Tag Archives: Spanish immersion

Los Niños

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In 2 weeks we leave Córdoba for the final phase of this crazy adventure before our next one begins!  We will spend time touring Iguazu Falls, Rio de Janeiro, and Manaus in Brazil before touching down in Seattle at the end of July.  Before saying goodbye to so many wonderful new friends in Argentina, it’s time to dig into the impact this parenting experiment has had on our kids.  Deciding to turn our lives upside down for a year and move to Argentina was done so partly out of a selfish need for adventure, but primarily as a gift for our kids.  The time we’ve spent together and the shared experiences are priceless.  It has been both incredibly rewarding and difficult to watch the kids adapt, react and grow over the past year.  We asked the kids to share some of their experiences in Argentina, while Erica and I have summarized our thoughts on how each of them have changed before our eyes.

Elliott

Best memory?  All the asados we went to with friends.

Favorite food?  Costilla (ribs).

What I will miss most?  My friends and all the people.

Favorite place?  Going to Bariloche because there was lots of chocolate, beaches and dogs you could take pictures with, and our house we rented we really fun.

Hardest part?  School and tarea.  The way they do division in school because it’s backwards from how we do math in the United States.

Of all the kids, Elliott seems to have adapted the best to Argentina.  He’s always been a very positive, easy-going child.  He embraced this adventure early on and has seemed the least homesick.  Elliott’s met lots of new friends and integrated wonderfully with a new social circle, thanks in large part to the gracious Córdobeses.  It’s been hard to watch him experience frustrations in school this year.  We fear he’s started to dread school already and worry about the long-term impact this year might have on his academic confidence.   Erica and I take solace in the fact that his spoken Spanish is terrific.  He’s a kid who has always loved sports, so it’s been wonderful to see him embrace rugby.  Elliott never seems more focused or free than when he plays sports.  He’s completely in the moment and engaged.  Joining Club Bajo Palermo (rugby) was a game-changer for all of us, providing an incredible link to the community, new friends and a great way to learn the language for both boys. We’ve also watched Elliott approach adolescence before our eyes in Argentina as girls have shifted from annoying to intriguing!  Of course the smell and drama factors have changed as well, not for the better.

Bariloche made an impression on the boys

Bariloche made an impression on the boys

Ben

Best memory?  Going to Bariloche with Grandpa & Grandma.  There was really good chocolate.

Favorite food?  Chocolate & matambre empanadas

What I will miss most?  My friends & rugby

Favorite place?  Bariloche

Hardest part?  Having a broken collarbone and not being able to play rubgy.  Being a long ways from Chase, Charlotte and Wyatt (cousins).

Ben has always been a home body in many ways.  To this day, he insists he’d be perfectly happy in the same house and same neighborhood in Portland forever.  He’s a kid who needs to know the plan at all times and can be a bit anxious.  Needless to say moving to Argentina has served as forced therapy of sorts for Ben since even the best laid plans don’t count for much sometimes here.  He’s been forced to accept a level of uncertainty and has become more easygoing and flexible over the past year.  It’s interesting that although he’s clearly the most homesick, his language has taken the biggest leap forward.  Ben had only completed one year of Spanish immersion kindergarten when we arrived.  Now he’s easily the most fluent in the family.  His accent and use of local slang marks his Spanish as distinctly Córdobese and seems to come utterly naturally.  Ben has never had the interest or commitment in sport as Elliott, but his experience with rugby this year has definitely fueled his confidence as his height skyrocketed.  This year has highlighted just how different our boys are in school as well.  Despite not being the social animal that his brother is, Ben has excelled in school with almost nonchalance.  For the most part the boys have been a mystery to their teachers in many ways.  The idea of teaching a non-native Spanish speaker is completely foreign.  We might as well be from Mars, but Ben has integrated himself in the system and kept pace at every turn.

Molly

Best memory?  Friends like Maria Lourdes, Sofia, Josephina

Favorite food?  All the pizza, helado y galletas y chocolate and candy.

What I will miss most?  My friends and Violetta and going to kiosco to get Violetta cards.  Also we won’t have a swimming pool in Portland.

Favorite place?  Bariloche because I had my birthday there.  I liked Mendoza too because we cooked pizza and we painted wine.

Hardest part?  I’ve missed my friend Inez and my cousin Charlotte a lot.

Physically, Molly has grown the most since we’ve been in Argentina.  When we got here, she was a 3-year-old.  3-year-olds are babies!  Molly slept in a crib up until we left for Costa Rica last July (mostly because we didn’t want the hassle of buying a bed that we would soon have to store).  She is now a very sassy 4-year-old who sleeps in a big-girl bed, and has told us in no uncertain terms that she expects a blue, pink, and purple big-girl bike with a basket, bell, and ribbons from the handlebars upon our return to Portland.  Molly has grown out of more clothes that I thought was possible for one child in the course of a year.  When we arrived Molly spoke almost no Spanish. We enrolled her in a half day Pre-K nearby for the dual purpose of forced immersion and social interaction.  She wasn’t a big fan of school at first, given the fact that none of her classmates or teachers understood a word she’d say.  Nine months since she began, her comprehension is terrific.  Early in the year she began to constantly ask how to say certain words in Spanish, illustrating her interest and learning process.  When put in a situation where she’s playing with a non-English speaker, she now jumps right into Spanish with no problem.  Molly has always had a strong personality, but we believe this experience has only enhanced her confidence.  In fact we’re a bit worried about her reaction when we return to the States and total strangers no longer refer to her as “princesa,” “preciosa,” or “hermosa!”

