BikeandWine

After our day of epicness we decided a lovely bike and wine tour would be just what we needed to end the week. So we called up our friend Matias who is dating our friend Laura in the program to see if he could save a spot for the four of us to do a tour. He said it would be no problem, and to just get there around 10 so that we would be able to finish the tour around 7 pm.

9 HOURS OF WINE and BIKING, I thought it was a bit crazy but its something I probably would never get to do again, so I figured why not?

We got there ready and full of energy, I had taken a 6 hour long siesta and went to bed early the night before so I had plenty of energy. Not even the fact that I hadn't ridden a bike since I was 12 years old could bother me today. So we hung out and started off the day with a complimentary glass of wine from Matias and we were given our bikes and maps and sent off into the world of wines.

After a slightly shaky start on the bike we were on a roll riding through the streets of Maipu and down winding roads. Our first stop was actually a wine museum, that had incredible pieces such as old wine tools and different things similar to that. This was the free tour with a free wine tasting, so it was pretty much obligatory, the rest of the day we would have to pay for. So we enjoyed our wine and tour and then were off to the next place.

Our next stop was for chocolate, olive oil and liqueur, we walk in and it is beautiful, and warm and the people are just working away on chocolates and olive oil, and there is a counter full of different liqueurs for us to try. Naturally, this was my favorite place; they started us out with bread and olive oil, and then let us try all the different types of cheeses and spreads it was AMAZINGGG, then after that we tried different types of jams and dulce de leche, the dulce de leche with cafe was incredible and they had fruit jams of everything including pineapple!!! Ohhh how I've missed that beautiful taste.

The final event included trying many of the different liqueurs, I tried: Chocolate Banana, Peach, Passion Fruit with Rose, some sort of citrus blend, and then for the final attraction ABSENTA or absinthe, which was the most interesting for sure. In order to take away some of the harshness of the absinthe they caramelize a spoon of sugar using a type of flambe (spelling) technique and then mix it around in the shot glass and then you shoot it as fast as you can. After taking the shot you feel this burning sensation down your throat into your stomach, it isn't entirely unpleasant because after the burn comes this wave of cooling almost as if someone put vicks vapor rub down your throat. They asked us if we wanted to do another one but we all turned it down for fear of what all that liqueur would do to our bike riding technique. Emily and Megan bought the passion fruit with rose and Thomas got some absinthe to take home to the states.

Thomas was hungry at this point so we decided our next stop should be the delicatessen. When we arrived I was simply in awe, it was the most beautiful place I could ever imagine. Normally when I think of a deli, it is usually a hole in the wall with nothing more than a greasy oven and a few tables and chairs. This place literally looked like something out of a fairy tale, with draping vines everywhere and antique looking furniture, it all seemed lived in but yet so pristine. I couldn't afford eating there but thomas helped himself on behalf of us all, the biker special was only 50 pesos but I only had enough to go to the bodegas and not buy anything so I just passed even though I was near to starving. The other meal option was a 125 pesos which is less that thirty bucks but being in Argentina has made me stingy..... 

With our meal we got some complimentary bread with various different spreads which were incredible they even had one with what was supposed to be spicy red pepper but it barely tickled my tongue haha, that is one thing I don't think Argentina will ever get right. 

After we finished up we were back on our way after a little bit of trouble after Emily fell off her bike and slightly broke her bottle of liqueur. We were all fine and just laughed it off but the laughing quickly stopped after we realized how far we were going to have to bike to the next bodega. 

 After about an hour or so of biking we were at our first real bodega of the day, after some mishaps with blocked roads and missed tours we decided to go to the oldest bodega in Argentina, Di Tomasso, this was by far the most interesting bodega, simply because its history goes back 4 full generations and is still in the family. Our tour guide for this trip was so nice and so smart, she could answer every single question we had about the different types of wines. I probably learned more from this tour than I have from any wine tour I've been on thus far. I can now tell if a wine has been fermented in an oak barrel, and I can also tell for how long it has been fermented. I feel like my very own wine aficionado after that tour. The wines were also incredible, only one of the wines that they make are exported out of the country and it is their youngest and weakest dinner wine, the rest of them aren't even exported out of the bodega. In order to purchase their wines you either have to buy them onsite or call in an order, and to have it sent to the U.S. would include incredibly high tariffs.

We figured the last few bodegas weren't that far away so we would bike to the rest of them and then try to hit the beer distillery for some food on the way back so we were just moseying along, when Emily realized she had a flat tire...we were seriously at the furthest point away from the bike shop so we keep going until we got to the olive oil distillery only to find that it was closed!! We didn't know what else to do so we continued walking on our way to the next bodega which was just down the street a little more, thank goodness they were open or we really would have had a problem. We kindly asked the woman to call the shop to send out a new bike and asked if we could buy a bag of nuts because we were all starving. None of us felt like going on another tour or drinking any more wine so the lady told us we could sit outside in the shade at the table so we did and as we were enjoying the beautiful day waiting for the bike to come one by one we all fell asleep. It felt like the entire day had gone by by the time the man arrived with the bike, the woman at the front desk tried to let us know when he got there but none of us seemed able to wake up.

Once we were all up and alive we decided it would be best just to bike all the way back to the shop and just eat when we got home, so we made the long haul all the way back to the shop which seemed as if we had wings we just wanted to get back so badly. We were tired and sweaty and dirty from the dust on the roads, not to mention our bums hurt like nobody's business. We made it back safe and sound after being trailed by a cop on a motorcycle for a good 30 minutes of the ride back, which was slightly disconcerting.

Matias welcomed us back and everyone started clapping since we were the last group to get there and he brought us some more wine as a congratulatory "Thank God you actually made it" not that any of us needed any more wine.

We stayed there talking to the other groups enjoying the company and the music for a good few hours before everyone started to leave one by one. Megan and Thomas needed to leave to buy some last minute gifts before Thomas headed back to the states the next morning so Emily and I decided to just stick around and play ping pong with Matias and his cousin Pablo. It was a great way to end the day even though I was absolutely terrible and had no skill whatsoever. Time flew by and before we knew it, it was almost 1030 so Emily and I decided to head back and go out to dinner to end the day, since each of us were starving we figured we deserved to eat out for our final night of vacation.

After eating and biking and wining all day we decided to just hit the bed, even though we wanted to go out with Thomas for his last night in Argentina, there was nothing more satisfying than just curling up after a full days work and a full stomach.

At least now I have a good idea of which bodegas to go to when my mom and grandfather come to visit in October....but next time maybe we'll drive.

PIERCINGS AND PARAPENTEEEE

Since Emily and I decided to stay in Mendoza during our extended break and do crazy ridiculous things here we have decided that some of the activities would include; going to a modern contemporary fashion show, getting a random piercing(s), going hang gliding, and doing a bike and wine tour.

So the fashion show was all swell and spectacular as expected, it had some really great pieces including cut out shirts made entirely out of  colored leather and some other super crazy dresses that looked more like pieces of art than something wearable.

Directly following the show Em and I went to the tattoo shop, we decided it seemed more trustworthy than the small kiosks in the galeria, and thank god we did. The shop was great very clean and sterile feeling but of course not perfect, because this is after all Argentina, and we were greeted excitedly by the owner of the shop the minute we walked in the door. Emily only wanted to get one piercing, and I wanted to get two. This decision was rationalized by my insane discomfort with even numbers, if I were to only get one piercing I would have 10 in total and that just would not do, so with 11 in total not only would I have my lucky number but I could feel at ease and balanced. *** Side note these are all on my ears so random family members cease worrying I have no semi-permanent decorations added to my face.

Emily went first because she was a brave soul, I started getting nervous at the idea of needles in my head which has never stirred nerves in me other than adrenaline but we proceeded anyways. I won't go into details about the process but other than it hurt like hell and there will be no more for me ever, so no more worried looks and threats of financial independence from my family.

Once that day was complete the next thing on our list was hang gliding, in Argentina it is called Parapente, which I actually like better it just has a more exciting ring to it. The day before we went to the tourism center which oddly only had one pamphlet on parapente, which I thought was odd and the only help they could offer was to call the number and they would give more information. So we called the number and apparently "they don't do that thing" as they had bluntly stated on the phone in spanish. So Emily and I looked up some other places online and we found a company that could pick us up from our houses and drive us to the top of the Andes mountains all for A$300 which was a great price, and under a hundred U.S. dollars.

