Here are the strangest things about Argentina:
(1) Children live with their parents into their 30s, and sometimes with their boyfriends/husbands (that's not the weird part). The weird part is since most families live in apartments, their kids need a place to have sex. So, they have actual hotels called "telos" that rent by the hour. They are not considered brothels; people aren't ashamed to use them; the telos have different themes and different packages (with toys or without; with a mirror on the ceiling or without, etc.). Public displays of affection are also very common in public. Like people make out on crowded park benches, etc. everywhere all the time (because they aren't going to do it in their homes around their parents).
(2) There are many intersections here with no traffic lights or street signs. Cars decide for themselves who goes when where. And they are major intersections. Until now, Italy was the scariest place to me in terms of being a pedestrian or being in a car. Now, it is officially Argentina. Pedestrians in no way shape or form have the right of way here. And without traffic lights or signs to tell you when to cross the street, you literally are hoping and praying not to get killed every time you cross the street.
(3) Showering is quite the obstacle here. I am staying in a nice hostel (my own room and bathroom). Essentially the bathrooms have one drain in the middle of the room. There is a shower with no drain that leaks out into that drain. So, when you are done showering, you bathroom literally has water everywhere. There is a little squeegy thing that you use to push the water into the drain. So, my system (besides taking the fewest showers possible) is to get up (and it is always freezing cold in the morning), run the water until it turns warm, then take a shower that is long enough to really warm up the whole bathroom; then I turn off the water and spend a few minutes sqeegying water into the drain. Finally I go back out into the freezing room and get dressed.
(4) Cat calls. They do it all over the world. But here it is ridiculous. Men constantly catcall women from cars and on feet. We had two boys following for around three minutes going on nonstop with offensive things in Spanish (which Sally translated for me). They assumed we didn't know what they were saying. In hindsight, I wish Sally had turned around and started speaking in Spanish. They also said all the few and "cool" words that they knew in English like "muchos sex," "pretty girls," etc., etc., etc. It was truly a ridiculous experience.
(5) There are stray dogs everywhere. They are mangy and yet well behaved. They will follow you but they won't really bark or jump on you or do any of the obnoxious things dogs in the US do. And they actually really understand "salí (big joke is that this sounds like "Sally" with the accent on the y)." That's means "stop" or "go away." Sadly, they probably know this from people saying it and abusing them. But, when I say "salí" the dogs leave me alone here.
(6) Siesta - people follow it here. Everything shuts down from around 12 or 1 until 5pm and then reopens again for the evening.
(7) Dinner here is literally usually at 10:30 pm. Lunch is at like 2:30. If you go to a restaurant at 7 it is probably closed, and at 8pm it is empty (which is just how I like it).
(8) They have deep drainage ditches that line the streets. They are called "acequias." They are huge holes in the sidewalk that you try not to all into (pictures to come).
Some things I have done:
(1) Toured all over Mendoza.
(2) Drank mate, which is an herb drink like tea that has a special instrument, cup, straw, and is a really long story to write about (probably will talk about it another time).
(3) Gone on a bike and wine tour. You ride a bike to different wineries and take tours. I am now an expert on wine.
(4) Sat in cafés for hours talking to Sally.
(5) Had dinner with Sally's family. They are amazing! Their English was pretty bad, and my Spanish was pretty bad (though Italian helps me understand a lot), but we had an absolute blast!
(6) Met and socialized with some of Sally's friends.
(7) Read one out of five of my books
(8) Eaten some strange food.
(9) Learned how to say some necessary things in Spanish.
(10) Shopped at artisan fairs and bought really cool things for really cheap.
Things I will be doing:
(1) Going to a tango show tonight
(2) Going on a mountain tour tomorrow that will go past all sorts of cool thins (and I will tell you about it after we do it.
(3) I have no idea yet what I am doing in Buenos Aires yet. I leave Tuesday.
So, that's enough for one blog. If you are still reading, I'm impressed. I am going to go get ice cream now and give Sally her computer back :-)
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