While the kids have undergone a tremendous amount of change and growth this year, so too has my own parenting style.  I’m closer to my kids than ever before and I’ve had lots of practice this year learning what works and what doesn’t.  We’ve had plenty of rough moments as we’ve spent an intense amount of time together this year, but our bonds as parent-child and siblings are stronger than ever.  Erica and I hope that the challenges and experiences we all went through together will only serve to make our family stronger and closer as we look to the next phase in our lives.

5 Reasons We Love Cordoba

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The view of downtown Cordoba from our rooftop in Barrio Urca

The view of downtown Cordoba from our rooftop in Barrio Urca

National Geographic Traveler recently named Cordoba one of the 20 Best Destinations in 2014.  As the article points out, the city’s combination of history, culture and proximity to the Sierras make Cordoba a wonderful destination.  We decided to move to Cordoba because of the size, climate and people.  It is also a huge college town, with more than 6 universities, which we assumed would be a bonus for Erica’s teaching endeavors.  We could not be more pleased with our selection and are proud to share it with so many family members visiting this year.  While the mountains and lakes of Bariloche and the glitz of Buenos Aires tend to garner far more attention, Cordoba flies under the radar as the nation’s 2nd largest city.  To mark our upcoming 7 month anniversary in Cordoba here are our top 5 reasons that we love Cordoba:

  1. Cordobeses:  The absolute top reason we love Cordoba is the people we’ve met.  Cordobeses have a well deserved reputation for being some of the friendliest Argentines.  The generosity and willingness to embrace our family has been astounding.  Our house, entrance to the boys’ school and Erica’s job have all been possible only due to the kindness of the people we’ve encountered.  The character of Cordobeses have allowed us to truly become a part of the community as we experience school, work, birthday parties, asado, family gatherings and sports.  Where else would a taxi driver return an expensive camera a week later?  Where else are you invited to their home for an asado 10 minutes after meeting for the first time?
  2. Language:  The Spanish spoken in Argentina is commonly referred to as Castellano.  It’s a distinctly different sound than the Spanish spoken in Mexico.  The accent in Cordoba is unique as well.  The sing-song intonation of Castellano is beautiful to hear, albeit muy rapido mucho veces.  Moreover, we love the fact that very little English is commonly spoken in Cordoba.  We came here to immerse and learn the language and Cordoba is a perfect city to force us all to speak Spanish.  This point was reinforced during our travels to Patagonia and Buenos Aires in January where English was widely understood.  In Cordoba, we’ve grown accustomed to the stares and second looks when we speak English.  Nearly everyday we are asked, “de donde son?”  Our presence here is unique and people are genuinely interested to listen to English, as evidenced by the crowd of kids that gather around us when we speak to the boys at school.  In Cordoba we need to be ready to speak Spanish at every turn, for every task, no matter how minor.  It can be exhausting, but it’s an effective way to learn.  We’re also thrilled to hear locals tell us that the boys have picked up the Cordobese accent.
  3. Climate:  We have loved most aspects of the weather in Cordoba so far.  We wanted to live in climate far different than Portland.  For the most part, that means warm and dry as opposed to wet and dreary.  Winters are dry and windy here.  Summers are hot and sometimes humid with regular thunderstorms.  The electrical storms in the spring and summer have been unbelievably powerful.  Continuous cracks of lightning and thunder rattle the house followed by sheets of rain and hail.  Given how much we walk, we’re fortunate that the rains that turn the streets into rivers are fairly infrequent and dry up quickly.  The region has gone from brown and drought-ridden to flooded and lush in our time here.  We have been told this year has extreme for the region with record-breaking heat, wildfires, giant hail, flooding and even an earthquake!  With the exception of some miserably hot and humid days in December and January, we have loved waking up to beautiful, sunny days that seem the norm here in Cordoba.
  4. Neighborhood:  While researching our trip, we’d read about Cerro de Las Rosas and Urca on some expat forums.  These adjoining barrios lie about 20 minutes by bus to the northwest of downtown Cordoba.  It is a middle to upper class neighborhood that is crisscrossed by major bus lines and is extremely walkable.  To the horror of our friends here in Argentina, we have been determined to go sin auto for the year, and it would not be possible were it not for the convenience of our barrio.  We’re blocks away from a great park, ice cream, meat market, vegetable stand and school supply store.  We walk 2 blocks to drop Molly at ballet and Ben at karate.  Our longest regular walks are to the boys’ school and grocery store (Disco, aptly named).  It’s a safe and relatively quiet area outside of the usual blaring alarms and dogs.
  5. The Sierras:  To the north and west of Cordoba lie the Sierras de Cordoba.  We have loved our limited excursions to some of the towns that dot the mountains nearby.  The Sierras remind us of Nevada in a way.   Far from alpine, the Sierras tend to be more desert and scrub.  We’ve been able to visit La Cumbre, Mina Clavero, Jesus Maria, Nono, Capilla del Monte, Villa General Belgrano and Ongamira.  The bus system is wonderful and cheap, allowing us to avoid expensive car rentals most of the time.

(Bonus favorite from Rob)

Fernet & Coke:  While definitely an acquired taste, Cordobeses love their Fernet and Coke.  Erica’s description of this Italian digestif is that it tastes like jet fuel and Grandpa cologne.  Accurate for straight Fernet to be sure.  However when mixed with Coke, you have a sweet yet bitter cocktail.  I must admit I only tried it first as a novelty, but it’s truly grown on me.

Fill 1/3rd glass with Fernet, top off with Coke and ice, and you're half Cordobese

Fill 1/3rd glass with Fernet, top off with Coke and ice, and you’re half Cordobese