Chile

• May 17, 2018
• 6 years

Reflection

Now that I’m at the end of my time in Chile, I’ve tried my best to reflect. What I’ve written here is pretty much just word vomit, me writing things as they came to mind. The reality is, I don’t feel like I’ve changed all that much after being here, in comparison to my time in Cuba. Those two months last year seemed much longer and eye-opening. I’ve unfortunately never been able to avoid making comparisons between the two countries, despite them being practically incomparable. That said, I’ve enjoyed my time in Chile tremendously and have learned so much about its culture and history.

The confidence I gained not only in my Spanish speaking ability but myself in Cuba has served me well. I have no fear of making mistakes in Spanish; I have no trouble going up to Spanish speakers and asking questions. In fact, I feel empowered, emboldened doing so. It’s made me realize that I simply can’t stop working on this language. If economically feasible, I plan to visit a Spanish-speaking country every year of the rest of my life. I mean it.

I feel wistful leaving Chile, knowing I saw such a small part of it. I did take advantage of my free time to explore; I saw many places in Santiago, in addition to Pomaire, San Pedro de Atacama, Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, and Cajón de Maipo. I even saw a city in Argentina! But there is so, so much more to visit, particularly south of Santiago. I will certainly come back, though I have no idea when.

I sometimes wonder if I came to Chile simply to escape my constant restlessness, my constant fretting over routine and how robotic life at CC can make me feel. But I know deep down it was more than that. I made the determination to come to Chile while I was in Cuba last year, in fact. I was having the time of my life getting to know a culture so different than mine and making the most incredible connections with its people. Chile was definitely not just a distraction or an escape – it was a chance to make further connections and embrace an entirely new culture.

There were many times that I questioned going abroad this year when I did – Germany during 4th block and Chile during 7th and 8th blocks. Those three blocks are arguably the most fun of the year at CC. Yet after having learned so much about Bach in Germany, and now knowing all that I do about Chile, I have no reason to question it. Moreover, scrolling through my social media feeds, I can say – haughtily, I admit – that I passed my time in a much more productive way this 8th block than most of my peers at CC. 8th block at school is non-stop partying, which is of course attractive. Nevertheless, I felt like here in Chile, I was growing brain cells, whereas at CC I would’ve been destroying them.

When I left Cuba, I didn’t want to be cursed by “rosy retrospection” – looking back with rose-colored glasses, only seeing the good in my time there. So I made a list of all the things I would miss, as well as all the things I wouldn’t miss at all. I’ve done the same for my time in Chile. The lists aren’t exhaustive by any means, but for some idea:

Los Buenos

• seeing Clarita every morning and evening, frantic and excited to see me; playing fetch with her in the kitchen and backyard
• Paula and Roberto’s interactions, particularly their comical squabbling; the love and fascinating conversations I shared with them; seeing them eating breakfast in bed with Dani every day
• Being “mom-ed” by Paula – not having to cook or do my laundry for myself (this one’s selfish, I know); Paula is also a solid vegetarian cook
• Paula’s constant roasts
• Eating ice cream with Roberto after dinner; our shared love of condiments, mayo for him and ketchup for me
• Seeing Paula curl up in bed playing Candy Crush, TV on, only to fall asleep
• Hearing Dani singing or playing piano in her room, so beautifully
• Walking to school every morning, listening to all sorts of music and seeing the same faces over and over
• The delicious street food; the abundance of muffins and empanadas
• Running and hiking all over Parque Metropolitano
• Running on the highway on Sunday mornings
• Having no responsibilities – no meetings or work-study or drum lessons – and exploring freely
• Having deep, mentally-exhausting class discussions this 8th block

Los Malos

• The smog in Santiago – constant congestion
• The utter lack of real coffee. I will not miss the Nescafé.
• Dealing with transport in a big city; having to take buses and metros and Ubers to get around
• The IFSA office – freezing cold and the worst desks imaginable

As anyone can see, the good overwhelmingly outweighs the bad, and the bad consists of inconveniences, no more. I’m certainly excited to go back to the states, but only for the people there. I could stay in Santiago for a while, if I weren’t so far away from my loved ones.

