Bienvenidos from Rotary Mendoza!

Since meeting my Host Rotary Counselors, Alberto & Elena Diaz from Rotary Mendoza Barraquero, I seem to have been on a rollercoaster of Rotary Events. When we first met, I was taken to an elaborate Rotary dinner almost every night for a week! Below are photos taken at one of these dinners, located on the outskirts of town at a finca (vineyard), the upper one of Alberto and Elena.

Immersing Myself in Spanish

For the whole month of February I dove into a spanish immersion program in Mendoza. I stayed with an incredible host family and took language classes every morning at the Instituto Intercultural, in downtown. It was a great experience. Below is my spanish class, with my profesor, Enrique in the center.


My host family was composed of two absolutely amazing women, my host mom (or mama mendocina) Maria del Carmen, and her 19-year-old daughter Lula (my hermanita mendocina), who are both now my best friends here. The photo below was taken on my very first day in Mendoza, when my new family took me sightseeing around town, including the Cerro de Gloria where there is a giant monument to Argentina's national hero, General San Martin, who led the army who won Argentina's independence from Spain in 1816.

Mendoza - Argentina's Most Livable City

They say the Mendoza is the most pleasant city in Argentina. And it really is a beautiful little oasis in the desert. If it weren't for the crazy drivers, plethora of stray dogs, and mate (pronounced mah-tay) tea everywhere, one would think they were in Europe. The city is organized around several central plazas, complete with lots of fountains and street performers, and the sidewalks are wide and filled with outdoor seating and huge leafy trees, which are fed by a complex system of ancient aqueducts.

Its a great place for walking, not so good for driving or riding a bike as an average of 300 people a year in Mendoza die from car accidents, many of which involving bikers. It has a great pedestrian street, called Sarmiento (above with the red fountain) busy with locals and tourists alike enjoying the pleasant weather. The city of Mendoza has the definite feel of a college town with around 5 different universities and tons of language institutes. There are about a 100,000 residents and a gazillion restaurants, specializing in steaks, pastas, pizzas and a more ham sandwiches than one could ever want.

Aloha & Bienvenidos!

2005 was a busy year. In addition to completing a master's thesis, starting a new job, and having the most amazing (and complicated) wedding I could have imagined, I was also awarded a 2006 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to study Geography at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. Now that I am am starting to get my bearings here in the southern hemisphere, I have started a little blog to keep you updated on my experiences during my year as an Ambassadorial Scholar.

The Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship Program started as a vision of Rotary's founder, Paul Harris. He dreamed of a program that sponsored graduate students to study in foreign nations, acting as ambassadors between their home and host countries, promoting international understanding and friendly relations. His vision became a reality, and the Ambassadorial Scholarship Program is currently the largest privately funded scholarship program in the world. Since 1947, approximately 37,000 men and women have studied in more than 70 different countries as Rotary Ambassadorial scholars.

This year, there are over 850 ambassadorial scholars studying around the world, 89 scholars in Latin America, and 13 in Argentina. I certainly feel lucky to be one of them. There are a number of scholars in Buenos Aires, but so far, I have been alone here in Mendoza. However, starting in July, I will have a bit of company as another scholar will be coming to Mendoza all the way from Japan. And I thought I came a long way!