My time in Mendoza, Argentina has officially come to an end. After leaving on December 9, I am beginning to face the initial feelings of culture shock after coming from extreme summer heat to what feels like the freezing cold here in New York. At the same time, I can only say great things about my experience abroad. Now, with time to reflect, I am starting to realize what I learned from living in Argentina.

First off, when I said goodbye to my host family at the Mendoza airport, I nearly lost it. While I expected to be sad as I was departing, I did not realize how much I would truly miss my second parents. In the final few moments, as my host family waited on the 45-minute line to check my bags, it hit me how lucky I truly was to have this family. With meals ready on the table, clean sheets and laundry done every week, several laughs and opportunities to practice my Spanish, my family was the perfect fit for me. The coordinators of our trip mentioned how lucky I was to have my mom because she is such a great cook. I quickly discovered that she is loved by all and has a reputation for being a wonderful mother, which is exactly what she was. Our goodbye was difficult, to say the least, but I am so grateful for being able to live with such a supportive, generous, kind-hearted family during my stay.

Argentina has also inspired me to travel more. After living in the desert, going sand boarding, and even living in Patagonia and hiking up mountains for one week, I can now see myself doing things I never imagined doing before. I want to visit more of South America and hike even more, especially now that I have been able to see such beautiful parts of the world. South America, I realized, is underrated. It is truly an amazing place, and while I arrived with the preconceived notions that I was coming to a corrupt and violent country, I realized that South America has way more to offer than what I thought it did. I learned about so much rich history and culture, things that I never learned about while studying in the US. I am incredibly thankful for being able to gain another perspective on South American history.

On our second to last day in Mendoza, our professors gave speeches about the program. One Spanish professor, Jorge, stated that now, Argentina is behind us, in our past. All the people I met, things I saw, and the time I spent is in my memory. His advice was never to forget our time here and to hold our experiences here within a special place in our hearts. I can only give the same advice to everyone else still studying abroad, about to finish their programs.

While I will miss Argentina, I am so proud of myself and everyone else in my group, as well as other students studying abroad this semester, for opening up to foreign cities, taking the time to explore them, and even falling in love with them, like I did. These cities have taken huge pieces of our hearts, and I am proud of everyone who gave this experience a chance, including our HWS professor, who always kept our group excursions exciting and enjoyable.

Goodbye for now, Mendoza. I know that at some point in my future, I will be coming back. I have no idea when, but I am certain that I will return to my second home and visit my family again. I will never lose sight of the things I experienced here and how they have changed me for the better.