So my time in Santiago comes to a close, at least for now. I have no doubt that I’ll be back. Thank you to all who followed this blog (even if it was just mom and dad) – it means the world to me. I’ll write of more adventures as they come, but I’m thrilled by the prospect of just staying in one place for a bit.

Chile

• May 17, 2018
• 6 years

The Final Countdown

The final 5 days! A synopsis:

Saturday, David, Caroline, Noah, Anna, and I went to Temple Baha’i, very close to Parque Aguas de Ramón. Though the temple has mostly eastern Asian roots (supposedly Buddhist), it has been declared a sacred place in which all religions are welcome. It was absolutely gorgeous; it has this incredible architecture to make it look like a lotus flower about to bloom. Pictures aren’t allowed inside, unfortunately, but I can say that the space is very open and bright and simple – just long pews facing forward, quotes carved into the walls along the perimeter. We stayed for about an hour, exploring all the gardens and reflecting pools surrounding it. Great idea, Caroline.

The temple is at the top of a tall hill on the eastern edge of the city. The metro doesn’t go very far east, so we met at the closest station and took an Uber from there. After cramming five of us into this tiny Uber, our driver drove us all the way to the top of the temple, the engine straining. He was so impressed by the building upon arrival that David asked, “Want to take a picture with us and the temple?” And he was like, “Yeah!” So we entered the park and took selfies with our Uber driver. To get home, we figured we’d call an Uber at the bottom of the hill. However, as we walked down, this nice Chilean couple offered to give us a lift. So we once again crammed five people into a tiny car, this time with no free passenger seat. The couple was super nice and we thanked them profusely.

That night, we went out for beers with our professor, Andreea, and Nate Goodman made a second appearance! A really fun time had by all, but chilly. The temperatures are definitely are dropping here, and it will be nice to return home to summer.

The following day, Mother’s Day, we had plans to see La Nenita in Viña. Paula and Roberto were up at 8:00 a.m., which is unheard of for them on a weekend! In fact, Paula had barely gotten up at 10:30 the previous morning, as I headed out for the temple. But the reason they were up was to prep. La Nenita hates cooking – always has – so Paula was up to prepare Mother’s Day lunch to bring over. Meanwhile, I went for my second and last run on the highway, it being a Sunday when they close the roads to traffic. It was cloudy and clammy, but there were still tons of bikers, runners, and skaters about. Even some yoga and spinning classes being set up!

We arrived in Viña around 12:30. La Nenita lives in a very residential part of the city in a lovely apartment. Paula’s nephew, Nicolás, lives with her – he’s studying to be a lawyer at University of Chile in Valparaíso. They also have a turtle, and I immediately asked, “Oh, what’s the turtle’s name?” “He doesn’t have a name…” they both responded. Small bummer. Roberto named him “Tortura,” I guess a play on words for the Spanish word for turtle, “Tortuga.” Not his best joke.

We spent the next few hours just hanging out eating chips and drinking “Fanschop.” “Schop” refers to beer and “Fan” is short for Fanta. Dani explained that it’s a very common drink and easy to make. You basically take a simple beer like Corona (we used a Mexican beer, Sol), and mix it half and half with a soda of your choosing, in this case, Fanta. I should mention that Dani was originally not going to come to La Nenita’s because she spent the whole weekend working on her music video for her single, “A Mi Futuro.” She was showing me pictures and videos from the shoot and it’s looking great! There’ll be one more day of filming next week, but she won’t be there – she’s now on vacation in Cartagena, Colombia, for about 10 days. She left Tuesday night. The filming they did this past weekend was of the band playing the song, whereas the next shoot will be filming the story line they’ve created for the it, which doesn’t involve the band members.

