#9 Villa Maria - Highlights and Despedidas

My 7 weeks teaching and living in Villa María came to an end on April 29^th and the time had absolutely flown by!  It was a great 7 weeks and I was sad to see them come to an end; marking the end of my time teaching in Argentina...and...technically the end of my year abroad! This is really sad news but here’s some highlights from Villa María which will always stay with me!

A Family Get Together

On my first weekend we drove an hour to Córdoba capital to meet the extended family for a big celebration of birthdays!  I was a bit unsure of how my Spanish would hold out but the afternoon was really fun and filled with chit-chat, empanadas – small pasties with a whole range of fillings – birthday cake and champagne!  I was still very much a stranger to my hosts but I was welcomed as part of the family and the day reminded me hugely of my own yearly family get-togethers, which I had unfortunately missed out on this year.

Family birthday celebration

Peanut Factory

One Friday I joined one of the teachers in his weekly lessons at the factory and offices of the international peanut company, Manisel.  Afterwards I donned a sexy white overall, hairnet and helmet and got a tour around the factory.  We started by seeing an enormous pile of field-fresh peanuts towering in a dark warehouse to them all bagged up according to size and weight and being loaded on to a shipping container headed for the UK! 40 days by sea it would take to arrive; looks like it would beat me there then!

Brunch

Two of my fellow teachers showed me how to do weekend brunch in Argentina and took me to a stylish independent tea house where I dug into coffee and homemade ricotta cake.

Brunch

Home cooking - Indian curry

I may have mentioned a few too many times that the most popular takeaway in Britain is the Indian curry as I found myself cooking a Chicken Jalfrezi, for the first time ever, for my host family...plus guests!  Argentina doesn’t do spicy food so spices were collected from far and wide and I followed a recommended recipe to the letter – though not so many of the green chillies!  Nevertheless, the end product was unbelievably spicy; even for me - this dish was lethal to any typical Argentine!  Pouring off all the liquid - 3 big bowlfuls of it – the curry finally calmed down and, I am thought to believe, the dinner was a success!  Though whether these guests will choose an Indian curry again I’m not so sure...

Despedidas (send-offs)

Through my last teaching week at Rainbow I collected a pile of the most endearing hand written letters and drawings from many of my students.  Gifts of food, an incredible handmade and personalised tea box, a beautiful mate and bombilla and Argentine silver and stone jewellery from the students, teachers and my host family!  This was the Christmas I had missed!

On the last day of teaching, the lessons were filled with despedida celebrations where students produced homemade cake, biscuits and drinks and an adolescent class even sang the Argentine despedida song used to send people off. 

A musical end

My final class of the day was filled with music.  Two of my talented students played the guitar (I am now committed to learning the guitar this year...and proving it!) and keyboard brilliantly whilst the other three of us sang along, belting out the English songs; it was, of course, still an English lesson!  I gave them my own rendition of a popular Argentine song (Nunca Quise, Intoxicados) which caused much amusement.  Apparently I sounded German!

Needless to say, I look back at my time in Villa María with fond memories and I hope that the people I met and worked with enjoyed the experience as much as me.  Most of all thanks to my wonderful, welcoming and lovely host family! :D

#8 Dropping into an Argentine State School

My two placements here in Argentina have been in private English institutes and in my final week in Villa María I went to a local secondary state school which teaches ‘technical’ subjects: Electronics, Electricity, Mechanics – subjects I know nothing about!  I joined my supervisor/host Mum to drop in on her regular English lessons and show my face and native language to the lads!

Tuesday morning and we walked into the large, white-wash building with tall ceilings and thick brick walls that kept any little heat from the sun firmly outside!  I walked into the classroom to be met by 24, 18 year old guys sitting slouched around the walls of the classroom, Spanish echoing round the bare room. 

Short, foreign and female - I felt distinctly out of place here! I was pretty intimidated and nervous to say the least! 

Anyhow, 80 minutes later and despite the wide range of levels of English - from nothing to intermediate - we had successfully learnt a lot about each other and were leaving with smiles on our faces. 

