As many of you know, I have been elected “princess,” of my district here in Godoy Cruz, which is a township here in Mendoza. This step is the first in the long process to select the “queen” of “la Vendimia.” (Here are a few links about “la Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia.” Some are in Spanish, but if you copy and paste in Google Translate you will kind of get the gist. It’s a HUGE deal in Mendoza and in Argentina as a whole. http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiesta_Nacional_de_la_Vendimia http://vendimia.mendoza.gov.ar/vendimia/ http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/top-10/harvest-festivals --we’re number 2!!) It is a huge honor and comes with a lot of responsibility. However, at the same time, it brings something out of me that I have been holding in for quite a while..dressing up!
In our college days, particularly at Fessenden, Thursday and Saturday nights in particular were moments in which bonding with my girlfriends occurred. We would commence our dressing up quite early (in Mendocino terms, ridiculously early…9:30 PM here we still haven’t consumed dinner!), take pictures, go out, enjoy time with friends, come back home before 2 am to begin our next day on top. In Fessenden, it was quite amazing because, well, instead of having one closet, one mirror, one set of makeup, we had at least 4! And, we each had a clothes critic, a makeup artist, a hair stylist, and great music. 3 floors of perfect entertainment. It was amazing and I am ever-so-grateful to my wonderful friends that brought out the girly-girl in me.
However, since my college days, I have not had quite the same opportunity of girl-time as I had then. Living with my grandmother is wonderful, but she is a few generations behind, so it is difficult to get the correct critique from her. I do not have 4 closets, I have half of one. I have a mirror that only covers my legs…since I am taller than the average male here. I have only my makeup…which, believe me, is really something to laugh at. And, the most recent music I have is from the summer 2010 since I have been unable to download new music since I have been here. (If you have the opportunity and/or time, I would love some CDs of new music…)
Today, the 8 district princesses had to take the official pictures for our campaign to become the township queen. It brought back all of the same feelings of companionship, of girlfriend-ship, of bonding, of being able to critique honestly without judgment, of sharing jewelry/makeup/clothes/shoes/etc. I loved it. It was an all-day bonding session with mate and conversation…similar to afternoons on the back porch at Fessenden. Finally, I have found what has left me slightly empty since returning here.
K bye.
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