Learning to be HAPPY where you are.

Hey everyone! Well its been another week filled with adventure in Mendoza and as a fair warning, this blog as well may end up under the "not so peppy" column. It finally hit me this week that I am going to start missing things back at DU and that people are starting to move in, start classes, go through orientation, etc. I didn't really feel the separation these past few months, because everyone was still on summer vacation and scattered throughout the US, so it may as well have been any other summer trip. However, as people start to go back and activities resume (last week for freshmen orientation and this week for all students) I am receiving all the e-mails about meetings, activities, calendars, etc and it really hit me hard how far away from home I am and how much longer I still have here. In reality, if I was at DU right now a vast majority of my friends would still be scattered to the four winds and around the globe, but I still feel a loss for those who are at DU and what I am "missing" there. However this too shall pass and I continue to look for adventure and opportunity where I am.

Monday was a normal class. We spent an hour waiting for the professor to show up and he then told us that since we were informed he would be an hour late there wouldn't be a break in the next hour. The class imediately spoke up that we had not been informed of his late arrival and I thought to myself 'had I known this class would start an hour late I would have slept in, breathed through breakfast instead of inhaling it, and would have strolled to class instead of power walking'. I truly need to learn how this country functions, but I'm also convinced that the one day I'm late will be the day class actually starts on time... :) So we started class which was supposed to be a student led discussion on Socrates based off questions we had been e-mailed. Apparently half the class had 'not received the instructions or been unable to check their mail'. In all fairness, the assignment was mailed late Saturday night...who does that and expects students to be prepared? Argentinean professors! After a very supportive showing of students who couldn't have gotten the information, we began the discussion anyway and spent the next hour being observed and encouraged by the assistant professor about Socrates' life and ideas. He was apparently taking note of who participated, but most of us never got a chance to speak. At the end of the class, he pointedly asked us "extranjeros" if we could understand the discussion and my friend Caroline spoke up saying that we could understand and follow most of it, but that when the students got to talking very quickly and all at once (as it is a common practice to shout over one another instead of waiting for a turn) it became difficult to follow. The professor then asked the class to make sure that next time we have a discussion to slow down so that we could all understand. Ironically enough, this didn't upset me at all. He truly meant it as a suggestion to help us succeed in the class and not as a statement of superiority. I'm pretty convinced as well that he doesn't even expect us to speak up in that class. Simply our presence counts as participation. After history I walked with a fellow student, Charlie, to language class (a good 45 minute trek away). We arrived super early and spent some time discussing and comparing Greek Life systems at our schools since he is from UNC Chapel Hill. Spanish class was nothing special and I went home after for a lovely lunch and short nap before my first trip to the gym!!! That's right, I joined a gym that is about 3 blocks from the apartment!!! Its nothing like the Ritchie center at DU, but then again it would be hard to ever surpass that place. Monday evening ended with an amazing dinner by Sole while watching a riveting episode of "Lie to Me" our Monday night series and then a small dose of ice cream after...living with my aunt is going to be bad for my health. Sole doesn't like ice cream, but Paola does just about as much as I do...

Tuesday I was supposed to wake up and go to the gym...but that just didn't happen...so I rolled out of bed at 11:30 and walked to class in the office! Afterward I walked back to the 'departamento' for lunch and some hw time before class again at 6. I am still enjoying my sociology class a lot and as usual, the class was nearly cut in half with wasted time. I kid you not for the 2nd week in a row (at least) it took 45 minutes to take attendance. This was then followed by a 15 minute debate/discussion/vote on the date of our partial exam... Oh how I love Argentina! Dinner that evening was provided by the "amigovio" (as in not quite boyfriend but almost) of my aunt and we enjoyed a variety of sandwich meats and cheeses. It was delicious and then what did he buy for dessert...that's right. You guessed it! MORE ICE CREAM!!!! Can you see where this is becoming a problem?

