First Days in Corpus, Misiones, Argentina 

Sunday, July 8 at around 2 o’clock in the afternoon I arrived to my new home in Corpus, Misiones, Argentina. While I was spending my 2 days in Posadas with Miguel and Amanda, they told me all about Corpus – the good, the bad and the tiny. I think they were trying to traumatize me so that when I arrived I would be pleasantly surprised to know that I in fact would not have to ride around on a donkey or spend my days washing my clothes by hand. Needless to say, I arrived and was definitely pleasantly surprised to find that not only does the town of Corpus have paved roads and automobiles, my new home has a washing machine and a HUGE backyard where all of my clothes will hang to dry comfortably. 

Left to Right:
My two roommates - Maria and Rina & Marinela who lives down the street from us!
We are at a place they call "El Puerto" - The Port. Across the river is Paraguay. The sunset here is breathtaking! I am sure this will become one of my favourite places in Corpus.

My new home is in the albergue – residence of the college, ITEP Corpus, where I will be spending most of my time doing talleres – workshops with the students, helping with different tourism projects they have on the go and any other aspects I can help with. When I think of a college residence my mind goes directly to Niagara College Residence and Conference Center where I spent my first year of college sleeping in and running to class with 2 minutes to spare! I think of nightly activities, RA’s, and elevators.  This residence is absolutely nothing like that! ITEP Corpus is a brand new school that’s only in its second year. Likewise, the house which they now call the school’s albergue was only recently transformed into that. I am living with 3 wonderful women who are all students at ITEP and are in the tourism program. Coincidentally, they have English class every other day so we have struck a deal – English help in exchange for Spanish help when needed! Win - Win situation!

My roommates are Gaby who is 25 years old, Rina is 21 and Maria is 23. All three of them welcomed me with open arms as did all of the wonderful people I have had the pleasure to meet in my 3 days here. I have already made some great friends that I know will be lifelong. I have also been stuffed full of every kind of carne – meat that is available! Argentina is known for its love of meat and their particular way of cooking it. It is delicious but after eating it for 2 days straight in LARGE quantities, I was dying for a salad! 

Asado lunch in San Ignacio 

Delicious! 

Each day I have learned so much from each person I have spent time with. The differences in culture, customs and even between their Argentine Spanish and my Mexican Spanish are very interesting and sometimes funny! There is so much I can learn from them as well as them from me. While visiting ITEC Alem on Friday with Amanda, the students were asking me questions about Canada. One of the girls asked me what a Canadian bolliche was like… In Mexico, bolliche is bowling so naively I Googled a picture of my hometowns most popular bowling alley and showed them the picture. When they all started to giggle I knew it wasn’t because of how awesome Brantford’s Echo Bowl was… I was confused! They all looked at me and said, with a very heavy accent on the last word, “Noooo, eso es bowling!” which translates into “Noooo, that’s bowling!” Apparently bowling in Argentine Spanish is the same as our English word for bowling and bolliche means nightclub! Needless to say, I went scarlet red and had explained myself! That is just one of the differences that I have encountered which goes to show that even though I consider myself to be fluent in Spanish, there will be differences no matter where you go and there is always more to learn.

Interview with the city of Alem's news reporters.

Back to my new home: there are 3 bedrooms, a kitchen/dining room, and a bathroom. It is by no means a Fairmont or a Marriott but it is perfect. I have my own room that has everything I need: a comfy bed with extra blankets, a wardrobe, a night table and a big window that opens up to the front yard and road. OH and a space heater – very important. Houses in Corpus and throughout the province of Misiones don’t have heating systems like Canada. Since their really cold weather doesn’t last for more than about a month, they don’t see the need of installing heating systems. I understand their thinking but it was still quite a shock to me when I walked into my new home and could still see my breath and not feel my toes. Another shock was my first shower. I am sure that we have all had cold water showers before and most of us probably don’t like them… Well my shower was ARTIC COLD! Talk about BRRRRR! I don’t know why I was expecting warm water when my room is the same temperature as the outside world. I jumped in the shower and as soon as the water hit my back I jumped right back out! I never knew I could move so fast! After 5 minutes of weighing the pros and the cons of showering (the pros came out on top) I mustered up the courage to try again… I have to say it was the fastest shower I have ever taken! I am sure if I showered that fast at home a lot of family conflicts would have never happened. I have a feeling that I am going to end up loving these cold showers by the time I am getting ready to go home and even miss them when I am gone. Internet is a rare thing to come by in Corpus which means I have to travel to a town called San Ignacio to use their internet to post my blogs, my pictures, etc. I already feel as a part of the Corpus family! Excited doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about starting my adventure here! 

My home away from home.
My room is the one on the right.

Huge backyard that will soon be full of clothes drying.
Pictures to come.

Front entrance area.

Kitchen and dining area.

My bedroom.

To summarize my first days in Corpus, I would have to say that they have been full of incredible people, new experiences, delicious food and some culture shocks - but every experience is a good one and I could not be happier! 

Hasta la proxima chicos!