Lujan de Cuyo, Argentina - Days 1 & 2
Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Welp, it was a rough first night in Argentina. Both Tory and Aden caught a stomach bug, and have been sick in bed since 8:00pm last night. Aden was up most of the night throwing up, but it seems like Tory may be through the worst of it this morning. I moved Aden into the master bedroom after Andi was awake this morning so that he could lay in the only air-conditioned room of this house. It’s 95 degrees in Mendoza this week; the poor kiddos are hot and sweaty on top of being under the weather.
The four of us spent the morning in our airbnb — Andi worked outside at the patio table, Tory FaceTime’d her best friend from home, and I took care of Aden.
Mid-morning, Andi arranged for a money exchanger to come to our airbnb. In Argentina, there are two different exchange rates for money — the standard government exchange and an exchange rate called the Blue Dollar. Because the economy in Argentina is unstable and the desire to obtain the more stable US dollar is high, a “blue rate” system of exchange has developed. The Blue Dollar is completely legal and a more beneficial exchange for foreign travelers to use because the exchange rate is nearly double to amount. Today, for example, $1,000 US dollars is equal to $190,195 Argentine pesos at the government rate or $377,131 Argentine pesos using the Blue Dollar exchange. It makes a lot more sense to use the Blue Dollar in Argentina to pay for things, but you can only do that by using Western Union or a professional money exchanger.
The owner of our airbnb recommended a money exchanger for us to use. The exchanger arrived at our airbnb within 30 minutes of Andi contacting him. Andi gave him crisp, $100 US dollar bills in exchange for a equal equivalent in Argentine pesos. The process was simple, albeit a little strange.
Until recently, the Blue Dollar exchange could only be used with cash. But within the last month, Mastercard and Visa have begun to accept the Blue Dollar rate as well, though we’ve heard it doesn’t work all the time. The money is definitely a learning curve in Argentina! Using the Blue Dollar makes things more complicated, but it’s worth the effort if goods & services are literally half the cost. It’s also a bit mind boggling to work with such large currency amounts. Argentine pesos are in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 and the cost of goods are often in the thousands (ie: 4,000 pesos for a bottle of wine). It a challenge counting that high in Spanish — it feels like funny money! — but it’ll get easier with practice.
By 1:00pm, Andi was going stir-crazy in the house and suggested he and I go out for lunch in a neighborhood about 10 minutes away from our airbnb. I was reluctant to leave Aden, but he hadn’t thrown up for a few hours and seemed content laying in bed watching his iPhone. I left my phone with Tory so she could call us if Aden got sick again.
Andi and I hopped into a cab and rode over to an area of Mendoza called Chacras de Coria. The restaurant he selected for lunch was called La Gloria, tucked under a canopy of trees. What a beautiful spot!
Our server at La Gloria Cantina was the friendliest gal. Bonus that she spoke perfect English so we were able to clearly understand how the restaurant worked. She explained that for lunch, patrons could either choose an appetizer and main course, or main course and dessert which included one non-alcoholic beverage and a glass of wine. She also gave us a map of the restaurant (which wasn’t that big, honestly) and invited us to walk around to select a bottle of local Mendoza wine for our table.
They had hundreds of bottles to choose from — all locally produced in Mendoza. Most bottles of wine were under $25 US dollars. Andi selected a bottle of Malbec named Sanguinaria.
Shortly thereafter, my appetizer arrived to the table. I ordered a zucchini noodle salad with figs, prosciutto, candied walnuts, and a light vinaigrette dressing. The dish was so flavorful! Next, our main courses arrived. Andi selected pork tenderloin with bell peppers and sweet potato for his meal and I ordered white fish with avocado salsa and beet puree served with potato salad. I don’t normally like potato salad, but this was the best I’d ever tasted. The sauce was so light and the potatoes cooked perfectly. All of the food was delicious.
Perhaps the best thing we ate was dessert. Andi selected warm figs with orange puree and a graham cracker crumble on top. Oh my gosh, the flavors were to die for! I think our exact response to the dish was, “Wow!”
Andi and I left La Gloria feeling happy and rejuvenated. Up to this point, we hadn’t experienced any part of Mendoza other than our airbnb. The suburb of Lujan de Cuyo was full of life with brightly colored trees and flowers, and lots of restaurants and shops lining the city streets. We couldn’t wait to see more. For now though, it was siesta time and the whole city was shutting down. We’ve experienced the practice of an afternoon siesta in other countries, but in Argentina they take this custom seriously. Nearly every business from supermarkets to medical offices close during the hours of 1:30pm - 5:30pm. Andi and I walked down the street from the restaurant and only found one small convenience store open. After siesta time is over, businesses open again from the hours of 5:30pm - 8:00pm. It’s no wonder then why Argentinians eat dinner so late in the evening. By the time they get home from work around 8:30pm and cook a dinner meal, it’s 10:00pm.
The four of us spent the rest of the evening at our airbnb. Aden hadn’t thrown up since this morning, and seemed to be getting some of his energy back. The kids chatted with friends on FaceTime while Andi called his parents and I blogged by the pool.
