food matters, a gnocchi tradition, and soccer practice for the first time in 2 years

Yesterday was another gnocchi making (and eating) day. Remember when I talked about gnocchi in my first post? Well this means I have now been in Mendoza for exactly a month, because in Argentina many families adhere to the tradition of making gnocchi every 29th of the month. The tradition goes that you should put money under your plate as you eat your gnocchi, and then carry it around with you that day for good luck. Although in my family here we do not put money under our plates, we still eat gnocchi every 29th of the month.

So, I guess I will let you in on some more of what I have been doing in my first month living in Mendoza. Last saturday I attended an all-day cooking class that was organized by our study abroad program. It was a blast! They bused us all out to a city next to Mendoza city called Maipu (famous for its vineyards) which I hope to tour in the near future), and we got started making an array of traditional Argentine food with our professional chef teachers. I have not [yet] found cooking to be something I enjoy, but this was a lot of fun. We got split into groups to make empanadas, fried sweet potato cakes, salads, potatoes, crepes with dulce de leche, and flan (also with dulce de leche). Dulce de leche is everywhere here (it is similar to carmel). They put it on fruit, in ice cream flavors, on cakes etc. At the end of our cooking class we all feasted on our delicious Argentine food with some Mendozan wine as well. The setting was gorgeous as we had vineyards surrounding us and the snow-capped Andes in the distance.

Here are some photos from the day. Afterwards we received certificates of "Tourist Chef of Argentine Cuisine".

Mendoza and the Mendocinos

I had planned on writing this blog several days ago, however then my weekend became busy with spontaneous activities (planning is not a priority or forté here). And, yesterday I was sick all day with a nasty stomach virus. Thank goodness that has passed. Anyways, I wanted get some ideas down about Mendoza in specific and about the people here. From my three and a half weeks thus far of living here, I have been able to somewhat understand who the Mendozan people are.

First of all, the city of Mendoza is a peculiar place. It is only 2,497 ft in elevation and it is a very dry climate. Mendoza rarely sees rain, and according to my host family, had almost all of the trees not been planted by humans it would not see trees either. You must be wondering how the trees survive in such a dry climate with no rain. Well, throughout the entire city there is an irrigation system. In spanish they are called "esequias". Essentially along every street or walkway there are large (usually open) trenches that allow water to run underneath the city. This allows for trees to survive. On a side note, palm trees were also planted here long ago, and it is very strange for me to see palm trees with the Andes in the backdrop. Anyhow, the esequias are very dangerous as right next to the sidewalk (running parallel between the sidewalk and the road) there are large, and fairly deep, trenches. I, myself have already almost fallen in one. I was waiting for the bus one night when it was dark and I took a step backwards not realizing I was about to step right into an esequia. I managed to catch myself, although I must say it was a frightening experience. The esequias are full of trash and I would not want to know what kind of bacteria I would be faced with should I fall in one.

This brings me to my next observation regarding Mendoza. There is trash everywhere. It is horrible for the esthetics of the city, however I can somewhat understand it seeing as though I can walk for blocks and not encounter one trash can. I usually end up putting all my trash in my purse or backpack only to unload it at the end of the day. This, along with a discussion about recycling (or lack there of) with my host-sister was one of the first things which made me actually realize that I am in a third world country. The infrastructure is just not up to par with what we have in America (or what I have seen in Europe). I can imagine that this is why there are many issues with the communities of people who live in the "basureras" or dumps which I talked about in a previous post.

There are also stray dogs EVERYWHERE. I have never seen more stray dogs. Even in Morocco there were less stray dogs. In other countries I have seen many stray cats, but here it is dogs. Often they hang out in packs. It can be scary when I have to run by them in the park and they start barking. I am constantly afraid they are going to attack me. Interestingly, it is still very common here to have dogs as pets. I would have thought that with all the gross, imposing stray dogs all over the streets people would not want them in their homes. But this is not the case. I did ask someone once why more is not done about the stray dogs. The answer I got was that they don't care. However, I tend to think it is more that there is not enough money or concern to be focused on this issue. I have noticed that many people do not neuter their pet dogs which would be the first step to reducing the problem, which leads me to believe that either it is not of concern or people cannot afford the procedure. I could be completely wrong, however. These are just my observations.

