Placement Info

Well, I've finally got some details to share about where I'll be and what I'll be doing for the next year! I've been placed in Bariloche, a city of about 100,000 in southern Argentina. It's up in the mountains and has a reputation for great skiing and hiking. The city mascot is, no joke, a St. Bernard with the little wooden keg around its neck. As for what I'll be doing, I am going to be working with a Lutheran church in Bariloche. The church has a mission in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of the city, and so far, it looks like much of my work will be done through the mission - helping elderly members of the community with chores and with getting basic necessities, giving homework help and playtime to children, and so on. I'm also going to be helping with the youth at the church; my impression of the job is that they have a youth minister, and that I'll be assisting him/her in some of his/her duties. That said, I'm the first YAGM volunteer assigned to this particular location, so I suspect that there could very well be changes in what I do as my time there goes on.

It also seems that I will be in Bariloche on my own; there wasn't any mention of other volunteers (YAGM or otherwise) working with the church, so I'll very much be thrust into the community. It definitely won't be like Ghana, where I lived with a hundred other white, English-speaking Westerners. I'll also have my own dwelling while there; the church has a student residence attached to it, and I'll have my own room within it. I'm curious how the student residence is set up - is it just a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen meant for one person? A dorm-style building with individual bedrooms but shared bath and kitchen? A little house? I am glad, though, that I'll have my own sort of room and set-up rather than living with a host family. While I've no doubt that the host family experience is incredible, I frankly feel more comfortable with the thought of having my own space that does not involve intruding into another established family's routine and way of life. Of course, a YAGM year isn't exactly about comfort, either, but I think my position in Bariloche will stretch me plenty well as is.

I will say that I was a little surprised by my placement. I'd figured that I'd end up in Buenos Aires or Montevideo, just by virtue of the fact that a pretty solid number of past YAGMs have ended up there. I really didn't expect to end up in Patagonia, but I'm definitely not upset with my placement. In fact, I'm excited - it's a part of the world that very few Americans get to see, let alone live in, and the sort of work associated with the position is really in line with what sort of things I'd hoped to be doing, and is good ministry preparation to boot. Of course, I own about 2 articles of clothing suited to life in a cold climate, so I'll be doing some shopping before I go, but this is shaping up to be an incredible adventure!