Goucho

A goucho is a BBQ, but Spanish style.  On Saturday, the whole Study Abroad group drove out into the mountains and had a goucho.  We drove by vineyards, but it's autumn here so leaves are falling and we didn't get to see all the pretty greens.  Where we went made up for not seeing green on the way.  We drove right into the middle of the Andes Mountains, where everything was waiting for us.

When we got there tables were set up all around the front yard of a B&B and a brunch was being served.  We had sweet rolls with coffee.  We were able to explore and then we went horseback riding.

Horseback riding is an adventure in and of itself.  It's very dusty in Mendoza and it sometimes reminds me of Arizona the way the mountains look.  We spent around four hours riding the horses and my butt hurt the next day because of it. 

After we finished horseback riding, we went back to the B&B and had a huge lunch.  They fixed a plate of vegetables and potatoes with lots of breads and empeñadas.  Next came the meat! Carne is a huge success here-pork, cow, lamb and chicken.  We had it all! I tried everything but I didn't like the rack of lamb too much.  We had a fruit cobbler dish for a dessert.

After lunch we just spent time talking and getting to know one another.  Dancers came out soon after and had people from the audience come and dance with them.  They did the dance that I am learning in my Tango class (another blog needs to happen for Tango class alone) and had on fun outfits. 

After the group danced we had another dessert of dulce de leche pie.  It was so delicious! We packed up and headed back home (a two hour drive) to sleep and spend time with our families.  We went out later that night to the bolicha (club).  The clubs don't open until about 2 or 3 in the morning so night life is actually morning life here in Argentina.  I don't go out that much for that reason-I need my beauty rest. 

Here are some pictures of the wonderful goucho I went to:

Looks like Arizona to me!

I have started to collect these so I can make a fun collage when I get home.

Some of the sweet girls on the trip from Baylor.

Boys from Baylor and Hawaii horseback riding.

It's very dusty!

I'm bringing up the rear because my horse was so slow.  That lady in front said I ´sat a good horse´?

Other girls from Baylor.

This is one of my three professors from the University.

All the dancers were fun to watch and take notes for my Tango class!

This is why I'm scared of dogs.

The dulce de leche pie we had for dessert.

Our vegetables and potatoes before the meat.

All friends from Baylor and Hawaii.

A fun goucho man!

This is how they had the tables set up for us.

That's me on a horse!

Caitlin and myself on the way to the Andes.

Beautiful mountains surrounding us.

They served the meat to us on that platter and we forked it off.  They just kept the meat comin'!

This is how they prepared all the meat.

I'm not sure which meat this was, but it was all delicious...except the rack of lamb.

 

It was a beautiful day at the goucho.  I've had many enjoyable memories to bring back with me.  The start of my second week here was a little shaky to begin with (I took the wrong bus and was an hour late to school) but now I'm feeling better about things. 

I'll be sure to blog again soon!

Language Barriers

I never expected the difference of languages to effect communication as much as it does.  My siblings speak English, but they aren't around for me to talk to them all the time.  My Mom speaks one or two words of English, and she is the one I communicate with the most.  I can tell she speaks slowly for me and gives me objects to relate to, but it's still difficult because I don't know all the vocabulary yet.  Today was very difficult in communicating with my Mom because I had my first day of Tango lessons.  I thought it would be at the University where I go to school, but it was at a dance studio downtown.  We were let out at 1 and my Mom was waiting to pick me up at the University, but I was still downtown.  She waited for over 45 minutes for me at the school and I felt really bad that because I didn't know how to communicate well enough in Spanish, she had to wait.  Most of the time I feel really dumb because for everyone else it's so easy, but I am trying and practicing as much as I can.  I'm realizing that you can't become fluent in a difficult language in six weeks, it takes years.  I was talking to my brother and he was telling me that he spent over 10 years studying English to become fluent, so I'm expecting that I will have to study just as long to become fluent in Spanish and have a way to communicate effectively with people from Argentina, because one day I'm moving here!

On to Tango...

The instructor is a flirt, to put it mildly.  He picks his favorite girls and likes to dance with them and tease them.  It's annoying, not cute.  We also have homework in Tango.  HOMEWORK. As you can read, I don't like it that much.  Learning the movements and history behind the dance is cool, but I'm not sure I will enjoy rigorous dance lessons two days a week for two hours.  I was sweating through my clothes when I left dance this afternoon.  If anything, I'll be able to get closer with some more Baylor people and maybe learn how to stare intensly into a man's eye.  

