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.
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