Page 100 - NHS Beyond the Classroom

Poto Morgan-Sheargold 2006

Hola gentes . . .”que tal, como undas?” luckily I had taken a bag of pois, my Korowai and
Hola everyone, It’s Poto here. Here’s a little Piupiu. They all looked at me for what to do, so out
news on my overseas exchange to Argentina. came the pois! I taught them a very simple poi - ‘e
My first days in Argentine were spent at an rere taka poi’ and the boys did the haka.
Orientation Camp in the capital of Buenos Aires, I tried the traditional hot drink of Argentina
with temperatures of 35 to 38 degrees! I was with a which is called ‘Mate’ (pronounced as a Maori
group of 12 Kiwis and around 90 other students word) and drunk it out of a bull’s balls! I freaked
from around the world - Germany, Austria, out when I found out!
Iceland, USA, Canada, South Africa and a lot more. I arrived in my city of Concepcion del
It was a really great experience meeting Uruguay after a five-hour bus ride, very nervous
people from all around the world, and being the about finally meeting my family. It was 38 degrees
only Maori from New Zealand. Celsius and I could see heat waves on the concrete
With all the countries having to do a skit, only 5 meters away! Not a cloud in the sky, and I
was wearing black!
I got settled in for the next two weeks,
meeting my grandparents and cousins. I got a
reality check when the only person that could speak
in English was my host sister, but not very well.
And the only thing I could say was “Hola” and
“Como estas” (How are you?), so I had to learn
very fast.
I go to a school with around 1,300 students.
There are two separate times to start, morning or
afternoon.
I don’t start classes until 1:15pm and I finish
most days at 6:10pm . . . well that is if the teacher
shows up to teach! If they don’t we either get to
start later or finish early!!. So, around two days a
week I finish around 4 or 5pm! Haha, but I
absolutely hated it!
I have 12 different subjects and P.E. is not in