Week One in Argentina

Leaving home was hard. I had been sick with the stomach bug and a sore throat, so I was weaker than I wanted to be physically, and still mentally exhausted. But I got on the plane. That’s all I could think about, was getting myself on the airplane, and then the rest was up to the Boeing 767.

I never thought of my time in Argentina as a vacation, so I was not as excited as I should have been. As my last semester of college, I’ve been going through a lot of transitions. Instead of being excited about the opportunities ahead, I was sad to leave the old ones behind. It’s still weird to think I won’t be going back to Gunnison for school.

The first several hours in Argentina were a haze. I was tired and tried to put on a good face to meet new people, but I just wanted to leave the airport and get settled.

Pablo met us at the university and we took a cab home. Thank goodness there is an elevator in my apartment complex. Matilde greeted us (my housemate from Ohio and I) with a kiss on the check. She fed us sandwiches with eggplant and tomato, and a very odd yellow sauce. My room is pretty comfortable, although it smells like smoke because it’s close to the balcony where people smoke. The mattress is about 4 inches thick, everything looks like it’s from the 60s, and there are at least 20 elephant figurines around the room. Matilde is in her 60s and used to be a teacher (I’m still not sure what she does now), and Pablo is her son. He is in his 40s and works as a psychologist. Pablo speaks some English, which is helpful, but Matilde does not speak very much. I am look forward to knowing more Spanish so I can communicate better. Right now I just feel awkward. I want to tell her I appreciate everything she does and ask about her life and family, but I can’t understand much more than “buen dai.”

The first full day we went on a tour of the city. It was nice to see the place I’ll be living, but I was not yet charmed by its full splendor. Instead of seeing the beauty of the buildings, I heard the horns of the taxis and brakes of the buses. Instead of appreciating the sunlight, I cursed the humidity and heat. But I did think it was a cool place, just not a place I want to live in for the next 4 months.

Here is a typical day so far: I get up at 8 and have breakfast that Matilde prepares for us. Bridget and I eat toast with butter and jelly (sometimes dulce de leche too) drink black tea and water, and have some piece of fruit. Matilde does not join us, but sits in another room and reads the paper and drinks mate. Then I walk to school, which takes about 30 minutes. Along the way, I try not to get hit by cars or people, while trying to blend in as much as possible. I pass a lot of stores and fruit stands, countless restaurants and supermarkets. There is usually dog poop at least twice, and I swear more potholes develop overnight. Class starts at 9:30, and goes til 2:30. We get two breaks, and I’ve been taking some sort of sandwich for lunch. Class is both frustrating and interesting. I feel like I’m learning a lot, but mi professora only speaks in Spanish, and since I have had no Spanish classes before, it is a challenge. After class, I’ll go home and study, or meander through the neighborhood. Dinner is at 8:30 (and that’s early for Argentineans), which consists of a salad and some vegetarian entree. We’ve had ice cream a few times too.

Most of the time on the streets I feel incompetent and lost. I can’t wait for the day I don’t feel shunned or judged because I’m a foreigner. I have not gone out at night to the boliches (dance clubs) because I don’t feel comfortable not knowing Spanish. The ISA people scared us into thinking we would get robbed when we are here--it’s just a matter of time, they said. To avoid drawing attention to ourselves, we aren’t supposed to speak English in public, take obvious pictures, or hang out in big groups of Americans. So far, we’ve done nothing but that.

The first few days I had the hardest time with the doors. I would push when it was pull, and vice versa. It took me several tries to get my host home open with these medieval looking keys I got, only to be greeted by both Pablo and Matilde watching me from the inside, forcing me to learn on my own. I don’t feel like I do anything right at home. There’s a trash can with a foot lift that Matilde showed me how to use. But the darn thing is so short and I’m so tall that I didn’t see when I opened the can with my food and threw away the table scraps on top of the can. I’ve choked on my water twice already at dinner. It’s the small things like this that make a big difference. One day, I hope I’ll be more relaxed and start to feel like this is home.

Everything here is a lot more expensive than I thought it would be. A lot. The government just raised the price of the subway, from 1.10 to 2.50 pesos (about 35 cents to 80 cents). Food inflation is horrible, and has gone up more in the past year than ever before. Soda (yes I’m addicted) is anywhere from 6-12 pesos ($1.50 to $3.00) on the streets, or a little bit less in the supermarcados. Lunch is expensive too, and a nice dinner out can cost up to 17USD (learned that one the hard way).