As promised they picked us up at the crack of dawn hour of 830 a.m. which on my sleep schedule is completely unheard of, so needless to say I was a tad drowsy. We go and pick up Megan and her boyfriend Thomas from their hotel because they wanted to join in on the fun, and then we were off to the desert mountains. When we got there the guys set up a fold out table with some coffee and mate for us to drink, since I didn't eat preparing as I would for a roller coaster I passed on both knowing it would probably make my stomach hurt. So we sat their anxiously awaiting as Megan was the first to go up, we were able to see her from the ground as only a slight yellow speck in the sky. After Emily, it was my turn, and the nervous adrenaline like energy was starting to build up. I hopped into the jeep and up we went. Looking back on the experience probably the most terrifying part of it all was the ride up the mountain on the narrow, bumpy, dirt road- which was hardly wide enough for the car let alone passing the school children on their hike or the other car coming from the opposite direction, truly horrifying.

However, we made it to the top safely and without any casualties, and it was absolutely beautiful. I truly have never seen something so lovely. You could see the snow capped mountains out in the distance and the entire city. I can't remember how high up we were but Megan said something about 700 km, not that that makes any difference to me.

My flying partner started putting me equipment on and asked if I wanted my instructions in Spanish, or English...seeing as how I would be jumping off a cliff I asked for them in English. He then proceeded to give me the instructions, he said we will wait until I can find the direction of the wind, and if I say left go left, right, go right, and when I say start walking you will walk, and when I say run, you will run as fast as you can run and don't stop running even when there is nothing left to run on. I think my face dropped a little because he gave a little chuckle, and his consoling words of "don't worry, I'm a professional" did little to appease my nerves. We waited atop the mountain for a good 15 minutes or so trying to find the wind, and I asked him what would happen if he couldn't find it, he smiled and said, "with no wind you won't fly for very long..." So....awesome! Great news! Eventually, we found the wind and I started walking and he shouted run and I ran as fast as I could and then we were off the mountain with nothing under my feet except for the distant view of the city and the mountains and the desert. It was stunning, truly.

When we got back down to the ground I felt a little nauseous but my partner said that was normal, and that next I was going to be really hungry and super tired. The rest of the day pretty much fulfilled that prediction. It still feels so surreal, as if it didn't really happen, but it was just such an incredible experience, I would love to do it again.

 I think now I might be ready for skydiving....

I MISS AMERICA!!!!

Ok I've said it, I do, I miss home and people and American things.

My friend Emily and I are the only ones in Mendoza this week while the rest of our program is off galavanting around Argentina, because we decided that financially it would probably be better to do more  shorter excursions later in the semester than to do just do one big trip to some place that would be more expensive in the long run. So for our plan this week, we have included, hang gliding, wine and bike tour, piercing, dancing, and at some point going to the largest boliche in South America which happens to be very close to Mendoza.

Last night after a lovely day at a Fashion show in the Museum of Contemporary art and after getting holes pierced into our ears at a tattoo shop Emily and I decided on a relatively low key night at the Irish pub for just a couple of beers and some great conversation.

At some point in the evening we got onto the topic of American culture vs. Argentine culture and basically how we just miss almost everything about the U.S. of A. Under normal circumstances if someone were to ask me what I thought of the U.S. prior to this trip, I would probably come up with a bunch of reasons why are government has failed and how our education system is a wreck among other things. However, being in a new country in a new culture has opened up my eyes to just how amazing our country truly is; and I suppose that may be the point of these immersion programs- to provide opportunities of reflection upon our own home country.

So here are a few of the things we have noticed:
- Diversity or the lack there of in this country, we came to the conclusion that although Argentina is known for its immense number of European immigrants, none of those cultures are truly recognized here, whether it is by the examples of restaurants, or clothing stores, or anything really. In the U.S. we are the stereotype of a mixing pot but every culture is represented in some way throughout the culture, whether it is the overabundance of Chipotle's or Thai food, Chinese food, Vietnamese food, Ethiopian food, we have something truly for everyone. If you came to Argentina with any taste for spicy food you will be sorely disappointed.... it is as if they decided they wanted nothing to do with central america so they banished any sort of spice from the country.
 Also on the point of diversity, there is truly no racial diversity here, I come from the D.C. metro area where literally no one looks the same there is such great, beautiful racial diversity there, but here everyone looks the same or looks like someone else, the styles are almost identical (I will have to put up a montage of the current ridiculous pant styles that are here), it was as if one person said this is how everyone should look and they do.

-Family dining: Emily and I seem to have identical expectations for what family dinners should be. Anyone who has ever come to my house for dinner knows, that your cell phone will be put away, we will never answer the house phone, and the television will not be on during the time we are eating together. Family meals are for family time, you eat and talk and laugh and do ridiculous things, it is the time where you can just sit down and hear about what everyone did that day. Here the television is placed so that they only place you are able to watch it is from the dining room table, it will always be on during meals and everyone will have their phones on the table, and furthermore, proceed to answer them during the meal. One thing I miss more than anything from home is probably our family dinners, they are just the most ridiculous things in the world we end up just peeing ourselves from laughter half the time or talking about whatever current plans we have to change the world or current political issues. I tried to do that here once and it just fizzled out. Half of the time my family doesn't even know what's happening in their own country or near to it.

-Independence: In the U.S. it is typical after high school you will go to a college semi-close to your home but far enough where you would have to live on campus with a bunch of strangers you have never met, after college it is perfectly normal to begin to look for an apartment that you may share with roommates or friends until you have the money and the courage to live on your own. Here it is abnormal to see an adult leave their family's home until around thirty or so, there is really no such thing as a college "campus" with "dorms" or apartment style living, because everyone goes to school and lives at home. Furthermore, spending time on your own is queer I will find myself in the plaza just reading a book and I will be the only person not sitting with a huge group of my peers. Emily's mother will ask her several times in a row who she will be hanging out with, or why she isn't going out with friends, or why she is sitting and reading by herself. The idea of independence here is practically nonexistent. I personally love the ability to just have ME time where I can sit and enjoy being around nobody but myself. In the states it is normal to be practically independent by 20 or earlier.

This may have something to do with diversity but I just miss the food we have in the U.S. I miss having options every night for what I feel like eating that day. Here you have choices of a limited sort, tomatoes with lots of salt, potatoes with lots of salt, some type of meet with lots of salt, pasta with lots of salt and butter or quiche type things called tartas with lots and lots of salt. I think my sodium levels are probably off the charts at this point and it might be part of the reason that I am so dehydrated every day. However, there is great food here, they do know how to cook meet really well and have it so full of flavor but most everything else pretty much tastes the same, even their salads have lots and lots of salt on it. I don't understand but I would love to just have some plain vegetables, raw, with nothing on them.


Don't get me wrong, I am loving Argentina, and there are so many incredible things here. This will be my venting post where I just express how much I miss home and how freaking great America is, truly I will appreciate everything so much more when I come home. I suppose it is about time after more than two months of being here to start to miss home.....a lot.

Look forward to my next postings on hang gliding, and wine and biking... should be an interesting and slightly dangerous time!!

En La Casa de Dios

Ok so I am terrible at keeping up with this thin so I'm just going to give you post by post some highlights of last week.

This particular post is going to be about my church going experience thus far in Mendoza Argentina. Title translations is (in the house of God).

For those of you who I haven't told which may be mostly everyone, every sunday afternoon I go to the parque San Martin, which is this huge park with losts of fields and a zoo and a lake and other alternative fun things to do. I go to this park every week to play soccer/futbol. Which in Argentina, and probably most of South America is an activity that is almost unheard of for women to participate. So naturally I find it thrilling when I can juggle the ball more than some of the guys.

 A few weeks ago I went with some of my fellow Americans to the park and we joined this group of young Argentine guys (which is the normal practice since there aren't enough of us American kids to play a game we normally just join the guys already playing). These guys were so different than the ones we normally play with who show off and hog the ball and rarely pass it unless you are screaming at the top of your lungs. These guys would pass the ball and one of them who seemed older than the other would yell at the boys if they kept the ball for too long, the game actually felt like a game of soccer, rather than a lets-see-how-long-and-how-many-tricks-i-can-do-with-the-ball-until-i-score kind of game.

