My first morning in Mendoza! From my bed where I'm typing I can see out into the courtyard of the house. There's green ivy climbing the sandy walls of the house, and beyond that a perfectly blue sky without a single cloud in my line of vision. The house is really pleasant, especially the garden/courtyard out back. I envision myself spending a lot of time reading on the grass with my feet dangling in the little pool of water in the middle of the grass.
Vivi, my mom, is really friendly and understanding of the whole situation as she's had many other students from this program before me. She mostly talks while I listen, but that's fine with me because I usually just sound like a first grader (at best) when I open my mouth. My brother is somewhere around 24 and is pretty awkward. I'm hoping it'll pass because if my siblings don't relax with me, I don't think I will be able to do likewise. I haven't met my sister yet, as she's been in Buenos Aires visiting her boyfriend, but she's supposed to be coming home today. I'm hoping that either my sister or brother will be willing to show me around a little to ease my awkwardness, but if not, I'm sure I can find someone else in this city of a million to extend a helping hand.
More exciting than the siblings are the 3 animals that inhabit this place. Two little kitties que se llaman Mushi y Musha, and an absolutely enormous bull mastiff named Ñieto. Like... I could comfortably ride on top of him if I get lazy and don't feel like walking around.
Last night after unpacking and settling in we had Shabbat dinner. My family isn't strictly observant, but they like having friends over and staying up late (like everyone else in this nocturnal country). I mostly sat and listened, trying not to nod-off in my exhaustion from the last few days, and was relieved when Vivi made me go to sleep. After approximately 30 seconds of being awake in bed, I passed out to experience the bliss of sleep. At some unknown point in the morning, I woke up and felt the house shaking all around me. At first I thought I was having a horrible reaction to some food/travel, but then the books on my shelf fell from their place onto the floor and I knew that the house was actually moving. My first thoughts were (roughly in order of going through my head) as follows: 1.) a violent military coup is going on and someone is bombing Mendoza, 2.) a bloody rebellion is going on and someone is bombing Mendoza, 3.) some unknown political movement is happening and someone is bombing Mendoza. I feel confident in saying that my heart has never beat that quickly in my entire life. I could see the lights to Oscar and Vivi’s room from my bed, so I got up when the shaking stopped and they quickly informed me that it was just a tremor from an earthquake… We found out this morning that there was an earthquake in Chile late last night, thus the temblores in Mendoza. What a lovely first night of sleep. It’s good to know what a tremor feels like so I don’t assume bloody violence and imminent death next time it happens.
And now to my day of sunny, 29C Mendoza!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
El último día
I write my first entry (of what I'm sure will prove to be an interesting, informative, and glamorous account of the next few months of my life living in Argentina) while eating a honeycrisp apple with super crunchy Teddy Bear peanut butter on top, in the silence of early morning home. Dad has either kidnapped the dogs or they are all asleep after the rousing 7:15 wake up the dogs promise me every morning to make sure that I remember they exist/are excited for another day of being a dog.
In 24 hours from this moment, I will ideally be arriving at Logan International Airport in Boston with one large suitcase, my backpacking pack (there's got to be a better phrase for that), and something to entertain/feed me for the almost 24 hours of travel to Buenos Aires. We're having a 3-day orientation in BA before taking a group flight to Mendoza to meet our families and settle in.
As for how I'm feeling... I am oddly relaxed about it all. I occasionally remember that I am going to Argentina and really think about what that means... that I'll be away from most of the people I love for the next 5+ months, that I'll be eating meat on a regular basis, that I'll be living with people who are now just names and interests on a sheet on electronic paper, that I'll be sweating profusely from the 32C heat (as opposed to the 32F bitterness of New England), que mis palabras estarán en español cada, tarde, y noche. And once I remember all these things, relaxed is replaced with elation and anticipation (before studying in Argentina for 6 months it's called elation and anticipation _____________), but not yet the stomach flipping-quick breathing feeling that I'm sure will come tomorrow morning on the way to the airport. This is my longest time away from my family, the first time I'm traveling outside the countries of my citizenship(s), and the first place I'll really be utilizing my Spanish in a non-academic setting. I'm sure there will be many more firsts to follow.
Back to the important stuff I skipped over in the beginning of this post. The honeycrisp and peanut butter. This combination of fruit and spread happens to be my favorite mixing of any two foods (chocolate-covered strawberries are a very, very close second). I sit on my couch in pajamas and wonder if there is peanut butter in Argentina? Apples as incredible as the honeycrisp? Can I sit on a couch in my new family's home while eating? In my pajamas? There are so many uncertainties about what I will be doing in just a few days that continually run through my head as I go about my daily routine here in Massachusetts. But really, I've recently found that not knowing and I work very well together, perhaps even better than facts and routine and I do. And then there's also the phrase "my new family" that strikes me. It's such a common collection of words I've heard so many friends say after spending time abroad, but now it's a collection that holds four unknown people behind it. I'll be living with a family of four, a wife, husband, a daughter and son somewhere between 18-34 years old, and a dog(!).
And now to begin my day of errands and preparations!
Hasta luego,
Limor
In 24 hours from this moment, I will ideally be arriving at Logan International Airport in Boston with one large suitcase, my backpacking pack (there's got to be a better phrase for that), and something to entertain/feed me for the almost 24 hours of travel to Buenos Aires. We're having a 3-day orientation in BA before taking a group flight to Mendoza to meet our families and settle in.
As for how I'm feeling... I am oddly relaxed about it all. I occasionally remember that I am going to Argentina and really think about what that means... that I'll be away from most of the people I love for the next 5+ months, that I'll be eating meat on a regular basis, that I'll be living with people who are now just names and interests on a sheet on electronic paper, that I'll be sweating profusely from the 32C heat (as opposed to the 32F bitterness of New England), que mis palabras estarán en español cada, tarde, y noche. And once I remember all these things, relaxed is replaced with elation and anticipation (before studying in Argentina for 6 months it's called elation and anticipation _____________), but not yet the stomach flipping-quick breathing feeling that I'm sure will come tomorrow morning on the way to the airport. This is my longest time away from my family, the first time I'm traveling outside the countries of my citizenship(s), and the first place I'll really be utilizing my Spanish in a non-academic setting. I'm sure there will be many more firsts to follow.
Back to the important stuff I skipped over in the beginning of this post. The honeycrisp and peanut butter. This combination of fruit and spread happens to be my favorite mixing of any two foods (chocolate-covered strawberries are a very, very close second). I sit on my couch in pajamas and wonder if there is peanut butter in Argentina? Apples as incredible as the honeycrisp? Can I sit on a couch in my new family's home while eating? In my pajamas? There are so many uncertainties about what I will be doing in just a few days that continually run through my head as I go about my daily routine here in Massachusetts. But really, I've recently found that not knowing and I work very well together, perhaps even better than facts and routine and I do. And then there's also the phrase "my new family" that strikes me. It's such a common collection of words I've heard so many friends say after spending time abroad, but now it's a collection that holds four unknown people behind it. I'll be living with a family of four, a wife, husband, a daughter and son somewhere between 18-34 years old, and a dog(!).
And now to begin my day of errands and preparations!
Hasta luego,
Limor
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)