Hitchhiker, Argentine meat, and an earthquake, OH MY!

I traveled with my parents and Jared since Thursday and I got back to BA on the first. It was bittersweet leaving them but I so far I have been having a great time! We left for Mendoza last Thursday (early afternoon) and upon arrival, picked up our rental car, and drove to San Juan. San Juan is about 2 1/2 hours or so away from Mendoza. We also stopped at a winery (bodega) on the outskirts of San Juan and even got a tour of it. Our tour guide spoke SO fast but she was adorable; she kind of reminded me of an excited dog that has way too much energy. We tried some really good Malbec, Cabernet, and dessert liquor, too. We got dinner around 8sh and since Argentines don't eat until 9-10 p.m, we were some of the first customers there! They prepared the meat in a glassed-in room over a large grill and it was awesome. We tried asado, which is their version of a barbecued meat. I have a feeling I am going to eat the same amount of meat that I have eaten thus far in my life while I'm in Argentina. After that, we headed back to the hotel, which definitely made my top ten "most sketchiest/narstiest hotels list."

Terremoto- The following day, we hung out around San Juan and at night, there was a huge festival in town, so we walked on the main street for awhile. That was definitely one of my favorite experiences- there were a lot of floats and weird costumes and kids spraying this shaving-cream type stuff at each other. Note to self: Don't wear a cute dress when kids spray that stuff at people. Later that night, while I was in bed (I wasn't sleeping very well and was semi-awake around 3:30 am), I felt my bed shaking and thought that I was dreaming or feeling dizzy. However, when I sat up in bed, I realized that the whole bed was moving. I woke up Jared by yelling for him and he told me that it was an earthquake. The whole room was shaking and we could hear stuff in the bathroom rattling around, it was nuts! We both kind of stood in the doorway together until it stopped but it was the strangest feeling I have ever felt. At breakfast the next morning, we saw that there had been a huge earthquake in Chile. I cannot even imagine what it was like there if we could still feel it in San Juan! We didn't watch long, but it looked like there was extensive damage in Chile.

The next day, we drove to San Augustine. We planned on getting to la Valle de Luna (kind of like a national park) around noon, but that definitely didn't happen. We got kind of late start and about an hour or two into the drive, we picked up a hitchhiker. He had an empty gallon bottle for gas because his car ran out and we decided to pick him up- actually, my Dad decided it would nice to help him out. I was less than pleased- I was napping and was sprawled out in the back, resting my head on my Mom's lap. That meant I had to get up from my nap and move- I was not a happy camper. I didn't feel like talking, so it was kind of awkward and he smelled, too...ugh. However, this is when our adventure really started- somehow, when we stopped to pick this guy up, there was a fork in the road and we took the wrong way. My Dad asked if we were heading in the right direction, and of course our hitchhiker told us that it was. About an hour or so later, we realized we were going the wrong way when we talked to the police at a checking point, so we dropped the guy off at the gas station and had to drive back and get back on track. Ah, aventuras argentinas.

We eventually made it to San Augustine, which was a really tiny town. We checked into a hotel/hostel and decided to explore the area. We visited a little museum, called el museo de las piedras (rock museum) right outside San Augustine, too. A man greeted us, who actually turned out to be the owner and gave us a tour. One of the rooms was full of rocks from Argentina and everything else under the sun. It was pretty cool and it was fun to learn some of the words in Spanish. The other room had insects that can be found in Argentina, which, surprise, surprise, was my least favorite room. There was one particular small case on the wall that had poisonous insects. When I asked him what would happen if one of them bit me, he told me, "You die." He also told me that I shouldn't wear flip flops around there because those insects could bite me easily. Thanks, rock man, for scaring the crap out of me....definitely had a hard time sleeping that night. Just to be safe, I made Jared close all of the windows in our room and slept with the blanket over my head.

Sunday- we finally made it the la Valle de Luna! It was really beautiful; it was a caravan tour and we stopped at five different sites. It kind of seemed like we were on Mars, the scenery was that reddish color and it there were awesome rock formations. It was fun and after that, we drove to Mendoza which took the rest of the afternoon. By the time we arrived, all of us were exhausted and headed to bed. I left the next day for BA and my plane ended up being delayed a few hours in Mendoza. Ah! It was still backed up because of the earthquake in Chile because the airport in Santiago was still closed. However, I ended up befriending a really nice Canadian couple (Walter and Marge, cute, eh?) and we hung out until we boarded our plane. It really touched my northern Minnesota heart when Walter said, "Oh, you betcha!" I felt like I was in the movie Fargo.

Finally, on Tuesday, I met my group! I was pretty pleased with myself that I arrived at our meeting place on time. We picked up a few more students at the airport and one of the girls lost her luggage. She had to go through Sao Paulo, Brazil and somehow, the airlines lost her bags; I felt so bad for her! I would've been a mess if that had happened to me. We then drove about an our outside Buenos Aires to an Estancia. It was so gorgeous, it reminds me of a bed and breakfast. Imagine a bed and breakfast meets ranch meets forest. We had the majority of our orientation there and the directors, Nuria, Brenda, and Katie, talked about safety, behavior, and all that jazz. It was awesome getting to know the other students and I had a great time there. We ate some amazing food and my love for dulce de leche just keeps growing.

Last part of orientation/host family:
1. Tango/Parrilla- we had a tango lesson! A couple taught us the basic steps and after our dance lesson, we had a typical Argentina meal- meat and cheese and empanadas, meat (of course), and ice cream.
2. All of us received information about our host family and we mapped out where everyone was staying. I am living in Almagro, which I am pretty happy about because it's close to class and a subway line.
3. We paired up and had to explore a barrio and use public transportation. My partner, Sam and I went to Recoleta and we didn't get too lost!
4. I met my family- my host parents, Cristina and Jorge also have three children (2 boys and a girl). Only one of the boys, Juan, still lives here and he is 23. They are adorable and I think it's going to be very fun! My Dad has a really difficult accent to understand, so hopefully I'll pick up on that. Another embarrassing/slightly hilarious story: When I met my host brother, Juan, we greeted one another with a kiss on the cheek. It's polite to say, "Mucho gusto," which basically means "Nice to meet you." Well...I ended up saying, "Me gusta," which means "I like." I have NO idea why I said that, but I did. As soon as it came out, I wanted to hide in my room! Must of have been a combination of feeling flustered/meeting all of them for the first time...
5. I went to the supermarket with my host Mom and she helped me buy a card with minutes for my phone. We bonded later and painted our nails/watched tv/chatted. Que bueno.
6. My host brother and I got ice cream later and hung out in the park near our apartment. It was really relaxing day. Also, my host Mom invited my parents and brother over for lunch tomorrow! Look for pics soon!