Dear Argentina,
I just thought you should know that we were actually quite comfortable in 2002, and would like to be left there. We’re really not cool anymore. And nobody else wants to hear your conversation. Thanks.
Regards,
Nextel direct-connect phones.
On Wednesday night, my 27-year-old coworker passed away unexpectedly. It’s been a tough week. I am still keeping this blog publicly anonymous, so I will not mention his name. But he was an amazing person and he will be missed immensely.
I didn’t want to have to go to a wake or funeral while I was here, and I never even contemplated it. Yesterday I went to the wake. It was tough, and it all happened so fast that I’m not sure any of us have processed what happened. It’s not the same as at home, where there are 2 or 3 days between the passing and burial at minimum. I feel like they buried him too quickly for any of us to really understand what was going on.
But that’s life. And it has to go on.
Brief commentary on the family life here as it appears to a foreigner.
It’s interesting, because Mendocinos don’t really move out of their parents’ houses until they get married. This makes for PDA going on EVERYWHERE. This is mostly in the parks and plazas, but can happen in the street, on the sidewalk, etc. I’m forced to watch people making out hardcore everywhere. Bah humbug.
Lots of these people are teenagers. I asked a friend of mine what the deal was with this, and she explained that since they all live with their parents, they pretty much just take the action outside. So that I get to watch them making out and feeling each other up while I am picking up contracts.
They also go to hourly-rate hotels called Telohs here (kind of like hotel backwards, see?), since they can’t hang out at each other’s houses if they are so inclined. While in the States, these are super seedy and gross with bad reputations, here it seems as though they’re generally accepted and normal.
There are also a ton of teen pregnancies that I’ve seen, as well as super young couples with babies. They breed young here, and they all breed. I feel like there must be pressure if you’re my age and unmarried as a girl here (or at least have been married at least once so far) because I’m pretty sure the Old Maid thing here is an actual threat.
The living at home thing also explains why Mendocinos go out late very often. I thought they were big partiers. It turns out, they will nurse a drink or two over the course of the entire night while smoking cigarettes at an outside cafe on Arístedes or similar, just to avoid going home until the wee hours of the morning when their parents are getting up and going to work.
Interesting effects from a seemingly conservative approach to family values.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the things I really miss from home. This is partially due to having to miss one of my best friends from law school’s wedding last Saturday. We’ll call this post the “bitching and moaning that I’m not in the U.S.” post. I do like it here, but everyone gets homesick, don’t they?
Here’s a list. While not exhaustive, it’s a good start. I’m breaking it into categories because, well, food is important and is probably most of it. Deal with it.
Food:
Mexican food – last time I had it in Mendoza, I got food poisoning.
Queso (you know, Velveeta + Rotel), although we did have it once already here. It’s still rare.
VARIETY (i.e. anything other than steak, pizza, salad, and tartas).
Indian food
Seedless grapes
Spicy things
American-style bacon
Thai food (although I haven’t tried Wasana yet)
Culture:
Being able to order food for delivery without having a panic attack and psyching myself out of it
Not waiting in line for over 30 minutes at the supermarket 10-items-or-less lane
Actually using the little conveyor belt at the checkout, rather than moving it all manually and having the cashier give you a dirty look
Not having to walk everywhere or take a cab
Eating before 10pm and being considered normal
SPEAKING ENGLISH – I’m making a serious effort to speak only Spanish all the time with strangers, and it is seriously tiring. It is really helping my Spanish, though!
Men with good haircuts
Ethnic diversity
Laws that say you need to pick up after your dog
Giving someone a $20 bill and not being constantly asked if I have any smaller bills.
Other:
My friends and family from home
My boyfriend (sorry babe – you’re just as important as friends and family but I wanted to give you a shout-out!)
My car
Turning on the hot water and having it be hot right away, rather than 5 minutes later
Not being bitten by mosquitoes nearly daily
Not almost slipping on the sidewalk because it’s made of tile and not concrete or brick/stone
I know I’ll think of more later. But before that, I should probably post about what I love about Argentina, no?
Ok, so coming from Texas and New York, I’ve had some great steaks in my lifetime. I’ve been to some of the best steakhouses in the US, and I have my favorites, but I think I have found my favorite steak in the world.
Here it is, in all its splendor. The Bife de chorizo at Don Mario’s :
Big deal, a hunk of meat. Right? Wrong. Upon further examination, it is awesome.
I still haven’t been to Francis Mallman’s place here, but I’m thinking this will be hard to top.
Well, I promised some funny Spanish-speaking fails, and I think this post may deliver on that promise.
So at work, we sometimes need things sent to the printer for binding, etc (like contracts, for example). There are a few places here, and we recently changed vendors because the old ones did a crappy job. The new ones do a great job, but I won’t reveal their name so they can’t find this post somehow and know it’s me. Cause it’s a bit embarrassing.
I’ll spare you the gory details but I had to go there alone one day and try to swap out one page of a contract we were getting bound for another page. Now, the word for page is in Spanish is “página”. The accent is clearly on the first syllable – like PAH hee na. However, my genius interpretation and recollection of the world is “pagina”. Which I pronounced pa HEE na.
Allow me to illustrate further that a “v” in Spanish is pronounced like a soft B or P. For example the word for veggies is “verduras” can be said “berr doo ras” (gringo accent alert).
Allow me to further illustrate that the word for ladyparts is the same in Spanish as it is in English. (hint: it starts with a v….)
Let’s revisit the conversation between me and the shopkeeper above (who at least is a woman).
Me: “Hola, me llamo ____ y soy de _____. Necesitamos cambiar esta página para esta página acquí. ”
(feeling quite proud that I think i’ve figured out how to explain the situation)
Nice shopkeeper lady (after a brief pause and smile): “spanishspanishspanishspanishspanish….”
–at some point I figure out that I’m going to need help explaining something I get my colleague to join me—
After my colleague had joined me, she straightened everything out and we left the store.
Then I tell her what I said to the shopkeeper, and how I was proud I remembered what to say, when she starts laughing and looks at me.. and says..
“No, it’s PA hee na. Not pa HEE na. The accent is on the first syllable. It sounds like you’re saying you need to change one vagina for another vagina.”
Fail.
Special thanks to the nice shopkeeper lady for not losing her sh*t and laughing at me on the spot. 🙂
