Vineyard: Familia Zuccardi

We went on a trip with our program to the Familia Zuccardi vineyard. Not quite in Maipu, not quite in Mendoza, but somewhere in the middle.

Tasting room, which also had a ton of paintings.

My favorite painting in the room. Something very eerie about the emptiness of the room and staircase.

We were able to taste two different types of wine. In the past, the program was not allowed to provide students with alcohol. Past students had to do an olive oil tasting. Thankfully, things have changed, but we definitely weren't allowed to go overboard. This is a champagne. Really liked this. I wish I was better at describing flavors of wine, but I need some more practice.

Was not a huge fan of this red. Tasted...watery?

Torrontes is a type of grape specific to Argentina. There is apparently a debate going on about whether empanadas go better with Torrontes or red wine. My vote is Torrontes, but I'm partial to white wines.

Alisa looking pretty and angelic.

Huge breadsticks! After our wine tasting, we had lunch at the winery.

Lucky lady bug on my plate.

Cheers!

Pan casera <3

Lots of olive oils to try.

Eggplant tapenade. 

Beef with a horse-radishy sauce.

More beef. The bread was so good!!! 

We also had tuna sandwhiches, olives, sundried tomatoes, more tapenade, and fried balls of chicken.

Peaches, fruit salad, cream, and little cookies for dessert.

Favorite Things

A random sampling of the food/drink I've been enjoying for the past few weeks.

Pork chops and potatoes. (photo not taken by me).

We have a thing called "Cafecitos" in my study abroad program. About once a month we all get together at the program director's giant apartment and eat desserts and drink tea. Ricotta cheese cake, strawberry cheese cake, an oreo, an alfajore, and peanut butter ( a rarity here (!!!)).

I'm seriously craving gooey, soft, melty, chocolatey chocolate chip cookies right now. I don't know if they exist here. but these are my new favorite brand of packaged cookies. Super useful when travelling/hiking.

I came home from class to a pan of green beans, slices of ham, and an egg. I ate the entire pan.

I bought all of the mate necessities!! You have to make mate portable as it's a social thing to be taken in the park or during class. Thermos, container for yerba (herbs), yerba (Taragui Citrus flavor even though my host mom told me to buy the "red flavor." I rebelled.), and of course the actual mate, which is like a gourd on the inside and on the outside leather, with a straw to filter the herbs.

I Never Go To School

The weather dropped from comfortably warm to super chilly, leaving me with a cold. This always happens to me when the weather suddenly changes and it's anything but fun. The only cure is rest, tea and time.

My host mom's son lives in Brazil, so she gave me this lime and honey tea from Brazil to try. Very strong and soothing for a sore throat.

I stayed home from school so I had time to Skype with a friend. School in the U.S. is about to start up again. I'm not missing it, but I am missing my friends and how comfortable I feel around them.

As I was lying in bed trying to recover, my host mom brought me cookies with dulce de leche. That's my kinda medicine.

The next day, I also didn't go to school because there was a nation wide strike. Very few micros (buses) are running, flights are cancelled, and my university is closed. From my understanding, various types of employees including bus drivers, professors, and medical professionals are demanding higher pay. Apparently bus drivers are paid extremely well, even more than professors, but that's not saying much because professors are not paid well. For lunch I had spinach filled ravioli with a chunky meat sauce and mozzarella cheese. Slowly starting to feel better. Seems my host mom can cure a cold with her cooking.

Fourth of July

Pork Loin, New York Strip Steak, and Hot Dogs on the grill....

My plate

Sugar cookies with red and blue sprinkles.

I didn't eat any cookies, but the little bro had about 5.

I opted for watermelon and Cool Whip.