The Mendozan language (as well as the Argentine language in general) is much different than the spanish I learned in school and in Spain. As many of you may already know, Argentine spanish was heavily influenced by Italian. Throughout the 19th century immigrants came to Buenos Aires, many of which were from Italy. These were also the people who were the creators of Tango. Nevertheless, Argentine spanish has more Italian inflections and accents than other types of spanish. They also use "vos" instead of "tu" (you). This took some time for me to get used to, as it seems very strange and nonsensical to me. It still does not make much sense to me why they decided to adopt this habit instead of using "tu" like the majority of other spanish speaking countries.

The Mendocinos in specific also have peculiar speech mannerisms. They like to add "ito" or "ita" onto the end of everything. The Menocinos also tend to drop the "s"on the ends of worse in speaking. This was difficult at first for understanding. They also often use words such as negro (black), blanco (white), gordo (fat), flaco (skinny) to refer to friends. These are used all the time to friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, husbands/wives, and they are not seen as offensive. I have also noticed more outward forms of racism here. For example, during the olympics I heard several people talking about the Chinese-Argentine ping pong player in a degrading way. People in general are much more blunt here - although that seems to be the case everywhere I have travelled. Once I had dinner with Will's host-family and we were talking about how Will loves food and will eat anything. His host-mom then said "Yeah, we saw Will's picture on his application and we thought he was going to be fat!". It was hilarious, but not something that would necessarily be considered acceptable in America.

That's enough for now! But, expect more soon. Much love from Argentina.

Getting Settled and a bit about my host-family

I have now officially been here for 2 weeks. Last week was hectic as it was our "shopping" period for classes. So, we got to try out classes we are interested in taking, and there were also orientations for each "facultad" or department that we will be taking classes in. The university system is much different here. I can't say I understand it completely yet either. What I do know so far about the public university, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, so far is that they don't purchase textbooks they make photocopies of everything so that it is cheaper. So every "facultad" has its own photocopying room where students work and you go in and pay to get the photocopies you need. Each facultad also has its own "comedor" or cafeteria and its own library as well. It seems as though I will be taking classes in the "Filosofia y Letras department" and the "Ciencias Politicas" department. I will also be taking a tango class through the private university. I'm very excited to learn tango! Will will be taking it with me as well. I will have to write about classes later on as I still have no had several of them.

My family is very busy much like my own. As I explained in my last post, my host-parents are both doctors. My host-father (Enrique) is an intestinal surgeon from what I have gathered. I didn't quite undersand his explanation of what type of surgeries he does though. My host-mother (Fanny) works for the government. The other day she explained to me that she goes around giving presentations about health and she also told me that sometimes she works in a "basurera". Apparently their are places here that used to be dumps, and now homeless people live there and obviously a lot of health issues come with this. I would very much like to go with her someday to help out. I am not sure exactly what she does there. My host-sister also goes sometimes to help out on saturdays but she told me she couldn't go this week since there is internal violence going on - or something like that. I am very interested in learning more about this! Sounds like its just up my ally with my global health interests.

My host-brother (Javier) is 21 years old and he is going to school for economics and he also has his chef's license/degree (I'm not sure how to call it). So he works for a restaurant at the nicest hotel here and he is on call so basically he goes in when they need him so he can still go to school as well. He also plays soccer and has a girlfriend (Fernanda) who is really sweet. She plays field hockey and coaches young girls in it as well. She said sometimes she goes and plays soccer with her friends and that I should come sometime. It is nice to have a chef in the house because 1) he makes amazing food and 2) he knows how to make some things that would normally have gluten without. For example he made me some cookies with oatmeal for our snack time when the family normally eats little cookies with jam or cheese. He is very busy though lately so he hasn't cooked for us much yet.

