Argentina, tiene nuestros corazones

So, we're back. But not really. As our group of Argentina travelers returns to our busy lives in North America, we realize a few things that were anything but expected. I think i can speak for all of us when i say that when someone asks "how was your break?" we freeze up. Not because we are at a loss for what to talk about, but because our experience is unexplainable. Many, if not all of us, had the best week of our lives on various levels. There are many people to thank for a rush of emotions that engulf our bodies when we think about this trip. First of all, I believe the community service aspect of our trip was fulfilled in the best way. We were able to work for Jewish and non-Jewish communities in Argentina, but more importantly, we are able to feel our impact. From smiling children to grateful locals, our service was and continues to be extremely rewarding.

Next, and what i would like to focus on for this particular post is a different community, nay, a family, that was created on this trip. In my personal opinion, the two most powerful ways to become close to someone are through work and/or difficult times and through sheer happiness. In these experiences one sees into a person and really discovers who they are. I am proud to say that on this trip, our stunning group of 30 students, sharing 6 languages by the way, connected on before mentioned levels among others. Without even realizing it, and right under our noses, we were becoming more than friends on a life-changing trip. This family includes so many aspects, that I will cherish for the rest of my life. People I didn't even know 2 weeks ago have become my closest and most trusted friends and the friendships created on this trip will without doubt last forever. Reunions have already been planned and attempted despite less than a week passing since we touched down in Houston together. We are expecting a full reunion to take place by summer time. 

One phenomenon seems to be on everyones mind. Each and every person from this trip who i have spoken to is having an unfamiliar and shocking feeling. Though seemingly indescribable, i will try my best. Well, we dont want to be back here. We want to be in Argentina, and we want to be with each other. Some have even voiced the lack of desire to see other friends, and we surely do not want to get back to school work. In a sense, we are all homesick for Argentina. The experience we shared as a collective group enabled us to make a home in the ever-so welcoming Jewish community in Argentina, and especially amongst each other as members as the most fun and exciting family one could be a part of. As we share this feeling of slight depression of our trip being over, we find the euphoric feeling of becoming closer with other people in one week than any of us thought possible. Seeing each other and reflecting on our experiences together (including a list of 50, thats right, 50, hilarious inside jokes) slaps a grin on our faces that we can not get rid of.

In short, we are now a family. We should also note that none of this would ever be possible if not for our loving parents: Kerin, Naomi, Shahar, Yael y Brenda. We love the five of you more than you realized as you have brought us together in the most incredible way.

Anyhoo, Thank you to everyone who made this trip possible. This group of 30 was, and is, the most intimate and awesome group to ever travel together. 

Besos,

Avi

I miss u!

Hi again! I hope everybody is safe back home.
I'm here in my room trying to find some words that would help descibre how great was spending this past week with the group but i fin it difficult since i'm doing it in english and also some things can't be said with just words. I just hope that u all understood that for us here it is important that u went throught the trouble of comming here and that the help u provide is very important and valued.
I hope that u understood that u r part of a much bigger comunity than u thought and will always be welcomed again. It's thanks to people like u that the world keeps moving towards a better future and it's important that u realize this. Some choices may not seem thta important but after some time u realize how much that affected someone else in a very possitive way.

Miss u all a lot!
Thank you for letting me be part of the group!

Los quiero mucho!

Yae

Baby Help Center

Video Footage and Pictures from the Baby Help Center in Buenos Aires

-Jared K.

Before You Set The Table...

*Dedicated to mi madre*

Hola y Shalom,

As I write this passing by the awesome scenery that is Buenos Aires, the countdown to Shabbat begins. In 12 hours I will partake in an entirely new Shabbos experience with the Orthodox community of Buenos Aires. And the synagogue is conveniently located 20 footsteps across the street from our hotel! I have some things on my mind that I would love to share with you. Yesterday, we had the honor and privilege of visiting the LeDor VaDor Old Age Home. I can honestly say, without any exaggeration, that it is the nicest and most beautiful facility of its kind that I have ever seen. And the fact that it is serving the Jewish community, one that has been struggling in recent years, is both comforting and incredible. I encourage you all to become more familiar with JDC, with their mission, and with what they have accomplished. It is truly an incredible organization.

