Chasing Cheerios

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Cultural Exchange Package #1...Argentina!

I gave the girls their first cultural exchange package on Monday, and they LOVE it!  We are studying Argentina during the month of January, so if you have any fun and simple activities to supplement our studies, I'd love to hear about them.

On our first day, we read the letter from the package and explored everything included in the package.  Here are pics of a few of the included things...

A pin which O(5) has claimed for herself...actually, E(2) gave it to her and said it was for her.  E was busy claiming the whale sponge for herself.  She called it a "srubber" (scrubber) and said she was going to "srub" with it in the shower.  This is pretty funny since it's a tiny little whale sponge that is meant for stamping :)





We LOVE all of the natural items!  E(2) picked up the black object (I'm not sure what it is) and said "It yooks (looks) just yike (like) a yiver (liver)!"  She's right!  It looks a lot like the liver on our human body parts puzzle (that has been very popular with the girls lately.





This a favorite item!  A gourd, tea, and a special straw to drink the tea.





The girls love the flag, and I've had O tell me how the Argentinian flag is different from the American flag.










We read this story, and I put the puzzle together for the girls.  (I'm enjoying this as much as they are!)





Tiny playing cards.  O says they are the perfect size for her American Girl doll, Kaya.





We've really enjoyed looking at the money, and O was THRILLED with the tiny flags!  She said "they must have known that we have mini American girl dolls because they sent flags just for them!"





The girls were excited to color their Argentinian coloring sheets.  I'd love to print more Argentinian coloring sheets, so if anyone knows of a good website, please let me know!





Pictures and descriptions of Argentinan food.  I'm hoping to cook at least one Argentinian food each week that we study this country...any recommendations???





The girls favorite part of the package was the candy!!!





There were lots of other things that I haven't taken pics of yet.  I'll be writing several more posts throughout the month about our Argentinian activities.

Thank you SO much to Maria Elena and her kids for putting together this fantastic Argentinian package!

14 comments:

  1. Its amazing!! I didnt know you were doing this. I love the project. I´m ESL teacher in Spain, I´m sure my kids would love it too.

    I know it' s too late, but if you need something from Spain, just let me know.

    Just one more thing, I would try "empanada de carne" from the recipes, really delicious!!!

    Pilar*

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  2. Pilar- I'm planning to organize another exchange in a couple of months, so make sure to sign up then!

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  3. This is so cool!!!!! I love all of the items that your exchange person included for you and your girls. Super! I also adore that E makes her l's into y's - A did that forever and the day that she changed "I Yuv you" into "I love you" my heart stopped for a beat or two. Time passing so quickly. :) Thanks for sharing your adventures.

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  4. Brilliant package! We have received almost all of ours and loved them all. Can't thank you enough for organizing this exchange!

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  5. I had the opportunity to visit Argentina for a couple months many years ago. My husband & I remember the empanadas--YUM! But lots of work...
    A couple easy foods would be a lomito completo--a sandwich on a bun with the works: lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, and pickled veggies (I generally omitted these) but the most important was the fried egg on top. You can google for more info.

    Also dulce de leche can be made by covering a can of sweetened condensed milk with water (remove label) & boiling it for 2-3 hours. Wait until it cools to open (or it explodes) and it is like a carmel topping. It's great on breads or crackers (or anything!)
    Finally--not sure if they explained the tea (mate="ma-tae")and since it is such a neat thing, wanted to share. It is a very social thing there. they fill it with the tea leaves & water & sugar & pass it around the group as they visit, etc. Neat cultural thing!
    Reading this makes me miss Argentina! Thanks for the post! (And all your others!)

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  6. What a GREAT idea!! How did you get involved with this?

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  7. You should definitely make alfajores! Yummo! Here is a link from Elsy Marley: http://www.elsiemarley.com/

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  8. This is such an awesome idea! I need to do the same thing with my children!

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  9. How do you find these cultural swap boxes?

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  10. Dear Melissa,

    We were delighted to read your posts about our package from Argentina!!!!!! Santiago and I loved hearing about E and O's speculations about the little stuff. I can't be more thankful to you. Since this exchange both my kids have become geography addicts. Maria Elena from Argentina

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  11. Maria Elena- I'm SO glad to hear that! I am very excited about starting to give my girls the boxes and I think this is going to be a wonderful experience for all of us. I'm planning to organize another swap in a couple of months, so be sure to sign up for it :)

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  12. I did this exchange and the Little Red Farm one and I think I'm hooked!

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  13. Thank you Melissa!!! Of course I'll sign up for your next swap this year.

    Here is a wonderful blog for Argentinian recipes. It's owner is an American woman married to an Argentinian man and I think they live here in Argentina. She knows about our idiosincracy.
    www.fromargentinawithlove.typepad.com

    The seed that looks like a human liver comes from a plant called "timbo" and is also referred to as "elephant ear", doesn't it look like that? Maria Elena from Argentina

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  14. This looks awesome! Ive been following your blog for over a year now and I love it! I have finally getting back into regular blogging, so I would love to take part in something like this sometime :)
    xoxox

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