At one point while we were snacking it up, I had such a moment of déjà vu. Paula was trying to take a photo on her fancy new cellphone (“It’s Chinese, but I like it well enough…”). She lamented, “Ah, why does everything look so blurry?” Dani took a look at her camera and discovered that Paula had yet to remove its little transparent screen protector. I recalled the time years ago when my dad, the famous Steve, got a new phone. “All of my photos are turning out blurry. Oh wait, there’s this screen on my camera. You think that’s it?” “Dad, I’m sure that’s it.”

For lunch, we ate pastel de choclo, a classic Chilean dish. Paula went out and bought six servings, and they actually came in little clay bowls. We finished it all off with some coffee, then went to the beach to get ice cream. It was also cloudy and clammy in Viña, but the cold ice cream was appreciated regardless. A couple funny things happened along the way, too. I had been thinking just that morning, “Man, I feel like Paula hasn’t roasted anyone in a while.” And then BOOM. We were getting in the car, Roberto driving, Nicolás in the passenger seat, the four of us girls in the back. And Paula just goes, “See, we can fit, we’re skinny…me, La Nenita, Sarah.” And Dani just went, “Ay, que pena!” Dani is not by any stretch of the imagination fat. In fact, she’s the most ideal, healthy weight you could possibly be. But there goes Paula roasting away.

Paula was on a roll. When we ordered our ice creams, we asked for 5 “simples,” single scoops, and 1 “doble,” 2 scoops. Roberto, naturally, ordered the doble. At this place, two scoops was actually so unnecessary since you got a ton of ice cream with just one. Anyway, we go to order and Paula asks for 2 flavors, chocolate chip and banana. The server decides she must be the one “doble” order, so when Roberto goes up, he asks for two flavors and gets denied – “You only ordered one doble, and she [Paula] took  it.” Biggest bummer of Roberto’s day. Thankfully, Paula could barely finish her two scoops and gave about two-thirds of her ice cream to him.

We finally left Viña at 5:00 p.m., making the whole excursion “just for lunch” a total of 8 hours. But I had fun all the same and was happy to have such quality time with my Chilean family.

Monday was our last day of “real” class. We discussed some of the final readings, then had a visitor. I didn’t catch his name, but he was a Colombian immigrant who works for an organization that helps Chilean immigrants find work and a place to live in Chile. I really enjoyed getting an up-to-date perspective on immigration here, especially from an immigrant himself. He talked about the biggest challenges immigrants face now, including health care, securing documentation to work, social discrimination, etc.

We spent the afternoon banging out our final critical essays. The relief I felt pressing the send button on that email was enormous; junior year, case closed.

With that, I went home, did a lot of free reading, then said goodbye to Dani. She left for Cartagena, scrambling, with Paula clucking her tongue. The next morning, we had a late class in which we discussed the last couple readings we still hadn’t gotten to (we couldn’t keep to schedule this block; every discussion went way longer than expected) and discussed the broad takeaways of the course. We kind of all just hung out/went our separate ways that afternoon, then met up for drinks with Andreea before our “goodbye dinner.” Dinner itself was a marathon – lots of fancy appetizers, more gnocchi, and some absurdly good tres leches cake topped with broiled marshmallow fluff. Talk about bacán.

4th Wednesday was very bittersweet and full of goodbyes! David, Austin, and I ran to the statue of the Virgin Mary one last time and gazed out at Santiago. I definitely got a little teary-eyed. We then had “class” at school, where we celebrated Austin’s graduation, Jaysha and Ula’s birthdays, and our time in Chile. Isa and her three assistants, Claudia, Domi, and Alice, gave us IFSA mugs and little clay penguins, made by a woman we met in Pomaire named Marisol. We also ate the most decadent chocolate cake I have eaten in a while. In return, we gave our gifts to the IFSA girls and Andreea – a scarf for Isa, chocolate for the assistants, and wine for Andreea, plus cards for all. Everyone was in good spirits.

