At the behest of dear Paw Tauzel, I'm attempting to paddle this entry away from the highfalutin end of the language pool...here goes!
After many hours in airport limbo, I hit the ground running in Buenos Aires. Our two-day orientation introduced us to many important, informative, and helpful VIP-types at the Fulbright Commission, the US Embassy, and the Argentina Ministry of Education. Norma Gonzalez, the executive director of the Fulbright Commission was a real treasure; she's the kind of person whose enthusiasm beams through in every smile, and there's no doubt that cultural exchange is her joie de vivre. If I'm ever reincarnated as a highly influential Argentine woman with a penchant for polka-dots, I hope to be just like her!
The orientation gave Fulbright Fellows and referentes (our institutional contact people) the chance to meet. It also served as a forum for discussion about our roles in the colleges and universities that are hosting us this year. Norma explained that, along with assisting in English classes, our primary objective is to meet as many people as possible. Basically we're supposed to spread the good word of Fulbright as cultural exchange missionaries (my words, not hers). That's part of the reason they scattered us all around the country or "in the provinces" as they say, and assigned most of us to small or medium-sized cities; so that we could help promote the program and connect with people who might not otherwise meet very many Yankees in their day-to-day wheelings and dealings.
Liliana (my Referente), Norma (Fulbright Exec. Director) and yours truly
Following the orientation, my referente, Liliana, and I took a luxy overnight bus (with a "bus attendant" who serves you meals and drinks, no joke) back to Rafaela, arriving in the wee hours of the morning. A word about Liliana - I think she may be the one of the most competent human beings I have ever met. Her organizational skills would put most computers, robots, and Martha Stewart to shame. Within a matter of days she has helped me to secure a cell phone, bicycle and host family. Thank you Liliana!
Now, to picture Rafaela, close your eyes and imagine you are transported to a parallel universe, which very loosely resembles Florida circa 1950...well, except that everyone has cell phones, wifi, and mopeds. Anyway, there are about 100,000 people in this affluent little city and the population keeps growing and growing, partly because of the strong agricultural and manufacturing base here, and partly because several universities have opened satellite campuses here in recent years. 
Houses are mostly small, one-story affairs built on postage-stamp lots, but now 4- or 5-story apartment buildings are starting to pop up all around town. If you want to engage in any form of commerce you need to mozy over toward the town square, which is always bustling with activity...unless of course it's siesta time (12pm to 4pm) in which case you won't encounter another living soul. From the central plaza, the city spreads out about 20 blocks in each direction, so walking or biking around is a breeze. This town is adorable, comfortable to live in, and bursting with civic pride. Check out Rafaela's fancy website here.
While living here in Rafaela, my assignment is to assist the English professors at a wonderful college with the somewhat unwieldy name of Instituto Superior del Profesorado Numero Dos, Doctor Joaquin V. Gonzalez; basically a training college for future teachers. Classes don't actually start until the 5th of April but I've been helping out with some orientation programming for first year students.
Freshman class at the profesorado
Otherwise I've been bopping around town, looking for other ways to get involved in the community and pass the time. One day I visited Rafaela's most well-known bilingual school, La Plaza, where a class of eight-year-olds asked me poignant questions, such as: Are you 46? Are there trees in New York? and I know a girl who plays soccer, while climbing over any and all furniture in sight. Their frenetic energy and curiosity made my day! I also visited one of the high school level English classes and was impressed by the students' proficiency. Their task was to listen to a song by U2 and decode Bono's mumbly lyrics, a demanding task even for us native speakers! Liliana, multitasker extraordinaire, not only teaches at the profesorado, but is also an administrator at La Plaza school, and has fostered an incredible exchange program between La Plaza and high schools in New York City and Atlanta, allowing teens to meet peers from another culture, practice speaking another language, and just generally have a TOTES RAD experience International facebook friend request... ACCEPTED! lol bff c u L8r in So. Amrika! XOXOXO
My quest to get integrated in Rafaela has also led me to the Remo Pignoni municipal school of music! Thank heavens for this gem of a resource. I've already signed up for clarinet and piano lessons, and am rehearsing with a little orchestra, the municipal band, and the Rafaela chamber choir, which as luck would have it, is practicing a repertoire of Argentine folk songs this year - SCORE!***ALERT, ALERT! INCOMING FAVOR REQUEST!***
Dear readers, I would be much obliged if you would kindly send me your ideas about beautiful North American folk songs that I could share with my chamber choir. If you have scores of music, great, but I could also just use your thoughts or opinions on great traditional American songs.
That's all for now - keep your eyes peeled for upcoming posts about my charming host family, yummy food, and one-on-one Spanish classes with Tuky, the queen of Rafaela!
...and don't forgot to send me your favorite folksongs - or just post a comment about them below...
...and don't forgot to send me your favorite folksongs - or just post a comment about them below...
