The final day

What a wonderful start to our last day in Buenos Aires, we got to actually sleep in…only until 9 that is!! We unhappily packed our bags and said goodbye to our home for the last week. Since our flight was not until later in the afternoon, we were able to spend the day on our own doing whatever we wanted. Most of us decided to spend the day shopping and touring around. Deena, Charles, Kevin, Rachel, and I decided to have an adventure and ventured onto the Subte (their subway) for the first time. We went to the market at Recoleta to get some last minute jewelry, gifts, and other very important things that we couldn’t leave Argentina without!!

Around lunchtime the whole group met up in Palermo to savor our last empanadas together and of course share some pizza. We reflected on the fantastic week we had shared together, laughed at all our inside jokes from the week, and basked in the sun. After lunch it was time to head back to the hotel to get our bags and board the bus to the airport. We hugged our friends from Virginia Tech and Kenyon College and sadly got on the bus, although I think secretly some of us were somewhat excited to have 10 hours on the plane to sleep since that was about as much sleep as we had gotten all week.

I think we all learned a lot this week about what it truly to means to give. We figured out that “when you give yourself, you receive more than you give” because we all grew and gained so much from this experience. Our conversations about poverty, tzedakah, and how this experience has changed us are hopefully just the beginning to how we can all make a difference in not only Argentina but also in our communities at home and others around the world. Although sometimes we felt like were just simply putting a “band-aid on a body that had been cut in half”, I believe we did more than that. We helped to give the people and kids at IERU a little bit of hope for the future especially knowing that they have our support in America.

–Bekah Shaw,
UNC-Chapel Hill, Class of 2011

Jillian and Victor sleeping in the airport

Silly picture by the water at Puerto ModeroNC Hillel group at Hillel Argentina

Friday, March 13- Reflections

Today was our last day volunteering at IERU, and all of our projects came to a conclusion. We were able to see our hours painting turn into a mural and a fresh environment for learning and play, our cleaning turn into space to have separate classes for separate age groups, and our efforts turn into real improvements for the Jewish community at IERU.

I think we have all learned a lot about ourselves, the way we relate to the world around us, and the power we have to make important changes and help our peers. As we prepare for Shabbat, we are reflecting about questions that have been raised on this trip that are difficult to answer but exciting to try to figure out. Topics like the meaning of poverty and of being poor, the importance of helping those in our community versus those who may be suffering more but live further away, and whether or not helping other Jews should be a priority in tzedakah have all become very real and tangible to us this week.

I hope that our experience in Buenos Aires has expanded our perspectives and helped us to find our own answers for these questions, and I can’t wait until we discuss these questions further and can share more after Shabbat.
 
–Deena Fulton,
UNC-Chapel Hill, Class of 2011

The symbol in the mural represents the US-- Washington Monument, and also the monument in the center of Buenos Aires, which looks similar!

Finished Mural- Part 2

We just finished cleaning/organizing the school and students had a dance party to celebrate!

Everyone was so excited we finished our work for the week!

Rachel, Deena, Alex, Sarah, and Bekah before Shabbat

Painting, La Boca, and Asado

Today started off the same as every other on this trip: at an ungodly hour and with me wishing I had gone to bed earlier. The reason for this lack of sleep will be evident later in this passage. After breakfast we all piled on the bus and took a quick power nap prior to arriving at the school. The initial time spent at the school was used to paint the doors as part of our revitalization project. Long, extended brushes were used to paint the crevices and some paint splattered. I then got my workout in for the week as we moved large boxes full of paper to a recycling plant. My arms are still recovering. The boxes contained paper that we had accumulated by cleaning the school. After relocating the massive boxes to the recycling center we were met with an unwanted surprise. The paper had to be sorted by color. Reinforcements were called to aid in this massive project (since the amount of boxes truly was enormous) and with everyone’s help we were able to sort all the various colored paper.

