A weekend in Mendoza

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So on thursday nite, me along with 9 friends took the 5 hr bus ride from Viña del Mar to Mendoza, Chile. The ride took us through the Andes and we lasted through the the small windy roads with a bottle of pisco and coke (cola that is!). We were told that we would arrive around 7 or 8 in the morning, but even after Chilean and Argentine customs, we found ourselves at the bus terminal in Mendoza at 6 am (5 am for us since Chile is an hour behind!).
So we hung out until about 8 when we went to the hostel to check in. We slept until 1pm and then went out for lunch and some shopping. We had an asado (the best bar-b-que there is --- you just cant beat argentina meat!!!!) at the hostel which consisted of mashed potatos, salad, rolls, beer and lots and lots of steak--my fav dinner!!!
Saturday morning I got up around 7 30 along with 3 other friends and we went white-water rafting for the day. Candice and I were thrown out of the boat after trying to surf the waves--more shocking than anything since we were rafting through the andes mountains which are covered with snow. But we had a blast and ended the day with yet another asado!! Then in the evening we went out for dinner and hit up the artesanal market.
Sunday morning 5 of us got up early to visit the Bodegas (vineyards). Even though I don´t like wine I still thought it would be cool to check it out...boy was I wrong. While it was pretty neat to see how they make the wine, the differences between wines and even how to test a bottle to make sure it is up to par......it made me absolutely sick. I dont like wine but I paid the money so I was for sure going to drink it when we got to sample it....Blah blah blah blah blah. I had a tummy ache for the rest of the day but that didnt stop me from doing parapente in the afternoon!!!! PARAGLIDING that is!!!!
So for those who may be a bit confused paragliding is like sky-diving--minus jumping out fo the plane and with paragliding you get to spend a hell of a lot more time in the air. Candice and I were the only ones up for it. We had to drive to the top of a mountain..which took forever and was a bit scary at times. When we got to the top we got hooked up with all the gear and were connected to our guide. Let me just say I was definitely a bit scared about flying around in the air--mostly I was just scared of not flying and going splat on mendoza below me! So my guide told me to start running and we ran off the mountain and into the air. It turned out not being nearly as scary as I had thought that it was going to be...that is until my guide said that we were going to "divertirnos" (have some fun!!)....I held on for dear life as we started doing flips..full 360 degree flips in the air with the parachute..i really thought i was going to pee my pants then..but I survived and it was a blast...and it definitely helped having a super cute argentine guide..soo cute!
Then we headed back to meet up with everyone else. We went out to a super nice restaurant that only cost like 2.50 US and I had the best ñoquis ever! Argentina is definitely the most fun for the smallest amount of money possible. We then went to some more artesanal markets before catching the 11pm bus back to Viña, arriving at 5:30 am.
This coming Saturday we are heading to Santiago to see the Chile v.s. Uruguay soccer game....im just stoked about painting my face with the Chilean flag and sporting the Chilean jersey! Love to all- *D

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