Thursday, December 30, 2010
Spanish!
Woot. So I have a story. :) I'm at the National Institute of Health in Washington D.C. for my dad (who's awesome and a trooper.. love you dad) and I had a chance to actually practice my spanish just a couple of hours ago. There was a woman from El Salvador who was very lost and spoke basically no English. She was almost an hour late for her apt. because she had been wandering around the building completely lost. I got to help her find her doctor by speaking a little spanish and translating for her. :) It was awesome and so much fun!! Anyways, I'll try to keep updating. Happy travels!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Host Family
Hi! Since I last posted I have done so much to get ready for my exchange. I received my host family almost a month ago (really really surprisingly early) and have submitted my preliminary visa application and attended my second pre-departure orientation, which happened this afternoon. I'm starting to get scared about leaving now that I have my host family and its all becoming real. I'm finally starting to realize that I am going to be in Neuquén, Argentina for FIVE MONTHS. Crazy huh?
At the same time though, I am SO excited. My host family sounds amazing (shout out to Marcelo, Andrea, Ludmila, y Mariana) and I am thrilled that I will finally have siblings. I've emailed my host sister a couple times since I found out I was going to be staying with her, but communication has definitely been slower because of the language barrier. I'm realizing how difficult its going to be to converse in spanish 24/7 (especially compared to Spanish CLASS where the goal isn't necessarily to communicate everything you want to say, but just say what you can - if you know what I mean.) It's just insane realizing the culture shock I'm likely going to experience, largely due to the language change. Luckily (or unluckily..) my host family seems completely fluent in English, so I'll have that to rely on.. but not fall back on completely!!
If you have been reading my blog.. you'll have noticed I kinda edited my last post and made it shiny and NEW because it was lame. KEEP COMMENTING! You are all super awesome and interesting.
Before I sign off I wanted to thank Massive Studios for their generous donation for my exchange. You are all exceptionally awesome and super creative to boot. Check out their site: http://www.massivestudios.net/
To those of you traveling in February to South America, I'll see you all in Miami!
At the same time though, I am SO excited. My host family sounds amazing (shout out to Marcelo, Andrea, Ludmila, y Mariana) and I am thrilled that I will finally have siblings. I've emailed my host sister a couple times since I found out I was going to be staying with her, but communication has definitely been slower because of the language barrier. I'm realizing how difficult its going to be to converse in spanish 24/7 (especially compared to Spanish CLASS where the goal isn't necessarily to communicate everything you want to say, but just say what you can - if you know what I mean.) It's just insane realizing the culture shock I'm likely going to experience, largely due to the language change. Luckily (or unluckily..) my host family seems completely fluent in English, so I'll have that to rely on.. but not fall back on completely!!
If you have been reading my blog.. you'll have noticed I kinda edited my last post and made it shiny and NEW because it was lame. KEEP COMMENTING! You are all super awesome and interesting.
Before I sign off I wanted to thank Massive Studios for their generous donation for my exchange. You are all exceptionally awesome and super creative to boot. Check out their site: http://www.massivestudios.net/
To those of you traveling in February to South America, I'll see you all in Miami!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Semester in Argentina
Hello! If you don't know me, my name is Isabella Ramos Miller and I am from Bozeman, Montana. This year I am going to be a junior at Bozeman High School. About a year ago I began thinking about taking an exchange to South America sometime during my high school career, and I have since applied to go abroad for a semester in Argentina. I have always had a love of traveling; I visited Guatemala with both of my parents when I was nine, and then to Costa Rica with my father just a couple of summers ago. However, I have never had the chance to completely immerse myself in another culture or stay in another country for more than a couple of weeks. My exchange to Argentina in the spring of 2011 will give me this chance.
My exchange will allow me to be a part of a different community because I will live the life of a teenager growing up in Argentina. This means that I will have the opportunity to attend the same school, be part of another family, and develop friendships for an entire semester of school. In addition to becoming much more proficient in Spanish, I will develop new relationships and hopefully gain a better perspective of the world and who I am individually. This experience will be life changing, and hopefully help me understand how I can better make contributions to my community and the world. The opportunities for learning in another country seem limitless to me, and I hope that the Spanish language and social skills that I learn in Argentina will help me expand my learning later in life as well. It is my goal to go to medical school and become a pediatrician and I believe that the skills I learn in Argentina will help me achieve this goal and eventually give back to the community.
As a junior in high school, I am very busy with school, family, friends, and my community. I love school and I challenge myself by taking difficult classes and pushing myself to succeed in them. I also participate in my high school's Student Council and Rotary Interact club. I am incredibly lucky to have grown up in Bozeman's amazing community and have the support of my friends and family throughout my life. I look forward to the even more amazing opportunity that my exchange will give me.
Hopefully, I will be able to raise the money required for this experience! My goal is to raise $8000 to cover the tuition for my trip and my stay. I am working hard to raise money through several fundraisers that I am going to continue to implement throughout the summer and the new school year, but I need some help to accomplish my goal. No donation is too small and everything will help me get one step closer to reaching my goal. If you would like to make a secure, non tax-deductible donation, Click on the ChipIn! gadget on the top right of this blog. I would also greatly appreciate any effort made to spread the word. Email, Facebook, Myspace, or tweet (or wuphf.. haha ha. ha. ha. office reference.. okay then) the link http://usatoargentina.blogspot.com to get the word out! Thank you for taking the time to read about me and my exchange.
Isabella
My exchange will allow me to be a part of a different community because I will live the life of a teenager growing up in Argentina. This means that I will have the opportunity to attend the same school, be part of another family, and develop friendships for an entire semester of school. In addition to becoming much more proficient in Spanish, I will develop new relationships and hopefully gain a better perspective of the world and who I am individually. This experience will be life changing, and hopefully help me understand how I can better make contributions to my community and the world. The opportunities for learning in another country seem limitless to me, and I hope that the Spanish language and social skills that I learn in Argentina will help me expand my learning later in life as well. It is my goal to go to medical school and become a pediatrician and I believe that the skills I learn in Argentina will help me achieve this goal and eventually give back to the community.
As a junior in high school, I am very busy with school, family, friends, and my community. I love school and I challenge myself by taking difficult classes and pushing myself to succeed in them. I also participate in my high school's Student Council and Rotary Interact club. I am incredibly lucky to have grown up in Bozeman's amazing community and have the support of my friends and family throughout my life. I look forward to the even more amazing opportunity that my exchange will give me.
Hopefully, I will be able to raise the money required for this experience! My goal is to raise $8000 to cover the tuition for my trip and my stay. I am working hard to raise money through several fundraisers that I am going to continue to implement throughout the summer and the new school year, but I need some help to accomplish my goal. No donation is too small and everything will help me get one step closer to reaching my goal. If you would like to make a secure, non tax-deductible donation, Click on the ChipIn! gadget on the top right of this blog. I would also greatly appreciate any effort made to spread the word. Email, Facebook, Myspace, or tweet (or wuphf.. haha ha. ha. ha. office reference.. okay then) the link http://usatoargentina.blogspot.com to get the word out! Thank you for taking the time to read about me and my exchange.
Isabella
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