Hannah of Buenos Aires

Above: The ever-elusive femme fatale that is Ms. Miles

Hannah's origin tells of a born & raised Upper-West Sider from The Empire State of New York City who uprooted herself from all that she knew for a teaching career in South America!

Ms. Miles is also by far my most favorite person that I've interviewed. Why? Because I noticed all of the subtle nuances & her utmost minute, intricate & meticulous attention to detail. She replied to my questions via e-mail with a Microsoft Word file attachment. Which meant that she went through the trouble of copying & pasting from her web browser window & not only that-- she changed the color text palette with the questions poised in red & her answers in no-nonsense, all-business black. To say that her replies were responses is a profound understatement-- nearly each answer reading as a solid, solitary short-term essay. She really cared about what I was trying to do & truly grasped the goal of my blog-- helping people... strangers who you don't even know, families & friends alike... realize their dreams.

Thank you so much, Hannah! & Without further ado... on with her interview...

Above: Hannah, disarmingly warmhearted princesse lointaine

AVANT - Congratulations! You're in Buenos Aires right now looking for a teaching job! How did you first get started with your globetrotting endeavor? Did you speak to any advisors at Hunter, did any of your family or friends teach overseas before? Or did you take the entire initiative upon yourself and searched the internet for a website-- if so, what was the website?

Hannah - I decided to move to Argentina last August. I was about to finish college and I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life (I still don’t) so, I decided to take a leap and go somewhere unfamiliar. I really believe that people can easily fall into a pattern and spend their entire lives in one place without ever experiencing something else. I am also the kind of person who is very eager to stay in a comfort zone, in this case my hometown of New York City, and I decided that was not the way I wanted to live my life. I didn’t talk to anyone at Hunter, I just decided to do this and did all the research myself. I have a friend who taught English in Taiwan for a while and told me amazing stories about it. However, I knew I didn’t want to go to Asia and I have already been to Europe a number of times. South America was a place I had always dreamed of going so I started looking here. I originally wanted to do some charity work but realized I needed to be making money so I thought of teaching English and began my research. I learned I needed a certification called the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and so I looked for companies that offered it in South America. The company I wound up doing my training through is called EBC. They are based in Madrid, Spain but have “campuses” all over the world, one being in Buenos Aires. Their website is www.ebc-tefl-course.com. It was really beneficial taking the training in the city I wanted to then teach in because it gave me the opportunity to be here for a month before I needed to find a job. It also allowed me to meet people and familiarize myself with the city, which made it easier to get around and go on job interviews when it was time to do that.

AVANT - Last we spoke, you told me how you graduated from Hunter College last Spring with a Bachelor's Degree and your major being Political Science. Did that have any influence on your journey? Also, what was your minor for under grad, if any?

Hannah - I actually just graduated this past December and made the move to Argentina right after in January. I thoroughly enjoyed studying politics but I knew a few years ago that I didn’t want to go into the field so it didn’t have any influence on my plans to come down here. I didn’t have a minor.

AVANT - When did you start planning for your journey & when did you finally arrive in Buenos Aires? What was the first thought that crossed your mind when your plane landed in Buenos Aires & you'd realized what you've gotten yourself into?

Hannah - I did all the research and signed up for my program last fall and I flew down here January 1st of this year. My first thought was “Wow I’m tired, that was a long journey” and my second was “Thank god I can finally take off this bulky sweater because it is 80 degrees and sunny outside.” I was definitely a bit out of sorts when I first got here because I don’t speak any Spanish and I didn’t know anyone, but it didn’t take long for me to settle in. Luckily there was a great group of kids in my teacher training so I made some really amazing friends very quickly.

Below: Hannah & her new friend, Brianne

AVANT - What did your parents, family & friends think of your adventuresome goals?

Hannah - Everyone I know was so supportive of my decision. As I said before I am definitely the kind of person who does not like to stray outside my comfort zone. Therefore for me to leave New York was a huge decision and one that I didn’t make lightly. Every person I told, all my family and friends, and even strangers, were so thrilled and supportive that I was embarking on this adventure.

AVANT - Why Buenos Aires? What other options were on your mind, or was it always Argentina?

Hannah - It wasn’t always Argentina but it was always South America. My program also offers the TEFL in Peru so that was an option but Buenos Aires turned out to be the most enticing place. Argentina is a beautiful country with so much history and a different culture that I wanted to experience. Being in a city was really important to me because I’m from a city and love city life, so I knew I would be able to adjust really well here.

AVANT - Have you been to Buenos Aires before? Or was this your first time?

Hannah - This was my first time to Buenos Aires and to any place south of the equator.

AVANT - Why do you want to teach English?

