Volunteering in the mountains
All in all, as promised on the Workaway landing page, I did experience a cultural exchange and it was (once again) an experience full of learning and growth.
As I mentioned last week, I applied for a Workaway in the mountains of Mendoza. Although it only lasted a week, it was a real adventure.
When I was looking for a place to do a Workaway back in December, there were many options in the area. Hostels, farms, cabins, you name it. I was looking for something in nature, preferably in the mountains, and one ad immediately caught my eye. It said: ''help at our cabins near Potrerillos," which is in the trekking area. Everything I like - located in the mountains, cabin rentals, trekking. So I wrote to Eduardo, the host, and we quickly agreed and set a date.
It was last Sunday when I arrived at his house in Mendoza, near the center of town. We had agreed that I'd stay with him on Sunday and Monday, help him a bit around the house, and then on Monday we'd go to his cabins in the mountains. The work I did around the house was very relaxed - mostly painting some of his porches in the garden and in the evening also helping him with his computer.
I quickly found out that he was an interesting person. He paints and plays a flute - a flute that was played by tribes in the Andes 1000 years ago. He traveled around European cities for 3 years, making a living playing the flute on the streets. That day, while I was painting in the garden, he just came outside with his flute and started playing. He played some traditional Argentine and Paraguayan folk songs. At that moment, I actually got goosebumps. It was just him and me in the garden, sharing a cultural experience.
When you live with someone in their home, you naturally get a good insight into their culture and habits. For example, for lunch, we had pasta and a salad. He said that they (his family) eat the salad first while the pasta is cooking, so of course I did the same. Then for dinner, we had meat and a salad. When I wanted to prove that I had learned his traditions and was trying to fit in by eating a salad first, he said that they only do that with pasta. That's when I quickly realized how complicated it's to fit into a culture or learn their daily activities and how they go about it. Even eating a salad has so many layers!
On Monday, after a bit of gardening and painting, we headed out to the cabins. I was very excited. Just the drive there was amazing. The cabins are 1 hour and 30 minutes from the city of Mendoza and are located at 1800 meters. We got there in the late afternoon and it was just amazing. Right from the cabins, you can see the majestic Andean peaks.
I finally settle into my tiny room (very tiny). The first thing I checked, besides the view, was the Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, it didn't work in my room, but luckily I had service and since it's very cheap to buy data in Argentina, I could easily hotspot myself. That wasn't so great though - it didn't work well when I had calls. That’s when I realized I sadly couldn’t stay there for long. There was one more peculiarity - as soon as I lay down on my bed, I lost phone service. 1 meter from the bed everything was fine. Strange things, but it kept me from scrolling on my phone in bed.
Later that evening we just sat on the porch and admired the stars, which were as bright as I had ever seen them. Finally, Eduardo came with his flute, played a few songs, and we went to bed. The simple life.
The next morning, things really took off. Only then did I learn what my job there would be most of the time. We were building a concrete wall full of stones, and my job would be to become best friends with the stones nearby. I had to use a wheelbarrow to bring stones from the surrounding area to where the wall would be.
After only half an hour of work, I saw that this wouldn't be an easy task. I had to bring the biggest stones I could find. At first, I was going to settle for bringing a few smaller stones, but I was quickly told that we needed the biggest ones. The first day it was very hot, I'd say around 30 degrees Celsius and if you've ever been to the mountains you know the sun is much stronger there. Needless to say, after 5 hours of work, which was my daily contribution, I was exhausted and drained. Visiting wineries all week before didn't help either.
After 5 hours and a little rest, I opened my laptop and started my other work. Although I was very tired, I still had at least 4 hours of work to do for me. Once I got started, it wasn't that hard. I managed to do all my tasks every day. On the second day, I just laughed when I realized what kind of day I'm having: first simple construction work and after lunch reading and writing about network states. It's actually quite interesting when you have so much variety in a day. During the construction work, I had a lot of time to think and honestly, some creative ideas came to mind that motivated me further. I was also able to listen to podcasts, which I haven't done in a while.
As I worked in the morning, I realized that I had returned to my roots. My grandfather came to Slovenia from Croatia when he was 15 and worked in construction since then. Half of my hometown was built by him and the company he worked for. Those who know me know that I don't really like to build with my hands, but through this kind of experience, I'm slowly learning. A friend told me that I may not be gaining any high-tech skills by doing this, but I'm expanding my horizons (and strengthening my physical and mental muscles). Broaden my horizons I did by seeing how people live in such remote places.
It was also good to practice my Spanish. Damian, the construction worker I helped, didn't speak a word of English. Most of the words I learned were related to tools and construction, of course. The most common word I heard was: ''Rudi, mas piedras'', (Rudi, more rocks). I must say that he was very patient with me since I had never worked in construction before and we had a language barrier. Nevertheless, we somehow understood each other, at least I think.
Eduardo told me on the first day, "Nothing is difficult or easy. You just start doing it and after a while, it's done''. That's his philosophy. Although it was very tiring for me, once you start and see progress, like the wall actually being built, it's fun. It becomes play and it doesn't feel like work anymore. It's like that with everything. We just have to start.
Because I saw this progress and when I got a hang of it, I was a little sad to leave. But I had to do it because the service wasn't good enough to attend meetings. Fortunately, I didn't have any that week, so I could just be there. The work was hard, although I think I could stand it for another week or two. But it was very uncomfortable working on my own stuff. That's the problem when you want to have cultural interactions or stay in remote places like this while working remotely. I'm sure this won't be a problem soon in terms of internet stability.
Yesterday I decided to pack my things and go back to Mendoza. But that wasn't so easy. There are only 3 busses leaving from a place nearby, but they aren't very reliable. I was told that hitchhiking is normal here and if no bus comes, you just wait for someone to take you. So I gave it a try - for the first time in my life. I started walking and put my thumb out. And after only 5 minutes, the second car stopped for me. It was a local couple who work in the cabins in the area. They say they always take someone with them when they drive down. I even had a mate with them during the ride - it's really hard to do while driving, I found.
In the evening I arrived at my apartment in Mendoza, where I'll stay for a few weeks to take it easy and focus more on my work. I'll also get to know the city a little better. I don't have any firm plans for the time after Mendoza, but for now, I'm just letting myself go with the flow, which has been good for me so far.
All in all, as promised on the Workaway landing page, I did experience a cultural exchange and it was (once again) an experience full of learning and growth.