My Rotary Youth Exchange in Argentina

Greetings from Argentina!

My name is Brendan Gunn and I am a 16-year-old Watsonville High student, currently living in Olavarria, Argentina on a 1-year youth foreign exchange with Rotary Youth International. I arrived in late August of 2011, and am happily living in a mid-sized city with a population of about 120,000. Olavarria is situated in the center of  Buenos Aires Province, about a five-hour drive south from Buenos Aires.

Up until last summer, I lived in Watsonville my whole life, and attended Watsonville public schools such as Salsipuedes Elementary, Landmark Elementary, Cesear Chavez Middle School, and I would be a junior at Watsonville High. I play water polo and swim for Watsonville High. I also have a great passion for surfing, hiking and traveling. I visited Japan while I was in middle school when I participated in the Watsonville-Kawakami Sister City partnership , a one week foreign exchange program.

I am frequently asked why I wanted to be a foreign exchange student and why I chose Argentina for my foreign exchange. Simply put, I love traveling and trying new things. Argentina was my first choice because of its beautiful and varied landscapes, diverse culture, and useful Spanish that I'm learning on my year abroad.

In my next blog post, I will talk about the basic structure of a foreign exchange student's year regarding host families and counselors, as well as the expectations of a Rotary Youth Exchange Student.

Thanks for reading, Brendan Gunn