It’s an interesting time to be in Argentina. People don’t trust the government and there have been lots of strikes and rebellions. I don’t think it’s dangerous, it’s actually kinda cool to see the people doing something about their government. We went downtown to start the first step in getting a student visa, only to find they were on strike all week (we even had appointments). Some of the subway officials will let people on for free, in hopes that the government will get the point and lower the price back down. They are all investing in American dollars because they don’t trust the banks. In 2001 they had an economic crisis and everyone withdrew their money from the banks. They say it’s starting to happen again now. The government also just cut off all subsidies for electricity, so everything in homes and business is getting more expensive and we’re encouraged to conserve wherever we can.

PDA is crazy here. Boys are very assertive and everything means sex. So it’s a lot safer to make out on the streets than to go home to “watch a movie”. At clubs, if you make eye contact with a guy, he’s going to be all over you. No doesn’t mean no, it means try harder. Couples are all over each other. It’s pretty cute, but it really just makes me miss Glenn.

I miss home. I miss my family and friends, and even reslife. I miss waking up every day to something familiar. Everything is still overwhelming. I’m not used to the city noise out my window. The first night I kept being startled awake by the traffic, thinking it was the duty phone (oh dear). I’m not used to the heat and humidity. The first few days it was 100 and humid. Lately it’s been a bit cooler, but even in the middle of summer in Colorado, it’s not that hot. I think the language barrier is the hardest part. I want to be able to communicate and connect to people, relate to them. I feel like I can to some degree, but being able to speak would help.

Friday we had a psychologist come talk to us about culture shock. He said the main reasons we feel anxiety are from expectations and changes. He is sooo right. Argentina is not what I expected. It’s hard to think back now at what I thought it would be, since I’ve been here for a week and seen what it is, but I know it was nothing like a thought. So many people talked it up. They said, “Study abroad is the best experience of your life.” “Argentina is absolutely amazing, the best place you could go.” “You’ll love it there.” Well, when I got here and I didn’t love it, I thought that something was wrong with me. Why do all of these people think it’s something so great when I just want to get on the next plane back to the US? I think if people had said, “it was really hard, definitely a challenge,” I would have been better off. Guess it serves me right for listening to people.

The other part is changes. I know I’m resistant to change. It was hard for me to go off to college, and the first semester away was rough. So I kinda anticipated the changes here to be similar. But it’s weird not being able to find peanut butter, or read the instructions in class. It’s weird to eat dinner at 8:30 or later and only have toast for breakfast. Since I’ve travelled so much, I knew things would be different. But there’s a big difference between knowing something and living with it. I still wake up every day and think; do I really have to be here for the next 4 months? I know that it will change and get better, and time will fly and I won’t want to leave. But it sure doesn’t seem like it now. I’m taking it one day at a time. And slowly the days turn into weeks and the weeks turn into months.

The psychologist also said people who are in relationships have a harder time adjusting to the new way of life and homesickness is worse. I think that’s true. But I’m also very thankful Glenn has been there to help me through. I like how he knows what I’m going through, and I know what he’s going through. I am also glad my friend Charnell is in the same boat. Her boyfriend studied abroad last semester as well.

Yesterday we went to El Tigre. It was an excursion with the whole ISA group (like 60 of us). We took a train to get to the place where we took a bus-boat to get to the beach. It’s called the Venice of Argentina, but I actually thought it was prettier than Venice. The canals were very wide and people’s houses came right up to the water. There was a supermarcado boat that went around to people’s backyards, so they could shop for food right there. It was the first time I thought, yeah, I could see myself coming back here when I’m older. It’s a subtropical paradise. But the “beach” wasn’t that nice. We spent several hours on a tiny piece of land getting sunburned. It was nice not to do anything and just talk, but I got restless. After that we went to a market and I bought a purse made with Argentine leather. It was relatively cheap (when everything else is so expensive). Argentina is not a bargaining country, so it’s nice not to worry about getting a good deal. Then we went to a real beach and had afternoon “tea,” which consisted of croissants, chocolates, ham and cheese sandwiches, and hot chocolate. They brought us steamed milk and a bar of chocolate that didn’t quite dissolve. We then had free time to explore and take pictures. It was a beautiful place. I finally felt excited to be in Argentina with cool people. We could see the skyline of Buenos Aries in the distance, and the para-sailor on the other side. All of the Argentines seemed to be happy and carefree, so why shouldn’t I be too?  

Last night I was happy that I could ask my host mom what time breakfast was tomorrow. She was proud of me for speaking in Spanish and complemented me on my progress in only a week. So things are getting better. I have a feeling that I’m learning a lot more than I realize, but I still need to study hard. So, thank you for listening, but it’s time for me to study. Or explore. Or whatever comes my way.