Dan and I completed our stay in Cuenca on a very relaxing note. Cuenca is so beautiful with the three rivers running through the city, all of the old colonial buildings and the charming people. It rained quite a bit while we were there, so it was very green and lush. We spent most of our time relaxing. I was able to reconnect with a friend, Laurie, that I met in Lima, Peru, at the language school. We spent an afternoon at a hot springs spa and had dinner together a couple of nights while we were there.
On March twelfth in the morning, Dan and I flew from Cuenca to Quito to Guayaquil (all in Ecuador) and then to Santiago, Chile, arriving at 0330 on Sunday morning. Wow! I did not pay much attention to those flights when I booked them. I have never traveled so much through the middle of the night as I have here in South America. Recovery time from those overnight flights takes a little longer as we get older!! I flew on to Mendoza and Dan flew back to Colorado (which took him until Monday night due to connections).
If you aren't familiar with the history behind this song, I encourage you to look it up and take the time to read it. It is a huge part of Argentina's history in the 20th century.
Mendoza, Argentina has been my home for a week now. I am renting a room in a home about four block from the Ecela school. One would think that Spanish in South America would be mostly the same throughout the country. People from Peru speak fairly clearly and moderately fast. In Chile, they speak the language very rapidly. Arriving in Argentina, I thought that the language would be easier to understand. For the first three days I kept hearing something that sounded like the way we pronounce “Asia.” It took me a few days to finally realize they were saying “ella” or “she” in English. The double “L” here is pronounced with a “jah” sound. In Buenos Aires, they start many of their words with a “sha” sound. I’ve determined I am thankful I chose Mendoza due to the language difference in Buenos Aires.
Mendoza is a beautiful city. It reminds me somewhat of Montrose. It is surrounded by desert; the climate is dry; they get little rainfall; in the summer it is 80’s-90’s during the day and then cools off somewhat at night, etc. It is quite a bit larger than Montrose though. The people here drive very fast and if you are walking across the street on a green light, STOP, and wait for cars that are turning or they will run you over. There is so much history in this area. Tuesday I visited a beautiful place in the Andes where they bottle natural spring water. I took a beautiful picture in the capilla (chapel) of the Last Supper. The fascinating thing about this photo is that Christ is illuminated in the photo.
One day after class, I stopped to get a sandwich at one of the restaurants near where I live. I had the opportunity to visit with my waiter for a bit as the lunch rush was over. He is a young man from Venezuela who is studying at the university here to be a physical therapist. I asked him how things were in his country. He responded that the conditions there are horrible. People have money to buy food, but there is no food in the markets. He said it is not unusual for people to stand in lines that are one to two miles long and wait up to eight hours to try to buy food. Clothes are very expensive and may take a couple weeks worth of wages to buy jeans or “Nikes.” He shared how blessed he is to live in Argentina as there is plenty of anything to buy one could want. Perspective…. Hmmm….. Am I always thankful for what I have? I take for granted the simple task of running to the store and getting whatever I want. Have I really ever experienced hardship? While talking to him, I saw a young man in his early twenties that was so grateful for the opportunity he has to go to university, have a good job, and hopefully make a good career for himself.
Tango is big here (obviously)!! My hostess, Beatriz, asked me to join her last Sunday night (the day I arrived) to go tango dancing. She was going at 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. No, that is not over her lunch hour. That is definitely after my bedtime! I kindly declined as I didn’t plan to be even upright at that hour, let alone upright and moving!! The culture here is that most of the people start their work day around 9-10 am, most small businesses are closed for 3-4 hours in the afternoon for their siestas and then open up early evening, and most people stay up until after midnight. I haven’t quite adjusted to this culture yet. I am in bed way before then, hoping to sleep, but have had to pull out the earplugs as it is very loud at night here. Karen, my friend, you will never know how thankful I am for those earplugs!!
Wednesday evening Beatriz invited me to attend a jazz/blues concert on the rooftop of the city hall. The view of the city was absolutely magnificent. The music was very relaxing (and in English). They have a concert there every week during the summer.
Yesterday, I went with Beatriz and two of her friends to hear a quartet sing classical music in a vineyard (bodega) about 100 km from here. The concert was in a concert hall with great acoustics. It was beautiful and the views of the Andes were stunning. Hopefully, I can get pictures to upload eventually. We left right after the concert and ate empanadas at a little corner place on our way home. I learned a lot about Argentinian driving. It is okay to pass on double yellow lines. It is also okay if you are at a stoplight, the light turns green and you want to get ahead of the car in front of you. All you do is go into the oncoming traffic lane and pass them. It is also okay to pass on the shoulder of highways if the other two lanes are going too slow! I had my foot to the floorboard and hand on the dash more than one time! Needless to say, I am not only learning the language, but also much about the culture.
We only have three days of school this week as Thursday and Friday are holidays because of Pascua or Easter. I’m hoping to explore a little of Argentina for a few of those days. I’m also meeting with an English school tomorrow evening to perhaps do some volunteer teaching while I am here.
I can’t believe I only have three weeks left on this journey. I have enjoyed my time here so much, but I am also anxious to get back to Colorado and see my family and friends. I received a cute text from my granddaughter today, saying, “Grammy, I want you to come back now! And, I love you.” That warmed my heart. Being away for so long by myself, now more than ever before, I know how important these relationships are. God has blessed me with too many blessings to name. As I prepare to go back, I know that this has been one of those times in my life that I will reflect on for quite some time. Bucket list items are important to check off. I pray that I come away from the experience a little different person than when I started.
“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” Unknown Author
Chow!
