Hi everyone!

If I have learned 1 thing over the past few months and actually over the past few years, it is (without a doubt) patience. In August, I finally saw my dream come true: I was hired by a company in Argentina and would return this year to the country where I lost my heart.

Although I knew about the slow-moving operation in Argentina, I never expected to still be in Belgium in December. I had normally planned to leave at the end of October, after my graduation because of course I didn’t want to miss this! Unfortunately, time flew by and I actually knew little about the state of progress until the end of November. What I did recently? Not much… I still tried to meet up with friends as much as possible and tried to earn some extra money by babysitting. I didn’t want to look for anything temporary because I assumed I could get news and leave any time.

Last week’s good news made me think I could finally set a departure date, but nothing could be further from the truth. At the embassy, it turned out that there were still a few things to be sorted out in Argentina. The good news, though, is that once everything is arranged, I can pick up my visa within the week. So it may well be that things will suddenly move quickly, which I am secretly relieved about. I have waited so long that the adventure may start as soon as possible for me.

As I now have a better perspective on things, I am also beginning to realise more that it is almost time to say goodbye. Although my heart is on the other side of the world, I know there are certain things and people I will undoubtedly miss. I will of course visit from time to time, but for the moment, I feel it is especially important to focus on the new challenges that await me and to settle into this new but beautiful environment.

3.5 years ago, the adventure in Argentina ended for me. The pandemic forced me to leave the country and say goodbye to my host family and friends. I think I can say for all my fellow exchange students that coming back was far from easy. In this very long period, of course, a lot has happened that I would like to share with you today.

In September 2020, I started studying Tourism and Leisure Management. During my studies, I got the chance to study a semester in Barcelona and do an internship in Malaga. These were two special experiences that taught me a lot and from which I have kept several good friends. I am obviously very happy that I was able to do these things, but regardless, Argentina always remained in my mind.

In the summer of 2022, I took my chance and joined TUI as an Airport Service Officer at the International Airport of Ostend-Bruges. I never imagined that I would end up with such a wonderful team and that I would get to do such a fantastic student job. A few days ago, I had to say goodbye to this job and my colleagues to make place for my big dream: moving to Argentina. It was not an easy goodbye, but I just knew that these sacrifices are part of the bigger plan. In August, I also had to say goodbye to my volunteer work that I started when I was 15 years old.

October 2023, I don’t have to go to class or work anymore, but I have to arrange everything for the big adventure. In November, I will start working as a private guide in Awasi Iguazu, in Argentina and that involves a lot of paperwork. The processing of my work visa application is going slowly, so I have not yet had a chance to book my flight. I hope the process speeds up and I can leave by the end of October. It’s so exciting! Honestly, I don’t yet realise what’s about to happen.

I can’t tell you much about this yet, but I will definitely take you along on this adventure and hope to keep you updated as much as possible on everything I will experience in “the jungle” 🙂 . Soooo, stay tuned!!

Here I am. Again. It has been more than a week since I said goodbye to my family and friends, to my town of Gualeguay and Argentina and that was anything but simple. Although everything seems normal again, it doesn’t feel that way to me. Every day that passes reminds me even more of Argentina.

Thursday the 2nd of April I was told by the embassy that they had arranged a flight for me. A flight that would leave on Saturday the fourth of April. Two days, that’s all I had. Although I knew for almost three weeks that I would have to leave, it was still hard. I was secretly hoping that they would tell me that I could stay but I also knew deep inside that this was impossible. Sooner or later the farewell would come and I couldn’t avoid it. I did my best to enjoy my last days as much as possible but that wasn’t easy. Certainly not with the whole coronavirus situation. In spite of that I was able to say goodbye to some friends and I was very happy about that. I may not have been able to say goodbye to everyone as I would have liked but I was able to say goodbye to my best friends. That was the only thing that really mattered to me. It allowed me to leave home with a little peace of mind.

Saturday morning, the day I left. Honestly, it was weird. I could hardly believe I had to leave then. With everything I have thought of this is the last time I… It is the last time I sleep here, it is the last time I have breakfast here, it is the last time I shower here. At ten o’clock there was a taxi outside with which I was going to Buenos Aires. It was time to say goodbye. In summary it was just very difficult and sad. Saying goodbye to this family that I can now proudly call my family was heartbreaking. That bond we’ve built up in these seven months wasn’t just a bond. I just feel that. It was special and always will be. I’ve felt so happy in those seven months, I’ve felt so loved and I’ve had an incredible laugh. I’ve been incredibly lucky to think that fate had brought us together. I’m really sure of that and of course I’m incredibly grateful for that. I can still remember myself doubting my choice of country. I had to choose a program and give up at least three countries. I really only wanted Argentina and Bolivia but those were two different programs and because I could not choose I chose the program of Argentina and that of two other countries. If the organization wouldn’t choose Argentina for me I would just change programs. Because I could. Then it would be university in Bolivia. So it’s fate that decided and made it clear to me where I had to be. Preferably I would have stayed there but I also know that this was impossible. Although this chapter of my life turns out to be closed I know deep inside that this is not really the case. Even though my exchange is over I just know that I will return. For a trip or maybe I decide to study or live there. Who will know? In the end, it will tell itself.

