Mendoza or Bust

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Mendoza or Bust
Hello all my friends and family back in the states. First of all I wanted to let you all know that I am safe and didn’t even feel the earthquake. It is pretty wild that it happened so close to me, I was very close the boarder of Chile and Argentina in Mendoza. I am getting a little bit ahead of my self. Let me first recap the end of my intensive Spanish month. We finished classes on last Thursday with a big final exam, I was slightly nervous about the test but I felt that I knew most of the material so I went into the test with ice water in my veins. Which is classic Patrick Murphy strategy that has been tested and proven effective in my school career.
After the test I ran over to San Telmo in order to find an English bookstore named Walrus. While I was in the subte there was a girl no older than five walking around peddling little valentine cards. I talked to her for a brief moment and asked her where her parents were and why she was selling these cards. In an utterly heartbreaking voice she told me that her parents were on other cars of the subte and they needed money for bread and milk. Personally I think the tragedy of poverty really hits when you see its effects on the children. The loss of innocence that accompanies it, how fast these poor children have to grow up and the only thing I could do was give her two pesos and watch her walk away. I dwelled on the idea of poverty for a while for the rest of the subte ride then emerged near Plaza de Mayo with the sky the radiating a cool blue. As a walked down the cobbled streets I could only feel the heat of the sun on my neck. I walked casually with a half smile on my face enjoying the feeling of being alone and comfortable in the city. Not a care in the world, not having a map only the compass in my mind and a general idea of where I needed to be going. I just continued walking knowing well that I missed the street where I was supposed to turn right on. This unconscious choice led me to another beautiful gem of the city. This park was slightly elevated an had massive palm trees that shaded the entire area, I sat on in an amphitheater type structure in silence for thirty minutes, I take time to admire and remind my self where I am everyday. As strange as it sounds I sometimes forget that I am 5,000 miles away in South America. After that little moment of introspection I found a map on the street and made my way to the bookstore, which was a good find, I could certainly find my self there a lot.
Friday was a big day for me. I would receive my grade in Spanish class and at 9:15pm leave for Mendoza. Class was very brief and I got my grade, which is an 8 out 10 which here works out to approximately and A-. I am perfectly content with the grade. I spent the rest of the afternoon at home reading and packing for my big journey.
Chapter 1: Adventure to Mendoza
Adam, Daniel, Jamie, and I met up at the Subte stop Aguero at eight o’clock. When exchanged pleasantries and shoved our way into an packed Subte car with all of our bags. Packed like sardines, a feeling that I am getting quite used to in this big city. We changed lines and made our way to the omni bus station at Retiro. Retiro has one of the slums in the city and it is a place that you need to be especially vigilant with your possessions. We went into the big green Omnibus station, which is pure chaos. It is like that airport but with less order and people going thousands of different directions. We sat near our terminal, D, and waited for our bus to pop up on the board in the red LED letters. A bus to Mendoza popped up for 9:15 to Mendoza and we all sprung into the action because the buses here wait for no one. Adam and I pushed on to the bus. Relieved we sat down in our seats and waited for our friends to come on. An official looking man came on to the bus and asked for our tickets gladly we showed him and he told us we were on the wrong bus and consequently kicked us off. I scrambled to get my black duffle bag out of the storage compartment of the bus before it took off and all my things were lost. I recovered it and the group rendezvoused everyone with a look of panic on their face. We couldn’t find our bus, it wasn’t on any of the boards, and we only had two minutes to find it. My mind was racing, similar to when I lost my wallet on my road trip last summer, negativity all around. Running around panicked. Daniel found the office for Mendocino bus lines and we found out that our bus was running late and it would be here in thirty minutes. All was well in the cosmos again. Soon the bus came we boarded and experienced the luxury that is Argentina bus travel. We were in the middle class called Cama. The seats were like recliners lying almost flat with footrest all of us were impressed with these buses. After an hour dinner was served in two courses with red wine. We ate and conversed excited about what Mendoza held for us. I fell asleep quickly after dinner and woke up when we were 2 hours away from Mendoza. When we arrived to Mendoza we decided to walk to the hostel after getting a map from someone at the bus station, turns out we walked the wrong direction, it felt like we were in the twilight zone. We were at the right cross streets but it definitely was not the right neighborhood. We were in rural South America for sure and it was my first taste of it. As we wandered we saw a lady making her way into her house and asked her for directions. She was very warm and friendly even offering us a ride to the hostel when her husband returned home. We graciously refused the offer but asked if she could call us a cab. She obliged and we were on our way to the Hostel. The people in Mendoza are a lot more tranquil and friendly than the people in Buenos Aires.
Chapter 2: Learning to fly