I have connected with Jewish communities in Budapest, Krakow, and in most major cities in Israel. They are all wonderful, of course. Anti-Semitism is unfortunately expressed here in Argentina more often than in other places around the world. The strength and pride of the Jewish people here is radiated with the love of the culture, necklaces with HaMagen David and Chai, and of course, ample amounts of delicious kosher cuisine. It’s a beautiful thing to see and experience and it only increases my love and pride for Judaism even more.
We have been having discussions every day about what it means for us to be here as Jews, performing mitzvoth, giving Tzedakah, and experiencing an unfamiliar culture. While helping at La Botallita (remember, boh-tah-zheeta), which was incredibly rewarding, we discussed an article by a Jewish man whose name I am currently forgetting, but perhaps you are familiar with this. He shared an opinion that I strongly disagree with, writing that the global Jewish community as one people-hood was coming to an end because of modern American culture. He gave offensive nicknames to modern American Jews such as “Frankenjews” and others. He blamed a modern progressive lifestyle in America for losing the idea of what it means to be Jewish, that we no longer care about the real religious aspects of Judaism. I would like to respond by saying this: One of the biggest, if not the biggest, responsibility of the Jewish people is to perform mitzvoth. How can this man say that Americans are losing their Jewish identity when young college students are willingly volunteering to travel over 4,000 miles to Argentina to help both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities here, through an American Jewish non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to help struggling Jewish communities around the ENTIRE WORLD? Judaism can be expressed in multiple ways. We are expressing it in every way possible, and I assure this pessimistic writer that there are many, many more Jewish people in America like this. The people-hood certainly remains a very real thing, as I am seeing it with my own eyes at LeDor VaDor , the Hillels here, and the amazing service of our wonderfully diligent group. So the time for the sun to set comes nearer, and two completely different kinds of people will come together by two simple, yet very powerful words:
Shabbat Shalom.

I am so lucky and honored to be a part of this trip. I hope you all reflect on this and realize that the global Jewish community is stronger than ever, and start/continue to contribute to it through ways in which our group has performed here in Argentina.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,
Aviv Schor

¿Quieres bailar conmigo?

We realize that we’ve been M.I.A. for a couple days and that you’ve missed us, but we’re back and will be posting on the daily. The reason for our absence is an incredibly busy, yet more rewarding few days, sharing our experiences with the less fortunate, and each other. We have only been here for a short time, but our schedule has been booked minute to minute accomplish as much as possible for the Argentinean community.

From helping babies with supplies and funds to painting murals that will last forever, we feel that we have helped both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities here in Argentina in very meaningful ways. After at least 11 hours of air-travel, we immediately began our special journey by finding our home in Buenos Aires: The exceedingly gorgeous Hillel house. From there, we delivered our kilos of baby clothes to the Baby Help Center and got to mingle con los precious little ninos. Highlights included an epic performance of the chicken dance, toys, arts, crafts, and laughs (Shout out to Nacho!!). Following our overnight double-decker, reclining leather-chair-equipped “bus” to the charming ciudad de Cordoba, we had a full day of touring the Jewish facilities, including the inspiring Welfare Center, the only Jewish day school in the city, the spankin’ new JCC, and the extremely welcoming deliciously foodly equipped Hillel house. We also had the opportunity to begin our volunteer work with the non-Jewish community. La Botallita, (pronounced boh-teh-zhita) is a community soup kitchen to assist residents of one of the poorest neighborhoods in Cordoba. We split up into groups to renovate and beautify both locations of La Botallita to make the facilities accommodate the people as effectively as possible. We are proud of our work which, when completed, attracted the media who requested to interview a couple of our students about our efforts to enhance a community experience for the less fortunate. Ariel Lipski and Giselle [pronounced Gri-zezscj :P ] flaunted their Spanish to explain our mission to Cordoba. Though unfinished, our work in Argentina will continue to be appreciated by these beautiful people.

Work hard, play hard. As a bi-product, we were able to experience the Argentinean culture with college students in the most enjoyable and memorable ways. We would like to thank the Cordoba Hillel for welcoming us with open arms, empanadas, world-class kosher meat, cerveza, and great company. As we make our way back to Buenos Aires on our limo-bus hybrid, we reflect on last night and appreciate going out with the locals and immersing ourselves in their rich and intriguing culture. Caipirinhas para todos! We wined and dined in two fabulous restaurants sharing memorable moments, with some of the finest food our pallets have ever experienced, and celebrated our accomplishments con los ninos de Sour Patch.

