tl;dr -- Go to Mendoza or Argentina, it's nice there! (But not in summer)
Not relevant information (aka introduction)
Yes, I agree. There are better word plays than 'Chilling in Chile', but I needed to get your attention somehow. 'Thinking about different things without writing something special' would have been even worse as a title. But that is what I want to do, I want to reflect about my last five weeks in Argentina. Why I came here. How I got here. Who I met here and what I did here. I am currently on my way back to Austria, and start writing this unusually personal blogpost in Chile, in the Santiago de Chile Airport. A flight from Mendoza to Chile lies behind me. I am awaiting seven hours of overlay, a long flight to Madrid, refuelling there, then to Frankfurt, and then with Austrian Airlines to Vienna. Home sweet home, as they say.
This trip is a wonderful chance to write down some of the thoughts I have about Argentina.
Motivation to come to Argentina
Why Argentina? That's random! you may say. Yes, but the reason why I came here is quite simple, it can be summarised in a single word: girlfriend. There are many adjectives I could add but I try to avoid PDA when I can (and when I am able to).
This blog has many entries about Norway, and that's also where I met her.
In March, I was in Austria to have my graduation ceremony. There, I got some financial support. So I could realise what my girl and I have wanted for quite a while, to see each other for a bit longer after the semester. She studies in the US, but has family in Mendoza, Argentina. In July and August she would be there. After that, she has one other year in the US. After that she intends to come to Europe, maybe Austria.
It was possible to go - I booked the flight.
So exciting!! It's not my first trip away from Europe, but much more spontaneous and solely for pleasure and travelling (unlike my trip to New Zealand which I 'had to too'.)
Yes: I know now lucky I am to be able to travel, live in a rich country and have the opportunities to do so!
Arrival
On my way to the New Continent, I had a overlay of 15 hours in Spain. I've never been there; 15 hours are good for a good first impression of this city. I walked around and took pictures and did not understand much of this language. In Austria I've never met any Spanish people, even less South American people. Maybe I didn't see them, maybe there are not that many. My French helps a lot in understanding Spanish, but still, it's a completely new language. My girlfriend had tried to teach me a bit, but well, the beginning is always slow.
The flight to Santiago de Chile was surprisingly uncomfortable - I am spoiled by Emirates and Air New Zealand. The flight was uneventful and 13 hours long. After all, it's 13.000 km.
A little bit of PDA: when flying over the Andes to Santiago de Chile, and even more on the way back to the other side of the Andes to Mendoza, I can't remember anything about the view because I was so excited to see my girl. And Mendoza. The highest mountain of the Americas, the Aconcagua, is directly between Santiago and Mendoza. On the flight today (Mendoza to Santiago) I had a mindblowingly stunning view on the mountain. Not a single cloud and the mountain seemingly a few meters right next to the windows.
We were staying at her grandfathers house almost in the centre of the city (close to Aristides).
On the streets in Argentina
I was told, half as a joke, that our house is like a prison. Though, it's for safety. There are many poor people in Argentina and Mendoza. Practically all houses have iron bars in front of all their entrances. Also in front of the patio/garden or bathroom window.
Again and again, I was made aware that I should be careful wherever I go, to not take much money, don't take anything you don't need. So I ended up with taking money (<20-30€) and nothing else, not even phone. Nothing happened to me, fortunately, but many things have happened. Some years a Kiwi was mugged, resisted, and was killed, just a few hundred meters away from a park nearby. So, it seems, always be careful I Latin America.
On the other hand, despite all the warnings I've been told, I haven't experienced a single bad thing. There were no baggers anywhere (!), I haven't been robbed or mugged. It's just that everyone needs to be aware that thefts occur very easily. If you are aware of your surrounding and hide your stuff, nothing is going to happen.
The uncle as well as the best friend of my girlfriend lived in protected neighbourhoods. Access there is just possible if the ID is verified with a resident or the resident picks the visitor up form the security guards at the entry. Inside, it looks like a cultivated neighbourhood, e.g. in Austria. After all the things I've heard about the dangers of the street, it felt good to enter those protected neighbourhoods.
At locations with high need of parking space, there are sometimes some people who ask for 10-20 pesos (much for locals, 1€) in order to 'take care' of the car. That means, if you don't pay your car will be scratched when you come back.
Street rules. In the travel guide it said: traffic signals/lights are just recommendations. This is definitely true. There are mostly no traffic signals for pedestrians, they just have to go when they can. For the most part though, cars respect the red light. But it can happen that a car driver is impatient. There is a lot of honking and stress, specially in Buenos Aires (not cosy!!). The taxi is ridiculously cheap (50 pesos for 10-15 a minute's drive, that's 3.30€) so we took them when it was too late to take the bus. The taxis charge after distance not time, so they drive quite fast. In one instance, instead of slowing down to look to the left or to the right at a street crossing, he just honked two times. That's different in Europe.
I saw a bicyclist on the motorway, motorcycles at night without light, so traffic rules are guidelines. But: I did not see any accident, not a single really dangerous situation, anyone gets along well with the system.
We were at a club on night. Not only on the streets there is the risk of something to happen. Everywhere with public access, there seems to be criminal. I thought that we are not anymore in public / on the street, so it would be alright to hang my jacket on a rail a few meters away. But nope, this really old jacket was stolen. The jacket was way too old already but I still feel sorry for the wonderful merino wool cap that was inside.
For an citizen of the old world Europe, the planning if the city is quite interesting. The city centres, both in Mendoza and Buenoes Aires, but also the agricultural areas, are all planned in tiled shape, there was no natural development of the city, someone drew straight lines everywhere while planning the development of the city. That makes it easier for orientation: where you see the stunning view of the Andes, that's west. When you see no elevation at all, that's east. (Oh, the Andes are so beautiful..)
