HOLA Friends and Followers of Putney Language Learning Argentina!
None of us can believe that we´re entering the final stretch of our Putney odyssey--Matt and I are incredibly proud of each member of our group. Last week we continued our work on the finca at Carlos Keen, where we painted the cages for day-old bunnies, laid tile and built a brick wall, cooked empanadas and dulce de leche, and did about a hundred other diverse farm and restaurant-related tasks alongside the boys who live on the farm. These orphaned and abandoned boys have some of the most difficult early life stories we have ever heard.
Susana and Hugo, the older couple who run the finca, gave us an emotional goodbye salute and told us how much the past three weeks have meant to their boys--they have become extremely close with our Putney group, and vice-versa. It´s been incredibly moving to watch the relationship between both groups develop. These boys adore our students and you can tell that the younger boys like Daniel and Lucas feel deeply proud that they are able to teach American teenagers about their lifestyle. Every day when our bus arrived they literally ran to meet us, and on our last day we exchanged presents, cards, tears, and promises to return and to stay in touch. Susana would like you to know that all of you are welcome to come and stay at the finca in Carlos Keen--CAMINOS ABIERTOS--and to eat in the adjacent restaurant, Las Girasoles, anytime!
Susana and Hugo, the older couple who run the finca, gave us an emotional goodbye salute and told us how much the past three weeks have meant to their boys--they have become extremely close with our Putney group, and vice-versa. It´s been incredibly moving to watch the relationship between both groups develop. These boys adore our students and you can tell that the younger boys like Daniel and Lucas feel deeply proud that they are able to teach American teenagers about their lifestyle. Every day when our bus arrived they literally ran to meet us, and on our last day we exchanged presents, cards, tears, and promises to return and to stay in touch. Susana would like you to know that all of you are welcome to come and stay at the finca in Carlos Keen--CAMINOS ABIERTOS--and to eat in the adjacent restaurant, Las Girasoles, anytime!
The homestay week was an all around fantastic experience--it flew by! Matt and I had the chance to visit many of the host families and we were jealous of your kids--these families were terrific, warm and funny and totally charmed by our students. They were also wonderful cooks; one lucky girl was living with a pastry chef, and another had a quincho--essentially a BBQ--in his house!
Three of our students had a FIVE HOUR conversation with a group of Lujan teenagers--they told us this with a bleary-eyed pride the following day, and recounted every joke they´d understood and laughed wildly at (Spanish jokes are always funnier than English jokes, I think, because it´s such a triumph to have understood the punchline!). Everybody´s Spanish has improved dramatically, although one girl did tell us that her Lujan grandma had a tough experience in her youth wherein her arm ´fell off.´ Since Matt and I shook both of this kind woman´s colorfully manicured hands at the fiesta de despedida (Goodbye Party), we suspect something may have been lost in the translation.
Three of our students had a FIVE HOUR conversation with a group of Lujan teenagers--they told us this with a bleary-eyed pride the following day, and recounted every joke they´d understood and laughed wildly at (Spanish jokes are always funnier than English jokes, I think, because it´s such a triumph to have understood the punchline!). Everybody´s Spanish has improved dramatically, although one girl did tell us that her Lujan grandma had a tough experience in her youth wherein her arm ´fell off.´ Since Matt and I shook both of this kind woman´s colorfully manicured hands at the fiesta de despedida (Goodbye Party), we suspect something may have been lost in the translation.
Speaking of which, that Goodbye Party was one of the most emotional and beautiful experiences we have had this entire trip. Everybody in the town came to see us off! The mayor, all of the Lujan families and our kids new teenage friends and homestay siblings, and about fifteen boys accompanied by Hugo and Susana. The boys had made us handwritten cards and there was not a dry eye in the house, with the exception of the stoic stray dog who had smelled pizza and empanadas and followed us into our salon. Each of our students stood and made a speech in Spanish about how much the week of homestay had impacted them, and their families told Matt and I that they felt the experience had been a life-changing exchange for them as well. We were so proud of everyone for their maturity, openness, and kindness this week, and for the moon-man leaps their Spanish has made.
We are currently in Humahuaca, a small town near the border of Bolivia, and today we leave on our 3 day trek, followed by a fourth day of rafting and jungle canopy. Yesterday we saw Las Salinas--the Salt Mines--where we felt like Neil Armstrong on a lunar expedition. This is a totally white terrain, a huge salt deposit left when a lake evaporated 10,000 years ago, which means it is impressive from a geologic perspective and also, simply put, WAY COOL.
We took lots of fun perspective shots, creating optical illusions. Apocalyptic winds were a´blowing and there was lots of shouting and laughing as we climbed the Salt Mountains. We´ve seen the Garganta del Diablo waterfall in Tilcara and the Sierra de Siete Colores, and we´re all walking around slack-jawed with wonder at the beauty of N.O.A., the northwestern corner of Argentina. Can´t wait to begin the last leg of our adventure with our amazing group!
We took lots of fun perspective shots, creating optical illusions. Apocalyptic winds were a´blowing and there was lots of shouting and laughing as we climbed the Salt Mountains. We´ve seen the Garganta del Diablo waterfall in Tilcara and the Sierra de Siete Colores, and we´re all walking around slack-jawed with wonder at the beauty of N.O.A., the northwestern corner of Argentina. Can´t wait to begin the last leg of our adventure with our amazing group!
Un beso y abrazo desde Grupo Putney LLARG!!
Matt, Karen, and Team America
