Mendoza Maravillosa

Hi guysss!

Time for another update. Referring to the title, I have been exploring Argentina’s nightlife the past weeks! For those who know me well, you know it was about time…

- If you are related to me and over 50, please skip the next four paragraphs -

First of all I’m continuing with the salsa classes and I am having the time of my life learning more every class and night out. Wednesday nights the teachers all go to a salsa bar and because in the meanwhile they got to know me, they often ask me to dance and they give non-stop instructions. Still my biggest problem in their opinion is my “fear” of being really close and looking them straight in the eyes. I guess it does scare me a little when they pull me so close that only our lips are not touching. Can you imagine?

Last Saturday I went to a disco for the first time. I went with a friend which is a cousin of a friend I have in Belgium, and he introduced me immediately to all of his friends. It’s pretty pathetic but I was so happy to finally meet some girls my age. To be honest, it’s really easy to meet men in Argentina, but to meet girls is another story. So of course I immediately asked them where they go shopping, hahaha! It’s been shopping rehab for me until now, and I’m starting to show withdrawal symptoms... They promised me to take me and we had an amazing night. The disco was pretty big, it had a few different rooms. We even got into the VIP, which normally has a price of €30 (the other areas €6 for girls, €9 for guys). In Argentina you can get anything done just by having a good network. The funny thing was that they were showing video’s of Tomorrowland all night on the decoration screens! Even funnier was the fact that they didn’t play the type of music they play on Tomorrowland. But in my opinion this was better, a mix of commercial house, elektro latino, raggaeton and of course a lot of cumbia! If you don’t know what cumbia is you should definitely look it up, even though maybe it’s a genre you should learn to love.

On Wednesday the same people invited me to a student party they organized to raise money for a school trip. Everything was a bit more informal, even though Argentinean girls always would never go out in jeans it seems, they always look really sexy wearing short skirts or latex leggings and really high heels. I decided not to cooperate on that last one (and probably the other ones either) since I’m obviously always the tallest girl in the bunch. Here goes the best story of the night: at about 5 o’clock in the morning the group decided they wanted to go to the after party in “el infierno”. I didn’t have to work until 14:30 the next day, so of course I didn’t say no. We drove a while and stopped at a gate. I imagined it would have been some other disco or a bar (I think that’s even what they told me) but when I entered it was just an empty parking lot. Until I got inside. Apparently it was a small house with about 3 rooms, with a living room decorated with “infierno” with spacy lights, disco lights, a strippers pole and of course a huge stereo. One of the guy’s parents was obviously tired of hosting parties in their house and bought the guy his own party space. Ain’t that nice. That place probably has a lot of stories…

Funny note about Argentinean nightlife. Supposedly all of the people you meet on a Saturday night out in a bar or disco and who are not with their girl- or boyfriend, should be single. It’s an unspoken rule that on Friday boys and girls spend time with their friends, while Saturday is reserved for their better half. So just in case, you don’t even need to ask the painful question on a Saturday

Besides these parties it’s not all so much fun anymore, I am working 9 to 10 hours a day right now to be able to travel at the end of May, and I’m just dead at the end of my shift. During my extra hours I’m contacting partner B&B, boutique hotels, guest houses and hostels. First I had to call all of them, which was a very scary thing. I notice my Spanish is getting a lot better, even though I am starting to use the Argentinean dialect (obvioooo), but to try to convince other companies to start a business relation with you in a 4th language, damn. It was a bit stressy. Anyway, in the meanwhile some meetings are scheduled for next week. The intention is that these accommodations are going to sell our tours (commission system) and that we can recommend each other to our clients.

Katrien is back!! It’s only for a few days, but I was so happy after work yesterday having a drink on a terrace in the sunshine which still hasn’t faded. It’s supposed to be an end of October temperature, but it’s still better than Belgian summer! After we had dinner we went to the Irish pub with another 2 Belgian girls and a Swedish girl who lives with Katrien and Claudia for the moment. Really fun to talk to the Belgian girls, they have been travelling for 4 months now. I can’t imagine how it must be. Well, it must be amazing seeing so many beautiful things, but also being away from home for such a long time? I think for me it’s different, because now I have kind of a home here. Even though of course I miss so many things from Belgium. Especially the food. It happened to me more than once I ate a piece of chocolate (most important element in the food chain) and threw it away because it was just that disgusting. Can you imagine? I know.

