I haven't got anything all that exciting to report on from this week. Nor do I have any new photos. So I've decided I'll just give a little bit of a rundown on some of the more interesting points and throw in some random photos from my travels.
Much to my delight, the snow decided to stick around for several days this week. It was nothing short of bliss going about daily life marvelling at this natural wonder coating every surface. To see a landscape that has become so familiar to me, so dramatically reconfigured in the space of a day was incredible. It is almost as if this is the way that Junín is meant to be. The town seems to have come alive with the snowfall - it's as though the snow brings with it a renewed sense of joy in the people - or that may well just be me living in what, up until now, has always been a winter-wonderland reserved to ski parks and childhood fantasies.
My "lasts" have been going well. My last football session with my younger companions was wonderful. The coach wanted to throw a little party for me so we spent the first hour pigging out on junk food and then, hyped up on all the sugar, took to the courts for a super-charged and very enjoyable game of football. They seemed to be caught between going easy on me seeing as it was my last week, or seizing their last chance to show me up. By the end, I had scored three goals and been "caño"ed (having the ball kicked between your legs) three times.
I had a great conversation with my football coach, who up until that point had only ever heard me say things like "How many pushups?" and "Where do I stand?". Once we were out of a fast-paced football context and my brain didn't have to try and deal with football and a foreign language simultaneously, we were able to converse really well. He seemed astounded by the amount of Spanish I was able to speak and understand. Another coach, who had a very broad grip on the English language, then decided to join in on the conversation. He spoke in English and I spoke in Spanish and whenever we felt necessary, each of us would revert to a bit of Spanglish. My coach was sitting there with a giant grin on his face - very chuffed that he could understand almost the entire conversation despite not knowing a word of English. Some of my teammates that spoke English decided to pitch in a little bit, making for a very entertaining conversation.
My last week of school went very well. I gave each of my teachers a "Temora High School" pen and a little Australia badge as a small token of my appreciation for accepting me into their classrooms. Each of them seemed shocked by the gesture and thanked me enormously. The last day of school affected me far more than I had expected. I found myself getting teary-eyed quite often, especially when I received applause from the entire school during an assembly to celebrate Argentina's national day of independence. It's hard enough finding the words to say goodbye in English. I gave up the search in Spanish, finding it far easier to just smile and offer a handshake or a hug and a kiss.
And from there, the countdown begins. In about two weeks time, I'll be hopping on a plane bound for Australia! Tomorrow we depart for Mendoza with plans for some snow skiing, as well as another trip across the border to Chile. Speaking of our Chilean neighbours, one of them is arriving to my family in Australia as we speak. A while ago my folks got contacted by WEP to ask if they would like to host an exchange student. They accepted on the condition that the student was from a Spanish speaking country - the hope being that I could continue practicing the language. Mum also insisted that they be male as she didn't feel that our household could cope with a girl. A Chilean by the name of Tomás made the cut and will be living with us for the next five months. Hopefully the next two weeks are not sufficient time for my family to realise that they would much rather a Chilean as a son than yours truly.
That's all I have for now. Sorry about the lack of quality and completeness - this one was a bit of a rush job as I felt I should put up another post before departing for Mendoza. I will probably make a few improvements while I am away. Hope you enjoyed it regardless! Until next time!
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