Week 2 In Cordoba

I´m slowly getting into the Argentina lifestyle--dinner anywhere from 10:30 to midnight or even after. I still wake early, which is nice since my housemates, all staying up later than me, sleep til 11 or so, allowing me quiet time to read, study Spanish, work on my blog or the project I came down here for.

The past week and a half has had its ups and downs. I started Spanish lessons with a Angentine who teaches English, but had never taught Spanish. I´m now at a school so feel I´m learning much more. I still can´t speak much, but am overcoming some of the hurdles I´ve stumbled over in the past. I´m staying in a house with college age students who all speak Spanish well. While I´ve always managed to fit in with other younger people on my volunteer vacations, I fit in less well here. Maybe because they are all college age. At least the woman I´m in Spanish class with is more my age, so I´m hoping we´ll get together some outside class, but that won´t be for a week or so.

I´ve had several meetings, two with a governmental cabinet that is sponsoring a summer program for people with disabilities. It´s just starting because of a change in the administration, so they´ve now missed much of the Summer, which begins in December here. In the first meeting, there was a big question of me even going because of my lack of Spanish, but they like my resume, and I guess they think the participants will benefit from meeting people from other countries. The second was to cover logistics, more for the Argentine team than the French girl and I. We´re off later today for the Sierras, the low lying mountains just west of Cordoba. In total there will be 600 participants, with our group being around 50. Being in the mountains along a river, there are many outside activities planned. I´ve volunteered to be the photographer which will provide some stimulus even if I can´t understand what´s being said.

Yesterday we met with the Director of AYSAND. This is the organization for which we will prepare a marketing plan, along with the French girl, she also being "muy" helpful in translation. It was a long meeting, the Argeninian way, meandering conversations wih mate, the local drink here. It´s a cup packed with what appears to be loose tea leaves that you drink from a metal strainer/straw with or without sugar. One person drinks all the mate, then it´s refilled with hot water for the next person. There´s always a master of the pot, making sure everyone who wants mate gets their turn.

There are many things common among non-profits between here and the states, so my experience in Minnesota will be helpful. This organization, which works with children with disabilities, is much in need of funds, tools, equipment for patients and basic office equipment. They do have two computers but don´t currently have access to the internet at their office. They are about midway through the construction of a new building but don´t have the funding for the other half, the first half being funded by the government. The vast majority of their budget is government funded, which is precarios. Government funding once stopped for 8 months, and the staff stuck it out the whole time without salaries. Now that´s commitment, and a marketing story. They´ve apparently put together marketing materials as needed, but were only able to provide me with one piece from 1999. Needless to say there are many opportunities here, and a willing staff to move plans forward. With the new building, they can provide services to the community for a fee and petition for more government funding, which will certainly help their financial situation since their patients are at the poverty level.

The custom here is to greet each other with a kiss (just one side). This applies in all situations from what I can tell. So here we are in business meetings, being introduced to directors in the government and kissing each other hellow and goodbye. I certainly can´t see me doing this in the states, but maybe we can learn something from this custom. What´s funny is that my French friend says this is the custom in France, but they don´t hug, nada.

I´m going with the flow here, and the flow means I must now finish my collage for my introduction at camp tomorrow morning.

Adios.