Immersion
If I would have come to Argentina as a 'normal' tourist with jandals and my big camera, I would have had several problems. Maybe I would have been robbed immediately: as an European I am rich. (But this issue is changing, there are continuously more tourists coming to Mendoza. Some years ago, it would be almost impossible to hear German on the streets. Now, I even met an Austrian!)
I stayed in the house of my girlfriend's grandfather. This saved many struggles, costs, and travelled distances: we could walk to the city centre. I am very grateful I could do that.
I was accepted really warmly by the whole family and also the friends. In the house lived my girlfriend, her grandfather, her brother who works in Mendoza. The housekeeper (!) was there most of the days from 8.30-5.00.
Argentina is currently in the mainstream media because their government has economical problems of different kind, one of which is inflation. The government apparently wants to neglect inflation and still maintains an old exchange rate. The actual exchange rate gives me approx. half more. Thanks to my host, I could exchange Euros to Pesos in 1 to 15.5 instead of 1 to 10.
Language
For me, the language learning process is always interesting. All my languages so far I've learnt systematically, first grammar and vocabulary, then the rest. Here, I am jumping right into it. Mostly, I speak English with my girlfriend, but then we shift to German or Spanish. I teach my girlfriend German, and she will teach me Spanish. When we both can talk it, we will learn Esperanto. :)
The most interesting process here was how much I understood of other people talking. In the beginning, it was just gibberish, but after all I understood more and more words. Now, after five weeks I often can understand what is being talked about. Sometimes I can distribute, but normally they just talk too fast.
Food
The first day in Mendoza, as well as every following Sunday, we were invited by an uncle, who always invites the whole family. There is always much food and meat and it's a cosy time. The fist time I was there, I tried the so famous Argentinian steak and other kinds of meat. It was good, I agree, but still: from the next day I was vegetarian. It was such a good decision, I still did not regret it a second. The things that were delicious were all vegetarian, all the meat I saw and was offered did not at all suit my picture of good food. More for the meat eaters :)
Pizza, Pasta, wine, olive products, empañadas, medialunas (croissants), pastries, ice cream, Dulce de Leche, alfajores, milanesas, Mexican food.... - just come to Argentina and enjoy the food, it's one of my top things to do here.
Dulce de leche is a dish I've really grown fond of. It's a mixture of milk and caramel. Que ricissimo. It's used to put on bread and is in a very many pastries and desserts.
I was following my girlfriend's lead with vegetarism. Hence, I didn't feel bad that the housekeeper was preparing and extra veggie meal for us. So good food!
If you are in Mendoza, go to Cuenco Vegetariano, Olascoaga 1412.
Mentality
Along with the enjoyment of food and drinks goes the lifestyle and what I perceive as the Latin American/Hispanic lifestyle. Take time to enjoy life. Take time for a siesta. In Mendoza the working day is not 9-5 but 9-12, siesta and then 5-9. (In Buenos Aires it's normal.) In Europe, we are maybe more stressed about work and everything else, but that reflects in the national economy. Ideally, both priorities should be united. For me it's good to have had an insight into a really easy going world, where problems exist but still time is made for other things and the appreciation of good things.
Getting around
When we moved around in Mendoza, we took the bus (3 pesos = 0.20 € (Norway: 3.50€)) or the taxi (50 pesos for maybe 10-15 min (3.50€)), or were picked up by someone. In Mendoza, the bus system is quite well established and seems to frequent most places. Taxis are everywhere, and we used then instead of the buses after nightfall.
We travelled to Buenos Aires. We wanted to go by plane, but the buses were half the price (600 pesos one way (40€)). Buses in Argentina were something new to me, they offer chairs where one can almost completely lie down, there is dinner and breakfast, and we also played a round of Bingo. Unfortunately we did not win the bottle of wine. Argies know now to travel.
The trips between Mendoza and Buenos Aires were during night. On the way to the capital I could not sleep and kept looking out of the window for almost an hour. In the middle of the Pampa, I saw so much darkness and in the middle of it the Milky Way. It was magical.
Our activities
My primary goal was to visit my girlfriend for 3 weeks. (After 2 weeks I extended my stay to 5 weeks because I liked it and didn't want to leave my gf or Argentina.) I basically travelled to Mendoza without any expectations. I didn't know anything about the culture, the country, Latin America and almost nothing about the language. I was relying on my girlfriend to pick me up, host me, show me around and talk for me when ordering food. (I will do the same for her in December in Vienna!) So she explained me how it works and that it's better to be too careful than not careful enough. We went on a wine tour, horse back riding, the the hot bath, the Andes, sightseeing in Buenos Aires, and most importantly lived a normal (holiday) life in Mendoza. I was lucky to see both the touristy sites and the local's point of view.
We were together the whole time, five weeks, 24/7. Only once I went running and she stayed home. Thanks for showing me the country, your home, and thanks for those wonderful five weeks!
Climate
I am glad I came to Mendoza in winter. In summer, so they say, it's up to 30 or 40 degrees. This so called 'winter' made me wear a jacket, but it was not really cold. I heard though that it was an exceptionally warm winter, down to -5 in July is normally nothing shocking, but now it was always warmer than 0 degree.
The summer is not liked here, what I've been told. Now, in late winter, I tried to run three times in the park nearby, and many people did enjoy the coming spring in the afternoon. (Felt like Sommer to me though.) In the summer, people go out at midnight due to the temperature.
There is way more to see in Argentina.....!
It was such a wonderful time <3 I love you!
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