Mendoza, Argentina

I'm currently in Mendoza, Argentina awaiting a 7:30 bus trip to Cordoba, which is about 10 hours Northwest.

Mendoza reminds me a lot of home. No tall buildings, and all the streets are framed by trees. This is comforting as long as they aren't chainsawing the branches down right outside my window at 9am, as they were a couple mornings ago.

I've been here since Thursday, hanging out with various friends I've met at the hostel and exploring the city. They've got a really big park here, by the measure of a map I saw it's almost as big as the city itself. I went there yesterday with a couple guys I met in a park near my hostel. Graham, from Vancouver Canada, and Spicer from Portland, OR. We also went to this huge buffet restaurant that had all kinds of good stuff for only 17 pesos (about $6). Steak, pasta, Chinese, all of it cooked right in front of you. I also went there earlier in the week with some of my Irish friends from my hostel.

I'll be in Cordoba for one night, just to see my British friend John Smith, and then I head off to Buenos Aires, where I'll be staying at South America's #1 hostel (sorry no source on that stat) The Milhouse. Everyone I've talked to in Santiago and here has recommended it, so I made a reservation. We'll see how it goes. It's supposed to be very social, a lot like The Point hostel in Lima, which I really enjoyed.

On a peculiar note, today I ran into two California girls I'd met in Lima, at The Point. Strange coincidence. They were late for a wine tasting (that's the big thing around here), so we didn't talk long, but it was a surprise to see them here.

Sorry no new pica yet. I cant hook up my camera to the computers at this web house.