Lessons from Dogs, Children and the Heart

Rafting in the Mendoza River

Zip-lining over the river

A view of the Andes Mountains

Flowers just after the rain

My tour buddy, Vivi!

March 7-16-Tidbits from this past week!

*Last Monday was a National Holiday. Some friends and I took advantage of the time off of school and went rafting and Zip-lining! It was a fun day of adventure! This past weekend I went on a tour of some famous spots, Puente del Incas, Alta Monana, and the famous Villavicientos Hotel. Then, on Sunday topped of the weekend with a day at a Thermal pool spa! It was a fantastic day of playing in the water and mud!

*Lately, I have been learning so much from children! Today the 5 year old at my home stay invited me to a birthday party for his friend, Santiago. I thought he was making up a story and inviting me to a make-believe party in another city. So, I played along and told him sure I would like to go to a birthday party in Santiago. But, when the family left the house for the party, he looked at me like he wondered why I wasn’t coming. I didn’t realize he was really going to a party today! How sweet of him to include me in his world! He also asked me if I believed in God. He said that the devil was bad and had a big fire.

*Yesterday, after I came home from school the boys (5 and 7 years old) were watching TV. I was looking at the plug behind the TV to try to figure out how to plug in the internet. As I moved the wires, I accidentally disconnected the Cable and was unable to figure out how to make it work again. Instead of the boys being angry with me for interrupting their show, the oldest simply said “It’s not important”, and they climbed off the couch to go play in their room. Wow! I have never seen that happen in the states!

*There’s such a relaxed attitude here in Argentina. Everyone is not out to trample each other while climbing up the ladder of success. Instead, there is such a sense of community, family and focus on relationships. People don’t mind waiting on a bus or standing in line at the supermarket. These things are just the normal necessities of life. It’s taken me a while to wind down from my intensity level, but I am so happy here. I am so wired to be much more relational than task-oriented. It’s so much fun!

*Yesterday, I was waiting for my bus at a stop. Another bus pulled up and a crowd of people entered the front door. While the line formed and each person waited to pay for his fare, a shaggy, white dog began to assess the situation. He first walked in front of the bus looking all around at the wheels and the driver’s side. Then, he came back to the door and climbed up the stairs entering the bus with the passengers. Those of us at the bus stop laughed hysterically at the thought of a dog hitch hiking onto a bus. It was very funny! But, I suppose he didn’t take his credit card with him to pay for the fare because at the next stop, we watched the bus stop quickly and the doors open. Then, out came the dog climbing down the steps with a look of disbelief on his face that he was evicted. Nevertheless, he brushed the dirt off his fur and moved on.

*Some of my blessings this week have come from learning to tune in to the voice inside my heart and act on it! As I have done that I have found many opportunities to help people around me. For instance, a couple nights ago I was meeting a friend for dinner. On the way I chose to walk down a different street than normal. I passed a lady who had lost her bus card and needed some money to get on the bus. I was able to help her with part of her fare, and the smile on her face blessed me back in return. Then, yesterday I was at a bus stop and heard a clear voice inside say, “Don’t get on this bus; wait for the next one.” I thought it was kind of stupid, but I waited anyway. As it turned out there was a couple on the next bus that spoke English and didn’t understand how to pay for the bus and how to get where they were going. I was the only person close to them that could help them with all the details. Had I taken the first bus, they would have not had anyone to help them!

Well, I have one more week here in this city before I leave for Chile. I am excited about what this next week holds, and will report back soon!

Ciao

A Cockroach and a Robber

February 28th - March 6th

This past week the family I am staying with (which takes great care of me) went to Buenos Aires for a week for a family wedding. While away, they hired a friend to stay with me, cook for me and tend to the house and animals. She and I had a great time chatting for the first couple days, but then she disappeared and didn’t come back. Her sister came to visit and brought food a few times, and I kept asking if she was at work or studying, but her sister didn’t say much. I found out when my host family returned that she had gone out of town for the week…

