JUMP TO OTHER ALUMNI ABROAD STORIES:
Zach Gaeta Fall 2007 Argentina : Joshua Farnsworth Spring 2007 Oxford at England : Shannon Banks Fall 2006 Argentina

 

10-18

Dear Amber (UGA Alumni Association),

I am writing to update you on the status of my trip. I am knee-deep in stress from school work but somehow I am managing to hold on. This past weekend I traveled to Montevideo, Uruguay as well as Colonia. The trip was VERY nice. Montevideo is a very small city (not to mention capital) and it to me was more like your stereotypical South American city. The main avenue was not wide nor where there many high rise buildings. The city is located on a peninsula and is surrounded by the same river that encompasses Buenos Aires. The city was similar in style but a MUCH smaller version of Buenos Aires. Colonia is a small town about three hours from Montevideo and it too is on the water. It is a true Spanish colonial style town. It was very interesting to walk through the old colonial style buildings surrounded by cobble-stone streets. I bought a few things, a boat made from Bull horns and some African-influenced Uruguayan artwork. All in all, I enjoyed my excursio!! n to Uruguay for the weekend...it was nice to get out of the hustle-and-bustle of the big city but by the end of the trip I was yearning for my Buenos Aires. I remember thinking, "Im home" when I walked back into the boat dock in Buenos Aires...HOW WEIRD-COOL IS THAT??? HAHA, ENJOYING EVERY MINUTE!!! THANKS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE!!!

SHANNON J. BANKS

P.S. This weekend I will be flying to Iguazu Falls and going into the falls...Im excited about showing all of my pics to the Alumni upon my arrival!!! Sorry I cant send them now but I am on facebook now so you can view my photo albums!

http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=4903402.

 
 

10-06 - Learning a lot more than Spanish

Dear Alumni Association,

I awoke today not to the sounds of taxis roaring through the streets or the sounds of the hustle-and-bustle of the city, but to birds chirping and the sun shining on my face. When I walked out of my apartment building, in that moment I felt, for the first time since I have been here, homesick for my sweet Georgia. We are on the brink of Spring here and the temperature is very similar to Georgia's. The weather is warming up and that excites me considering the winter was pretty harsh.

It's a bit ironic that on the brink of Spring, which officialy starts September 21, I will be heading to the southern part of the country to ski! That's right, this country boy from Bartow County, Georgia will be hitting the slopes next weekend in a city called Bariloche. We purchased the bus ticket, 19 hour bus ride (WOW!!!), for 60 American dollars both ways. The exchange rate here is AMAZING! I will be going with about 5 or 7 other friends from UGA and we will be staying in a hotel and will spend our spring break skiing. I have never skiied before and I am VERY EXCITED!

I am here doing things that I NEVER thought I would do; well, maybe I knew I would try but just not this soon nor in Argentina! Yesterday, the program took us to an "Estancia" which is Spanish for ranch to see how the "gauchos," spanish for cowboys, live. It was very interesting and fun. I was able to experience another first...riding horses! We rode horses, enjoyed the countryside and the "FRESH AIR" (hahaha, considering Buenos Aires is VERY polluted) and ate A LOT of food called "Asado." I am TRULY having the time of my life! Aside from just being here and meeting so many people, learning about new cultures and how other people live I am also experiencing alot of "first-times" and for that I am truly thankful!

However, while experiencing all of this fun, we can't forget about academics (because we have SO much work, hahaha). My linguistics professor is a character. Nonetheless, she is very amicable and personable! I think I enjoy her presence most as well as her class. My literature class is the most demanding because we have TONS of material to read. We share that class with students from Knotts or Knox College about three hours west of Chicago, Illinois. My Advanced Conversation and Composition class is by far the most laidback and unstructured but I feel in this class I will learn most because our class is normally a debate-discussion style class and we have taken many cultural field trips into the city to museums and imporant plazas like the "La Plaza de Mayo" which is where the city was founded by Juan de Garay. My most challenging class is Anthropology! My instructor is from Colombia and he is one of those "deep thought professors." I have no problem with deep thinking but when theres a language barrier its just that much harder or challenging rather. I am also the only student from the states in this class so the professors talks at an unbeleivably fast speed! I am confident in my skills and am sure that I will survive.

