To Mendoza... and beyond

After a couple of weeks of rest, a small group of us decided to do a little border hopping, and took an 8 hour bus ride through the mountains to Mendoza, one of the larger cities in Argentina.  The bus ride through the Andes Mountains was incredible, just a beautiful ride, though a little long, and after 8 hours, one of which being the process of customs between Chile and Argentina, we were in Mendoza.

Mendoza is really a beautiful town right at the feet of the Andes, with a semi-arid climate, it really reminded me of the parts of New Mexico I have seen.  We had a pretty nice hostel a couple of streets off of one of the main roads, so we were able to walk to just about everywhere we wanted to go.  The city of Mendoza is very nice, calm for its size (because all of the clubs are located a 20 minute cab ride from the city) which was fine with me, because Mendoza is one of the adventure capitols of Argentina!  Through our hostel we were able to do mountain biking, white water rafting, zip-lining, and a biking tour of a couple of vineyards.  

The town of Mendoza is also famous for "Las Tinajas" which is an all you can eat buffet with EVERYTHING you could imagine, especially the grill (about 10 feet wide by 2 deep) filled with delicious Argentinean meat (which is not corn-fed, and definitely tastier).  

The first full day in Mendoza was spent on the "Bikes and Wine" tour, which was a biking tour of a few of the vineyards in Mendoza.

We were able to see the grapes growing, the wine machines (none was being made because the grapes aren't ready), and even take a tour of a wine museum, cataloguing one of the oldest vineyards in the area.  These are some of the old barrels they used to ferment the wine.

The second day we started with white water rafting, which was amazing!  We even got to take a class 3 rapids.

They were so awesome we fell out!

We then moved on to Zip Lining through the foot hills of the Andes.  This was a little more laid-back, but definitely exciting and very fun.  

(there was a photographer who took lots of pictures, but I haven't gotten the CD yet... as soon as I do, expect some awesome pictures)

The third day we went mountain biking, which was also amazing!  It is really a different sport all together when you are actually mountain biking in the MOUNTAINS as opposed to Minnesota.  There were a few times I thought I was going to die, but it turned out alright!

the time flew in Mendoza, and before we knew it, it was time to get back on the bus and come home.  The night ride through the mountains was awesome, and I stayed up for a long time just watching the stars and mountains through the window of the bus, which I paid for at 6 am when the bus pulled into the station in Viña...

La La La LA SERENA!!!

The week after the 18th passed normally here in Chile, we had class, went to the beach, talked spanish.  The weekend after the 18th we found ourselves in Santiago watching the presidential debate with the other Chilean students from Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, which was an awesome experience because we were able to get a more global (or at least foreign) idea of how our country is viewed.  I was surprised as to how even the Chileans were split between Obama and McCain, I had thought they were more in support of Obama, but I guess that is what the experience was for, to see this.  A small group of us then spent the night in Bella Vista, the Bohemian neighborhood in Santiago and went out to eat and then to a club.  It was really fun!

The following weekend about 15 of us went to La Serena, and the adjoining Valley Elqui, which boasts the clearest skies in the world, over 320 sunny days a year!  We arrived on a Friday, which just happened to be cloudy, and spent the day exploring beautiful La Serena, which just might be my favorite Chilean city.  It is smaller than Viña and just has more of a Chilean feel to it (which might be due to the fact that no one speaks english).  

This is a church in the center of the city.  It is really awesome because all around it are road side vendors, cars, people yelling, but inside it is silent.  It's like walking into a different world.
La Recova is an artesania in the center of La Serena.  These are pretty typical of Chilean towns, and are basically places where the artisans come to sell their wares.  This was a really huge one, and I think just about everyone in the group bought something.

The night after our tour of La Serena we cooked a delicious meal of Pasta Rafael with plenty of Chilean wine!  It was spectacular but, as expected, once it came time for the cooks to eat, there were no plates left...