Jokes and laughter from unexpected answers, such as that I enjoy fernet and Coke; hurriedly whispered translations to friends who hadn’t understood; moments of absolute silence where all eyes, even from the less-interested ones at the back, were focused on my every word; and the amusement of this English girl reeling off phrases of Castellaño in the final few minutes made the lesson, the first of several, pretty special and amusing for all!

For many of the students it was their first time meeting a European, even foreigner.   I heard that several of the guys had promised my supervisor that they would study harder or were really keen to attend a private institute! What a brilliant surprise - though whether this follows through I will never know! 

The great thing was that I had influenced them in some way, something which can be very hard to realise when you’re on the inside.

Whilst the classrooms in the school were...err...less than spectacular, the workshops were adorned with electrical technology and equipment that I wouldn’t even know where to begin with! 

Four sparkling new cars sat around waiting to be played with and an old banger sat as an empty metal shell soon to be revamped with the latest engine and wiring.  What a playground; isn’t school great!

#7 Villa María - teaching placement no.2

The bus pulled out from Retiro bus terminal, Buenos Aires, leaving the bustling capital behind it and taking me to a new and unknown destination in the province of Córdoba to start my second placement of teaching in Argentina.

After 550km of dark roads and a disturbed night of being paranoid I might sleep through my stop, we arrived into Villa María.  Wow...couldn't really get much more silent and sleepy; though for 6am on a dark Monday morning, I thought I should probably give it more of a chance!

Despite the early hour - when normally I would barely be able to muster a polite 'hola' - I was generously welcomed into a beautiful home and shown what would be my own personal bedroom and bathroom for the next 7 weeks.  Oh, the luxury!  Having not had my own space for many months and been living out of a bag with a very limited variety of clothes for the past 3 months, this setup, plus being reunited with everything I owned in Argentina, was quite exciting!

Now to set the scene of what has been my life these past 5 weeks.

I am working in Rainbow Academia de Ingles, supporting the teachers in their lessons by bringing aspects of English culture and native language to the lessons.

From this point of view, my responsibilities are slightly different to how they were in Comodoro where I was the teacher who planned and took the lessons of some weekly classes, set the homework and, not forgetting, disciplined the students too - yes, I do mean you, Ped...
...nah, I won't mention any names!

The small, stylish and recently refurbished institute has 4 incredibly welcoming and outgoing teachers who I work with, plus the director (my supervisor) and a stream of enthusiastic students from children to professional adults.

I am living with my supervisor, her husband and their old dog Frida - aka ovejita (little sheep) for her curly white hair - and, because the institute is tucked neatly at the back of the house, from my bedroom window I can hear the kids running through the garden to class.  This has been unbelievably helpful when I wake up 6 minutes before class starts!  Although, it also means that sometimes I don't leave the house and can pass my day without realising the strength of the late summer sun or the autumn leaves starting to drop, let alone daily life around me.

Villa María riverside

Having said that, just 2 blocks (streets) from the house is a gushing river, bordered by lush green grass, beautiful trees, benches and outdoor gyms which provide entertainment for everyone.

Personally, it's a great spot to run or read and book and drink mate, but equally people choose to fish, camp - with or without a tent -, light up an asado (BBQ), or drive their motorbikes along it so as to avoid the road - each to their own; though being fair that was only one occasion!

#6 New Years Eve in Córdoba...?

Sitting on a bus at the start of 20 hour journey from El Bolsón to El Chalten it seems fitting to begin this post this way:

The past three weeks we have crossed over Argentina towards the cordillera and headed southwards through Chile and Argentina.  For merely 24hours in one place I have done journeys of over 6 hours on either side – something I would have ruled out as a ridiculous idea before I came to Argentina...but maybe this year I will return a humbled and educated individual that ‘saw the light’ during the many hours spent contemplating life from a bus window and, therefore, no longer think that a 5 hour drive to the Lake District is too far for a week away...

Yeah, on second thoughts, that’s not going to happen!

(NA - by the time we had arrived it had been a 24 hour bus journey, including a little stop to..er...fix the bus!)

