meetings
Sunday, February 10, 2008
It’s been quite some time when i last published an entry here in this blog.
Well, everything’s going fine. As always.
My sister, majo, and i went to aguilares (again and again). But that time, we went there to watch the carnaval.
I dont know, really, it was my first time to see a real carnaval. And i definitely enjoyed it.
The shirt that i wore that night, you know, there’s no way that it can be used again.
It wasn’t a dirty shirt. Actually, it was more like dirt with a shirt.
I mean, almost everything has been dumped on me (like every other person in that carnaval).
Beer, water, paint, that snowy stuff in spray cans, everything...
It was nice to be messy once in a while. Like a little kid. Hehehe...
Then, we drank this beverage known as ‘sangria’. It’s wine with juice or something like that. What’s more, that beverage was inside a melon. Yum!
It was fun.
Really.
But i know that it could have been a hell lot more enjoyable if my friends were also there with me...
Before i went out of the country, i already know that i would be missing this last school year with my batchmates.
i already know all that stuff.
But still, i cant help but imagine what will happen if, let’s say, we have this field trip or something like that and the itinerary is out of the country?
That could have been a lot of fun.
Imagination’s on full gear again....
Anyway, what else?
You guys have to watch out for the yearbook. And you have to read the prologue. I swear.
Btw, im just wondering if there’s any chance that i could get a copy of this batch’s yearbook? I mean, im still part of this batch. Always will be. (drama??)
So, im still well-informed abt mandsci, thanks to propphi anne.
Goodluck with the prom, peepz!
And with the periodical exams, too!
Recite the terms and the formulas while dancing paso doble... that would be cool. (not to mention totally nerdy =D)
So, yesterday, we had a meeting with AFS...
so, ayun. First, sincerity daw muna. Dapat maging sincere ung meeting na un. We were first asked about the qualities of argentines that we like and/or dislike...
cedric said that argentines, most of the time, dont like the truth.
Well, that was what he said at first but then later on it became clear that what he wanted to say was argentines are very diplomatic.
They arent frank people.
And basically, europeans are known to be frank.
Then, they (i mean, the afs officials, volunteers... except the exchange stus) said that ok then we are going to be frank. Just for this meeting.
So, next thing, we were asked, ‘why did you came here?’....
every answer differs...
Max (USA) said that he came here to grow... then he was asked if he was growing... he said ‘i think so’.
Sebastian (belgium) said that he came here ‘to relax a little before entering the university, to escape from his house for some time, and to just f*ck around’... (take note: im quoting what they said)...
cedric (germany) said that, too.
Candice (france) said that she came here to learn spanish and to know the culture of argentina.
((i cant remember what the others had said... basically, it was actually the same thing. Me, i said that we were told that we are here as ‘ambassadors of goodwill’ and i simply want to have an adventure))
then, the president of the chapter in tucumán said, “when you reached buenos aires, you have already escaped from your houses; you have already relaxed a little; you have already f*cked around; you all speak spanish very well now and you already know about the culture of argentina... so your objectives in coming here are already done. Why waste more time here? You can all go home.”
It was basically a “barahan to the max” moment.
Then we were asked about the things that we like and dislike regarding afs.
the belgium guy said that he doesnt like the rules. He said that you have to ask for 5 thousand permissions before you can do something. Well, basically, he’s of age (he’s 19) so i can understand his definite dislike for rules. But then the afs volunteers and the chapter president explained that rules are everywhere.
You go to a university, there are rules.
You go to any country, there are rules.
And an organization wont be an organization if rules dont exist.
Max said that he thinks that afs is a family that he doesnt need. He said, he likes his ‘consejera’, agustina, but that’s it. He doesnt need the meetings, reunions, he doesnt need the organization.
Apparently, the others wont keep quiet. They said that he wouldnt have met agustina if not for the organization. They said that the organization is not composed of a single person only. We have our hostfams and hostschools because the entire organization worked for it.
Then, patrick (USA) said that we were asked to give our opinions... and that’s what we are doing. They dont have to insist that our opinions are wrong. They dont have to change our thoughts coz that’s exactly what it is: thoughts.
So, my turn came. I simply shared to them about the point of view of my hostmom.