We then stepped out of the office for about an hour to watch a huge women’s march taking place on the highway. The signs and chants were very empowering and badass, and the whole event was cool to watch. As “tourists,” we’re not allowed to participate in demonstrations, but we still kind of felt like a part of it due to its lively atmosphere. I’m glad to say I got to see an important march like this one before leaving.

After, we all just retreated to our houses to pack up with mixed feelings. Eventually Austin, Emily, and I met up a last time to see Nate Goodman, our fearless traveler. His latest news was he was bit by a dog, was receiving rabies shots, and had befriended some Peruvian drug dealers. I would expect nothing less. 

Finally, today! Austin and I went climbing in an area on the outskirts of the city, to the northeast. Our Uber driver was baffled as we snaked our way up and up along the mountainside through a really expensive neighborhood. We finally arrived more or less at the trail, then trekked up. The trail was completely unclear, just lots of loose dirt that got us filthy. Thankfully, we arrived at the crag quickly and then did a few quick pitches before we had to hurry home. The air was fresh and the city view was perfect. 

We hiked down and got even filthier, since the loose dirt was even more dangerous descending. My Chilean phone wouldn’t load Uber, so we kept walking down the road, making hitch hike attempts. Eventually a guy in a big truck stopped for us. While bringing us to a gas station to get WiFi and call a real Uber, he explained to us how he’d been to the US back in October. Rigby, Idaho, oddly. He wants to go back this June because it was too cold for him in the fall. His name was Nacho, short for Ignacio. 

Our second Uber driver chatted us up as well. We talked about the women’s march the previous day and he said it was nonsense. He claimed that abuse is all related to power, not gender. Ugh. He did make a fair point that the march, like most in Chile, ended in some violence. Good marches here, in his opinion, have clearer goals and don’t end in violence. Not the highlight of the conversation, but he was interesting to talk to. 

I had about an hour and a half after that to eat lunch, shower, and finish packing. Roberto ate quickly with us, since he had a meeting. The women in the universities have effectively shut down the schools for the past two weeks, so he’s been at home twiddling his thumbs. The meeting would hopefully make it clearer what would be done. He and I were both in high spirits since Paula had bought us blackberry ice cream after an ice cream dry spell for nearly 2 weeks!

Paula and I chatted for a while waiting for my taxi, then finally said goodbye. I was sad, but I also felt ready to go. Paula roasted my driver for being late, and I can’t see a more classic send-off happening. 

Now I’m at the airport preparing for the long ride home. It’s been swell here in Chile and I’m super grateful for my experience. But now it’s time to see some friends and family graduate back in the states!

Chile

• May 15, 2018
• 6 years

Vocab Lesson

I’ve been asked by several people whether Cuban Spanish or Chilean Spanish is harder. The answer is they’re equally challenging. In Cuba, no one enunciates. In Chile, there are countless slang words, los chilenismos. Despite the challenge of the chilenismos, however, learning them has arguably been my favorite way to get to know Chilean culture. In fact, the chilenismos do a great job summing up some of my experiences – so here’s a brief vocab lesson.

Arriba de la pelota: “Above the ball”; you’re a little drunk, but not drunk drunk.

Bacán: Cool, sweet, groovy. A Spanish equivalent could be “genial.”

Caballero: A worker of some kind; a gentlemen that you would address as “sir.” I find this funny only because caballo means “horse” and caballero also can mean “knight.”

Cabro/a: The literal translation is “goat,” but it refers to some young guy or gal you don’t know well. Usually used when telling a funny or slightly stupid story – e.g., “And this cabro was caught picking his nose by the whole school!”

Cachaí: Got it? You follow me? This word is used so frequently it’s ridiculous. It also exemplifies a weird thing Chileans do with their conjugations. Cachaí comes from the verb “cachar,” to understand. Asking someone if they understand, using “cachar,” would normally be “Cachas?” But Chileans will often make this odd substitution with an accented i. I’ve also heard “Tenís…?” “Do you have…?” instead of “Tienes…?” and “Querís…?” “Do you want…?” instead of “Quieres…?” Just interesting.

