That one time in Argentina...

This story deserves it's own post. It's that weird. This will definitely be one of those "That one time in Argentina" stories that I will remember FOREVER. I still don't know what to make of it.

So I was calmly sitting in central park, which is only a few blocks north of my house, chilling on the hillside reading my book waiting for a friend to show up. All of the sudden, a man sits down next to me and begins to ask me how I am, what my name is, etc. Seems like a pretty normal guy, so I decide I'll chat with him for a while. Things are going great...until they get really weird. As it turns out, this male actually wants to turn into a female and asks if he can take a picture of me because he wants to look like me. His exact words were "I want boobs and a face like yours". I was so shocked I sat there, dumbfounded, for a good minute unable to say anything while he continues on to describe the hormone pills he's taking and how they make his penis shrink and become non-functional. When he started talking about his thong collection and waxing kits, I finally overcame my shocked silence and figured it was time to leave. After politely excusing myself, I practically sprinted from the park.

Creepy? Most definitely.
Strange? Of course.
Flattering? Yes, in a very, very weird way.

I have since seen Marcelo (or Marcela) several times since this incident running through central park. We occasionally exchange pleasantries, but never again has he asked to take a photo of me to use as a model for his new face. Thank goodness. Good luck to him, I wish him well, but he REALLY needs to work on his method of approaching strangers.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes the story of the weirdest moment of my life thus far.

Adventures in San Rafael

Sorry I haven’t blogged recently, I’ve been incredibly busy. And a little lazy. It’s just REALLY hard to sit down at my computer and write when I could be doing so many other things… you understand.

Anyway, I’m taking a trip pretty far back in time for this post. Earlier in the program, as in three or four weeks ago, all of the students participating in the program took a weekend trip to San Rafael for some bonding time and sightseeing. The trip was already pre-paid with the program fee so all we had to do was jump on the bus and not worry about anything which was pretty damn nice after all of the chaotic planning we have all done lately with regards to classes for this semester as well as next semester. Let me tell you… that gave me quite a headache.

I’m going to go on a quick tangent here. So… organization is a word that the Argentinian school system simply does not understand. When they say: “this is the schedule and list of classes offered this semester” they really mean “we don’t really know anything yet but if you want to start looking at things that MIGHT be offered here’s a list”.  Classes are changed, cancelled, and switch professors several times before the semester actually begins. Then, because this isn’t frustrating enough, they change things again a couple times the first week of school. It’s entirely common to walk into a classroom, wait, realize the professor is never going to show up, then find out later that the class was cancelled with no warning. Or that your professor was on strike (which happened during the first AND second weeks of school). Very frustrating. However, despite these difficulties I have finally managed to select classes for this semester that will most likely count towards credit for major(s)/minor(s) at the U of M.

Back to San Rafael. San Rafael is about 6 hours south of Mendoza, and it’s located right at the base of the Andes Mountains. This city is absolutely gorgeous. We were staying in the most adorable 5-6 person log cabins that looked like they came straight out of a movie. They had everything from wild roses growing up the sides to mosaic stone floors, hand woven rugs, stained wooden furniture, fireplace, etc. The grounds were even more impressive – they were directly at the foot of a smaller mountain with rivers and pools running through and around the resort. 

All of our activities were outdoor, and all of them were absolutely beautiful. We were on a day hike through a river valley, boated across a lake to go sunbath on a beach, and had the option of choosing either rafting or zip-lining. The rafting would’ve been incredibly boring because, although beautiful, the river was pretty straight with no real rapids. I don’t even know if they have level 2 rapids. So of course I chose zip-lining. There was a limited number of spaces available, and of the entire program only 10 students had the chance to do zip-lining – I’m glad I was one of the lucky ones because it was AMAZING. Remember that lake we boated across? We were ziplining hundreds of feet in the air across the lake from cliff to cliff…how cool is that?!? You’ll be impressed when you see the pictures, I promise. 

The best part about the ziplining was the workers. We had three really chill guys taking us across all 7 ziplines, and although they obviously wanted us to be safe, they also encouraged us to get a little crazy. I was, of course, brave enough to try pretty much anything, so I ended up doing two tandem rides (A tandem ride is basically when two people zipline together). The first time, the instructor flipped me upside down, holding my legs above his head, so I was dangling completely with no hold on anything. Needless to say, that was beyond amazing; it felt like a was free-falling and moving forward at the same time. The second time was even better. The second instructor wanted to mess with me a bit, so he curled me up in a fetal position, tipped me upside down on my head, and proceeded to spin me in rapid circles over and over again all the way across the zipline. All I can say is…that sure as hell beat any other adrenaline-packed activity I’ve done prior to this. Spinning completely out of control, upside down, while being launched forward hundreds of feet above a giant lagoon/lake with only a strap holding you… it was magical.

One last thing about San Rafael: I had my first asado! An asado is a basically a barbeque, but it’s completely different than American barbeques. The asados here are to die for; they’re basically an excuse for family to get together and cook as many different types of meat as possible. For example, I went to an asado with my host mom a few weeks ago and the host had smoked 12 different types of meat for 3 days in advance, then slow-roasted them in a grill that looks like a stone-oven. They had everything from ribs and loins to roasts and sausages. I’m not kidding when I say that was the best beef I’ve ever had in my life. These people know how to cook beef. We need to learn from them.