not right, not wrong, just muy diferente

N.B- this entry was written over a week ago, i just didn´t getting around to publishing it....

arghhhhhh we´re off again, just. It´s four am on a Friday night and i am crammed into an original 1950 bright orange piece of crap with 5 hysterical Argentine girls being dropped home by my gym teacher. Welcome to Argentina Sally... It all started out rather sane, a dinner with my host sisters friends, eat some meat, and listen to some more Spanish i won´t understand, and answer countless questions about kangaroos, and koalas. Pleasant, quiet, even a tad boring, i though. Hmmm, am learning fast to factor in the nature of the people, and the amount of sugar Argentines consume.

Argentina, or at least my town Villa Carlos Paz is a bit like a hyped up 5 year old. Typical Latin American houses sit askew upon the countless hills of the town. When hyped up on the thrill of being up late, and dulche de leche the town, the life of the people bubbles up and spills into the street. The normally sleepy main street, with a hideous, giant, cook coo clock is a maze of performers, grass roots business men, who trail couples with red roses, and what seems to be the towns entire population. Vans advertising various clubs of the town cruise with blown up speakers, strapped to the roof with duct tape attempting to draw patrons to various clubs with the latest Latin American hit. To enter Villa Carlos Paz during siesta time is however an entirely different situation, the ultimate in low glucose level. All blinds are drawn, all shops are shut and the town is literally asleep, with the occasional onlooker resting in the shade, sipping mate, and watching over the dogs that are now the only living creatures roaming the potholed roads.

The vitality of life is of course not limited to fiesta time. When the bocas won a match last weekend the shopping centre i was in simply erupted with chorus. The random chorus theme continued today at school when my entire grade, all 40 students suddenly convene to create a moss pit that would do any heavy metal band proud, and scream ¨´we´re going to bariloche¨. Considering the planned excursion is more than 7 months away, i suspect a lot of pants wetting on the day my clearly highly excitable class mates.

The little ¨differences¨ that tend to knock you off your feet a little, as your mind reels with the what the … factor. . Even just little things like the fact your host brother goes of to a soccer match at 12:30 on a Monday night, the kids trundle of to school in what appears to be a lab coat, or the giant M on the side of the mountain that lights up at night. Am yet to discover what its doing, why anyone would be arsed to construct the monster, and what exactly it is. To be perfectly honest am starting to doubt if its a giant M, as the angle from which i viewed the mother last night made it appear to be a set of particularly pointy breasts..Frankly i don´t even want to think about what to that ¨difference¨means

The language factor is less of a barrier than i anticipated. Spanish is a reasonably easy language, and knowing a bit of Spanish before hand has helped tremendously. I have been pleasantly surprised by my ability with basics. Which is great, since my miming SUCKS:::: Hell, today i even contributed in one of my classes. Admittedly it was ¨ohh you mean the depression¨, but my whole class, along with the teacher fell silent and stared. I guess they thought i didn't´t understand a word, which didn't´t in maths, but i was a tad surprised that my classmates could name the big economic event that happened in 1929.

Since my departure i have

Tangled, though it would have been far more exciting to tango with Argentine officials in order to get past immigration. no mere feat, i don´t know if any off your have every had an encounter with the Argentine bureaucracy but i ended up lining up 3 times for a reason i don´t quite comprehend. at least i didn't´t get detained unlike some of the other Aussies in the group

received excessive number of kisses, on the cheek, as every meeting and departure demands a beso, even as the celebrity status, thankfully fades.

set of the burglar alarm at 2 am by opening the window. haven´t touched it since. at least i wasn't´t locked in the toilet for an hour, unlike my exchange student buddy.

kicked Argentine ass at soccer. OK admittedly i was only versing my host brothers but i scored WAYYYY more goals then them, collectively oh yerrr...

had a 5 year old run away screaming at the prospect of meeting me, and got my self a genuine 60 year Argentine aunt as a fan. Much more appreciated than the butt ugly idiot who kindly screamed his love across the class room approximately 2 minutes after I walked in. I don´t think anyone has told him I hardly ever shave my legs….

climbed a mountain, literally. in some senses the Argentines have definitely got their stuff together, i.e. shop selling beer halfway up the beast. Although the huge white cross at the top was, different. for a nation where majority of population claim to be non practising Christian religious symbols is surprisingly prevalent throughout the town. Countless saints adorn roadsides, the next hill has a giant statue of the Virgin Mary, i think, looking out across the town.

celebrated my host brothers 21 st birthday, which was extremely tame. Personally still living at home on my 21st birthday, i have a feeling my folks would have kicked me out years ago, but in Argentine is pretty much universal. Kids don´t leave home until their married, and the mothers continue making their beds, cooking their meals until that happens. Not sure what the gay community (which is apparently very active in Villa Carlos Paz) does, but it could explain why Buenos Aires was the first place in Latin America to legalise civil unions.

On the whole i have found Argentines a quirky, insane, but entirely lovable, warm, passionate, and beautiful bunch of people. This week has been exhausting, surreal, and even dull, and despite the fact that i am still on a cultural honeymoon, with some sweat, and a lot of study i will ultimately be very happy in my town villa carlos paz, and with my host family, and at my ¨different¨school.

lots of love, and i hope everything is well

sally

---

---