Uspallata

There is more to show you about my weekend trip to Uspallata than to tell you. We took a bus about 2 hours northwest through the maintains to a small town, Uspallata.

The first day we hiked in Aconcagua Park. 

This is the place that the movie Seven Years in Tibet was filmed. This bridge was made for that movie. I have stood in the same place as Brad Pitt.

 On the way back we stopped at this place where there is a natural bridge. It also has a mineral spring that produces the yellow color.

There used to be a hotel that had therapeutic hot springs that was wiped out in a mudslide, all that is left church and the stairs.

 This is a picture of the sheds across from the natural bridge.

 The second day we hiked in the desert up this crazy mountain that was all sand and slate.

 

This is a picture of a condors that we saw when we were on the top of the mountain. They are very big and fly at high altitudes. 

On the way back down the mountain we stopped to do some rock climbing, repelling and zip lining.

Fourth Weekend: OLIVE OIL and Wine

So this Friday we had another excursion. We went one two tasting, first was at an olive plantation and the second was at a winery.

The olive grove was located in Maipú a town just outside of the city of Mendoza. The plantation, Maguay, is run by a family who has been growing olives for two generations. Pictured below is the brother of the brother and sister duo that now run the plantation in the olive grove. They have just recently branched out into making olive oil.

 The olive oil is some of the best I have had and it was very interesting tasting the different types and flavors. I love olive oil.

The second stop was the winery Navarra Correas. It is a well known winery around here although it is owned by a big company that also owns Smirnoff and other big alcohol companies. 

We were taken on a tour of the winery by a very nice guide. First we was some grape vines that were planted to test our the soil to se which variety likes the soil best.

Than we saw where the tanks that the wine is put in first, it stays there for about the fist few months constantly being mixed.

  Later the wine is stored in oak barrels to age.

  The winery is best known for their “Structura Ultra” (on the far left). They also make sparkling wines (pictured on the far right).

At the end of the tour we had a wine tasting. We tasted two wines. The first was a white wine, Sauvignon Blanc. I liked it and although I am by no means a wine connoisseur I think it was very good. It was very light.

The second wine was a red wine, Syrah. It was basically the polar opposite of the Sauvignon Blanc. I did not like it but I am sure it was a good wine for people who like strong wines.

 On a side note the wine here is very inexpensive. I have not bought much wine in the US but I am almost positive that to get anything that is drinkable it has to cost at least 15 dollars. Here a good bottle of wine from what I have heard is 35 pesos (that is a little less than 9 US dollars).

 

Week Four: I Changed Families

On Monday I was told I was changing families, so I packed all my stuff up and got transported to my new families house. I now live near of one of the main streets for restaurants and bars. I have two very nice parents and two sisters 19 and 20. The younger sister is studying English so that makes life easer for me. The mother is the only one who does not know any English to speak of and that actually helps me work on my Spanish. The fist night we went out to dinner and they were all very friendly and asked me all kinds of questions about my family, my home and things I liked.

            On Tuesday I went to a basket ball game. We had met some of the player last weekend. It was fun to watch a game where you know the players. We all made fools of ourselves cheering our team on. They won, but only narrowly. Afterwards we all went to get a bite to eat with the players. Here are some pictures. I know they are very blurry but I still think they look cool.

 On Wednesdays all the Americans have tea at our professor’s house. 

 

My professor’s apartment is on the 12^th floor and has an amazing view of the city. Here is some of that they can see from their window.

 Afterwards I had to search for a power plug adapter so I could do my homework. Later some of us went to meet up with the conversational partners and we had another tea at a good café. That night I want to Ana and Luis’s Wednesday class and milonga. The class was very basic but I got to lead so that was fun. Luis taught me this crazy awesome move that takes a lot of trust in your partner. At the milonga Luis danced with me once every one got there and we did a really fun but fast milonga and everyone saw that I actually do know what I am doing so from then on I got to dance with a lot of good dancers.

Thursday I went to tango class again and got to talk to the two Swiss that are in the classl. 

Gala Milonga

The end of the week of tango in Mendoza and the end of Mision Tango culminated in a Gala Milinga. There were lots and lots of people there, most of them were very good. I sat with some other students from one of my tango classes. Sorry about the darkness of the picture. The two on the right are from Switzerland.

I did not get to dance very much because I have not gotten the hang of how asking people to dance works in Argentina and I don’t know anyone yet.  Here are some pictures of the dancers. 

In the middle there was a demonstration by two very talented dancers.

Late in the night the professional that were the teacher at Mission Tango came and they all danced for us.

Third Week

This was the week of tango in Mendoza but I did not get to go to any of the special events. I did go to lots of my regular classes thought.

On Monday I talked with the directors of my program and we decided that because of my low level of Spanish and the lack of people at my house it would be good if I changed families.

On Wednesday we had our first tea at our professors house, a weekly occurrence. It was really nice to just relax with all the other students for my college, eat and soak up the Americanness in the room. That night we went to La Pizza and got…..well pizza. It was very yummy. Thursday we met with our conversational partners again and we all went to the top of the municipal building. Here are some pictures of the city from the top of the Municipalidad. 

After, we all sat in the park, talked and drank mate. This is my friend and professor of Spanish with her mate.

 That night I went out with the other students from my university and some friends from here. Everything is on a later time schedule here. We went out at 11:30 than went to a party being hosted by other exchange students that started around 12 or so and then left when the Boliches (dance clubs) opened. We met up with some of the university’s basket ball players that are friends with another girl we know that is also from the US. We left the boliches “early” (4:30).

On Friday I went to Plaza Indpendencia where there is an artisan fair every night, although it is bigger on the weekends.  I bought earrings. I have been buying lots of them because one: I love earrings, two: they are inexpensive and three: they are one size fits all. Most clothes here are way too small for normal people.

Saturday was the birthday of my friend. A few of the girls got together and had tea at her house. It was so yummy.  Then that night we went out to dinner with most of the group at El Peleque. It was amazingly delicious. That night we went to a party that the basketball team was putting on. There were a bunch of really nice guys there and we all dancing to American and Argentinean songs.

 Happy birthday amiga

No, there is not snow here now.

This weekend in the Plaza Independencia there was a huge construction over the main fountain and upon it they had fake snow and a snowboard and sky jumping show. There was lots of people, music and spectacle. I know they are kind of blurry but here are some photos.

It was a lot of fun. This is what this location looks like when there is not a snow ramp there.

That night I went to dinner with the quiet half of the group and it was a lot of fun. We were going to go out dancing afterworld but my friends key did not work so we decided not to risk her having to sleep on the street. The rest of the weekend was relaxing and I got all my homework done J.

On Sunday night I went to my FIRST MILONGA in Mendoza. It was at  Café Soul. It was hard because I did not know anyone and it is hard to strike up a conversation with someone when you can hardly speak their language. I did get to dance some though. Everyone sits around tables and talks eats and drinks. It is very different than the more milling nature of milongas in the US. It is much better to go with some friends than to go alone. 

 -Little Dancer