November 8th, 2011

Salud Medical Spanish in Buenos Aires: First Week

By Katie B., Guest Blogger and SALUD Medical Spanish Student in Buenos Aires, Argentina

My first week was awesome. I can hardly imagine the week getting much better.

I had four days of Spanish class in the beginner level. It was just me, and another student from Poland named Ania. Our teacher, Brenda was great. She challenged us, and forced us to converse as early as day one. I loved that our classroom was so small, it enabled Ania and I to really focus on our weakness and build upon our strengths. The week terminated with an exam on Friday. Of course, as a medical student, I studied very hard for it. Ania and I supported each other throughout the week, and even studied together on Thursday. It paid off, and we both did well enough to move onward to the next level. Hurray!

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful host “abuela.” Each day, I understand more of what she is saying, and I can contribute more to our dinner conversation. The relationship we are building is truly amazing. Although she is 55 years older than me, we have a strong relationship and I look forward to it growing as the weeks continue and my Spanish develops further. This is my first immersion experience, and I can honestly say that immersion is the ONLY WAY to get a language. I am forced to speak in Spanish all day, and it is pushing me to learn quickly.

The students at school are great. I have met many of them, and we got together on Friday night to have some drinks and go out. We ended up staying at a restaurant until 2 a.m. talking and eating pizza. Sunday night we got some parrilla (see pictures) and spent four and a half hours talking, eating, and drinking wine. Parrilla is the Argentinean style of barbequing meat and it is fantastic. While here, I want to soak up as much Argentine culture as possible.

This week’s goals: tango and “real” maté. I have been to multiple cafes, ordered maté, and it just a regular old teabag. I am determined to get the fancy cup and matching metal “straw.” I will let you know how that goes. Until next time –