It would be chutzpah to not mention this exciting facet of our spring break. Despite coming from three different schools, and ultimately, many different backgrounds, the students on our trip have already connected in an exceptional way in which we know will be everlasting by the end of the week. We personally feel that everyone has gotten the opportunity to express themselves and become comfortable with one another. This couldn’t be possible without our lively and understanding staff who have done everything in their power to make this trip truly great; and they ain’t bad to look at either. In addition to the Colonel, Teddy Bear Shahar, and Naomi, we would like to give a warm Tejas welcome to Yael y Brenda. Bienvenidos a nuestra familia!!

We know that was a lot to take in, but there is even more to come. Stay tuned.

Un beso,

Avi(v)

We're in Argentina!!!

BY Laureen
Today, well yesterday, we started our amazing journey below the equator to Buenos Aires. We have been preparing for months! After a bumpy plane ride from Houston to Miami, we arrived at the Miami airport and waited impatiently for our plane to Argentina. After the eight hours on the plane, where we did everything from play games, to watch movies, to sleeping, we arrived with a bit of delay in Buenos Aires at 9:06, and our day started immediately. We packed up the bus and got our first glimpses of Argentina. First we went to Hillel. The architecture for this building is very different from what we are use to in Texas. It’s a gorgeous building, and we were greeted by very friendly faces. After learning a little more about the Baby Help Center, we were on our way to a delicious Kosher lunch. Then we went off to play with the babies. The kids were really happy to see us. We got to sort the clothes, play with the wonderful children, do arts and crafts and participate in a song circle. It was great to see not only how we can impact their lives, but how they can impact our lives, too. At this point, we were starting to get really tired, but we still had a wonderful opportunity to hear a great speech on the economic and Jewish history of Argentina. There we also got to meet students our age from Baltimore that came to Argentina with Hillel to help out in other ways. From here we got to go back to Hillel, relax for a few minutes and then off to dinner. Once dinner was over we were headed for a 9 hour bus ride to Cordoba where we would hopefully, finally be able to catch up on some sleep on our beautiful bus.

Group safe and having fun in Cordoba

Rina blogging... our group is having a lot of fun! Yesterday we were in Buenos Aires and today and tomorrow we are in Cordoba. Today we visited the only Jewish school in Cordoba. The school has Jewish kids from all backgrounds of Judaism attending. We are staying at a hostel and tomorrow evening will be heading back to Buenos Aires by bus. The country is beautiful!

Llegamos a CORDOBA! (Arrived to CORDOBA)

For those of you that still don´t know, I´m Yael Magenheim and I´m an Argentine Hillel voluntier for the Tzedek Project that will be taking place this week in the City of Cordoba, Argentina
Once again, I´m ready to work with the JDC group. This time we moved to the city of Cordoba instead of staying at Buenos Aires, so it´s gonna be something new for me two. I´m really excited about having this opportunity again with a group of people that´s willing to help the comunity in my country. As always, expectations are at the top and I´m sure this group won´t be less when it somes to work.
I hope that we all can enjoy the experience not just by helping but also by learning from each other during the next days.

Besos

Yae

6,422-15-30

                Those are some big and pretty numbers. Let us tell you the significance:

6,422 - $$$ Cha-ching! That's right folks. Our amazing group participating in ASB 2009 has raised that much money (and counting!) for the Baby Help Center and L'Dor V'Dor. Our fundraisers were a huge success. A special thanks from us to Pluckers and Zeta Beta Tau for hosting our events. They were a blast. An official amount raised for these extremely worthy causes will be released in the next post. 

15 hours until we depart from IAH on flight #1294N! Only so many adjectives can describe how we feel. We'll tell you. Excited, proud, thrilled, happy, philanthropic, and ready. Ready to have the most meaningful experience, to perform inspiring mitzvot, to bond with new friends, make wonderful connections, and lastly, but certainly not leastly, eat some of the best food this planet has to offer. 

30 awesome students from UT, UNT, and U of H will bring you insight and share their experiences with you throughout the next 7 days through words, videos, and pictures right here at JDC Rocks Argentina! 

We know this has been our first post in quite some time, but be sure to check back daily, as every day this coming week is sure to be filled with stories to make you smile and get all warm and fuzzy inside. 