Anyhow, the parents of my host family live next door. I must say they were spectacular this week! They brought me yogurt and fruit, washed my dishes, cooked for me, took care of the animals and cleaned the house. They also were excellent company for me. They don’t speak English to me, so it was good to chat with them and practice my Spanish! I learned a lot from them. I learned more about the bus system locally and I also learned about the basics of how to prepare to climb tall mountains. The week actually turned out to be a fun week. It was a week full of festivals and events, so I wasn’t bored! Here are some highlights:

The first day my family was away I was about to go to bed when I heard some noise in the corner of my room by my bed. I thought it a little out of the ordinary to have noise there, but didn’t think too much of it. I was lying on my bed on my pillow looking at a map (to try to learn more about where everything is in this city). I started to get sleepy, but before turning off the light remembered I needed to retrieve something from my desk. After I got up, I turned back towards my bed, and there lay a giant cockroach on my pillow! Wow, what a surprise! That must have been the noise I had heard earlier! I took the pillow to the other room, dropped of the cockroach near the front door and then turned it inside out so I could sleep on a clean pillow case!

The next couple of days held much adventure as well. I went to the local Italian Festival in the city, which happens once a year. I went on the first day, March 1. The festival was so much fun! There was some great Italian food and some wonderful Italian music! The local police comprised a band that was very talented! I think around 30 or 40 people were in the band! The show commenced with some fun folk Italian music in Spanish, then some authentic Opera followed by some rock music, then a duet of Andre Bocelli’s famous “Time to say Good-Bye”.

I arrived home late and wasn’t sure if my new roommate was there or not, so I locked the gate but didn’t bar it as usual. Around 5:30am, I regretted not barring the gate because I heard a loud crashing sound at the back door (in the room next to mine). The clamor and clanking was very loud, and I was convinced a burglar had just broken down the back door. Not knowing whether or not I was alone in the house, I prepared to defend myself. In the dark I grabbed whatever I found next to me on my night stand. I awoke a little more and realized I was holding a battery to my camera in my hand….what a fierce weapon! lol! I quickly exchanged it for the other item on my nightstand, which was my alarm. (Somehow, it was comforting to know what time it was when I was being robbed.) I arose from my bed as I heard more noises outside on the porch. The wind was whipping around like cake batter in a mixing bowl when an electric mixer is turned on high speed. I didn’t hear any more noises in the house, and thought it was safe to leave my room and investigate the “crime scene”. After opening my door I realized it was the wind that broke the door, because the entire center of the door frame was completely ripped out from the door! Whoa! I thought we had strong winds in Texas!!!

Other adventures this week entailed having dinner on the roof of the 10^th floor of a building. The dinner was great, but even more fun was the fact that we chose to walk down the stairs after dinner! I suppose the stairs are not commonly used, because for 3 floors we walked in the dark, then for the next few floors battled dust and a ladder in the way as we turned a sharp corner.

Then, the next night I stayed up all night. I went out to see a parade with friends. There were many cool floats with this year's beauty queens featured. There were melons, apples and crackers thrown from the floats. So, look out if you are standing nearby! I didn't catch any fruit, but did get sprayed with water from one float!

After the parade a few members of my class wanted to go eat and get something to drink. I had just had some ice cream but thought I would go with them for a while, thinking I would just stay out until 1 or 2 (which is early here). But, we were all being adventurous and chatting, and before I knew it we were all still out and it was nearly 4 am. By the time I got home and prepared for bed it was after 5. So, I just stayed up until 6! Thankfully, I slept until around 12 or 1, but then to my surprise 20 girls showed up to have a picnic in my back yard! At first I was a little grumpy because I just wanted to sleep! But, after an hour or two I gained my senses and tact back and enjoyed fun conversations with the girls! They were very sweet girls from a parochial school!

Then, to end the week we went to a festival called “Vendemia”. If you have viewed my facebook photos, you have likely seen a large stage with many dancers. That was the show! It was a spectacular dance show with all types of music including folk, rock, tango, ballet, orchestral music and many other types I don’t know the names for! Thankfully it didn’t rain during the show, because it was in an amphitheater with 20,000 or 40,000 people (not sure which because different people say different numbers). Anyhow, the show was to celebrate the season of gathering the grapes for wine production, which is this province’s primary export. People from many nations come to the show. The show ended with a very important beauty pageant for the region. The finalists walked the parameter of the stage adorned in lovely dresses, eagerly awaiting who would be chosen! At last, after some time the winner was chosen! And, she also happened to be the only blonde. Figures!