Tomorrow I’m going to do a hike with Katrien and a couple who live in Brussels. AY, I will need to speak French the entire time. My French is horrrrrrrible now. Can’t even say one complete sentence without using a Spanish word. Ahhh! This brings me to my evaluation! It was really really good, I got an 80%!

Un beso grande,

Helen

iiHola flacitas y gorditos!!

Waw, it has been a while. I know and I’m sorry, but I had to get a life on track here and live a little instead of writing about it. But I’ll try to tell you as much as possible about what happened in between!

First of all I’ve had the chance to see a few more things in the Mendoza region. First I went to visit our second wine region, Luján de Cuyo. Wineries here are a lot more luxurious than in Maipú, where I did the bike tour. We visited 3 wineries, for those who are interested: Achaval Ferrer, Catena Zapata and Belasco de Baquedano, and had a 5-course lunch in the last one. Everything was super fancy. We had a family of crazy Brazilians and a girl from Buenos Aires with us, who made it a really fun day. Can’t stop repeating is, the most amazing thing about working in tourism is that you’re so often working with happy people. As long as there are no complaints, I know, but I haven’t heard that many yet. Belasco de Baquedano also has an aroma room which is unique in Latin America. The room is filled with different scents in small cylinders, and it’s up to you to use your nose and guess what it represents. I think it’s so innovating! (Or is it my sales skills that are developing? You will never know )

The next thing I got to do was the high mountain tour. This is a tour that sells a lot and indeed is a great experience. During the tour we follow the road 7 to the border with Chile, about 200km from Mendoza. On that road we make various stops, like the cementerio de los andinistas (the place where people who tried to climb the Aconcagua are buried, often together with their hiking shoes), El Puente del Inca (a naturally formed bridge with hot springs), Parque del Aconcagua (where we do a small hike and with sunny weather see the top of the Aconcagua) and drive up to Cristo Redentor (the old border between Chile and Argentina at 4000m high). Being that high I did feel a bit dizzy! And it was also ice cold (well, kinda like in Belgium now).

At work everything is still good, even though after Easter it got extremely calm. Argentineans have time off from ‘White Thursday” until the next Tuesday. The hostel was packed! From weeks before the telephone didn’t stop ringing and there were constant bookings to be treated, because in the end the whole city was full. The ministry of tourism tried to help some people, but also at the door I had to disappoint a lot of people desperately looking for a place to sleep. The two days I worked during this weekend were very intense, but I actually like to be busy like that. It is the complete opposite of what it is now, because the low season really started. The weather is still nice, but fall has started. I also met Viktoria at our pizza party, the German ex-flatmate of my ex-flatmate in Spain who was living there when I visited Saioa in September. She is doing her internship in a guesthouse in Santiago de Chile. Small world!!

To use my time in the agency, Virginia gave me some projects to realize. We will work around e-commerce, relations with other hostels, B&B’s, guesthouses etc who also apply a personalized form of tourism, universities in Argentina, and a strategy to reach the European market. I will work extra hours at home, so that I can stop working at the end of May and travel to Chile and Buenos Aires.

A few weeks back we also did a team building with the whole team, we went rafting and canopying. It’s again one of those things I would have never done in Belgium, but it was so cool. I really feel like I’m expanding my horizons! And it only turned out good. However, now they want me to go paragliding (running off a mountain with a parachute, about 1km high). That might be this weekend or the next one…

Outside of work I have been trying to find a hobby, so every Saturday I’m going to salsa gym. Too bad I can’t go to the real technical classes, but I’m always working at night. The teachers are really nice and I also went to the bar where they go out every Wednesday a few times. The first time I danced with them was pretty scary, because they want me to stare into their eyes the whole time to “feel the music”. Oh yeah, this is the real shit!

In the meanwhile my roommate Katrien left. Very sad!! She was like my sister here, the closest person to me. Now the house is a bit empty. She is now travelling in Chile for a while. Hopefully we will end up together again in Buenos Aires in June.

