Well, my final day in Argentina has finally come. It's 2:40 in the morning on December 26th as I begin to blog and after an extremely eventful week, I'm glad that I convinced myself to write what I had done down, for exactly this reason.

Way back (or so it seems) on December 15th, I wrapped up the final day of my internship. It was the least productive day I had to date, mainly because my intern advisor offered me to read the letter of recommendation that he prepared for me, and had me read over the review he submitted about my experience there. I was quite honestly surprised at how well I was received there. It was really nice to know my work hadn't gone unappreciated.

That night and the next few days were busy. Full days of trying to do everything I hadn't yet taken the chance to, or just repeating the things that I enjoyed earlier.

On the night of the 17th I was off and on my way to Mendoza, Argentina (more internationally known as the wine region of the country). After having such a great bus experience to and from Córdoba, I decided to downgrade to the next lower category of comfort and what a freaking mistake that one was. Sixteen hours in an uncomfortable chair, terrible movies being played, and needing to get out of the bus to eat rather than being served on the bus. I'm going to cut myself short and refer to the experience as "first-world problems."

After a seemingly endless journey I arrived in scorchingly hot Mendoza. I hadn't yet booked a hostel, but had a particular one in mind that keeps many spaces available for walk-ins. I arrived and was so pleasantly surprised. From the outside, Hostel Lao was so unimpressive, but the inside was great! There was a swimming pool, there was air conditioning, great amenities in general. Knowing I only had a few days, I got to exploring.

Meanwhile, the day before I left Buenos Aires, I discovered that South Africa has passed a new entry requirement that necessitates those who have visited some of the regions I had travelled through to provide certification of having had a Yellow Fever Vaccination (which I hadn't yet had). In short, I went the first day to locate the clinic, returned early the next morning to find out I had read the schedule wrong, then returned on the right day at the right time to be greeted by an insanely long line that would have forced me to miss my bus. In the end, I chose not to get the vaccination and instead go to Chile.

Backtracking a bit, in Mendoza I met tons of really cool and interesting people from all over Europe. I had great fun with them, did a wine tasting and biking tour in Lújan, a city just outside of Mendoza that is a little lesser known and less touristy. The wines were unimpressive, but the highlight of the day was certainly the chocolate tasting we did at the end.The next few days were dedicated to seeing the landmarks of Mendoza, specifically monuments, parks, and squares. Mendoza is, I think, my new favorite city in Argentina. It was nice, and relaxing, and overall great.

One of the biggest treats of my visit to Mendoza though, would have to be my last dinner there. A friend from home, Priscilla (who I mentioned in a previous update), has family in Mendoza. Diana and Luis, Priscilla's aunt and uncle, took me out for dinner and a coffee. We had delicious food, had great laughs, and I do hope that I'll be able to see them again.

At 10:30 AM, on December 21st, I was off to Santiago, Chile. I decided to splurge for the comfortable bus again and all-in-all, it was well worth it. The path from Mendoza to Santiago was one of the most unbelievably pretty drives I have ever been on. In order to make the crossing, you drive by vineyards, through the Andes mountains, and see one picturesque view after the next. The only negative I have from that experience was that the boarding crossing took way too long, and we were treated like criminals in a line up (not really, but it did seemed that way).

My Australian friend Richie and I met up in Santiago with almost perfect timing. We stayed in these very pink hostel that was also surprisingly comfortable and fun. The hostel definitely wasn't in the "hopping" part of Santiago, but the extra distance we had to walk wasn't sufficient enough to consider staying somewhere of lesser quality.

On the first morning, I woke up bright and early to take care of my Yellow Fever Vaccination. I called the South African embassy to ask where I could go in Santiago to get it. They sent me to a hospital in the middle of town who had the most catering staff. They explained to me that in Chile, unlike in Argentina, I would need to see a doctor before I could get the vaccination and that also it wouldn't be free, like it would have been in Argentina. The nurses there did however, understand the urgency of my situation and referred me to another hospital that wouldn't require a prior doctor consultation. I went there, and finally, it was done.

I returned the hostel, scooped up Richie, and we were off. We spent our days walking around. We saw some great parks, Cerra Santa Lucia, the Plaza de Armas, and San Cristobal Hill (were we took a funicular to the top), to name a few. Chile was relatively expensive compared to Argentina but in my opinion, well worth it. For some reason that I could not determine, Santiago gets a bum wrap, people don't love it the way the love Buenos Aires. As experience has certainly told me though, visiting a place is a completely different experience to living somewhere. But, Santiago was modern, clean, a surprising number of people spoke English and were more than obliged to interrupt when they had something to say.

Richie and I flew back to Buenos Aires on Christmas Eve, aka the greatest day to travel. As a Jewish person, Christmas Eve is obviously not a day that one needs to avoid travelling on. Like last year when I flew home from South Africa on December 24th, every person had a row to themselves. Aerolineas Argentinas has known for being particularly questionable, and aside from the ham sandwich that came in my Kosher meal, the experience wasn't all that bad.

Back in Buenos Aires, for my last day, which also happened to be Christmas, I spent a full day of celebrating a makeshift Christmas with my friends that live in the house. We had mimosas, and french toast in the morning and feast in the evening. It was a great day, with great company, and it couldn't have been a better last night here.

In the end, Argentina has definitely been a growing experience, I've learned a lot about myself, made some incredible friends from all over the planet, further matured in my personal relationships and I certainly hope that the lessons will carry on beyond these borders.

In the morning, I head off to São Paulo, Brazil where a whole new of adventures will begin. Thanks for stopping by readers, it's always appreciated!

p.s. If my stories were excessively concise, I appologize. There was a lot more I wanted to say, and if you ask, I'm more than happy to share!