General Villegas -> Córdoba

Jess and I had heard a lot about the city of Córdoba, the second largest after Buenos Aires and one of the most popular places of study for Argentine and international students.  Surely, the second perfect place to see in 2016!  Arriving at midday on the 30^th to the recommended ‘lively’ hostel, we were surprised to find it was really rather empty and so set about making a plan so as not to find ourselves asleep in our dorm come midnight!  However, much investigation brought us to the conclusion that nowhere would be open.  Of course, this is Argentina and people don’t go out until 2am, earliest!  For most people, midnight would be spent inside the home and the party wouldn’t begin until after that...leaving us travellers, well, rather stranded!

Anyway, back to the city....

True to the rumours, Córdoba was a beautiful place and reminded me of European cities (which I know realise are more special and unique than I used to give them credit for) with its leafy peatonal area, elegantly classic town buildings and cathedral and array of interesting museums and art galleries...all of which were shut!  We really hadn’t given much thought to the idea that New Years is an international holiday and so found ourselves making the most of the select bits of culture we found on the streets.  Unable to enter the art gallery we stood for 40 minutes on the street analysing the only piece of artwork on display outside and then concluded our cultural education with a Starbucks vanilla iced latte and 6” turkey sub from Subway! 

Córdoba -> La Rioja & 2016

Realising that New Years Eve could be a bit of a lost cause in Argentina we decided to move on in the hope that our first day in 2016 could be spent seeing the stunning and secluded Talampaya National Park in the north of Mendoza province, just a short bus ride from La Rioja.

December 31^st, 11pm and Jess and I were sitting in a honeymoon suite with peeling wallpaper, a smashed window and a side table covered with a holey, breadcrumb coated tablecloth feeling rather out of place as the family of the hostel owners gathered around their dining table in the pretty courtyard outside for their festivities.  Tummies grumbling, we ventured out into the town in hope of a restaurant, bar, cafe...anything!  Half an hour before midnight we skulked past the family with carrier bags in hands:  2016 would be seen in with a micro-waved 20 peso pancho (hotdog), can of beer, variety of slightly-too old snacks and dodgey wi-fi that meant we managed the first 10 minutes of ‘Starsky & Hutch’ before giving up.  It was hilarious!  We had food, (a) friend, a bed and good humour – the four key parts I now think constitute a good New Years Eve!

Happy New Years!

There was only one, slight, downer on the situation.  The National Park was in fact a 4hour bus journey away.  Longer than expected but do able; if the ticket office had been open in time for us (New Years Day is still a national holiday!) to get the earlier bus in order to do the national park that day. 

As much as I wanted to see the national park we were wasting precious money and time and we had to be out of the country within the next 5 days and still wanted to see Mendoza. Getting ourselves out of this sticky mess we bought the next bus to Mendoza city; though that still meant spending the next 12 hours waiting in the sleepy city of La Rioja where we really got to know the menu of the most posh - and only open - hotel in town! 

Hello 2016!

#5 One chapter ends and the next begins with...an Argentine Christmas

After saying a sad goodbye to my host family, I boarded the plane at Comodoro Rivadavia to head to Buenos Aires to start the next section of my year abroad.

I had spent four months in Comodoro and it had shown me just how much can happen and how much you can learn in four months!  For anyone who wants to be challenged and stretched in new ways then I can’t recommend living this type of experience more.

Anyway, leaving Comodoro, I also left the idea of work and teaching firmly in the back of my mind to think about the next 12 weeks of travelling round Chile and Argentina; first though...Christmas.

Christmas

At the start of the programme, plans for Christmas in Argentina had always been a topic on my mind.  I quickly clocked those other teachers that would be staying here for the festivities and so Jess (from the US and also teaching English) and I found ourselves planning together how to make Christmas the best we could.

Christmas is quite a different festival in Argentina to what it is in Britain and the States.  I presumed that, being a Catholic country, Argentina would celebrate Christmas to the same extent – if not more – than we do in our Western countries; I was very wrong.  I left Comodoro 10 days before Christmas Day and Argentine friends still seemed rather unsure as to how they would spend Christmas.  This seemed a bit odd to me - but maybe that is more because my family, me included, are super organised!

At the start of December, Jess and I received an invitation from the Argentine friend of a English-teaching-friend based in a town in Buenos Aires Province.  On December 23^rd we took the 8hour bus to General Villegas and were welcomed into her home by her and her family with more warmth and generosity than we could have ever expected.  I felt incredibly lucky. 

