AFS student Sol Crespin wanted to leave her home in Argentina to spend a year in the United States because she “wanted to experience the American high school and all the classes.”

She said she would also have liked to “go to Italy to learn Italian and also because they have a culture similar to Argentina.” 

 Crespin said that her hometown of Ushuaia is a lot like Cedarburg because of the similar weather and nature. 

Some things that surprised her were the size of the school and all of the options of classes and sports. 

One difference she has found is that Argentinian teens typically use WhatsApp to communicate. 

Crespin said that “something very popular here is American football. We just have rugby.”

Another difference between living in Argentina and in the United States is a time of the day called merienda. Merienda loosely translates from Spanish to “snack.” This is one of four meals most people living in Argentina eat in a day. 

Argentinians eat breakfast around  7 a.m. They eat lunch in the afternoon. Merienda occurs at the time when many Americans eat dinner, around 5 or 6 p.m. Merienda can be a tostada, dulce de leche or another kind of beverage. 

For Crespin, merienda typically looks like drinking tea with her family, having facturas (a pastry) or going to “coffee shops with your family and friends,” she said. 

Finally dinner is served at around 10 p.m. 

Crespin is taking AP Spanish and thinks it is really fun, but she did mention how the Spanish accent and dialect used in that class is different from the Argentinian version.  Crespin said she would like to develop an American accent. 

Crespin’s host family is junior Micah Kieckhefer’s family.