Life in Mendoza is starting to become the new normal & lots of exciting things have happened over the past couple of weeks! I have finally started to settle into somewhat of a routine here: work in the morning, go to the gym in the afternoon to exercise with work friends, explore the city, coffee with friends to catch up, some work events in between, late dinner, and repeat!  

The past couple of weeks have made me even more excited about the work I will be doing here. As I mentioned, the first month I am here, I will be rotating between different areas under the Secretaria de Desarrollo Economico of the City so that I am able to understand more about the complexity of the work they do here in Mendoza. Last week, I was in the office of employment and social economy and this week I spent with the office of tourism!

Empleo y Economía Social 

The Office of Employment and Social Economy has free services for individuals who need assistance finding work or seeking a new or additional job placement, as well as assisting businesses looking to hire more staff. They also assist in providing entrepreneurs with opportunities to promote their business and find avenues for further business by identifying more ways in which they can sell their products! 

My time with them was spent assisting with an entrepreneur fair that they hold every week to promote locally sourced businesses in selling hand-made products. It was so fun to be able to see the talents of locals from within the city, and experience the activity and excitement within the fair. It reminded me of farmers markets back home and was so cool to see the similarities and differences within a new cultural setting! 

I also started working on a project within this office that focused on helping under-resourced communities find employment opportunities through entrepreneurship that would help better the quality of life within their community! This was an exciting opportunity to use my past experience working in similar non-profit settings as well as using what I have learned through my social entrepreneurship studies, and it was inspiring to have my thoughts and ideas used as something valuable in these new situations. 

Turismo 

My week spent in the Office of Tourism was definitely filled with the most fun experiences I have had thus far. In order to see all of the work that this office does and all that they have to offer, they treated me as a tourist and brought me along on tours of the city, cultural events, and fun activities! 

I got a private, personalized tour bus experience where I got to learn more about this new city I am living in and see all of the most historic and famous spots like Parque de General San Martin, Cerro de la Gloria, Plaza Independencia, Casa de San Martin, and more! 

I also joined in on a tourism event hiking and stargazing in the Andes Mountains with an astronomy group. Truthfully, I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into, but it turned out to be such a cool experience! 

I’m still learning and growing and adjusting, but I am so excited about where this next year is going to take me!!

Hola from Mendoza!

My very first week here is done and I truly can’t believe how much my life has changed.  Since the minute I arrived, I have had a busy schedule that was planned for me filled with seeing old friends, experiencing new places, starting a new job, and eating lots of yummy foods! 

Old friends, new friends, & fun places 

My first night here, some friends I met during my Maymester here, along with some of their friends, took me to a trampoline park (probably the most American thing they could think of to help me adjust – ha!). I was exhausted, but it was a fun way to spend time here with friends, and I even got to meet some of their friends who are studying abroad here this semester from the US! The next night, I got together with all of the students from here who were in our study abroad program here last May for a traditional Argentine asado! It was so fun to experience these traditions again and reconnect with people who I grew so close with last year. Throughout my entire first week here I was thankful that the people around me kept me busy with picnics in the park, trying lots of ice cream, art shows, movies, and meeting lots of new people! 

First week of work! 

Walking into my first day of work was intimidating – knowing I would soon be in a room full of important people I didn’t know, speaking a different language, not knowing what to expect – but I was pleasantly surprised! I was greeted at my first meeting of the morning with two leaders from my study abroad program who immediately brought a sense of familiarity and comfortability that was much needed! We spent that time getting to know the people I would be working with, making a schedule for my first few weeks of adjusting, and learning about all of the exciting work they do here. I have the privilege of being able to spend my first few weeks here with different departments within the municipality to learn where I am most interested in working during the majority of my time here. This week I was with the Club de Emprendadores, where I got to learn about the entrepreneurs within their incubator programs, as well as visit some free classes and workshops that they have for community members. 

I also had the opportunity to go to an event hosted by the Secretaria de Desarrollo Económico that celebrated women in innovation here in Mendoza! I got to meet a lot of cool people and learn more about the work being done in this community, which was fun and inspiring! 

While all of these things made this week fun and exciting, I would be lying if I didn’t say that it was also a really hard week. Being 5,000 miles away from home is hard. Not being able to hug the people you love is hard. Having to communicate with your family over Facetime is hard. Being unable to do things you love or eat your favorite foods is hard. Speaking only in a foreign language is hard. There were so many moments this week that made me second guess what I was doing, that made me want to turn back around and get on a plane to go back home, that made me question whether or not I could really do this. 

But, in each of these moments, there was one thing that encouraged me to keep going: someone believes in me. My professors believe in me. My friends believe in me. My parents believe in me. A committee of board members believes in me. The mayor of Mendoza (still crazy!) believes in me. So, even when I don’t believe in myself, even when I don’t feel capable of doing what I am doing, I take their confidence to remind myself that I can do this. There are a whole bunch of people that are the reason I am here that have confidence that I am capable of big things. 

There is power in believing in people, and I am so thankful for the ones that believe in me. 

With love, Sarah

It’s officially my last week here in the U.S. before I move away to Argentina for the next 10 months! This summer has been filled with so many emotions: happy, sad, scared, excited, and doing everything I can to squeeze in some final moments of nostalgia and comfortability before my life completely changes! Here’s the recap:

Graduation & Moving out of Nashville!

The last 4 years of living in Nashville and being a Belmont student have flown by and graduation came quicker than I ever thought it could. Graduation week was so bittersweet: it felt like I was finally slowing down to realize all of the sweet things that I was surrounded by & it made me realize I wasn’t ready to leave it all behind me yet, but at the same time I was excited for what was yet to come and grateful that there were so many good things to be missed. This entire week was full of one “goodbye” party after another: my incredible Aloe Family work family (more on that later), the best group of kids I spent the last 4 years pouring into and growing with, my CREW, social entrepreneurship girls, my sweet roommate, and so many amazing friends that have become more like family these past few years. 

My time at Belmont held some of my favorite moments, and graduation day was the perfect bookend to that special chapter. My entire family flew down & we spent the weekend celebrating and enjoying time together. I ended my time in Nashville surrounded by my favorite people laughing & crying on the floor of my apartment while packing up the last 4 years of my life into my car to drive back to Minnesota <3

Saying “see you later” to San Luis, Mexico 

Probably the hardest “goodbye” I had all summer was to my favorite little corner of the world in Mexico. I spent my college career working for a nonprofit that serves communities locally in Nashville and internationally in Mexico, and a small part of almost every month has been spent in this little desert town of San Luis serving, smiling, laughing, crying, loving, growing, exploring, failing, learning, and trying with everything I have to make an impact in this world. I spent my last little bit of time here (at least for the next 10 months – not forever) reminiscing on memories, playing soccer, eating good food, laughing with friends that are really more like family, building community centers and painting churches, teaching English, and laughing through the tears. 

Wedding Weekend!!

One of my final weekends here was spent in Highlands, North Carolina as the maid of honor in my sister’s wedding! It was such a special time of celebrating her & her new husband, and cherishing the last few moments of quality time with my family before I move.  

& So many in-between moments

I’ve been getting a lot of “Are you ready?”, “Are you nervous?”, “Are you excited?” lately. And, honestly, the answer is yes; I’m ready to do something new, I’m nervous about what I don’t know yet, but I’m excited to see where this next year takes me. The truth is, I have no idea what my life is going to look like a week from now, but I am so extremely grateful and overjoyed to be on this journey. 

See you soon, Mendoza!

With love, Sarah