Honestly, there are no words to explain my experience in Argentina so far. But by writing this blog, it looks like I am going to have to try 
. We are in San Juan Argentia and I have never been to a place where all of the people go above and beyond to welcome you and make sure that you are enjoying your time. The people here have been the best hosts and friends to all of us!
I wish I could tell you all about our entire week here in San Juan (because I have been unable to blog everyday) but I will keep it short and tell you about our stay with the host families yesterday. Claire, Amelia, and myself went to our host family’s house and talked for a bit first. We showed them picture of our families and friends and they showed us their pictures. Then the mother brings out a box full of old, broken clay pieces and tells us their story. The family was hiking in the Andes one day and found all of theses pieces in a cave. They collected them and brought them back to the city to be examined by a specialist. They discovered out that what they had found was 2000 year old pieces of clay pots used by the ancient indian people living in the mountains. You could still see the faint paintings they had on them. We were so amazed at the pieces of history the family owned. Then the mother surprised us and told us we could pick a few pieces to bring back home!!!! I was overwhelmed and gracious. We then ate lunch, watched one of the daughters do a traditional dance with a fan from San Juan, and then went to the mountains.
We went to Lake Dieke that also contained a dam. The mountains surrounding the lake were beautiful! We learned that the water level was so low from the lack of snow coming from the mountains and it is a problem in San Juan. Winona is the exact opposite (maybe we should send them some of our snow). Then the family brought us to a resort next to the lake. Since it is winter in Argentina now, there were no people at the resort and the gigantic pool was emptied. But we still got to walk around and take pictures of the amazing Andes in the background. The scene was breath-taking.
Winona girls with our host family daughters
We then had to return to our dorms and say goodbye to our host families. I really wanted to spend more time with them and learn more about San Juan. They were great hosts who welcomed us into their homes with open arms and it was a day I will never forget.
-Megan Erickson