My host-sister (Marina o Mari) is 18 and she currently is not in school. Apparently she started a track and did not like it so she quit and she is going to start something new but doesn't know what she wants yet. She keeps fairly busy though and is very social. She takes a painting class twice a week, goes to the gym almost daily, takes an english class once a week and she takes guitar and singing lessons. She sings beautifully (as I mentioned before the night I got here she had her recital and I was able to hear her sing). She is very nice and has invited me out a few times. The past two fridays we have gone to a club with her and her friends. We meaning Will and I and another American girl, Megan, who lives with one of the boys in her group of friends. Ah man, the night like is WAY too late for me here. They do not leave to the club (here they call them boliches) until about 12:30 and they don't leave until about 5am. It is also a tradition for them to go from the club and eat these really cheap hotdogs in the center of town before going home. So the past two fridays we haven't gotten home until 7am. Then we end up sleeping until 2 in the afternoon! It is crazy. The boliches are all about 20km away so you have to take a taxi or drive although most young kids don't have cars. My family is a bit unusual as everyone in the family has a car. So Marina drives us to the club which is nice. A couple of her friends sometimes drive as well. I enjoy her group of friends. They are all very close knit but welcoming people.

Family dynamics here are much different. It is very common for kids to live with their parents until they are married (like in Europe). Almost without exception, kids always attend the university in their hometown so they live at home as well. Additionally, in my family and from what I have heard from the other Americans, kids do not have the same expectations living in their house as we do in America. They do not do chores, they do not generally help with dinner, they do not do laundry, make their beds etc. In my family we have a housekeeper who is here all day every week day who does all the laundry and cleaning and also makes us lunch every day. It is hard for me to get used to this. She is very nice and eats lunch with us - her name is Carmen. Sometimes I feel guilty because she does everything for us. My family doesn't do dishes during the week since she does them the next day when she comes. She always tells me to let her know if I need anything, and she enjoys telling me stories about the family or working at the house.

 My bus stop/trolly stop ^

My Room! ^

Well, I have more to write about cultural differences and our convenience in America, but I will have to save that for next time! Thanks for reading!

First Impressions

I am now in my new home for the next 5 months, Mendoza, Argentina. With the mountains on the periphery, I can’t even say I feel very far from home. They are always there to give me that comforting feeling. Activities in the last four days have included orientation sessions, learning to get around on the bus and “trole” or trolly, scoping out gyms to fulfill my exercise desires, walking in the park with my host mom and our dog Coqui, meeting friends and family, and of course trying all the Argentinian food prepared by my family.

Now, to focus on the food - to put it lightly, it is delicious. Just as I was told by everyone upon coming here, we eat a lot of meat - beef to be specific. I’m not sure whether it is how they prepare it here or whether the cows are just plain better, but it is awesome. It is the perfect tenderness and full of flavor. Our meat is often accompanied by rice and various vegetables. One lunch we had a delicious eggplant casserole which I plan to ask them to make again in the future. Besides beef we have eaten fish and a type of paella with muscles. Both were delicious as well. I asked where their seafood comes from and they explained to me that most is from Chile, just over the Andes. Each day my host-father comes home from work to eat lunch with us, however my host-mom’s job does not permit her to do so. The pace of the day is much like Spain here. Days start later, we eat lunch around 2:30 and dinner is not until around 10 o’clock. Although my family doesn’t take an actual siesta, I have heard from other students that many do. From the perspective I have obtained living with my family, being social is an important aspect of the culture. Meals and tea with extended family is valued time and families generally seem to live nearer to each other than we do  in the US (although this is a common theme I have found in all my travels thus far). On the second day after arriving, my family had 15 family members over. We all sat at one table drinking maté and eating various pastries (although I refrained as I have been eating gluten free since I arrived). I was more than a little bit lost in conversation, however I enjoyed the idea of a casual family gathering where all ages and friends, boyfriends, girlfriends etc. were welcome. 

As I hoped, Mendoza is an active city. People are constantly running in the park near my house, going to the gym and playing various team sports. To my surprise, there is actually almost equal female participation in these activities. Although I will miss riding my bike, I am glad to have an enjoyable place to run and hopefully a gym as well. Additionally, I am excited to be able to hike and ski in the Andes when I have free time. I am already itching to get on the hill, as people continue to talk about the snowfall in the various resorts. 

This is all for now. However, I will report again soon with details on my gluten free experiences and how things progress with the beginning of classes and new explorations.