Studying abroad, thus far, has been an UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING experience and although I am focused on my academics and enjoying myself I NEVER forget who helped make this possible. I have said it once and I will say it again, without your scholarship assistance I would not be able to enjoy myself as I am being able to down here. THANKS A MILLION!!! I honestly would be living off of credit cards and that would be a HORRIBLE situation! When I return to the states it's going to be my pleasure to speak to the Alumni Association and alums about my experience here and exactly where their money went.

Well, time to go, have about 5,000 pages to read, hahaha. Will be in touch, I'll probably email with pics when I go skiing. If I cant send pics as of now it's not because I dont want to it's because the internet here is too slow to upload the pics and its a little complicated so if you don't get any I'm sorry :( I'll just have to give you an amazing setup when I return.

MUCH APPRECIATION, Shannon Jamal Banks

 
 

09-06 - An eclectic-urban mix of history and progression!!

Dear Alumni Association:

I have been in Buenos Aires for a little over a week now and am thoroughly enjoying myself. Although I must admit initially I experienced a bit of frustration but I would not call it culture shock because as far as culture goes I have been nothing but fascinated since I have arrived. The best way to describe to you or give you some sort of image of where I am living is to ask for you to close your eyes and imagine the bustling streets of New York City; now imagine buildings as far as the eye can see and taxis meandering through what seems to be a very inefficient, not to mention extremely dangerous, manner of driving; now imagine everyone speaking Spanish, or a form of it-castellano. Castellano, pronounced ka-stay-shau-no, more or less, is a different dialect of Spanish and to me seems a bit more sophisticated with an Italian influence.

Just a bit of history, Buenos Aires had a huge influx of immigrants from Italy, Spain as well as France during its development and as a result you can find most families have Italian ancestors. So, onto the more interesting stuff!

THE FOOD HERE IS AMAZING! They eat breakfast in the morning, lunch at about 2:00 or 3:00 and dinner near 10pm. I know, a bit different than what we are accustomed to here in the states but life here doesn't get bustling until about 6:00 or 7:00pm, or 14.00 or 15.00 because we utilize military time here. Buenos Aires is world-renown for their fine meats and I have not seen any reason why this is not true!!! The meat here is unbelievable! I don't know if its in the preparation of the meat or if its what they feed the cows but its amazing! They also eat bread at every meal and I feel that's the Italian influence on their culture.

Speaking of culture, the city life is vibrant and full of culture! It's also known as the city that never sleeps! A normal week here consists of classes, of course, during the week and on Friday nights, dinner around 22:00 followed by either a nap or resting time. Then, this is when the fun begins! Their night-life puts Atlanta to shame; then again it is 5 times bigger than Atlanta. They have bars, clubs, and events going on all year long and the clubs/bars "pop-off," when they are most crowded, around 3:00 and they party until sun-up. I have had the pleasure of doing this once thus far but I am sure that this will become normal, ONLY ON THE WEEKENDS, OF COURSE, AS CLASSES ARE MY NUMBER ONE PRIORITY, : ) .

Even for the most sophisticated of individuals, there are museums, statues, parks and mature social events galore in the city! The exchange rate is amazing right now making everything pretty cheap for us. It's $1 to $3(pesos). And for those who love to shop I have seen everything from Christian Dior, Hermes, Gucci, Luis Vutton to Puma, Reebok and of course the local shops that carry one of everything. Unfortunately for me, its winter down here right now and I am not too fond of winter clothes.

This place is so amazing and I'm sure I'll forget to include something, so forgive me and when I return to the states I'll be MORE THAN HAPPY to tell all! A normal day here for me insists of walking about 20 blocks to class, btw, everyone walks and having a car is a luxury, and having class for about 5 hours followed by dinner. What more can I say??? Too much to tell as of now, well, I shall be in touch I'd love it if you guys and gals responded with questions!!! Again, thanks so much!!!

Shannon Jamal Banks

P.S., too many pics to list them all and explain what’s going on, I'll make a display when I return with more details and leave this part up to your imagination unless you have specific questions.