Tomorrow...

We are going to the country, near the mountains, to horseback ride and have a BBQ.  I'm looking forward to getting to know more people, but it will be a very long day.  We are meeting at 8:30 in the morning and not getting back until 8:30 that night.  I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and post on Sunday so you can see!

Until then, I miss you all (whoever is reading this) and look forward to the day that I come home. 

First Day on the Job

This morning I went to school and had my first full day of class.  From 9 in the morning until 1 in the afternoon I am in a classroom with three rotating profesoras.  They are all wonderful and very entertaining! I like being in the Spanish 1 class because I am learning from scratch and learning the Spanish Argentina uses.  After class we took a tour of the campus-college is different here, that's for sure! The public school is free and the private you have to pay.  You choose a career you want and have five years to complete the program then go find a job.  If you decide you don't like your job then you quit and start all over with school.  It is not a very big campus so the tour was short and then we had empanadas for lunch.  (What I ate at Abuela's house)

We then split up into groups and went on a van to take a tour of the city.  We first went to the monument of their hero (San Martin) and talked about the fight for Argentina's Independence.  It was interesting listening to the stories behind how they fought thru the Andes Mountains and why San Martin is the hero of Argentina, whom I will be celebrating tomorrow. 

This is the monument with a hand pointing towards the Andes Mountains where most of the battles were fought.  San Martin had to go through the Mountains to fight for Independence.

This is the full view of the monument. 

This is San Martin.  We were asked to think outloud about the things we saw, especially with his sculpture.  Most say he is thinking about the things he did to get to Independence.  I saw he looks smug for winning the war.  My teacher agreed.

I wasn't really certain about this angel, but I think it's meant to symbolize how they were carried thru the Andes.

These are people working, especially the poor, who were forced to work hard labor.

This is our group (not everyone is pictured) in front of San Martin.

We actually have about 55 people in our Study Abroad group, the main people being from Baylor and Hawaii.

This is a neighborhood just down the Mountain from the monument that is deprived, so says my teacher.

Next, we went down the mountain thru the park.  There is a man-made park that is full of trees and plants to give oxygen to Mendoza.  My school is inside the park. 

We then drove to what is called the Plaza de Independecia.  That is the main Plaza with four surrounding Plaza's.  They built these Plazas so people could evacuate their homes and come to the Plaza which is more open.  (Argentina has many earthquakes) The Plaza's are full of street life, and we did a lot of walking to see all of them.  We exchanged money, but I have an ATM just around the corner from my house so I didn't exchange money today.  We also put money on our Red Bus card so we could start riding the bus to school.  One Plaza offers a portable library so you can grab a book, sit and read it, then put it back on the shelf.  There is lots of PDA in the parks and people staring at crazy Americans.  My teacher got mad at a group of high school girls because they were making fun of us and said a naughty naughty word.  I never realized how much I was in the wrong until I was on the other side.  I didn't look down on tourists or foreigners, but I could spot them out and laugh on the inside for their silly habits.  It hurts when you watch a group of people not appreciate that you are trying to learn their culture.  I won't make that same mistake again in America.  Here are some pictures of the street life and Plaza's:

This building is where most of the laws are passed and big-time politics happen.

These types of carts are everywhere in Mendoza.

This is at the Plaza that offers the books.

Part of Plaza de Independcia.

There is blue water in the fountains everywhere to represent the color of the flag.

I forgot to mention earlier that we drove past this on the way down the mountain.  It is used for wine celebrations and such. 

Here we have two women connecting hands.  One represents Spain and one represents Argentina. 

To top it all off I had siesta today, which is a nice long nap.  I woke up to my older brother, Tomas preparing dinner for all of his friends.  He made a seafood dish that had crab, shrimp, and......octupus in it.  I tried octopus, folks.  It had a good flavor, but it was a little too chewy for my taste.  I then visited with my sister, Clara and her boyfriend.  The boyfriend, Manuel is trying to know English fluenty because he works at a winery as an engineer and has to speak with different important people for his job.  He told me he would take me on a tour and give me discounts on my wine I wanted to bring home.  So get ready for more exciting blogs!