Feliz Navidad! Argentina Style...

Merry Christmas Everyone! Or should I say - Feliz Navidad! I have to say that my Christmas holidays have been some of the strangest and most different holidays I have ever experienced. When people say that cultures can be different, they really mean it! It has been a fun getting to know how my family celebrates Christmas here but I have to say I did miss you guys a bit.

Anyways, I got back from vacacioning in Concordia on the 22nd to find that Paula had already decorated the Christmas tree and put up decorations around the house. Unlike our tree normally is, this tree was fake and all the ornamentes were evenly placed and color cordinated. I was also wonderfully surprised to find that we had gotten an early Christmas present - air conditioning in the living room! Yay! Given that the holidays where passing by with 90 and 100 degree days, I was wanting that AC pretty bad!

On the 23rd we tackled the task of cleaning my grandparents pool. After a year without use, it was looking pretty gross. We spent hours scrubbing and rubbing and pumping out the yucky water and finally we had to use acid to get the green salt and algea growing on the bottom off. But in the end, it turned out nice and clean and was going to be ready to swim in by Christmas day.

On the 24th we started preparing all the food and desserts for that night. We made fruit salad, Shirley Triffle, many different salads and dressings, baked potatoes, and we purchased chicken and empanadas because nobody wanted to do any serious cooking. We went over to my grandparent´s house and put the tables outside in the patio. We were going to be twenty in total so we need a LOT of space. Thankfully it was a nice night - not to hot and not too many mosquitos! At about ten thirty that night we all arrived for dinner. We feasted until midnight when the fireworks started going off all over the city and we all toaste and wished eachother Merry Christmas! My little cousin, Santiago, still believes that Papa Noel (Santa Claus) comes to visit so we had him go outside with me and some cousins while the rest of the family put all the presents under the tree. And surprise!- Santa had shown up! My family had told me that they didn´t go gifts (which normally they don´t) but since Santiago was getting some, Santa also brought some things for the rest of the family. It was fun to have Santa show up when I wasn´t excepting anything at all!

The night carried on with cake, coffee, and lots of photos! I didn´t end up getting home until four in the morning and I was exhausted! But since it was Christmas day, I woke up at one in the afternoon to mama shouting "Tengo hambre! Vamos a la casa de los abuelos!" Which means, "I am hungry! We are going to grandma and grandpa´s house!" which also had the hidden meaning that I actually had to get out of bed. :) We all had lunch together again and then spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool. It was pretty weird to be swimming on Christmas...but I guess there are weirder things in the world! I also got to talk to my family in the U.S. that afternoon on Skype. I had been missing them quite a lot so it was nice to "see" them for a little while. As much as it is incredible to be here, I just can´t help missing my family and traditions on such a special day like Christmas.

What really threw me for a loop was when my sisters and cousins decided they were going to go out - ON CHRISTMAS NIGHT! I had heard that it was really popular to go out to a bar or out clubbing on Christmas but I didn´t really BELIEVE it until I was doing it! At about eleven that night we met at a cafe type bar in town. It was all outside with load music and flashing lights. It practically felt like a disco only that we were also eating pizza! At about two a.m. we all headed over to a disco called "Music Bar" and danced the night away until five when mama had set the cerfew. I can tell you, it was one of the most mind boggleing things I have done during my year here - dancing at clubs and Christmas just don´t go together! But I guess that is why I am here - to learn how this culture is different and unique!

Now I am just trying to prepare myself for New Year´s Eve which they say will be about the same kind of thing! After December is over, I just might sleep right up until I have to get on the plane! I am so exhausted and I just got threw the first round of the holiday spirit! All I know is that Christmas was wonderful. It was fun to be able to see how my family here celebrates it and be able to take part in all the traditions.

Only 39 days left in Argentina! And only 40 days until I am back in Washington! Chau for now!

Crossing the Andes to Chile!

Last week I had the incredible opportunity to visit Chile with my family! Normally they vacation in Mar Del Plata but this year they decided to visit The Serena in Chile!!! We left early Sunday morning with what we thought would be about a seven hour drive ahead of us. What we didn´t count on was the following: when we arrived at the Argentinian customs, my papa realized that he didn´t have the most up-to-date insurance card in the truck. Given that is was necessary in order to cross the border, we spent almost two hours calling numbers and trying to find someone awake on a Sunday morning who could fax us a copy of the receipt saying that we had actually paid. Eventually they got in touch with a friend of a friend who works for our insurance company and we were able finally to get across the border. Easy going from there, right? Not quite- although my parents had calculated out the mileage of the trip and based our travel time off that, they had never actually driven the road before. So when we got to the pass that would take us up over the Andes Mountains we were all horrified to find that it was a pot-hole filled, one lane only, no guard rail, dirt road. So for the next six hours or more we were rolling along at about 25 or 30 miles per hour MAX. Surprisingly (and thank God for this!) I wasn´t actually scared of the height. Which should have scared the crap out of me because we were just feet from tumbling down a mountain. The only actual problem we encounted on that stretch of road was the fact that we hadn´t thought to bring any sort of lunch food. We were stuck eating cookies, media lunas, and apples until six that afternoon! You can imagine that I was pretty hungry by the end of it! The Chile border crossing was easy (searched the car, gave me my stamp, and registered us in the computer) and we were officially in another country!

Imagine finding a lake at 4,200 meters...

We actually made it all the way to 4800 meters!

The next week was incredible! We rented a cabin on the waterfront and just had to cross the street to get to the beach! We actually only had two days of sun which were spent tanning and swimming in the ocean (Did you know that I actually can tan?) and the rest of the week was spent going for runs in the sand and exploring the Chilean culture. What really stood out to me the most was the colors and placements of the houses. I have seen "south american" cultures in movies where all the houses are packed together on mountains with bright colors every other house and steep roads that are almost impossible to drive up, but I never really imagined that they were actually like that. It was so beautiful in such a strange way that I just spent hours taking photos and looking at the town.

What was really fun was analizing all the differences between Argentina and Chile. My sisters had also never been to Chile before so we were all in the same boat. We had challenges going to see if we could spot Chilean boys who were hotter than Argentinians. Which, by the way, was impossible since there was not one! I guess I picked the right country. :)  We also noticed the differences in clothing styles and how they still used boots and hadn´t switched over to sandles yet like us. We spent hours shopping and looking at electronics since they are cheaper in Chile. We also went on walks on the beach in the early morning hours. There is nothing like the sweet smell of the ocean water and seaweed. But in fact, I missed San Juan´s dry air. My hair puffed up into a frizzy mess and the air felt heavy and trapping with all the humidity. How I am going to go back to Deming is a mistery to me!

Anyways, the whole week was fantastic and it was super fun to spend time with my family. Paula´s boyfriend, Federico, also came with us which was nice. Sometimes when it is just family we can get on eachother´s nerves a bit. I hope everyone is enjoying the Holidays and not missing me too much! Less than two months before I get back! Chau for now!