We left our Mosconi family, with a sad goodbye and our glasses covering our eyes. The last month we became very close,living and learning from each other. I was especially fond of “La Tia” the aunt and mother figure of the family. I found out that because women can do two things at once (males are unable to do this because of the way there brain functions… not my words by the way) they played a huge role in the household. My favourite area of the house was the kitchen.
Apparently there were very few people allowed in that area, as La Tia previously was a cook and ran a restaurant from home, so I felt very special. I wrote down recipes and my spanish vocabulary was initially kitchen based. I may not have been able to ask for directions but I could cut a potato. My love for food has increase with the knowledge of Argentinian cooking and unfortunately the chiefs eat the food so has my waist size…hahah so so worth it. We were at asado (Argentinas most splendid way of cooking meat and eating an abundance of salads and vegs) and I was asked by one of the guests if I was pregnant (everyone was eating a lot, I think it was cause I was a foreigner and I could eat a lot… my family had already experienced that so it was a running joke), I just smiled and kept feeding my little food baby.
I would just like to say that without you my Argentinian experience would not have been the same. Not only did you provide me with drive and direction to learn spanish in BA. You opened up to me a world I would have never experienced travelling hostel to hostel. You family are the most wonderful people. To open up your home to complete strangers and to make them feel completely loved and comfortable is a credit to their support for you and the success of your vision. Everything was how you explained it sitting in that cafe in BA. You were accommodating to the needs of the individual which made for a very personal program. You gave us an opportunity to work within your community, an impact that we will never see but the memories we will talk about for years (I have already got my brother on to building an asado bbq for my return, now all I need is Argentinian meat). Thank you for your vision, for allowing me to be apart of it and for giving me an insight into your very special world.
You and your family will be missed By Sarah-Jane Brennan
