Mendoza: the saga begins

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The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity, traveling, adjustment, and epic failures when it comes to speaking Spanish. Let’s start from the (pseudo) beginning: somehow, I was convinced to partake in a “Bar Crawl” in Buenos Aires on my last night (Thursday). This involved meeting up with a bunch of other foreign exchange students (All Americans if you can imagine that) in a plaza very, very far from my hotel with all-one-can-eat pizza and all-one-can-handle beer. Following dinner, we were escorted by some Argentine-Americans (such entrepreneurs) to three different bars where free drinks were to be had by all. Although not my scene normally, I still managed to have quite the epic time courtesy of American cover bands, good friends, and fancy (bright colors!!!!!!!) bars. As luck would have it, about 7 or 8 excellent people from IFSA-Mendoza managed to arrive at the last bar just as the Bar Crawl arrived. Good times had by all…. Until the morning came.

We all woke up after about 2-4 hours of sleep (depending on who you are, or were for that matter) and boarded the tour bus to see el Barrio Polermo. Nice houses, nice trees, and a very nice lunch on the banks of the River Plata. We then proceeded to the airport and flew to Mendoza. I was quite nervous to meet my family, but as it turns out, I had nothing to worry about. My mother is fantastic and her three sons are very helpful. I rode a motorcycle for the first time in my life (with mom at the controls) and what an experience it was!

Transitioning from a group of American students to a family that speaks very little English has been difficult. I often have to have sentences repeated to me 3 or 4 times before I understand. And when they talk amongst each other, I only catch about half (or less); however it is only my 2nd full day with them, so I have high hopes for the future.

Some things I have noticed about Mendocinos:

1) Red lights, stop signs, and the like are obeyed…. Until the coast is clear. Then, a free-for-all ensues, often forcing me to desperately grasp my seatbelt that doesn’t actually work. No one wears seatbelts here. I can tell that my squeaky clean driving record is going to be tarnished with a little bit of Argentine influence once I return to the States.

2) The people love to experience the outdoors, even if it means setting up a camp and BBQ right next to the side of a semi-main road in the foothills of the Andes. People will drive theirs whips (cars) down the sketchiest dirt roads to get to prime recreational spots. And when I say sketch, I mean it. Only Americans who own the highest quality SUV’s would dare attempt these roads. But the Mendocinos charge down them in their little Peugot’s and have an epic time doing it.

Today, I was also referred to as blonde for the first time in about 16 years. Apparently, I’m not in Kansas (Oregon) anymore.

My older brother Federico and his mountain-guiding stoner friend Emanuel took me on an epic trek today to the summit of El Cerro Colorado, a good-sized peak in the precortillera (the first round of mountains outside Mendoza in the Andes. Though not as tall as the 6,000-meter peaks en la cortillera principal, El Cerro Colorado was still quite the feat. We hiked uphill for 2.5 hours straight to reach the 3,000 (approximately) meter summit. The views were absolutely spectacular (see photos).

I feel very happy and privileged to be here experiencing this amazing opportunity so I have to give thanks to all of those who made it possible (really only 2 people, you know who you are. Hi mom!! Hi dad!)

Check out the photos!!

Besos
Ciao

521 Ferraviaros Argentinos Sexta Sección Mendoza, Argentina

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Photos

Chambers sketching
Chambers epping

Gringo Luggage
AMERICA!!!!! in the lobby of the hotel

My Brother, Emanuel, and myself
El Cerro Colorado (yes those are trekking poles obscuring the foreground)

Comments

[Keirsten]

WOAH
sounds epic.