Since we have no working visa here in Chile we are living and working on a tourist visa. Not the most condoned thing by the government, but not illegal as long as we keep leaving the country every 3 months, which is why we went to Mendoza, Argentina last weekend. We left on Friday about 1:30pm and rode through the Andes on a huge bus for 8 hours. The drive is breathtaking, the Andes are gorgeous. Since it's fall right now, they are all hues of green, red, brown, and then some are snow-capped. There are little streams running down them, and they are very majestic. At the border we had to get out and get our passports stamped and our bags checked. We got to Mendoza about 9:30 and we were really tired and hungry. Our hostel was a very cute Mediterranean style house. We had a private room, but shared bathroom. It was very clean and the people were lovely. We got to take free books! Which is very exciting because books are really expensive in Chile and I had nothing left to read.
After we checked in and put our stuff down we went up the street to a restaurant Claudio, the hostel manager, recommended. Argentina is famous for it's parilla, which is grilled meat. We had decided we had to try it, even though Jesse hasn't eaten beef for 5 years and I haven't eaten beef or pork for a combined 4 years. This restaurant was a perfect re-introduction. We almost cried with joy at the amazingness of it. We got a skewer of mixed beef, pork, and chicken. It was like a huge shish-kebab. It tasted unbelievable.
On Saturday we took a local bus out to wine country and rented bikes. Mendoza produces 70% of Argentina's wine, so it's a must-see when there. I was pretty doubtful I could pull bike riding off all day without a crash, but I thought it would be fun and I didn't want to walk between wineries! There was only one small crash when I ran into Jesse on his bike, but neither of us fell. The first place we went was a chocolate and absinthe tasting place. We also got to taste local olive oil and jams. Everything was SO good. Except the absinthe. It was like drinking anti-freeze, or what I think drinking anti-freeze must be like. It burns all the way down. Apparently too much absinthe drinking is what turned Van Gogh nuts and made him cut of his ear. It used to be illegal in the US (surprise), but if people like drinking burning liquid why not let them?
Then we went to a winery called Vina Maria. It produces reds with it's Malbec grapes. It's a small, quaint little vineyard and we loved it. And there looked like very very few fancy wineries, which makes for a pleasant change to Napa and Sonoma! We tasted some of their 2005 and 2008 Malbec and then headed for the wine museum. After the museum we cycled to the beer brewery and hung out with some Americans we had met at the absinthe place. There were 3 of them, all MBA students from Rutgers who had taken a 15 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires just for the day, where they were on a school trip. They got pretty tipsy and made it back to the bike rental place 20 minutes after they had closed with a local cop following them back to make sure they didn't crash!
Saturday night we walked around and found some more parilla, but it was not nearly as good as the first night's. Then Sunday we headed out only to find the whole town shut down. I was hoping to do some shopping because Santiago is so expensive, but nothing was open! So we walked around town all day visiting the town open-spaces. There are many of them because in 1861 there was an earthquake that destroyed the city and the local government decided to build lots of squares to use as evacuation/shelters during the next earthquake.
We sat down for dinner and met a couple from New Mexico sitting next to us. They were lovely and we chatted with them for a few hours before heading to the artisan fair nearby, where we found some cool stuff for our walls.
Monday was the long but beautiful bus ride home. I was having a great time looking out the window, and then the bus started showing the movie Bloodsport in dubbed Spanish! It's this really really corny 80's American kung-fu movie with Jean Claude Van Dam. Jesse of course thought it was great.
And now we are back in Santiago and back to work. I have picked up 3 new classes that start this week, which is exciting! I only need 6 more hours, which is about 2 classes a week, to fill up my schedule and be making some decent money.
This weekend we are going to relax and visit some museum's in Santiago. But we hope to be able to make little weekend trips as much as possible!
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