Mendoza, An Intoxicating Learning Experience

“Let the world change you and you can change the world,” Che Guevara. These words uttered by the Argentine revolutionary would prove the focal point of my travels and studying abroad experience.

The intoxication of living in Mendoza takes your breath away at first sight. Little did I know that the legendary Argentinian steaks and local Malbec would caress my first few eventful evenings during my study abroad experience. Ideally, Mendoza is the destination for wine snobs and the base camp for thrill seekers wishing to conquer the Aconcagua Mountain (the second highest mountain in the world). For a Texas A&M student, I’m simply intrigued by the mystery that lies within the southernmost country in the Americas and the passion to discover a new world.

I have been here in Mendoza for approximately three weeks and each day presents new challenges and experiences with no feelings of comfort. There is more to the eye than just the plazas and parks that fulfill the social fix that many locals attend to. Mendoza, a desert of a city that lies just East of the Andes Mountains is known for their wine industry. Mendoza also produces roughly seventy percent of Argentine wine and without a doubt a bottle of their fermented grapes can be found at your local H-E-B. Unequivocally, I became intrigued by this discovery and longed to know more about this unique desert town that has a brilliantly designed canal system that allows for water quality control not only for the city but for the countryside full of vineyards.

For the pursuit of knowing a new language, Spanish is colored vividly throughout the markets and the streets of Mendoza and is spoken at my homestay. No matter what direction I turn, my head begins to spin in a completely new world filled with the bargaining of street vendors and the aroma of dulce de leche splashed onto roasted peanuts in the air.

The one constant is every day when I come home from classes, I am greeted by the strange barking of a small terrier named “Burbujas” which means bubbles. He always seems to forget me yet remembers to love with the kind gestures of food that I’ll slip to him under the dinner table. Despite the many conversations with my host family, Burbujas will always speak the universal language of love. Amongst the fumbling of words and understanding others, I find that the heart of this city is good and filled with kind people.

Ninety-six days, seven hours and twelve minutes until November 24th arrives at my doorstep. The significance of this date will be the day that my study abroad program in Argentina will come to an end and I’ll be returning back home. Until that day though, I am completely lost in translation in Mendoza, Argentina. Home is such a novel concept that I’ve completely forgotten at this point. And yet, I feel that the beginning of this new world changing me day by day.