Buenas Noches & Shavua Tov,

Avi(v)

Argentina Orientation

The Argentina Orientation in Austin was really exciting! Seven students from the University of Houston drove to Austin to meet the people going on the trip and learn more about the trip. The group from UT and UNT are very nice and I am very excited for the trip! I left Austin excited to raise money to help the people in need. Our group decided to get boxes and make signs, and put them around Houston for people to donate baby stuff. Naomi talked about how when students are at the baby help center, the babies cling on to you, wanting your love and attention. I cannot wait to make a difference in a child's life and spend time with the children in need. I can't wait to see a beautiful country, and am thankful to Howard, Leslie, and all the people working towards the success of the trip for a soon to be amazing experience.
Until next time...you'll hear more later :)

Great Orientation = Mucho Anticipation

So the whole group met together for the first time this past weekend, and we must say, it seems like just the right kind of group to guarantee a meaningful and fantastic trip. Our lovely Sunday morning, lasting well into the evening (we love our staff) was filled with icebreakers, text studies, meeting, greeting, and most importantly, excitement. We had the privilege of sharing the day with Leslie and Howard Schultz and family. They shared valuable insight regarding the history of our cause, and what we can expect from this awesome trip. Learning from Howard's encouraging words will certainly push our students to raise more than ever to benefit Baby Help and L'Dor V'Dor Old Age Home. 

Props to the Huggy Bear champions from Saturday night. It was an intense game, and thank goodness no one was hurt.

Moving on to other exciting news: Various fundraising events are taking place in the coming weeks. Look forward to a Plucker's fundraiser of which 20% of the proceeds will be donated upon the mention of our trip. This will be taking place on Plucker's Open-Mic Night Tuesday, February 17th. We are also pleased to announce a continuing trend, a benefit party. Last year, the members of JDC Alternative Spring Break threw a wicked party at a Co-op. This year we will be throwing a super-wicked-awesome party at the Zeta Beta Tau House on February 26th. We hope to see you there, and please bring along friends, as all the money made will be donated to Baby Help. 

More to come from your Argentina blogsquad. We are so excited to share our experience with you. We'll keep you posted. ;) 

Ciao, for now.

Avi(v)

Introduction - 2009

In March 2009, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), in partnership with University of Texas at Austin Hillel, Houston Hillel, University of North Texas, and Hillel of Argentina, will send 30 students to Buenos Aires and Córdoba Argentina.

There, they will volunteer in various JDC sponsored community projects.

The above blog will document their experience.

Introducing myself and Updating!

Hi everybody!
First of all I'm introducing myself since I know that some of you may not know about me. My name is Yael Magenheim and I've been spending this past incredible days with the boys and girls from Texas. I'm Argentinian and live in Buenos Aires and got to meet this wonderful group of people through Hillel since I volunteered to help them at the task of fixing one of our community's school.
I wish i could express in words how wonderful this experience has been, but English is not my first language (as u'r reading) and even if it were, i think words still won't be enough. Working with them, painting the school, making TWO HUGE AMAZING MURALS. panting two of the gyms, spending time with the kids, going to their classes, writing a Tora and having a Kipur Masks Contest with the Dallas Federation Mission and letting them see that although we are so far apart, we have the same customs when it comes to Judaism.... that's amazing. Talking with all of them, seeing that we have SO MUCH in common, even more than what we could think we have.
I'm just not looking for the words to say how all of this has gave me more enthusiasm to try to help in what i can at my community, is just like that. And also let me thinking about how can we, from here, start helping each other so eventually, all that this wonderful people had done here, will eventually reach others.
Also I expect that we can stay in touch and keep on finding similarities and helping each other in any way we can and even looking for ways to help others, not only in our community, but also in others.

I just hope that my english was at least OK so u all can get what I'm feeling, or at at least a small part of that.
Also I hope i can have this experience again and again, so we get to know each others' communities with each trip.

OK, someone here needs the computer so I'm leaving.

I'll wait for more posts, comments, whatever that will make us stay in touch (remember that when I get to go to Texas I need a place to sleep =P)

Some spanish that I think u all will understand

Los quiero mucho y los voy a extraniar (shmulik add spanish in your computer u don't have ENIE!!!!)
Espero verlos pronto en Texas (hope to see u soon in Texas)

Le Shanna Ha'Vaa Be Texas!!!!!!!!!! ^_^

BESOTES!

