hello all! i just returned from the land of Argentina, crossing over the beautiful, still snowy Andes mountains to two different towns semi near the chilean-argentine border. first of all, let me express to you how much i LOVED argentina. it was fantastic to cross the border and experience a new country, new culture. though very similar in many ways to chile, argentina felt even more european than chile does and the accent in some of the people we met was nearly impossible to understand. they speak with an Italian accent and also use a ch, j sound for the ll in all their words. this i was able to catch onto but they mumble and use a lot of slang, as does Chile but i dont know as much of the argentine slang as i have learned here in chile. im sure with practice i could catch on and understand but for the short 4.5 days we spent, it was not enough to master the argentine accent.
the first city we spent time in was Mendoza which apparnetly back in the 1800s was part of Chile. now it is part of argentina and home to streets lined with sycamores and large moats in the streets like an irrigation system or something. the weather was very warm and sunny every day we were there, just like summertime. the nights too were delightful reminiscent of summertime and i enjoyed this very much. in Mendoza we explored the city a lot, ate really cheap amazing steaks, great coffee, delicious ice cream, pastries, chocolates, all sorts of things. argentina is a very cheap country to travel in now, 3 pesos to the dollar with a good sized steak costing about 2 USD. incredible. we had more food than we knew what to do with in most cases.
also, there are ice cream shops EVERYWHERE, my friends decided to call one of the streets Katie Heaven b-c it was covered in ice cream shops. of course there are special argentine flavors. my favorite was Tramontana which was vanilla ice cream with ribbons of dulce de leche and then small chocolate cookie spheres that were crunchy. it was delicious! so rich and creamy. their coffee was also incredibly delcious and very welcome from chilean instant nescafe grossness. much better than my bad coffee experience at mcdonalds which is normally delicious and awesome here in chile. last week i went to try to get wireless and bought a cup of coffee to try to get the code which i guess i already had. anyway i bought a Ristretto aka NASTIEST coffee on earth. it was a tiny tiny cup with half of this tiny cup full of liquid that no matter how much sugar i poured in still tasted absolutely disgusting. i drank the 3 sips or so that were in it and it was painful and nasty. thus Argentina made up for that terribly sad coffee experience. their steak was also incredible and very cheap. their most popular dish is a lomito which is a sandwich that has lomo, strip steak, and then an egg, ham slice, tomato, lettuce, and cheese. sooo good.
the first day we walked and walked and ended up at a huge park where we played frisbee and walked along the lake in a rose garden. we found Cerro de la Gloria and climbed this to view vistas of the city and surrounding area as well as a statue erected in commemoration to General San Martin, a key player in some important war back in the day. :)
the next day we traveled to Uspallata, a mountain town among beautiful multi-colored mountains where a movie starring Brad Pitt...something about Tibet i think, was filmed a while back. we rented a cabin and hiked to Cerro 7 Colores, some part of the mountain range that was gorgeous, varied colors and absolutely gorgeous. we climbed up the hills and played more frisbee, hiking and taking pictures. so wide open and a wonderful reminder of the sheer power and magnamity of nature. We rented bikes the next day to see more of the mountains and biked along the Mendoza River, more wide open vistas and beautiful mountain views.
The final day we were back in Mendoza and as Mendoza is home to 70% of all wine produced in Argentina, we rented bikes and visited a couple bodegas, wineries in the area. we picnicked in a field of olive trees and enjoyed the sunny day after biking around for miles with the snowy mountains off in the distance and the grape vines slowly growing to maturity. the harvest isnt until March but the vineyards were a lot prettier than when i arrived in winter. spring is here and summer is on its way!
aside from the camping trip in Cajon del Maipo, this was one of the first trips i have taken where all of us were on the same page. being only 3 (kelan luke and i) this also made it easier to decide what to do. plus they are super adventurous as well and loved tramping around the city, riding bikes, playing frisbee, taking naps every day, cooking and just purely enjoying life. it was a wonderful vacation from a vacation and entertaining meeting friendly Argentines and delighting in the days and nights. nighttime in mendoza was delightful, the wind calm and the temperatures perfect. after dinner or sometimes before if we ate late, we would walk through the plazas and ped mall, watching the people and seeing street performances and people sipping coffee out on the sidewalk in sidewalk cafes or just walking lackadaiscally.
buena onda (good vibes)
needless to say, i loved Argentina and was impressed by their culture and lifestyle and beautiful mountains and outdoor activities. 6 weeks until i return to the states with 2 trips left or so. i plan to go to the beach and rent a cabin with some friends this weekend, celebrate a haphazard Thanksgiving in some way or another in a couple weeks, go south with Leslie and Caroline and camp in a national park amidst waterfalls and then await the arrival of my dad in exactly one month from today when we will go all the way to the end of the earth in Chile to the famous Torres del Paine National Park, penguin colony, and Punta Arenas. done and done what is ahead looks exciting, what is behind was amazing and living life now is incredible. i literally wake up everyday with a huge smile on my face, completely in love with life and all that i have gotten the chance to see and experience thus far.
good luck with the rest of the semester-year, see you all super soon!
love and miss you,
katie :)
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