Latin America, Here I Come!

I've got my e-ticket, my room confirmation at the Tango Backpackers Hostel and the phone number of a Stanislaus alumnus who lives in Buenos Aires. I'm good to go!

Since June, I've been planning a 6-week trip through 5 Latin American countries to promote the new English as a Second Language (ESL) Camp that Stanislaus will begin to offer in January 2010. On Saturday, I finally head out on this big adventure!

The places I'll be visiting include:

• Buenos Aires, Argentina (The land of tango, Evita and Jorge Louis Borges)
  
• Santiago, Chile (Known for its vineyards, Easter Island and Pablo Neruda)
  
• Lima, Peru (From my plane I'll see the magnificent The Andes and maybe Machu Picchu?)
  
• San Jose, Costa Rica (I'm looking forward to the coffee, rainforest and no military.)
  
• Mexico: Merida, Cancun, Veracruz, Cordoba, Puebla, Mexico City, Guanajuato (I heart Mexico for many reasons, but the two most important are tacos and mariachi music.)
  

I have been contacting Stanislaus alumni and Brothers of the Sacred Heart who live in these countries in hopes that they can help me get in touch with parents who might be interested in the ESL Camp or Stanislaus in general. So far, I've made some really great contacts in each country.

I've never done anything like this before, so I don't know what to expect. I just hope kids in Latin America find this camp fun and interesting and beg their parents to sign them up. The ESL dorm is waiting for about 20 students, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have that many signed up by the time I come back from my trip.

We've created a pretty awesome camp, so signing up students shouldn't be a problem. Here's a breakdown of the ESL Camp: Throughout the 4-week, English-immersion camp, students will attend ESL classes in the morning and participate in fun activities in the afternoons and on weekends that will further build their English skills. Just a few of those activities include:

• Field trip to NASA's Stennis Space Center
  
• Field trip to the New Orleans Audubon Zoo, Aquarium of the Americas, Insectarium and IMAX Theatre
  
• Live brass band performance at Preservation Hall
• Haunted History Tour of the New Orleans French Quarter
• Honey Island Swamp Tour
• Field trip aboard the U.S.S. Alabama battleship
  
• Water sports (summer only) such as skiiing, sailing, swimming and fishing.
• Other sports such as bowling, baseball, skating, soccer, dodge ball, volleyball, billiard, football, ping-pong and more.
  
• Finally, during the last week of camp, students will take an amazing trip to Disney World!

That sounds like fun, right?

Anyway, back to my trip. Buenos Aires will be my first city. I'll be there for 6 days, and I have all of my stops (about 100 schools, travel agencies and language centers) mapped out so that I can hit the ground running.

Here's a quick video of the Hostel that I'll be staying at in the posh Palermo district of Buenos Aires.



Wish me luck!