Chileans can write!

So for my program, I am required to take a Chilean Culture and Politics class. We have a decent amount of reading. The lectures are boring to say the least. I dont really ever pay attention. But lo and behold, an essay has inevitably crept up. And that means catching up on readings.

Today, I packed up my comp and some other essentials to go to a cafe in my neighborhood. Because I cannot get any work done at my own apartment (duh). And I was SO prepared that I did not even bring my reader. I am obv a great student. So I was sitting in the cafe (already ordered coffee and a sandwich) like a jackass thinking about how dumb I was. But because I am a genius, I sat there thinking about the lectures - we go over all the readings and poems or whatever. And remembered a poem that was in the book and looked it up online. Thank goodness for wifi and my oddly selective memory. (Side note - I seriously cannot remember a damn thing when it comes to funny memories, etc., ask anyone, especially Bora - because shes the MASTER of ‘remember when‘s.) So the poem I remembered was Gabriela Mistrals, Todas Ibamos A Ser Reinas, and it was beautiful. If you can understand spanish, this is one poem you must read. Okay. For me, poetry...sucks. Okay, not sucks, but I dont really enjoy it. Go ahead and judge me, all you idiot stuck up poetry lovers. But Im going to give Mistral a big thumbs up. The poem is in her collection called Tala. Because I know you all are very curious...
Mistral = Definitely a suffering soul. If you are into that stuff.

What did I do over Easter vacation?
I went to Mendoza, Argentina. That country seems to call me back. I went to Buenos Aires less than a month ago; definitely was awesome. But this city was...alright. I definitely feel bad for people who write for travel books. I wouldnt be able to find enough bullshit adjectives to describe a city that is less than mediocre - which Mendoza was. I mean the most animated part of the week was the Bike and Wines tour. We basically took a taxi 20 minutes outside of the city to a small area that consists of vineyards. We rented some bikes from a really shady company, who then gave us a map telling us where to bike to (vineyards, chocolate factory, etc.). We went to a total of 2 places, because I am in the worst shape of my life and could not for the life of me bike any more than 5 km. (Yes, Im using metric system you North American snobs). Anyway, this was probably my 3rd time officialy biking, and it was not easy. On our way back home, after putting back a couple bottles of wine (not by myself, geez), I was feeling pretty confident about my biking. I mean I was obv getting used to it. So I was riding pretty quickly. And trying to avoid the rocks and cars whizzing by. But there was this odd part of the trail that had this 5 cm dip from the cement road to a sandy area. And of course I could not bike straight - and obv this is turning into a painful fall story - and curved towards this 5 cm dip and ate the sandy floor. The thing is, I was doing my best trying not to fall - I literally stayed on the bike for a good 20 seconds before I gave up and fell. I scraped my knees, hands, whatever. I literally hit the ground face first. It was not that embarrassing because I am THAT confident. Haha. But the stupid part was that I fell right when a police was whizzing by us. He of course stopped and asked if I was okay and if I drank a little too much (which was not the case). We tried to convince him that I was ok, but he called for back-up anyway and followed us home. WOW. How awesome.
So by then, I was obv really cautious about everything. I was going slower, and a lot more nervous. Which is really not the best state of mind when biking. We come towards a flatter area, and also a place where there is an actual bike path. But all of a sudden a bus stops right in front of me. And I cannot stop quick enough and again BOOM. Fall on the cement ground, scrape my tights (that rip at the knee, which I eventually threw away), and get more bruises and scrapes.
Greatest day of my life. I was exhausted.

Anyway, we went home and I took a nice shower, and the fattest nap. We woke up at around 10pm to get some dinner. We went to a nice steak restaurant (Argentina is famous for this, because they have an influx of cows - which mean cheap steak and leather). I ordered a plato of steak which cost about 35 Argentinian pesos, equivalent to 10 dollars. Pretty pricey for a Latin American rest. So Im expecting a pretty fat steak, and after 30 minutes the waiter finally brings it. Lo and behold the plate comes with 2 fat steaks and a kabob of meat. LOL. I was seriously -_-. And could not at all finish it. Nice end to the day I would say.

Okay this update was obviously written because Im procrastinating. Im in a cafe writing a paper. The one about Gabriela Mistrals poem.

Btw, jumped on the bandwagon and got Twitter. Far superior than Facebook. Less complicated, more to the point. Highly recommended by me, worst enemy of all social networking mediums.

This picture has nothing to do with my trip to Argentina. But I thought I would just post more pics from my trip to Patagonia. And Im obviously such an egoist that I must end every post that has pictures, with a picture of yours truly. Me, after I conquered the hardest hike of my life - Los Torres - the towers. Isnt it obv why its called that?

Ciao,
J.