After lunch the entire group went to La Boca which is a touristy neighborhood that has been transformed into a shopping venue. The area is right next to the Boca Jrs. Futbol Stadium and is brightly colored. I opted out of shopping and instead sampled more of my favorite Argentine food, empanadas. After leaving there we arrived at the hotel for free time and a much needed nap.

The next part of the day was by far my favorite. The entire group went to a kosher restaurant that serves all you can eat asado. Asado is a variety of grilled meats that are cooked a certain way and it is absolutely amazing. After this stupendous dinner we then went out to sample the local nightlife. Having been here before I was prepared for the craziness that is Argentine clubs. That being said one does simply not get accustomed to dancing all night long, literally.

–Michael Savage,
UNC-CH Class of 2011

Victor painting the oustide railing

La Boca

Kosher-- all you can eat restaurant! Yum!

Alex, Sheila, and Kevin at Dinner

Michael and Michael both stuffed after the all you can eat dinner!

Tango

Today our small school group had a very enlighten discussion on poor vs. poverty and happiness vs. being rich or poor. This opened up our eyes. We shared our own personal thoughts on what it means to be poor and issues that arise from being poor. This conversation gave us the opportunity to discuss our reactions and feeling to the service we had been doing. We talked amongst our group, very openly and honestly, about how what we were doing was impacting the community and us while being in Argentina.

We finished our talk and continued cleaning and working on the Jewish day school.

After our service, we toured a museum about Jews in Argentina. This museum also had two beautiful synagogues inside. We finished our afternoon with a small bus tour of part of the city and walking and taking pictures of the Bridge of Women. After dinner at Hillel, we were taught the Tango. We had a quick lesson on the steps to dance the Tango then we watched an amazing Tango performance. The entire group loved this opportunity to experience Argentinean culture.  

Quotes of the day:
“Change your outlook on life”
“Body cut in half and we are putting a Band-Aid on the not bleeding part”
“He’s singing to Charles”
“If you’re not seeing then how can you change your mind-set on life?” 

–Rachel Cohen, UNC-Greensboro, Class of 2010
and Kevin Keys, UNC-Chapel Hill, Class of 2009  

By the water in Puerto Modero

Jillian and Kevin working hard painting the outside stairwell!

Michael and Alex at Tango Lessons

Rachel dancing with the Tango Show host!

Bricks and Babies

Today, we diverted from our continous project to explore more of Buenos Aires. We started by visiting AMIA which is the head of all things Jewish in Argentina. We learned that they provide many free programs to the community for all ages. There was a monument (see pictures below) in the courtyard that we rotated around to see all the different images that represented different things in Jewish tradition.  The monument was to memoralize those who perished in the bombing of the AMIA building in 1994. Inside the building we viewed a short film documenting the attack and the aftermath that eventually brought the community closer together out of the shared sympathy.  It was very sad but it is comforting to see how strong and closer the community is now. Afterwards we visited with baby help which is a nonprofit org that takes care of babies during the day that come from poor families that cannot afford day care. The children were so cute and we just wanted to spend the whole day playing with them and feeding them.  [ a baby almost vomited on me, but its ok!] 

After lunch we went along with the nonprofit org LIFE to a large shanty town which is about 4.5 square miles and houses about 70,000 people living in extreme poverty.  We were there to help out local families, children and work on the community center.  I ended up applying cement to a newly laid brick wall for a soup kitchen run by a local family.  I had the best time and really felt that i was making an impact.  Sometimes i feel my efforts are futile… but now there is a sturdy wall that was not there before and i was a part of that.  soo awesome (and now i know that i have a backup plan to be a brick layer if my education does not work out).  The shanty town was unexpectadly eye opening.  I felt like i was in a movie like ´war inc.´ or something.  While there we were instructed to not speak much on the way to our destination in the slum street because we did not want to draw attention to the fact that we were foreigners.  This was hard for me because i wanted to say hello to all the children and make them laugh.  But of course safety is important. 

