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Students share unique experiences of 1
By Danielle Alford
Reporter
The Grimsley community flourishes with a diverse
popluation of ethnicity, interests, hobbies, occupations, and
opinions. This diversity also spreads to the aspect of travel
among Grimsley students. Tambra Taylor, Elon Guttman,
Sara Aderhold, and Mamadou Niang are no exception to
this diversity. They have all lived in or visited another
country or island and are willing to share their unique ex
periences.
As many Grimsley students discover their affinity for a
foreign language, they may have the opportunity to travel
to the country they study. Tambra Taylor, a senior, has
done just that. On July 26, 1995, she embarked on her
travels to Argentina through a study abroad program. Tay
lor, who studies Spanish, selected Argentina because she
wanted to sharpen her speaking skills and learn more about
South America and Argentina. She was fortunate to have
lived in Mendoza, with a host family for her first four
months in Argentina, and then in the capital city of Buenos
Aires, her last two months.
Taylor had the opportunity to learn much about this
Spanish-speaking country during her stay.
“When 1 first got there, it was real cold...It was the
opposite; when we have our winters they have their sum
mers. Summers are terrible because it stays around 98
degrees everyday. 1 thought the people would look like the
Mexicans from Central America. But, true Argentinians
are scarce so now they are mixed with peoples from En
gland, Germany, etc. So, if s a mixed culture. In Mendoza,
the people were not as open. They didn’t bend over back
wards to say ‘hello’ when you walked into a store, etc.
“Their economy had a lot of inflation. It was ridicu
lous because a can of Sprite cost $1.00 and a small box of
Frosted Flakes was $10.00! In Argentina, there are two
classes: middle and poor (with absolutely no money). It
was sad because the poor mothers and fathers would hold
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Ilan Guttman, a sophomore, moved to Israel
with his family so that his father, a rabbi, could
study at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
SMsI
Tambra Taylor, a senior, Uved in
Mendoza and Buenos Aires, Argentina
as an exchange student for six months.
File photo
out their hands for money downtown and children washed
car windows at every stoplight.
“I didn’t like their government. It was a mess because
often people would not get their paychecks for a couple of
months. I think it used money for unnecessary reasons.”
Taylor comments on the apparent similarities and dif
ferences in the school systems of Argentina and the United
States. She said, “I don’t think their school system is very
organized. For example, instead of taking chemistry one
year and physics another, they would take chemistry and
physics at the same time. Also, they don’t change classes;
the teachers do. So, we had to see the same people all day.
I had to wear a white lab coat called a guardo polvo as a
uniform in my public school because they wanted poor
people to not feel different. There are two times you can
choose to go to school everyday: the morning (8am-lpm)
or afternoon (lpm-6pm). Everyone went home for lunch
because there was no cafeteria.”
Taylor enjoyed her six month stay in this interesting
coimtry. She was impressed with the capital, Buenos Ahes.
“It was more Americanized, just like New
York...Everything I saw in the encyclopedia about it I got
to do there.” But, she had some dislikes about her visit.
She said, “I didn’t like the dulce de leche which is trans
lated into ‘milk candy. ’ You eat it like we eat our peanut
butter. I also didn’t like greeting with kisses on the cheek
because it was tiring.”
Despite any dislikes of Argentina, Taylor said she would
like to still be there. She said, “I miss the freedom of
going out with my friends and staying out until 6 or 7 am.”
Argentina is one experience Tambra Taylor will not soon
forget as the memory of her visit lives on m the Spanish
classroom right here at Grimsley.
Israel is the next stop on the map for another student.
Ilan Guttman, a sophomore, lived in Israel from birth im-
til the age of ten. His parents moved there because his
father attended Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He com-
pares the country to the United States’ climate.
culture,economy, and government.
“It’s hotter. It didn’t snow much and there
are a lot of deserts. The geography is simi
lar to North Carolina because it has a lot of
moimtains and hills.
“The Israelis are really diverse. There
are a lot of immigrants from Russia and
Ethiopia. There is a group from the United
States and the Palestinian Arabs are Chris
tians and Muslims. I liked the people be
cause it is like New York in that you meet a
lot of different people. You could go out in
the middle of the night and ride the public
transportation and not be afraid of being
mugged.
“They had a free enterprise economy.
Oin government had programs there. For
example, the phone company for the entire
coimtry was American. Their government
is parliamentarian. In order to form a gov
ernment, you have to have 61 members in
your coalition.”
Guttman remembers the school system in Israel. “The
File photo
country runs the school. You can choose what school you
want to attend. You are required to go to school and when
you turn 18, you’re required to go to the army. I attended
a conservative Jewish school. The school is similar be
cause they divide the day into subjects as they do here.”
Likes and dislikes of his ten years in Israel are still
fresh on Guttman’s mind. He said, “I guess I liked the
freedom and being with a lot of Jewish people and not
being a minority. But, I didn’t like getting year-old mov
ies and watching old American TV shows.” Guttman is
certainly fortunate to have had the experience of living in
Israel where he felt free to be who he was, even as a ten
year old.
It is not every day, someone can pack their bags and
move to an island with little or no cars, no running water,
and the warmth of 80 degrees temperatures daily. How
ever, Sara Aderhold, a senior, packed her bags and flew
off to such an island. For seven months, she lived on the
island of Saba located 28 miles from St. Martin, just be
low Puerto Rico. Aderhold along with her mother, brother,
and sister moved to Saba to join her father who was at
tending Saba University School of Medicine.
Aderhold describes Saba as a third world region that
was very primitive compared to the civilized life of the
United States. In comparing the climate, culture of the
people on the island, the economy, and government
of Saba and the United States she said:
“It was 75-80 degrees every day. The
weather was funny because it could be
sunny one minute and then rain for 30
minutes. It’s weird how I realized the sea
sons prepare you for the holidays. In Saba,
there were no seasons.
“There were black and white people on
the island. There were interracial couples
and some people married their second or
third cousins. The people were very