Wednesday I had class at the crack of dawn! aka 8:20 in the office. Definitely broke down and took the trolley so that I could sleep in as much as possible and I plan on continuing that practice from now on. Class was great though (it was my childhood concentration for the development class). We begin our service next week and we had our orientation on-site Thursday morning. After this morning class (complete with a giant mug of coffee) I relaxed in the office working on hw and catching up with friends for the next 2 hours. We then walked to language in a rather large group. It was at this point in the week where I was truly starting to get homesick/tired/frustrated etc and my amazing friend Louisa took the time to check on me and let me vent about how frustrated/upset I was. She truly is a jewel and wonderfully goes to CC so we'll easily be able to stay in touch back in the states! Spanish class was actually pretty fun as we got off on a 30 minute tangent about gestures here and what they mean. Definitely very entertaining and informative. After class it was racing home for a quick lunch and 20 minute nap before tango class! However tango was not to be had this day as we waited around for 30 minutes before being told that class had been cancelled for the day... Hmm time spent waiting on professors/in cancelled classes in the last week 2.5 hours! With the extra daylight, I decided to walk home with a friend Lisa who is one of the most bubbly and encouragingly spunky people I know. The evening was spent with a lovely dinner and relaxing.

Thursday... oh Thursday... I began the day with orientation at "Abrazos Abiertos" (open arms) the location where I plan to do my community service over the next 10 weeks. Its a worn down house owned (and lived in) by an 81 year old, blind, widow who has given her space and time to helping poor families in the neighborhood to the north of Mendoza city called Las Heras (not to be confused with the avenue Las Heras which is where I live). There are orphans who live there, women and children who had to leave abusive homes, kids who come to get help with homework, families who drop by to eat lunch and dinner. Its quite the organization and I'm super excited to start there next week. After the orientation I came back to the house and worked on hw or relaxed through the afternoon. I wasn't sure I was going out that evening, but at the last minute I got a message from a friend who needed some company and a shoulder to cry on. So I put on normal clothes (not my pjs) and hurried to meet her for dinner. We met up for pizza at a restaurant that neither of us had tried (the usual location was packed) and I commenced eating pizza and listening to the frustrations she was going through. It turned out that Thursday was also Karaoke night and so people began singing songs about the middle of dinner. My friend was also eyeing a table of guys in the corner who looked to be about our age and there was one in particular who was pretty good looking (basically he's the Argentinean clone of Robert Pattinson aka Edward Cullen aka Cedric Diggory). At one point my friend, Cati, decided that she wanted to sing and I had no desire or intention of joining her. However, when she got up there, the man with the microphone came over to me and asked me (in spanish) where I was from and why I was not singing with my friend. I told him I had no interest in singing and instead of accepting that, he decided to get the rest of the restaurant to clap and cheer me up to the computer with lyrics. Face bright red I stood with Cati and mumbled over her shoulder 'te odio' (I hate you). She laughed and we ended up singing Alanis Morissette "Isn't it Ironic", which was fun and I still plan on NEVER doing it again! :) After our lovely performance and some dancing as well while others sung we ended up talking to the table of guys. They invited us to leave with them and go hang out somewhere else, so we paid for our meal and were about to leave when our waiter came and asked Cati and I if we wanted daiquiris on the house. We explained to him that we were just leaving and that our friends were waiting for us, but he said they would be out in just a minute and then went to grab them for us. We tried again to explain that we were leaving and he said "está bien" (its ok) and handed them to us. We walked outside and met our friends and I felt really weird about this whole drink thing. You don't usually take cups from restaurants, even here, and yet here we were walking away from the restaurant with martini glasses... Long story short I have a souvenir to bring home and still feel very weird about it. :) We spent the next few hours getting to know our new friends and teaching them how to play "Go Fish". This was where the night got ugly...since it was so late and we were close to my house, I told Cati she could come back with me and stay the night but that we needed to be SUPER quiet because both Sole and Paola had to get up super early to go to the doctor. Sole had told me that I could have friends over and to just ask her first. I didn't want to wake her, and figured that if we were really quiet and Cati left in the morning, no one would be the wiser and it would be fine. HOWEVER...when we got back it was anything but quiet despite my best efforts. I was in bed immediately, but it was an hour before everything was ready to turn the lights out. Long story short, the noise woke Sole up and she couldn't go back to sleep...

