Winos on wheels

We are back in BA after a great trip to Mendoza for the wine festival. We flew in to meet up with our friends from New York and do a little sight seeing on the west side of the country. Overall the trip was fantastic, but it began rather dubiously. The hostel we had reserved was scary. I mean, I've stayed for a week at the Knights Inn in Lexigton, KY and this was worse by far. The paint was pealing, the beds were sagging, the carpet was threadbare, and I think there may have been a homeless man sleeping in the corner under a pile of rags. Needless to say, we found a nicer, although more expensive place to stay, the Hotel Zamora.
There was alot to see and do while we where there. The first day Brent and I rode bikes around the city and its fabulous parks. I hate to keep bringing it up, but why doesn't America have nice parks? This place was huge, with a big lake where people were rowing sculls, a paved trail up a mountain, a zoo, soccer fields, golf, horses, you name it. We had great weather and had a fantastic time. Later that night we met up with Nate and Sarah and went to a parrilla for dinner. The service was great and we got to try something new- teet! What is teet? You might recognize it by it more common name, udder, or maybe cow booby. It tasted a bit like tofu or a spongy piece of fat. I wouldn't recommend it but it was not horrible.
The next day we went on the bike wine tour. Fantastic! Basically they give you a bike and a map and you go at your own pace thru the vineyards. We sampled some fine wines and got an education on how they were produced. Towards the end of the bodega trail some of us would have paid money to throw their bikes in the back of a pick up truck and hitched home, but I won't mention any names. Anyway, we made it back to the bike rental place and then the day took an unexpected turn. We sat around the rental place and had a few beers and then realized that it was getting dark and we were the only people besides the workers left there. We asked one of the guys to call us a cab. About 5 minutes later a guy and a girl pull up in a jeep truck thing with 2 seats in the front and like a pickup all open in the back. That was our ride! We got in, along with the rest of the workers and headed back to the city. We made one stop along the way for gas and beer, the whole time the stereo is blasting The Doors. We tried to explain to the guys that if they did this in the States we would all be in jail. I love Argentina!
The next morning we were off to go rafting. The weather was a little overcast, but they put us in really attractive (NOT) wet suits so I wasn't cold. The river itself was really fun with rapids the entire way. Afterwards we ate lunch at the outpost. There were some guys there from England whose raft had completely flipped over during the trip. Their guide, trying to show off a bit, attempted to open their beers for them but ended up shattering 2 liters of beer and sending a shard of glass into one of the guys arms. Blood and glass everywhere. That evening we saw the parade of queens. Every grape producing town had a float and if was a bit like Mardi Gras without the boob flashing.
Our final day was pretty low key (thank God!). We got together for lunch, went and saw a movie, and then did snacks, wine and cards. I could not win to save my life but had a great time. We called it an early evening (1:30) and went to bed because we had to get up for our flight back home at 5:30. Mendoza Rocks!

Rain, rain, go away.

We had a cold, windy, and rainy weekend with not a whole lot to do. It ended up to be a good thing because we had the time to figure out what we wanted to do with the rest of our trip. My main goal of coming down here was to learn spanish, of which I grossly underestimated the difficultly. After talking, Brent and I decided to take our last month here (April) and give it one more intensive try. We are going to take two weeks of 4 hour a day classes in Santiago, Chile, and one week of classes in Cordoba. Also in the month of April we will be going to Igazu Falls, which is supposed to be fantastic. Even before that (as in next Monday) we will be taking a plane to Mendoza to see the Andes Mountains and all the amazing vineyards in the area. I may even paraglide while I am there! Our friends from New York are going to be there and we are looking foreword to hearing all of their travel stories.
Tommarow we will be going to the Spanish school's Buenos Aires office and seeing what deals we can swing. Speaking of swinging- afterwards, Brent is playing golf and is in a private team beer tournament. Wish him luck! I will be taking a riding lesson and cleaning house and waiting to welcome the conquering hero home.
Later!

2009's brief bitch and moan

I figure everyone is allowed to complain about their circumstances at least once a year, regardless of what those circumstances may be. So realize that I know that I am in a fantastic country, with wonderful weather, friendly people, cute husband, and essentially, aside from a few dishes and some laundry, a life of lesiure. But...

I miss my dog, my parents, and my friends. I miss Michalob Ultra. I miss tampons with applicators. I miss being able to speak to strangers, and I miss being able to explain what I need to people who could help me. I think it sucks that all the riding instructors at the barn are on vacation for a month. But the MAIN THING I miss is sleep!!!

Those of you who know me know that I had cancer and while I am fine now, I am required to take Tamoxiphin (sp?). Unfortunatly one of the side effects seems to be either freezing to death or sweating my ass off. Needless to say, it makes for some restless nights. If anyone has heard of anything that lessens these side effects let me know!

There you have it, my 2009 bitch and moan. Now for the good stuff! We took another spanish lesson from Carlos and concentrated on conversation. Brent and I both felt like we got a ton out of it and have upped our lessons to twice a week. Last night we had a farewell dinner at a delish restaurant with the 2 couples we did New Years with. Sara and Nate left today to head to the Southern portion of the country. We are going to try to hook up in Mendoza for the wine festival in March. It was a beautiful day today and we went to one of the parks and layed out in the sun. It was very relaxing, except for a small bird which tried to take Brent down. Fortunatly I was there to help him fend off the beast. Brent has golf tomarrow and I think I'm going to hit the art museum.

Ok, looking back I'm sure you are thinking she sooo has no reason to complain, and well, you would be right!
Later!