The Hidden City

We went to a very poverty-stricken area called, Shantitown (Oculta Ciudad - The Hidden City). Here all of the houses are made from materials found around the town, like pieces of metal and things like that. The roads are not paved and there are dogs roaming everywhere. Also, the main part of Buenos Aries does not visit the Shantitown and the people of Shantitown are not welcomed to the outside either. It is a very dangerous place; however, I did not feel that scared. We worked with an organization called L.I.F.E., who has been working there for a few years. L.I.F.E. basically helps the town with basic needs and supplies and also visits the town every so often; they are very respected there. This is the reason I was not that scared. Since the locals saw we were with this organization that they didn’t bother us. We painted, tutored local children, and also helped to prepare a meal for around 300 people. Being there, though it was scary at times, meant a lot. This was the poorest place that I have ever seen in person and it was very sad to actually see people living that way. I think that they really appreciated our help, because I know that any service that we could provide benefitted the community. It was definitely an eye opening experience.

Rachel Lamanna

As a Jew I am now motivated to learn my further understanding of other Jews living around the world as well as the history and culture of the geographic region in which they now live. Although we do have Israel as our foundation or home, the Jewish are still very much separated. It is our responsibility as a Jew to seek out our other Jewish people and connect with them so that we can feel as one, and prove to the world that we are one despite the distance.

Kelly Fineman

Since coming to Argentina it has been an eye opening experience to see the way people live and how different it is from my life in America. Some worry day to day if they can feed their families when all I worry about is if I’ll have time to do my homework , grab some food on campus and go to the gym before I go out and have fun with my friends. Seeing and learning about these hard ships has put life into a different perspective for me and I would really like to give back to other communities more often.

Arielle Rumore

Feliz Purim!

Day numero dos and the fun has yet to stop! Today was a mix of fun and hard work. After waking up to an early 6:30am wakeup call, we ate a traditional Argentinean breakfast consisting of toast, croissants, and fruit, then we took a nice one hour bus ride to a Jewish Community Center. Here we learned about how the school (JCC) had gone into foreclosure nearly 10 years ago, forcing them to sell part of their land to the government to in order to maintain the actual building and pay off their debt. Due to lack of funds, the building was abandoned and books, supplies, furniture and school work done years ago were the only items left scattered in the dusty three story building. Classes are still held every week; the kids must walk through the shambles to their appropriate paint pealed, dusty classrooms in order to obtain a lesson from their maestro each Sunday.

As part of our tzdek service to the Argentian community we were asked to clean the building, paint the walls and furniture, and design and paint a mural on one of the outside walls. We were split into multiple groups and all assigned activities to help rebuild this Jewish community. Eight hours later the group came together to discuss the progress made. As one group we will design and paint the mural on our next visit to the JCC on Wednesday.

During the community service, one of the townspeople came over to my group. He explained how he had a child that attends the JCC every week and how much it meant to him and his family that we were helping to rebuild his community and helping to make it a welcoming place for all. Even though I do not know more than this man’s name, his words will stick with me forever. It feels great knowing something I did will help to strengthen a community in need, especially a Jewish group.

After this strenuous and emotional activity we were given a two hour siesta break. It was so nice to finally have time to just relax and reflect on the past two days. But our day didn’t end there, immediately following our siesta we traveled as a group to the Hillel house and learned about the history of Argentina from a Jewish perspective. We were also supplied costumes and were told the story of Purim. The night ended with a Purim celebration with all three groups: Virginia Tech, UNC, and Kenyon, as well as various students studying abroad and our fellow Argentine friends. A few hours of sleep and we’ll be at it again….

Community Service at IERU

Welcome to Argentina!

After a week of cold weather and snowing, Blacksburg started to look like spring the Saturday before Spring Break. It was sad leaving the beautiful weather of Virginia Tech but worth it knowing that in less than 20 hours we would be in Argentina. We flew out of Roanoke to a layover in Dulles before arriving in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Sunday morning. Our group was welcomed by open arms by the Hillel in Argentina. They drove us to Belgrano, the barrio where would be staying for the week.


We dropped off our bags at the Cristal Palace, our hotel for the week, and took us to the Hillel House, a local hangout with Jewish people in the area.


We met the groups from University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill and Kenyon College, and headed to Recoleta, an open air market in the middle of the city. It felt like the entire town of Buenos Aires was celebrating their Sunday off from work. People filled the field listening to musicians, shopping in the flea market, watching Capoeira (a Brazilian street fight-dance), and laughing at the street performers. With the help of a local Argentine friend we met at the Hillel House, I bought a leather passport case and a container for drinking matea, the local tea that everyone in Argentina socially drinks.

The architecture of the area was beautiful and the history was rich. We browsed through a collection of above-ground graves, including the famous Evita whose grave was lined with flowers for National Women’s Day.

After a full day of shopping, we took the bus to Palermo, a local collection of bars, stores and restaurants. We shopped, drank water and ate some empanadas. We ended our day with falafel at the Hillel House and a full night’s sleep at the Cristal Palace.

Alex Weaver