The picture to the right is of goats cooking in the park!
This week has been full of many experiences! Valentine’s Day was spent having an expensive dinner at a fancy restaurant with my family here, a 60 year old student from the US. The service was sub par and there was a crazy romantic video the restaurant showed on the out door screen. We were the only family there I think. All the other tables were couples! But, I enjoyed spending time with the family.
The next night I went with the school to Vendemia, which is a local annual festival here in Mendoza where they celebrate products from surrounding provinces including wine, meat, honey and other agriculture. The most important product that is exported is the wine. But, there is also a big beauty pageant where every district enters a queen into the pageant and they have a beauty contest to see who is the winner. I suppose it would be like Austin having a big annual festival and Round Rock, Cedar Park, Buda, Kyle, Bastrop etc. would each have a booth to represent their cities and a beauty queen to enter into the Miss Austin pageant.
But, here there are some interesting things to view at the pageant. I took a picture of goats cooking on the fire. We also met Loco Juan (some call him Loco Julio) who is the local “crazy” person that everyone in the city knows. He made his rounds around the table and made sure he greeted every female with the traditional Argentine kiss on the cheek. He likes women! Maybe he’s not crazy after all. =)
In the park I ate Chorizo cooked in wine! It was really good!
There was a big concert in the park and it started to rain. I decided I had best get back home, but unfortunately made a rookie mistake and took the wrong bus which led me way out of the city and into a district that was a bit off my map. While waiting for the wrong bus, I met a man who gave me a bar of soap as a gift and was very talkative! He got on the bus and sat next to me, talking the whole time (in Spanish of course). We had an okay conversation, but I needed to look at my map to see where to get off. Long story short, he wasn’t too much help because he told me to get off where he lived and after inviting me out for some beers (and I declined) he then invited me to spend the night at his house because even though his house was small it had a lot of love! Wow…. Forward! Of course, I insisted that I get back to my destination (which was quite far away now that I got off at the wrong stop). One nice thing he did for me was to wait with me at the station so I could get a taxi. He said it was too dangerous for women to be there alone. (The other people waiting were women too).
I prayed for a taxi to arrive quickly, and I have never been so thankful to get in a taxi in my entire life!
The next day was so much fun! I toured two vineyards with a group from school. We went on a bike tour! Now, to clarify – a bike lane is to the right of the cars zooming by and to the left of the irrigation ditch. Be careful to not get too far to the left or the right. Otherwise you may have trouble! Also, be aware of bumps in the road. Keep your eyes open at all times. And, don’t drink wine when you go to the vineyard! Otherwise riding a bike could be a bit dangerous. I heard stories of drunk bikers that had some difficulty getting home.
We went on a tour and saw how they made the wine!! It was very interesting, but the best part was tasting the grapes after they separate the stems and before they ferment them! Those grapes were amazing!!! I personally don’t like Malbec or Cabernet Sauvignon, but I think those who did enjoyed their tasting session!
LOL... Wendy I always knew you were a hot mama but dang, girl! These Argentine men love you. :)
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