Well, I was a little disappointed to leave BsAs, but this is a big country with lots of other shiny things to play with. I arrived in Mendoza Sunday, took a look around, and promptly developed a lousy attitude. It was just a bit of a shock: think going from New York City to Edmonton. Edmonton has its charms, even if hidden behind the WEM, but it sure ain´t New York, right?
The travel guides don´t really help when they go on and on about the big plazas in Mendoza with fountains and trees and stuff. From the perspective of Mendozians, I suppose it really is exciting, as the whole microclimate here was created artificially in the middle of a desert. A canal system directing water here and there supplying the whole city with water as it comes out of the mountains dates back to about the 1500´s, and without it nothing would be here. BUT, from my perspective, living in Vancouver and coming from BsAs, I got to the biggest plaza in the city, looked around, and thought, ¨So there is a park here. Big deal."
Obviously, a good nap, some food, a night on the town, and an attitude adjustment was needed, and fast, considering I am here for two weeks. And it worked. I´m back in the groove again.
First, the siesta culture is alive and well here, and with good reason: it gets pretty damn hot in mid day. Gotta love people that see the reason in a good nap. The daily schedule of the average Mendozian is absolutely bizarre, but one I like and am getting used to. Here tis:
7:30 am wakey wakey
8:00 am desayuno - coffee (or tea) with milk, and sweet croissants. OJ
10:30 am la media-mañana - coffee, more medialunas or a sweet bun
12:00 pm more coffee, maybe a pastry
1:30 pm almuerzo - lunch
5:30 pm la merinda - afternoon tea, with fruit, cheese, more pastry
7:30 pm - more coffee
10:00 pm - dinner (I swear this is true!)
11:30 pm - bed if a weekday...if not, dinner on a patio or in a restaurant is still going on...
2:00 am - head to the club for a show, dancing, etc
7:00 am - Oh! Must be time for desayuno again - coffee and croissants
8:00 am - bed.
So that is kind of a long intro to my first night here and a decent attitude change. I went for dinner about 11:00 at night on a patio and had a great italian dinner, along with a great mendoza red wine, of course. The restaurant wasn´t very busy when I got there, but was packed by the time I left at 12:30, including a lot of families with small kids. Hmmm. Then I walked through the central plaza, also packed with families and kids, watching a clown / juggler 7 guy on a unicycle show. At 12:30 at night. Arrived at a club for a show at 1:00, and again the place was empty. By 2:00 it was full. At 3:00, I finally gave up and pulled the pin. The show was big fun - sort of a dirty comedy theatre - in spanish, but still worth while. I left when the show ended, but people were still showing up, because I´d only seen the warm up...music and dancing hadn´t even started yet! Walked back to the hotel in the streets still full of people.
(Side note - there appear to be four food groups here: meat of all kinds, pasta and gnocchi, ice cream, and ´milanesas´ - sort of a fried cutlet of chicken or veal. That of course does not include the coffee and pastries.)
An interesting cultural thing - drinking after about 2 is sort of frowned on, and drinking to excess is a definite no-no. So there are not drunks on the street, nor puddles of last night´s dinner to watch for.
The point of it all: got the good attitude back pretty quickly, and am enjoying the new adventure.
Next up: Life in Spanish immersion.
