In Argentina, people can get emotional about a lot of things, like soccer, beef, soccer,

but there's one experience that stands apart.

The war over the Falkland Islands, or as Argentinians refer to them, las Islas Malvinas.

It was a chaotic war with the United Kingdom back in 1982, waged to stay claimed to these

tiny islands of the southern tip of Argentina, the UK won.

Roberto Herrscher was one of the Argentine soldiers who fought and survived.

Nunca pensé que iba a volver al lugar de mis peores memorías, pero lo hice.

More than two decades after the war ended, Roberto wanted to face his trauma from the war,

and write a book about what happened on those islands so long ago.

So he decided to return to the islands, but of all the people he planned on meeting there,

there was one he wasn't expecting.

Welcome to the Duolingo Spanish podcast, where we bring you true bilingual stories of travels

with unexpected turns, plans unraveled, and destinations unknown.

The Spanish in this story is for intermediate level learners, but if you get lost, don't

worry, we'll be chiming in throughout the story.

When Roberto returned to the Falklands in the winter of 2006, the first thing he saw through

the airplane window was the shape of the islands he so vividly remembered.

Like two wings of a butterfly.

The islands of Malvinas, or Falkland Islands in English, are in the Atlantic Sea.

Argentina colonized them in the year 1830, but Great Britain took them three years later.

Great Britain and Argentina disputed their claim to the islands for more than 150 years.

Until all of a sudden, on April 2, 1982, Argentina decided it was time to reclaim its sovereignty

...