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Un viaje fantastico

Autumn 2008 is the first time we have students in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Stina Bach is studying Spanish language and Latin American Literature, a study program in cooperation with Vestfold University College (Høgskolen i Vestfold).

I had an incredible adventure on Christian and Eduardo's farm in las pampas. Four hours drive away from the noisy, (but interesting) traffic in Buenos Aires, we got to an amazing harmonic nature in the countryside.

Instead of noise from angry cars, we could only hear beautiful music from happy birds. The impressions were overwhelming, and we were welcomed on the farm as if we were one big happy family. It was a beautiful, big house full of warmness and happiness. Music, laughter, drums, fireplace, wine and delicious food from the great kitchen-workers and the barbeque-master Christian. Can life be better?

Yes it gets even better: on the second day we spent a whole day horse riding in the amazing nature among gorgeous cows and wild horses. With the fresh air running through my body, I felt like a lucky and free creature riding a horse. In the afternoon we all went to the local school to plant trees in the schoolyard. A small school with happy kids and teachers, and again I felt like we were a big, happy family, planting trees together. Knowing that this was important for the school, and to see the gratefulness, made me so happy. I think all the students felt the same. The teachers told us about the future problems with the school. There are more and more people who are moving away from the countryside, and the classes are getting smaller and smaller each year. The consequence could be to close down the beautiful school. I really wish I had an idea to stop this development. Still thinking…

Something I really realized on this trip is the special hospitality in Argentina. There are huge differences between the hospitality-culture here and in Norway! People here are almost giving their souls to us just to make us feel welcome. Christian and Eduardo opened their farm for us

and shared everything with us like a family. This would never happen in Norway. In Norway we have an intimate-limit no one gets by. These limits are not here in Argentina and thank ”God” for that! On Saturday night we went to the local town on a disco. This was an interesting night, first of all the discos do not start to get crowded before 3 am, (when Norwegian bars close). I also did not see so much drunkenness here like I do in Norway. People here enjoy the alcohol in a different way, something we Norwegians can learn a lot from. We danced and played pool till sunrise. A perfect ending on a fantastic day!

I have never felt so comfortable and welcome as I did at this trip to the farm. Even when we do not talk the same language in Argentina and in Norway, there is still body language that we can understand around the whole world, and the body language here is WARM and FRIENDLY. Lenge leve Tierra Fiel (the name of the farm means faithful earth).

- Stina Bach