Last year I spent Christmas alone in New Zealand. I decided to embark on a 7-day trek through the beautiful mountains, beaches, and rainforest of the South Island instead of spending Christmas in a city. I definitely made the right choice as this trek was one of immense beauty, but I definitely realized how important it is to spend these times with people you care about. I vowed to never spend the holidays away from my family…only to be away once again the year after….
This year I had an amazing Thanksgiving (previous post) so I had high hopes of having a really great Christmas, despite being away from home. Late December found me making my way to northern Argentina. While crossing the border of Bolivia and Argentina, I was completely overwhelmed and definitely lost. I began to seek out someone who looked friendly and who spoke fluent English (though my Spanish was sufficient at this point, I couldn't afford to misunderstand a thing). I approached this girl and asked if I was in the right spot; with all the chaos of border-crossing, multiple lines and buildings, I had no idea where to go. Turns out this mile-long line was indeed the right one, she had been there for hours and not moved a foot. I took the chance of cutting in line with her, as I was on a tight schedule with my bus leaving in a couple hours. Janine and I began exchanging travel stories, and found we were headed to the same city. LONG story short, we barely got past the border in time, thanks to a nice security guard who took our papers to the front. We sprinted to catch a taxi, only to find we hadn't exchanged any currency to pesos yet, so we payed with a mix of dollars and bolivianos. We sped to the bus terminal and the second we sat down, the bus pulled away. Phew! Though we were both utterly wrecked from days of travel, we managed to become quick friends, and decided to meet up in Salta to explore the city together. I wrote down my name for her on a napkin, and we planned for her to find me on Facebook to discuss getting together.
Three days in Salta passed without hearing from her. I was a little bummed and thought maybe she just didn't like me. Well I go to the bus terminal to catch a ride to Mendoza, and while I was lost in thought about crackers and cookies in the snack stand, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turn around, and who is standing there but her! Turns out, I have sloppy handwriting and she misread my "o" for an "a" and couldn't find me on Facebook. So here's the kicker… she is taking the same bus to Mendoza… and we are assigned to sit right next to each other. Tell me that's not meant to be! So we power through the 15 hour bus ride together, and this time we decide to stay at the same place once we arrive in Mendoza. She was on a 10 month trip around South America, and had met some friends previously who live in Mendoza; they were nice enough to invite us to spend Christmas with them.
Christmas Eve, we drove out of town alongside endless vineyards, past a beautiful lake, and into the rolling mountains of the Mendoza countryside. We pulled up to the little cabin, and even in the rain it was so cute! We were instantly greeted by Diego, Martin, and Sebastian putting together a wildflower arrangement for the table. The Malbec flowed as we ate a delicious cheese platter. Soon after arriving in Argentina, I realized just how different the dialect is from Peruvian Spanish. Shit. I had just started getting good enough at Spanish to be confident to speak it, and they throw this curveball at me! It's a constant strain to listen to another language and try to translate, but we still managed to have good conversations. They began cooking the lamb asado at about 8pm, so naturally it wouldn't be ready until midnight. Well, unlike Argentines, I am not so good at staying up late. I snuck off to bed before dinner was even ready!
Christmas day was a little rainy, but we all drove casually along the country dirt roads, taking in the Wyoming-like scenery, wildflowers, and wild horses. We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the lawn, playing guitar, sipping fernet and wine, and eating amazing left-overs from the night before. Though I was feeling a bit sad about being away from my family, being able to be a part of their family for a couple days was something pretty special. A big "Gracias" is in order for those guys…thank you Diego, Matias, Martin, and Sebastian for all your generosity not just on these days, but all my time spent in Mendoza!
Everyone comes into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime... and I am forever grateful that this group of people was brought into my life, if only for this short time. Salud!
