What's up Argentina? - ILSSO 2011

¡HOLA AMIGOS!

Where were 4 of the 6 State Officers for two weeks?

ARGENTINA.
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Here are the TOP 10 EXPERIENCES of ILSSO 2011!

1. "Beef" it's what's for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. We ate a TON of steak. FYI, people in Argentina know how cook steak deliciously.




2. "¿Dondé está el baño?" One of the coolest parts of this trip was learning (or using some lost and forgotten) Spanish!


3. 70 student leaders traveling together = EPIC. 18 of them were even from our NLCSO group - Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Iowa were all represented! Also traveling from Minnesota were Derek Mulhern, Kirby Schmidt, and Leah Addington.


4. Modern farming practices are SUPER similar to those we use here in the US. Alejandro, a farmer we had the chance to meet, owns 3 combines and uses them in his family's operation of over 20,000 acres of land. He even custom farms for some of his neighbors with these New Hollands!



5. Bunge, an amazing sponsor of ILSSO, let us tour their Terminal 6 facility. This soybean crushing plant has the capacity to process 20,000 metric tons each day. Another way to put this in perspective is that the average farmer waits in line to dump their truckload for 6-12 hours!


6. A trip to the United States Embassy in Argentina gave us the opportunity to meet with 2 young Argentine leaders who are very interested in the future of agriculture in their country. They have started their own youth agricultural organization, with hopes to grow in the near future.

7. "¿Cuanto cuesta?" After brushing up on the language, some of us used our mad skillz to purchase some sweet souvenirs - Justin even had to purchase a white shirt to wear with his OD (since he forgot his at home...)!


8. Tango dancing is native to Argentina! We had the chance to watch an amazing Tango show in the city of Buenos Aires.





9. Gauchos, Argentine cowboys, lived on the land and herded cattle as a way of life. Modern gauchos are still a presence in the country, but now play a more active role in livestock markets.





10. IGUAZU FALLS NATIONAL PARK. Home to the largest set of waterfalls in the world, this part of our trip was absolutely stellar. We even had the chance to take a boat ride under the falls - better than ANY theme park ride that you could imagine!




The National FFA Organization gives students like us the chance to explore the world through trips such as the International Leadership Seminar for State Officers. Make sure you check out www.ffa.org/global to see what opportunities are available to you to move beyond the borders!

¡Adios, amigos!
Erin
Jason
Justin
LIZ