To end, some more funny Argentinean vocabulary!
Re-algo: they put re- before everything to indicate that something was “super” rebien, relinda, …
Flaco/gordo: a few days ago I heard a conversation between two girls my age in the bus, they weren’t speaking about people, they were only speaking about “the thin one”, “the fat one” , “mi viejo” (my old man). Haha!
Quilombo: like a disaster, but also as in “tenes un quilombo en la cabeza?!” (are you crazy?!)

Miss you all! Big kiss!

Helen

iHolaaa!

In the meanwhile I have survived my first week here in Mendoza. What a week it was!

On Thursday I had my first day off. Me and Katrien were planning to do and see a lot of things, but eventually also Leo took some time off and we spent another afternoon by the pool. Leo came back as a lobster, haha :p We decided to have an asado in the night in the building next to the pool that is meant for common use. Asado is like barbecue, but they bake the meat on la parilla, which is more of a built-in grill made of stone. Even though it was past midnight when we could finally eat, it was delicious and a nice start for our time living together.

During the asado Leo had some exciting news for me: I could go with him, Juan and 5 tourists on a horseback riding trip in the Andes the next morning. I was normally scheduled to work from 10-17h, but he changed my hours to 17-24h. This meant it was gonna be a loooong day! Looking back however it was an amazing day I wouldn’t have wanted to miss for the world. We had a couple from Ireland who just got engaged that was coming with me and Leo for half a day (+/- 2h horseback riding) and 2 Dutch girls and 1 Australian girl who were going for a 2-day trip, with overnight stay under the stars.

First we drove up to the Valle del Sol (Valley of the Sun!) to the house of the gaucho (the Argentinean cowboy). It was exactly like we Europeans think South America is, he lived in a very primitive stone building, with his 25-year old wife and their 5 (!!) children. Next to that he has a ranch with about 15 horses, pigs, chickens, roosters and a lot of dogs (and 2 super cute puppies!). First we drank maté in the house. I saw from their faces that the other tourists also weren’t so enthusiastic about it, but like me, they bravely finished their cup.

After playing a while (well, a long while, because everything goes even more tranquilo here than in Spain) with the animals and the adorable children we got on our horses and on the mountains. Daniel, the gaucho, and his dog accompanied us. I was happy, because I have rarely sat on a horse in my life. I have to say, if you ever get the chance to go to Argentina: YOU HAVE TO DO THIS!!! It was one of the most unforgettable experiences in my life. You are high on top of this horse, at 2700m height, it makes you feel like you are on top of the world. I can’t say that much more about it, the pictures I uploaded probably say much more than words. After half of the road me, Leo and the Irish couple returned to the gaucho’s house, where his wife baked us a typical sweet pastry which was delicious.

What made the day also so special was the connection I had with one of the gaucho’s kids, Camila. Once I pushed her on her self-made swing she wanted to spend every minute on my lap. The Irish couple gave them some candy and they were so happy with it, it was beautiful to see.

Far behind on our schedule, we returned to the city. On the way back we made a little stop at the lake, which was very clear blue. Very tired, hungry and dirty me and Leo arrived back at the hostel and got to work.

Even though the office sometimes is very quiet, I love the work. The tourists are mostly young people, with all different nationalities and a million stories, and the majority is so nice. Talking with them is like a part of the job, and I’m happy to do it! During the excursions also I got to know a lot of things about many other parts of the world. It surprises me how some girls my age or younger are already travelling the world alone. Ending up at a hostel like ours, though, makes you feel everything but alone. I could almost compare it with an Erasmus. Everybody asks where you come from, where you have been, what you are doing in life. At night we had, like every Friday, another asado, so after work it became another very pleasant evening. Also Luc’s wife Virginia was present with little Jamaica and I finally had a nice talk with her

I do have to admit I had a rough time the last couple of days, because they let me work alone for some time already. In that time there were many things I couldn’t solve because I hadn’t been informed about them or I hadn’t been practicing enough yet, which makes you feel kind of helpless. Fortunately I could talk about it to Leo (in case it wasn’t clear yet, he is the manager of the hostel and agency and my flat mate) and he arranged that I could work with Claudia some more. Unfortunately this means she has to work longer hours only because of me. Thank god she is an amazing person who seems always happy to help.