Friday I woke up long enough to let Cati out of the building before going back to bed and when I woke up everyone was gone. I could tell the instant that they got back that Sole was mad and I didn't know at all how to approach it. After lunch she took care of it for me and bluntly put it that she was really angry with me for what had happened last night and that it was never to happen again. I apologized and told her I understood and tried to explain how it had happened. I had not felt that awful in a long time and spent the next hour sobbing silently in my room! I spent the rest of the afternoon in my room with the door shut working on hw and taking a 3 hour nap (I also seem to be coming down with a cold). When I finally woke up I got called into Sole's room and asked by my aunt if I had had snack yet. Since the answer was no I was told to promptly go get something or I would get very skinny (like missing one pastry is going to make me die of hunger...) But I went anyway and then went back to my room. Gustavo (Paola's bf) came over for dinner and brought us a giant chocolate cake (to help Sole and Paola on their healing journeys) and also a big bag of pastries. Again, SEE THE PROBLEM!!! As we ate dinner, we ended up watching 120 Minutes that changed the World (all about 9/11) Its a compilation of videos/tv footage/interviews from the attacks and it was all I could do to eat dinner and not start bawling again. I cleaned the kitchen after dinner (I was actually allowed to wash dishes since Sole's finger has stitches and Paola can't do anything with one foot). Then I went right back to my room. Sole left to babysit and Paola called me into the living room to explain that Sole felt really bad and that I shouldn't be upset - everything would be ok. I explained that I felt awful about what had happened and that I was SO sorry. Paola said not to be worried that "sos una buena persona" you're a good person and that its all ok. I felt better, but still went to bed feeling awful.

Saturday I woke up early and left on another exciting excursion with the program to cook in the mountains. We were actually in the closest part of the Andes and learned how to make empanadas, bread, and flan. It was absolutely delicious!!! And I was uncomfortably full, as in worse that a Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner full... As was everyone else, so we took a 45 minute nap in the sun before the buses left to head back on the 2 hour drive to town. I promptly fell asleep and didn't wake up until we were almost back. The evening was spent relaxing and working on hw. I was too tired to go out and we didn't eat dinner until after 11pm, so at that point I should be going to bed anyway. Things were still super awkward and I didn't know what to do or say. I just feel so bad about having disappointed this lovely woman who has given up part of her home for me. I'm hoping that she knows how sorry I am and that things will get better with time.

Today, Sunday was wonderful! I woke up (an hour after my alarm went off) and quickly got ready to leave. My friend Whitney and I had plans to cook lunch for our host families and we still had to buy the ingredients. It took us nearly 2 hours to find everything, but eventually it worked out (with a few substitutions) and we were back to cook. By 3pm it was all ready! Meatloaf, broccoli salad, mashed potatoes (the only part we cheated on cause they are instant), and M&M cookies (cause we couldn't find chocolate chips). I was SO nervous that it wasn't going to turn out or that it wouldn't taste good. I had never made meatloaf before and we were cooking for a chef... However, it was AWESOME! Everything turned out great and our moms just kept praising the food throughout the entire meal. 'Que rico! Riquísimo' (how delicious, very rich). I must have been smiling ear to ear. After we cleaned the kitchen and left our moms (who are also close friends) to chat, we headed to the park for Mate (traditional tea) and spring break planning with our friends. In the next hour the 8 of us solidified our schedule, picked hostels and assigned people to book them, made a food shopping list, and discussed possible activities for while we're there! In 5 days, on Friday, we are leaving for Patagonia!!! We'll spend the week touring 2 main cities (Ushuaia - the southernmost inhabitable city in the world, and El Calafate - home of the incredible glaciers) as well as a quick stop in Bariloche (which is just beautiful and famous for chocolate... I can't wait!!!!

All in all, it was a pretty good week. There were certainly some rough spots, but that's part of life. Especially with our mistakes we just learn from them and move on. Things seemed much better today in particular at the house and I'm sure with time it will all go back to normal. I can't believe how long I've been here already and yet as of tomorrow I still have 3 more months of adventures before I come home. I hope that everyone is doing well and that this first week of school goes well for everyone at DU. I hope you all know how much I miss you and how much it means to hear what is going on in your lives. If you have skype and want to chat, I'm online an absurd amount with the wireless at my house. Look for me as 'Laurel.Story'. Thanks for listening and I can't wait to hear from all of you! Miss you bunches!
ALL MY LOVE!!! Besitos!