After playing for a few hours we were all exhausted and decided to take a break under the tree and one of the guy's novia (girlfriend) showed up with tea and soda and cookies and asked if we wanted to join them, naturally we accepted the offer. We all got to talking about ourselves where we were from, what we were studying, and so on. Then I asked them how they all knew each other, because it seemed as if they did. One of the older guys replied that they all go to church together and that after church the boys/guys all head to the park to play a few games of soccer. The conversation continued as we all began talking about religion, which made some of those who weren't really religious slightly uncomfortable so eventually topics were changed.

However, as we were all leaving they asked if any of us would like to join them at church some day the younger kids go to hang out on Saturday nights and then there are services on Sundays, I got excited, because even though I don't consider myself to be the most religious person, I still feel comforted by the idea of being in that kind of family community and honestly I thought it would be a great opportunity to get to know more of the language.

So we all exchanged information of e-mail and phone numbers and facebook and headed on our separate ways. We also had made plans to play the following week and from that point on it has become somewhat of a Sunday tradition.

Which brings me to the actual topic of this post...Church. So Pablo one of the guys from the group called me over the course of the week seeing if any of us wanted to go to a boliche(latin dance club) with them and the guys on Friday nights, since most people already had plans we passed, but I did ask him if I could go to church with them that Saturday and Sunday; he said of course and that he would have Ivan come and pick me up from the Plaza Independencia and show me where to go.

I was excited for my first church experience, and I was expecting that we would get there in what is my stereotypical idea of what a church looks like, and sit around and talk about Jesus and things. However, after about a 30 minute bus ride, I realized that we were heading to Godoy Cruz which is on the opposite end of the city and is known to be a slightly dangerous part of town. We got off at the stop and begin walking down this dirt road and then we turn into this white building and Ivan says, "We're here!" I tried to hide my surprise a little as we walk into what looks like the front yard of someone's house, it is beautiful, but so different from anything I would have expected it has a small court yard and white wash stone walls and a very open feeling to it.

He takes me into the main room with all of the pews and up front is the band practicing, Pablo plays the drums, there are two people who play guitar and then everyone sings. THIS is what I was looking for, and they all began to practice, I kept thinking that it was going to be an actual service so I continued to look around to see where the people were, but no more showed up except for some of the younger siblings or children of the band.

After band practice was over I was just hanging out with pablo and some of the other guys and this little guy who looked about my brother's age was messing around with the electric fender lookalike and I asked him if he would play me a song, and he replied that he didn't know how to play but he wanted to learn. So I told him to come over to me and I picked up one of the acoustic guitars and started showing him a bunch of different chords. He picked them up wicked fast, way faster than I ever did, and so I showed him a couple of songs he could play just using the combination of the five or six chords I showed him. It was so incredibly rewarding to see how proud this boy was of what he was learning and so we just sat around and played together for a while. Then Pablo came back in and I was messing around on the drums and he thought it was a good idea to try to teach me how to play.... FAIL. I can't play drums for my life, I mean I started to get it at one point and then tried twirling the sticks and just made a mess of it all.

After indulging in music for a while we all went into the kitchen to start putting together some potted flowers to hand out to the congregation at the service tomorrow, it was so nice just to be doing something with people around. Especially people who are so kind and welcoming, we talked about all things under the sun, and we had a super intense discussion about religion. I tried to explain to them the idea of unitarian religion, which is something I would like to get involved in, but they had no idea- or it got lost in translation. The youth leader kind of understood what I was getting at, and then we began talking about corruption in the church and how sometimes the relevance is lost when reading the bible or trying to interpret it. This is the kind of interaction I have been craving since I arrived here, just pure deep conversation.

Then we just sat around for a while and before I knew it, it was 1:30 am so we were all starving and getting tired and the youth pastor volunteered to drive us all home especially since there was no way that I was going to wait at the bus stop for half an hour waiting for the bus in the middle of Godoy Cruz. So we stuffed all of us into the van and went on a lovely tour of the city. It was so nice to just be around people that I forgot that we were even in Argentina, it just felt like hanging out with old friends which was a great feeling.

The next morning came wayyy to early though, I had to wake up at about 8 in order to get to the bus stop by 930 (it take half an hour from my house to the bus stop by trole) in order to get to the church by 10. I arrived after a short snooze on the bus and was exhausted, Pablo met me at the stop and walked me over to the back courtyard where all the youth and some of the adults were sitting outside in a circle with their bibles out discussing different passages. I was slightly caught off guard because a) i didn't have a bible and b) i have never read from the bible and c) I certainly didn't have a bible in Spanish.

The discussion was short and then we went and headed into the service which was very much like the Lutheran services at home, lots of singing and clapping and some scripture. We also did this one activity where Jesica put a certain number of dots on random peoples faces, and then we all got into groups with our corresponding dot number and went in front of the congregation and either said an individual prayer or quoted scripture. Before this point, I had been pretty slick about not getting noticed as the new American girl, but one of the women in my group made a point to recognize before we spoke, that we are now an "International Group" and I was then introduced. I suppose it was a good thing that way literally everyone in the congregation could come up to me kiss me on the cheek and welcome me to church.

It was a great experience and I will definitely be going back, I miss my family and the congregation back home and it feels really nice to have that kind of inclusiveness back in my life. It will also be an incredibly opportunity to meet new people and see a different side of the culture. My host family is pretty well off and I live in a really nice area, I think it is going to be good to see all the different aspects of the Argentine culture, as well as meet some really great people, and finally practice more Spanish!!!

An Evening of Epic Proportions

I figured I would spend a bit of time reviewing yesterday evening because it was quite an eventful one.

First thing of the night I went with the fam to see my host sister's dance performance the event was called Estudio Estrella "A Flor de Piel" Flamenco. The entire time my jaw was legitimately on the floor in awe. I for one really can't dance to save my life, club dancing is one thing where I can just go to whatever beat I want, but real choreographed dancing is just beyond my abilities.

A few things to note about the dances however, for one thing no one smiles...ever I think the idea is to show how intense and strong women are but it came off just looking like they were about to spit at the audience members. Also, although overall the dances were incredible there was just one solo dance that I just didn't get... I have no idea what it is called but whatever it is the English translation should be "how to dance with one's clothing," the girl who I believe was the main choreographer seemed to be struggling a great deal to get her flowy flamenco looking train of a dress to move the way she wanted to, and then she began dancing with her shawl but ended up just getting tangled in it. Other than that one dance it was all really incredible, it was like watching STOMP with a latin flair it was amazing!!


After this lovely event I had made plans to meet up with some friends at Casa Usher which is a Jazz bar/club on San Martin and Maipu, I thought I was running late so I decided to take a taxi.... I told the taxi driver to take me to the intersection of Maipu and San Martin, however, I did not specify what side of the city I wanted him to take me and so he assumed I meant Godoy Cruz...which is the least popular destination at night time. Furthermore, not knowing this I get out of the taxi and frantically start calling my friends to see where they were, it was at this time that I realize that not only had my friends not left yet, but I was also on the exact opposite end of the city that I wanted to be. So I ask a friendly looking local for directions and hop on a trole hoping that it would go the direction I wanted, it did but naturally I was too nervous to trust the advice of said local so I get off at a semi-familiar looking stop on the other end of the city. BAD IDEA, not only was it way too late for a young girl to be walking the streets alone, it was definitely not a good area, so I begin to walk towards the direction that I think I'm supposed to be going, and eventually I find the place. However, once I arrive I realize that my friends still haven't left their house so for about an hour or so I pretend to talk on the phone avidly in Spanish as if on a very important business call..... that is what I do when I feel uncomfortable and alone in public places who knows if it's a good idea or not.

After my friends arrive we spend approximately twenty minutes at Casa Usher and then we decide to meet up with some friends who were going to a local(ish) house party of some random Argentine acquaintance.  So we meet up with a group of our Argentine friends who had told us about the party and we try to pile in as many people as we can into the cars we had available. Once we got to the party (which was after a highly dangerous and potentially life-threatening car ride) we finally relax and learn to  have a  great time. The party was totally my scene playing some really great indie-rock American music with the majority of the attendees sporting really wicked hipster garb we seemed to fit right in. So we danced the night away making friends and kind of making fools of ourselves, for the remainder of the evening. So I suppose it was a successful night, I finally relaxed and de-stressed a little bit after the ridiculosity that I had put myself through, but at least I know the city a little bit more... I just hope I don't have to go through the same process next time...

