Don't cry for me Argentina

Soooo I spent the weekend in Mendoza, Argentina with a group of extranjeros from all over the world, and let me just say, I had an absolute blast! I just wish I could have had more time to spend there! We had to be at the bus station at 9 AM on Friday morning, which means I had to use the public transportation system between 8-9 AM. The metros were so incredibly packed that people had to stand and wait and wait and wait on the platform until another metro came that wasn't so crammed. What a pain. Well, as some of you may know, I don't like waiting. So me and my big backpack just kept pushing through the crowds trying to get on the metro. I standing right in the doorway when the noise which signals the doors closing starting to ring. My hopes of getting on the metro started to dwindle when suddenly this ginormous man shwoops me and my big backpack onto the metro. Yes, he shwooped me. I looked up and flashed my pearly whites as in to say "Thank you, sir. I appreciate that" and his response was a blank stare that I took to mean "What the hell are you smiling about?" Good morning Chile!

The busride to Mendoza was pretty awesome since my friends and I got seats in the very front of the top layer of the bus, right above the driver. So it was like a roller coaster, except going alot slower and staying on the ground. Okay, so maybe not. Anyway, the view of the mountains was spectacular.



















(I spilled of cup of coffee all over my friend Blair in the taking of this picture. Whoops.)


















We got to our apartments in Mendoza around 7ish and had the night free to do whatever we wanted. The kids in the apartment I was staying with decided to go out for a little drink and we ended up sitting down in the outdoor part of a restaurant. We were in the middle of a conversation when a lady came over to us and started talking. I just assumed it would be the waitress, but when I looked up, I realized it was a woman holding some sort of cards or stickers in one hand while breastfeeding her small child. The stupid thing is, I still thought she was our waitress and was surprised Argentina didn't have stricter laws about, well you know, waitresses breastfeeding their children on the job. Duh, Jen, you dummy. Anyway, we all mumbled that no, we didn't want to buy anything she was selling, but thanks anyway. All throughout our time sitting at this restaurant, people came up to us asking to buy stuff. Because you know, we're clearly Americans, and all Americans are filthy rich. Obviously. Well, when we all got up to leave after our drinks, my friend Leslie realized her purse was no longer by her side. That's right, one of those people offering to sell us their stickers robbed her purse, which had all her money, credit cards, phone, cedula (Chilean ID), and her camera. Needless to say, this was not the best way to start off our time in Mendoza. Getting robbed kind of puts a damper on things. We didn't know this, but apparently Mendoza is known for pickpockets and stealing. So, um, watch out if you ever go there.

Saturday was super awesome though. We started the day off with a bus tour of the city. Call me crazy, but I think think may be borderline blasphemous.


















Anyway, the first thing we went to was La Cabaña, a huge chocolate factory. It was one oompa loompa song away from being Willa Wonka's chocolate factory.



Yeah, just tell me you didn't see things like this in Willa Wonka's chocolate factory.























Ever since visiting this place, I've had the same five lines of a certaing song stuck in my head...

I want the world.
I want the whole world.
I want to lock it all up in my pocket.
It's my bar of chocolate!
Give it to me - NOW!

Yep. Those five lines over and over. Ehhh.

After that, we drove around Mendoza for a while. We visited a couple different plazas, including Plaza España. Oh, so pretty. There were tiles all over! Tiles in the fountain, tiles on the ground, tiles on the walls.



















After the plazas, we went to Parque General San Martín, the largest city park in Argentina. Seriously. Huge. And in the middle, there's a big long manmade lake. How can you tell it's manmade? Oh, because it has concrete sides. Other than that, the park was absolutely beautiful.

Our last stop was Cerro de la Gloria, which overlooks Mendoza.


















See those mountains in the background? That's where we went PARAGLIDING from!! Fast forward 3 hours, and there we are sitting at the bottom of a couple of mountains in Mendoza.






After waiting an hour or so at the bottom (you have to go in shifts), a jeep picked us up and took us to the top of the mountain. Until then, never had I ever felt as if the vehicle I was riding in could fall apart beneath me. There were no doors, the side panel was strung on with some metal wires, and I easily could have kicked through the floor board. On top of that, the road to the top was this skinny dirt road which snaked its way up the mountain, and every time we turned the corner, I was praying to God we wouldn't go over the edge. Seriously, I was thinking to myself "Okay, so if we start going over the edge, I can just quick jump out this space where a door should be. Yeah, I'll just do that." Well, we finally got to the top safe and sound, and had to wait another 2 hours. Gah. But we got to watch other paragliders, so that was neat.


















The left side of the picture is where you run off the mountain.




This is Gwenny (I'm 100% certain that is not how you spell it) and he was my paragliding professional. Gwenny and Jenni. Oh how I love it when things rhyme.


















He told me to just run and run and run and not stop until he told me too. So that's what I did. And suddenly there I was in the Argentinian sky, strapped to a man named Gwenny and a parachute and nothing else. Crazy huh?























me: "Smile, Gwenny!"
Gwenny: "Whiskey!!!"























Sun setting over the mountains while I was still in the air. So cool.


















After about 15 minutes, we made it back down to earth. Yay!


















And now I'm tired and can't write anymore. Maybe more later. But here's one last picture from the bus ride home. Yay Argentina!
























Besos y abrazos!