Welcoming June

I am almost reaching the halfway point of my Fulbright grant here in Argentina. Everyday I feel more and more comfortable and at-home in my routines. Discovering my favorite cafes and verdulerías, finding my place in this city with new friends and acquaintances. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching and working with my students this semester, and I can’t believe the semester only has a few weeks left. My original intention before I came to Argentina was to ensure that I enjoyed and cherished each day. My biggest fear that I would let my days here fly by, as days and weeks seem to do the older you get. While some days are less eventful, I have tried everyday to do something new. We had a bad spout of cold weather, which was extremely out of season for this time of year, so those days were majorly spent indoors. This week has thankfully reverted back to the warmer fall weather that is normal for this part of the country. It is still confusing to me to feel cold weather and to almost be in winter, but to still be surrounded by greenery. Since I have never lived in a place like this, it has made me realize how important it can be to not be surrounded by the gray winters that I am so used to. Having palm trees and cacti has made winter feel less hostile than it sometimes can feel. It has also been strange to think about the contrast of seasons between here and the United States currently. With the passage of the Memorial Day Weekend, with school ended and pools opening, I feel like my body is confused on what season it is. The lack of Daylight Savings Time here is also very confusing, with the sun not rising until a bit after 8:00am, which admittedly has been very difficult sometimes to get up on these extremely cold mornings. People here think I am crazy because I am so excited for spring and summer to come starting in September. The summers here are extremely hot, but I think I will appreciate warm weather up until I come back home to winter weather in Virginia.

In this past week, all the trees on the streets have had ripening oranges on them. I am absolutely fascinated by the orange trees here, growing freely and randomly on every block. Unfortunately, I have heard that the ones on the streets don’t taste as good as ones you can buy from the store. Today I finally tried my first in season orange, and it was perfect. A big adjustment for me has been buying fruit and vegetables only in season. Contrary to the United States, where every fruit and veg imaginable is available to you in a supermarket (although they may not be the best quality), here produce is only in season and local. While that is a much better circumstance to purchase produce, it was difficult since I had been craving oranges since I arrived here, and now finally have been able to eat some. This time of year is definitely celebrated because there are always people on street corners selling bags of oranges.

It is bittersweet to wrap up this semester. I have loved getting to know all my students and to work with them. It has been an incredible challenge, but I would not change it for the world. The month of July I will be able to travel extensively during the university’s winter break, and I am so excited to see more of Argentina. For now, I will be spending June enjoying the last few weeks of classes and my days here in Catamarca, with possibly a few more long weekend trips sprinkled in.