Who Let the Dogs Out? (tacky title I know but appropriate nonetheless)

Alright, so if ever you plan on coming to Argentina or really any third-world country in South America, I would recommend that you be prepared for lovely companions whenever you go out and about.  Mind you I am not speaking of human companionship though that may be true as well.... I am talking about the overwhelming number of street dogs that inhabit the lovely city of Mendoza.

I know I should probably be past the shock by now, but I still can't seem to get over the absurd number of homeless animals that are roaming the streets. I feel like I have a slightly unnatural attachment to all of these dogs because most of them are just so cute and I'd want to take them home with me if I didn't fear the nasty critters that might come along with these furry companions.

However, some of these street dogs have come to be particularly loyal companions to my friends and me while meandering the city. For example we have this one doggy friend who we have come to name Sparks who looks sort of like some sort of Australian shepherd/ Belgian Sheepdog mixture who will literally follow us from one end of the city to the next. He will wait for us when we go into bars and restaurants and will sit with us if we are eating/drinking outside. He also has the tendency to walk my friend Coral and me home from an evening out, especially if we are walking alone. Some people might laugh at us as we whistle and pet our street friend but I can't honestly see how anyone could have given this dog up in the first place. We never even gave the thing any food up until a couple of days ago when I bought this absolutely terrible sandwich that was barely edible and luckily it didn't go to waste since Sparks was ever so grateful for the snack.

The other night as I was walking home from Plaza Independencia the cutest of all things occurred. This puppy of I have no idea what breed, who looked as if he/she had been born this past week began following me home. It just kept whining and crying and jumping at my feet and it was probably the saddest/cutest thing I had ever seen. It followed me the entire 45 minute walk back to my house and when we finally arrived at my gate it tried to accompany me through the door. Unfortunately, my family's dumb obnoxious excuse for a dog started barking and yapping at the puppy scaring it senseless. When I told my family about the pup, they said I would have been able to keep it if Coki (their dog) hadn't scared it away. Needless to say I was horribly disappointed.

So now if I find a homeless pup and can get it safely in the house the next step is to see if my family back home will let me keep it..... (hint)


Well I'm off to enjoy this brisk winter day before it starts to snow/sleet later this evening

ZONDA TIME

Today is the first day of the zonda which for the vast majority of you who don't know is basically a wind storm that makes being outside near to miserable.

I woke up at my usual weekend time around 1:30 in the afternoon and I could already tell it was beautiful out it was a sunny day out, I checked the weather and alas it was going to be 80 degrees!!! Which naturally made me feel that it would be a great day to spend outside in the sun maybe get a savage tan or just take some mate and enjoy the lovely bohemians in Plaza Independencia.... terrible idea

First I walk to the trole stop and after about two minutes I noticed the massive dust clouds that were storming towards my face. I was grateful for my sunglasses because otherwise I would have had an incredibly difficult time ever opening my eyes. However, after about 15 minutes of waiting for the trole even my glasses couldn't protect my eyes...or mouth...or nose from being bombarded with dirt and dust.

Finally the trole arrives and I get to the plaza, and it was strange because even though it was siesta time most of the cafes that were usually open had closed their doors and hardly any of the artisans were around the plaza, which is strange because normally there are more people out. I see a couple of the guys hanging out on a bench listening to their portable radio and we decide to put up with the winds and just hang out and try to enjoy the day. After a little while we decide ice cream would be a good excuse to get out of the nasty winds and we head over to Bianco Nero- which is kind of pricey but has INCREDIBLE ice cream. We enjoy our lovely ice cream outside until a hard gust of wind nearly sends a killer umbrella across the peatonal towards our heads.

Even after this near death experience we still decide to stay outside and enjoy the day, so Coral and I go to grab her hookah and go back to the plaza to meet Meg, Kailey, and Michael. This would have been a great idea on a normal day but trying to light the coals on a windy day was the worst of ideas, sending sparks and burning coals everywhere we almost caught on fire several times. so we gave up on that idea and just decided to jam in the park, Michael had his guitar and there were a bunch of Argentine guys playing a makeshift drum circle. This was a safer and much more pleasant idea, and thus we enjoyed the remainder of the day.

I got back to the house and looked in the mirror and just had to laugh at the intense amount of dirt/dust caked upon my face, I looked like I had seen many full days at the tanning booth....sooo sad.

My host mother Fanni said this was just a small zonda, so it gets worse, sometimes to the point of closing schools down GREAAATTT. something to look forward to

CORDOBA!!!!!!

I have just returned from my incredible four day trip in Cordoba. Among other reasons I can tell it was incredible because I just woke up from an 11 hour nap. To recount every minute of the trip would not only be boring as all hell but it would probably be impossible so I'll just give you some of the basic highlights:


The Bus Ride-
We decided to take a semi-cama bus ride which was the second cheapest option provided for the 10-hour trek to the city. For the most part it was pretty comfortable, we could lean the chairs back a little and they played a halfway decent movie (Music & Lyrics), but I cannot say that I slept more than two full hours the entire trip which I suppose wasn't a surprise. Oh and for some reason whoever was controlling the air conditioning was under the impression we were living in the Arctic, because he kept the temperature at a constant of approximately 200 degrees. So we were a hot sweaty mess by the time we arrived but too excited to really care about our lack of sleep or lack of comfort.

The hostel- I picked out the hostel because that was my part of the planning process. Since it was a long weekend the majority of the hostels were already booked Aldea was the only one with great central location, and good overall ratings that also had enough room for Kailey, Coral, Michael, and I to all share a room. When we got there I was actually surprised at how incredibly beautiful it was. It had these deep red walls with huge painted flowers in the corners; and it had these awesome black fleather couches and a huge tv in the sitting room. Then a pool table and a bar and a full kitchen all on the main level. We arrived way too early to check in but they let us lock all of our things behind the bar which was great. AND all of the employees spoke English, which it wouldn't have been a problem had they not but it was kind of refreshing to know we wouldn't have to stress out about that. When we got to settle into our room it was a quaint little thing with four bunk beds and a window and a really nice bathroom with a shower and HOT WATER!!!

The people-

The first day in town we walked by a hookah shop and we decided to go in and check out what they had. Coral decided it would be a good idea to buy one because they are pretty hard to find anywhere else. So that evening after meeting up with some other guys from the program for dinner at this pretty swank restaurant we decided to stay at the hostel because we were all too tired to go out and dance. We figured that smoking hookah would be a good way to get to know some of the people at the hostel. We TOOTTALLLYYY underestimated the powers of the hookah. There were a group of twenty-some engineering students staying at the hostel from San Juan which is just north of Mendoza. We had invited one of the girls who was working that night Isabelle (whom we had met earlier) to join us so she let us bring it inside since it was a tad bit brisk in the evening time. The minute we did that the entire group of guys swarmed to our table. Apparently hookah isn't really popular in Argentina and so none of them had tried it. Some other guys from Sweden were there and they ended up joining our group as well.  It turned out to be an absolutely INCREDIBLE night! Everyone was so nice and funny and we got to practice our spanish with the guys from San Juan and we all shared Fernet and Cokes, and they taught us the "real" way to mix the drink. ***Fernet is this herbal tasting alcohol that is mixed with coke and is shared amongst friends ***

Horseback Riding- Kailey, Brian, Bobby, Armando, and I really wanted to go horseback riding at least once during our trip so we went to the travel agency to see about any cheap full day riding excursions they offered. We found one that was only about A$220 for a whole day of riding, transportation to and from and a full meal of Asado (really really good meat). It was only about an hour's bus ride away and we would leave at 9 am and return by 6:30 pm. It was located in this small desert town outside of Villa Carlos Paz and it was absolutely gorgeous. We arrived at the ranch with Marcelo the owner and he greeted all of us and invited us to drink mate and have some cookies while he prepared the horses.

