Friday we got to go on our day trip that was organized through the program. We all met up at Patio Olmos at 8:45 in the morning and got on the buses a little after 9:00 and left for Alta Gracia. After about an hour and fifteen minutes we arrived at our first stop: the Jesuit Estancias. Over the years the town has grown up around it, but originally it was one of the first Jesuit established ranches in South America. We learned that the difference in a mission and an estancia is that a mission was purely church related whereas an estancia was an actual ranch with a trade school in addition to the church. The estancias were self-sufficient and produced all of the supplies for themselves and the missions. We got to see the church and some of the old living quarters including bedrooms, a kitchen, and the blacksmith house back behind the main areas. There were also old items that had been used hundreds of years ago by the gauchos, religious art that had been made here in Latin America, and tools made and used by the Jesuits’ slaves. Although it wasn’t the most exciting place I’d ever been, it was very interesting, the grounds were kept up very well, and I thought it was all really pretty. Our next stop was the Ché Guevara house museum. This was cool since I had just done an oral presentation about him on Tuesday in 318. Although he wasn’t born in Alta Gracia, his parents moved there when he was young and he spent nearly all of his childhood there. The house has been preserved and set up to look exactly like it did when he was growing up. We first watched a documentary that the museum had made in which they interviewed people, including some of his teachers, childhood friends, and his nanny, about how he was as a child. Afterward we got to walk around and see how his family lived. Our guide had told us that while we were there we should think about how someone with such a seemingly “normal” childhood could turn out to be one of the most famous and violent socialist revolutionaries of all time. It was a very interesting concept to think about while we were there. After the museum we once again boarded the bus and drove another hour to, for lack of better knowledge, the middle of nowhere for lunch. However, even though it was the middle of nowhere, it was extremely enjoyable. After driving for a long period of time and seeing nothing but countryside, we came upon a place that looked like it could be a bed and breakfast, or maybe some sort of hunting lodge, in the middle of the Sierras de Córdoba. The Sierras of Córdoba are smaller than mountains, but much bigger than hills, and stretch for quite a large distance within the Province of Córdoba. After getting off of the bus we went around to the back of the lodge to the porch and were surprised to see it overlooking a field full of llamas. They gave us some time while they were finishing preparing the food to hang out, play on some playground equipment, and interact with the llamas and miniature horses. We were all quite hungry by the time we were served our lunch, but it ended up being quite a disappointment. The meat we were served was not very good; we didn’t think there was any possible way that it could be beef, and we were all convinced that we had been served llama. There is no reason to worry though, because we asked the program leader and he assured us it came from a cow; furthermore, he promised us that none of the llamas we had been playing with were in danger. After lunch a small group of us went on a walk with one of our tour guides down a path that went past cabins and horses and a little farm shed. We were able to play with puppies and a cat and on the walk back we saw some more llamas. I can honestly say that I have now witnessed what I guess is a “llama call,” and I have to say that llamas make some of the strangest noises. After a while we headed out to our last stop, a little town in the Sierras called Belgrano. They told us that upon entering this town you would feel as if you were in Germany. Although I had my doubts, I definitely agree after experiencing it! The reason for this is that back in (I think) the early twentieth century, a large group of German immigrants settled in the region. Not wanting to leave behind their culture, they imported all of their building materials from home and built themselves an entire town using German architecture styles. Additionally, they established a beer and chocolate factory. Although it is now a big tourist area, it originally started as just a quiet town of Germans settlers and their ancestors. We were sad that they only gave us about 45 minutes to be there; the town is so cute I am pretty sure we all could have spend the entire afternoon looking around! Of course we all hit up the chocolate factory first thing, and then after that some people went to go try out some of the beer while the rest of us just enjoyed taking in the design, and mostly the bizarre concept of, the town. All stocked with chocolate and some full of beer, we got back on the bus one last time for the two hour trip back to Córdoba. We made it back right before 7:00, and those of us going to Mendoza only had about an hour to go home, eat, pack, and leave for the bus station. I was definitely extremely rushed, but I made it in plenty of time and the whole day was worth it. Once at the bus terminal I was very glad that we were in a big group and with people who knew what they were doing. The ticket said that our platform was “1-10,” which I was later informed meant that our bus could be at any of the platforms between 1 and 10. Although I was initially very confused, things calmed down quickly and we located our bus and everyone arrived in plenty of time. The buses here are really nice and are two-stories with seats that lean really far back and have footrests. It still isn’t the most comfortable way to sleep, but I would say as far as room went it was definitely much better than a plane. We set off for Mendoza at 9:00pm, which served as both the end of a great day and the official start of an awesome weekend.
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