Buenos Dias de Buenos Aires!

Hola!

I am sure that all of you have been eagerly awaiting to hear about our latest adventures! Well not to worry all of you, but we might have explored a little last night so let's start with that...oy vey right?! But we are all safe and had a great time.

After a fancy/classy dinner at ASIAN last night (not Asian food for those of you wondering...) we all decided to explore some new night life in Buenos Aires, a discoteca! Per suggestions from some of the girls who led our volunteer work in the shanty town, we decided to pay a visit to the well-known Kika Night Club. Groups of us trickled in at different times into the incredibly crowded club. There were hundreds of Argentinians dancing under disco balls and to a variety of music. Of course, most of it was American so we felt right at home. As we all went out to hail cabs back to the hotel upon leaving a fun night of dancing, we experienced our first Argentinian rain…Let’s just say we were pretty wet once we got into the taxi!

We all got home safe and sound and even though it was a late night and long day, we were lucky enough to get to sleep in this morning! We all met in the lobby at 11:30 and visited our first mall, Abasto. Basically looked like any mall from home, aside from the huge carnival/arcade that took up the entire fourth floor (there was even a full size ferris wheel!). We had free time to shop as well as enjoy lunch. Many of us opted for the Kosher McDonald’s – the only one outside of Israel.

We then met up in order to do some volunteer work with Iealdeinu, the non-profit we visited on Monday that cares for abused children. We were split into two groups and each group was sent to a different location where Iealdeinu houses these children. Essentially, we were visiting their “homes,” where children have their own rooms and live with program coordinators who care for them. One of the “homes” housed less than ten children and was mostly for those who came from Orthodox families, all boys aside from one girl. The other “home” was much larger and houses over fifteen children. We played games with them, enjoyed snacks, got to know each of them, and made memory boxes with them. These memory boxes are intended to hold different objects and meaningful items to symbolize what is most important in their lives, something tangible that they can hold on to forever and add to as they grow up. We were paired up with them one-on-one and helped decorate the boxes with their name, favorite colors, and pictures…lots of glitter and glue was involved! It was really great to connect with these kids on a personal level and know that we were able to bring a form of positive interaction to their lives. We are looking forward to going back tomorrow afternoon :)

Last but not least, we went back to Hillel for dinner after an exhausting day. We enjoyed a large variety of Argentinian foods, including yummy empanadas. After dinner, we had a debriefing about today’s activities in which we discussed what all of us took away from our experiences with the children.

Now we are back at the hotel and will be catching up on some much needed sleep…because tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day!

Sending much love from Argentina,
Emilie, Tina, and Robyn