Hello again! After a busy second week, I am ready to share some more stories about living in Tucumán – including a trip to Monteros, a retreat in San Pedro, new friends, and an afternoon in El Cadillal.
On Monday, Sister Carolina brought Trevor and me to Colegio Santísimo Rosario in the small city of Monteros, which is located to the south of San Miguel de Tucumán. We woke up early to catch the bus to Monteros, arriving at the school before the sun even rose. Once we arrived, we were warmly welcomed by the teachers and students, and we had the opportunity to visit a variety of primary and secondary English classes throughout the day. Sister Carolina also took us for a walk around the city and pointed out some important sites, including a church that houses a Marian image that (so the legend says) cried real tears 300 years ago. Before heading home for the evening, we had the privilege of watching the Monteros students perform their commemoration of El 25 de Mayo. The ceremony was lively, entertaining and clearly well-rehearsed! The students were dressed up in a variety of costumes and performed synchronized dances with props. They even handed out empanadillas (like an empanada, but filled with sweet potato) and hot chocolate at the end of the performance. I have really enjoyed learning about Argentina’s patriotism through the eyes of the children in the colegios!
This student is dressed up as a “slave” for a dance. I found it so interesting how something that would be considered racially insensitive in the US was completely normal here! A lesson in cultural nuances 
More members of the slave dance 
After our Monday visit to Monteros, we resumed our usual morning schedule in Yerba Buena. During a break I had the chance to sit outside and appreciate the school’s beauty and open structure.
Some lovely flowers 🙂 
I love how the passages between classrooms are all outside – fresh air feels lovely in between classes!
On Tuesday afternoon we deviated again from our normal volunteer schedule to attend a two-night retreat to the mountain town of San Pedro with the girls of 6B at the Santa Rosa sede central. I learned when we arrived at the retreat center that the 24 girls in this group (all of whom were 17 years old) had been attending retreats at this very location each year that they have attended Santa Rosa. This retreat was to be their final one as a whole group, which meant that the girls were quite nostalgic about their times at this site. As someone who attended public schools growing up, I never went on a retreat before. Seeing how excited and emotional the girls were about their final stay at San Pedro made me even more interested in what the retreat would entail.
The teachers who led the retreat – Julia, Angie, María Luz and Rosita – were all amazingly patient, well-organized, and well-spoken. I loved how each teacher played her own special role in the facilitation of discussions about faith and vocation. They made the experience interactive yet personal, relaxing yet inspirational, and informative yet enjoyable.
The first night we watched an American movie called Con Honores (With Honors), and the teachers used the themes of this movie to guide discussions about vocation and the values that truly matter in life. Rosita commented to Trevor and I that she really appreciated our presence on the retreat because of the different perspectives we could offer to the discussions, especially about the film. Rosita’s kind words made me feel so useful during this retreat, especially because I struggled to figure out if my presence was actually valuable or not. I had never done a retreat before or led deep discussions about faith, so I worried that my accompanying the girls on their retreat might not be helpful for their experience at all. Rosita’s encouragement helped me recognize that in discussions of faith and vocation, it is always better to have more voices and more hearts joined together in conversation.
During the second day of the retreat, Rosita asked Trevor and I to discuss with the group a little bit about the path that led each of us to our current fields of study and decision to apply for this service trip. To be honest, this request made me quite frazzled: I had to speak about my personal life/goals/plans (all of which are still very uncertain at this moment!) to a group of people I barely knew in a language that I am still learning. I began to speak before I even knew what I wanted to say. My Spanish was horrible – full of stutters and “um’s” – and I don’t even remember what message I was trying to convey to the group. One of the students later commented to me that she thought I didn’t know Spanish because of how much I struggled (ouch!). I dwelled on that embarrassment for quite some time during the rest of the day, wondering why it was so hard for me to explain why I love history, why I want to study Spanish, and why I decided to apply for this fellowship. Even though I was disappointed in my inability to offer a clear story to the group, I think that my panicking about what I wanted to say provided me a valuable lesson. That lesson is that I don’t know what my vocation is, even though I am 3/4 of the way done with undergrad. I love what I study and I love going to school, but I am still figuring out what these passions might lead me to do in the future. I can already see that this trip and the people I have met so far are little by little guiding my heart to find out exactly what my vocation is.
On the second night of retreat, we took a walk to a shrine that was about 20 minutes from the retreat center. The night was chilly but comfortable, and I really enjoyed spending time chatting with the girls on the walk and praying in silence when we reached the shrine.
Here are some photos from our time at the retreat!
The cute and quaint chapel at the retreat center 
A friend who joined us to pray 
I may or may not have been feeding the dogs, and they may or may not have followed me home… 
A lovely campfire – complete with songs and funny stories 
The Shrine 
Trevor and me with our new friend Flor, a volunteer and Santa Rosa alum.
After returning from the retreat on Thursday afternoon, we resumed our usual afternoon schedule at Santa Rosa in the center of the city and returned home for dinner. Thursday’s dinner table was smaller than usual because most of the sisters were traveling or otherwise occupied. Trevor and I expected to only see Sister María del Carmen at the dinner table, but, to our pleasant surprise, Sister Gladys, a member of the community who we had yet to meet, also joined us. Gladys had been in Buenos Aires for the past six weeks recovering from a knee replacement surgery. I had already heard so much about Gladys from the other sisters, so it was great to put a face to the name and to get to know her over dinner.
