soy un pavo

happy thanksgiving! i've had a few, dim-witted people ask me via facebook chat whether or not south america celebrates thanksgiving. really? think about the fact why we celebrate turkey day. still comical nonetheless. since argentinos don't celebrate the mass genocide of the american indians after the first "thanksgiving" dinner they had when the pilgrims arrived, it was just like any other day. however, ifsa-butler had kindly planned our cena de despedida (goodbye dinner) for thanksgiving, knowing how much turkey and cranberry sauce mean to americans. i knew it was going to be fun..the program had reserved the 14th floor of a ritzy hotel in downtown mendoza and the emails convinced us that we would be eating pavo, or turkey. i left my house early, just as the sun was beginning to set and cast the dusty glow on the streets. i took the elevator up to the 14th floor and was absolutely blown away by the view. we had the entire upper floor and balcony to ourselves and the vista was incredible. the entire city of mendoza was sprawled below us, lit up and bustling and the andes were silhouetted against the now darkening sky. 

the andes mountains were beautiful

sunset

the pictures, like most of them i've taken here, don't do it justice. it was bittersweet to look down upon this city that has become my home and life for the past (over!) 4 months. now that we know most of mendoza like the backs of our hands, we could point out certain landmarks like the parks and plazas that we have passed so much time in. when we were called in for dinner, josé gave a nice speech about the semester, and then we ate! i was skeptical of the said "turkey" that was on the menu, but my worries were quelled after the first course...salad with real vegetables!

greens, parmesan cheese, tomatoes, and grilled sweet potatoes!

then, we got a nice chunk of turkey which definitely raised the spirit in the room. it was covered in some sort of winey-cranberry sauce, accompanied with onions, a tomato, and potatoes. the turkey was delicious. it was, like most meat here, juicy and flavorful, but without the excess of fat found on most bife here. 

dessert. i think we were all expecting some sort of pie after the turkey, but this was a torta-like concoction. cat remarked that the "artistic" chocolate swipe on the plate looked like a poop stain, so that kind of killed the dessert, but the fruit topping was good!

after a wonderful dinner, one of the spanish classes did a presentation about turkeys to a popular argentinean song, flaca. it was so funny and encouraged other people to show off their talents afterwards. we then were herded onto the balcony for a photoshoot with our respective spanish professors. however, before that, elizabeth and i presented gaby (our spanish professor) with her favorite dessert (a lemon pie) because she is retiring this year.

the signs say "soy un pavo" (i'm a turkey)

ben, ali, and brooke

kathy, bryan, and jamila (not pictured) did a really funny tango dance

LOS FELIPITOS! this was my spanish group

giving gaby a group hug

bryan and me

los hombres del grupo

after all the group pictures were taken, we headed to aristides as a group of 30 gringos to get a drink. then, we headed to iskra, a popular thursday boliche. i will let the pictures do the explaining:

selfiezz in the bathroom

selfiezz in the boliche

boliche in full force

where would we be without a late night (or really, early morning) pancho run!?

all in all, it was a great night. it's sad that it's our weekend, but as my host mom keeps telling me, my time here is just an época, just another part of my life that i have accomplished. i'm sure that i will crash later on today because we got back at 6am, but for now, i am going to try and make the most of my 6 remaining days in mendoza!