The following day we took a tour of the Elqui Valley, and saw some of the spectacularly beautiful sights, including this of the dam over the river elqui.  It is interesting to see that this is usually an arid landscape (cactus), but with the damn it has become a lake.

Yeah... I'm pretty hard core (the sign says "Warning, don't sit on the wall")

We ate at a restaurant where all of the food was cooked with solar ovens, so I had to get  a picture... what can I say, It's kind of my thing!
A large percentage of the grapes for pisco and wine in Chile come from the Elqui valley, due to its abundance of sun.  This is a picture of a vineyard on the banks of the Elqui river. 

We also took a tour of a pisqueria, which is a place where pisco (the national drink of Chile, consisting of fermented white wine) is made.  Chile produces between 50,000,000 and 55,000,000 liters of pisco every year, and exports only 5,000,000, leaving over 45 million liters of pisco between the 16 million inhabitants!  On the tour we were able to try a little pisco, but only after trying the aguardiente that is can be made by the same process (about 150 proof).  It was horrible, but made the pisco taste really good!

Our last day in La Serena was spent on the beach, right behind this lighthouse.  All said and done, a slight sunburn was all I have to show for this day, but it was a much needed rest after a full trip.

Dies y Ocho... Fiestas Patrias

In Chile, the eighteenth of September is a national holiday, equivalent to our fourth of July, except that it is a week long party with everything in the country closed except the restaurants and bars.  We got off of school on Wednesday and began the fun with an Asado (barbecue) at my house with my family which was VERY fun.  Early in the night my aunt broke out her Waso outfit, and talked me into wearing it and taking some "patriotic" pictures by the Chilean flag... this is a picture of me and my family, (from left) my mom, me, sister, brother in law, and other sister's boyfriend.

We all also got the opportunity to learn "La Cueca" which is the national dance of Chile.  Basically it is a flirting dance between a turkey and the hen.  Very fun!

After the asado we went to Valparaiso to practice our Cueca skills, and were able to find a street dance and some Chilean girls who were willing to dance with us... not to mention LOTS of Choripan (a spanish sausage with pebre (basically pico de gallo) and bread)!!!   The Thursday was spent on lots of asados, where I was able to try something completely new: I came home and Tony (brother in law) handed me a muscle with some lemon juice.  I ate it, and though it was a little undercooked, I liked it.  Then they handed me another one and a knife... when I tried to stick the knife in to open it, the shell slammed shut!  I was eating live animals!  It was a bit unnerving at first watching them squirm when squirted by lemon juice or feeling them move inside your mouth, but all in all it was a very unique Chilean experience.

On Friday we went to La Campana, a mountain about an hour outside of Viña and climbed about a vertical mile.  It was a pretty hard climb, a lot more than most people bargained for, but the view from the top was spectacular... definitely Vale La Pena!

Abby and I in front of the Valley.   Just behind the mountain to our left is the ocean.  From the Top of La Campana we could see everything form the Ocean to the Andes, the west and east borders of Chile.A group of us in front of the cordillera Andes.  Just to the left of this picture is Mt. Aconcagua, the tallest peak in the Americas!

The day after our grand adventure up the mountain, we went snowboarding/skiing in the Andes; Mountain skiing is a whole different world than Minnesota skiing!

I started the day snowboarding, and though I fell A LOT, I really did learn pretty quickly, and before lunch came I had learned to carve a little, which was fun.  However, my sore body and the spectacular view of the mountain that I would never be able to see from a snowboard made me change my mind, and after lunch I switched to skiing.

Once I was back on skis I was able to really enjoy the mountain, and even got up to some of the black diamonds.  The mountain skiing is something else... it takes so long to get down the mountain that I sometimes had to take breaks halfway down, something unheard of in Minnesota, land of the 30 second run.  The view was also incredible!

All in all, the 18th of September was a Fiestas Patrias to remember, though one that took about a week of rest to overcome.