Mendoza

So it looks like this will be my second to last blog entry from Santiago Chile. I have only one more week left, two tests, before I travel down south to Punta Arenas between the 6th-19th of December, then just barely two days in Santiago and then off to Buenos Aires.

Last Thursday I had my final exam for Social History of Latin America, which went surprisingly well. I also turned in a final essay for my contemporary history of Chile class. All that is left is my two Economics tests this week and I am free. After class, I went to pickup some gifts for my host parents since it was my host-father's birthday and my host-mother is leaving for Switzerland for 3 months the day after I go to Punta Arenas. Along the way I realized that I had misplaced my ATM card (probably left it in a ATM machine earlier in the week, forgetting to respond 'NO' at the end of my transaction if I wanted to make another transaction or have the machine spit out the card). That was a slight damper for my Thanksgiving, but the disappointment didn't last long since I was leaving for Mendoza that afternoon to visit family friends who live there for the weekend.

Thanksgiving lunch was very nice. My family and I shared the the things we were thankful for and discussed the final days of my stay in Chile. Very emotional, but a great holiday considering that no country outside of the United States celebrates Thanksgiving, obviously, and the day exceeded my expectations.

After lunch, I headed off the the airport. While waiting in line to check in, I noticed a familiar person in line, but wasn't sure of his identity until a airport worker came up to him asking for an autograph for his kids. Then my thoughts were confirmed that it was the Argentinian futbol player, Lucas Barrios (first photo below), striker for the Chilean club futbol team Colo-Colo. He was traveling to Buenos Aires for the weekend with a fellow player, Daud Gazela(second photo below), and after he finished checking in, I went up and asked them both for autographs. Not having any paper available, I had them sign my passport on the day that I arrived to Chile. It felt a bit strange since Colo-Colo is the rival club to my team, University of Chile, but Lucas Barrios can probably be considered the best player in the Chilean league and has recently been offered multimillion dollar contracts by various
European club teams. Not sure if he will leave.


After chatting with the futbol players, I checked into my flight, only to realize that my Visa had expired a week before. After 15 minutes of complete panic thinking that I was not going to be able to leave, I realized that all I needed to do was show them my Chilean identification card and I was on my way. The flight was less than 45 minutes long.

I arrived in Mendoza and met up with Carlos Rodriguez, who went to engineering school with my grandfather in the city of La Plata in Argentina. We sat down for a cup of coffee in the airport to introduce ourselves, share our stories, and then left for his house where I met his wife Teresa. Carlos was once the Minister of Economy as well as the Minister of the 'Hacienda,' for Argentina during the presidency of Carlos Menem, while Teresa was a doctor for many years with a specialization in blood and related diseases, and later was a social worker for the youth. They are such wonderful people, intelligent, very hospitable, and showed me a great time in Mendoza. That night we went out to dinner at a restaurant in which they knew the owners and had eaten there before with my grandparents years earlier.

My entire weekend was completely programmed. Carlos set me up with excursions to various parts of Mendoza and it's exterior. He had initially planned to join me on the trips, but he suffered an accident on a construction site a week before I arrived, breaking a couple ribs and lacerating his hand. Nevertheless, we had a great time.

The first excursion was to nearby vineyards and bodegas, as well as a olive oil producing farm. Mendoza is primarily known for its wine since about 90% of the wine produced in Argentina comes out of Mendoza. The temperature, climate, and available land for cultivation make it a perfect environment. I returned to the house for dinner and went to bed early since the following morning my excursion left at 7:30 a.m. Below La Bodega Baurdon, one that we visited.

Excursion #2 took a group of people to the northern part of Mendoza along the International highway that connects Chile with Argentina. Our stops consisted of the original bridge that San Martin used crossing the cordillera to Chile to aide in the Chilean independence with Bernanrdo O'Higgins(Puente Picheuta),

the town of Penitentes which is were I went skiing earlier in the year with my buddy Finn but this time there was no snow,

the Bridge of the Inca which is a natural bridge formed from water erosion of a nearby river with leftover sediment from retreated glaciers, and iron found in spring water. A Spa Hotel was created in 1925 for famous individuals that provided each room with a natural bath from the river, which apparently contained many cleansing and anti-stress elements. Following an avalanche in 1965, the entire community was destroyed except for a small chapel.