Yael

The last dance

As our last day in Argentina has arrived, it is now somewhere between 1:30 and 2:30 in the morning (daylight savings has just kicked in here), we have been able to see how far we've come. The afternoon following our first day painting the Marc Chagall school we questioned whether or not our painting murals and refurbishing gyms was in fact serving the Argentine Jewish community to the best of our abilities. A few nights later, a couple of us spoke with Nick, one of the Hillel Argentina peers about what he thought of what we were doing. Specifically what we were doing versus what we could or should be doing. In Nick´s mind we were exactly where we were supposed to be. He said that it's true we could have been handing out food to needy people, however those people would still need food beyond the week that we were visiting. The work that we were doing at Marc Chagall was something lasting, and something we could accomplish in a week. Another, and probably the most important aspect to Nick's answer, was that the work we were doing gives us the ability to go home and talk about the Argentine Jewish community with people in the United States. He said that this was the most valuable aspect of our trip here, and I completely agree.

Two days ago our group met with a delegation of Jews from Dallas whose donations helped fund our trip. I was incredibly thankful to meet them, because they are the reason I am able to work on a project like this one, as my capacity to be philanthropic is limited at this point in my life.

So yes, while painting the school may not have been the best use of our time, it was still a worthwhile project that hundreds of kids will be able to enjoy for years to come. However another very important aspect of our trip is what we take away from it.

It's sort of like seeing to believe; if we hadn't come here to experience the toll the economic collapse of seven years ago took on the community, then none of us would have thought twice about it. However by visiting and sharing our capacity for understanding our willingness to help has broadened considerably.

In 7-8 hours given wherever daylight savings has put us, we will wake up, spend our last little time in a city we have come to love, and return home; in our suitcases: laundry, trinkets, and a renewed desire for giving.

The Proof is in the People

Like most of my peers introspective thoughts about this trip, I had my doubts as to whether or not I, Rebecca Weiser, would really make a difference to the Argentinian Jewish community. After four days of painting and refurbishing the Mark Chagall Jewish Day School gym, my doubts increased. I flew over 10 hours to Argen-freaking-tina, and all I got out of it was a pair of ruined sneakers, some boxed kosher meals, and some cute pictures?

Wrong.

I felt this way until I more actively started engaging the Argentinians around me. After thought provoking and reassuring discussions, I concluded the following:

1) My Spanish sucks.
2) We really did make a difference. Education is key in building any society, and by improving the facility's morale we made an impact on these kids' future.
3) Our presence alone, affected both them and me. It sent the message of Jewish solidarity and continuity, as well as sharing the benefits of our respective cultures.
4) My sneakers were old anyways.

Long story short, it wasn't until I started speaking with the PEOPLE did I realize this trip's importance. Engaging the locals opened my eyes to how much we really impacted the community and how much they will truly benefit from our work.

The moral of the story?
Sometimes you need to step away and appreciate the bigger picture over a cup of matte and a buddy to help see the other side. Get out there, have those conversations, and find other ways to connect. Relationships make HUGE impacts in life, so whatever you´re doing, make sure it´s with a smile and a friend. Really, folks... the proof is in the people.

Day 2 March 11

Today we ate breakfasts at the hotel and then departed on the bus for the JDC baby help center. At the baby help center we learned about the mission of the JDC and the baby help center in Buenos Aires. We spent time playing with the children and organizing the items we donated.

Afterwards we bussed out to one of the city’s shantytowns to visit a soup kitchen that the JDC’s non-sectarian wing operates. The manager of the kitchen told us how she came to operate the soup kitchen.

Following our visit to the soup kitchen we dined at a kosher restaurant that served Middle Eastern food. We then proceeded to the Marc Chagall Jewish Day School where we began our project of painting various rooms in the school and playground equipment.

After work we sat down for a discussion on the Jewish outlook on charity and community relations. When this was done we went back to the hotel, showered and went to dinner in a nice part of Buenos Aires.

My personal experience thus far has been amazing. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city and the people are as warm and friendly as I have ever met. I am getting a chance to really try and speak Spanish. The idea that an organization such as the JDC has been able to make a difference in so many thousands of people’s lives makes me proud to be a part of this experience.

Day Three-March 12

This is the day when fatigue started hitting everyone. Did it matter to any of us? Of course not!

