They woke us up as we got to the bus station in Jesús María, a small town north of Córdoba around 7. We stood outside and I was shivering uncontrollably. I had the violent shivers that I can only describe as my legs were shaking like there were teeth chattering. (I know that last sentence probably makes no sense, but remember I am tired and am no longer fluent in English!) We had to wait for the van to pick us up. We went inside, but it was not much warmer in there. The van came about a half hour later and we all piled in. There was a rack on top for suitcases, but I just put my backpack on the floor at my feet. We had to drive about 45 minutes to get to the estancia. We were all really tired. I looked out the window most of the way, but most of the people fell back asleep.
We got to the estancia and got a short tour of the house and then were given rooms. I stayed in a room with the four other two-month girls. The two girls who sat behind me realized that the drunk girl had accidentally left both of their cell phones on the bus. The owner of Blood Diamond had forgotten to get his DVD, as well. I slept on the bottom bunk of the only set of bunk beds in the room. The walls were painted bright yellow and there were three single beds lined up against the wall. They were different sizes and didn’t match. It reminded me of an orphanage (in a good way, of course!). There was a wood-burning stove in the corner to heat our room. I washed my face (for the first time in forever!) with the sink that had two faucets that said “hot” on them, but neither of which produced hot water for me!
We had breakfast in the kitchen. The cook’s name is Eva and she made homemade bread and scrambled/fried eggs on toast. I also had café con leche with sugar, of course. This trip has transformed me from a coffee-smeller into a coffee-drinker, I think. I am really tired of hot chocolate. It is funny because whenever Tammy and I go to a café (and it is morning), I drink coffee because I don’t get it in my apartment and Tammy drinks hot chocolate because she doesn’t get it in her apartment! We also had dulce de leche on the bread! Yum! After breakfast, we had free time until lunch at 1pm. A lot of people went back to bed and I was still cold and tired, so I decided to do so, as well. I laid in my bed for about two hours and it was warm, but I could not sleep. Don’t worry, this trip may have made me like coffee, but I still can’t take naps. I wonder what country I need to visit to learn that! I got up after a while and went out by the fireplace and talked to people.
We had lunch at 1pm and I honestly cannot remember what we ate, but it was good, I know. After lunch, we had a bit more free time and then at 2:30ish, we went out to the horses. They asked who had had experience riding and so I got a more challenging horse (yes!). As we were riding, one of the Argentine men asked me if I had my own horse. I took this as a compliment for my riding skills. It felt good because for the first time on this trip, people were treating me like I had something to offer and were asking me lots of questions about horses and riding. We rode through the surrounding corn and soybean fields (did I miss something and we were really just in my backyard?). After about an hour, we stopped and anyone who did not want to go fast on their horse got off and put their horse in a fence. The rest of us got to canter around this huge field. It was incredibly fun! Oh, I really like the idea of these people at the ranch because they attached these fleece fake sheepskin pads over the saddle. It was a lot warmer and way more comfortable! After we had cantered around the huge field several times, we stopped and put our horses in the fence, too. We then joined the other people for mate and leftover bread (really more like pound cake) from breakfast. I only had a little mate because I wanted to be able to sleep that night! We stood or sat around and talked for about a half hour. I thought this was cool because it seemed like such an authentic Argentine thing to do. We went over to the fence to get our horses again after this. My horse, Picasso (because of the marking on her face), had wandered into this chute on the side of the fence that was filled with thorny plants. I got her out. It was embarrassing for me (as the “experienced” rider in the group) each time I had to mount my horse because she was ridiculously tall and I could hardly reach my foot into the stirrup, let alone get up. My knees didn’t help me either. Each time, José (one of the Argentine workers) had to help me up. We rode back to the estancia and were all cold by the time we arrived.
We went inside to the fireplace and had hot chocolate (really good) and pastelitas which were fried pastries with something like a sweet potato in the middle. We had free time until dinner at 9:30pm. We had been riding for about 3 hours. I worked on some of my homework and sat around and talked to people. We were all hungry (surprisingly) as it grew closer to dinner time. We had an asado for dinner. They also had cooked vegetables over the grill, as well. I had a piece of lomo (steak) and grilled red pepper, onion, pumpkin, eggplant, potato, and something else. The lomo was really good. The wine drinking started at dinner and continued the rest of the night. After dinner, the two-month people went outside with the Argentineans and played music on drums and a guitar. They sang songs and taught us the chorus to one. The wine drinking continued throughout.
I was really tired and went to bed about 11:30. Eva had put an alfajor on each of our pillows! I only exchanged my jeans for clean sweatpants (keeping on my leggings) and removed my fleece (keeping the rest of my layers on). I could not fall asleep, though, because lots of drunk people were being really loud out by the fire place. They had brought the drums inside and were playing them and talking and laughing. I laid there and enjoyed my warm covers and rested my eyelids. Then, at midnight, my roommates returned and turned on the light and were talking really loudly. One of them apologized to me for being loud and told me she was really drunk. I would never have guessed by the way she stumbled across the floor! I went back to resting my eyelids and they got ready for bed. The whole time this girl kept saying how drunk she was. Both her and another one of my roommates had each drank a whole bottle of wine in just about two hours. They turned out the light and then my bunkmate (the really drunk one) asked someone to help her down because she wasn’t feeling well and needed to go to the bathroom. The next two hours were spent listening to her puke in the bathroom and listening to the other girls talk about their experiences with boyfriends while I pretended I was asleep. I was shocked and saddened by some of the girls’ opinions, even those who claim to be Christians. I finally got to sleep about 2am!