Cachilupi: Like bacán; something good. E.g., “Paula, esta sopa de choclo es súper cachilupi.”

Chic@s / Chicxs: To refer to all genders, you’ll often see the masculine “o” replaced with an @ sign or an x to include everyone – same with tod@s / todxs. I dig this.

Chiquillos: Literally, “kids.” But everyone, our professors and IFSA staff alike, call us college students chiquillos and chiquillas.

Chuch: An exclamation like “Mish!” Isa will often go, “Chooch!” when she wants to say “Damn!” or “Sh*t!” It’s short for “chucha,” which actually has much worse meanings as well … careful how and when you use this one, folks.

Colación: A packed lunch. Paula always asks me if I’ll need the colación for school, meaning I have something in the afternoon and can’t come home for lunch. My colación always consists of a couple fruits – apple, pear, kiwis (always 3), and/or banana – plus maybe a small tomato/lettuce salad and leftovers from dinner the night before. Often rice or potatoes with veggie nuggets or a soy burger. I can’t complain.

Cueca: The traditional dance of Chile. It’s done by a male-female pair, and they imitate a courtship between a rooster and hen. It’s not pretty. Paula and Roberto aren’t fans, anyway.

De miedo: Another synonym for bacán. It’s an adjective that literally means “of fear,” so I think the English equivalent must be “wicked” or “sick.”

Éso: “That’s it.” Chileans use éso all the time when they’re organizing/arranging things, setting things up.

Fome: Boring.

Gallo/a: Like cabro/a, but refers to someone more grown up – a man or woman that you don’t well. E.g. “Ese gallo que me ayudó con el auto.” Can be slightly dismissive, like “That dude who was yelling on the street…” Gallo is actually the word for rooster in Spanish.

Garabato: A bad/curse word. “Mierda” is a garabato, for example.

Hueón: Can mean a million things. It refers to a guy or girl (hueona). It can be derogatory, loving, impatient, aggressive, indifferent. It can mean anything from “guy,” to “buddy,” to “dude,” to “jerk,” to “idiot,” to “a**hole.” It’s really all contextual. It also can be spelled “weón” or “huevón.” Oh, chilenismos.

Luka: Slang for money, or pesos.

Mish: Previously mentioned in another post, mish is like “Mira tú!” “Look at you!” Paula uses it at lot when I’ve done something that impresses her.

Palta: Avocado.

Pinchar: In Chile, “the one who calls, pays.” Whenever you make a call, you’re paying for the minutes. So, Chileans will do something called “pinchar,” in which they call someone, but hang up before their friend picks up. That way, their friend has to call them back to talk – and pay for the call themselves. The same was true of Cubans. If you called someone by typing *99 plus their number, you’d ensure that they’d pay for the call. Sneaky Latinos.

Poh: The most ubiquitous chilenismo there is. The internet claims it comes from “pues,” meaning, “well…” but I don’t believe that. Chileans tack poh onto just about any phrase, and it seems to be an emphasizer. “No, poh,” “Sí, po,” “Claro, poh” “Estoy con Miguel. Miguel, poh!” It’s EVERYWHERE. My guess is that it’s a shortening of “por supuesto,” meaning, “of course.” It just sort of implies “duh,” or “naturally.”

Ojo al charqui: I’ve never heard this one used, but the IFSA girls Alice and Claudia taught us that it means to pay close attention. “Charqui” is a shortening of “charquicán,” a typical Chilean meat dish. When you’re grilling charquicán on the back porch, you have to keep a close eye on it so that the birds don’t try to eat it. Thus, “ojo al charqui.” I just like the story behind it.

Otro: For some reason, Chileans use otro, “other,” to refer to something in the future. Such as, “Tienes clase el otro martes?” “Do you have class next Tuesday?” They have confused me numerous times with this one, since I think they mean to ask about something that happened the other day.