Saturday I had my second day off, which in the end I spent doing not much in particular. I bought a SIM-card, so feel free to ask my number for whatsapp or anything else. I also spent lots of time talking to family and friends. I really miss everyone because it’s so hard to get on the internet. When I got home again I spent the last sun-hours at the pool before I decided to go out. Since I still haven’t met anyone outside of work (even though work consists of amazing colleagues and new guests every day) I decided to go back to the hostel. Since Saturday we had company of Reyn, a Belgian guy from Sint-Niklaas who is doing the bar sometimes to earn his nights at the hostel. Another very nice guy and also very energetic!

I had a bit of a problem with Leo when I left the apartment though, because he feels he should protect me. As we are so used to taking the bus at night I also wanted to take the trolley, but the streets are really empty here at night (outside of the bar street). So apparently he called Claudia, who was still working, to let him know if I had arrived. The next day he told me he would like it more if I took a taxi the next time, which is about 10 times more expensive. I don’t know what to think of it. It’s sweet, but I’m 21 and I would like to be able to decide about these things myself.

Once arrived at the hostel we decided to go out with a bunch of guests. Three Dutch persons, three Israeli, one American, one French and also Claudia and Reyn joined us to the biggest bar street of Mendoza, Arístides Villanueva. It seemed like the whole town was gathering here. Past one o’clock, the mendocinos were still tranquilamente having dinner, drinks and eventually went dancing. I didn’t like the place (better say music) where we went so much so I sat outside with Claudia for a while (I’m getting really close to her) before the others joined us. It was really cool to talk to the Israeli guys. Unfortunately they always seem to cause problems in the hostel, and many other guests have had problems with them in other places too. Apparently all of them start travelling after they come back from 2 (girls) or 3 (boys) years in the army, and they don’t feel like accepting rules anymore. Anyway I had a great talk with him, but the next day they all got kicked out of the hostel. I couldn’t say if it was rightful or not because I never really understood the story. Finding myself in the middle of this conflict, I did discover a bad side about my job.

Finishing my blog it’s already Tuesday, but I will post it now because I finally have a moment of access to the internet. Again I miss all of you and I’m sorry if I don’t (immediately) respond to messages, I really want to but until I have internet in the house it’s very difficult.

iUn beso REgrande!

Helen

iiHola boludos!!

I feel like it’s been a while, living without internet (so spoiled at home). Two days ago we moved to Leo’s place, where everything is more modern and spacious. And of course not to mention, we have a balcony and an amaaazing pool!!! We just need to find internet and a bike to get to work (a few kilometers from here).

Talking about bikes! On Monday I had my first day of work: a bike tour around the different bodega’s of Maipú. The hostel offers tours around 3 of the main wine regions of Mendoza: Maipú, Luján de Cuyo and Uco Valley. Maipú is the most traditional one. We left the hostel at 10 in the morning with 3 tourists, 2 English girls and 1 Belgian boy. The guide of the day was Juan. We obtained the bikes at Mister Hugo, a very charismatic older Argentinean who gives kisses to every tourist he meets. Even though the bikes quality-wise would never really be approved by Belgians or Dutch people, I think there are few tourists leaving Mister Hugo’s unhappy, just because he treats his clients so warm. And, as for a lot of things here, you always have to keep in mind: I am not in Europe!

It was so peaceful riding the bike between the trees and vineyards, with the sun on our faces (pretty hot day, about 30 °C). We stopped at 3 different wineries where we got a short tour and a tasting. Most of the wineries here are family businesses and the equipment is older than in the other regions. They mostly produce red wines because white wines are produced in the higher areas. This is because those grapes need a lower temperature during the night. After the 3 wineries it was time for lunch, mini pizza and of course empanada’s, in a modern bodega with a magnificent view over the vineyards with the (snowy) Andes on the background. Accompanied by more wine, of course!

After lunch we continued our trip to “the beer garden” where they sold homemade white, dark and red beer. I was surprised that our guests weren’t throwing up yet, being in the sun all day and drinking and mixing that much. We even continued our trip to another place where they let us try red absinth and liquor. Surprisingly, nobody had more than a sip and an extremely funny face We also got to try homemade chocolate and marmalade, I tasted one with pumpkin and cinnamon which I am definitely taking home!

