Saturday, August 29, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Settling In
After getting snowed out of Portillo this week, we settled into life in Mendoza. We moved into our apartment, Cath and the boys started language school at el Instituto Intercultural, and Andrew has been working in Cubika's offices all week. All is going well. Our apartment is beautiful and overlooks the city with a great view of the Andes beyond. Language school is challenging but rewarding. All are learning Spanish muy rapidamente. It has been fun getting to know the folks at Cubika better, as well as the local customs. I am getting callouses from all the cheek kissing. We are all going out bowling tonight with the Cubika gang. Should be fun. Lots of great wine, steak, and dulce de leche. Friendly people. More later...
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Portillo Problems
After two days on planes we finally got to Mendoza, Argentina. Our plan was to spend two days in Mendoza and then drive to Portillo, Chile to ski.
In Mendoza it was beautiful weather on our first day in Argentina. But it was different in Portillo. It was dumping tons of snow and the roads were closed. Thankfully we weren't leaving for two days.
It had been very odd weather in Mendoza. Every day the weather was different. One day with strong warm winds (viento zonda), the next beautiful sunny days, then cold and clear. But only one thing was happening in Portillo. Tons of snow. After three days of being disappointed over and over, we decided to reschedule our trip to Portillo because we heard we couldn't get there until Friday.
We were scheduled to leave for Portillo on Saturday August 15. The storm started on August 13 and the road did not open until the next Thursday.
We weren't scheduled to get our apartment until we got back from Portillo on Sunday but we needed a place to stay now. Thankfully our room was open and we could stay there. Unfortunately it was very dirty and there were dead bugs in the kitchen. Then we saw a nicer place right across the street for the same cost. We were about to move in to the nicer apartment when we realized it didn't have internet. So we spent a night in the original apartment. The next evening the nice apartment promised us internet so we moved over and here we are. I love it here. There is a great view of the Andes from the living room and the kitchen and the dining room. We are on the 11th floor. In our apartment building there is no floor 13 because in some countries 13 is an unlucky number.
Something to keep us occupied is language school. We go every week day. School starts at 8:30 and ends at 1:00. Our teacher is very nice and we are learning a lot.
In Mendoza it was beautiful weather on our first day in Argentina. But it was different in Portillo. It was dumping tons of snow and the roads were closed. Thankfully we weren't leaving for two days.
It had been very odd weather in Mendoza. Every day the weather was different. One day with strong warm winds (viento zonda), the next beautiful sunny days, then cold and clear. But only one thing was happening in Portillo. Tons of snow. After three days of being disappointed over and over, we decided to reschedule our trip to Portillo because we heard we couldn't get there until Friday.
We were scheduled to leave for Portillo on Saturday August 15. The storm started on August 13 and the road did not open until the next Thursday.
We weren't scheduled to get our apartment until we got back from Portillo on Sunday but we needed a place to stay now. Thankfully our room was open and we could stay there. Unfortunately it was very dirty and there were dead bugs in the kitchen. Then we saw a nicer place right across the street for the same cost. We were about to move in to the nicer apartment when we realized it didn't have internet. So we spent a night in the original apartment. The next evening the nice apartment promised us internet so we moved over and here we are. I love it here. There is a great view of the Andes from the living room and the kitchen and the dining room. We are on the 11th floor. In our apartment building there is no floor 13 because in some countries 13 is an unlucky number.
Something to keep us occupied is language school. We go every week day. School starts at 8:30 and ends at 1:00. Our teacher is very nice and we are learning a lot.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The Quest for Portillo
There are freshies to be had in Portillo but the road is closed, covered by all the new snow. So we wait in Mendoza... The steak and wine are maravillosa but we are getting antsy to ski. They say it opens tomorrow morning. Hopefully we'll be on the slopes by tomorrow afternoon!
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