None of us had much experience but I was put with one of the more rambunctious horses because I had ridden the most out of the group. Which was fine with me because it made things all the more exciting. My horse was a beautiful paint which reminded me of my sister Julia because they are her favorite horses. The ride started out pretty easy just along one of the winding dirt roads in the desert, but Marcelo warned us that after a little while we would be going off path into the mountains which would be a lot more difficult to ride....and he wasn't lying after about half an hour the leader of the group Hugo yelled that we were going to turn off the path and I looked to where he was pointing and all I saw were rocks and sand and of course the beautiful mountains in the back ground. He pointed to a small speck in the distance and said that we were going to ride to that statue and then take a break.

While we were still on the path however a couple cars went by and for some reason my horse spooked like crazy, I thought it was going to buck me off but I was able to control it and get it turned around and back in line again, I felt so proud of myself and then Marcelo came up from behind me and said that he was impressed with how I handled the situation which just made me feel good. So we went through some really rough steep areas but it was absolutely incredible we got to trot a bit when it was safe and after a couple hours we made it up to the top of the mountain where the statue was. The view was gorgeous and the statue was beautiful! We took a break and dismounted our horses and sat and talked for  a bit enjoying the beautiful day and after a little while went back on our way. On our way back we were stopped by this little boy who lived in one of the houses scattered along the mountain and he gave us a loaf of homemade bread that his mother had made that morning; that bread was probably the most delicious bread I have ever tasted in my life.

The ride back was a lot more tricky than the ride to the top of the mountains, but it was also a lot more fun. We took a different path and got to cross a bunch of streams and climb a lot steeper rocks and when we got back to the main path Marcelo let us all gallop most of the way back to the ranch, which was probably the most exhilarating experience of my life. I will have to do that again if I get the opportunity to.

Che Museum-
Sunday we got up relatively early so that we could grab a bus to Alta Gracia to see the Che Museum and to walk around the artisan city for the day. We got the tickets with enough time to go to the only open cafe in the entire city. On Sundays almost everything closes down for most of the day except for the artisan market and the main plaza, but most restaurants stay closed for the day. So we grabbed some coffee, medialunas, and empanadas to go and were on our way. The bus ride was about two hours which gave us just enough time to take a nice little nap. By the time we arrived it was a little after 3. When we got off the bus it was desolate there were practically no people out and about, which was a little disconcerting... so we decided to walk around the town for a little bit and eventually make our way to the museum. The town, though deserted was absolutely beautiful there seemed to be so much history behind everything and there was a beautiful little creek where we saw this beautiful horse just walking around without a care in the world. We eventually made it to the Che museum, which was the house that Che's family moved into because the air was cleaner and was better for his asthma. The house was incredible and so interesting there were stories and photos all over every room. I'll have to put up the pictures for that one. After a couple hours looking at everything we stopped by the gift shop and Michael and I bought Che's cigars and a poster and a postcard. We were pretty hungry after all of that and we ran into the other group of guys; Brian, Bobby, and Armando. So we decided to run into town and check out the plaza after getting some food.

After a lovely meal of pizza and fries we headed to the plaza where all of the artisans and a small festival were taking place. It was lovely even though it was pretty cold and so we just enjoyed the rest of the day mulling about and meandering around the city until we decided to make our way back to the bus station. Thank goodness we left when we did with 10 minutes to spare before the bus left. We all passed out from exhaustion on the way home and didn't wake up until we pulled into the station.

That night Michael, Kailey, Coral and I decided to make a home made dinner of mac and cheese, though none of us really new the recipe I took over with some idea of how to make it, we bought all the ingredients at the only supermercado that was open and bought a couple of bottles of wine and got to work. With enough pasta to feed a small country I decided to start with some milk and butter in a pot and to slowly add cheese to the mixture and when it was finished we poured the whole thing into this giant mixing bowl. It was amazing!! We were able to feed three additional people and still had some left over. At least we now know that we could feed ourselves if need be.

Our last day was spent walking around the city to different parks just enjoying the beautiful 60 degree weather. It was a government holiday so almost everything was closed but we still managed to have a great time just enjoying and relaxing.

All in all none of us wanted to leave such an amazing place, with such great new friends from the hostel it was definitely a trip to remember, and certainly sets the standard for the rest of our excursions to come.