Around 7:00pm, Andi and the kids wanted to eat dinner so Andi and Aden decided to walk around the neighborhood to see what they could find. There wasn’t much — it’s mostly a residential area — but they did come across a small restaurant next to someone’s house. The whole family was sitting outside in their yard (probably to escape the heat — it was still 90 degrees outside) and jumped at the chance to cook for Andi when he and Aden approached. About the only food they had available was hamburgers, so Andi ordered a couple burgers to-go. He didn’t realize that meant that the family would have to warm up their wood-fire oven to make the food! He and Aden returned to the airbnb about an hour later with burgers and fries. It might’ve been worth the wait — Tory said it was one of the best burgers she’d ever eaten.
Since the only room with air-conditioning in this house is the master bedroom, I decided to put two of the twin mattresses from Tory and Aden’s bedrooms onto the floor of our bedroom. It’s too darn hot to sleep without air, especially when the kids aren’t feeling 100%. We all laughed because we can’t seem to get away from sleeping together in a tiny space — from RV travels to an airbnb in Argentina.
Wednesday, February 8
We’ve designated Wednesdays to be longer work & school days during our travels abroad. Fortunately, Andi has been able to schedule most of his reoccurring weekly meetings on this day which gives us the flexibility to designate other days solely to travel/experiences. On the days Andi is working, the kids and I can catch up on their schooling. They’re already mumbling and grumbling about stacking multiple lessons into one day, but it’ll all come out in the wash as some days we won’t crack open a school book at all. Like anything, it’s just going to take some time to adjust to our new way of life.
Both Tory and Aden slept until 10:30am Wednesday morning. I think travel exhaustion + being sick + the heat has wiped them both out. (Also, Argentina is three hours ahead of Wisconsin / Central Time so it still feels like 7:30am to us). They were both so thankful to have slept in air-conditioning last night. It was hard to coax Tory out of that bedroom when she finally woke up this morning.
I made the kids breakfast while Andi continued to work on the outdoor patio. Aden ate some cereal and fruit, and I made Tory strawberry yogurt with granola. I forgot that everything in warmer, tropical climates needs to be sealed in an air-tight container or refrigerated. There were tiny ants inside the granola box that had been sitting on the counter, and I didn’t realize it until I poured the granola on top of Tory’s yogurt. With big eyes and a disgusted look on her face, she handed the bowl back to me and said, “There’s ants in it.” “They’re just tiny ones,” I said, knowing she wouldn’t eat it now. I picked out a few of the bugs with my finger (there were only three that I saw) and slid the bowl back to her. Surprisingly, she ate it without much of a fuss. Not that I force my kids to eat food with bugs in it, but our food options are limited in the airbnb. Her other choices were bananas, deli ham, chocolate cereal or to eat the bug yogurt. She chose the bug yogurt.
After breakfast, the kids and I returned to the air-conditioned bedroom to do school work. Andi was jealous we were able to sit in there while he had to stay in the main living area. The internet signal wasn’t strong enough in the bedroom for him to do his calls in there.
For lunch, Andi ordered take-out from Pedidos Ya again. Food delivery is such a novelty for us because we don’t have it at home. We are continually amazed that you can order any food under the sun and have it delivered to your door within 30 minutes. Today, Andi got us a big salad to share, some sort of fried rice/quinoa dish, and a variety of meat and veggie empanadas — all for $5,000 pesos (or about $13 US dollars).
Later that afternoon, the kids spent time swimming in the pool and watching the iPhones. I packed our bags and did some blogging. Around 4:00pm, Andi surprised with another (!!!) food delivery — this time it was ice cream. Three liters of ice cream delivered in a styrofoam container by a guy on a scooter. The kids were floored! The three flavors were lemon, vanilla, and dulce de leche. Tory and I loved the dulce de leche; Andi liked the lemon best, and Aden preferred the vanilla. Something for everyone.
We hung around the airbnb until Andi finished work around 6:00pm. Then, we hopped in a taxi and headed over to the Palmares shopping mall in Lujan. Andi forgot the SD card for his drone and I needed to buy a local SIM card for my iPhone. The mall was really nice! Lots of different clothing stores, mostly Latin brands (KFC, McDonalds and Levis were the only American brands I saw). We weren’t able to get a SIM card to work, but Andi did find the SD card he was looking for.
Next, we drove to La Mercadito restaurant for dinner. We’ve learned Mendoza is very much a “reservations needed culture, though no one seems to eat as early in the evening as we have been. The ambiance of this restaurant was so nice, tucked under a garden of trees with a river flowing nearby. The bugs were attacking our ankles though and it was hot! The longer we sat outdoors on the patio, the more cranky we all became.
We ordered a few plates to share — fried potatoes as an appetizer, filet mignon with mashed potatoes and Swiss chard, a mediterranean salad with burrata cheese, and beef Milanese. Tory loved the potatoes, and we all liked the filet mignon. Milaneses are one of the more popular dishes in Argentina, derived from the many Italian immigrants. The cooking style involves breading and frying meat in oil. None of us were big fans of this style of cooking — I mean, why would you take a perfectly good ribeye and fry it?
After dinner, we cabbed back to our airbnb. Aden didn’t eat much at dinner and said his belly was hurting again. I hoped it was the heat, and worried we had another long night ahead of us.
