Dear lovely people,
I hope this update finds you all doing fabulously. I have been thinking about the beautiful fall weather that is coming to an end for (most of) you and hoping that you’ve had plenty of opportunity to make the most of it. Next up, winter!! The season of cross country skiing, sledding, broom ball, snow angels, and the holidays!
We have officially been living in Argentina for five months. How the time has flown! Since arriving, we have met many wonderful people and built friendships. We have learned to follow an Argentinean schedule and often eat dinner at 10:00 at night. We also have learned to offer yerba mate to every person that comes to visit us at home. What the heck is yerba mate, you ask? It’s kind of like a bitter green tea that is drunk at practically every gathering in Argentina. The yerba, which is a mixture of dried herbs, is poured into a small cup normally made of wood or a hollow gourd. Then, hot water is added and the mate is drank through a bombilla, which is a metal straw with a sieve at the bottom so you don’t drink the yerba, but rather the liquid. Everyone has their way of preparing mate. Some drink it with sugar, some with honey, some plain. The cup of mate is shared between everyone – one person drinks the mate, hands it back to the server, who pours more water into the yerba and passes it on to the next person. The water is hot (sometimes really hot). If you’re germaphobic, you just have to pretend that the heat kills all of the germs as the mate is being passed around. Though, in the summer, when it’s hot, mate is often drunk with cold lemonade or fruit juice instead of water (which is deeelicious). When I’m back home, I’ll be more than happy to drink a mate with you so you can really get a feel of what I’m talking about!
To keep busy the first couple months we were here, Jose worked on the ski hill as a waiter for a while and I spent a bit of time working at a chocolate shop called Grandma Goye. Grandma Goye tried to hire me full-time, but was unable to for an unknown reason. They told me that I have the wrong type of visa, which is exactly what they were supposed to help me change. I guess it wasn’t meant to be! It’s probably for their own good, though. A Randerson in a chocolate shop sounds pretty dangerous, after all. They probably would have found their chocolate mysteriously disappearing far too often. That being said, things started out as expected. It took a while to begin feeling at home, but I’d say that time has finally arrived.
A couple weeks ago, we were blessed with the arrival of spring! Like spring in the Midwest, the spring here is unpredictable and temperatures vary from day to day. The past few days were sunny and warm and perfect for sitting on the beach. I even got to jump in the lake one day! Today, on the other hand, it is rainy and cold. The weather has provided me the perfect excuse to spend the day writing, playing guitar, and probably watching a movie with a big bowl of popcorn. As for work, Jose has returned to working from his computer doing social media management and online marketing. He loves it and it is sometimes hard to pull him away from it. As for me, I have been involved in many things. To begin, I have been working as a Teacher Quality Coordinator for WorldTeach via email. As a Teacher Quality Coordinator, I help guide and mentor the volunteer teachers that are currently in Colombia with WorldTeach (the same program I did in 2011). I act as a resource if they have questions or need advice and also help them grow as teachers, sending them feedback and suggestions for lesson plans and teaching-related academic readings that they complete as a part of their program. I really enjoy it. I also have a handful of gigs here in San Martin. To begin, I have a few faithful students that I have been giving private English classes to: Erica, who is a soft-spoken, incredibly sweet Korean girl that is super motivated, and Susi, a 72-year-old woman that is really stubborn but downright adorable. I hope I am as cool as her and want to learn a foreign language when I am 72 years old! I also have been working with a few different English institutes here as the school year is coming to an end, doing a bit of teaching my own classes and a bit of substitute/guest speaker gigs. It has been great being able to work with so many different places and getting to know so many awesome teachers here in San Martin. It has been working out just fine and I hope that when schools start next year (in February) I will be able to work more full-time either with one of the institutes I have already been working with or with another private school here in San Martin.
Speaking of work, I feel that I should write a bit about how employment works here in Argentina. Before I arrived to San Martin de los Andes, I spoke with various people that lived here. Everyone and their sister told me the same thing: there are two ways you can get hired here. The first way is in “negro” (under the table/illegally), and the second way is in “blanco” (legally). Since being here, I have learned that there are indeed many people that hire in negro as well as many that hire in blanco. “Why would someone hire in negro?” you might ask. “What is the point of taking the risk to hire someone illegally?” Well, the economy in Argentina isn’t exactly doing that great. It is extremely unstable and drastic changes are not uncommon. I have heard stories about an apple costing fifty cents in the morning and then eight dollars that evening. Since we’ve been here, this has not happened, but it apparently does. Many people here actually think that Jose and I are quite crazy for leaving our economically-stable countries to come to Argentina’s wild one. It’s all a part of the adventure, I say. That being said, the nutso economy here also has a huge impact on businesses. I have talked to a handful of people (including some business owners) about this and have been told pretty much the same thing by all of them. They have all told me that businesses are taxed a very high amount for employees. Generally speaking, businesses have to pay about 50% of what each employee earns to the state. Since this means forking out a lot of cash, they try to hire in negro to avoid having to pay this tax. Now, over the past few years Argentina has become a lot stricter about hiring people in negro, and the big scary AFIP (the Federal Income Police) has begun to conduct more surprise checks in businesses than they used to. If the AFIP finds someone working illegally in a business, the business gets a hefty fine (hefty enough that it makes more sense to hire someone in blanco). That being said, more businesses, particularly the ones that work with the public and the tourists, now hire in blanco in fear of getting a fine from the AFIP. But, there are still people that hire in negro. Many of them. They are just a bit more hidden from the public. I just need to find them! Fortunately for me, teachers that work at English institutes often work in negro, which means I have a better chance of being hired (since helping me to get my work visa is a process… and processes tend to be kind of annoying). I am crossing my fingers that all works out and we are lucky enough to not see apples that cost fifty cents in the morning, and eight dollars that afternoon during our time in Argentina.
Enough about work! What about hobbies? In my free time here, I have been spending a lot of time with friends, my “media naranja” as they would say here (directly translated my half of orange, but really meaning my other half) climbing mountains, and hanging out at the beach. A few weeks ago, I was able to check one Patagonian mountain off the list as conquered (how many are on the list is beyond me)! I climbed Colorado Mountain one beautiful Sunday with two friends that are living here in San Martin, Ines and Andres. Being at the top of the mountain was like being on top of the world. Mountains surrounded us 360 degrees and lakes sparkled below. It was a perfect Sunday. Then, a few weeks ago, we hung out with some travelers from Russia that contacted me via Couchsurfing. We visited Lanin Volcano and various lakes around the area. Unfortunately, it was really rainy and windy the day we traveled around with our new Russian friends, but only at the sites we visited. The weather during the car rides between the sites we wanted to see was beautiful with blue skies. Go figure! At least we now know about a handful of awesome places we have to go back to on a different day. A lot of them looked like awesome places to swim, too (score)! Finally, I also started taking Folkloric Dance classes with an art studio here. If you look at my pictures from Culture Day, you will see pictures of people dancing the type of Patagonian Folkloric Dance that I am learning. It is danced with large flowing skirts that twirl beautifully when you spin. It kind of makes me feel like I belong in a Disney movie. Ahhhh.
Speaking of Disney movies, I will take my leave. I promise to make my next update shorter! To see pictures of my adventures, check out my photo album at this link: No por favor!
As always, I would love to hear from you all. Sending much love and many hugs, and wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!!
Abrazos,
Jenna
