have a more coordinated academic focus like Human Rights, Literature, Cinema, and Linguistics and Translation, to name a few. Because each of these programs/learning communities consists predominantly of specific classes held in the IFSA program office, students typically aren’t able to take as many classes at the Argentine Universities just because of the logistics of balancing credits.

HOWEVER, one of the major perks of electing to be a part of a specific program/learning community is the fact that all students have the opportunity to participate in an internship not open to students outside of the program.

Sparing you all the details of the decision-making process, I’ll skip right to the exciting part and tell you that I am officially a part of the Linguistics and Translation learning community and because of it I will be working in an internship with two different REAL LIFE TRANSLATORS over the course of the semester.

I’m a little excited about it, I guess.

Even though I’m a crazy language person, I’ve never done anything even remotely related to translation, so I’m not sure if I’m going to love it or hate it, but hey, what better time to find out than right now.

(Stalker shot from one of my classes in la UCA (Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina))

**Obligatory distinction between translation vs. interpreting**

A distinction that causes some confusion (which I feel like I only just recently learned myself) is the fact that, conversationally, we use the word “translation” interchangeably to refer to both the act of written translations and the act of verbally interpreting and translating spontaneous speech. However, officially, the word “translation” denotes all work done in terms of writing and the word “interpreting” refers to spoken translations.

A BRIEF PERSONAL NOTE:

Outside of academics, another thing about the IFSA-Butler program here in Buenos Aires that makes it different from some other programs at Susquehanna is the fact that every student lives in a homestay (AKA in a home/apartment in the city with a “family” -- who speaks Spanish, of course). I use the word “family” with quotation marks just because there is no standard in terms of what a host family looks like here. The majority of students’ families here actually consist of just a host mom, but many families also include children (young or adults) and, if you’re lucky, some pets too.

My host family consists of an adorable and loving, but very, very sassy older lady named Mercedes and one other student that I wasn’t aware I would be living with and isn’t a part of the IFSA Butler program, but I absolutely love. Her name is Valentina and she is technically from Colombia, but I think she might actually be an angel from heaven because she brings so much joy to my life.

Also now I’m learning just as much Colombian Spanish as Rioplatense Argentina Spanish. Win.

(Snapshot from my living room)

A BRIEF APOLOGY:

Not sure how this became a series of notes and obligatory explanations -- sorry about that. I also apologize that this series turned out to be more of a novel than I expected. So, before it gets any longer, I think I’ll wrap it up here.

If you made it this far, I hope you feel like you understand a little bit more about the specifics and logistics of my program and life here in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

And, if you haven’t already, bop on over and check out my first vlog, which I promise is at least a little bit more exciting and a lot less reading.

Until next time, mis amigos.

Un beso grande,

Hannah