We headed out after our usual bland breakfast of Orange Tang and Medialunas to the Mark Chagall Day School to finish working on our different projects: the gym, the second floor mural, and the playground mural(which i was assigned to).
Work was fun, the paint fumes must have contributed to this overall feeling, because it was definitely not easy work.
Outside, our Hebrew alphabet started taking shape, and those assigned to the project knew it would come out awesome.
Lunch included this brick of a cheese sandwich, which probably would have weighed in at about a pound.



At 4:00 pm(1600 army time) we left Mark Chagall and headed to a JDC welfare center.We received an explanation about the function of the 62 JDC supported welfare centers, I must say this was the moment you could really tell people were really tired. When the briefing was done, we split into 3 groups, each group would meet with a different welfare case, my group met with Avram.

Avram was a senior citizen who spoke good English, I felt this really helped my group understand the severity of his case since we were listening to it first hand rather than through a translator. Avram told us how he had dreamt of a better retirement and future, for himself, and for Argentina, however, over the years the different regimes and events slowly started removing the hope he had, his breaking point was the economic crisis in 2001.
Avram's life savings, accumulated over 50 years, were frozen and he never got to see a dime of it. Instead of living on 5000 pesos a month, Avram is forced to sustain himself with 1000 pesos only, his budget has to include not only rent and food, but also medications. Leaving the session with Avram I had a lot of food for thought: trying to understand how these people must feel, and what could be done to help not only them, but Argentina in general.

Our group meetings were followed by everyone's favorite, group reflection. The conversation we came up with was quite interesting, and it led to some idealogical and political questions.
Would a different system of government prevent future crisis? Why is there no public outcry?

We returned to the hotel to shower, and headed out to the tango show, dinner was ok, then we all headed out to watch a play/recollection of life in la Boca in the late 19th century, it was quite cheesy, but entertaining.
The tango show itself was great, long, but great, the dancers were very good.
I was most impressed by the leader of the band, even though he must have played this show every night for us turistas, he still managed to be excited and was cheering the dancers and singers the entire show.

There you have it, day 3 of our trip, stay tuned for day 4....

Wednesday, March 12th

Howdy y'all. I'm Nathan Kaufman, a freshman meteorology major from San Antonio, Texas currently attending Texas A&M University and I've been suckered in to telling you about our Wednesday. Well, Maybe not suckered; I volunteered.

It started off like the others, early. Of course we were tired, we had an awesome night with some of our Buenos Aires Hillel peers the night before. However, today was a busy day. We started by returning to the Marc Chagall School and continued our work there. The indoor mural had to be postponed due to classes taking place, so some of us worked on an outdoor mural at the playground. I must say that it turned out very well. It is a long, wavy white band with the Hebrew alphabet inside the band. Some others worked on the playground equipment that needed repainting. The remainder, along with me, worked upstairs in the gymnasium, repainting walls, doors, and benches.

Some had the opportunity to help out teaching English classes in the school today while everyone had the opportunity to fulfill the mitzvah of writing a Torah when a scribe came today and let us write (or in my case, guide his hand while he wrote) some letters. I chose a nun for my name, Natan.

We hurried off to visit one of the JDC run welfare centers and were able to hear stories from some of the elderly that the center helps. We also got to ask lots of questions about a variety of subjects from the economic crisis to movies to girlfriends. There was also a short discussion on tzedakah.

The evening took us to a touristy area called Boca Tango. It is reminiscent of the Boca area of Buenos Aires and while dinner takes place, a tango dancer patrols the dining area, taking pictures with guests in possibly not too flattering poses. After dinner, there was a short play and then a tango show. The tango show was really neat because it showcased the dance style and included a live band and singers. The tango dance itself is a very sensual dance that is a lot of fun to watch.

Well, I believe that is all. It's past 1:30 and I must email the paranoid parentals and check Facebook before catching a couple hours of sleep and starting yet another crazy day in Buenos Aires.

We`ve Arrived! (Day 1)

Though this is day one in Argentina, it is in fact day two or day three for the members in our group. Many of us spent the weekend in Houston, Texas before departing on our long flights to Miami and Buenos Aires. Our trip has truly appeared to be much longer than the ten hours we have actually experienced. I never realized how far away Argentina was from Texas! Our time spent in the airport terminals was the perfect opportunity for each of us to play games and get to know each other better.

