WWWD?!?!

When letting my friends know about my trip to Argentina, some inquired as to as if black people backpack? Well I never knew of any taking time to go out and travel. Knowing my friends, some even ventured to say only white people do that - even those that weren´t black. So one of my last night´s in the states, I was hanging out with some friends and he told me that when he (anonymous black friend) went backpacking through Europe, he always was like WWWD - WHAT WOULD WHITE(PEOPLE) DO??? At first I thought this wasn´t sound advice, but then again as I traveled throughout this trip, it actually has proven to be excellent advice - besides sitting out in the sun and getting sunburned. (BTW, I am now peeling. This shit is not cool!)

After my adventures with trying to get to Mendoza, I thought that my stint in Mendoza was going to be just as adventurous with Hannah; AND IT WAS! I had thought that once I got to Mendoza, I would stay in a nice hostel similar to that of the one I was staying in Palermo - apparently I had yet to fully experience a HOSTEL. Well, you ask and you shall receive. 14 PERSON DORMITORY! The hostel was yet deceptive on the website, they show you the main house, not this shithole of a place that rested behind the main house which housed 14 people. But then again, white people were doing it, so it is going along with the theme of my trip.

So in addition to traveling with Hannah, we were also traveling with one of her housemates that was also volunteering in Cordoba. I thought we were just going to enjoy and take in all that is the Wine Festival and the free activities that the city was having - NOPE! They had other plans for me - Rafting, Ziplining, and WINES AND BIKES - Tour of the Wineries by Bicycles. All sounded cool and different, so I was game.

OH WINES AND BIKES! Sounds like a great idea doesn´t it. Bicycling through wine country stopping at different vineyards, touring, having wine and taking in the scenery. That´s the exact picture that the agency painted, yet they failed to mention the 12 km bike ride and the blazing heat we were in. THIS AIN´T CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY - where I am used to driving in my air conditioning and enjoying the wine. Through recommendations by another hosteller it was said that it was better to trek the 12 km to the end of the tour and taste on the return back - trying to bike drunk might be nasty. So that is what we did. I thought I could tackle 12 km easily, but again you were not told of the shitty bikes with flat tires and crappy seats that would leave your butt bruised for days! Getting to the end of the route was a struggle, but the wineries were awesome! Learned soo much at the first bodega (winery) - Carinae. We had this cute Argentinian tour guide and typical me, I flashed a smile and began to flirt. In the end I made her very nervous and she said she had a boyfriend for 3 months - she hinted at if I had come 3 months earlier, magic could of happened. To be honest I was just trying to get my tastings for free. She explained to us the difference in grapes and even got to taste them off the vines - DELICIOUS! Differences in grapes is truly noticeable, especially between the Malbec and Cabernet. But you only can tell the difference in grapes by the leaves not the grapes - informational tidbit of the day. Once the tour ended, we dreading mounting the bikes on our trek back 12 km to visit the olive oil factory, other bodegas, and the liquors and chocolate factory. Amongst all the sweat, tears, butt bruises and drunkeness it was a great time had by all - OH THE MEMORIES.

Exhausted from our excursion in Maipu (wine country), our night life in Mendoza suffered as we were too tired to even go out, especially when you plan on going rafting at 9 am the next morning and things in Argentina don´t jump off until about 2 am.

RAFTING! I was slightly scared yet excited for this. Never had I done this before but I have heard people rave about it. I thought to myself people will not believe I did this - as most know, I´m not the outdoorsy type of person. BUT WWWD??? - WHITE WATER RAFTING IN ARGENTINA; EXACTLY.

You want to talk about gorgeous scenery. I swear that was the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen - but I did not break out my camera, how dumb was that. Snow capped mountains, smaller mountain ranges, and blue skies = RIDICULOUS!

After 2 hours, we arrive to filling out waivers, not holding the travel agency liable for death or injury - standard protocol yet the nerves began to mount. We get ushered into this barn to put on wet suits, windbreakers, life jackets, and helmets - I COULDN´T BREATH! These uniforms sucked in all my fat and made me slightly uncomfortable, but then again it was to protect me from those frigid waters we were about to face.

12 KM....12 KM of pure, unadulterated FUN! That was the most exciting thing ever! The thought of getting tossed out of the boat, standing up on the edges, paddling through rapids, and getting drenched by the waves = ADRENALINE RUSH! I guess I am becoming more of an outdoorsy person, cause I wanted to do that again. I was getting excited for our ziplining.

While eating lunch, this group of like 20 people overheard us talking English and inquired as to where were from. To our disbelief 3 of the girls were from the DC-MD Area (1 goes to Howard - yup another black girl ;-) and the other 2 go to UMCP). RANDOM, right?!? But they made me feel real old when they told me they graduated from HIGH SCHOOL IN 2007.

ZIPLINING awaits us...but to much disappointment as we thought we were going to be ziplining multiple times across mountain tops, we were only ziplining across a the rapids we were rafting down and only ziplining once. WHAT A RIPOFF! But still fun none the less.

We return to the hostel that evening to try and extend our stay for one more night, Hannah and I were going to continue our adventure while Stefanie was going to head back to Cordoba. To our dismay there were no rooms available in the hostel for the next night - WE´RE HOMELESS! And let the searching begin...

LOVING AND LIVING FULL OUT - HOMELESS

*P.S. THIS IS NOT INTENDED TO OFFEND ANY PEOPLE OF ANY RACE, GENDER, OR CREED.