In the end it was Sunday night when I finally came home. It was a long journey. Way too long. It started with a three hour drive to Buenos Aires with several checks, several hours at the airport, a twelve hour flight to Germany because there was no flight to Belgium, then another hour in the train to Köln where finally my parents were waiting for me and then finally to drive home which was another three hours drive. All in all it is of course quite a lot and that was clearly noticeable afterwards. Until today I still feel something hanging in my body. The tiredness is certainly not completely gone yet, but that is the least of my worries. During this lockdown I will have enough time to catch up on my rest. Now we are just over a week away and I have to admit that the first week passed surprisingly quickly but I could feel an emptiness from day one that I still feel for the time being. It’s as if the more days go by the harder it gets and I’m starting to realize that I really do miss it. That feeling won’t go away right away, I know that too. Maybe I will continue to feel that because it has been a very important period/experience for me. Anyway I will have to fully adapt to life here again and for that I will have to be patient for a while. All in all, I’m fine. Of course I would like to meet up with friends, just like you guys, now with what I have behind me I could really use it but unfortunately we will have to wait a while for that.

So there is really nothing more to say. As you’ve read I’m home, my exchange is done and despite I don’t have any Argentinian news anymore I’m still in doubt if this will be the last post. For the time being I still have some ideas that I might just want to work out. Anyway, you will see. Hope everything goes well with everyone!

Big kiss x

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Short update:

Today I found out that my tennis teacher tested positive for corona which means there is a chance that I have it too. Until today I haven’t shown any symptoms but I have been quarantined just to be sure. AFS and my Belgian family have been informed and know that I have to stay here for at least two weeks. It is a big risk to fly home. Secretly I’m glad that I still have at least two weeks here even though I hope that I don’t have it of course and even though I can’t see my friends. It will be a bit of searching what I will do exactly 14 days at home but I am happy together with my family and I see how I will enjoy myself. In the end I am not the only one with the same problem. Hopefully everyone is doing well, it is certainly not nice to be locked up like this but at the moment it is necessary. Take good care of yourself and each other of course.

“If you have any ideas for what you can do at home, feel free to send them.”

Honestly, I don’t know how to do this. Unfortunately, this time it won’t be a positive update as always. It will be one of the hardest messages I will ever write.

I knew from the beginning that saying goodbye in July wasn’t going to be easy but that always seemed so far away, until three days ago anyway. Until three days ago everything seemed perfect. I went to school, met up with friends, did my normal daily things. I knew well enough about the situation of the coronavirus but I never thought about the thought that this could cross my path. It started with one infected person in Argentina but gradually the number started to increase just like in any other country and in a few days it came to us. In my little town called Gualeguay. Of all the places in Argentina (Argentina=91 x Belgium) it ended up here in my town. Then it started to get serious and we also had to start paying attention. I for example a little bit more because last week I was told that my tennis teacher is in quarantine because of his friend who tested positive and got the coronavirus. For now I don’t know if my tennis teacher tested positive or not but normally I get more information about that today. Yesterday it was exactly a week ago that I came into contact with him and until today I haven’t shown any symptoms but for now I can’t say with certainty if I am safe or not. Still, this is not the reason for what I will tell you now.

Three days ago, I was in my room with Giuli. Everything seemed perfect until my contact at home called us to come to the kitchen. I knew immediately what was wrong when I saw her face but I was anything but ready to hear the hard truth, let alone accept it. She told me I must return to my country because of the coronavirus and I’m not going to lie, I don’t want to and I’ve felt incredibly bad ever since. I have no appetite, I sleep badly; for example, the first night I didn’t sleep at all, I saw every hour go by. As if it wasn’t bad enough, I have to deal with hours of crying and there is nothing or no one that can calm me down. Or at least not right away. Last night Giuli had tried to calm me down but it was a lost cause or it seemed for a long time. After that my mom came by because she couldn’t see it anymore and listened so she also tried to calm me down a bit. She told me that if I didn’t calm down I would make myself sick and I know it doesn’t do me any good but it’s not as simple as it seems. She also told me things like that despite the distance nothing will change, that we will be together again soon and so much more and maybe those things caused more tears in the beginning but in the end it was what I really needed, that I really needed to hear then. She also told me not to focus too much on my return to Belgium for now but more on when I would return to Argentina. To see the positive side of it. Not that I didn’t know that yet, but I needed someone to remind me of that. After a long talk she finally managed to calm me down and I slept much better that night.

