39°N to 34°S

Monday, July 23, 2012

A Busy Couple of Days

I wanted dad to see Buenos Aires before we had to leave and continue our travels, so we toured the city yesterday. It was quite a long day with lots of walking, but I really wanted him to see the city that I lived in for the last 2 months. After dad finally got his bag we let from our hotel and took the Subte down to Catedral where I showed dad the Casa Rosada (where the President works) and Plaza de Mayo. We ate lunch at a little restaurant and I had my first lomito. A lomito is a tenderloin sandwich and it was delicious! From there we walked down the street with the San Telmo markets and checked out all the artesanias. They had some really awesome things that were handmade It goes for about 15 blocks, but we only walked about 5 blocks and then we left so we could go to Cafe Tortoni!

It was a beautiful day, but a little chilly in the shadows of all the big buildings. We had a relaxing time at Cafe Tortoni and I drank my first submarino (hot milk with a chocolate bar) and it was alright. Not really my favorite thing to drink. From there we walked down 9 de Julio which is the street that is supposed to look like Paris and saw the big obelisk in the plaza there. Then we walked to Teatro Colon but it was closed for tours so we just walked through the walking area and around the outside. Then we took the Subte to Plaza Italia where we got the BEST ice cream EVER!! Dad had to agree that it was pretty close to the best and he really enjoyed it. After this, we had to hurry back to our hotel so we could catch a taxi to the bus station. We caught the 9:00 PM bus to Mendoza.

This morning around 10:30 we arrived in Mendoza and it is just as awesome as it was two weeks ago. However, we are not staying at Backpackers Hostel where I met my very interesting roommates in their towels :) I requested that we stay in a hostel where we could have our own room and when I wanted to shower and dress, I could do it by myself in a bathroom ;) So we are staying at this nice little hostel that is closer to the bus station. After we arrived we took a walk down close to Plaza Independencia to look at these little casks they use to age wine. Then we took a wine and olive tour. It was so AWESOME and we learned so much!

We went to two wineries and an olive oil factory. The first winery (Lopez) was very industrialized and they did a lot of their work with machines and had a very large factory where they made the wine in HUGE oak casks. We got to taste one of their sparkling wines and then another wine that tasted very much like oak. At the second winery all of their work was done by hand and it was so interesting to see how they irrigate their vineyards. I can't imagine doing all that work by hand. At this one we tasted Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah, and another Malbec. Today we were in the Maipu region of Mendoza and she said there were 1000 wineries just in this region! There are two other regions that border this Maipu region with I'm sure just as many wineries of their own.

Aging wine

This is only a medium-sized cask!

Bottling factory

Big glass of wine!

We also toured an olive oil factory! I had no idea that Mendoza was big olive country as well. This factory we went today made some of the best olive oil I have tasted. They had extra virgin olive oil, unfiltered olive oil, garlic olive oil, oregano olive oil, etc. It was all so delicious and am hoping that they have something similar in the United States. They also dehydrate fruits and vegetables there. The best was the tomatoes that had been dehydrated and then made into a tomato paste. I thought the olive factory was way better than the wineries to be honest! Also, did you know that green and black olives are the exact same plant??? Black olives are just more mature than green olives. I had no idea!!!

Olive press!

Anyways, I have to get up early to go on a high Andes tour so I better get to bed! Hope all is well!

P.S. I wrote this very quickly so I apologize for any errors!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Oops...I Forgot Pictures

THEY FINALLY ARRIVED!!

This morning I woke up at 7:45 AM to be ready for my taxi that picked me up at 8:45 AM. My driver's name was Jorge and he was probably one of the nicest people I have met here. He drove me to the airport so I could meet dad and Georgia, since they finally got a flight out after waiting in Atlanta for 4 days!! Georgia arrived and went to claim her bags. They say that dad's bags will be here in the morning, but we shall see. Jorge was very nice and waited for us without charging us and then drove us back to my apartment. From there he took Georgia to the Aeroparque so she could catch her flight to Puerto Iguazu.

My dad got to meet Pupi and helped finish packing my bags. It was really sad to leave Pupi and say goodbye to Kylie, but the fact that my dad is here helped with that. We walked to a hotel that is about 5 blocks from where I lived and luckily they had a room for us! We went and had lunch with Kylie and then said my goodbyes and we walked to where we could catch this big yellow city tour bus! After waiting for the bus, it arrived and was too full so they wouldn't let us on :( We passed sometime in the Spanish art museum, which was really cool. Then we walked across the street to the plaza and walked through the artesania stands. They have some really cool stuff. Since we couldn't get on the bus, we took a colectivo down to Recoleta. I showed dad the cemetery, we walked through all the artesanias there and then crossed the bridge to see the flower. It was a beautiful day to be out and about!

