In college I had the option of going on a free trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I generally am on top of things but a lot was going on in my life, and I missed the deadline. Because of this, when I saw there was a trip run by UJA-Federation, I quickly signed up to go. I signed up at the same time that Prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead after accusing Argentina President Christina Fernandez of covering up a deal to shield Iran from responsibility in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires.

Corruption in Argentinian politics is nothing new. The country went through numerous scandals and leadership transitions in the 1990s. The January 18 mysterious death of Nisman as well as the alleged relationship between the Argentinian government and Iran got me to thinking as to whether I made the correct choice to join the Federation mission. Will seeing the good work that the Federation and Joint Distribution Committee does in Buenos Aires outweigh going to a country with massive government corruption and thinly veiled Anti-Semitism, as well as the country that was the refuge for numerous Nazis? I believe that it will and I look forward to reporting on my experiences during the mission.