Hiking, wine and word salad

Hello

There's an update after a long break. I can hardly believe that I have already been here for almost two months. But I want to tell you what has been happening with me in the last few weeks:

First, I participated in a hike on a mountain, Cerro Arco, near Mendoza. It was an event for exchange students, so I met a lot of new people, Brazilians, French, Colombians, Mexicans... There were about thirty of us, and we took a bus to the base of the mountain. The start was quite funny because after we all got on the bus, our tour guide suddenly sprinted away like he was stung by a tarantula. I was told that he would come by car. Okay, all right. After we all got off at the mountain, no one knew where to go, and the tour guide arrived half an hour later. This was followed by a 2-kilometer flat walk, and when the real hike finally started, we were exposed to extreme weather conditions. It started raining right at the beginning, and further up, the rain stopped, but it became foggy and cold. But in the end, it was worth it because when we reached the summit/power station, we had a great view and the sun dried our wet backpacks.

On the same evening, I went to an open-air theatre: A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare. I liked it, but it would have been even better if I had understood it. It turns out that Shakespeare is probably only taught in Argentine Spanish at the master's level.

Most people probably come to Mendoza because of the wine, especially the Malbec. So I finally visited one of the many wineries, of course with a wine tasting at the end. Conclusion: Me gusta.

On Easter Sunday, we had a cozy barbecue (Asado) at home with my landlords and roommates. And since we're talking about Argentine clichés: my Brazilian roommate and I bought a mate set. Mate is drunk everywhere here, there is more variety of mate in the supermarket than pasta, everyone walks around with a thermos bottle in their arms, and the trash cans are specially marked with symbols indicating where to dispose of the mate. For those who don't know what mate is, here's a brief explanation: It's a tea that is drunk from a specific wooden vessel with a metal straw and a filter at the end. You put the yerba (mate herbs/tea) in it and pour hot water over it. Easy. I think it's cool that mate is a very social drink because you usually drink it cozily with friends. And it keeps you awake.

Now it's slowly becoming autumn in Mendoza. I noticed that at the MendoRock Festival because I definitely wasn't dressed warmly enough, but the music warmed me up anyway. Several rock bands from Mendoza performed. If anyone wants to listen: https://open.spotify.com/track/1O8pPDkRrM26zjp6zMyJdT?si=Fr2Galc7RyqU63EtFl3gCA

What makes me very happy is that I also have connections to the French community. Every Tuesday evening, the 'Parlote' takes place, a French-speaking meetup. I went with my Argentine university colleagues, but I have also met several French exchange students. Sometimes, so many languages can be a bit confusing, especially when you switch between two languages in the same sentence. And I realize that it still takes a very long time to speak like a native speaker because it is often difficult to understand jokes or slang. But that's why I'm here, ché.

And what's happening at home? A few weeks ago, my roommate locked the front door with her room key (don't ask me how), and the door didn't open afterwards. Luckily, we have another door, but there is only one key for it. The roommate went out at night, and I told her to call me when she comes home. Okay, at 5 o'clock she calls me and I want to unlock the door, but the key is simply gone. I looked everywhere and then had to wake up my other roommate who had the key in his pocket.

One week later: I wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning. I smell something burning. I didn't think much of it, probably someone cooked and burned something a little. When I went out into the hallway, it was full of smoke, and I already feared the worst. My room is on the first floor, so I went downstairs and there it was: a pot, a chicken, completely black. My roommate just fell asleep, and after 4 hours on the stove, the chicken must have been well cooked, and the smell stayed with us for a week.

Last week: We had no gas for almost two days, which means there was no hot water, we couldn't cook, and we couldn't turn on the heating either. But now, fortunately, the gas is back, everything is fine.

And finally, a few random photos :)