The last stop we made was the entrance to the Park of the Aconcagua mountain. We couldn't enter the park because you need to buy a permit, but the view was spectacular. After traveling all the way to the border, our excursion turned around and headed back to Mendoza.

Excursion #3: San Rafael. This city is about 3 hour south of Mendoza, and is considered the 3rd most important city in Argentina after Buenos Aires and Mendoza. It is famous for it's Canyon, Atuel, which is the Argentinian version of the Grand Canyon essentially. There is a river that flows in between, as well as a road that allows you to drive all the way up to Lake Nihuil. The river has a series of hydroelectric dams that are used to supply a significant amount of energy to Argentina's citizens. The excursion took the entire day, from 7 in the morning until about 10 in the evening.





On my final day in Mendoza, I traveled with Teresa to take a tour of downtown Mendoza and visit the Fundational Museum, which unfortunately was closed due to construction. It's plaza is gorgeous, and beneath there is a series of tunnels that explore the archeological discoveries from the time of the foundation of the city.

We returned to have lunch at the house, and then afterward Carlos and I took a tour of the Park of San Martin, absolutely amazing.

The park is much larger than Central Park in New York, or even Palermo Park in Buenos Aires. There is an artificial lake, dozens of giants lawns, restaurants, a Rotary club, sporting facilities, an amphitheater that holds an annual festival that 100,000 people attend as well as some concerts, one of the World Cup stadiums that was used in 1978 (the year which Argentina won. Carlos helped in the construction of the stadium from 1975-1978), and el Cerro de La Gloria which has an amazing statue dedicated to South American liberator San Martin and his Andean army.



After completing a driving tour of the entire park, it was time for me to catch my flight. I bid farewell to Teresa and Carlos for their warmth and hospitality. They made my short stay in Mendoza amazing. I was so happy to meet and spend time with them. I even met one of their daughters and her family, who were incredibly nice and whose kids loved to ask me questions about the life in the United States and my stay down here in Latin America. They also at times could not understand me because they said I spoke like a Chilean. What a compliment...I guess.

Only a week remains for me in Santiago essentially, and I can't wait to visit Patagonia. My next entry should be around the 19th/20th of December after I get back from the south. Ciao.

Back from Buenos

Wow an amazing place. The rest of my trip felt like a whirlwind, constantly cruising throughout the various barrios and other parts of the city. I'll do my best to include all the highlights...so many...

Last I left off we had just finished touring the botanical gardens in Palermo. After popping into an internet cafe so my buddy could chat with his parents and I could put in an on-the-go blog entry, we marched to the MALBA (Museo de Art Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires).

Filled with countless works of art in all forms of media, the free experience (yes, free on Wednesdays) was unforgetable. Works by Frida Kahlo, Tarsila do Amaral, Diego Rivera, Roberto Matta, Jorge de la Vega, and Xul Solar are just some of the many artists portrayed. Afterward we toured the massive parks around the barrio and ended up at the Evita Museum, which exists in the original Transition Home built by the former Vice President nominee and social worker. Inside holds many of Eva Perón's clothes, portraits, and artistic renderings of her life. It seemed to be very one-sided and girlish exhibit, but its hard to say anything bad about Eva in Argentina after all that she did for the lower class and women, but her legacy is certainly controversial. No need to get into a political debate...

At the end of the day, we returned to our hostel to meet up with two more friend who had agreed to join in on our trip. The following morning we started the day off with some glasses of yerba mate from a cafe like true Argentines...I'm quite fond of the drink, like it even more than coffee to be honest. We then set forth to barrio La Boca to checkout of the futbol stadium of the historic squad Boca Juniors and this unique part of town.
"La Bombanera" is quite a site. We explored the museum on the team's history under the stadium, then went on a full stadium tour (press room, locker rooms) and even sneaked up into the top section to the highest point in the stadium for a view.

We continued on to another part of Buenos Aires called San Telmo for an excursion of touristy areas called El Caminito (below) and Plaza Dorrego that has a lot of artesanal history, but now is just overrun with tourists. We didn't stay long.

That night it was my buddy's 22nd birthday, so we went out to uptown Palermo to a nice meat restaurant, La Cabrera, and I must say it was probably one of the best meals I have ever had and cheap too. Good stuff.

The next day we left our hostel for a tour of other parts of the city, and just outside the front door to our place, a massive walking protest was taking place. The march probably had about 10,000+ people from different political groups and spoke out against the current government of Argentina for their lack of concern regarding inflation levels and standard of living.