I think it is clear that I am not having an easy time with it. And it won’t get any easier in the coming days, weeks. For the time being they can’t tell me with certainty when I have to leave and that’s worst. The uncertainty. The uncertainty about how much time I have left with my family and how much time I have left to meet my friends. I therefore hope that it won’t be so long before I get further information and I hope with all my heart that I can stay here as long as possible. I really hope so because I already know and feel that I am going to miss it here, and not even a little bit. My family, my friends, my city, the warmth of the people, the way of life, and I can go on like this. I don’t lie when I say I’ve lost my heart here. I’ve felt incredibly happy in the months I’ve been allowed to stay here. Although I was hoping I would have more time, I am truly grateful that I was given the opportunity to do so. I have created memories that will stay with me forever and it is those very things that I am holding on to right now. They can stop my program and send me home but they will never be able to take those memories away from me.

So for now I can only try to enjoy as much as possible of the time I have left and of course hope for some good news but an early return is certain. I will keep you informed so it is certainly not my last message that I will be with you in the near future. Strength to any other exchange student who currently has to go through the same thing. We get through this together.

Stay safe everyone x

I’ve been here for almost six months and of course I’ve been through a lot of different things but if I have to pick one something special it’s the one I’ve been through recently. To be precise, Saturday night.

Saturday night I had a very special experience, an experience I would remember forever. Together with Giuli, my oldest host sister, I danced in the carnival parade. Strange idea would you think if you know how the carnival is going here in South America. Although I thought the same thing, I didn’t have to think twice about my answer when they asked me if I felt like doing this. Something I learned pretty quickly is that I have to take an opportunity when it is offered to me. I don’t experience an exchange twice in my life so I want to enjoy it one hundred percent and at the same time that means I have to step out of my comfort zone once in a while. Although I didn’t always think about that, I am more aware of that now. I just need to get rid of the uncertainty and fear, think less and just do more. So in the end that’s what I had done.

It was Saturday afternoon and we were pretty tired because the night before we had the birthday party of Neri, my youngest host sister. Luckily we still had the siesta so we could catch up on our sleep a bit. After that someone did our make-up and although we thought we would have more than enough time left, we were running out of time. It all happened so fast then. We had one hour to eat something, get dressed and leave for the carnival. Believe it or not, I had more stress at that time than in ‘el corso’.

Eventually the moment arrived. After waiting for a while it was finally our turn and although I had expected worse I didn’t seem to have any stress in the end. Nothing. Really weird. It seemed like I had already done this more in my life. What in reality were twenty minutes felt like two minutes to me. I can remember being so incredibly happy and anything but tired. I didn’t really want it to end, I liked it so much. It was so special. The music, the euphoria, everything together. If I get the chance to do it again I’ll do it without any doubt and if not I’ll at least have that one time experience I’ll never forget.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Yesterday it was finally my host sister Nerina’s big birthday party.
Thursday she turned 15 and as I said in my previous messages this is a important age here in Argentina.
The girls may choose between a big party or a trip.

Good thing my sister chose the party because it was great. We had a lot of fun and ate a lot. From pizza and empanadas to ‘la mesa dulce’, (la mesa dulce is actually a big table with all kinds of sweet things to eat) which everyone was secretly waiting for. Okay, maybe it was mostly me who was looking forward to it… and of course such a special evening also caused some tears.

I knew in advance that such a birthday party is a bit emotional, but when they played the video with photos I had a hard time. For the first time I really started to realize how much I will miss them. A kind of pain that I can hardly describe but that I felt all over my body. It might sound crazy because I don’t have to return until July but I also know that those 5 months will pass quickly and I know that goodbye is coming. The idea was that I was also going to read something but I had already put that out of my head because I had doubts about my text and if I wanted to read for so many people. In the end my host sister Giuliana told me, it’s now or never and although I knew I would no doubt burst into tears I thought I had to come and do this. It may not have been completely the way I wanted it to be because I wanted to say so much more but it was enough to let everyone know how I felt and how much I love them.

It’s crazy and at the same time so beautiful, how quickly you can build a bond with someone and it’s crazy how quickly someone can mean so much to you. Before I left for Argentina I certainly didn’t think I would have such a good relationship with my host family. I secretly hoped I would and I had a good gut feeling but I really didn’t think so.
Now, 5 months later I can’t imagine life without them. They are a part of my heart and to me they are so much more than just a host family. Although I am not allowed to think about them for a long time, I know I am going to miss them incredibly much.

