I don't have much time to update because LEAH MARIE (ALLYN) SPELMAN just called me and I am meeting her in an hour but I haven't posted in awhile and wanted to tell you all about my travels...
After Roberta left the homesickness that I'd managed to get rid of after Mar del Plata came back with a vengeance so I decided an adventure was in order. Mendoza had been on my "must-see" list for awhile so I packed up my friends Sailee and Sabrina and we headed off for a weekend in wine country. We left on Thursday night, slept on the micro (a 13-hour bus ride) and arrived at our beautiful hostel on Friday morning. Hostel Lao was decked out with hammocks, a patio, and, befitting wine country, a kitchen full of vino tinto. Though we were a little tired from our journey, we decided to take advantage of the day and start the weekend off with a bike wine tour. The students option, the bike wine tour involved renting rickety yellow bicycles, being given a map, and left to our own devices. The first stop was the wine museum which showed the development of the wine making process since the first vineyard was opened in Argentina in 1856. Pretty cool. After the wine museum we made it to three other bodegas, or vineyards, before it got too late to continue. A van from the tour company came to look for us before we got picked up by "policia turistica" or the rent-a-cops that patrol the vineyards at night. Apparently some tourists try and stay later to wander through the vineyards...
The next day Sabrina wanted to go hiking, but that tour left at 7 in the morning so Sailee and I opted out. We spent the afternoon going to the bodegas that we had missed the day before, and ended up on an adventure. Instead of biking we decided to take the colectivo, or bus, but we guessed wrong about which bus to take and ended up with about 2 miles to walk to the bodegas. Halfway into our trek Sailee had the great idea (probably inspired by the tourist story we had heard the night before) to jump one of the barbed wire fences around the vineyards to get better pictures. Luckily, no policia showed up and we got some pretty great pictures, but the scratch on my leg is still healing. We spent the night out with some friends we made in the hostel. I have grown to prefer hostel living to staying in hotels because if you get the right hostel everyone is SO friendly. Young travelers, all looking for... adventure? Anyways, it was fun.
The next morning (Sunday) we did wake up at 7 to take a bus tour of Canon Atuel, in the Andes. Stops included Puente del Inca, hotsprings that the Incas believed had magical healing powers; Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America; and Las Cuevas, a tiny tiny mountain town that is the last Argentine town in that region before Chile. Everything was beautiful unfortunately we couldn't see Aconcagua due to cloud cover. Oh well. I bought a postcard. Sunday was also a national holiday in Argentina: Veinticinco de Mayo, or, Dia de la Patria. It marks the day in 1810 that the Virreinato del Rio de la Plata (present day Argentina, Chile, Peru, Paraguay and Uruguay) decided to fight against the Spanish crown for independence. The war that was started did not end until July 9, 1825 (9 de Julio is another Argentine independence day). Apparently a traditional food to eat on 25 de Mayo is called locro, a stew made with chickpeas, beef and vegetables, so when we stopped for lunch in Las Cuevas locro it was. That night we explored Calle Aristides, basically Mendoza's version of Adams Morgan. They have some really cool bars with great reggaeton music, something Buenos Aires is lacking. Another great night.
Our last day in Mendoza we decided to explore the city, since we had spent so much time outside of it. We wandered around Plaza Independencia, their main square which is much smaller than Plaza de Mayo, and Parque las Heras, their park. We also managed to find Cerro de la Gloria, a monument to General San Martin. After liberating Argentina he crossed the Andes close to Mendoza, in the middle of winter, to start on Chile. No easy task, and he managed to do it in 5 days and still win when he got there. The monument was beautiful and it was fun to get some more history. By the time we got back to the hostel it was time to check out and get to the bus station for another overnight trip back to Buenos Aires. An amazing weekend and I had managed to renew my appreciation for this amazing country.
This past weekend I was in Salta with all the GW girls which was another great trip, I'll update about that as soon as I can. I cannot believe it is already June and I have only two more months here. Rough outline of my remaining time in South America:
June: in Buenos Aires, lots of studying, hopefully trips to Puerto Madryn to go whale watching and Iguazu Falls to see the waterfalls.
First week of July: Finals
Second week of July: living with Leah in the Road2Argentina residence, doing all the touristy things around BA that I have managed to not do until now.
Last two weeks of July/First week of August: Adventuring around Peru/Bolivia/Chile with Leah.
Home on August 9th.
Besos