I’ve wanted to create a blog post for awhile now detailing the little things that make living in Mendoza a different experience, but I’ve found it’s hard to sit down and write it all out! But here’s what I’ve got so far,
*Expect cashiers to always expect you to have change, and to be very frustrated if you give them a 100 peso bill for an item that costs 30 pesos, or ask you to buy more things instead of giving you change. Maybe this has to do with the status of the economy, but I feel like having a lack of change is a strange problem for a country to have!
Never ever go to a kiosco with only these, they will glare at you!!
*Expect to never figure out the micro system. The bus I have to take to and from class has two different routes, one takes me to the university, the other doesn’t and there are four plus routes leaving the university, only one of which will take me home
Check out my friend’s Tumblr blog for more typical Mendocinean experiences! It is a true masterpiece: whatshouldwecallifsamendoza.tumblr.com
In other news, IFSA classes were cancelled last week, so I passed the time with some of my closest friends on the program having a “staycation week” in which we reveled in our Americanness. It was awesome
We explored the Hiatt Hotel, the fanciest accomodations in Mendoza:
Fancy staircase
We found the only Starbucks in Mendoza, located at the Palmares shopping mall 35 minutes out of the city
Excitement!
Where the movie theater is also located; we had popcorn and saw “El Gran Gatsby”
(We were the only people in the theater, and halfway through the film got stuck in the projector and the frame BURNED away!!! But the sound kept going… Oh, Argentina)
We baked Chocolate Chip Cookies (used my mom’s recipe, but we couldn’t find any brown sugar!!! WHAT?!?! They still turned out delicious, though!)
(For future reference: three months is too long to go without Chocolate Chip Cookies)
Chocolate chip cookies and café, a new discovery!
We baked challah on Friday, using my sister’s recipe again and it turned out amazing! I’m turning into a pro!
Thanks, friends, for helping! You are excellent braiders!
Forgot to get a photo of it right out of the oven, we ate it so quickly!
The past week or so It’s felt a little bit harder to be here in Argentina, part of me is ready to go home and be surrounded by the familiar places and faces in the US that I cherish. Part of why I’m feeling this way might be because I just hit my three-month anniversary in Argentina, which is the longest I’ve ever been away from home. Life feels different here now, I’m not eager eyed and looking for adventure and immersion like I was when I first got here, I’m better adjusted, I’ve made friends, but I’m also tired, and grateful to get through the day’s classes and come home to English on the internet. So these next two months will be interesting because it will really be uncharted territory. Will I get a second wind and do more than I think is possible, or will I settle into a fairly comfortable routine, counting down the days until I get to come home, or perhaps something in between will occur?
So far it’s been a balance. For example, Saturday, I was feeling pretty crummy. I tried to run some errands which each went wrong in turn, I ran out of credit on my phone, I ran out of money in my wallet, and Argentina’s disorganization was getting to me. On top of that, I realized very last minute that none of my friends would be able to go on the group trek that we’d been planning on attending, and which I had really been looking forward to. All little things, but somehow they built up into a wave of frustration and I came home and cried. But, the next day, I moved on. I decided to go on the group trek anyway, even though it meant navigating the bus terminal on my own and then putting myself out there (in Spanish) to meet new people on the trek. The prospect of entering that situation completely alone really scared me, but I did it anyway, and I am so glad that I did, because I got the chance to hike in the Andes mountains and I also met some really nice Argentines and had some really great conversations in Spanish.
In the mountains, sharing lunch with some new Argentine friends!
I consider myself to be timid and slow-to-warm to new experiences, and I’ve always really admired those people who just go out there and try something new on their own. On Sunday, all of a sudden, I was that person, and that realization was very powerful. Going on my own to a hike in Spanish is not something I could have done at the beginning of my time abroad; I’ve grown during my time here, in ways I’m not even aware of until a moment like this shows me what I’m capable of. So even though I know I’ll have more moments of homesickness before I return to the States, I know I’ll have more moments of growth as well.
I leave you with the lyrics from one of my favorite Sara Bareilles songs, “Inside Out”. It reminds me that, even when I’ve had a bad day, I’m burned out and I feel small, I have to keep doing what I always try to do, share my love and my good heart with others and making the choice to keep loving and hoping, even when I’m scared and tired, makes me powerful.
I’m sending that love to all my readers as well, and I hope that you find the strength to give your love “from the inside out”, too!
I feel like no more than nothing at all
But when I lose sight of daylight
And if not now it won’t be long
From when I lose sight of daylight
Oh I’ll give my love from the inside out
And I know enough to know it’s never
Gonna be much more than weather
Can’t drive me away when it’s only rain
This entry was posted on Monday, June 3rd, 2013 at 9:05 am and is filed under College Study Abroad. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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