Friday morning marked our last day at the Buena Yerba campus because, for the next two weeks, we will be volunteering at the central school in both the morning and afternoon. I spent my last morning in Buena Yerba in three primary school classes: first, second and third grade. I received many sweet cards from the students and participated in some of their English vocabulary games. The third graders were learning about fruits and vegetables in English class, so I received many questions like “Do you like potatoes?” and “Do you like bananas?” I got a good laugh out of these questions because I am more accustomed to spending time in secondary classes with older students who prefer to ask about movies, music and university life!
In the afternoon I had my final class period with the students in sixth grade and first grade at the central school. The sixth grade class, which is entirely girls, is such a sweet and welcoming group. Over the past two weeks that I have spent visiting their English class, I have noticed that many of the shier students have become more confident in the speaking abilities. Some of the girls were so nervous about speaking English in front of the class the first few days that I visited, but on Friday they all took turns proposing questions to me in English and even answering some of the questions that I offered to them in English too!
My final class with the six-year-olds of grade 1B was filled with singing, dancing, and English vocabulary about the parts of the body. Even when the kids in this class are a little fresh, it is impossible to get frustrated with them – they’re just so cute!
Getting ready to bust a move during the hokey pokey! 
As cute as the first graders are, though, I know that I am not destined to be an elementary school teacher! I love volunteering in their classes, helping with their coloring assignments and dancing along to educational songs with them, but I know that I would be completely worn out if I were to teach elementary school for a living! Props to all of the elementary school teachers out there: I admire your patience and stamina. Mariela, the teacher I have been working with, has been teaching first grade for 22 years. She always says to me with a laugh, “I am too old for this!” as we jump around to the Pinocchio Song or “Baby Shark.” Even though Mariela jokes about how exhausting teaching can be, I see in the way that she instructs the kids, helps them with their work, and listens to their concerns that teaching is truly her passion. She has been such a great example for me of a person living out her vocation, even though I am pretty sure my vocation will not involve elementary school children. I hope to find a job that brings me joy even on the tiring, patience-trying days.
Sister Cynthia returned from a conference in Rome on Friday afternoon. We finally had the privilege of meeting in person the lady who makes this whole trip possible! Although I felt like I already knew Cynthia from our many emails and FaceTime calls, it was so wonderful to have her here in person. The sisters’ house feels even more like a home now that all of the members of the community are here.
On Saturday we were supposed to accompany some other volunteers on a mission to La Soledad, an impoverished and isolated community outside of the city. Unfortunately, the recent rainfall made the dirt roads leading to La Soledad unsafe for travel, so we had to cancel the mission. It is hard to imagine a community so isolated from the rest of the province that rainfall makes it inaccessible to the outside world, but this is the reality of the town’s residents. When rain makes travel unsafe, the residents cannot access medical care or send their children to school. I am hoping that our mission to La Soledad is rescheduled for another weekend so that I can finally meet the members of this resilient and inspiring community.
Since we had an unexpected free day, Trevor and I decided to walk next door to the Santa Catalina school to visit our friends in Infancia Misionera that we met on our first trip to Benjamín Paz. We chatted with the teachers and kids, then participated in a writing exercise where we had a chance to describe our experience in Benjamín Paz. I love listening to Miguel Yunes, the pastoral director, speak to the girls about the purpose of service. He makes Christ’s example come to life with his encouragement and detailed explanation of the Gospel. I am so thankful to have met Miguel, the other teachers and the students on our first full day in Tucumán. Their positivity and commitment to service continues to inspire and uplift me during this trip.
After resting a bit, we had merienda with one of Cynthia’s nieces, Pauli, and two of her friends. All of the people our age who we have spent time with here have been so outgoing and welcoming. We enjoyed an outdoor merienda and good conversation at a café nearby, chatting about Pauli’s experience as a hostess at a hotel in Aspen, CO and the similarities between university life in Argentina and the US. I had a delicious café con leche and acaí bowl that I have been thinking about ever since (I wish I took a photo because it was as beautiful as it was tasty!). Saturday was a perfect day to recover from the busyness of the week and refuel before our Sunday adventure.
Before our Sunday day-trip, we of course had to fuel up with a good lunch. I finally tried one of the famous empanadas that everyone here raves about (cheese only in mine!). They are certainly worth all of the hype!
After lunch, Sister Cynthia invited Trevor and me to join her and her niece, Trini, for a trip to the picturesque town of El Cadillal, which is about a 30-minute drive from the city. Trini also brought with her a friend that she had met recently named Agathe. Agathe is from France and is staying in Tucumán for four months to work for a company that studies agricultural productivity. It was funny to be in a car with two Americans, two Argentines and one French girl all speaking Spanish with a variety of accents!
At El Cadillal we took a boat ride across the lake, drove around to see some of the mountainside, and sat in the grass for a while chatting and sipping mate. Cynthia is a great photographer and took a ton of photos.
Me, reluctantly sitting in the captain’s chair for a photo 
Safety first! 
At the amphitheater 
In my natural habitat 
Captain Agathe! 
Sunday night dinner was the first time we have seen all of the sisters in the same room! They are such a busy group of women, so it was quite a privilege to have all of them sitting around the same table. Trevor and I took advantage of this “perfect attendance” to give the sisters the gifts that we brought from home. All of our gifts were things that are native to New England: a bag of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, maple syrup, saltwater taffy and a framed postcard from Providence, RI. I think the sisters really liked the gifts, especially the taffy. These regalitos were the least we could offer as a thanks for their opening their home to us for six weeks!
Those are all of the updates that I have for now! More coming soon – ciao!
Shannon's Smith Fellow Adventure 