Meet Mente Argentina participant Hannah Sanders– all the way from Sheffield, England. Hannah came to Buenos Aires in February for a five month internship program at the organization RACI (Red Argentina para la Cooperacion Internacional). This ambitious girl is currently working towards a degree in Languages and Linguistics, studying Spanish, French, and Catalan. “This is a four year degree and everyone in my program spends their third year abroad.” Hannah spent the first six months in Paris, practicing French and is currently living in Buenos Aires for the second half of her time abroad.
RACI is an Argentine organization that seeks to help develop the capacities and resources of Non-Governmental Organizations through community and collective action. RACI’s mission is to help local Argentine NGOs maximize foreign aid opportunities by submitting proposals together rather than compete against one another, and generally educates these NGO’s about foreign aid opportunities. Its objective is to promote human, economic, social, and political development and the environmental care of the country.
Hannah interns at RACI four hours a day, for four days a week, allowing her to take Fridays off for weekend excursions. Hannah has been truly taking advantage of every opportunity RACI gives her. One of her main tasks is to translate from Spanish to English and place the content on the RACI website. “I already feel that there are more responsibilities and more interesting tasks for me. I really like translating. It is cool, they taught me how to use word press, so I can put the translations on the site myself,” says Hannah. She is very passionate about helping the less fortunate, making her a perfect fit for this internship.
Hannah looks forward to her internship each day. “I really like it, the people there are really cool. The staff is Argentine, but the interns are from France, Colombia, Sweden, United States, Peru.” RACI offers a diverse community, exposing interns to a culturally integrative experience. Hannah spends free time with her friends from work, as well.
RACI is located in the neighborhood of Almagro, a short distance away from the more touristy areas of Palermo and Recoleta. “The neighborhood screams Latin America,” says Hannah, “which is what I was looking for in my experience here.”
Hannah was placed by Mente Argentina in a four bedroom Recoleta apartment, which she shares with two other girls. “I got lucky. I live in a great location and clicked with my roommates straight away,” says Hannah. “We have been doing loads of stuff together. And since we do different things during the day, we have double the amount of friends.”
The girls often hang out on the rooftop of another Mente apartment. “We love to hang there, especially at sunset. The icing on the cake is you can see the elephants in the zoo.” Since many other Mente apartments are nearby, they often go to each other’s homes to cook dinners (like Paella), or pregame before going out.
While in Paris, Hannah met a girl from Buenos Aires. “It all kind of happened like a dream. I met this girl in Paris from here. Through her I met all these Argentine friends my age, it has been amazing.” A lot of her Argentine crew has never met a British person before. “I am kind of like a novelty with them. I have only met one British person since I have been here and that has never been the case for me,” says Hannah. They like to practice English at times, but Spanish is spoken much more often. “It is good to help me pick apart the lunfardo (slang). They teach me a lot, and it is cool, but sometimes it is just a massive flurry of words,” admits Hannah.
During the Argentine holiday, Semana Santa, Hannah is traveling to Cordoba, Argentina with ten Argentine friends. She is excited to feel even more fully immersed in the Argentine culture. “That’s what I came here for, so it is really nice that it is happening.”
Another aspect of the city that Hannah loves is the walking. She has always been an avid walker, but has never been in a place with such a grid system, which makes it a lot easier to find her way around. “I walk 50 minutes to and from my internship. I walk everywhere, even to Plaza de Mayo. It helps me fit together the layout of the city.”
Hannah feels fortunate to live so close to Los Bosques de Palermo. She loves to run and hundreds of people run in the park from 6-9PM at night. “It is really nice hat I can safely run at night on my own.” She also feels safe coming home at night at 5AM, through the window of her taxi often seeing people walking their dogs. “It is really chill,” says Hannah.
Hannah reveals a few of her hot spots in town. “I love to eat at Muu Lecheria and Bartola is my favorite lunch spot here.” She adds that Bartola’s mint, ginger lemonade is not to be missed. Hannah enjoys Barrio Chino (Chinatown), as well, which offers more diverse flavors.
On Mondays, Hannah frequents Club Severino, which never fails to show her a fun time. “Temple Bar in Palermo is also really nice, and I like Chupitos and Sugar Bar. Plaza Serrano is fun, but a bit pricy.” She usually prefers to pregame (previa) in homes before going to clubs, common for most Argentine youth.
Hannah attends many Mente Argentina activities, as well. “The Argentine Experience was definitely a highlight, one of my favorite nights so far” This is a Mente Night that consists of an empanada and alfajor (cookie) cooking class, filled with wine and other treats. She also loves to go to La Bomba del Tiempo, a famous percussion show. She also enjoyed dancing the night away on Mente Tango Night at the milonga, La Viruta. La Boca and the San Telmo Market are two other favorites, as well.
This girl keeps busy. Hannah is also working on a big project for University about the Guerra Sucia, specifically the people who went missing during this time. She goes to Biblioteca Nacional to work on this, feeling like a local.
“I love it here overall, I am constantly meeting people from all over the world,” says Hannah. She is currently planning a trip to Mendoza, Santiago, Chile, and hopes to make it to Iguazu Falls. She feels lucky that she met people so quickly. “It is usually harder when you are working and not studying. I cannot believe how fast my time here has gone so far. I am super happy that I chose Buenos Aires.”