This spring, I had the incredible opportunity to serve on a volunteer/ministry team on a trip to Pilar, Argentina. I have been an adjunct faculty member at my alma mater in the Department of Communication for six years (teaching PR writing and occasional other courses) and I was thrilled to be invited by the department chair to participate in the yearly COMM trip.

Students and faculty at the university have multiple opportunities each year to travel within the US and around the world to support local ministry efforts. When I was an undergraduate student, I volunteered on one of these service trips to Australia, and as a staff member, I co-led a trip to Chicago a few years ago. Every time I’ve had the privilege to serve in such capacity has been super eye-opening and mind-shifting for me. I have been pleased to travel with groups that clearly recognize that our goal isn’t to “fix” or “save” the community in which we’re entering — instead, our goal is to partner with local leaders who live and daily invest in those cities and to support the good work that is already happening.

The primary purpose of this particular trip was to facilitate topical workshops for CREACOM, a media conference in which young creatives from South America gathered to connect and learn together. The first half of our 10-day trip to Argentina was spent preparing for/assisting with the conference. It was super inspiring to be around other creative people and to hear about the cool projects they are working on! We also got to tour a local preschool and church, recorded video interviews with the leadership team, and gathered b-roll footage. Again, I was very inspired to hear about the dreams and vision that those leaders had for their community. We stayed on the campus of a seminary, which was very beautiful and ate most of our delicious meals there — supplemented, of course, by frequent walks to the local Luciano’s for gelato!

For the most part, we stayed in the same few-block radius of Pilar during our time in Argentina, but we did have one full day of touristic activities. We drove downtown Buenos Aires for a brief walking tour of the city. It was so beautiful! I keep telling people that BA felt like six distinct European cities all combined into one bustling metropolis that still had its own South American flair. I loved the architecture and spent a lot of time looking up toward the sky. On that note, since May is part of the autumn season in the southern hemisphere, the vibrantly-colored leaves also captivated a lot of my attention.

I would have loved a formal tour for some historical context and to go in museums and churches to witness more cultural highlights, but we were limited on time. Before leaving the immediate downtown area, we had an asado for lunch at La Estancia, which was definitely worth doing. In the afternoon, we went to Caminito in La Boca — an “open air museum” full of street art & vibrantly-painted buildings. I enjoyed talking to a few of artist who were selling their paintings, but I didn’t end up taking home any art. We made a final stop at Tigre, which is a large market and fruit port that was 90% closed since it was a Monday.

Overall, I was very pleased with the little glimpses of Argentina that I had on this trip, even though I would have loved more tourism and personal exploration opportunities. I am always grateful for the chance to travel anywhere, for any reason, and although I can technically cross this bucket-list country off, I feel strongly that I will need to go back sometime soon!

The Highlights
So much food — great grilled meats, alfajores, plentiful pasta (particularly the Arizona Pasta at Kansas Grille), pastries, bread with jam, empanadas, gelato (particularly from Luciano’s), deliciously thick coffee); eucalyptus trees; warm hospitality; sightseeing in Buenos Aires (the obelisk, Women’s Bridge, Avenue 9 July, the Pink House, Caminito in La Boca, Tigre; dulce de leche on everything; being immersed in the Spanish language; walking everywhere; camellias blossoming & leaves changing colors.

SDG

All photos, except the group photos and photos of me, were taken by me, on my iPhone.