Check back to get the skinny on the following entries...

1.) The Top 10 Best (and worst) Aspects of Living in Buenos Aires
2.) The Ride from Hell... AKA Public Transportation
3.) What It's Really Like to Watch the 2010 World Cup Champions in Action

So what exactly are you doing there?

Gooooooood question.

Aside from attempting to learn Spanish in every way possible, I essentially have two main responsibilities to fulfill while I'm here:

1.) Attend weekly Spanish classes

The first two weeks I had intensive classes where I refreshed my grammatical, listening, and writing skills. For the remainder of the program, I have bi-weekly journalism Spanish classes, in addition to a weekly journalism seminar that focuses on various aspects of Argentina (history, politics, economy, culture, etc.).

2.) Complete an internship

This fall, I'm working for a bilingual online newspaper called Momento 24. Each day, I research, write, and translate short articles on international and Argentinean news. Since the paper is bilingual, I first write my articles in English and then translate them into Spanish. There are a few pretty cool guys at work who help me translate my articles... at first translating was damn near impossible, but after a couple of weeks working there, it's already gotten easier. I publish about one, sometimes two, articles per day. Although translating is tedious, the job is truly a great way for me to practice not only speaking, but also writing in Spanish. Check out one of my articles! Click here (for English) and here (for Spanish).

Let's Cover the Basics

• Who: only ME!
• What: a bilingual internship program
• When: August 21, 2010 - ?? (I bought a one-way ticket so I'm not exactly sure when I'm moving back home, but I anticipate sometime next spring)
• Where: Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Why: primarily to learn Spanish, but also to challenge myself (mentally, physically, & spiritually), because I'm young and now might be my only chance to pick up and leave, and to simply have an adventure before entering the "real" working world

Other background info:

• Program name: Americas Journalism Training Program. Check out their web site by clicking on the link above. You'll even find pics and stories by yours truly!
• There are three other people with me in the Fall 2010 program. They are all women, around my age (two just graduated college while one is finishing her senior year). One girl is from California, one is from Florida, and one is actually from Wisconsin (she also graduated from the J-School at UW-Madison. We never knew each other but share a few friends and a strong love for MadTown!)
• Where the heck is Buenos Aires? Find it on the map!

Why Argentina?

This was the automatic response I got when explaining that after graduation I decided to pack up and buy a one-way plane ticket to live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For the most part, people were surprised that I would actually choose to live in a foreign country that I had never visited, to live with people I did not know, a place where I did not speak the native language, a place where I did not know a single person, to work in a unknown job, and essentially be fully immersed in a total foreign culture. Yep, that sounds about right.

The honest reason as to why I chose to live in Buenos Aires is more that I did not choose Argentina, but rather Argentina chose me. After graduating from UW-Madison in May 2010, I decided to postpone the two conventional routes for graduates (getting a job or going back to school), and opt for something a little unconventional. No surprise there.

Two years ago, I learned of the Americas Journalism Training (AJT) program after seeing a flyer posted outside of my advisor's office in the Journalism School. My curiosity got the best of me and I chose to investigate a little further. I learned that the sole purpose of AJT is to help student's become bilingual journalists. Now, becoming a journalist was... ehhh, okay. I enjoy it, journalism was an excellent major, but reporting is not my future. Becoming bilingual, however, was the selling point!

What appealed the most to me about this program was the opportunity to travel to a somewhat unconventional Spanish-speaking country, live with a native Argentinean host family, attend intensive Spanish classes and weekly journalism seminars, all while honing my craft by working at an internship that related to what I'm good at: communicating. Plus, the thought of living in the metropolitan, capitol city of Buenos Aires simply added to the program's appeal.

Bienvenido Argentina!

Welcome to my blog!

First, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this. The purpose of this blog is to share my various experiences, thoughts, and stories with you while I'm living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Visit this blog for frequent updates and a sneak-peak into some of my stories, insights and challenges while living abroad. This space is intended to create discussion, so I encourage you to comment and ask questions. Enjoy!