We asked a man on the street about the protest, and learned that the majority of these people were unemployed and we actually being paid by the government about once a month to participate in this march. They want legal recognition for their unions and walk down the widest street in the world (17 lanes) in Avenida de Julio towards the government buildings to fight their cause. Very interesting.

After following around the protest for a while, we got back on track and proceeded to barrio Recoleta where the Cementerio Nacional exists. Inside, mausoleums of previous presidents, politicians, and important figures are all held inside this place. We saw the final resting place of Evita Peron in addition to many others. Seems pretty wild that the majority of the well-known figures in Argentinian history are kept in one cemetary. Very different from the U.S. I could not vet over what a perfect place it would be for tag, paint-ball, etc. Bad thoughts...

Practically across the street was the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. What a treat. This 3 story landmark holds paintings from countless artists, and dedicates entire sections to Argentinian art as well as pre-columbian works. Van Gough, Monet, Picasso, Diego Rivera, Kadinsky, Miro, La Trec, Matisse...amazing. You could spend 5 hours in this place.

That night we headed out to a bar to watch some Olympic coverage. I love this time of year and there is a reason only comes every four years (well two if you count the winter Olympics which are awesome too). I hope China can keep a lock down on its country like it normally does, but all eyes are on them and the pressure is intense. They already dropped the ball with the murder of an American tourist related to the coach of the U.S. Men's volleyball team. I just have a bad feeling this type of stuff is not over yet. There is still a week and half left.

Our final day we headed back to Palermo to enjoy our final afternoon in the giant parks. We ran into an spot that rented our sports equipment for free (skates, ping pong, basketball, soccer, etc.). We were told that it was paid for by the government and it seemed as though a good number of people were taking advantage of the service. What a great concept. We also had a couple of classic Choripans (chorizo+pan(bread)) for lunch and our pre-bus ride meal.

Excellent.

Bus ride took quite a while with a one hour stop in Mendoza. But that was perfect because I got to watch the second half of the Olympic futbol match between Argentina and Australia. Argentina barely pulled it out with about 15 minutes left and basically played keep away until the final whistle. The trip was one of the best I have taken and I am once again so glad that I get to return with my entire family. It is going to be a blast. Upon returning hope I discovered that my classes have been delayed yet another week which is just ridiculous. I am heading to campus to talk with my potential professors about the schedule because many of the dates and times of classes aren't official yet and are subject to change. I need exact times. Bah. Hopefully I get this all straightened out by the end of today. I am also going to pickup my Chilean identification card (carnet), which officially makes me a temporary Chilean citizens. Sweet. Should be able to muster up a post near the end of the week. Cheers...Go U.S.A!!

Argentina

Well since I have another week of until classes started, a buddy of mine decided to take off to Argentina for a weak. Great decision. Exchange rate awesome, country spectacular.

We left for a small ski town called Penitentes just ten minutes beyond the border of Chile/Argentina. We were stuck at border patrol for about 6 horus which was horrible. Its a great place except for the fact there is no bank, atm, and no place takes credit card. We stayed there one night, ski'd all the next day, and then took a collectivo bus to Mendoza in the early evening.

The drive through the Andes is amazing. We spent only an hour at the bus station in Mendoza, and then boarded another bus to Buenos Aires (12 hrs). We are currently staying at a cool Hostel called Millhouse that´s full of Brits, but the atmosphere is nice and its very cheap.

We only have another 3 days in this city so we are cruising around like mad to see as many sites as we can. Museums, botanical gardens, barrios, widest stret in the world, dykes, natural reserves, sreakhouses. We attended a futbol match betweeen two argentinian clubs last night (Estudiantes vs. Independiente). What a great experience. The Argentine soccer fans are the most passionate on the planet hands down. Independiente scored the go ahead goal with a minute left in the match. Great game. Currently we are cruising around a barrio called Palermo which is such a beautiful part of town. Below is the Carlos Thays Botanical Garden, amazing.

We are hoping to stay a couple nights in the house of a cousin of my buddy´s host brother, but our cellphones do not work here so the setup process is currently a bit slow. I must asy, I loev this city so much and I could definitely see myself living here. I can´t wait to come back with my entire family in Deecmber. Sadly, we will have head back to Santiago on Saturday and i´ll post an update of the end of our trip sometime this weekend. Cheers.