This past weekend we had a 4 day weekend so a group of us decided to take our first big trip out of Viña without our director. We hopped a bus early Friday morning headed for Mendoza, Argentina. The drive there is absolutely beautiful, winding through the snowcapped Andes. Those mountains are the definition of majestic. There are these trees here in Chile called gomeros, which have the most ridiculous roots.
This may be cheesy but driving through the mountains made me feel like an ant exploring those roots. Especially when we started driving through tunnels burrowed through the mountains on the Argentina side like in the old roadrunner cartoons.
As beautiful as the drive was we were all happy to be at the bus terminal after more than 10 hours on the bus, including at least two hours at the border getting through customs (literally no man’s land, and it was snowing…). At said bus terminal we had our first experience with travel snags. The bus we thought we could take home Monday morning apparently didn’t exist so we either had to leave Sunday morning or take an overnight bus Monday evening. We opted for the latter, which I was honestly quite alright with because it gave us an extra day to shop!
Mendoza is a lovely city! It’s clean, there aren’t dogs everywhere, the people are so nice and so so much easier to understand! I swear, it was like a whole different world. It was kind of nice to be reassured that I actually can speak Spanish even if I can’t understand half of what is directed to me in Chilean Spanish. Our first night we signed up for a bunch of activities through our hostel set out to explore our neighborhood.
Saturday morning we did some solid window shopping in the swanky boutiques on our street and then headed out on a wine tour. The first winery, Vistandes, was relatively new and super modern. Our tour guide was awesome and we got our first taste of Malbec, a red wine whose grapes can only be found in the Mendoza region. I’m not usually a huge fan of red wine but it was delicious! Next stop was an olive oil farm/factory then on to a much smaller organic winery. Our tour there was literally 75+ people aka I didn’t hear a darn thing but I really liked the interior design which almost made up for the church wine they served us. Last stop on the tour was at one of the many chocolate factories in Mendoza (Mendoza is known for wine, chocolate and leather)—heaven! We got samples of alfajores, two cookies sandwiching dulce de leche (carmel but way better) and then dunked in chocolate. Naturally, I bought a bag of them (and possibly a couple other things too..whoops :) It should be noted that chocolate and peanut butter combos don’t exist in South America, even at a fancy chocolate factory, but my wonderful family sent me some Reeses all the way from Minnesota and they just arrived yesterday. Once again in heaven!
 |
| At the second winery. |
 |
| My dessert at the buffet we hit up: fresh crepé with apple, dulce de leche drizzled on top with chocolate chip ice cream. Yummm.  |
Sunday morning after breakfast a man showed up at the hostel to take me paragliding, I swear I had booked this for Monday so I was caught a little off guard but it’s probably better that I didn’t have time to get nervous for it. So off Molly and I went in the back of this pick-up out of town a ways to this sketchy, half finished building. I thought that maybe we were just turning around but no no, our paragliding instructor told us to get out of the truck and invited us to sit on some camping chairs in a circle. I thought that maybe we would be getting a little orientation or something, no no he took off with another group of tourists and left us at this deserted warehouse. While we waited/wondered if he was ever coming back, Molly and I befriended some other gringos. One was a Canadian in his early 30s with a center part and a Paul Bunyan beard who was working in Santiago but came to Argentina for a couple days to avoid visa issues. He was a gem to say the least. He was accompanied by two college students, one from Texas and the other from Virginia. Their interactions reminded me of some of my bromanced friends back home (cough cough Isaak and Will), quite entertaining J After a good hour we realized that where we were waiting was the landing site for the paragliders as 5 colorful chutes came into view. At this point I was getting pretty pumped.
After the instructors got their chutes repacked Molly and I climbed back into the pickup and started up the mountain. We had been on the ridiculously bumpy road for maybe 10 minutes when we hit a huge rock and lo and behold a wheel fell off the truck. That’s right, we didn’t get a flat, the tire literally fell off.
