Casino de Mendoza
Thursday night I went to the casino in Mendoza to see a free tango show. Arriving at the casino, I experienced more security than anywhere else I've gone in the city. This was maybe the second time I've been carded, and the security had to call back up to confirm we could enter because he didn't understand our U.S. IDs. I felt super classy in the casino. We ordered the girliest drinks; daquaries and tequila sunrises, which came in super tall glasses, orange and pink, with cherries. The show started as a free tango class, which was really cute to watch because it was full of old couples learning how to tango. Lizzy was the only one brave enough to participate, while the rest of us watched from the balcony. Afterwords the lesson turned into a show with tango dancers and a band. I wish I had dancing skills. The one tango class I went to here was a struggle. Inside the casino doesn't feel like Mendoza since it's so glitzy, with no windows. And being allowed in a casino is new for me; I've really only walked through casinos in the States since I'm not old enough to stay and have a drink. Potririllos
I'd been wanting to go here for a while, and finally made it. It's an hour and a half by bus, and there is a beautiful lake and dam right next to the mountains. The little town has some cabanas that you can rent, and restaurants, and a great churro stand that I've only heard about and not yet experienced, so I'm going to have to return another time. A lot of the lake was dried up, so we started walking out onto the dried up lake bed, but started sinking into the wet mud too much, and then really had to turn around after Kaylee sank into the mud knee deep. So we walked around the lake and found a place to jump in the water. I don't think you are really supposed to get in the water, it seems pretty stagnant and there was a lot of algae, but we jumped in anyway. It's all snow melt from the mountains so it was pretty freezing, but probably 85 degrees out, so we laid out on the rocks after to bask in the sun. We were planning on hiking, but that turned into a nap in the sun, which I'm perfectly happy with.Aguas Termales
Saturday I went to the hot springs in Cacheuta, where I've hiked before, but haven't ever been in the town. There are three different hot spring areas, but one was closed and the other is an exclusive spa accessed by the hotel there, so we went to the one that was more like a big water park with hot pools and cold pools, and it overlooks the Mendoza River and the mountains. It was a beautiful day for this, high 80s, sunny, and an amazing place to relax. It was very crowded however, and I've never seen so many thong bikinis in my life as I did today. I couldn't believe the old ladies walking around in thong swimsuits. How is that comfortable to sit down on the benches, cement or grass in? The town had some really great food for after the pool, and then we had to wait with about 100 other people to get onto two buses to go back to Mendoza, so we fought for a seat on the bus, and won.
I think I'm starting to get a tan here, which I love because I'll be going back to Colorado in the middle of winter all tan.
Partido de Futbol
Sunday night was the Boca Juniors verses Godoy Cruz game in Mendoza. I went during the week to buy my ticket at the stadium in the park by my house with some friends, and happily discovered that chicas cost less than the guys to get in, since we aren't the ones causing all of the problems in the stands. The guys had to pay twice as much for a ticket, but we also bought the more expensive ones because the cheaper 'popular' tickets are where all of the hard core fans sit, who are the ones who will start getting aggressive and cause riots. Games are known to be dangerous in Latin America, especially in Argentina. My host mom and sister were very very concerned for my safety going to the game. My friend Josh planned out the adventure, and 12 of us were going, all foreigners, and 10 of which were girls. Our plan was to meet at the entrance to the park, and walk to the stadium. My host family however did not think it was safe to walk at all this afternoon; they warned me of huge groups of muchachos that were going to be walking past the houses on the way to the game, who wouldn't hesitate to rob us or grab our butts. They weren't happy that I wasn't going to change my plans to take a taxi to the stadium. But my host family has also never been to a game, and everything turned out fine. We walked towards the stadium, where I tried my first choripan, which is a chorizo sausage on a bun, and is delicious and fatty and juicy. This was right after having an asado with my family (today was Argentina Mother's Day, and my host brother's birthday), so I was already full of meat and dulce de leche crepes, but had to try it anyway.
We ran into our new friend Santiago outside the stadium. It feels so good to run into somebody you know in Mendoza that isn't an IFSA kid or your host family; it makes you feel like you actually live here, and aren't just visiting. So with Santiago and his friend we went into the stadium. They were sitting on the Boca side, and us on the Godoy Cruz side, so we had to separate. We got a thorough pat down on our way into the stadium too.
The stadium in Mendoza was built for when Argentina hosted the 1978 world cup. There is a moat separating the fans from the field, so that the fans can't charge the field in anger. Both ends of the stadium are reserved for the 'popular' section, separated by a fence, and guarded by the Argentine SWOT. Our seats had a row of guards too in front of us. I felt safe because we were sitting in a section with families and kids. Visiting fans were actually banned this year because of so much violence between fans. So now, tickets for the popular section for the visiting team are sold as 'neutral,' so they can still attend the game. The popular section filled up completely, with enormous banners, and everyone had flaming things that they lit up when the game started, and some of the flames even fell into the moat, leaving a small fire going for a while on the ground. Everyone was chanting songs the entire time. Each team in Argentina has specific songs that the fans sing during the games. They didn't stop singing for the entire two hours. There was a drum leading the chants, and everybody would clap and jump. I really wish I'd looked up the chants before going because the whole time I was trying to sing along with awkward vowel sounds. When they scored, the chants would get even louder, but also when the other team scored they would chant more. They all sounded the same to me, but the ones for when the other team scored were probably so crude and aggressive and I didn't even know it. I find it hilarious that the phrase "son of a bitch" translates directly as "hijo de la puta" and they use it frequently here, so this was chanted for a while too.
I've never been super into sports, but there was just so much to see during the game in the crowd and it was an intense game too, I've never had more fun at a sports event. Except we were sitting next to these little tweenagers, and whenever I'd get into the cheering, they'd stare at me and laugh, which couldn't help but make me feel stupid for trying to fit in with the rest of the crowd. Everyone in the crowd is so passionate for the teams, and it's such a cultural trait as well. There were kids probably as young as 2 or 3 yelling profanities at the refs. People in the front row all had huge banners and were waving flags and umbrellas of the team colors. People ripped up newspapers as confetti to throw into the crowd, and they handed out plastic bags of the colors of the teams to blow up and wave in the air. People were throwing streamers onto the field too during the game. None of this would ever be allowed at a sports event in the U.S.
It was a very close game. Godoy Cruz was up a point by the middle of the second half, with one player out for a red card, turning the last 15 minutes of the game into a power struggle to maintain the lead. In the last minute of the game, Boca got a free penalty shot, and scored, which put the game at a tie as the game ended. This was not a happy way to end the game for the Godoy Cruz fans, and a fight immediately broke out. As the 10 of us foreigners sit there in awe with our mouths wide open and cameras out as the players start fighting with each other, Josh thinks better of this, and makes us all leave right away, so we practically ran out of the stadium right as the cops brought out the water hose and the fans in our section started ripping apart chairs. We power walked away from the stadium with the rest of the thirty thousand people at the game, and heard some mysterious pops in the background that were definitely not fireworks, and were most likely tear gas being brought out. The police helicopter was flying above the stadium shining its light down on everyone fleeing. After getting a far enough distance away from the stadium, I had hoped to take a cab home, but ended up deliberately disobeying my host mother and walking home, when she had warned me of the dangers of this too. But I wasn't alone, and we were far enough away from the stadium there weren't any riots going on. So I survived my first soccer game. 
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