PEACE

~~~~MB

My First REAL Argentine Night Out

OK so last night was my first night out of the house with people from my program. My friend Alana and I had made plans to walk down to Aristides which is kind of the arts young person part of downtown Mendoza, the group had decided to meet at 11:30 pm which is apparently normal here, but it is kinda late on my time.

So we were supposed to meet our friends at a hostel/bar called PH which is in the middle of Aristides, Alana and I must have walked past it at least four or five times at one point we ended up in a really sketchy part of town and were just about ready to give up when one of our friends calls out over a balcony at us to come up. We were literally standing right under the place and went up to meet what looked like a massive group of people. The waiter looked at us and instantly knew we were American, I might have just about cried, he was clearly having a hard time with the ridiculous amount of people showing up on a Monday night.

So I sat down and Alana and I ordered a bottle of Malbec to share. I had no intention of getting too tipsy but because it was my first night out in a new city I didn't really have any idea of what to expect. So the whole group just sat around and had a good time for most of the evening we played a bunch of different ice breaker games to get to know each other more; including the game "never have I ever" which for those of you who don't know is a great game to help reveal more than you would want to know about most of your peers.

Before I knew it, it was 4:30 am and time had literally flown by, it was such a fun night and there were still so many people left at the bar when we left it is crazy how late people stay out here. On the way home I shared a taxi with some of the guys and they covered my ride, which was perfectly lovely and chivalrous of them. If only I didn't have to get up the next morning for a 9:00 am orientation meeting.

Orienteering the World of the Mendocians

Orienteering was probably not the right word to use but it is our first day of orientation in Mendoza, and I didn't want to simply say Orientation, because that is boring. It is also our first day of visiting one of my potential universities, Congresso, which is also exciting, but those weren't until later in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day out and not too cold for once so I decided it was a grand idea to go for a walk and explore what Mendoza is like before lunch time. So I let Carmen (our housekeeper) **side note: we have a house keeper who cooks lunch everyday, cleans the house [and my room] and does all the laundry, which is neat but kind of awkward** ok so I let Carmen the housekeeper know where I was going and told her that I would be back before lunch time.

Note to all who decide to go on walks in Mendoza during the middle of the day in winter, unlike most places, it gets colder as you walk around not warmer, it's strange I know but true. Before coming to Mendoza I was really excited to be in a place where it is totally normal to say hello to random strangers around town. Because I assumed that all people in South America regardless of their regional location were generally just nicer than people from the United States. (This is not saying that I don't love living where I do, but customarily you don't really go around saying hello to random strangers if you are meandering in the middle of Washington D.C.). So as I was walking around for my first time alone in Mendoza, I smiled and said "Hola!"to everyone I passed. Naturally, the men would all return a greeting, though they would pair it with an awkward glance which pretty much screamed, "wow what a freaking weirdo, maybe she's special..." Whereas the women, would merely shoot me a mean glare that screamed, "Who does this girl think she is...does she think she knows me?" Either way it is definitely NOT okay or customary to walk around saying hello to everyone you pass on the street.

I also found that it is very typical as a generally okay looking female you should learn to expect the obligatory cat calls and whistles from the groups of men who pass you buy. Oh but not only just simply cat calls and whistling should be expected, also honking, waving, yelling, marriage proposals, and just random english words should also be expected; I even had one group of men slow down in their car in the middle of the highway to tell me I'm pretty. Granted the attention is lovely and it truly does make you feel good to have everyone telling you how great you are but it can get pretty old when you are just trying to enjoy a lovely walk in a new country and all you can hear are the voices of old men overpowering the songs of the birds and the sound of the wind. --The best thing to do is simply ignore it or give a slight acknowledgment, under no circumstances should you respond, that is something we learned during our orientation in Buenos Aires.

Even though I had hoped to be able to make it to the main part of the city and back before lunch I realized there was really no time for that so I quickly made my way back to the house and luckily had enough time to buy some water sin gas from a local kiosko. For some reason no one drinks just plain water here it is bizarre. My fam has practically 20 bottles of these funky looking containers with nozzles to make sparkling water, but they never have just regular tap water. I was almost tempted to buy one of those brita water filters to drink some normal people water.

Lunch was a lovely display of tomato salad, guacamole, and some sort of marinated beef, It was very good and the whole family was able to make it back for lunch and a siesta. Another thing, the television is always on during meal times, regardless of how many people are over; and it is totally normal to have conversations over the television. Sometimes it is really interesting though, we will watch the discovery channel or the news and it will spark some interesting conversation topics.

After a short siesta, it was time to head to Congresso. For the first day Marina would go with me to teach me how to use the trole which would be my normal mode of transportation to the inner city. Apparently she had some terrible experience with the Micro system ( busses) and she ended up in the wrong part of town. I will have to remember that if ever I attempt to use the bus system that I better know where I'm going and ask them if they are headed towards where I need to be.

So we arrive at Congresso, which thank goodness is right in the middle of the city and is pretty much convenient to everywhere I would ever want to go. Marina dropped me off and gave me a kiss on the cheek goodbye and I was on my merry way. I met Coral at the front doors and headed on in.

The orientation was pretty boring, we just went over our placement exam and how we shouldn't be worried, even though I was pretty much freaking out about it. I felt so behind after not taking a spanish class last semester so I was hoping to do at least ok on the placement test. After that we all went out for coffee and ice cream at one of the local cafeteria's close to congresso and I trollied back home for dinner.

Wine, Art, McDonald's and a Big Green Ogre

Sunday evening I went with the family to una bodega, which is a vineyard and an art show for a friend of a friend of the family. I am starting to get the feeling that this family is extremely well connected in this area --apparently one of the uncles owns all of the North Face stores in Mendoza and then owns some other large chain retail store...so I get the family discount :-)  so we drive over to the bodega and just give a little nod to the security guard to open the gates for us and we are immediately greeted by all of the different family members and family friends. I honestly can't hardly remember anyone's names but I just smile and nod hello and attempt to stumble clumsily through all the greetings. The family gives us a little tour of the winery and it is HUGEEE and so gorgeous they did a lot of remodeling and turned it into a restaurant/winery/art gallery. Fanny gave me a little bit of the history of the place and as we walked into the bathrooms which Fanny told me that they used to be the huge storage tanks for aging the wine and that if you looked up you could see the stains on the ceiling and walls from the wine. This place was so incredibly cool. 

So we walk on into the art gallery and its pretty, apparently the artist is the sister of one of the cousin's girl friends and the cousin's family owns the bodega so she got the art space for her first show....talk about using those connections. There were a lot of people there so I pretended to fit in with my glass of wine walking around to the different galleries nodding and looking intently at different pieces, I didn't know if I was allowed to take pictures so I decided to stay on the safe side and keep my camera in my purse. I made small talk with some other family members asking about their favorite pieces and if they were going to buy any of them. 

Then I had a lovely chat with Enrique about my time at Strathmore, where my job was to do all the placement of the art and how it was interesting to see where they chose to place certain pieces. I felt good after the conversation because I felt I was getting better at this whole talking in spanish thing and at least he understood me for the most part, and we talked about why I chose Mendoza and about my music business. I was fully satisfied and then felt happy for the remainder of the evening. 

After about an hour there really wasn't much else to do so I sat with Marina and her boyfriend Pablo and they invited me to go "shopping" and maybe see a movie. It wasn't until we left and arrived at the mall that I realized "shopping" was what they called one of the only major malls in Mendoza. So we go to where the theater is located and it is packed, I have never seen this many people lined up to go to the movies in my life, especially not at 12 at night (which is apparently a typical time to go to the movies in Argentina). We decided on the 1:30 showing of Shrek which thank god was in English with Spanish subtitles and then all realized we were starving because a dinner of cheese and wine doesn't really satisfy a hungry belly.  

Marina asks me if I like McDonald's, at first I didn't know if I had heard her right and then after she tried describing it to me I finally got, it nodding like an idiot and she explained to me how McDonald's in Mendoza is kind of a big deal and is a lot nicer than those in the U.S. where as I explained to her Mickey D's is more the fine dining of the homeless and the poor college kids....she thought it was funny. I got my usual chicken nuggets and a coke hoping it would be enough caffeine to keep me up through the movie. It took 20 minutes to get the food, so I guess it is not considered fast food here, and we found a spot next to the play place and enjoyed our lovely meal. She was right by the by the food is way better than american MD's it just tastes fresher I suppose.

We sat and talked about almost every subject under the sun for the next hour or so, everything from my favorite movies and music to the new laws being passed about gay marriage in Argentina. It was another truly fulfilling discussion, I think I am starting to get the hang of it which is such a great feeling especially only after two days. OH and side note the McDonald's in Argentina serve wine and beer as part of the meal options, making it just that much more classy.

Heading to the movies we start to get scared looking at the insane lines rapping around the movie theater three or four times; good thing Pablo knows the manager  of the movie theater so we got to cut all of it without a fuss. We sit down and the place is packed already which is strange since the movie has been out for forever, but we find the perfect spot smack in the middle. It was so funny during the movie to see what the spanish translation was for some of the jokes; there were times where Donkey would say the funnies thing and I'd bust out laughing and the rest of the theater was silent because it just didn't translate at all. Marina kicked me at one point because I was laughing so hard during one of those instances. I have to say though, it was really refreshing to hear some english after not hearing any for three days.

All in all it was a fantastic experience and when we walked outside it was snowing a little which made the day all the more magical. I must say I love the idea of snow in July it makes it seem just that much more special.

