Un Año en Mendoza: Rubia. Rubia. Rubia.

I am not sure how but it has already been a week; I completely forgot how fast time moves when you're not paying attention. My week started off with two and a half days in Buenos Aires for orientation and basically just being a tourist. We saw all of the big attractions: La Boca, La Casa Rosa, El Cemetario de Recoletta, ect. Maybe I was just too tired and not paying but besides the language, Buenos Aires felt like another big city that I had yet to explore. Mentally, I wasn't aware I was in Argentina until I landed in Mendoza.

I have now been in Mendoza for three and a half days and I am incredibly happy with my choice so far. Before coming here, I had only seen mountains twice in my entire life. The first time I saw them here, I started crying because I was so amazed by their beauty. I'm sure the people on the program with me thought I was nuts but I couldn't contain myself. I was so happy I wrote a thing:

Your jagged edges cut across the sky and divide the earth from the clouds.

Your size astounds me and I am captivated by your enormous peaks.

You are like a wall blocking the horizon

and a thief that steals the sun as it descends behind your face.

I long to be among your many cliffs and crevices;

I can only begin to imagine life free from the constraints of this reality,

Where time is no longer a question and life is only about survival.

So far in Mendoza I have seen both of the universities I will attend and started picking classes. I won't have a set schedule until September 9th because I have shopping period where I can attend whichever class I want, then decide if I like it or not. I have a list of about twelve classes picked out and I need to narrow it down to four or five. Classes start Monday (kind of)!

I went out for the first time in Mendoza and my night was decently interesting. The kids from my program met at a bar and went crazy with the happy hour deals; drinks we 2 X 80 pesos (2 X $5 usd). When I say drinks, I mean fancy things like mojitos and daquiris; it was great. Then we all headed to a private party at a different bar for just the international students at our university. I would estimate there were 30 people from the US, 30 Mexicans, and 30 Argentinians. At three in the morning, I was invited by numerous people to go to a boliche (night club) and spend the rest of the night dancing. I took a taxi home instead. The drinking culture here compared to in the US or in Denmark is so different; we have been warned by our counselor that "it is a marathon, not a race."

I have been fighting culture shock and the battle is incredible. In the US, I live a very busy, structured, and fast pace life; I never cease to be doing something. The culture here is the complete opposite of who I am; they cherish down time, everyone is late for everything, and no one is ever in a hurry. There is this phrase, ocio productivo, which means productive laziness. I am having trouble adjusting to this but I am digging deep into myself and I will overcome this. I feel like this is something I have to learn/teach myself and therefore I have added fifteen minutes of nothing to my daily schedule.

Something I haven't figured out how to deal with is the lack of political correctness and the street harassment. In Buenos Aires, there was a store that sold electronics named Asian Kiosco; if that isn't politically incorrect, I don't know what is. Terms of endearment include gordito, flacito, and negrito (fatty, skinny, blacky). As for street harassment, I do not look Argentine and my blonde hair makes me stick out like a sore thumb. I get kisses blown at my by gross old men, boys yell rubia, rubia, rubia (blondie, blondie, blondie), I get stared at, the list goes on and on. For my mom, this is a cultural thing and I am not in any physical danger. However, that doesn't mean it doesn't drive me insane; I am not an object, I am a person.

On a much more positive note, the food is amazing. It is a lot of meat and bread, but it is well prepared meat and bread. With almost every meal, there is lettuce, tomatoes, and shredded carrots so I am not completely missing my veggies. I am offered dessert for almost every meal. I would try to explain how delicious dulce de leche and alfajores are but I think you would stop reading my blog from utter jealousy. That being said, my goal of learning how to run outside has already started because with this delicious food comes a lot of calories. I don't understand how Argentines are so skinny; maybe it is all the mate.

Well, I can't think of anything else.
Besitos.