La Vida Cordobesa
I've been settling into life here in Cordoba the past few weeks - finding the best grocery store, the closest ATM, and activities to do outside of work.
There's a health studio right down the block from me. I've gotten myself into Pilates classes three times a week for exercise and some socializing, as if walking around the city isn't enough. My other to-do in Argentina was to find somewhere to take dance lessons, and my friend from CEDHA Victor has offered to teach me Zamba, the Argentine national folk dance. We have yet to start, but I'm excited!
I also made plans for my first big trip. That should happen this upcoming weekend, June 18. I'm going to spend 2 days in Mendoza, in the foothills of the Andes, a beautiful city in Argentina and most importantly the hub of the winemaking region of Argentina.
I've gotten to hang out a bit with the CEDHA folks outside of the office, too - they're wonderful people. Recently Pierre, an intern from France, completed his time with CEDHA. A few of us celebrated by going to Sushi Club, a chic restaurant down the street from me.
We also went to his despedida (goodbye party), and ended up out until 7am at his apartment and dancing at a local boliche (disco club)!
Also, this past Friday, CEDHA held a party for World Environment Day, established by the UN as June 5. We went to a local sports place to play some soccer, drink mate, play guitar and sing, and most importantly, eat choripan, which is an Argentine favorite - a sausage sandwich inside a roll. It was a lot of fun to have everyone gathered in one place outside the office and to enjoy the outdoors for a few hours with everyone. Here's an image of the chorizo (sausage) on the grill!
I must admit, it's been a bit difficult to accept that my summer will be spent in a place where it's winter! I gave in the other day and bought a winter coat, since the highs recently have only been in the 50's and 60's (and everyone here dresses as if it's below freezing), and it's only gonna get cooler. I'm also going through my second cold here - one of my coworkers warned me about the flu going around. I hadn't even considered that possibility! My inability to breathe through my nose has been a bit of a damper on my activity, but not much. There's way too much to experience here!
I think that's about all I've got to update on. Hopefully by the beginning of next week I'll have some great stories from Mendoza to share!
Chauchau,
Catherine