We got to the estancia and got a short tour of the house and then were given rooms. I stayed in a room with the four other two-month girls. The two girls who sat behind me realized that the drunk girl had accidentally left both of their cell phones on the bus. The owner of Blood Diamond had forgotten to get his DVD, as well. I slept on the bottom bunk of the only set of bunk beds in the room. The walls were painted bright yellow and there were three single beds lined up against the wall. They were different sizes and didn’t match. It reminded me of an orphanage (in a good way, of course!). There was a wood-burning stove in the corner to heat our room. I washed my face (for the first time in forever!) with the sink that had two faucets that said “hot” on them, but neither of which produced hot water for me!
We had breakfast in the kitchen. The cook’s name is Eva and she made homemade bread and scrambled/fried eggs on toast. I also had café con leche with sugar, of course. This trip has transformed me from a coffee-smeller into a coffee-drinker, I think. I am really tired of hot chocolate. It is funny because whenever Tammy and I go to a café (and it is morning), I drink coffee because I don’t get it in my apartment and Tammy drinks hot chocolate because she doesn’t get it in her apartment! We also had dulce de leche on the bread! Yum! After breakfast, we had free time until lunch at 1pm. A lot of people went back to bed and I was still cold and tired, so I decided to do so, as well. I laid in my bed for about two hours and it was warm, but I could not sleep. Don’t worry, this trip may have made me like coffee, but I still can’t take naps. I wonder what country I need to visit to learn that! I got up after a while and went out by the fireplace and talked to people.
We had lunch at 1pm and I honestly cannot remember what we ate, but it was good, I know. After lunch, we had a bit more free time and then at 2:30ish, we went out to the horses. They asked who had had experience riding and so I got a more challenging horse (yes!). As we were riding, one of the Argentine men asked me if I had my own horse. I took this as a compliment for my riding skills. It felt good because for the first time on this trip, people were treating me like I had something to offer and were asking me lots of questions about horses and riding. We rode through the surrounding corn and soybean fields (did I miss something and we were really just in my backyard?). After about an hour, we stopped and anyone who did not want to go fast on their horse got off and put their horse in a fence. The rest of us got to canter around this huge field. It was incredibly fun! Oh, I really like the idea of these people at the ranch because they attached these fleece fake sheepskin pads over the saddle. It was a lot warmer and way more comfortable! After we had cantered around the huge field several times, we stopped and put our horses in the fence, too. We then joined the other people for mate and leftover bread (really more like pound cake) from breakfast. I only had a little mate because I wanted to be able to sleep that night! We stood or sat around and talked for about a half hour. I thought this was cool because it seemed like such an authentic Argentine thing to do. We went over to the fence to get our horses again after this. My horse, Picasso (because of the marking on her face), had wandered into this chute on the side of the fence that was filled with thorny plants. I got her out. It was embarrassing for me (as the “experienced” rider in the group) each time I had to mount my horse because she was ridiculously tall and I could hardly reach my foot into the stirrup, let alone get up. My knees didn’t help me either. Each time, José (one of the Argentine workers) had to help me up. We rode back to the estancia and were all cold by the time we arrived.
We went inside to the fireplace and had hot chocolate (really good) and pastelitas which were fried pastries with something like a sweet potato in the middle. We had free time until dinner at 9:30pm. We had been riding for about 3 hours. I worked on some of my homework and sat around and talked to people. We were all hungry (surprisingly) as it grew closer to dinner time. We had an asado for dinner. They also had cooked vegetables over the grill, as well. I had a piece of lomo (steak) and grilled red pepper, onion, pumpkin, eggplant, potato, and something else. The lomo was really good. The wine drinking started at dinner and continued the rest of the night. After dinner, the two-month people went outside with the Argentineans and played music on drums and a guitar. They sang songs and taught us the chorus to one. The wine drinking continued throughout.
I was really tired and went to bed about 11:30. Eva had put an alfajor on each of our pillows! I only exchanged my jeans for clean sweatpants (keeping on my leggings) and removed my fleece (keeping the rest of my layers on). I could not fall asleep, though, because lots of drunk people were being really loud out by the fire place. They had brought the drums inside and were playing them and talking and laughing. I laid there and enjoyed my warm covers and rested my eyelids. Then, at midnight, my roommates returned and turned on the light and were talking really loudly. One of them apologized to me for being loud and told me she was really drunk. I would never have guessed by the way she stumbled across the floor! I went back to resting my eyelids and they got ready for bed. The whole time this girl kept saying how drunk she was. Both her and another one of my roommates had each drank a whole bottle of wine in just about two hours. They turned out the light and then my bunkmate (the really drunk one) asked someone to help her down because she wasn’t feeling well and needed to go to the bathroom. The next two hours were spent listening to her puke in the bathroom and listening to the other girls talk about their experiences with boyfriends while I pretended I was asleep. I was shocked and saddened by some of the girls’ opinions, even those who claim to be Christians. I finally got to sleep about 2am!
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