Submitted by Jennifer Bachner on the 2012 fall semester program in Buenos Aires, Argentina…
Outside of Argentina it is common for people to think that all Argentineans are like the ‘porteños’ (people from Buenos Aires). However, there are a wide variety of regional cultures in Argentina, just like in the US.
This past weekend was our first long free weekend so 12 of us decided to venture to Mendoza, a city west of Buenos Aires on the border of Chile and at the foot of the Andes Mountains. We left Thursday night after classes on our 15 hour bus ride across the country. To say the least, the infrastructure and driving norms of Argentina are very different than those in the U.S. . We spent the whole night barreling down the two lane poorly lit highway, frequently crossing into the opposite lane to pass three to five cars at a time.
Friday afternoon, after arriving at our hostel, we had a bus tour of the city, which was quite convenient since it was raining. On the tour, we passed by all the major plazas of the city and learned about its history. Friday night, we walked around the city as a group and went to dinner in downtown Mendoza.
The next day we had a planned an excursion to go horseback riding at The Gaucho Experience. The gaucho is a key symbol in the history and identity of Argentina. To explain it simply, a gaucho is the equivalent of the American cowboy. We drove about half an hour outside of the city, where we had the most incredible view of the Andes Mountains to the west. Once we arrived at the small ranch, we sat around a big table, and in true Argentinean manner, we just chatted, relaxed and drank mate tea. Finally, we all got on our horses and went on a two-hour tour of the surrounding land. The scenery was truly breath taking. Upon returning to the ranch, we had a traditional ‘asado’ (BBQ). Finally, at the end of the day, we all regrettably had to leave, but all was not bad because we went to a second asado that night at a hostel in the city. Needless to say, we all had our fair share of Argentinean meat that day.
On Sunday, we toured two wineries outside of the city. One was a very small traditional bodega, while the other was a medium sized modern bodega. We learned the differences between the traditional and modern methods of making wine, along with how to test them. After the two wineries, we toured an olive oil factory where we learned the process of making extra virgin olive oil and were able to test different flavors.
Finally on our last day, trying to take advantage of the nature of Mendoza, nine of us decided to go hiking. After getting dropped of in the wrong location and negotiating our ride, we finally made it to the mountain. The dry tree–less mountain was a lot different than the wooded alpine mountains I am used to hiking. However, it made for a great view all the way to the top, where we could see the entire city, it’s surrounding area, and the snowcapped peak of the other surrounding mountains.
Monday night, we all sadly bordered the bus for our 15-hour drive back to the capital city. In general, Mendoza had a much slower and relaxed life style than Buenos Aires. They also have a lot more nature and scenery to see, which was a nice change from big city life. The people of Mendoza were all very friendly and welcoming. For anyone who goes to Argentina I would 100% recommend stopping in Mendoza for a few days.