Well the guys jacked up the truck while another ran back to the base to get us a new truck and soon we were on our way again. The road up the mountain was less than secure and around some of the corners I was sure we would just tip off the mountain but we made it to the top and boy was the view incredible. We paired up with instructors, got suited up, waited for a good gust of wind, ran towards the edge and off we went. Words can’t describe the feeling of flying that high with so little holding you up. The mountains, oh my goodness. We spiraled to gain air and at our highest point were cruising a good 2100 meters (nearly 7000 feet) off the ground in the foothills of the Andes. The ride down lasted about 20 minutes and I loved every second. So so cool.
 |
| All suited up! |
 |
| Take off! |
Molly and I got back to the hostel from our grand adventure just in time to head out with everyone on our horseback riding excursion. The last time I was on a horse was last spring when I was in Costa Rica during which time we basically walked along the highway and then crossed this ridiculous marsh, needless to say this time was much different. We snaked through the hills, surrounded by the always awesome mountains. The owner of the horses, whom we like to refer to as the Marlboro man, was a straight up cowboy, we’re pretty sure he shot a dog while we were there. For the most part, the ride was super relaxing and really enjoyable. Afterward we had an asado with really good pork sandwiches and of course a little vino. We watched the sunset behind the mountains and tried to take in where we were. I am truly so blessed.
Monday was full of shopping and exploring the city. I will definitely be returning to Mendoza before I die. We boarded our bus, went through customs around 3am (so fun, not) and got back to Viña around 6am. We all had class at 8:30…I went to two of my classes and then headed back to the bus terminal because two girlies and I were heading to Santiago for the Chile v. Peru soccer game! We got to Santiago, navigated the extensive metro to our hostel, which in reality was an apartment that we rented for the night. It was pretty darn swanky. The oven was shiny and actually worked (more than can be said for mine here in Viña) and came with TP and soap in the bathroom, I know, I could barely believe it myself. We jumped back on the metro to head to the stadium at the edge of town. I guess I kind of pictured a Vikings game at the Metrodome but this can’t even compare. People with full-out face paint, wearing flags as capes and all red and shouting Chile chants packed the streets. It was such a fun atmosphere.
We had purchased our tickets a little late so we ended up paying more and landing in a nicer section right around center field. But it was worth the dough because our seats were great, as were the middle-aged friends we made. We were three of maybe 12 girls in our section and definitely the only ones there unaccompanied by our dads or boyfriends, which created interesting interactions for us with the guys sitting around us. One of our new friends tried to convince me that smoking before the game would bring luck to the Chilean team, sorry bout it, I don’t smoke for anyone. All the other friends taught us many new swear words. The energy in the stadium was indescribable. Anytime the ball neared the goal, everyone was instantly on their feet and when a corner kick turned into a goal headered (?) in, the grown men all around us were hugging with tears in their eyes. Fútbol is serious business here. Further demonstrated by the po-po decked out for a mob head-to-toe (including shields) and the barbed wire preventing fans from reaching the field or other sections of the stadium. The game was beyond fun and Chile won 4-2! I’m so glad that I got to experience such an important aspect of the culture!
We had purchased our tickets a little late so we ended up paying more and landing in a nicer section right around center field. But it was worth the dough because our seats were great, as were the middle-aged friends we made. We were three of maybe 12 girls in our section and definitely the only ones there unaccompanied by our dads or boyfriends, which created interesting interactions for us with the guys sitting around us. One of our new friends tried to convince me that smoking before the game would bring luck to the Chilean team, sorry bout it, I don’t smoke for anyone. All the other friends taught us many new swear words. The energy in the stadium was indescribable. Anytime the ball neared the goal, everyone was instantly on their feet and when a corner kick turned into a goal headered (?) in, the grown men all around us were hugging with tears in their eyes. Fútbol is serious business here. Further demonstrated by the po-po decked out for a mob head-to-toe (including shields) and the barbed wire preventing fans from reaching the field or other sections of the stadium. The game was beyond fun and Chile won 4-2! I’m so glad that I got to experience such an important aspect of the culture!
 |
| C-H-I! CHI! L-E! LE! CHI CHI CHI LE LE LE! VIVA CHILE!!! |
I apologize for the novel but it’s been an exciting few days! I am so looking forward to catching up on my sleep, though.
It has been just over 2 months since I arrived in Chile which means that this journey is officially half-way over. As much as I miss home and all of you I’m not quite ready to leave yet and I have so much more I want to experience! I can’t wait to see what the second half has in store. As always, I’m thinking about and praying for all of you back home.
Cariñas,
Mackenzie
PS, for those of you who haven’t grasped the mayonnaise obsession:
 |
| Happy Halloween? |
