Turning Off My Brain in Mendoza

I'm sprawled out in one of the outdoor thermal baths in Cachueta, a hour's bus ride from Mendoza.  A little girl splashes over and clambers on me like a little puppy.  I ask her how old she is in Spanish.  She holds up five fingers. I ask her name, which is Valentina.

Then she looks at me and says, "¿Porque tu hablas mal?" (Why do you speak poorly?) Everyone in the pool started laughing.

Oh, well, I guess my Spanish hasn't improved as much as I'd like to hope!

The last few days in Mendoza have been very different from the last two weeks of tempermental weather and treks in Bariloche.  I feel like I´ve turned my brain off and hit a deccelerate button since I got here.  Granted, the thermal baths would have been much more relaxing if every child in the Mendoza area hadn´t been enjoying it with me.  Apparently, it´s the last week of summer vacation.

I gave up all control for a couple of days, which is what allowed me to turn my brain off. My first full day, I joined a day tour of the Alta Montaña (into the Andes and sights near the Chilean border).  As much as I dislike those kinds of organized tours, when I want to cram in a bunch of stuff that´s difficult to do on my own, it´s nice to just be part of a moo herd.  You want me to take a picture? Sure, I´ll take a picture.  You want me to get on the bus in 20 minutes? Okay.  I can be quite obedient when I want to!  Although I did get yelled at along with a bunch of Canadian guys for climbing the hill behind the Christo Redentor at the border.  Okay, I confess, I was the instigator and went first. Ooops.

View of Mt. Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas

 The movie Seven Years in Tibet was filmed here. 

Yesterday, I got convinced by an American girl I befriended to join a fancy wine tour and lunch. We toured three wineries, then were whisked off to a gluttonous feast over wonderful conversation (or was that the wine?) at a place called La Cava de Cano.  I was surprised that I enjoyed the wine tour, but it was actually educational and not pretentious at all.  The tours were all led by young people in their mid-twenties, which made everything seem much more accessible to me. Now, I feel like I could pose as a wine snob...