Hannah - Teaching English was the opportunity that presented itself because it was a way for me to work in this country without having to know Spanish. The training, however, was much more rewarding and interesting than I imagined it would be. When you learn how to teach English, you learn about aspects of the language that I, personally, had never learned before. It was a different experience than studying English in school for example, because in this context there is a much greater emphasis on grammar and the technicalities of the language. As a teacher, you also have to be able to explain to the students why we say certain things and not others, and as a native speaker I found I didn’t always know why, I just knew what was right and what was wrong. I learned something new every day about my own language, which made it a very intriguing experience. Teaching is always something that has interested me so it was a perfect way to learn new skills while also being able to use my native tongue.

AVANT - How is the environment of Argentina different & similar to places you've visited in past travels? i.e. The sandy/pebble-stone beaches remind you of the shorelines in France & Portugal. The city streets are cobblestone like the ones in Venice.

Hannah - Argentina is truly one of a kind, and I can honestly say not much has reminded me of other places that I’ve been to. Even the city life of Buenos Aires is much different than the city life of New York or Paris or Rome. The architecture is also different, there aren’t as many old buildings and historic places as there are in a lot of European cities. But there also aren’t skyscrapers and towering office buildings like those found in New York. The overall vibe of the city is much more relaxed than New York, people aren’t in such a rush and they take more time to enjoy their surroundings.

Below: The Japanese Gardens in Buenos Aires

Above: A flower sculpture in Buenos Aires that opens and closes with the daylight

AVANT - How is the food, coffee, music & shopping in Buenos Aires? Also, how are the people of Argentina treating you?

Hannah - There is a huge coffee culture here and coffee is considered an integral part of each day so the quality of the coffee is really high. The music culture has also been a new experience. I’ve been to a couple of live music shows that have blown my mind. There is one show that happens every Monday called La Bomba de Tiempo. It is a group of 20 drummers who play in an outdoor event space in front of a huge crowd. The musicians feed off the crowd just as much as the crowd feeds off the music and it is an unforgettable experience, I’ve been three times already and plan to go many more times. The food, however, takes some getting used to. There isn’t the organic/natural movement here that is so present in the US, which is something I’ve struggled with a little bit. There is also a lot more cheese and ham, the latter of which I don’t ever eat at home. The food culture is also very different because meals are never rushed, they are leisurely and long so people take their time enjoying themselves. Argentines don’t eat dinner until around 10 or 11pm and everything is done much later. So far, the Argentines have been welcoming. I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting a lot of natives yet, though I’m hoping that will change once I learn some more Spanish. But I’ve never felt like I was unwelcome here because I’m not a native.

AVANT - You're currently looking for a job in teaching. How is your search going?

Hannah - I actually just got a job earlier this week, which is very exciting. I will be teaching English to employees at IBM here in Buenos Aires. The job search took a little bit of time because the past couple of months have been summer vacation for the Argentines. Therefore, schools and businesses are just starting to open up again and get back into the grind of work.

AVANT - Do you have any friends or family with you in Buenos Aires right now?

Hannah - One of my best friends from New York is here studying abroad so it has been really great having her around. I’ve also made some fast friends from my training that I spend a lot of time with, and my family and friends from home are planning to visit while I’m here.

AVANT - Oh, yeah! Before I forget. What was the MUST item(s) from home for you to pack for your departure? i.e. Your favorite coffee mug, a framed picture of your family

Hannah - The must have item that I needed to bring was a photo book that my friends had made for me just before I left. It's a photo album they put together accompanied by notes from all of my friends wishing me luck on my adventure and my new life. It was so beautifully done and it means so much to me, knowing all the time and effort they must have put into it. It's a comfort to have it with me and I read through it whenever I miss my friends back home.

AVANT - I want to end this with expressing my thanks & sharing my awe-inspired visage of you: Not many people have the courage to leave their safe, comfortable homes in exchange for the unknown & unfamiliar. You're very brave. Thank you for inspiring me & others to pursue their faraway dreams. I really hope you do know how awesome you are. Do you feel awesome to yourself? Haha! Be honest!

Hannah - I guess I do feel awesome. This was definitely a huge, huge decision for me to make. Although I’m a very independent person, it does take some getting used to being away from home, my friends, and my family. But so far that hasn’t had a negative effect on my experience here. The timing worked out perfectly because I was graduating from college mid-year and I kept thinking that if I didn’t do this now I didn’t know when I would be able to. So far I haven’t been disappointed and the welcoming culture has made the transition smooth and also quite fun.

Below: Ms. Miles (far left) and two friends serenely enjoying the last morning of their vacation in Uruguay