The parents, and two sons (8 and 18years) and daughter (25years) lived in a rustic and homely bungalow that looked out onto a large grassy garden with a swimming pool and tinkling wind chimes at the edge of the town.  I couldn’t have been in a place so different to Comodoro!  Green, flat campo stretching for miles, constant background noises of birds and insects and, most of all, temperatures averaging 35˚C meaning I practically lived in my bikini that week!

Christmas Eve merges with Christmas Day

For me and Jess and our friends, Christmas Eve was spent in the garden by the pool, chatting, sipping the cold fruity version of mate, ­­­­terere ,and generally relaxing in a way I hadn’t for what felt like years!  Overall though, I felt very, very un-Christmassy!  The parents of the family spent the majority of the day preparing an amazing assortment of cold foods which were to be eaten that night.

It’s all about the grub...

At 11pm, Jess and I joined the family of five plus their Aunty and gathered around the set red-clothed dining table. 

The Christmas Dinner menu:

·        Torres del Pancaque – literally a tower of pancakes separated by mayonnaise, cheese, ham

·        Pionono – a long sweet and savoury Swiss-roll filled with mayonnaise, cheese, tomato, lettuce

·        chicken meat wrapped around eggs, olives  a sweet dried fruit and then cooked slowly on the parilla (BBQ)

·        hard boiled eggs stuffed with a home-made tuna pate

·        mini pastry cups stuffed with home-made chicken and pepper pate topped with an olive

It was all very tasty food but when I get back to the UK in July, even though it will be summer, I will be cooking an English Christmas dinner that’s for sure!

[From conversations with other Argentine’s it seems that a big asado – a very meaty BBQ typically cooked over an open fire – is more common and traditional for Christmas dinner.]

The main course was over and some sweet foods were put out for dessert: chocolate covered raisins, sugar-coated nuts, a sweet bread and then at midnight we all held our classes of recently-popped Champagne, or non-alcoholic equivalent, and wished each other ‘Feliz Navidad’, kissing each family member on the cheek - the common Argentine greeting.

Papa Noel pays a visit

Soon after midnight the 8 year old was ripping open his presents from Papa Noel, that had magically appeared in the corner of the room in the 3 minutes that his auntie had taken him out the room!  The older son and daughter also received a few presents but it appears that presents are mainly for the young children of the family.

Completely surprised, Jess and I were presented with two lovely wrapped parcels!  We couldn’t quite believe it having obviously expected a present-less Christmas!  The family had given us each a bilingual book all about the main sights along the Ruta 40 which runs the length of Argentina.  An amazingly thoughtful and generous gesture from people we had met only the day before.

Partaaayyyy time

A mayor difference between an Argentine Christmas and a British Christmas is that on Christmas Day early morning all the young people go out to a big party!  In Britain, I couldn’t imagine a Christmas Day without the silent roads and an evening spent inside, feeling stuffed and sleepy!

Anyhow, the meal, presents and group photos over, me, Jess, the elder daughter and our friend headed to one of the big outdoor parties happening in the centre of the town.  Arriving at 3:30am there were already quite a lot of people dancing and chatting in front of the dj stage and for the next 2 hours South American pop music, Cumbia and Reggaeton boomed from the speakers.  We were quite obviously the foreigners here!  Without even the faintest tune of popular European or American music, I expected to not know any of the songs.  To my surprise, I recognised a lot of them, proving to myself how much I had been subconsciously learning the Argentine popular culture!

People were still dancing as it got lighter and at 6am, with the sun up, the dj called the party to a close.  Unashamed to say it, Jess (who doesn’t even like dancing and parties , poor girl) and I, were pretty happy to be heading home to bed.  As much as I do like some of the popular South American music and the spirit, dedication and confidence in the dancing of the men and women, (British guys could definitely learn a thing or two!) I very much miss going out to hear European music.

The rest of Christmas Day was spent sleeping, sun-bathing, sweating, skyping the family in England and eating left-overs!

Not my typical Christmas, and not a particularly typical ‘christmassy’ one, but one I won’t forget quickly!  A lovely invitation from a wonderful family that shared their home and traditions with us at a time that is probably the biggest celebration of the year in the UK.