I get asked a lot what do I do in Buenos Aires and it can be a tough question to answer. My tasks, schedule, and responsibilities vary day to day but I'd like to take you through a day I had a couple weeks ago to try to explain some of what I do. I was inspired by my fellow JSC Fellow, Maggie, who wrote about a typical day for her in Ethiopia.
I wake up to my alarm set at 10:30am (yes I generally sleep until this time in Argentina...I start later and work later), push snooze for five minutes, get out of bed to turn on the stove and heat up water for tea, and set up my computer. While the water heats up I read TheSkimm, respond to the Facebook messages the teens I work with had sent me the night before, and quickly glance at my email and calendar. First thing this morning is a Google Hangout at 11am with a JDC Entwine staff person in New York to discuss the program for their upcoming Insider Trip to Buenos Aires in August. It's a nice change starting my day with a meeting in English! Afterwards I walk to the local JDC office which is five blocks from my apartment, to meet with my colleague who works on Education and other young people programs for the JDC. We were discussing the upcoming Pilpul event, a debate competition between Jewish teens, and brainstorming ideas to engage young adults in small informal programming. Afterwards I poked my head into my JDC supervisor's office to say hello and check if he needed anything from me. He reminded me to send him my notes from a consulting project we'd been working on with a local synagogue about strategic planning from now until the year 2020.
I leave the offices and meet two friends at the restaurant Quimbombo for lunch (it is so delicious) in the Palermo Soho neighborhood, about 10-15 blocks from the JDC office. Afterwards I head to Hebraica, the Jewish community center I work at, by subway located in the neighborhood Once. I have about thirty minutes until my next meeting so I answer a few emails, Gchat my friend Ezra who is a JSC Fellow in Tbilisi, Gerogia, and poke my head into my coworker's office to say hi and ask how the madrichim school is (she's the director of Hebraica's madrichim school). Next I walk into the office of one of the assistant directors of the department, Hache, for my next meeting. I have been planning a potential BBYO summer program for 2015 in Argentina, working on a potential itinerary, budgeting out the program, working with a travel agency, and communicating back and forth between all parties included. Today I was meeting with Hache to catch him up on what has been happening and ask for his opinion on a few things. We realize we need to set up a meeting with the travel agency so we call them to figure out when we will meet and explain a bit about next steps. I realize I'm running late for my next thing (very typical in Argentina) so let Hache know I have to go.
I walk downstairs to the little cafe in Hebraica and see my coworker and friend Dani sitting at a table. I go over to say hi and she asks me what we need to do for our next BBYO Hebraica program. We chat for a few minutes and then I see a madricha I'm supposed to be meeting with walk in. Leslie is going to staff BBYO's ILTC and Kallah summer programs in Pennsylvania as a madricha and wants to meet up to chat a bit about what to expect. I answer her questions, we practice her English a bit, and I help her fill out a few forms she needs to send in.
Next I have a meeting for Hebraica's tzevet creativo or creative group. This is a group of six madrichim whose job is to think outside the box and come up with programming that breaks the existing structures for youth in Hebraica. Our current project is a friendly competition scavenger hunt for all the kids and their families. This event could draw between 100-1000 people so we are definitely thinking creatively about the logistics and content. After tzevet creativo I have a quick meeting with the youth department director Jessi. She has agreed to host a couple groups of French scouts in July so has enlisted my help to help plan their stays and organize visits for them to visit local Jewish institutions. I give her an update on what I have been working on and what I still need to do to prepare for their arrival.
By this time it is 9:30PM and time for me to head home. I get on a bus and on the few block walk from the bus stop to my apartment stop at the verduleria to pick up some vegetables and fruit. As I enter my apartment building my Spanish teacher is walking out (he lives in the same building as me) and reminds me of my Spanish class the following day. I go in my apartment, make a chicken and vegetable stir fry, and talk to my friend on FaceTime as I eat. Afterwards I get in bed and watch the newest episode of 24 before I go to sleep.
As you can see, my days include a variety of tasks and people. I love that my job constantly evolves and changes depending on what is happening in the community because it keeps it interesting and allows me to develop skills in many different areas. Hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about what I spend my days doing in Buenos Aires!
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