Wine & Steak

Vegetarian gods, forgive me.

I loveeee the steak in Argentina. It is sooo rich. I promise I won’t eat any more meat…(til I go to India cause my family there would probably banish me if I didn’t).

Last weekend, I went to Mendoza, Argentina, which is only a 7 hour bus ride away from Vina. I took the night bus there and back, so I crossed the border around 2 in the morn. Lemme tell you, the Argentinean police are caught up over this swine flu thing; a big bad policeman came into our bus with a mask on and asked if anyone felt a fever. He even came up to individual people and asked. And the Chilean popo get all uppity about bringing fresh fruit into the country. I brought back some marmalade from Argentina, and this popo dog smelled it and literally jumped on me. And you know I don't really like big dogs so I got scared, and every policeman in sight asked me what I had in my bag. Their preoccupation is understandable though as Chile’s economy thrives on its fresh fruits/ veggies, and they sure wouldn’t want any bugs crossing the border and destroying the crops.

I went with 2 good Australian friends, who taught me English- Aussie style. For example, when I asked for a juice box; they cracked up because they thought that ‘juice box’ was a funny name (but it is a box of juice, right?). Anyway, it’s apparently called a ‘popper’ cause you jump on it after you finish and it pops. Wow. Also there’s ‘bubbler’ for water fountain, ‘Maccers’ for McDonald’s and ‘hot chips’ for french fries.

We arrived at our quite dingy but quite cheap hostel early in the morn, and after a nap, we walked round the city. It really is a pretty little place with some beautiful weather, big and cute houses, and Argentinean flags everywhere (like in every store window). It is so relaxing to just walk around this city, and it is a perfect place for a quiet weekend. One side of Mendoza is occupied by a HUGE park, which includes a large lake for rowers, an observatory, a ZOO!, a little town which put a huge statue of Jesus on the top of a hill, and a large Church. Also the people in Mendoza are some of the nicest I've met ever. They are so nice when you are asking for directions.

My girl Jenelle had warned me about how Argentines hoard all their coins because the bus drivers will not accept bills, and it is almost impossible to get change at a corner kiosk or store. So where do you get coins, you ask? Fuck if I know. Luckily, there were bus drivers who (if we begged enough) took our bill or who just gave us a free ride rather than accept the bill.  What a system.

Anyway, we found a great ice cream spot which was re-visited..hmm twice more : ) On our first night, we found out that there was a magic show. But unfortunately we missed it, so we decided to see a play instead. So we go to this lil theater, and ask the guy at the desk when the play is on, and he informs us that none of the actors showed up, so that play got cancelled. So we ask, what's on tonight then? And he says a comedy. And I ask, is it funny? And he says, it matters what kind of comedy you're into. Turns out it was basically porn, as all the actors were nude at various point of the show. Unforgettable. Good bonding experience though.

When we woke up the next morning, we found a guy had moved into our room. And he starts talking to us, and tells us he is a model. And then he pulls out his whole modeling book. And he did have some really good pictures, but it was such a weird situation. Like why are you staying in this hostel if you’re a big time model? He did look the part though, very Italian. The European influence and descendance is very noticeable in the architecture and people of Argentina.

The highlight of this trip (besides the surprise porn) was the WINE TOUR ON BIKE. So painful on the butt, but soo worth it. There are like 8 wineries in Mendoza located pretty close to each other, so we biked to about 4 of them before we realized we were too tired and woozy to do more. The bike ride was gorgeous, as it was a beautiful day, and the fields surrounding the vineyards were gorgeous. Some wineries gave us a free sampling of their wines, and lemme tell you the Malbec hits the spot! We went to one winery called “Historias y Sabores” which produced marmalade, chocolate, and liquor mixed with chocolate. I decided to try this alcohol that is made with tobacco cause I was just too curious, and lemme tell you: it was gross, but interesting, very interesting. The chocolate rum though was delish! We also met some Americans while biking. And I must say I didn't realize that I slightly miss the quirkiness, awkwardness, and general friendliness of Americans. That night, we went to a buffet which was packed, and where I sinned and went to heaven (AKA I ate Argentinean steak). Whoo it was rich! The buffet was excellent cause it also had live music, crepes, and pasta made to your liking.

The next day, we went back to the park cause I really wanted to see the ZOO! Most of the animals were in really small lil cages, and that made me sad. But we laughed when we saw a monkey in a tree that had obviously escaped captivity and a llama who had done the same : ) We asked a zoo worker about these escaped animals, and he said that all the dangerous ones were locked up good, so no need to worry. Well thanks dude, good to know! My favorite part was seeing a little family of Indian elephants…so cute. Afterwards we went to the church I talked about earlier. I must say, I haven't been to Church in a while, so it was quite an experience. The sight of so many devout Christians was actually inspiring to me for some reason. That night we found out that there was a tango event happening, but unfortunately I had to head on out cause i have freaking finanzas on Monday morning. Such is life.

All in all though, I loved Mendoza. The chill atmosphere was contagious, and I felt so relaxed. Good weekend.