Schop: Big beers. Beers you get on tap, and in German-style steins. Cheap and delicious.

Sípo: As mentioned, a common affirmative response. It’s so natural that it sounds like one word instead of sí + poh.

Taco: Traffic. “Hay mucho taco” every morning and evening during rush hour. So much taco, in fact, that there are always policemen and women (Carabineros de Chile) directing traffic at large intersections.

Terremotear: We thought we had made this verb up ourselves – “to get very drunk, specifically off of terremotos,” but it in fact already exists. Chile is great.

Vaya no más: Paula says this to me after almost every meal. It literally means “go no more,” so I was so confused. I asked Claudia and Alice, and they explained that it means “leave without worry.” Paula usually says it when I say something like, “I need to go finish my homework” or, “I have to call my mom,” so “Vaya no más” must be something like, “say no more, you’re free to go.”

Ya: Similar to éso. When everything has been put in order, or you’re about to do something, you say “ya.” “Ya” literally means “already,” but it’s rarely used in that literal sense. Like when Paula yells that it’s dinner time, I’ll yell back, “Ya, vengo,” even though I’m not “already coming.”

These chilenismos only scratch the surface – there’s probably a hundred more. But these ones were some I heard/used a lot or just liked. Hope you’re as entertained as I am.

Chile

• May 6, 2018
• 6 years

Mendoza

This weekend was so luxurious that we’re still a little in disbelief. I mean, the fact that we just popped over to Argentina, and its wine country at that, is just nuts. We feel so privileged and grateful. 

We had another early flight, meeting at the airport at 7 a.m. Isa picked my professor, Andreea, and me up. It wasn’t clear to me who was driving; it wasn’t a taxi or an Uber, so I think it might have been her son driving the family car? It was a guy probably mid-20s, and at 6:15 a.m., he was blasting Spanish death metal full of expletives in the car. Isa seemed to be oblivious, calling Andreea and my classmates to make sure everyone was up and ready. It was definitely not a relaxing drive to the airport. 

At the airport, I finally succumbed to trying Chilean Dunkin Donuts. I really wanted to avoid US chains here in Chile, but this was a cultural experiment – I had to see the similarities and differences. For the most part, the drinks are the same, except they are fewer options and there aren’t like 10 flavor shots, only mocha and caramel. The donuts were different. The usual sprinkled, glazed, and frosted donuts were there, but they also employ “manjar,” which is basically dulce de leche spread, on and in lots of donuts. (Manjar is also just a very popular flavoring all over Chile and Argentina). They also had strawberry jelly-filled, strawberry frosted donuts. So a double strawberry, with sprinkles! Really, a worthwhile study. I got a powdered sugar, manjar-filled donut plus an iced latte, and I felt right at home. 

The flight was less than an hour, since Mendoza is right on the border of Argentina and Chile, just over the mountains. Apparently the views were great, but I passed out for all of it. We arrived in Argentina and had virtually no trouble making it through border control and customs. I accidentally smuggled an apple into the country…whoops. 

The hotel wasn’t far from the airport, thankfully. It was cloudy and low 60s when we arrived, which is very common for Mendoza this time of year. It’s very cloudy all the time, but supposedly never rains. The altitude is a little higher than that of Santiago, 746 meters to Santiago’s 570. 

Our hotel, El Portal Suites, was quite classy and was ironically right outside of Plaza Chile. Mendoza actually owes its strong economy to Chile, since its only 6-7 hours by bus to Santiago and an hour by plane. Mendozans rely on their own wine, olive oil, and tourism industries economically, but also just hop over to Chile to purchase items for much less. In 2010-2011, Argentina’s economy was hit pretty hard, but Mendoza stayed strong due to its ties to its western neighbor. 

