First Weekend Trip Coming Up

Hiii! The weekend trip I'm referring to is Mendoza, aka wine country near the Andes Mountains and Chile, aka where all the amazing Malbecs come from! We're doing a "red-eye" overnight bus trip, if that exists, and we leave tomorrow evening after classes. I think it's about 11 hours? Practically the entire group is going, and it's not associated with the AHA Abroad Program so we've planned it all ourselves so far. And by planned, I mean bought bus tickets and booked a hostel. It's a mystery what we'll do the rest of the time...poor college/study abroad students + different interests so it's sometimes tough for us all to agree on a decision. Hopefully when we get there we'll be able to see our options and do fun, spontaneous activities! My only condition is that it involve wine :)

Since my last post was just a few days ago, here's a few things that have been floating in and out of my mind since I've been in Argentina and I thought I'd share with you all:

Things Worth Pondering
1. In case you were wondering, construction workers whistling at any specimen of girl that walks down the street is a universal act, no matter the country, and still consumes approximately 80% of their job.
2. I mentioned before that there's a lot of golden retrievers and chow-chows, but even more popular is probably any breed of dog that is small, white and fluffy. I find this a little ironic because my host mom Yuppy has even said--in Spanish--"Rosario is a wonderful city. Filthy, but wonderful." So imagine how often these people have to wash their dogs to keep them white after walking the city streets.) Even the manliest of men in full-on business suits are still seen walking these little pooches.
3. The toilets aren't circular, and are instead a more square shape. Probably doesn't sound like a big deal, but until you sit on one yourself you may never know how drastically it fails to contour to your body. All you feel is that somethin ain't right.
4. To go along with that, I feel I need to take advantage of the bidet situation one of these days. Just to say I did. Who knows when the opportunity will present itself again?!
5. The napkins are essentially wax paper. Yes, the stuff that is meant to repel liquid and not absorb anything. Makes sense?

Some "Firsts"
1. Most of the people in the program bought a pay as you go phone to keep in contact with all of us within the country, but I've decided against it. I don't think it'll hurt to live a more simplistic life for 3 months. And besides, I have my computer, we communicate on our facebook group, I have viber/what's app with wifi on my iphone, AND skype. I don't think I need an additional cell phone as well. Yuppy actually had one for me that I just had to pay for the minutes on, but I just don't want to deal with that. I've made up my mind!
2. I brought and picked up my clothes from a lavandería today (laundromat.) For whatever reason I'm self-consious about someone else looking at my clothes, like my underwear and everything. When I walk in there to pick up my clothes I feel like they know secrets about me or something haha. Just overall awkward. I liked not having to fold anything though!

Words of the Week!

Estoy satisfecha- I'm full

asequible- accessible

De buen/mal humor- in a good/bad mood

arriesgarse- to take risks

agotada- exhausted

tramposa- tricky

muy buen mozo- very good looking, handsome (only to describe men)

mareado- dizzy

fijarse en- to pay attention to, to focus, to notice

llaves- keys

hospitalaria- welcoming

a gratis- free (monetary)

en contra- against

cataratas- waterfalls

discapacidades- disabilities

ocio- passtime

estacionar- to park

Things that don't really have a translation but people use all the time:

hacer sobremesa- it's the laid-back act of eating a meal at a restaurant with family or friends for 2-3 hours, just eating and talking and having a good time. You have to ask for the bill here, the waiter won't bring it to you because it's considered rude.

piropo- compliment, but a little different. It can be used as a verb too, as in "el chico hace piropo con ella", as in "the boy is flirting with her." Usually it's a compliment to a beautiful girl they've never met before on the street. Yuppy shakes her head and smiles when she talks about how quickly the men like to move here :) I guess that's why I see heads sticking out of car windows when I'm walking down the street and hear "MI AMORRR!" as they pass...

tener onda- to be cool. It can describe a person or thing. Like if you don't get along with someone or don't know someone very well, no tienes onda con ellos (you're not cool with them)

que lindo- an expression that basically means how cool, cute, precious, etc. something is

Things I Miss

1. My comfy bed.

2. Benihana rice (it'd probably help if I cancelled the emails I get from them about specials...) Also, what I would give for some waffles right now. I hardly even eat those at home, so I don't know why this phenomenon is occurring. I also think it was a grave mistake to not bring a giant stash of m&m's from the states for when those particular cravings arise.

3. Not having to inhale pollution constantly, from both cars and cigarettes (after so many instances of getting smoke blown in my face, the thought has begun to cross my mind that the smoke went inside this person's internal organs and back out again and it just disgusts me that much more)

4. Constant and secure access to money and a car

5. My shows, Nashville and Teen Mom ;(

*I only miss 5 things so far and they're minor. I'd say that's pretty good!

I think that's all I've got for you guys right now. Can't wait for the Mendoza trip that begins tomorrow, wish me luck!