Mendoza

Well it has been awhile since I last updated. Classes have kicked into high gear the past few weeks. I have hardly had time to do anything other than study. It was frustrating as the first part of the semester we were given a normal amount of work and then the past few weeks have been just jammed pact with numerous assignments and tests in each class. I was able to get away this past long Easter weekend for a last excursion in Argentina. I went with Cameron to Mendoza, a smaller city about 14 hours away on bus. We left after class on Wednesday and arrived the next day around noon. We went through a different company than normal to avoid the craziness of Retiro station in Buenos Aires. It was also a lot more personal of a trip and we got to know the other travelers on the bus and the guide, Alejandro, was funny and made the ride enjoyable. We stopped at a gas station and then the next morning at a traveler's restaurant a few hours out of Mendoza for a medialuna (croissant) and coffee. When we arrived in Mendoza, we were dropped off at our two-star hotel, San Remo, where we shared a cama matrimonial.  We were picked up a few hours later for a city tour. We had to practice our Spanish a lot more than in Buenos Aires as nobody speaks English. After the end of our tour we visited the Los Toneles bodega, got a tour and lesson on the process of wine making and then a tasting. Mendoza is known for their bodegas (vineyards) as well as olive oil. We were dropped back off at our hotel later that evening and went out for a cheap bite to eat at a restaurant on Las Heras. We went to an ice cream place after that my guidebook had recommended.. it was the best soft serve I have ever tried... although it could be because it was dulce de leche flavored. 
On Friday we went to Betancourt Aventura located in Lujan, a town outside of the center and surrounded by the Andes. Cameron and I signed up for rock climbing and repelling since it was too windy to go paragliding. We had lucked out and got private lessons with the owner and founder, Fernando Betancourt. It was scary as we were really high up on the side of a mountain but it was so much fun. After he drove us back to the base where we had caprese empanadas. After lunch, we headed out to a nearby gaucho ranch and went horseback riding up the mountains. The views got more breathtaking with the incline. The horses were a bit smaller than the ones in the states and go two speeds: slow and really slow. But it was fun to experience a true "gaucho" horseback ride. 
On Saturday Cameron and I woke up early to catch a bus to Maipú, a town full of vineyards about 45 minutes away. We rented bicycles for 25 pesos (5 dollars) and set out for the bodegas. Most offered free tours and sometimes even free tastings. We visited a wine museum, five vineyards, and an olive farm along six miles of paths with scenic views of the mountains, vineyards and farmland. My favorite stop was La Familia Di Tomaso, the oldest vineyard in Mendoza. Our last stop was Olivicola Laur where we learned about the different types of olive oil and why olives are different colors. For those of you like me who didn't know, extra virgin olive oil has the lowest acidity (less than 0.8). Another fun fact: green and black olives can come from the same tree, even the same branch! The color corresponds to the ripeness of the olive when picked. Green are picked before ripening and black when they are ripe. Cool, huh? 
The next day, Easter, we woke up early to study for finals at a local Havanna cafe in Mendoza then hopped on the bus and headed back for Buenos Aires. It was a great trip overall and great closing to my time in Argentina. 
Just finished my third final today and have one more tomorrow. I head back to the states on Tuesday. I can't 
believe the semester is already over. Here are some pictures from my trip!

Plaza Sarmiento by the river 

  Here we are at the Monumento La Patria al Ejercito de Los Andes

Los Toneles

Lujan de Cuyo

Cameron with Fernando at the top!

Repelling down the mountain

Gaucho ranch

Giving our horses a break up the mountain

Horseback riding with Cameron and our guide, Luis

Vineyards and lavender

View on the bike ride. 

   

San Isidro

Went to a gorgeous little town thirty minutes outside of Buenos Aires by train with Cameron and Kalon. Although, we had a bit of trouble with transportation on the way to the train station. My madre told me to take bus number 60  and it would take us directly to a bus stop outside of Retiro so we didn't have to go to the chaotic central bus and train station of Buenos Aires. When we got off the bus at the "train station" as the conductor instructed us to, we were in a very rough looking neighborhood and unsure if this was the place my madre was talking about. We walked into the train station and they told us we had to go to Retiro, on the other side of the city and had to take a subway to get there. The main reason we had avoided Retiro was because of the subway which we did not want to take. The subway was so crowded. The whole sense of a "personal bubble" was thrown out the window as we were jam-packed in the subway with lots of sweaty and aggressive people. I guess it is all part of traveling in a big city, huh? Once we finally got to Retiro, we had to wait in line to buy our train tickets. I saw a woman talking to the police and she looked like a serious drug user. She was twitching and unable to make a coherent sentence. She was very skinny, dirty, and about 8 months pregnant. It was incredibly sad as she had another kid (that looked to be about 5 or 6 years old) begging for her. This woman picked up a half eaten apple underneath a bench and started eating it as she walked over to various travelers and tried to talk with them. This was a very upsetting situation as there are so many homeless people in Buenos Aires. Many of them have children to help financially. The government will often pay these people if they have kids but they also use the kids to beg (as many travelers will feel bad for a starving kid) or to steal. It is a terrible problem that many kids are born into and grow up completely unaware of any other form of life and the cycle continues. Okay, back to the trip to San Isidro...
 It was thirty cents each way by train. We finally arrived at 3 pm. We went to get our haircut at this neat little "Peluqueria" that my madre's best friend from her childhood owns. His name is Diego and was so nice and the hair cuts were so cheap! We were a bit nervous with getting an Argentine cut, but we walked out looking pretty good! San Isidro is a quaint town by the river with a market in the park on the weekends. The vendors sell jewelry, clothing, food, and souvenirs. Some of the food included candied apples covered in popcorn (yes, popcorn), empanadas, churros, postres, caramelized peanuts, and orange juice. San Isidro was a great break from the busy city life. The cobblestone streets, fountains, parks, and slow-paced atmosphere provided us with a perfect getaway. We went to the cathedral of San Isidro and also went out to eat. Cameron and Kalon had a delicious pizza with ham, cheese, arugula, olives, and tomatoes. I had to order something else as I had been having stomach problems. I ordered a Caesar salad... which was a bit different from the usual in the states. It was a pile of lettuce with chunks of cut up cheese from mar del plata, and shredded chicken from a can. Salad dressing doesn't exist here so it was accompanied with oil and vinegar. It was a pretty good salad but not like that in the states. I guess it is a good thing that salad dressing doesn't exist here, like many other condiments and junk food, as the obesity level is so much LOWER here. I rarely see one obese person a day. The population's health is overall pretty good, but they all smoke cigarettes. You can buy a pack of cigarettes for $1... ONE DOLLAR?!? GEESH! It is probably good that cigarette prices are so high in the US as I am sure every other person would be walking around the street puffing on a cancer stick.
Well after lunch we headed back to the train and went home. We had wanted to visit the museum and see some other things but we went on a "feria" day.. when nobody works, and all the stores were closed.  It is fall now so the weather has been great. Sunny and in the 70s during the day so we were able to enjoy walking around and exploring...

Train Station in San Isidro

Calm streets.

 Catedral de San Isidro

Market in the park

Candied apples, peanuts, popcorn.. on wheels!