Well my fingers are sore and I realized now that I wrote a lot, again so happy reading to all and I will find a way to attach some pictures and find out my mailing address sometime soon.


Peace Out

Living the Argentine Life

For our first weekend in Mendoza we spend the entirety of our time with our families. Which would be great if I was a tad more comfortable with the native tongue...I realize now that taking at least one Spanish class the semester before going to a Spanish-speaking country would have been a wonderful idea. However, since that is not currently the case I spent a good bit of time not talking and just listening, I think the family may think I'm retarded, hopefully not. So the weekend was pretty much a whirlwind of unpacking and settling in and kind of realizing that I am going to be here for a very. very. very. long time. 

So instead of sleeping in as I had wanted to I woke up at 8:30 local time here with awkward aches and pains in my back and neck because I am sleeping on a bed that I may have grown out of in elementary school. So after crawling out of my kiddie bed I begin to put away my clothes and all of my things. For those of you that do not know, I overpack...always, so instead of doing what most people did, bringing one suitcase and one carry-on I brought two overweight oversized suitcases one heavy carry-on and another school bag on top of that. (By the way when I went to check in the lovely man at the front desk waved my fees because of my sparkling personality...so anyone who says charm and smiles don't work lied). So as I am unpacking my mountains of clothing I look in the closet to find only 3 hangers so of course after realizing there was no more room in any of the drawers I decided the lovely mod art looking chair in the corner would be the perfect home for the remaining mountain of clothing. 

I recall my family making some half-hearted jokes about how out of the seven students they have hosted they have never seen so much stuff in their lives. On my behalf they also remarked about how they like my style and how I have been the best dressed of all their host students so I guess it worked to my advantage....somewhat. So as the rest of the family was still sleeping i attempted for about an hour to connect to the internet, which of course didn't work because the network was locked and I am computer stupid and didn't know how to work the darn thing. So good thing my phone had some connection to the internet so I could tell the fam that I had arrived alive and well and give them a mini update of my life thus far. 

For lunch we went to my host aunt Beti's house for a feast unlike anything I had ever seen. To start a small meal of pan (bread) this incredible mayo/lemon/blended spread and homemade guac and three different types of salami (they had salami with CHEESE IN IT) which was incredible and of course my host grandfather kept giving me more and more and more. Its as if these people are under the false misconception that I don't eat....which clearly isn't the case seeing as how we went through 6 loaves of bread in only the first course. 

After that we had different types of salad, tomato salad (they love their tomatoes), lettuce salad, potato salad, avocado and egg salad. So I tried most of these because my goal is to definitely not live up to the label of the picky American. I plan on trying almost everything. So after the salads came the mountainous servings of meat, literally mountains of fresh meat and seriously every single part so I decided to blindly try a little of everything and not ask what it was for fear that if I knew I would likely lose my appetite. After eating to the outer boundaries of what my stomach could hold I had to decline any further offers of more helpings. 

It is at this point where all the members of the family split off into various age groups to play table games, I was privileged enough to be with Cristin and the elders of the family playing this number game that I think they called Rumy, it was a team game of two v. two and you had to get groupings of the same color numbers or the same number and whomever had the most complete groups won. It was fascinating to watch and I kind of started to pick up on the rules but I participated solely as a spectator in this game. Then the members of my host cousin's band started arriving for band practice and it was time to bring out dessert. 

For dessert we had some type of flan (milk and eggs and sugar whipped together and chilled until solidifying) with dulce de leche which is just basically caramel. The dessert was incredible and then of course we had coffee and hard orange juice with vodka, a strange mixture of flavors to me but they seemed to love it. Afterwards of course we had music during which time they asked me to sing by myself, I did so with little reservation and sang one of my all time favorite songs Fairytale by Sara Bareilles. It was a little more nerve-racking because this family gathering had almost twice the audience as the last one but it was ok I didn't mind too much. And of course I loved the flattery afterwards and my cousin's band mates asked me to be the new singer telling their current lead vocalist he was kicked out. So I felt pretty darn good. 

I left after that with Fanny and Enrique to go back to the house for my siesta, I said all of my goodbyes and we went on our merry way. 

It was a lovely meal and great company and gave me such great perspective as to what family life in Argentina is like  

My Final Day in Buenos Aires

OK from this point on daily blog plostings, or at least I will have an individual post for each day to keep it from getting too confusing.

So it is my last day in Buenos Aires : ( but still so much to do

During the first half of the day we went to explore the northern part of Buenos Aires including el Cementario de la Recoleta which is one of the oldest cemetaries in Buenos Aires and is home sweet home to the ancestors of some of the wealthiest families and the most famous families in Argentina.

With the lovely Alejandro as our tour guide once again we explored some of the ruins and some of the most beautiful mausoleums I have ever seen ( not that I have seen many but these were truly incredible). Unlike those in New Orleans every mausoleum has several levels including a basement which is odd to think about each one being like a little home for the dead. Some of them have actual sitting areas for family members to come and visit. We spent a long time visiting some of the more noted mausoleums including that of Eva Peron. The irony being that Eva Peron hated the upper class and the fact that she was buried amongst some of her most hated peers is just a little hilarious. She is currently resting in the basement of her family´s mausoleum because years ago her body was stolen and was taken to various places of the world and gaurded by various different owners. So finally they sealed her in the basement with several layers of cement ensuring that no one will every steal her body again.

There was one Mausoleum that stood out the most to me simply because the story behind it is so frightening. Apparently, years ago during the early 19th century a rich young girl was having the best of fun on her birthday, when she suddenly became very sick and died. The next day her body was placed in the family mausoleum and was lay to rest. That night the keeper of the cemetary was walking amongst the mausoleum´s doing his nightly rounds when he heard muffled noises coming from one of the mausoleums he began searching vehemently amongst some of the newer resting places (because these were the most commonly broken into) but alas he could not find the source of the noises. The next day when her family went to the resting place of their daughter to pay their respects they noticed that the lid of the coffin had been moved so in a panic they removed the lid only to find the terrified and contorted body of their daughter with dry blood from her nails and scratch marks on the lid of the coffin. Apparently she had suffered some strange illness that put her into a coma (dead like state) and she had awoken in her coffin only to suffocate from lack of oxygen. As a respect to the actual death of their daughter the family had a huge statue built of their daughter knocking on the door of her mausoleum. And it is because of this case and similar instances that bells were placed in the coffins of the dead and that in some religions they leave their deceased out of the coffin for days after their death to ensure that this type of story is not repeated.

All of us got major chills after hearing this story which kind of made being in the cemetary all the more exciting. It was sad to see though, that some of the mausoleums had not been taken care of for quite some time as some were overgrown with plants and displayed broken windows and doors. Interestingly enough though, even if the family does not have enough money to keep up with the mausoleum no new mausoleum can be built in it´s place until every member of the extended family agrees to give up the spot of property.

After the cemetary we headed back on the bus to go to Barrancas de Alvear which rests on the river where if you look hard enough you can see Uruguay across the river. The whole group enjoyed the afternoon laying in the sun or sitting on the wall overlooking the water with our legs hanging off the edge. We played different games including Ninja and Waa which looked absolutely ridiculous to anyone watching it. Then we went into the restaurant which was beautiful and overlooked the entire river. It had sort of an old rustic beach house feel to it with ceilings open and all the walls and floors made out of wood panels and with open windows everywhere. (even though it was winter and freezing) The food was again incredible and we had some amazing helado (ice cream) for dessert, there is something about their ice cream that is unlike anything you can get in the U.S. same goes for their coffee...everything tastes purer and richer-mom I´m not just saying that because it´s actually true everything just tastes better here.

After lunch we spent a little more time outside playing on the trees and just acting like little children and playing soccer with some of the local Argentine kids. This is exactly what I pictured an abroad experience would be, just living like the Argentines and interacting with everyone and enjoying life because time is definitely not money here. If I could compare the pace here to anywhere it would probably be most similar to island time where things just happen when they happen and if nothing gets done it´s ok because you are enjoying the day.

Unfortunately we did have to catch a plane so we begrudgingly boarded onto the bus where we made our way for the airport. On the way I began making more friends with the people around me including a lovely young chap Michael from Portland who displays to a "T" what being hipster is and who shares my love for sarcasm and we enjoyed many a laugh just being the best of sarcastic to one another. And another lover of sarcasm Ross from Idaho who enjoyed spitting his little bits of sarcasm here and there. It was a perfectly lovely sarcastic bus ride and I had a perfectly wonderful time.

Then to the airport.... my least favorite activity of all time partly because I wayyyy overpacked and it was a huge pain to lug all of my stuff all over everywhere. One trick that I learned from my prior experience was use a cart it makes all of it a whole lot more pleasant that way you can put all of your bags on top of one another and push it through the check in line. One more tip if you have a huge carry on...make sure it has wheels because carrying a duffel bag that weighed about 30 pounds on top of everything else I had to carry was borderline miserable. Once we had gone through that whole process everything went much smoother. Unlike security in the U.S. the process of going through security in Buenos Aires was a piece of cake; we didn´t have to take off our shoes or take our our computers or turn on our cell phones we simply stuck everything on the little conveyer belt and picked it up on the other side. The security guards looked as if they couldn´t care less if you brought a bomb to the airport, as long as you didn´t make a mess that they´d have to clean up. I don´t know if it is naivete or just and extreme sense of trust in people but it made the process a whole lot less stressful.

