Chilling before Chile

Trip Start Jan 23, 2007
1
14
24
Trip End Ongoing


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Wednesday, March 5, 2008

I write this with an empty stomach, this is for 2 reasons: 1 being that I had lunch a while back the second being that I prepared some tuna sandwiches, now having not eating tuna since being out here my vision of a tuna sandwich was of the ones I liked back home, rich in chunks lathered with just the right amount of mayonnaise and texturised with some chopped pepper (ok now Im really hungry!). What is actually sitting in the stench-filled hostel fridge of Chimbas Hostel in Mendoza (Im pretty sure it has not been cleaned in a decade) is several tiny rolls dripping with what can only be described as tuna paste! So, if this entry seems a bit flat, it is because my mind is on food!

The past week since my last entry has been an enjoyable one. The night in Rosario was fun although myself and the 2 Australian students gave up on the nightlife (with one of them being a lesbian we had a compromise that was meant to lead to visitations to 2 straight clubs and a gay one) after getting rediculously lost in the city. We settled for a drink in the hostel bar only for me to see 3 guys that were travelling Uruguay with me settle in the other corner of the bar-random!

Since then and the cock-up that was my day in Cordoba, I have been in the famous wine making region of Mendoza. Having been in the hostel for only 20 minutes I was already out on an excursion. 2 Ozzie guys had organised a trip to the vineyards of Mendoza and we spent the afternoon on hired bikes exploring, tasting and drinking (heaps of) wine. I also learnt a bit about the processes and am much looking forward to B-Sing back home!

Most of my 4 nights in Mendoza has consisted of city visits-they have a fantastic park here, chilling round the pool eating steak and drinking the odd beer or red wine with a great crowd of people. I wonīt go into too much depth but there were some characters amongst us, a nigh on 60 year old American Grandad/hippy who hasnt been home for 3 years, 2 lovely (i dont know how to euphemise this) Brits in their late 20s (there we go) who after learning of my age tended to mother me or lead me into irrigation channels in search of a romantic motorway-side view, a laidback Dane, a friendly New York TV producer and a great Polish guy called Peter (everyone calles him Poland) who I am travelling to Santiago with. They have all moved on leaving just me and Poland and since then it hasnīt be the same. The round table that we all used to occupy on an evening is now occupied by a dozen 20 post-uni gap year students mainly English and American, one of which (most brilliantly) is the archetypal Essex guy and exactly why he was the ultimate Essex stereotype is something for another blog when I have more time!

This led me to make what one could call a cultural Faux Pas as far as one of the Americans could be concerned. One of the American girls decided to initiate some drinking games and the forfeit was SHOCK HORROR that you had to drink a bit more beer in the middle. Being on a tight budget it became evident that me and the other Brits were purposely losing to drink other peopleīs beer so to liven things up us Brits suggested mixing some of the wine in, having done that I took the honours of pouring the beer on top only for the girl to pull the jar away and she has barely constructed a sentence to me since! So I guess tonight is a good time leave.
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