My Side of the Mountain

This last weekend, a group of friends and I went to Mendoza, Argentina. My host sister showed me a special issue of National Geographic which was a list of 50 places to visit in a life time, and Mendoza was one. I think I agree.

The hostel I stayed at was just spectacular. One of the nicest things about Mendoza was how tranquil it is. The weekend was nice and calm. I had the opportunity to take a bike ride by myself to a massive park on the foothills of the Andes. The park climaxes with Cerro Gracia where a war memorial exists. By the time I had rode my, more or less non-functioning bike to the Cerro, my ass hurt so bad I decided to carry the bike up the mountain. At the top I met a large group of Argentinians from an Evangelical Christian Church who happily made me part of their tour group and gave an opportunity to practice my Spanish.

Some old man got very mad at me because I took my bike to on the the base of the war memorial. I am not sure why since all I really picked up from his yelling at me was "los gringos comportan como picos."

When coming on on Monday, we were able to get a minivan bus for just our group. It started to snow as we attempted to ascend the Andes. We passed by Mt. Aconcagua, which happens to be the tallest peak in all the Americas (actually the highest peak outside of the Himalayas). We got out to take some pictures, and goofy Angel was more than easy to get an awesome picture of.

Life is good.