For dinner we went to this fantastic restaurant on the water.  Good food, awesome wine, delicious coffee, and everyone from UNC (and american and greensboro) were just enjoying each other.  I was so happy and i had a great time.  After dinner, I finally found my little chico selling flowers outside.  I took a picture with him (then later lost my disposable camera) and gave him 2 pesos for the pic.  Of course after that all the kids flooded me and my bad spanish. haha.  This Argentinian keyboard is so difficult (different keys than in the US) so please forgive the lack of capitalization.  i had a great time today and so excited for the rest of the week.

thanks for reading!
xoxo,
alex michael, UNC class of 2009 
a.k.a. amike

Picture Description:
The foundation of the AMIA (Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina) was founded in 1894. In the 1920s, with the tremendous influx of Jewish immigration into the country, AMIA built a center for Jewish cultural and social activity. Tragically, this building was bombed in 1994 (85 dead), and has since been rebuilt in the same site. A beautiful statue (above) by Israeli artist, Yaacov Agam, stands in the courtyard as a memorial. The AMIA continues to serve as a center for cultural and community events and is the hub of Jewish organizational life in Buenos Aires

AMIA Art by Yaacov Agam, 1

AMIA Art by Yaacov Agam, 2

AMIA Art by Yaacov Agam, 3

AMIA Art by Yaacov Agam, 4

Monday, Workday 1

Monday morning started bright and early with a light breakfast and a long bus ride to our much anticipated destination.  I felt pretty excited, as excited as I could be at eight a.m., to arrive and see just where I was going to be working and what I was going to be doing.  Upon arrival, the IERU looked like a building that had once been in great condition, but now had fallen to disrepair and had been somewhat abandoned.  Our leaders gave us a brief summary of exactly what the uses of the building were and what they plan to do in the future, as well as showing us just what they wanted from us during the following week.  In the past, the building was a school, but unfortunately, it shut down years ago.  Yet, three weeks from now, children will be walking the halls again on Saturdays for a weekly day of Hebrew School.

Our work started with some heavy cleaning, reorganizing and sanding.  We had to clear our box after box and stack book after book just to get to the floor.  Then, the sanding started so that we could put a fresh layer of paint down.  All in all, the day was a successful start.  Multiple rooms were worked on and the end product of the day was a great start on the week.  During the work day, I got to make some friends with other students from Virginia Tech and Kenyon College, a time that I really enjoyed.  It seems that doing unfamiliar work in an unfamiliar place can bring people together pretty quickly.  

Later that night, we celebrated Purim, a Jewish holiday that somewhat resembles Halloween– however, it has much more serious historical significance.  As a huge group, we headed out from Hillel after the celebration to an area downtown to continue the celebration and have a few more laughs. The day had seemed to kick-start the week and bring us a little closer as groups of students.

I´m looking forward to continuing our service work and building relationships throughout the rest of the week!
–Charles Mautz,
UNC-Chapel Hill Class of 2010

Alex, Charles, Bekah, and Rachel at the hotel

Purim costumes-- star and moon toga party!Purim Toga CostumesPurim Toga Costumes

Purim Toga Costumes

Purim Toga Costumes

The group participating in an activity

The journey begins…

March 8th, 2009:

After months of anticipation, organization and fund-raising we landed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We were tired after our ten hour plane ride, but we embraced the beautiful day! Our Hillel-Argentina leaders greeted us at the airport and provided us with an itinerary for the week. We dropped our bags off at our hotel centrally located in Belgrano, a residential neighbourhood in Buenos Aires. We spent the afternoon at Hillel a beautiful, welcoming, and antique community center. Virgina Tech and Kenyon College joined us in the garden for brief introductions and orientation games. We boarded a bus for a city tour of Plaza Francia in Recoleta and Palermo. Some of us took a walking tour through La Recoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron is buried. We wandered through the handicrafts markets and engaged in the rich Argentinean culture. Finally, we ate a falafel dinner at Hillel and went back to the hotel to catch up on much needed sleep. Most of us agreed that our favourite part of the day was exploring the area, purchasing local foods, admiring artwork and practicing our broken Spanish! 

-Jillian Vogel, UNC Class of ´12

All of us in the airport!