Mendoza - Argentinian Wine Country

This past Thursday, after my last day of class, I went on a weekend trip with the school to Mendoza - Argentina's wine region. We took a bus there
(approx 14 hours) overnight, which actually wasn't as bad as I was fearing. The seats were very comfortable and reclined pretty far back. We played Bingo (didn't win), watched a movie (The Shaggy Dog - can't believe Tim Allen would stoop that low) and got dinner (should've brought my own food). When we woke up, we were there and on our way to some wineries. Wasn't a fan of the wines we tried but then we headed to a chocolate factory where the samples were much more enjoyable. The city itself, situated west of Buenos Aires and just to the east of the Andes Mountains, is really beautiful with tree lined streets and tons of plazas.
The next day we did a hike up one of the smaller "pre-andes" hills which had some nice views. Sunday I decided to try paragliding seeing as how hang gliding was by far the coolest adventure activity I'd participated in up to that point. Paragliding was great. We waited for a good updraft wind current, took about 3 steps and were in the air. The sensation of being so high up with an unobstructed view for miles was incredible. It was exciting and peaceful at the same time - I was really sorry we had to land. I asked my instructor the longest flight he'd ever done and his answer was 7 hours! I wouldn't mind giving that a try. There were two girls that went paragliding with the same company I did and it turns out that they're studying at the school I went to in Chile. Small World.
Back in BsAs now and preparing for my next trip. May go to Brazil or Central America before heading home. Time flies when you're having fun learning Spanish and traveling through South America.
Just added a bunch of photos, so take a look and let me know what you think.

Where's Noah? I need an ark

So the other day my roommate wakes me up by saying, "Jordan, there's something outside you need to see...and bring your camera". Ooh, I thought, this has to be good... and I was definitely not disappointed. When I got to the front of our apartment building I saw a river where our street should have been. There were at least 2.5 feet of water floating by... it was crazy. After talking with some of my neighbors who had gathered to witness the flood I learned that in our barrio (Palermo) floods are not all that uncommon. Apparently it happens about 6 times a year after heavy rainstorms because it's a very low-lying area and we're close to Rio de La Plata. After 2-3 hours the street was bone dry, but I did get in some good pictures before the tide receded so take a look.