Horses and More

February 28, 2011

Last night, the 24^th, there were a couple of “fiestas” with some students and professors from my school! It was a grand adventure! It was the 28^th birthday of one of the school administrators, and the last night some long term students at the school were in town. So, we went to the students’ house for a while then out to the birthday celebration. We all got home VERY late and were late to school. Funny thing is that the professors didn’t really care. I think they expected it!

During the weekend (the 26^th and 27^th) another student from Germany and I went on a two day excursion into the mountains to ride horses. Our first day was full of adventure!

When I awoke it was early in the morning and I had to wait for a taxi. I didn’t want to wake up the family in my house so I decided to wait outside the gate. In Mendoza, the neighborhoods are set up a little differently than in the States. The property begins with a tall gate at the street that locks, and behind the gate is the house with a yard. It’s kind of cool because you don’t have to lock your house at night, just the gate. Anyhow, I walked outside the gate, locked it and waited for my taxi. While waiting a car drove up and the driver yelled out to me, “Let’s go” (in Spanish of course). I didn’t think the car looked like a taxi, but also thought it would have been a strange coincidence that I would be waiting for a taxi while another car pulled up on my quiet street early Saturday morning when everyone was asleep. So, I looked closer. The driver was a male, and asked me where I was from in English. I told him the states. I stood up and looked at the car again and the driver was drinking and driving and there were two other guys in the car. He proceeded to tell me he was from Nashville (with his broken English and thick Argentine accent) and that I should go with them. I told him I didn’t need a ride because my taxi was on the way. After a while he gave up and drove on…hopefully safely to his house!

On the way out of town about 45 min. into the trip, our bus broke down. Unfortunately 3 of us ladies at the time needed to use the bathroom and went with one of the guides in search of a facility on the side of the road. Some gentlemen at a lumber company agreed that we could use theirs. We were very happy we did because our 1 ½ hr trip to the mountains turned into 4 hours with the bus problems and the new driver who took the long route or drove slowly… not sure which!

However, our tour guide was very apologetic and had a special snack fixed for us at the ranch. We ate our snack and began the day’s ride in the fields of the mountains. The ranch was called “La Alejandra” and was amazing! From this ranch there are tours on horseback through the Andes Mountains all the way to Santiago, Chile (which is 6 or 7 hours by bus and a week by horse!)

Wow, that would be a painful undertaking. As saddle sore as I was after 7 or 8 hrs of riding, I can’t imagine 7 days!!!

My horse unfortunately had a curse word for a name…”______Face”! I felt sorry for him, but at the same time he was so stubborn he often refused to follow my commands. Instead he was constantly eating. He especially liked to eat the potato plants out of the neighboring farmer’s garden. (He was not allowed to do that, but did it anyway) But, he also liked to eat purple flowers. He didn’t eat the yellow ones, just the purple ones. Maybe he was a TCU fan?

Others didn’t fare so well with their horses. One of the guys from England (Kevin) was riding for the first time ever. During the beginning of his ride the horse had a digestion problem, and left green horse manure all over the pasture. During the middle of the trip, his horse sat down on all 4’s. Then, he proceeded to roll over with Kevin still on his back! Kevin quickly dismounted and the horse “played dead” for a few minutes. All of us laughed hysterically, then stopped with the thought that the horse could be hurt. The trainer rushed up to him and did horse rehab for a few minutes, then all was back to normal. Well, except that the rest of the trip was like a Ren and Stimpy episode between the horse’s noises from the tail end…I think he really was sick!

We were fed an amazing lunch, then went to our Estancia for the night. Our Estancia was in San Antonio, Argentina. I asked our chauffer what the population of San Antonio was, and he said “Now, it’s 4. You two, me and the person running the hotel.” Wow, a bit smaller than San Antonio, TX!

We had a cozy dinner by the fire and I wrapped up in 3 blankets to go to bed because it was freezing in the mountains! The next morning we went riding horses again through the mountains and had an amazing view!!

Here are some pictures of the Andes Mountains while riding the horses!