Josh Miller
H-SC May Term Abroad
Mendoza, Argentina
Summer 2015

June 30th

Now that I’ve been in Mendoza for a little more than three weeks, I feel that I am finally getting into the routine the people follow here. Typically, after classes are over at 1:30, I head home for lunch with the host family. In my new host family, the host parents are often busy at work during lunchtime. I usually eat with the three kids and the housekeeper. It is an interesting family dynamic to get used to but I really enjoy the change from the typical American routine.

This week, we toured a meat-processing factory. At first, I was less than excited to tour the facility. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The tour was very interesting and informative. In Dr. Thornton’s Latin American Economic Development class, we discussed how difficult it is for businesses to purchase machinery and heavy equipment necessary for production. Knowing this was a problem, a classmate asked the tour guide (who was actually the granddaughter of the founder of the company) this question. She explained that the machinery was mainly from Germany and Italy. She explained that the way her grandfather runs the business does not allow for debt to accrue. So, the company paid in full for all of the machinery in the factory. She also explained that the machinery had to be paid for in euros due to the weak exchange rate of the Argentine peso. We later discussed in class how difficult it is to acquire foreign currency in Argentina due to the government’s attempts at strengthening the value of their own currency.

Later in the week we toured Bodega Alta Vista. This Bodega is more of a ‘boutique’ operation compared to Familia Zuccardi’s bodega. We sampled three different complex wines with interesting origins from the Mendoza wine regions. Alta Vista differentiates their products from others by focusing on the terroir of the vineyards. The result is a premium product with a more specialized consumer market. I really enjoyed learning about their process and customer base.

In the last full week of the study abroad experience I hope to continue to learn as much about the culture in Mendoza as possible.