We had time to explore before lunch, so we took a walk along the green streets. Mendoza has just tons of beautiful, long boulevards lined with tall trees forming canopies. My classmate Caroline (who was in Argentina with CC for 2 months before Chile) says you can really see the European influence in Argentina through its trees. Because Europeans wanted to recreate their own parks, they planted trees immediately upon arrival, so now all the trees in Argentina have grown huge. This influence is also evident in its parks – not only are parks abundant, they have massive, lush trees and plants and impressive fountains. Some of the fountains even have pink water since it’s the month of Malbec, to make it seem like the vino tinto has been added to the water. 

Plaza Chile is also just the southeast corner of a grouping of 5 plazas. With Chile, Plazas Italia, San Martín, and España form a quadrant around the city’s main plaza, Plaza Independencia. Independencia is naturally the biggest and has a city museum. The fancy Plaza Hotel is located right to its east. Along the way there, you of course pass lots of wine bars, but also many high-end chocolate shops. The buildings are generally short, two stories, without much to their facades. 

After our walk, we had a ridiculous lunch at the hotel. To start, lots of bread with basil and rosemary olive oils and parmesan. Most of us ordered beet gnocchi, which was served in a thick, cheesy, creamy sauce. We were already stuffed, but then proceeded to dessert: either passion fruit mousse with manjar, served in a large bowl made of chocolate, flan with manjar, ice cream, and chocolate, or an ice cream bar with manjar, chocolate, and nuts. You could say we were stuffed. 

We took another walk to digest and found a park that was being set up for some big wine fest. The decor was really classy and we wanted to return for the actual festival…never made it. Still a cool sight to see. 

 

Back at the hotel, Isa took us out walking. In our plaza, there was a large statue of Bernardo O’Higgins and San Martín, the revolutionary war heroes of Chile and Argentina, respectively. They actually fought together for the independence of both countries, another tie between the two. 

At Plaza Independencia, we boarded an open-air tour bus to see the city. It was a little chilly and the guide was difficult to understand with the poor sound system, so we didn’t get a ton out of the tour. We basically did a loop around the plazas that we could have done walking. 

Still stuffed, David, Austin, and I went for a run in Mendoza’s version of Parque Met, Parque San Martín. The park is enormous and has a large black and gold gate entryway. From there, you can walk down long boulevards, explore lots of trails, visit the zoo, or trek to the statues on the hills. We ran up to a huge war statue that we’d later visit the next day, and got an excellent panorama of the city. 

After running, we showered up and went out in search of Malbec. The three of us plus our classmates Anna and Noah found a really hip wine bar called Bowie, named after the legendary rock star. We tried their Malbec and a lighter red, called “Tintillo.” The Malbec was better, but we liked both. We sat on the plush couches drinking and playing cards with my new Yellow Submarine deck (thanks, Dad!), feeling so lucky and once again, in disbelief. 

At last we felt like we could at least survive dinner. Of course, Isa took us to a “tenedor libre,” or a typical Argentinian buffet. We tried so hard to restrain ourselves. But restraint is very difficult when they had crepes with manjar and ice cream. I had already decided at lunch that it was a “love yourself” kind of weekend. 

The next day we rose to more luxury. A breakfast buffet with cereal, fruit, yogurt, eggs, pastries, lots of toasts and spreads, and croissants (media  lunas, “half moons,” very typical of Argentina). Coffee with warm milk and juice. Love yourself kind of weekend, indeed. I took a walk after to just get some more digestion going. 

The luxury continued that morning. We visited the Zuccardi family vineyard, a highly reputable vineyard known for its Santa Julia wines. After exploring the shop and tasting room, our guide David, a young, handsome, hipster Argentine, welcomed us. He gave us a brief history of the vineyard and the plan for the day: see the distilling process, ride bikes through the vineyard, try some wines, then eat lunch at the restaurant to “recuperar energías.” We were ready. 

The Zucchardi vineyard produces 3 million liters of wine per year – that’s two Olympic swimming pools. Plus 5,000 liters of olive oil. David said that in the olden days, Argentines drank tons of wine – basically a bottle every two days, individually. Now, Argentines drink about half a bottle a week, each. There’s more interest in quality than quantity. 