I cant recall when was it. the subject just came up. She told me that she doesnt think that what the ‘consejeros’ are doing is sufficient. well, she said that my consejero simply phones her asking ‘how are you doing? is kim doing fine? how’s everything?’ or something like that... then she will reply ‘yes, everything’s fine. no prob. everything’s ok.’ or something like that...
she said that what if everything’s not okay? what if the hostdad is a serial killer that has never been caught yet? what if the hostmom is a schizophrenic psycho with a loose bolt? (pardon me for the redundancy)...
my hostmom’s point is this: regular phonecalls aren’t sufficient to ensure that everything’s going fine.
she said that if the consejeros would just give regular home visits to the stus, then chat with the hostfam and the stu for some time, then they could actually KNOW what’s going on inside that house...
i agree with my hostmom. and the others actually agree, too. cool.
then, i cant actually remember everything that everyone has said or done but after around two and half hours, we found out that the idea of ‘frankness just for today’s meeting’ has really been taken seriously.
the chapter president, alejandro, had spoken to us. he said that some of the exchange stus arent ready to come here, just paid and then off they go... he rhetorically asked us, ‘after your exchange years here, what could you bring back home? if anyone will ask you back in your countries about what you have done during your exchange year, what would you say? would you have anything to say?’
then he explained that before we came here in argentina, we signed up documents and one of those documents says that we are suppsoed to study here. well, the thing is that most of the exchange stus arent here to study or anything like that. technically, almost all of the exchange stus dont need grades from argentina so basically, almost all of the exchange stus dont do anything at school. well, alejandro explained that we dont have to obtain 10 in our reports or exams or something like that (the grades here is from 1 to 10). he said that he just wants us to put some effort in participating in class.
participating, he emphasized, not sleeping.
he elaborated on our answers to the question ‘why did you came here?’... he said that if we came here to learn the language and know the culture, then that objective has already been done. and then what? if that is our objective then we now have nothing to do. we can fly back home right now.
he also said that some of the stus dont exert any effort into integrating with their hostfams. some treat their hostfams like hotels...
for-eating-and-sleeping-only.
he said, ‘there are families that dont want to have any exchange stus anymore because they’ve had bad experiences with taking in exchange stus. the relatives and friends of those families dont want to either because they already have bad impressions. tucumán has lots of exchange students because there are families willing to host. if you keep on making bad impressions, sooner or later we wont have anymore families that will be willing to host anyone. im not telling you to be saints because you arent. im not telling you to change your attitudes. im just asking you to think of your actions first. if you cant do it for the organization or for yourselves, do it for the next batch of exchange students.’
(of course, he said all of that in spanish. i cant really remember everything. his so-called speech has been long.)
he also said that if it was him, he wouldnt pay 8000 dollars just to f*ck around on some other country. he said, “there are many other people who really want to be exchange students but they couldnt bcoz of economical issues. you people are lucky to have the chance. and what are you doing now wasting your time here? i know that after this meeting, you kids are going to go back to your old ways. nothing’s going to change, that is for sure. you’re going to say ‘im tired with all of alejandro’s stupidities’. no problem. but i want you to think. i want someone to ask you ‘why arent you f+cking around with your hostfam now?’ and you’re going to say ‘oh, a moron told me not to do that anymore.’. think, guys, think very well.’
cedric kept on telling me that im a saint, that im too much of a good girl and everything like that but i am no saint. im not a goody two-shoes. a far cry from it... (but he also said that it’s better to be called saint than to be called slut)
i know i’m no saint. but i also know that im not here to f+ck around.
and i also know that even though im not actually ‘that good girl’, im going to have something other than spanish to bring back with me.
next topic!
i made an article. i cant remember what it was for but it was anne who asked me for the article so i made it.
i want to post it here but i cant and i wont.
------ curiosity is an incurable, uncontrollable disease... and im actually infected with the malignant version of it. -------
btw, the movie ‘The Kingdom’ directed by peter berg totally rocks!!!
and the movie ‘The Shooter’ (dunno who directed it)....
is there a movie DieHard 5 now???
anyway, new fantasies:::: to become a hacker and to be able to shoot at a distance of 2km.....
not-so-random question::: how do you apply for CIA???
stuff::: check out ashton kutcher and chase crawford.XOXO
1:03 AM
Y Y Y
