A Series of Lasts

This week is a series of lasts. My last art assignment, my last classes in the UBA and UCA, my last day volunteering at the Community Center in Barrio Mitre. Some of these lasts I couldn't have been happier about, others were bittersweet.

On Monday, I handed in my 15 page final project for Contemporary Argentine Art. The paper was entitled Religious Elements in the works of Xul Solar and examined the myriad of religious symbols of all backgrounds used in seven works of the famous Argentine vanguardist Xul Solar. A close friend of Borges, Solar was one weird guy, but I can't help but thinking he was also brilliant. He not only painted, he also invented a few of his own languages, devised his own system of musical notation, built model homes, wrote editorials, created a piano with three keyboards, and designed and built all the furniture for his own home.

To see the works I analyzed, click here.

I worked really hard on the paper and in the end it paid off, because my professor gave me a 10 on it. He also gave me a 10 in the class, which he says he doesn't typically do. God's blessed me so far with great grades here in Argentina. Let's hope that trend continues.


Wednesday was my last real class meeting of History of the Spanish Language in the UBA. I'm not technically done yet, since the second midterm is December 1st and the final is the 13th (if, in fact, I have to take it- we'll see if my grades get me out of that). But I am done with the typical lecture-style class meetings.

Wednesday was also a day of good news. A week before, I'd taken the first midterm and felt that I'd done terribly. The professors had given us hints in class of what we should focus on for the exam, then didn't include a single question about any of those topics. Instead, they pulled very specific details from obscure articles we'd never discussed. In other words, it was bull. And I left the exam wanting to scream, cry, or throw something.

So when I arrived to the discussion section of the course on Wednesday afternoon and was handed the half of the exam that corresponded to the discussion section/práctico of the course, I wasn't optimistic. Once again, God rewarded my efforts with a 10. I give extra credit to God on this one, because my midterm contained a fair amount of creative invention to account for things I had no knowledge of whatsoever.

What I got on the other half of the midterm, the part that corresponds to the lecture/teórico, remains to be seen. I'm sure I didn't do as well on that portion as I did on the práctico half, but we'll just have to wait and see.


Today was my final Latin class. Now all that's left is my final exam on Dec 2. I'm not too worried about it. This semester has been largely review from Latin I took at IU, and I enjoy the class, so studying for the final won't be too tedious.

Today was also my final day at the Barrio Mitre Community Center where I do my volunteer work for my FLACSO class, Seminary on Service and Learning. I went to the community center not expecting anything special, but when I got there, the kids had all made me cards saying "We love you, Professor Mark" "Thank you for teaching us English" and "We'll miss you. Have a safe trip back to your country." Really sweet. They'd made the cards themselves, and it made my day. I'm gonna miss these kids.

I've learned a ton about the Argentine education system, how to get through to kids who don't want to learn, and how to teach things I've never had to explain before. It's also been a great environment for me to practice my Spanish with no pressure. The kids don't care if I make mistakes- they just want me to teach them how to say the days of the week in English. My volunteer experience at Barrio Mitre is one thing that makes me glad I chose FLACSO for my semester abroad.

To see pictures of my time at Barrio Mitre throughout the semester, click here.