Hola!
It's been awhile! I can't believe I've been in Mendoza 2 weeks now. They've flown by! At the same time though, I felt at home here nearly right from the start. Besides this weird combination of fast and slow its also been an indescribable combination of busy and relaxing. I don't know what to tell you because I haven't DONE that much yet, but every ordinary thing is new and interesting for me. That is the bliss of LIVING here for 5 months, there is no hurry. I'm just trying to live the life and the last two weeks have been practice. And I love it. Some things are not so simple. For example taking the city buses, getting a visa, buying a cell phone and figuring out how to buy more pre-paid minutes. But on the whole, the living has been easy. Que linda es esta ciudad y que amable la gente. I've spent a lot of time with my family, and I love them (me encanta!). I love the amount of time I spend cooking and eating with them, or just talking. Its like perpetual Thanksgiving. I've made some Argentine friends through my brother and Meagan's host sister, at the parque drinking mate, and most recently with the old guy who sells candied peanuts on a streetcorner near my house. Imagine Christmas coziness--fire in the fireplace, baking cookies, and delicious gift sets of candies and nuts-that is the smell that wafts down the street. The same as chestnuts roasting on an open fire, I suppose!
This weekend I went to my first vineyard (bodega) for a wine tasting, took my first tango class, and ate my first asado (Argentine barbeque) with my family. I also had my first real Argentine night--I stayed out til 6:30 am! My new personal record. I don't plan to do this too often, but I feel like a real Mendocino now. This week is my first week of classes so life is about to be much busier because we have 2 weeks to shop around, so I will be going to more than my fair share of courses. I feel capable of communicating in Spanish right now, but its tiring! I had a dream where my brother was quizzing me on Spanish vocabulary and I just couldn't think of any answers. The hardest parts are 1) speaking Spanish right when I wake up in the morning, 2) not being able to add to a conversation as much as I want because it takes a lot of thought, and 3) wanting to be fluent right NOW in order to keep up with my family or my brother and his friends when they talk amongst each other. When I'm tired, though, I just zone out, and listen to the beautiful rolling, crescendoing sound of Argentine Spanish. It's especially fun to listen to heated conversations, which is often the manner of speaking here, even if I have no idea what is being said. To be able to argue in Spanish is my ultimate goal.
The food is great. The people are even better. And every night I go to bed happily exhausted from all the Spanish and all the wonderful new ordinary things that fill my day.
P.S. I am going to Iguazu Falls on Thursday for a long weekend with a group of six girls! 36 hour bus ride...but across beautiful land. Vale la pena (it's worth it), so I hear.
jennie mi amor, te echo a menos muchisimo. Tus descripciones de la vida Argentina me have "giggle", pero estoy muy contento que estas teniendo un viaje tan bueno. Salgo por Barcelona en 13 dias. Aye. Pero podemos hablar en espanol a traves de skype? Como puedo hablar contigo?? Espero que pueda verte cuando voy a Minnesota por unas dias antes de mi viaje, pero se que estas en un lugar mucho mas interesante, jaja. Pues, dime si podemos skype, y arreglaremos un tiempo que trabaja por nosotros. Te quiero! (Pienso que esto significa I Love you, porque Lina me dijo que esto es que se dice en Colombia cuando quiere decir I love you como una amiga a otra amiga, pero a mi parece que signifique I want you jaja. Que se dice en Argentina?)
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