Alright well I think the title of this post is pretty self explanatory. Enjoy!
1. 1. Argentine pizza. The first bit of homesickness I
had, which to be fair was overshadowed by the honeymoon phase and I resigned
myself to it because I had better things to think about 5 days in, was for
American pizza. The Friday after I got here I went to a girl’s house and nearly
cried when she made a pizza with nothing on the crust but boiled eggs and mayo.
That type I still can’t eat, honestly. Starting out, though, I was seriously
let down by this particular food group- everything was different (bad-
different) - the amount of sauce, the texture of the crust, the toppings. But over
the weeks I’ve come to truly look forward to weekends, when the standard food
is Pizza Napolitana (fun fact: here, we say “peek-sa,” as opposed to the
American “peet-sa”) with fries. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
2. 2. The fashion. Oh how I hated the fashion.
Platforms? Flare jeans? What decade is it again? Man was that a 180. You’d
never guess it, but these trends have influenced my college decision. You
people who know anything whatsoever about Colorado: ask yourself, where might
one go if they want to do whatever they want, and they can blend in because the
majority of the population is also being weird as hell, that also has a great
university? I’d really love for this to be a rhetorical thing but since my
stats page says I have readers in a multitude of places around the world who
aren’t lucky enough to live near the Rockies, I’ll provide the answer: Boulder.
Who’s a future Buff and proud wearer of all things Argentine and has two thumbs?
This girl! For real, if you told pre- exchange Jill that by November she’d be pining
over a pair of platform sandals she saw yesterday at the shoe store because
they’d go perfectly with that one pair of bell- bottoms she got in Buenos Aires,
she would have laughed. A lot. Also, they’re downright practical, which is a
fact I learned the hard way. I had the brilliant idea to wear some strappy
sandals out this past weekend- from the U.S., i.e. only keeping my feet about a
centimeter from the ground. Consequence #1 was having to wash my feet in the
sink when I got home because they were black with spilled alcohol and dirt.
Consequence #2 was realizing that I’m now missing half of my toe nail. Won’t be
doing that again any time soon.
3. 3. The music. I wasn’t exactly reluctant to listen
to the music, even started to months before exchange. But tolerating it and
enjoying it are separate things, and I am now comfortably in the latter. Not
that I’ll be doing a ton of this when I get home, but seriously, how do people
in the U.S. dance at clubs? What do kids even do at Prom? Our music sucks, and it’s time we accept that. I
don’t know what I’ll do when I have to leave behind my beloved cumbia and
reggaeton. I'd like to imagine that I'll show it to my friends and they'll love it as much as I do, but I'm not naive, so instead I just imagine myself in my bedroom (or dorm room), trying to emulate a joda and failing. Sigh.
4. 4. The coffee. Ok, I never hated this or thought it
was weird. But it’s still a big change for me. Hear me out. Back at home, I was
a regular at a coffee shop. Seriously, the staff knew my name, asked if that
one guy I went in with was my boyfriend (he wasn’t), offered me a free extra
shot if I was looking especially tired. I have no doubt that they would’ve
known my regular order, if I’d had one. It was different every day depending on
my mood, but regardless, it was always sugar- laden and delicious. And the
focus of so far the only homesickness I’ve struggled through. Not pizza
homesickness. I’m talking I- would- kill-
for- a- chai- if- jail- didn’t- exist homesickness. That was three weeks in,
and I couldn’t help but think “it’s way too soon for this amount of angst, what’s
wrong with me?” Yeah, it was probably just sugar withdrawals. But since then I’ve
all but forgotten about my classic drinks back home. In fact, the last time I
really thought about it, I was surprised to find that it doesn’t even sound
appealing anymore. The coffee here- be it instant coffee from my very own
kitchen, or café con leche from a gas station (which is a normal place to eat,
and rather artisanal, actually) - is superior. I don’t put sugar packets in it
anymore; they gross me out. Going back to my shop will be nice, I’m sure- they’ll
all be able to spell my name without me having to explain that I’m a yanqui and
that’s why it’s so weird- but I’ll stick to straight up lattes from here on out.
5. 5. Besos. I write that in Spanish for a very
specific reason: y’all need to chill, and kisses comes across way more serious
in English than Castellano (here, it can be used at the close of even formal
emails). Not gonna lie, I was super not- pumped for this. Among my family and
friends at home, I was defined as the one who was quite content in her personal space, thank you very much. Since I’ve
gotten accustomed to the common greeting of a kiss on the cheek, though, I
frickin’ love it. It’s more open and nice than a hand shake (or, the always
awkward “hey” coupled with a nod that teens love to do) but so much less touchy
than a hug. A perfect medium. I’m slowly but surely warming up to the rest of
the touchy- feely- ness of the culture. Operative word there being “slowly.”
6. 6. The mate. Story time! When I was a kid, I ruined
my mom’s life. She got frustrated with how quickly all the snack foods kept
disappearing (what can I say, there were teens in the house) so she bought salt
and vinegar flavor. It worked for a while; everyone thought it was gross. But,
being the ornery little girl I was, I decided that was just not allowed. So
through sheer force of will I made myself like salt and vinegar chips, out of spite.
Even today they’re my favorite. That was my mindset coming into this year, too.
I was absolutely committed to making myself like mate. When I first tried it, I
could not get over how bitter it was. But as of today, as I shared some with my
host parents, I actually do like it. A lot. Guess it worked again.
7. 7. The laid- back schooling. At first, I was super
annoyed with this. I used to be a seriously over achieving, straight- A, extra
credit type student. So coming here, man, I was so jacked to hit the books.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered there were no books. Heck, there were
barely lectures. I gave up on the whole school thing after a few weeks- I still don’t know how they get the
photocopies. And I must say, I’m really enjoying the whole no- homework thing
that I have going for me. But aside from allowing me to spend my days reading
Harry Potter y La Piedra Filosofal, I see now that the school system leaves a
lot more up to the kids. Everything is self- driven; no hand- holding or
pestering by teachers. You get it done, or you don’t. I like that mentality. I
also like that when a teacher can’t make it to school, we get to watch Netflix.
At this rate, 8 months from now, I’ll be unrecognizable to
my family and friends back home (no, not because of the facturas) - and honestly, I'm super ok with that.
