(Hannah) Mendoza: A Different Kind of White

So, I´m sorry I´ve been majorly slacking on the blog posts. This is my second week in a hostel in Mendoza, where we are studying Spanish at the Intercultural School. We were told not to bring laptops, since hostels are where people get their shit stolen by dirty fucking hippies, and there is one public computer, so I haven´t been able to keep up with messages as much as I would´ve liked.

Anyway, this area of Argentina is pretty damn idyllic. We are in the mountains, the wine capital of Argentina. So far, my exchange group has done the tourist stuff: gone horseback riding, whitewater rafting, rappelling (which I will NEVER do again), hiking, toured two bodegas and an olive oil factory, taking Spanish classes. We´ve also done the non-tourist stuff: bars, clubs, been invited to people´s houses and invited them to ours in turn, had barbecues with the Mendocinos.

Now, I love camping more than anything. I am happiest hiking in the mountains, climbing up the rocks, rafting. But this time, in this country, I feel a tiny little twinge of repulsion every time I see someone with a camping backpack (myself included).

Something about this town was making me uncomfortable, but I couldn´t exactly put a concrete defenition on it until recently: it absolutely REEKS of white privilige. Mendoza is a different kind of white than Buenos Aires. B.A. is for yuppies, Mendoza is for trustafarians (read: Hampshire people). I have met so many internationals in this hostel who have QUIT THEIR JOBS and are taking months on end to travel around Latin America. Escaping from the recession to the back-country.

Maybe it´s just me, but I feel like we (Yankees, Europeans) are treating this country as our playground, somewhere to go for adventure sports, experiencing Latin culture safely through classes, festivals and tours. The tourists come to conquer the mountains, but are we also conquering the people at the same time? As if the people here are for the purpose of teaching us about their culture.

Like, I was trying to light the gas stove last night and didn´t know how, since I´ve only ever used electric ovens. One of the Israeli girls brushed past me and muttered, “Oh my gosh, they´re so fucking old.” Did she mean the oven or the Argentinians? Is this country not “advanced” enough for your taste? Yeah, I did the motorcycle tour like Che… then I went back to my parent´s house in Connecticut and got high all summer. What an adventure, surviving in this antiquated country when we´re so used to putting our boots on the ground and being able to keep what we step on.