New friends, challenges, elation and boredom

The challenge of adapting to this new culture and language has been exhausting but amazing, and I have been impressed with my improvement, but constantly frustrated by being unable to communicate properly. It is difficult to explain how immensely annoying it is to have a simple thought to express to your friend, but to be unable to say it for lack of words. You have to explain around the idea, using the words you do know, until the person figures out what you are getting at, and tells you the proper word in Spanish. Sometimes, after minutes of struggling, you cannot even find the word or explain the idea. And if you can, by the time you've figured it out, you cannot remember your original reason for needing the word. Other times, the comedic timing is completely ruined. My jokes fucking suck right now, even worse than they do in English. And by the way, when you think something is funny in Spanish, you say jajaja, not hahaha. Think about it. Fucking hilarious.

Anyways, so that's been rough but fun. I joined a language school and they had difficulty placing me because I was able to communicate, but didn't know any grammar or verb conjugations (past, future, etc). They straightened me out on a lot of that shit, and I made mierda-loads of progress in my months in Uruguay. But my progress in communication was mostly due to evenings spent hanging out with my Uruguayan friends, rather than at the school. I ended up staying with two guys, Pablo y Guille, for almost a month, and man they were freaking cool. After a couple of days I was going to leave, but they insisted I stay. Out of a sense of honor I cooked big dinners and cleaned a bunch, and it seemed like a good arrangement. We all got along so good that it felt like we were old friends, or perhaps brothers. They're friends are amazing as well. We spent many evenings hanging around in the park (they like in a park that has 15-story-apartment complexes scattered around...they live on the 15th floor with an amazing view of the city) drinking mate, beer, and smoking a little bit, but mostly just talking and shooting the mierda. They can hang out like no other people I have ever seen, with an amazing capacity for holding marathon conversations. One night we played Risk until 5AM, which was kinda surreal. Other nights we moved it back to the apartment and turned it up a notch, throwing on the music and intensifying the inbibing. The stereotypes are true by the way; they can all dance excellently. I suck at dancing by US standards, and here it is just a joke. Every single person at a party can tango and salsa at least a little, and every single one has some sense of rythym. The good ones are amazing. I hope to learn to salsa or tango while I'm in South America, but I'm so busy who knows if I'll be able to make it happen. And another night, they plugged in their guitar and bass, and starting playing songs they wrote themselves (they have a band, called Buen Pregunta, or Good Question) which are absolutely amazing. Sort of in the Sublime/Rancid ska-punk realm. A lot of the music here has that sort of things going on, with definite fusion of many styles, almost always punk, ska, metal, and some latin influence.

On that note, I went to a concert on the beach the other day, this famous band that does the above described style, but with a heavy circus-music influence, and a pixies-like male/female double lead vocals. They were dressed up in orange insane-asylum outfits, it was pretty nuts. Oh, and their mosh-pits are like a formal dinner practically, so freaking polite and gentle. It was more like a gentle massage than the angry free-for-all that I am used to. But still very energetic and fun. That's a good microcosm to give a sense for Uruguay...musical, friendly, polite, and fun.

Honestly, I fell in love with Montevideo and Uruguay. I will go back and explore more. It was such a livable and lovely city, perhaps my favorite yet in the world, neck in neck with Portland, with Melbourne trailing a little behind the two. They are an amazing city and people, with so much culture. But it is all very understated, humble yet proud. It is a quiet pride that is held close rather than bragged about; if pushed, they will talk about how they are only a small country, overshadowed by neighboring giants Brazil and Argentina. This inferiority complex is misplaced, as their culture is distinct and easily on level with these other countries. They are certainly influenced by both...more of the beach culture of Brazil, some of the African culture from Brazil, the mate and wine of Argentina, the Catalan Spanish of Argentina, they hot girls of both...they have a relaxed and carefree approach to things that reminds me of Fiji in many ways, but they are not lacking in a sense of hard-work, punctuality, or dedication by any means. Buses run regularly, lines are formed, but no one taps their fingers or acts frustrated if things go slowly. People are helpful and patient, efficient but not manic or obsessed with time.

So it should be obvious now that I was sad to leave. I felt a need to see something else in Uruguay, the better to know the country and other parts of her, so I visited a small beach town, Punta Del Diablo, for a couple of days. It was a couple of days well spent, in a beautiful little town with an amazing beach with scattered sun-bathers and gigantic waves. I spent my time practicing my Spanish with an Uruguayan-born Portena (Argentine from Buenes Aires) named Julieta, who told me that Argentina is amazing, but will never hold a candle to Uruguay.

So, with that in mind, I had to hop on the bus and come to Mendoza, Argentina, to begin my seasonal work at the winery Vina Cobos. They have gotten amazing reviews from the American wine press, but are relatively new and unknown in their own country, as it turns out. Upon showing up I found out that the winery is still in construction, and harvest has already kicked in. I started almost immediately, and was working 12 hours straight off the bat. Since my Spanish is only passable, and I don't yet know the wine-related words, it has been really difficult to take any level of responsibility as would be fitting to my abilities in a winery. So while it has been long hours and physically exhausting (lots of heavy lifting and alwasy standing), it has been mentally relaxing, compared to my time in Uruguay, where learning Spanish was a very intense job.

As for my coworkers, the Argentineans are very cool. Several are interns themselves, either studying wine or recently graduated and looking for a full-time position. Others are experienced hands. They have a rougher sense of humor and are more intense than the Uruguayans, but very likable in their own way. But they talk way faster and do not enunciate their words very clearly, so I am having a hell of a time understanding them.

Meanwhile I am living with 6 other foreign interns, 6 of us from the USA. We all speak basic or in some cases no Spanish, and are at able the same position at work. At home, we live in tiny houses in the middle of nowhere, with shit-all to do and only one car to share. I share a room with two other guys. We have a tiny kitchen, and tiny dining room. But at least there is a pool, and a beautiful view of the distant mountains. Currently, we are struggling to figure out how to have a social life of anything outside of work. We are very isolated out here, and on our days off get a bit stir-crazy. I have been going on walks through the scarcely-populated countryside when I am not too exhausted from work. It is very beautiful, and I am at my happiest when able to slip into their culture a bit and observe their daily life, with kids playing in the streets and adults sitting around chatting and watching soccer on a sunny Sunday afternoon.