December 12, 2008
My Life In Mendoza
written by Nicole Allegar on December 12, 2008 at 01:08AM in Traveling
Wow, I don’t even know where to start… I arrived in Argentina in June 2008; about a month and a half before I choose to study and live in Mendoza. I decided to come to South America because I wanted to travel the world, understand a different culture, a different language, and explore myself as a person. I was ready to face challenges, conquer them, and leave Argentina a stronger and more well-rounded person.While traveling the country and looking for a city that suited me, Mendoza caught my eye. It seemed like it was small enough to feel at home, it had a great running park, and was close to the Andes mountains. I thought I had found the perfect place to start a life. I, of course, knew I would have some struggles, but I didn’t realize that being in a foreign country, speaking a foreign language, and not knowing anyone would be as difficult as it was. However, I figured that no matter what obstacles I had to over come in Mendoza, I would leave South America stronger person for them.
I met with a councilor at the University to discuss starting my psychology classes for the semester. She warned me many times that she did not think my Spanish was good enough to take the classes they offered at their University. She recommended that I consider taking Spanish classes in Mendoza before starting at the University. It was discouraging to come all the way to South America with the intention to study and to hear that I wasn’t prepared enough to take the classes. However, because I had come so far I felt that I had no choice, but to try to do my best in the classes. So, I enrolled in three psychology classes and one class about the Political History of Argentine.
I was so nervous to start my first day of classes. I had no idea what to expect and I just wanted to get through the first day alive. When I walked in class, I stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone looked at me like I was something they had never seen. I remember the first time I asked a question, silence fell on the entire class and I felt every eye watching me with curiosity. The first couple classes went fine and I could understand most of the ideas the professors were trying to get across. One of my hardest classes throughout the year ended up being my psychotherapy class, where I learned about the famous Lacan and his seemingly wild theories. The beginning of the semester was more of a struggle, I felt like I had to prove myself to the teachers, students, and myself. However as the semester went on, I became very pleased with my professors, interested in my classes, and friendly with my classmates, who were always willing to help me. In the more advanced classes, I saw a passion for psychology within the students, that I had not yet seen in my few psychology classes in the United States. I even began to understand and agree with some of Lacan’s wild psychoanalytic theories.
During my life in Mendoza, school was not my only concern. I was living with my boyfriend from the United States, four students from France, and two Argentines in a house on one of the busiest streets in Mendoza, Aristeres. The living situation was one of the most difficult parts of my time in Argentina. The roommates and I were all very different people and had a difficult time relating with the each other. This difference in personalities caused a tense living situation and the house never quite felt like home, like I had hoped to find in Mendoza.
I started to take Tango classes at a local gym in the park, two or three times a week. I fell in love with the dance’s passion and precision. When I danced I felt like it was something I understood; I was graceful and eloquent, feelings that I lacked in my average days of stuttering through sentences and trying to find my place in Argentina.
Throughout the semester I would take quick trips to try to see as much of South America as possible. I would find myself planning and looking forward to the next trip, where I would find a differnt beauty of South America I had never seen.
About four months into the trip, my boyfriend made a hard decision and left to go back to the States to look for work. To be honest, him leaving me in Mendoza was one of my biggest fears. I hadn’t found the feeling of home in Mendoza and being with him was the only time I felt truly comfortable and happy.
When he left, I told myself that I would use the time I had alone to fall in love with my life in Mendoza and find the beauty that I couldn’t find while being with my companion. I thought that I would learn from the challenge and yet again, come out of the experience a stronger person.
I then felt more alone than I ever had. I had friends in Mendoza, but no one that I was close with. The smallest snide comment from my roommates would stab me in the heart. I felt like I had no one, but myself to relate to anymore. After a while, I started to adjust to the life alone, and I tried harder and harder to develop closer relationships with the friends I had.
Once school was ending, I took a trip with a girlfriend to Peru to walk the Inca Trail; it was one of the best independent experiences I had in South America. However, it didn’t measure up to some of the trips I had taken with my boyfriend in the past. I found that life really was sweeter when there was someone that you loved to share it with.
I have recently come back from my trip to Machu Picchu and taken all but one of my finals. My grades have turned out very well, many of them better than I and anyone else thought they could have been. I have a week left in Mendoza and I have started to realize and feel that my return home is right around the corner. A part of me is ecstatic to see my country again and the people I know and love. However, there is another part of me that is confused and feels like it hasn’t finished what it came down here to do. I feel like I have many unanswered feelings and questions about my life; I don’t feel like I have everything sorted out, the way I was expecting when I planned this trip to South American.
I have come to accept that throughout my years, I am always going to be trying to understand and sort out the details and expectations of my life. I think that is what keeps people motivated and learning. Those moments of clarity and understanding, come and go unexpectedly, they let us know that we have grown and matured. However, the moments of complete confusion and question, are the moments that make us and mature our souls.
I don’t think I will fully understand how this trip has affected me until it is over and I have started the next phase of my life. I am leaving Argentina without one regret, it was, mentally, one of the hardest six months of my life, but no matter if I come back to the states understanding myself better or not, I have this experience as my own. It is an experience that I, alone, can understand. A part of my life that no matter how many stories I tell, will never amount to the actual six months. It was a choice I made and stuck with, even through the hard times and the doubts. I tried my hardest to make my life in Mendoza as enjoyable as possible. I may not leave feeling like I conquered Argentina, but I know that this experience has taught me things that living in the United States would not have. I will leave Argentina without looking back and if I were asked if I would do it again, I would answer, “in a heart beat”.
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One again, your article is very nice
Thanks for
your sharing, it’s very useful
Thank you for the write up Im a South African I leave for Mendoza tomorrow for the rest of 2010. thanks for your courage and all the best for the furure
Wow! I am so excited for and proud of you! Taking on classes in a second language is definitely a challenge. It’s great to hear about the amazing things that you’re doing. Continue to have fun and enjoy your adventure through life!
What a truly enjoyable and heartfelt story of your Argentina trip. It brought tears to my eyes. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!! I can only imagine how scary and alone it felt at times but when you look back on it you can feel so much more confident. You are a very special person and the people of Argentina are very fortunate to have met you. I am sure you made an impact on many of them as well.
Good luck with the rest of your school year.
Love,
Aunt Mary
I don’t know who this boyfriend of your’s is, but he sounds like a really lucky guy.
You’re a trooper!