Villa la Angostura

We've been kicking around this mountain town of Villa la Angostura for a few days.  It's surrounded by mountains and an enormous glacial lake.  The main street is about three blocks long and there are B&Bs scattered along the lakeshore.  There are quite a few restaurants, although not everything is open because it's the off-season.  Also, there is a small ski area on the mountains above.

We did some horseback riding before leaving San Martin de los Andes.  This kid of 16 years took us out for a couple of hours on some elderly caballos.  Several dogs followed us up to a high point where we could look down upon the town.  It was cold and our guide (Martin) seemed like he'd rather be watching soccer on the couch.  But we checked that activity off the list.

Here in V.L.A., we've been doing some hiking in the surrounding forest during the day, and eating mucho carne in the evenings.  One day we drove out to a scenic little village in the middle of nowhere on the shore of a nearby fjord.  The road was rutted and muddy.  An older lady was walking along the road, quite a ways from anywhere, and flagged us down for a ride.  As she talked to us about all the features of the village, we came upon a teenage girl walking down the road.  The lady asked us to stop, and we picked up the girl as well.  So it was a full Taxi Estados Unidos the rest of the way to the village, which was sleepy and scenic.

Some random observations:

-  Dogs, dogs everywhere!  There must be fifty stray dogs in this little town alone.  I think sometimes the restaurants give them scraps, and often you'll see that someone has put a pad out for them to sleep on.

-  A popular activity is smooching in public.  Kids (and adults) will be busy making out on park benches everywhere, at bus stops, on the beach, in any kind of weather.

-  People are sweet in every way, except when they are behind the wheel.  People roar past even in residential areas.  One guy taught us a new gesture.  We're not sure exactly what it meant but it probably wasn't "best wishes".

Off to eat some meat now.  Tomorrow we fly back to Mendoza, and then home the next day.

It's easy to make friends in Argentina

Myself, Veronica, and the ever-cheerful Martin

I'm hoping to buy a duty-free cow so I can have this dish at home

One of the many lagos

The big lago -- glad we brought raincoats

This happens sometimes

Couple of studs at the cascada

Chief of the volunteer fire department

We hiked this trail yesterday.  At the beginning of the trail there were some dogs playing.  They decided we looked like good companions and decided to join us on our hike for the next couple of hours.  They were having a lot of fun. 

headed south

We felt a touch of sadness after leaving Mendoza, which is such a warm and interesting city filled with lovely big-hearted people.  But the plan was to learn Spanish for a couple of weeks and then depart for points elsewhere.  With a two-hour plane flight south, and a three-hour drive in a rental car, we made it to the town of San Martin de Los Andes last night.  It's a tourist center in the Andes foothills, perched on the end of a fjord and in the shadow of a ski area called Cerro Chapelco.  It's late fall here, so the town is pretty sleepy.  It's a bit cold and drizzly, but very pretty.

Last night we went down the street to eat dinner at a restaurant.  We were able to get a table without a reservation because we got there so early -- around 8:30pm.  We both had steaks which were eye-wateringly tasty.  You can get a steak with papas on the side, or just the steak unadorned on a plate.  Salad is ala carte if you want one.  You can put salt on the steak if you like seasoning, although it comes with a touch of salt from the grill.  If you asked for A-1 sauce, someone might think you were from Mars.  Argentina is a celebration of meat.  

Since the weather wasn't so nice for being outside, we struck out in our tin-can rental car for a drive around the area.  There are frequent police checkpoints, although they took a look at us and just waved us on through.  I think it has to do with only being a few miles from the Chilean border.

We took a gravel road up a valley through ranchlands.  The remnants of autumn still exist, with some red leaves on the trees.  But we're headed into winter, so most of the trees and grasses have gone dormant.  In a while, several miles from anywhere, we came upon a big delivery truck on the side of the road with some guys huddled around the engine.  The driver waved us down and asked us for help.  It turns out he had a dead battery or something wrong with his starter.  We tried to jump his truck with our rental car. but no luck.  Eventually it was decided that we take one of them back to town so he could get some help.  The fellows were really thankful and gave us a nice bottle of wine for our troubles.  I'm not sure why they had a bottle of Malbec handy, but maybe that's called 'being prepared' in Argentina.

To end the afternoon, we drove up to the ski area near town.  There wasn't much going on and it was hard to see much because it was very cloudy.  But I would really love to come back and ski one day.

We are continually amazed by how nice, cheerful, and helpful people are here.  It's a great country, and I hope to learn more Spanish for next time.  I do believe our two-week course in Mendoza was really helpful.  We can stumble through most situations.  It's easier when you know what the subject is going to be.  Buying something at a shop is easy because they want to make the transaction happen.  Or, say, buying gas or asking directions... you just wait for key words and try to fill in the gaps.  It's harder when someone walks up to you on the street and asks a question.  But we're making it happen -- it's a lot of fun.