Back at Mister Hugo’s everybody was wildly enthusiast about the day, saying they would recommend it to all of their friends. For those who are interested, the tour costs about $470 which is €72,30. This includes pick-up at your hotel in Mendoza, a bottle of water, the bikes and helmets at Mister Hugo’s, the tours in the wineries and the various glasses of wine, beer, absinth and liquor and the lunch and other artisanal tastings and of course the guidance by one of our super nice Mendoza Andes- guides. The price is a bit higher because the tours are done in small groups and can always be adjusted to the group’s wishes.

Back at the hostel I spent a whole lot of time doing nothing in particular, because it’s so easy to get into conversations with guests at the hostel and just hearing about their trips around South-America. I also received my working hours. For my dear friends and family: I won’t be available between (Belgian time!) 21h and 4h on Monday – Tuesday – Wednesday, not between 14h and 21h on Friday and not between 19h and 2h on Sunday. Thursday and Saturday are my off-days. As you see, I am working until midnight 4 days a week. I will have to get used to that! But on the other side, I can swim in the pool all day because I only start working at 17h (and Sunday at 15h)!

Yesterday was my first day in the office. To start with, Claudia explained all of the tours, the pricing and the combination possibilities. We also offer wine tours by car, high mountain tours, photo safari, gaucho days, nature trips and mountain tours in combination with cooking or wine tasting. Next to that, we cooperate with other companies to extend our offer. These companies offer for example rafting, horseback riding, paragliding and even spa days (definitely will try that one :D).

The rest of the “work day” (17h-24h) was pretty calm. At least it seemed like that, because one of the main tasks is just answering to the questions and needs of the hostel clients. They are always nice and interesting so it’s a very nice job. Of course there were some differences with Belgium. For example we started working around 17:45. Before that I was just sitting a bit, waiting until they would inform me about what I should do. On the other side, Kati had to work about 20 minutes longer because at the last moment one of our bosses asked to send a few more e-mails etcetera. I guess it compensates. If I see what I’ve learned the first day it also wasn’t that much, but I must admit I didn’t push to let them explain some more because I was feeling very woozy because I had been sitting next to the pool all afternoon in the burning sun (poor me, right? haha). Today Kati won’t be working, so I think I’ll have a bit less fun and I’ll be a bit more working!

Sorry guys, have to jump in the pool again! Talk to you soon

Besos

Helen

iHoooola!

I have safely arrived to Argentina!

Where will I start? Maybe first I will tell you about my airplane adventure. The first flight to Madrid was over very quickly. Once in Barajas I had to take this awesome metro inside the airport to get to the next terminal. It must be huge! I had left the house at 16h, and got on the plane to Santiago de Chile by midnight. The flight would take about 13h30. I was impressed by the huge plane.. It’s the first time I got on a plane with different classes and I think it was about twice the size of a short distance plane. We also got blankets and pillows Once we took off they served us dinner (at 2 in the morning). When we finished they turned off the lights and there were 3 big screens where they played movies that recently played in the cinema, like Life Of Pi. I was so excited about what was going to happen and occupied with the movies I barely slept, haha. Right before we landed the captain pointed out that we could see the Aconcagua underneath us. Too bad I didn’t have a spot next to the window! Arriving in Santiago was sooo exciting. I was immediately searching for differences but actually it looked pretty much the same as any European airport, even though maybe a bit less modern, and besides the fact that we had to wait for a very, very long time to get on the airplane because they seem to be extremely slow and unorganized (shocker!).

Finally I arrived in Mendoza! At that time it was about 17h30 Belgian time. It took me about another hour to get through passport and luggage control and out of the airport. There an (xtrmly gdlckng) Argentinean addressed me and said Luc (my boss) asked him to come and pick me up. After 20 minutes we arrived at the hostel. Luc presented me to the whole staff who look like absolutely amazing people. I also met his wife and little Jamaica of 2 weeks old. She’s so tiny

