Dear Readers, It has been a while: Here are my final comments on my foreign exchange trip. This is a letter I submitted to AFS after a few months of reflection. I submitted it about a week ago. Travis Knoll To my fellow Foreign Exchange Students, Members of the Scholarship Committee, I am Travis Knoll a Foreign Exchange student to Argentina, who completed his 5 month foreign exchange trip in July of 2009. I write to all of you today, advisers, fellow students, and mentors, to all of the many people that made this trip possible, to thank you for your [View Full Entry]

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Dear Readers, It has been two weeks since I returned to the US from a very moving and life changing foreign exchange trip, and I have learned about the distinctive culture that is the Latin America of which I will not go into here (some of it is found in the other blogs and some of it one will have to experience for himself). I returned to Miami International Airport at 4:30 in the morning on the 29th and was exhausted, but excited to see my family that day. Due to storms, I paid to schedule an earlier flight and left [View Full Entry]

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Greetings Readers, Today I finally arrived at my last week and have had quite a week. I converted to Catholocism this week and solidified contacts in the University of La Plata. I have gotten many gifts departing including a diccionary of Lumfardo from my aunt, various religous texts, and I CD of over 40 tracks of Tango Music. I am truly happy with my experience and hope that one day I can return here to revisit all of the family that have made my months here so meaningful. I have aken away a more free conception of time (although sometimes I [View Full Entry]

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Dear Readers, I write to you on a sleepy saturday afternoon to tell you about the week that I had. On Sunday I had a nice chat with the Mormon missionaries that Manuella invited to her house to speak about their religion (of course we found many things in common, but some disturbing theological and worldview differences between us). They kindly offered the Book of Mormon and Pearl of Great Price an English Translation to be given to me later in the week. Never refusing a souvenir especially a signed one, I accpeted. We then went to Mass and I was [View Full Entry]

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Dear Readers, The last article you read was rather frusturated as the news of the school closures and my frustrations with conceptions of time domintated that blog. At that time the governement was starting to shut down the essential institutions of Argentina due to the swine flu, something that is never seen in the US. A good example of this difference of style is a message I recieved from the embassy stating that US citizens in returning to the states in time for the fall season should stay in good health, along with various messages about washing your hands and which [View Full Entry]

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Greetings Readers, Last week I went to school like normal. English was absent and I met the priest for my weekly meeting on Wednesday. On Thursday I was sick and thus I stayed home from school and then went to the doctor to get a prescription. I did not go to any activities and missed a football game. Friday I stayed up late doing nothing but talking with my family and slept until 9:00 on Saturday when I woke up to go to a friends house fro German lessons in the morning (the grammar and explanations help my Spanish). Saturday I [View Full Entry]

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Dear Readers, I write to you today from a different household of residents. I have officially joined the ranks of the 10 percent who switch families every year. This time however, it was not me who facilitated the change, but a strange phone call from my host mother to AFS saying that "they could only keep me to the end of June" because of plans that they had in place before I arrived to invite guests to stay with them. In light of this call Monday (five days before I wrote my last blog) AFS started searching for a new host [View Full Entry]

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Greetings Readers, I write to you today in the morning before school, because it is the only time I am really sure I have the computer. This week has been a very strange week indeed, with some strange feelings. As June completes its first weeks, I am staring the trips mortality in the face, all the while reaizing that the trip still does go on. Right after I wrote to you last week, a friend called me to say that at a local (and very beatiful church) there was a choral concert (the YALE chior). There I met many of my [View Full Entry]

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Dear Readers, The last time I spoke to you I had reached my half way point. Now another two weeks has passed and June awaits at the end of this next weekend. None of the months have gone as quickly as May, and I am advised that the weeks will only go faster. I have encountered a few bumps in the road, continued petty conflicts with my older brother (do we not all have them), and down days, but for the most part, I have established a routine, and am learning new things everyday. To list a few: 1. I played [View Full Entry]

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Dear Readers, Last week I told you that I had a normal week. This week the old world reencountered the new in that I obtained an international calling card and a friend offered her Skype to use to make international calls. It is strange to hear your fathers United States accent after so long, but seeing as it was my halfway point of my trip, I have enough footing and life here now where a call to my family and friends back home does not really hurt as it would have had I called during my most difficult times. I talked [View Full Entry]

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