After the first night in Mendoza settling in, drinking bottles of wine in the courtyard of the hostel, and cooking some various types of beef on the parrilla(grill), we were on to our first activity. We woke up that morning with hopes of going on tours of the vineyards via bicycle. That plan didn’t work out because we woke up too late and didn’t make a reservation. Our spirits were down because we thought that our day of adventure was ruined and we would be forced just to wander around the city, which wouldn’t have been a bad thing. We talked to the extremely friendly staff at the hostel and found out that we could do Paragliding that day. After about a minute of though all of us decided that it would be thrilling activity. After making the reservations we had two hours to kill before jumping off a mountain. We ran to get a ham and cheese sandwich, which are extremely popular here. We got back and the big Land Rover was there soon after ready to take us to the landing area. Pancho was our driver and he was very happy to being sharing his life’s passion with us. He drove quickly and deliberately we passed through ornate gates that brought us into beautiful San Martin park with lush greenery on either side. We traversed further and further into the remote areas and looking back we could see the true scale of the capital of Mendoza. We got to the landing area and met up with all the pilots. Hopped in a big truck that would take us to the top of the mountain. Once we got there we had a panoramic view of the city and the Andes and it was spectacular. I stood there breathing deeply, eyes wide open, receiving the beauty of this country. Then it was game time. I was harnessed up. Attached to the pilot, he briefed me on take off procedure. He caught air in the chute and told me to start running. 1, 2, 3 steps and the 4th didn’t hit the ground. Smoothly we had taken to the air soaring high above the mountains. Soaring through the air I felt a rush of adrenaline followed by a feeling of bliss. Closed my eyes and listened to the wind rush around me. I couldn’t believe that just a moment ago I was firmly on the earth and now I was riding the winds like an eagle. We swooped through the sky catching one brief thermal that made us go higher and higher and then me made our approach for our landing. I hit the ground running took two steps and we stopped and I stood up, what I rush. The flight was relatively short but the feeling will be with me for eternity. I had been gifted the ability to fly what an amazing experience.
Chapter 3: Andes Lake Paradise
On this day we had even more thrilling activities to look forward. We had ziplining and river rafting in store. We got picked up and taken up through the exposed red rock in the footsteps of the Andes. Out the window I could see the massive snow crowned peaks one of which is over 20,000 feet. The Andes are even more impressive than my beloved Rocky Mountains. We drew close to our final destination that was placed on a beautiful blue green lake fed by the Mendoza River. Where the river met the lake there was a perfect gradient from brown to blue to green because the river is so full of sediments. It was a perfect location like a small resort with a beautiful patio that looked over the lake surrounded with impressive mountains. First up were the zip lines, after a brief safety briefing we set off to the first line. The sound of the cable going through the pulley was amazing, ziiiiiiipppppp, wind flying through my hair, face gripped with focus but the inside filled with joy. The goal of zipling is to go as fast as possible and I certainly did. Every time I would get to the end of a line the guides would say “You really like to go fast don’t you?” Absolutely I would say. The highlight was flying over the merger between the lake and the river. Surrounded by the natural magical beauty of this place. Its hard to describe flying around the Andes like that. But all I know if at all possible I want ziplining to be my method of commuting in my future!!!
Next up was rafting which was similar to rafting on the Arkansas in Colorado but the scenery was different instead of pine covered mountains with bulbous rock outcroppings the mountains here are relatively bare and you can see the red rock which forms them. More and more thrills as we came up to the Class IV rapid I was at the front and got pounded by a huge wave and almost fell out but I dug my paddle into the water and fought through. There was thunder and lightning all around a memorable moment and us was when the thunder clapped right as we collided with a giant wave; the earth seemed to be speaking in one singular voice. The rafting trip was brief but a lot of excitement was packed into that one hour. After that we took a quick shower and went home.
Chapter 4: Bikes and Wines Tour
It was our last day in Mendoza and we did the touristiest activity available. The bikes and wines tour, we had to check out at 10:00 and we got picked up shortly afterward. We were taken to an area called Maipu where we got our bikes and commenced on our journey. We ended up going to four different wineries. The first one included a wine museum that was interesting. Then we had to ride 12km down the road to the last winery and make our way back toward the bikes and wines. It was a hot dry day and I was sweating quite a bit but I felt a little like Lance Armstrong leading the pack. We went to a small winery and had a tasty of several delicious wines and got a tour of the facility. We bought a bottle and ate the grapes while we were drinking the wine a scintillating experience. Then we went to the third which was the highlight. It was one of the oldest in Argentina it started around 1860-70 and has stayed in the same family. It was awesome to see how they made wine in the past. Here I ended up buying a 2004 Malbec that is supposed to ledgendary and is sold no where else in the world. Although it cost a little I figure I can save it for a very special occasion down the road(wedding night perhaps), it is good for six years. We will see.
That’s the end of the journey I apologize this blog is a bit long but there was a lot to say. Thanks for staying with me. I will be writing soon. School starts again on Monday!!! Bueno, Love you all very much.
Chau,
Patrick

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Photos

Kitchen
We used the kitchen a lot, never went out to dinner. I enjoyed cooking alot

Comments

[Jill]

Mendoza
Looks like you all had a fabulous time. Nothing like flying through life. Love, Mom