Sarmiento pedestrian street in Mendoza -- still early out

A lot of this going on

This little Embraer jet took us south

Flying into Bariloche

Route of the Seven Lakes -- on our way to San Martin de Los Andes

This fellow would rather walk than fly

Diving into some carne

SCD supervising the jump-start operation

Another lago

The bottom of Cerro Chapelco

mas fotos

Wild ferocious llamas

Somebody is looking for a handout

Off-roading in the rental car

The road to Aconcagua

We jogged up Aconcagua and stopped by this sign on the way back

una semana en Mendoza

I think I love it here.

This morning I woke up at 11am because I was out until 2am last night.  But we went home early because everyone was tired.  At 1:30am many people are still having dinner.  The real nightlife goes until the morning and beyond.  It works because nothing much happens on Sunday, which is why the place was deserted when we arrived.

My Spanish teacher took me out to a bar/restaurant with some of her students.  It was an opportunity for them to speak with someone in English, which was of course great for me because I can follow Spanish at a very low level.  All the city folks were out looking fashionable and laughing and talking.  The guys were wearing scarves and nice jeans and nice shoes.  The girls were dressed to kill, with lots of accessories and knee-high boots and leather jackets.  Tables lined the sidewalk and throngs of people were out seeing and being seen.

I was beat because we got up fairly early yesterday morning for a drive up to Aconcagua national park near the border with Chile.  We rented a little car from Budget.  You have to be on your toes in the city because traffic rules are mostly optional and it's hard to navigate at the same time.  Once out in the country it was more relaxed.  We drove up, up, up this dirt road which was cut into the side of the mountain.  The landscape was desert, with cactus and red rocks.  We saw lots of llamas, fox, and birds of prey swooping around.  Eventually we got onto the main road up to Aconcagua, passing through customs along the way.  I explained in broken Spanish what we were up to, and the (well-armed) customs officer laughed and waved us on.  Whew.

As we made our way back to the city, night fell and we were somewhat lost.  We got off the highway at an exit and had no idea where we were.  We weren't sure what kind of neighborhood we were in -- lock the doors and roll up the windows.  But presently we arrived at a gas station and pulled in.  The gas station was like a party!  There was music and the staff, young pretty girls, were wearing hot pants as part of their official uniform.  We asked for directions from this little girl wearing bun-hugging tights and then carried on.  Best gas station ever!  Like almost everybody we have met here, the people were soooo sweet.  After forcing our way through traffic and avoiding fearless pedestrians, we managed to return the car safely.

Our language classes are pretty full-on.  I am to the point where I can usually pick up the subject of the conversation.  As far as talking, I only know about ten verbs and can only use the present tense.  Every time we have some sort of encounter/transaction with someone, we learn new words.  But people are mostly very patient and nice about it.

Today we are going to go for a hike up some nearby mountain.  It's been splendid autumn weather all week.  One more week of classes in Mendoza and then to points beyond.

Cooking classes -- empanadas.

Maestro at work

Hope we don't encounter one of these

Our race car

This road keeps you awake

fotografias del mercado

Frutas

BBQ choices

Guess?

Tentaculos

Some handsome lads

Arrival in Mendoza

Yesterday my dad and I arrived in Mendoza, Argentina after flying through Dallas and Santiago.  From Santiago we flew up, up, up, and then over the Andes down to Mendoza on the other side.  The mountains are big and full of glaciers.  Upon arrival in Mendoza we caught a cab to our professor Ana's house.  She has an attached apartment which is very small (see below).  We are going to study Spanish with her for two weeks and then spend another week sightseeing.

Our first day of classes was tough, but I think that is how it must be when you learn a new language.  We are in class for 4 hours and then we have 3 hours of written homework.  This morning an Argentine girl who was studying English introduced herself and kissed me on the cheek.  That is the custom, apparently.  I could get used to that.

Last night was Sunday, and everything was closed and the streets were empty and forlorn.  This afternoon we walked to downtown Mendoza (about a mile and a half) and everything was much more active.  It's fast-paced and crossing the street is dicey.  We conducted a couple of transactions to test the waters and it went OK.  People talk fast, of course.  I think it will get easier.

One thing that is rather shocking is the money situation here.  The government sets the official exchange rate at 5.2 pesos to 1 US dollar.  However, it's actually worth far less than that.  On the black market, the rate is currently about 10 pesos to the dollar.  Last week it was 9:1, last month it was 8:1, and at the beginning of the year it was 7:1.  The peso seems to be collapsing at an exponential rate.  I wonder how any business can stay afloat.  It seems like the government here is doing a pretty good job of screwing everybody over.  

Flying into Santiago from Dallas

Flying over the Andes from Santiago to Mendoza

Street sweeping

Our cuddly accomodation