After that we caught a cab to Siga La Vaca, since people had been raving about it for weeks! It is a parilla, which means steakhouse. They only have one menu though. You get all you can eat meat (chorizo, steak, roast beef, chicken, etc), salad, french fries, bread, a bottle of wine and a dessert all for 130 Pesos. Its a pretty good deal and it is delicious! We got there really early since I knew it would feel up quickly, which was good because when we left we had to fight a mob of people just to get outside.

When we arrived at Siga La Vaca I got a text from Georgia, so I assumed she was just letting me know she made it to Puerto Iguazu. NO! She was still in Buenos Aires and been trying to get ahold of me all day. I felt so bad b/c I just got her texts! We told her to catch a cab and she came to join us. Even though her flight to Puerto Iguazu fell through, they still sent her bags, so now she was without bags as well. This has been a nightmare! She got a flight booked for early in the morning. After our wonderful dinner and time together, we walked down Puerto Madero to the Women's Bridge and had a great time! Then we caught a cab back to our hotel. All in all, it was a wonderful day!!! I hope things start going a little more smoothly from here on out.

Friday, July 20, 2012

School's Out For Summer!!

Well today was my last day of class. I passed with an 8/10! My oral final went really well. I talked about all the word mishaps I have had here, what I like about the city and what I didn't like, etc. It was a piece of cake! After we found out of our final grades we went to have our farewell lunch with ISA. We went to this WOK restaurant that had a buffet...the BEST buffet EVER! They had everything there and I'm not exaggerating. I wish I would've taken a picture. They had grilled steaks, chinese food, fruit, fresh meat & cheese, desserts, ice cream, salads, and vegetables. Literally almost everything you could imagine! I ate 5 plates (don't judge) and then some ice cream with chocolate syrup. It was all so delicious and I wish I would've discovered this place sooner.

After that I was stuffed so I can home and took it easy all afternoon. I spent the afternoon making many important phone calls and it was really good to talk to everyone back home. I am still waiting on my dad and Georgia to get here. I have been trying to get my stuff packed since my housing ends tomorrow, but I think I might have bought too much stuff when here or maybe my bag is just too small ;)

I am very relieved that class is over, although I am going to miss all the people that I met here! I will especially miss my host mom. She is the best! :)

DAD AND GEORGIA ARE ON A FLIGHT HERE THANK GOODNESS!!!

Pupi called and arranged the taxi for me to go to the airport to meet them! I am so pumped and can't wait to see them! Let the adventure begin!!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

A Little Pampering

Well things have been winding down and since my dad didn't arrive this morning, I went to class to review. This was very needed and it helped me so much! I feel like this past month has gone by in a weeks time and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. My head has been crammed with Spanish and I'm not really sure I improved my Spanish skills with all that has been throw at me in the last month. I know there is some, but there is still room for more. I am ready to be done with classes and enjoy my time with my dad and cousin traveling around South America, if they ever get on a flight here :)

As I prepare for my tests here, I have been trying not to stress and to take some time to enjoy myself. While in Iguazu I spent an hour at the hotel spa getting a very nice and much needed massage. Yesterday I went to a salon and got a manicure and pedicure and it was awesome to just sit there and relax! All pampering stuff here is very cheap. I paid about $18 for both my pedicure and manicure and it was really high quality. That would never happen in the United States! Pupi keeps telling me that I need to get my legs waxed here because it is super ubber cheap. I just nod my head and smile :)

Today I had my written final and I think it went alright. Tomorrow I have my oral final and I'm not too worried about it since it will be just like a normal conversation with a local. Hopefully it goes pretty well. After tomorrow I will be done with my program and everyone else is leaving on Saturday. Dad and Georgia were supposed to be here this morning, but after they let them on the plane last night and pulled the jetway back from the plane, they put it back and kicked them out of their seats because another plane came in late with passengers :( It was quite depressing.

Today we took the bus back to Recoleta Cemetery and the church that is right next to it. I walked around and checked out the above-ground graves in more detail...it was really quite interesting to see all these coffins just laid in a cabinet within the tombs. This cemetery is where all the richest people from Buenos Aires are buried. I saw the tomb where Eva Peron (Evita) is laid, so that was really exciting. After this we walked through all of the artisan shops and admired their handicraft. One lady was not very nice and yelled at me for touching a scarf...oops. From there we walked to this giant flower that is solar powered. It opens during the day and closes at night. It is massive and is really really cool!