David took us out to the machine where the grapes are first pressed, saying the durability of the grapes will dictate how they’re transported to the distillery. A “mountain” of grapes are piled into the machine and pressed, then processed along intestine-like tubes. There, they can play with the temperature of the juice, since it has no alcohol yet. 

David then directed us to the different processing tanks. I can’t say I remember or understand how it all works, but how the grapes are processed depends on how durable they are and how strong their flavor is. To make sweet wines, the grapes are fermented longer, making the wine less alcoholic. So, if you want a stronger wine that is still sweet, you’ll have to add alcohol once you’ve fermented it to the desired sweetness. There’s been a movement to process the juice in barrels that don’t absorb any of the flavor, less emphasis on wooden barrels and the supposed “notes” they create. Vineyards are also getting into making more organic wines, but it means every step of the process must be organic…whatever that means. 

Following the distillery tour, we hopped on bikes and cruised along the rows of grapes, even stopping to pull grapes off the vines to taste them. The vines all were protected with nets, simply for the very rare occasion when it hails (but like I said, it doesn’t rain). David directed us to a section for organic wine grapes, then out of his adorable bike basket, took out wine glasses and three wines for us to try. Our group of 13 plus 4 Brazilians tried their tintillo (coincidentally, the same from Bowie), as well as two other reds. The difference between them was what they were distilled in. The tintillo, wooden barrels, the second (a name I’ve forgotten, but a drier red) a mixture of wood and steel, and Concreto, a very full-bodied red distilled in only concrete. All wines were very solid, but I can’t say I love wine in general. I’ll stick to my stouts. 

Back at the vineyard, David offered us one more taste, a red that costs around $45. It was exquisite, possibly the best red I’ve had. Just so fine. 

At this point, we were all pretty hungry for lunch, but were totally unprepared for what came. We entered the bourgie restaurant and were served a gigantic cheese, meat, nut, and dried fruit platter, with bowls of hummus, tapenade, tomatoes, marmalade, and eggplant. Plus plates of bread that didn’t stop coming and bottles of both white and red wine. We found ourselves in yet another food coma, and Andreea cancelled the class she had planned for the afternoon. Love yourself, love yourself. 

We returned to Mendoza city center and went back to Parque San Martín. On the way up to the same statue we had run to, our driver stopped in front of a plaque with the Argentine state seal, a condor. There, all the battles from the independence wars are listed and there is actual dirt from where each took place within the display. Super cool. 

At the top of the hill, our driver explained that the statue is one you have to circumnavigate. San Martín is in the front, on horseback with his arms crossed. You travel around and see soldiers from various armies that he encountered on the way. I liked the powerful woman on the top, arms outstretched, looking badass. 

There was a group of runners hanging out by the statue, stretching, and I was dared to go join them. So I did. I walked over, said I had run to the statue the day before and hadn’t stretched, could I join them? The Argentines didn’t mind at all. We began asking each other questions, and I learned that they’re a running group that started in October. They have about 50 members right now, but will reach 80, they think. There are four guys who are the “professors,” and they lead all the runs, stretching, and exercises. This run was a recreational run for anyone interested, but normally they split into groups based on ability level. They asked me what brought me there, what I was studying in Chile, etc. I took a photo of the group for them and went on my way. It was pleasant. 

Isa let us hop off the bus at the bottom of the park to check out a sweet farmer’s market. We wanted to try all the samples, but were just so stuffed. We eventually made it back to the hotel and rested before another glorious run. We finished the evening off with Chinese takeout (we were all craving something WITHOUT cheese) and a relatively early bedtime. 

Now we’re back in Santiago for only a week and a half! Time has really flown here. Class will be a lot more critical discussion and writing, exhausting and engaging. I think we’re all excited to go home, but we’re cherishing our final days here as well.