We boarded the plane with ease, but this time I was not stuck next to a lovely young man from Argentina I was stuck inbetween two old business men who looked like they just wanted to get this whole thing over with and didn´t really want to make small talk; which I suppose was fine because after last night I could really use the two hour nap I would get from the flight. Besides I didn´t really want to stress myself out thinking about the fact that in a couple hours I would be meeting my new temporary family and that it might actually hit me that I was going to be staying with them for the next five and half months.

I woke up after about an hour and a half and filled my nervous stomache with some tasty plane cookies and turned my attention to the television that was playing what appeared to be an Argentine version of smile you´re on candid camera or punk´d. Then I proceeded to doze off some more until we began our descent into Mendoza at approximately 8pm.

Once we land and get off the plane the fear and stress finally set in I think amongst the mob of people behind the glass doors holding white paper signs I can see my family smiling and jumping and waving. My nerves ease up a little but then proceed to take over my entire body as I just stand like a statue smiling and making an awkward wave as I laugh nervously to myself. I finally collected all of my massive tons of baggage and meet my host mother Fanny and sister Marina at the end of the mob of people. I am embraced with kisses on each cheek and lots of hugs as we rush to the car to escape the freezing cold weather. I am bombarded with questions about the flight and my family and my studies and if I have a boyfriend back home or if I knew anyone in the program. I tried vehemently to switch my brain into spanish mode as I awkwardly answered each question in slow and simple spanish. We drove through the outskirts of the city of Mendoza and through some back roads to get to my new home.

Everything looked soo different we clearly lived in a nicer part of town in some of the barrios (neighborhoods) outside of the major part of the city but still I was greeted with a huge black iron gate and some weird looking keys that were meant to unlock the gate. Once we stepped past the gate we were joyously greeted by Coki their teeny long haired miny doxen looking dog and my new father Enrique who is a tall happy looking fellow. We walk into the house and Marina´s novio (boyfriend) and the rest of the family struggle to bring all my things to my room upstairs. I could understand some kind of funny joke about how I am the first to bring this much stuff during a study aboad program. I laughed along because I knew how ridiculous I must look to everyone. Once I was settled in a little bit I was told that my host brother Javier would not be able to join us for dinner because he works incredibly long hours at the restaurant since he is in school to become a master chef.

Although my brother would not be joining us most of the rest of the family would be. As we prepared for a lovely meal of empenadas and several different types of pizza one with hard boiled eggs and cheese and tomatoes and the other with ham and peppers the family began pooling in. Including, aunts and uncles, and cousins and great aunts and some neighbors. Before dinner began, Enrique brought out his guitars and gave me one of them and then he asked me to sing and play something for him while the rest of the family was putting everything together. So I did, slightly nervous at first and then I began to open up more and soon he was joining in creating harmonies and jammin it up. Then we put away the instruments until after dinner and I was showered with compliments on my playing and my voice and was then told that after dinner I was to have another concert for the rest of the family. My face must have dropped because he just laughed and told me not to worry it would be fine and that I was the new lead singer of the family...no pressure. So we all ate and laughed and again I was bombarded with 17 million questions about what it´s like living close to D.C. and more about my family and friends at home. It was an absolutely fantastic meal and definitely se the tone for what meals are like around here.

So after dinner we grab the guitars again and my tio (uncle) grabbed some percussion instruments and we all started singing and playing together, I played some songs by myself and so did Enrique and then we all joined in on all of them. I swear the grin on my face must have looked ridiculous, but I was just having so much fun. It felt like home, like our christmas eve parties when we all get together and sing songs and play our respected instruments. And I am happy to say that they knew most of the beatles songs that I asked to sing and we all sang beatles songs even though it sounded a little strange with everyone´s thick Argentine accents.

After dinner we cleaned up the plates and the family headed home. My family asked if I wanted to go out and meet some friends, even though at this point it was nearly 1 in the morning. I politetly declined explaining I needed to catch up on some much needed sleep and so we said our goodnights and I headed to bed.

It was the minute that I lay down to go to sleep that it kind of hit me. I wasn´t going to be able to say goodnight to my parents every night before going to bed, and that this was actually happening. I got a little sad but then sleep quickly overcame me and i drifted off into slumberland.

And such was the end of my first night in Mendoza

Ta ta for now and until my next post which I am probably going to write in the next five minutes...toodaloo

Oh yes and the pictures will be posted eventually, hopefully

***MB

Culture Shock

Ok so it is officially my fourth full day in Mendoza Argentina, my sixth full day in the great country of Argentina and the seventh day on this great adventure that is my study abroad experience.

Although I had every intention of writing daily blog postings I have come to be in a slight predicament with my computer and thus I am sharing this single laptop with my entire family. So until I can rent a temporary interenet modem from the school I will just write when I can and attempt to fill you in on EVERYTHING that is happening. I guess I will start from where I left off...my second day in Buenos Aires

Day 2 BA July 22, 2010

After a lovely evening celebrating my day of birth with my new IFSA friends at a hip bar down some random street near our hotel it was another bright and early 8 am morning of fun in Buenos Aires Argentina. As I can recall Annabel (my roommate) and I got up and went down for a buffet style bfast in the hotel restaurant. I felt horrible for anyone who was just trying to enjoy a nice quiet meal because I can´t imagine that being an easy task when you´ve got over 50 American students trying to get as much food as possible to juice up for a full day of tourism. After eating we all piled onto the huge charter bus that was to take us to all the various places of southern Buenos Aires. The most memorable stop of the morning was hands down La Boca. Historically La Boca was originally home to all the misfits of BA many immigrants to the city ended up in La Boca because high society had little room for them. Throughout the amount of color was overwhelming all the houses and buildings are put together with sheets of painted tin and are kept in tip top condition and you will notice from some of the windows and rooves different cartoon-looking statues kind of making fun of the original inhabitants of the city.

The residents of La Boca thrive on the tourists with street performers and different gypsy-like people who will do almost anything to make a buck or two. After a small group of us were done walking up and down the streets we found a lovely little cafe behind the stage of a group of salsa and tango dance performers. It was the best view in the house and we all ordered Las Ruedas which is a sweet espresso with dulce de leche and rum which was incredible and we sipped on our drinks and tried to enjoy the warmth of the restauarant before going back out into the cold streets.

After lunch of a million different courses including empanadas, milanesas de pollo con quesso (breaded chicken with cheese and ham on top) Tomate and flan we left for the Plaza de Maya and the Casa Rosada. La plaza de Mayo is basically the exact center of the city and la Casa Rosada is the our equivalent of the white house home to the much loved La Presidenta. We explored the different buildings inluding the beautiful cathedral just next to the different houses of parliament. Although the buildings and architecture were beautiful nothing was so moving as the demonstration of Las madres.

Las madres of la Plaza de Mayo are a group of women who gathered together in seach for their missing children after the mass abudctions by the Argentine governement during what is now described as "the dirty war". After the war the military admitted that 9,000 of the children who were kidnapped are still unaccounted for but Las Madres say that the number is closer to 30,000 most of whom are dead. After the war because most of the children were born in jails and were orphaned during their imprisonment some 500 children were given to the families of military officials. These are the children Las Madres faithfully wait for every day. The demonstration consists of who are now "las abuelas" the grandmothers of the lost children, walking around the plaza with the names of their children embroidered on their white head scarves. During this presentation the names of every child are read off a list from one of las abuelas or a close family member and to every name the crowd and las abuelas shout "presente" or "Present yourself" hoping that one day one of the lost children will appear. During the presentation I don´t think a single eye was dry I know that for myself I was practically sobbing during the entire presentation just in admiration for the hope and the dedication that these women and family members have for this cause.

After that we were all drained emotionally and physically from walking around the city so most of us spent our free time taking naps or siestas until orientation.

After orientation we all decided to go out for our only full night in the city so a small group of us girls decided to go to Palermo SOHO which was the artsy area of Buenos Aires night life. We tried to organize a larger group to all go to the same area but that was nearly impossible. So we called up three Radio Taxi´s (the only taxi service garunteed to not rip off nice young american tourists) and took what seemed like a roller coaster ride to the plaza. **Side note drivers in Argentina are frighteningly terrible... I mean there may be lanes on the road but no one abides by any of the typical traffic laws** So we all reunite and decide to go to a random restaurant that looks swanky enough for our only night out. Immediately when we walk in we are served glasses of complimentary champagne and what looked like sausage by the hostess. We had to wait a while to be seated but we had a lot of time to kill before anything opened up. Once we were seated the six of us ordered a couple bottles of Malbec wine for the table and dug in on the complimentary bread with some weird but tasty spread. I ordered a filet mignon marinated in wine sauce with mushroom rissoto on the side all for A$60 pesos which is actually practically $15 American dollars. The food was delicious and sooo filling but instead of staying for dessert we decided to head to one of the local bars.

We decided on one that looked pretty well occupìed and headed to the top floor where there were people everywhere. At this point there were about 15 of us so we piled a few tables together and figured we would do something totally typical and order margaritas. They were amazing even though it took about two hours to get them. We stayed there for a little while and then most of the group decided to head back to the hotel, however, a few of us including myself decided to stay out and see if we could find a discoteca or dance club. We managed to find one that was packed but the bouncers at the front kept charging people different prices to enter and when it was finally our turn to enter he was asking for A$40 pesos which was ridiculous so we left. We made a slight attempt to find some other discoteca but after getting followed a few blocks by some creepy guys we decided to call it a night. It was about 4 am so it was all in all a pretty successful evening....and one of many typical Argentine days to come I´m sure.

To sleep to sleep I go...my last night in Buenos Aires, a huge success and tomorrow off to Mendoza to meet my family!!!!


Much love and many hugs and kisses to everyone who will be reading this blog religiously to stalk my every Argentine move. Pictures will be up as soon as I can get my computer to stop being dumb


****MB