New Experiences

Yesterday was Dia de la Madre (Mother's Day) in Argentina and we didn't have our regular afternoon activities at the church. They were cancelled at the last minute which is common down here. (Can we say flexibility?) Cristina, one of the other ELCA volunteers, lives about an hour away with a host family. Her family invited me to an asado (I'll explain later) to celebrate Mother's Day since I don't have a host family. I wasn't going to make it to the asado because of activities at church. Since the activities were cancelled, I decided to go (at the last minute) to the asado and I had to catch the bus ASAP to make it in time. I threw my overnight stuff in my book bag and ran to catch the bus.

In the past 36 hours, I have experienced a lot of firsts. This was my first time on the bus by myself, my first trip to Jose C Paz (the town were Cristina lives), my first asado, my first time changing from bus to train by myself, and my first time going from Grand Bourg (the town were another volunteer, Chris, lives) to Ballester by myself.

I knew which bus I had to take to get to Station Caseros to get to San Miguel to meet Cristina, but I had no idea where to get off. There are no announcements of stops on the buses and the buses only stop if someone rings the bell or someone at the bus stop indicates for the bus to stop. I got on the bus and verified with the driver I was on the correct bus. I asked the driver to help me with where to get off. He was very nice and showed me where to get off and gave me directions to walk to the train station. I got to the station and took the train to San Miguel (the trains are easy). I met up with Cristina and her family and rode to the asado with them.

An asado a cookout/BBQ where they grill large quanities of all types of meat. We arrived about an hour late and everyone was very welcoming. We were brought some food from the grill and put it on our plates. I had an idea of what it was, but was told to try it before they told me what it was. It was intestines and kidney (either of chicken or cow, not sure which). The intestines were crispy and salty on the outside and mushy on the inside. Kind of coated my mouth and were chewy. The kidney was really dense and chewy. It looked similar to sausage (I thought), but didn't taste like it. Tasted like meat. This was another first, eating intestines and kidney. After those parts, we were given a piece of beef and chicken breast which were very good.

After eating, all the adults had a Tequila shot (even the grandmother!). Then, all the males played futbol (soccer). Next we were given popsicles. A little later, ice cream and later, cake. The food just kept coming! While we were eating the cake, a couple of the family members pulled out guitars and started singing. Everyone crowed around and listed to the music - clapping and singing along. It was so much fun being with the family and feeling that type of community.

I spoke and heard so much Spanish yesterday that my head hurt by the time I went to bed. I could feel myself fading as it became more and more difficult for me to focus and comprehend the conversations I was a part of. Great practice though!

I stayed the night in Jose C Paz at Cristina's and today we went to visit Chris in Grand Bourg for the afternoon. I traveled home by myself from Grand Bourg for the first time this evening. I took the train part way (to Villa Adelina) and then had to take the bus to Ballester. I had 2 options for the bus. I found the bus stop for one and waited for about 15 minutes only to find out from the bus driver it was the wrong bus! I went to a kiosko and asked someone where the bus stop was and they directed me to the other side of the train tracks. I had the correct bus line, just in the wrong direction. I finally caught the correct bus and made it home.

I was so nervous yesterday about traveling by myself on the bus and finding the Station Caseros because the bus doesn't stop right at the station. I had to walk a couple blocks and I wasn't familiar with the town. It was my first time on the bus alone and I hadn't taken the bus in over a month. I usually just take the train to the Capital. I was very proud of myself yesterday for finding my way to meet Cristina. I was also proud of myself for using people around me to get directions. It has been a great weekend so far, but I'm exhausted!