A Long Holiday Weekend

Tuesday was a holiday here, so Monday was considered a "sandwich" day. That means I got a 4 day weekend this weekend and another opportunity to explore. On Saturday, we went to Sebastian's house for lunch. After lunch, we went back to the apartment and didn't do a whole lot, because I was still getting over a cold. Sunday, I was feeling a little better, so I went back to Pueblito Los Dominicos. This time, I took lots of pictures to share with you all, so here they are :)

This is the entrance to Pueblito Los Dominicos.

This is what it looks like when you first walk inside.

This is just kind of a shot of some of the shops to give you an idea of what it looks like.

In the middle of the village, there is a large cage with all sorts of birds in it. I know it's kind of hard to see in the picture, but this was the best I could do.

Here's another shot of the shops. They sell all sorts of neat stuff and very different stuff. Lots of handmade things and things made in Chile. It's a really neat place to just walk through and see the shops.

This is the main plaza area in the Pueblito. There are a few restaurants around this area and some other food vendors along the edges.

This is one shop that was displaying some of their merchandise outside.

Here's another shop that displayed some merchandise outside. This is where I bought my sweater at.

This is the sweater that I bought. It's made from Alpaca and made by hand. It's very warm and very comfortable.

Here's some more of the shops in the Pueblito.

As I was leaving Pueblito Los Dominicos, there was some sort of parade going on. There were all sorts of people dressed up in interesting costumes dancing and playing music. As I drove by, I managed to snap a picture to share :)

Monday was the really exciting day though, because I decided to give skiing in the Andes a try! I rented all of my equipment from a company called SkiTotal. They provided transport to and from the mountains as well. I went to Valle Nevado for the day and explored almost every part of the mountain. Unfortunately, there wasn't much snow on the ground, but it was still an awesome experience. Again, I took lots of pictures to share! :)

These are the skis that I rented. NINTHWARD RorySilva Pros. They were very fun to ski on. They held up fairly well on the groomers and in the crud even though they are more of a powder ski.

Here I am getting ready to go! :)

As I was headed up the gondola, I snapped a picture of the resort/village area. Pretty big sized resort for the size of the mountain.

Here was my attempt at being an artistic photographer. Basically that's the bottom of my skis and the beautiful blue bird day :)

From the top of the mountain looking down. Notice... there are no trees.

A picture of the view of the Andes from the ski hill. Also includes a little bit of the snow. This picture makes the snow look a little better than it was. Although the snow itself was pretty good, there wasn't a whole lot of it!

Here's me at the top of one of the lifts. This picture gives you a little bit better idea of how much snow there was.

Here's the lodge where I stopped for lunch.

It was called Bajo Zero (Below Zero). Kind of a neat little ski lodge.

Here was the food that I got. A hamburger, french fries and a beer. Probably one of the best skiing hamburgers I have ever had. I'm not sure if that's because I was so hungry by the time I stopped for food or if it's because the burger was actually that good. Either way, it was a delicious meal :)

This was a shot of the road that we had to drive to and from the resort. 42 curves total. Very windy and poorly maintained, but hey that's all part of the experience, right? :)

This trip was full of firsts for me. It was my first time skiing in the Andes (and hopefully not the last!). It was my first time skiing on Ninthward skis. It was my first time at Valle Nevado. And, it was the first time I have ever seen a CACTUS on my way to go skiing. We don't get to many of these at Squaw Valley :)

Finally, today, I bought my ticket to go to Mendoza next weekend. Marcela and I took the Metro down to the station where all of the busses are. I will be leaving on Saturday and returning on Wednesday with some co-workers. I'm staying with a family there who I was connected to. They have been very friendly and welcoming already, and I've never met them before. It should be fun though, because there will be some other people around their house a little closer to my age. Keep an eye out for a post from there. We are going to be visiting a couple wineries and seeing a little bit of the town of Mendoza. I'm very excited for the trip and thankful for the opportunity to travel there and see this part of Argentina.

Thanks for reading! If you want more information or have any questions comment below or send me an email. Thanks so much for the support, love and prayers from everyone, and thank you to those of who have sent me emails. It means a lot to know that I have so many people back home thinking about me and sending good thoughts my way. Love to you all!

-Ryan