Submitted by Aubrey Inkster on the 2017 winter session program in Argentina sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
It’s crazy to think how fast this month has flown by when I think back to when we first arrived in Buenos Aires. Nearly a month has progressed and come Thursday, February 2nd, we will be departing on a plane for the tumult that is the United States of America. Being outside of the United States is always something I enjoy and while I don’t want to say that I have become disconnected from everything back home or around the globe, no matter where I go, I always get the slightest feeling that my perception of time has become warped compared to normal; almost as if a slight haze crosses my mind and leaves me in a sense of shock. After the inauguration that took place just a little over a week ago, I would say I am experiencing this feeling especially so. It’s a bit of a mind warp to see many of my friends and family back home being active citizens by participating in the many protests going on stateside, but not being able to be a part of that with them. At first, I felt like I was dreaming lucidly and knowing that with each passing day, I come closer and closer to fully waking back up to reality in JFK customs, with a slight bit of melancholy. However, as the hour approaches quicker and quicker, I now feel more of an anticipation to join my brothers and sisters in playing an active role as a citizen of the United States for the sake of our country as well as for the sake of the many marginalized and discriminated populations in it.
With all of that being said, however, I was blessed with the experience of traveling out to the very western border of Argentina in the state of Mendoza this past weekend with a group of eight others from my program. It was quite a trip to say the least. All of Saturday was spent in the Argentine Andes Mountains, hiking through Parque Nacional de Aconcagua, to crossing over the border to Chile, nearly 13,000 feet above sea level. Being back in the Andes was a rejuvenating experience for me to say the least. The last time I had the pleasure of being in these mountains was when my mother and I did a four day all day/overnight hike through the Peruvian Andes, ending at the sacred city of Machu Picchu way back when I was the ripe, young age of 13. I like to think that I’ve spent multiple past lives living throughout these mountains based on the intuitive calling that I feel ringing through the valleys and peaks of the cordilleras every time I’m in the thick of them. It was refreshing to see that this feeling has not faded.
It was also interesting to note the vast differences between the Peruvian Andes and the Argentine/Chilean Andes. The Peruvian Andes were lush with plants and wildlife alike, literally a rain forest above the clouds at certain altitudes. The Argentine Andes on the other hand were much more like a glacial desert. Of course, one has to take into consideration that we were there during the peak of their summer and that in the wintertime a number of the mountains are covered in snow and used for skiing, thus the glacial aspect of the above oxymoron (now that I think of it though I’ve been to deserts as far north as the Yukon).
Either way, the same underlying vibration of nostalgia overtook my spirit just as it did the first time I experienced the Andes. Someday, I hope to live somewhere along them. Of course I still have quite a bit of traveling left to do before I find the exact place I want to settle down.
Sunday morning came with a taste of bitterness upon hearing of the recent ban of Muslim immigrants by executive order of the Trump Administration. It disgusts me to even mention his name in this post. Before I end this blog post though, I would like to say that my thoughts and energy go out not only to all of the refugees of any race, religion or ethnicity currently being discriminated against by forces of oppression all over the world, but also to the many international students of the University of Delaware who either cannot currently make it back into the country for spring semester or who won’t be able to travel home for an indefinite period of time to visit their families and friends. A friend of mine on this program whose brother suffers from cerebral palsy has a caretaker of Peruvian decent who almost wasn’t let back into the country just within the past few days because of this. Most importantly, everyone should keep in mind that it isn’t just affecting people from non-western countries that Trump doesn’t have business ties with, it’s affecting nearly everyone. It was hearing all of these things that turned my wariness of returning to the United States into anticipation. I am very ready to do my part as an American citizen in wrestling with the true hate and aggression that plagues this world.
In closing, it is crucial to realize and remember that although we all come from different walks of life and have been raised on different beliefs, we are all human beings. We’re not red, we’re not blue, we’re not the true enemies of what the other man in the suit tells you. With that being said, I am very excited to come home, even though, I will miss Argentina greatly. I will be returning home with a treasure trove full of stories to tell everyone back home.
