This is the story of my birthday week…Oh ya, and how I traveled from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Ashland, Oregon on July 7th, 2015 (the day I turned 20). Now, I know what you are thinking: “Why on earth would she do that?” I only made this long journey from southern to northern hemisphere because my beautiful aunt, Alexi, was married this past Saturday, July 11th (congrats Mr. and Mrs. McCullough!!<3). Because I was a member of the wedding party and it was important to all of us that I be there, we’d been planning for some time this “mini vacay” from my study abroad experience.
My birthday consisted of what I’ll call the “triple B” package: Bombas, Boca, and Boda. Let’s break it down.
Bombas: Monday night, my friends and I saw a live drum performance called La Bomba de Tiempo which took place at Ciudad Cultural Konex. Frequented by all the locals and recommended by my host-brother, Martín, I felt like this was a great way to kick off my birthday Argentina-style! (watch the clip I took here!)
Boca: The morning of my birthday, we traveled as a class to La Boca, one of the most well-known barrios in Buenos Aires (and now, my favorite). It’s iconic colorful houses and large fútbol stadium only make up a part of its charm. I enjoyed walking around all the little shops and taking photos of the unique scenery…and the morning only got better when everyone sang “Feliz Cumpleaños” at lunch.
Boda: To clarify, boda in Spanish means wedding…so yes, now it was time for me to head to the airport to catch my multiple flights back to the United States! When I finally landed on July 8th at 5PM, my family picked me up from the airport and I got a second birthday dinner (I wasn’t going to say no! haha).
Thursday through Sunday consisted of various wedding festivities (which I was beyond grateful to be apart of) and because I could go on forever about how wonderful everything was, here’s some photos to sum up the weekend!
Now, I’m sitting at the airport ready to fly back…
So you tell me what’s better: celebrating your birthday on one continent or two? Well let’s see…
Despite the 29+ hours of grueling travel in each direction (four flights each way), I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity. I celebrated my 20th with host familia & my familia, new friends & old friends, flan & creme brûlée, South America & North America…and I wouldn’t have had it any other way! A big THANK YOU/GRACIAS to everyone who made this the best birthday yet:)
Alright, there’s my boarding call! Time for me to return to mi casa en Argentina! Hopefully this flight to Buenos Aires goes better than the first. Fingers crossed!
Besos,
Haylie
This week I learned:
that dessert is postre not desierto (this I already knew, but obviously need to rehash in my own brain!)…So when you tell the waiter, “Es posible que después queramos desierto,” you just told him that after eating you’d like to go to the desert. Good job.
to smile when Customs takes your photo at the airport…otherwise, the guard will ask you why you are so upset and interrogate you about your stay in America.
