True Grit

Traveled 14 hours by bus to a wonderful land of all things marvelous: steak, gauchos, mountains, wine, parks, and olive oil. ¡Oh Mendoza! How lucky I was to ride horseback in your Andes; share steak around a campfire with new Swiss, Dutch, and Criollo amigos; get lost in your park that rivals the public gardens I always run around in Palermo; casually sip from Argentina's finest 16-peso ($4 USD!!!) bottle riverside with friends; (only a little bit) tune out during your vineyard/olive oil factory tours while waiting for the pass-out of samples (kind of like I'm doing right now in class-- minus the wine -- as I draft this blog post and simultaneously inspect the one dread lock hanging out the back of the head of the girl sitting in front of me. Why Argentines find these matted rat-tails attractive I will never understand); and finally, go paragliding (with an instructor strapped to my back-- don't worry), flying in, around, and above the mountains.

Yeah. That's what I did over the weekend. Not completely sure what could top all of that. And what was the most excellent conclusion to the trip, you ask? Watching Lady Gaga music videos on the 14-hour bus ride all the way back to Bs. As.

Getting ready for the "sunset" horseback ride.

Butch Cassidy. And the Sundance Kid.

COOL CLOUD. 

Cheesy pose in a gorgeous park.

Mount Fuji. (Not actually).

Dat's me on a horse!

Proof we did something cultural.

So Amelia Earhart right now.

View from above.

Some Andes encircling Mendoza City.

Doesn't this look like a postcard?

On a side note:

My new dog, Scarlett.

From the Lewie archive.
Maybe the real Scarlett won't need little red booties to protect her little paws.

Yes, she'll do just fine.

re: large cheeseburger nobody believes I ate

I actually did eat it.

Sweat beading on my forehead by the end of it, but it's true. 

Oh, and I also had fries with that:

Thank you, come again.

Llama-Time

I came back to Buenos Aires from northern province Jujuy (pronounced Hoo-hoo-ee) with a new obsession for all things llama: llama-woolen sweaters, sweaters with llamas on them, little mini llamas carved from pure NaCl found in the salty flat lands (Las Saltinas), tamales filled with llamas...you get the point.

I know llamas are not just about being soft and fuzzy; I've heard that they enjoy spitting on whomever/whenever they want. But since I luckily wasn't a victim, I've decided to overlook this minor detail. What's my only regret? Unfortunately since I haven't weighed 30 kilos (66 lbs) since I was six, I have to give up on my dream of riding on a llama's back up and down the region's multi-colored mountains. It's a dream about as hopeless as hanging out in the pouch of a kangaroo, which, as a kid, I hoped I would one day do...(actually I'm still holding out for this).

Huge digression. Enjoy the photos.

Red rocks.

¡Hot damn cacti!

Terrifying monument commemorating the indigenous people's independence.
Note ominous clouds rolling in.

Path running down the local cemetery.

Town cemetery; reminds me of Greece; quite different from Recoletta Cemetery.

Dirt road behind the scary statue.

Lovely little water bottle peaking through.

Gymnastics in Las Saltinas.  

We (mostly me) went a little wool-crazy in the store.
Lady wanted to kill us.

P.S. Just so EVERYONE now knows, Ani Zotti (anichampionoftheworld.blogspot.com) took the last photo. She wanted me to award her the credit she most definitely deserves.

A worthy cause.

Last Wednesday I got in on some activist action. I rallied with women in front of the Congreso building (translation: Congress building, for all you non-Spanish speakers, ahem Faja Fink), arguably one of the most beautiful buildings in Buenos Aires, to promote the government's legalization of abortion. Tons of people were there-- from the Casa del Encuentro, where I volunteer, to Pan y Rosas (Bread and Roses organization), and even a senator!: Maria Rachid, whom I mistakenly took her for just a normal woman, and, rather than thank for all the progressive reforms she pushes through to el Congreso, I admired the adorable baby girl sleeping in her arms...whoops?

Anyway my professor from the health class I'm taking at la UBA (U. of Buenos Aires) heads the Campaña Nacional Por el Derecho al Aborto Legal, Seguro, y Gratuito. She actually is one of the top founders of this movement so it was pretty cool to hear her speak.  According to the blog, "close to 500,000 women per year go through illegal abortions, and 3,000 of them have died because of them." This is why their slogan runs something like this (a literal translation really doesn't work too well): "Legal Abortion, a debt owed by the democracy." 

Here are some photos of the afternoon:

Beautiful day for a rally.

That's my teacher holding the mic: Elsa Schvartsman 

Some signs. Blue sky.

Sitting down in the middle of Avenida Entre Rios, in front of Congreso

The opposing force. What strength they show!

The next big rally is on November 1st! Show up if you can!