1. 2 years ago 

   EXPANISH

   I’ve now concluded my weeks of Spanish classes at the language institute known as “Expanish,” located in the central district of Buenos Aires, Argentina. These language schools as it turns out are actually very interesting places, one of the main reasons being the access and constant turn-around each week of intriguing people with incredible back-stories.

   The first week is always awkward; I didn’t speak any Spanish, I didn’t know the city at all, and I didn’t know anyone - but of course neither does any of the other people aimlessly wandering the reception area in Expanish. And therein lies a nice community sentiment: we can find a family of like-minded folks with whom to explore and experience the local culture and customs.

   Unlike in Freiburg, most of the people here are native English speakers, and also unlike Freiburg everyone at Expanish is (supposed to be) over 18, making me the absolute youngest of the group. Ages thus ranged from the late teens to the 40s and even older for some people, but of course most people were floating around in their 20s. Likewise, experience and purpose also varied, and were particularly distinct from the crew summering in southern Germany.

   Most of the students at Expanish are either English or Australian (there isn’t a particularly strong contingent of Americans; there is however something of a German one) and most are simply using their time in Buenos Aires as a base to get somewhat comfortable with the language and then take off backpacking around the continent. I was definitely somewhat of an outlier around those parts, seeing as I intend to stay in the city for an extended period of time. But it is without a doubt both interesting and inspiring to hear everyone’s past and plans, and I’m sure one day I’ll have my own chance to travel extensively the continent of South America.

   Just to give some examples: Yes, there are a number of English gap-year kids doing some individual traveling in South America, fresh off the plane planning to see Iguazu, Patagonia, Chile, Bolivia, Columbia, Peru, maybe even Ecuador… One fellow has been living couch-to-couch nearly the past two years through Asia and has now decided to try out the Americas. An American, after doing two years in Kyrgyzstan for the Peace Corps, is doing some Spanish language work and traveling before attending an MBA program in Paris, France. And I’ve mentioned the friend of mine who’s a geography teacher back home in London, but has spent the past three months bussing around sub-Saharan Africa, and has actually just gone off to the south, the edge of the world, and will fly out of Peru in a couple of months. Of course I’m sure there have been some around here who’ve also taken something from my own story, so I suppose ultimately we all have interesting ideas, perspectives, and experiences to share with one another.

   I know I’ve already discussed the free cookies they got goin’ on over at Expanish, but I’ll say another positive is the ‘extracurricular’ activities they have on offer, which includes some sort of sponsored off-site event ranging from city tours to theatre and dinner and occasionally some special excursions, again providing enjoyable and comfortable ways to approach experiencing the city of Buenos Aires. My only real complaint up to this point with my time in Expanish has been that, during class, the focus has been on learning the grammatical functions of Espanol and not necessarily developing conversational language skills that breed control and comfort in daily speaking situations. Fortunately I have regular dinners at my home-stay with which to practice, and that has been quite productive, but I really appreciate the hard-core conversational methods we were using in Germany. Ultimately though, if my competent German is anything to go by, my Spanish should prove fair enough after my time in this country.

   The included pictures show, as captioned, my Spanish teacher Eduardo, along with the members of our class for the last week. Excluding the two ladies on the right of the picture - myself, my balding, African-traveling mate Matt, a 2-year-gapper, Kiwi, and blonde Leah, a constantly confused German from Munich named David, and lastly on the left Zillah from England whom I still don’t really get - are the original class that has been together since week one, when I first arrived.

   Although my formal classes in Expanish have reached their conclusion, I’m still generously afforded access to the facilities, offerings, and people that remain there. So I will be back even while I’m engaging in my volunteer activities in other parts of the city…probably for the free cookies.

2. Notes

So I, Sean Kesluk, left Los Angeles for a 6 month adventure abroad in Europe and South America. After a few weeks studying the Deutsch in Freiburg, Germany, it's two months up north in Hamburg working for the city's Jewish community center. After a brief foray into Sweden, I'll head South to Buenos Aires for some Spanish classes and volunteer work in a La Boca soup kitchen. After that it's back home to the States and national service with AmeriCorps NCCC. With a month of training at the VA medical campus in Perry Point, MD, it 's off to Baltimore for my first project, two months working for The Samaritan Women, a non-profit renovating a hundred-year-old mansion to use as a transitional home for women in recovery from heroin addiction and human trafficking, in addition to expanding a farm/urban garden to distribute produce to soup kitchens, shelters, and those in nutritional poverty. The second project will see us down in New Orleans, LA doing post-Katrina work with The Phoenix of New Orleans, a non-profit which renovates homes for Lower Mid-City homeowners who can't afford to do so.

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