The carnival or “el Corso” so we call it here is probably one of the most important events that takes place here in Argentina. For 2 months people here in Gualeguay can enjoy a great parade every Saturday.

Last Saturday I went for the first time with some friends and I really enjoyed myself. I must say that I had already heard from several people that we have one of the most beautiful/best corsos and I could certainly agree with them afterwards. I really like the concept. It brings so many people together and it’s really great to see how much it means to them.

Although I already knew that the Argentines know how to party I was still impressed by the atmosphere and the enthusiasm that was there. Not to mention the music, parade and costumes. Imagine 20 000 people singing along loudly with different Spanish hits, the dancers doing their best (and that every time) and showing off the most beautiful costumes. You can probably imagine it a bit when you think of the carnival in Brazil, but you have to experience it to know what it is really like. So if you want to go on a trip or an exchange to Argentina I can only recommend you to go to the carnival. You just want to experience something like that.

Together with my oldest host sister Giuliana I have the idea to dance in the parade for one night. Just for the experience, I’d do it. How crazy it would be. Of course I can’t deny that I’ll probably be very nervous, but this would be an opportunity I’d just have to take.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

It’s been a while since I’ve written on my blog and honestly that’s because I haven’t thought about it much. So I think it is time to give you another update about my life here in Argentina. Since I’ve done quite a lot of things, I didn’t know where to start. Precisely because of that it seemed best to just take a moment that was most special to me.

On November 30th, which was already more than 2 weeks ago, there was the annual dance show of my dance club “Erika’s fitness”. I normally dance reggaeton but during one of the rehearsals I decided to change to cumbia, another typical latino dance style. Although everything went pretty well, changing seemed the best thing to do because I still had doubts about myself and the choreography. At the same time, cumbia also seemed like a lot of fun to do.

The evening of the show I had a lot of fun, even though there were some nerves involved. It also made me think about the fact that I’m very lucky to be here and to be part of this fantastic group. As you may already conclude, some tears have fallen. Of course. My dance teacher wanted to put me in the spotlight for a moment and with her words she touched me anyway. I had no idea what was happening, I was completely surprised. Dancing in the show was a great experience. It was an emotional evening that I will no doubt never forget. I am very grateful for moments like this and I hope there will be many more.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Within two weeks I’ll be here in Argentina for two months and although I can hardly believe it myself, it’s still a reality. Time goes incredibly fast and that makes me realize that I really have to enjoy every moment. For the time being my return may seem very far away but I also realize that at some point this will come very close.

First of all, I’m fine. It has been quiet for a while around my blog but this was because I actually had nothing special to say. I just went to school and I had the same weekly activities. As I just said everything is going well with me, more than good itself. At the moment I am really happy and that is mainly because of my fantastic family and friends. When I think about it I think it’s really crazy how quickly I’ve gotten close to them and I’m really incredibly happy with that. When people ask me the question “do you miss Belgium?” or “do you miss your family and friends?” I find it strange on the one hand that I answer with no, especially because it was very hard for me to say goodbye. On the other hand, I think this is perfectly normal. Just because I feel so good here and have such a good relationship with everyone, I don’t feel like I’m missing something or I’m missing something that’s very important to me. Of course it is possible that I will suffer from this later but that is not something I am worried about right now.

My Spanish is getting better and better. I am really surprised that this goes so smoothly because in the end I’m only here a little longer than a month. I go to Spanish classes twice a week and at the moment I understand almost everything. (If they talk at a normal pace anyway). Speaking goes well in my opinion but is still not flawless. I find it especially difficult to conjugate verbs at the right time and there are also many words I don’t know yet. Although I still make mistakes, I’m really happy that I’ve grown so much in recent weeks. It gives me a really good feeling!

As I said before, I haven’t done many other things outside the weekend. I went to Rosario two weeks ago. It was the birthday of Charlotte, another Belgian exchange student with whom I came to Argentina. During that weekend I met the group of AFS students from there, celebrated Charlotte’s birthday and of course I went to explore the city with her. I certainly enjoyed it, but to be honest, I’m glad I don’t live in such a big city.

Last Friday I went to the “boliche”, “the disco” for the first time and I loved it! After having slept for a few hours, I left Saturday afternoon already on shock but this time for AFS. Together with Julia, an American exchange student in my city, I travelled to Parana for our second orientation. There we discussed our first month and many other things like the many differences with our own country. Although it was certainly a successful weekend for me, I was especially happy that I could crawl into my bed on Sunday evening.

So, here’s my update. I will certainly keep you posted, see you soon! Chau x