After arriving in Buenos Aires, we took a surprisingly short bus ride to the hotel (normally there is more traffic). At the hotel, we reviewed information on the current economic situation and then headed off to AMIA. We participated in a memorial service, planned by Ben and Heather, for the victims of the terrorist attack that occurred on July 18, 1994. The memorial sculpture was absolutely beautiful! When looking at the memorial from different angles, we could see different images that held certain significances. My favorite angle was the one that showed a menorah pointing up and one pointing down, signifying life and death.

We then moved on to our bus tour of Buenos Aires! The group took a stop at the main plaza in front of the presidential palace, which is pink! I found it interesting that the building's architecture represented a combination of both Italian and French culture. We all had an amazing time chasing pigeons and viewing the Metropolitan Cathedral. After returning on the bus, we had an extended view of the city while driving towards the Argentina Hillel.

The Hillel was really fun! We were able to see the differences in the culture of students involved in Argentina in comparison to our own. We made friends that we will see throughout this week and hopefully gain a stronger connection with. In addition, our dinner with the students was our first window to the local cuisine.

This long, amazing day was termed "Argentina Light." I cannot imagine what will come next!

Pre-Trip Orientation: Argentina - Are we there yet?

*

In just 12 days, my group of 30 Texas-wide Hillel students, will be on a plane headed for Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A few weekends ago, we all met in Austin for the first time to attend our orientation session. As one of the students from the University of Texas at Austin, I didn’t have very far to go to UT’s Hillel (in fact, I just had two blocks to walk). However, the other students from the A&M and Dallas Hillels made the trek down I-35 to spend the weekend with us.
The orientation session got off the ground with a complimentary and delicious dinner at Hillel. What better way to bond Jewish people than with some great food? After our bellies were filled, we jumped right into a round (make that 10) of icebreakers to get a little better acquainted.

The next morning began with another load of scrumptious Hillel food while some previous
Argentina Alternative Spring Break (ASB) participants joined us and spoke about their experiences. At least for me, this was when the trip began to feel real. The testimonials relayed the powerful emotions the students had felt on their trip to Buenos Aires. You could tell by the looks on their faces that they were re-living that week in South America- walking into the JDC Baby Help Center with bags bursting with toys, playing with the children, listening to the grateful mothers’ stories.

We moved upstairs where we would spend the next few hours not studying like we (or at least most of us) would on a normal Sunday afternoon. Instead, we learned, planned, and got ourselves motivated for our alternative trip to help those in need in Argentina.

During the afternoon, we had the pleasure of enjoying a special guest speaker, an Argentinean professor from the UT law school. He spoke about the history of Argentina and gave us a glimpse into the beautiful culture and people of this foreign country. As he described the hardships of the 2001 economic crisis, the gravity of the tragic situation began to unfold. It’s difficult to imagine; a thriving community one day, and a poor civilization the next.
Naomi, our wonderful American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJJDC or JDC) rep., further explained the details of the Jewish community’s strife after the economic collapse. I think what stood out to me the most is the fact that many of these families were middle to upper-class citizens who lost everything to the point of poverty. They were forced into a new way of life. One of the hardest parts was learning how to ask for help. I tried to put myself into their shoes.

What would I do if I were suddenly faced with destitution? Would I ask for help- food stamps, donated clothes, money?

We learned how sensitive the JDC has been while helping these formerly prosperous families. For example, instead of using the typical food stamps that everyone can recognize as charity, those in need receive a “credit card” which allows them to maintain their dignity.

Since this day, my group has held two events to raise money, awareness, and in-kind donations (baby bottles, clothes, etc.) to bring to the Baby Help Center in Buenos Aires. In these last two weeks, we are each pushing individually and as a group to raise as much as we can for the babies and their families.

Going on an Alternative Spring Break is a slightly different way (can you read my sarcasm?) to spend our time off from school- there will be no crazy beach parties, insane South by Southwest concerts, or skiing down the slopes of the Colorado mountains.
Instead, we are going to explore a distant culture while experiencing the joy of giving back to the Jewish community.

I think I speak for all of us in the group when I say that we absolutely cannot wait until the moment when our plane hits the ground and our philanthropic journey begins in Buenos Aires, Argentina.





*Pictured above is a few of the Argentina ASB participants sorting through a donation of baby clothes that will be brought to the Baby Help Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From left to right: Michael Krol, Max Rabinovich, Heather Lefkof, Rebecca Weiser, Yoav Wolfson and Naomi Kachel.