A day before I left home I got a friend request on Facebook from Katrien, my new roommate. I didn’t know it before, but she said I was going to stay in a room with her. I was very happy because we immediately had a great click. The click with the room unfortunately was a bit less great since it’s about 4x3 meters big and you have to go outside for the shower and toilet. The outside area with pool and bar is really beautiful by the way. The hostel has an amazing homey vibe. Back to the room, I was afraid to give any comment about it since I think I should adjust to the circumstances, until Katrien started about the topic. She told me that there might be a solution for us since everybody agreed that it was not a good thing working and sleeping in the hostel at the same time. There is no space to get up in pyjama’s in the morning and the kitchen is shared with 40 different people when the hostel is full. Besides that, the room is situated right next to the bar. You can imagine I was quite happy when she proposed we could stay together in a room in the apartment of Leo, our co-worker (the executive boss). We immediately jumped in the car to check it out. It’s a very modern apartment with a balcony, a nice garden and even a pool. Katrien was almost jumping in the air (she had been staying in the hostel for about 1 week already). I also think this will be much better! The only thing is that it doesn’t have internet, so I hope I can find an operator which allows me to use internet on my phone.

The typical thing which is always a shock arriving to another country is the first trip to the supermarket. This time no different! First thing that I noticed was: they have about 100 products of the same thing. The point of that, no clue, because the store wasn’t filled with people at all and they were all buying about 5 things and looked at me like I was crazy for buying a whole basket. They also had a funny aisle filled with powder-packages to mix with water to make lemonade. By the way, here it’s not piña but ananá, not melocotón but durazno and not fresa but frutilla. In the beer-part I discovered the only Belgian beer they have is Stella Artois. The price for a 1,5 L is 21,65 pesos or 3,10 euro. The most exciting (in a negative way) for me was of course, for people who know me well, finding soy products. Which I didn’t… I asked the supermarket guy and he said something like “you are complicating things”. Haha! Thanks. I am well aware of that…

Back at the hostel Luc, Leo and Katrien threw me a small welcome party in the bar! I met with little Diëga (Luc’s daughter) who is a real showstopper. She is so sweet! After that we decided to have a drink close to Plaza de la Independencia which always has these cute stalls with artisan products and entertainment. I had another funny fruitdrink and went back home, midnight in Argentina, already 4 o’clock in Belgium, which meant I hadn’t really slept about 43 hours. A bed never felt so good!

At about noon the next day (today) Katrien and me woke up. Me with a serious headache, which fortunately was quickly gone after taking a pill. The sun was shining, the weather was sweet.. It was amazing waking up here. After taking a shower me and Katrien went for breakfast where we ordered some facturas, which are Argentinean pastries. Something typical are the media lunas, half moons, which are a bit like croissants. It was delicious.

At three Katrien had to start working, so I started writing this blog. I quickly decided though I had to go out and see the city. One of the guests, a 24-year old Argentinean from a bit further in the province would accompany me. We went to see a few of the different squares (because there are many) and walked through the elegant lanes. The thing that stands out most here are the trees. They are everywhere! It must be the greenest city I’ve ever seen. It’s also a pretty small city of course, and it doesn’t have much old buildings at all. They have told me though that there is an old city center too, probably a part that wasn’t destroyed by the big earthquake of the 19th century. It was funny to see the fountain water colored red in some places, a sign that they are celebrating the Vendimia (harvest) festival. Of course I felt most at home at the Plaza de España Yesterday, by the way, they crowned the Venidmia queen. Unfortunately I discovered too late that you have to pay to see this show, because I think it would have been amazing. During the day I also caught a glimp of a parade while we were driving to the hostel.

When we came back home Amadeo, the Argentinean guy, convinced me to try some mate. This is very typical herbal tea. You put the herbs in a small goblet and add sugar and eventually water. Then you use a straw made of metal to drink it. Each person needs to drink the whole goblet (like a small cup) before he passes it to the next person. Every time they fill it up with new hot water. I was a bit scared it would make me feel bad afterwards because Amadeo was telling me, while I was eating an empanada, that it’s bad to mix unhealthy food with the mate, but fortunately it didn’t. Still I must admit it’s true what they say: you have got to learn to love mate!

Here I am, midnight again, finally ending the story of my first two days. Tomorrow I will know more about the new place and everything will probably change again. Tomorrow I will also have my first day of “work”: a wine tour by bike. This will be so much fun. The only worry is not to get a sun-burn. What a luxury, right!

A very big kiss,

Helen