<--My host parents, Cristian, Cristina and I
The trip began on Tuesday night and on Thursday at lunch, my parents asked me if I would like to come with them. I knew I would be the only teenager going (everyone in Rotary is in their late fifties to mid seventies), but I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to see parts of Argentina that I hadn't been to before.
We set off at 10:30 PM on Tuesday and 36 of us drove the twelve hours to Mendoza in a chartered bus. Once we got there, I was starving but by the time we checked into the hotel and wandered the streets of Mendoza in search of a good restaurant, it was two hours later and I was famished. All I really wanted was some pasta or a good piece of chicken, but I knew that my dad would never forgive me for going to a nice Argentenian restaurant and not ordering their world-renowned beef. In the end, I was very glad I chose the beef loin because it was absolutely delicous!!! The meat was incredibly tender and juicy--and I am not even that big a red meat fan. But what was even more incredible was that my meal cost USD$11, easily one third the price of what the same meal would have cost me in the United States.
<--The group I ate lunch with sitting in Mendoza's plaza
That afternoon was completely devoted to shopping. I swear, I have never seen a more avid group of shoppers in my life. As soon as the shops opened in the afternoon (Argentina closes its stores from 2--5 because they take naps) all thirty-five Rotarians spread throughout Mendoza's center, hunting through leather shops, peering in shoe stores, scrutinizing every store window and mumbling about prices. Needless to say after three and a half hours of walking all over Mendoza I was exhausted and went back to the hotel to rest before dinner.
That night we got back from dinner late, around 1:30 AM. I'm not sure if you all have picked up on this after reading my blog for eight months now, but South Americans' schedule is about two to three hours behind ours, especially when it comes to mealtimes. Breakfast is before school or work, which is usually between 7:30 and 8 on weekdays and around 11 on weekends. Lunch is usually around 2 or 3 and dinner between 8 and 10 PM. So we left the hotel in Mendoza to look for a good restaurant at 10 PM. Now, I thought Chilean restaurants were slow but Argentenians definitely beat them. Our pizzas and sandwiches took around 40 minutes to come and only because the Rotarians began banging their knives and forks on the tables, singing and complaining simultaneously. The one good thing is that the pizzas were excellent since Argentineans are from Italian descent and are well known for their pastas and pizzas.
The next day we headed out early in the morning to drive to Rio Cuarto, a city about 5 hours away from Mendoza. We were welcomed on the side of the road first by a handful of Rotarians and the local firefighter squad.
<--Our welcome crew in Rio Cuarto
My host mom and a bunch of other lively Chilean Rotarians climbed up the firefighter truck and road in the open air in the back the rest of the five kilometers into Rio Cuarto.
After checking into our hotel which was right across from the town square, we had a few hours to rest before our big welcome dinner. The dinner was excellent but the company was even better. The average age for the Rio Cuarto Rotary Club was seventy-six, but the majority were so lively and energetic that they seemed decades younger. An eighty-two year old man lovingly called Bicho ("bug") and the woman at my table, Marta, were particularly vivacious and energetic. Marta's raspy voice carried across the whole table and was telling stories and jokes the entire meal. These events, however, have a very formal protocol that can be very tiring. They said "welcome" and "thank you for having us" fifty times throughout the night and at one-thirty in the morning, I was very happy to board our bus again and head back to the hotel.
The next two days in Rio Cuarto were very much like the first one--we had lunches and dinners with the Rotary Club there and the free time that was left was mostly dedicated to shopping. There was a special ceremony on Friday morning when the Argentenians dedicated a section of a park to the city of Chillan, Chile in which--and I kid you not--FOUR elderly people fainted.
<--Dedicating the Chillan plaza in Mendoza's park
It was fairly hot out and during the whole hour-long ceremony everyone was standing. It was very lucky that one of the Chilean Rotarians is a doctor and the captain of the firefighter squad was there because they were very much needed. After the third fainting, I whispered to one of the women next to me, "Wow, they are just dropping like flies!". Apparently all of the Rotarians thought this comment was hilarious because when the ceremony was over and we piled back into the bus to go to lunch, at least five Rotarians chuckled, "Están cayendo como moscas!" when they passed me.
A few years ago, the Rio Cuarto Rotarians came to visit Chillan and they had stayed in Rotarians' houses. So one evening, those Argentenians invited the Chileans who had hosted them to their hosues for dinner.
<--My dinner group
As the tagalong American teenager, I got invited to go to a house, too. I went to Bicho's house and it was so nice to see a typical Argentenian house and meet his wife and daughter.
<--Easily two of the most characteristic people I have ever met, Bicho from Argentina and Enrique (a.k.a. Quique) from Chillan
Bicho really impressed me because in spite of his eighty-two years, he is as full of life and sprightly as an eager eleven-year-old. His fidgety movements and bubbling laughter were infectious, and it was impossible to be bored. Bicho is one of those rare people that truly applies the Rotary message of "service above self" to every aspect of his life. He told me that before he
joined Rotary fifty-seven years ago, he researched the organization thoroughly so as to know exactly what it was that he was getting into. He read every article, book, and pamphlet about Rotary that he could get his hands on and has the most extensive, organized collection of Rotary materials I have ever seen. His Rotarian magazine collection includes every issue since 1952 and is annotated and indexed, so that if he ever wants to reference an article, he can access it in less than a minute.
<--The Rio Cuarto Rotarians singing a farewell song, led by the vivacious Marta
Our farewell dinner was especially touching because it was clear that although this trip could have been a stuffy, rehearsed, empty visit, it was the exact opposite. My favorite moment was when at the very end of the dinner we all stood up, holding hands, and sang a Rotary song. It was the epitome of Rotarianism that I had ever seen--these two countries that had been on the brink of war in 1979 were now singing and holding hands and eating pizza.
<--Me singing "Sweet Baby James" by James Taylor. The sharing of cultures continued...
The biggest downside to the trip was definitely the return journey home. I spent all of Easter Sunday on a bus traveling back to Chillan. We left Rio Cuarto at 6:30 AM and pulled into my driveway at 2:45 AM the next day. It was exhausting, but during our forty-five minute break in Santiago I got to meet my "host sister" Tamara, her husband José Manuel and their two little kids, Cote and Trini. They were so cute and reminded me of the way my family was sixteen years ago--parents trying to enjoy a meal and conversation while running after little kids in rest stops.
So even though I was thoroughly bored at times and had longed for company my own age, I was really happy that I got the chance to go on the trip. Now I have a better idea of Argentenian culture and can manage five languages now: English, French, Spanish, Chilean and Argentenian.
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