Córdoba!

Hi friends!
I did something really spontaneous this weekend...decided Friday morning to go to Córdoba Friday night with Meagan and Genevieve! We took the night bus and arrive 9 hours later in this central Argentinian city at about 7 in the morning. We spent Saturday in Alta Gracia and Villa Belgrano, two towns outside the city. In Alta Gracia we visited Che Guevara´s childhood home, where we met one of his childhood friends Don Enrique Martín, who happened to be stopping in and told us stories about Ernestito before he became a revolutionary. Turns out that Mr. Martín has met Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, when they came to the museum in 2006 to learn about the young Che they never knew. How cool!

In Alta Gracia we also stumbled upon a couple from our hostel from London and met another couple from New Mexico and joined up for empanadas and to see some Jesuit Missions. We took another bus ride into the Central Sierras to Villa Belgrano, a German settlement where they host Octoberfest every year. We came upon a strange touristy castle gone petting zoo that was closed but the owners let us come in, chase the peacocks and take pictures of all the kitchy carved decorations. Very bizarre. After that we went to a microbrewry and a chocolate shop...when in little Germany... We returned to the city after a long and horribly bumpy bus ride, cleaned up and went out for CHINESE FOOD. Something we've been lacking and dreaming about for 3 months now. We also explored the main drag of bars in Córdoba, which were hoppin with students, as Córdoba is home to 7 universities.

On Sunday we went North two hours to La Cumbre, a town that is said to have an English influence. It was truly quaint! We ate on the lawn of an old house turned restaurant and admired the friendly stray dogs, half expecting someone to start a croquet game. The food was wonderful...fish! Another thing we haven't eaten much of in Mendoza. The service was amusing...after our 2 hr long lunch (lots of great chatting) we started wondering were the waiter went. When I went in to use the bathroom, I found all the staff eating family style at a huge table, watching a soccer game...rather THE soccer game: Boca vs. River (they call this match of rivals el Clásico). How Argentine. With the rest of the afternoon, after a ride from a friendly Córdobesan couple and a taxi ride with a funny old man, we arrived at the start of the Camino of Artesanos, a long country road with a view of the Sierras, dotted with shops selling handicrafts, wine, and food and enjoyed the walk and the unusualness of it all.

We barely made it back to the city in time to catch the bus back to Mendoza. But all is well that ends well! We got on the bus, were served good wine with our sketchy bus food, watched You've Got Mail in Spanish subtitles, and slept through the night back to Mendoza.

As for my life in Mendoza, spring has sprung here and the city smells like flowers. I am so content walking place to place. I've been spending a lot of time in the Medical School, assisting anatomy lectures, tutorials, labs (with cadavers...very cool for a premed student), and breaks in the courtyard with my classmates. I've also been volunteering once a week in the hospital in labor and delivery. Last week I saw my first birth in Argentina!

The days are starting to be numbered...I don't like to think about how much time I have left or that 3 months passed so fast! But each day continues to be full of new experiences, always something interesting. Today I went to my firstpremire division soccer game! Its high time to start doing the things on my Mendoza list that I've always said I wanted to do here. For now, I'm looking forward to something familiar this weekend: HALLOWEEN!!

Happy Halloween!
Jennie