six months

Dan: So, I guess we’ve been away for six months or so now, longer than either of us has ever been away from the amber waves of grain. I think we were finally experiencing a culture shock, or homesickness a few weeks ago. It seemed like nothing was going right. Getting things fixed was a hassle, classes kept being cancelled, money was coming in slowly, our friends were moving away. But now things are better, or at least we’ve become more able to accept the way things are. But things are ok. To quote my old friend Gringo George, “(Life) ain’t too shabby, when ya think about it.”

I did expect that my Spanish would be a lot better by this point. But, as I think I’ve mentioned before, I spend most of my day speaking English, at home, at work and with some friends. I need to figure out a way to get back in classes or something.

My classes are ok. I have maybe 18 or 20 classes per week. About the same as before, but with some different students. I still have the class of engineers of Obras Sanitarias, the public water works. Last weekend they invited me to an asado at a water purification plant outside of town, where they change river water into what comes from our faucet. They also had a nice little grilling facility. We took a little tour and ate a ton of food. I have one ‘coaching class’ with a 14-year old, in which I just go over what he does at school, and make up other related activities. He has a class of 30 kids at school and the teacher never asks them to speak or read aloud, so I try to make him talk as much as possible. I have a class of ladies who’ve been practicing English together for years. Me and 6 or 7 ladies. It’s like a staff meeting at home, but we are discussing British short stories instead of attendance policies. I’m not sure which I prefer more. I have a couple of 1-on-1 students who are agronomists, so they have to travel quite a bit. I’ll have them 4 days one week, then not again for a month. Nice people, but it makes for an unpredictable schedule and an unreliable paycheck.

Speaking of paychecks, it is a new experience for me to live in a world in which inflation is really noticeable. We’ve seen prices for fruits and veggies increase since we’ve been here. Of course it is winter, so things have to be trucked in, and my agronomist friends tell that there was also a frost up north in Salta and Jujuy, where we get our winter veggies. But everything is going up. I read in the paper that in July, prices in Mendoza increased by 3%. In one month! Food apparently rose by 5%. My pay didn’t increase. But at least I’m getting out of here in a few months, and I have savings in US dollars. The poor Mendocinos and Argentinos are helpless to the rise in prices. Now they will all have to ask their bosses for raises. One of the Institutes I work at annouced today that they will raise their prices for classes. I always understood the concept of inflation, but never was unfortunate enough to see it in action at such a rapid pace. I bought a liter of beer on Saturday for 3 pesos. On Thursday, at the same place, it was 3.25. Now that’s where it really hits home.