Day before Mendoza, end of official trip Not much updates simply due to the insane amount of drinking and partying that goes on around here. If we were not at the club, we were drinking three dollar wines at the fourth floor pool area, making sure that if we do not sleep, no one else can. The trip itself was certainly fun, with the visits to the vineyard and the copper mine a particular highlight. The latter was especially interesting, given how few of us actually get to go inside a honest to goodness mine, not to mention the world`s biggest. There were plans to bring us to the actual front of mining but a mishap with the ever present pollen prevented that and ensured our speedy departure down the mountain to the medical center where the patient had a jab. I was probably the only one who was disappointed but then again, no one else seemed particularly interested in the practical aspects of the company's operations anyway. The majority were pretty here much for the fun and games, and in the case of one at least, to get laid it seemed. Code named the fangless cobra, for its inability to inject venom into its prey despite the presence of a venom sac, and letting them get away because it cannot get a grip with only its gums, he moves with the practiced smoothness of one looking to get some but unfortunately, just cannot get any. Which gives rise to the whole code naming of the guys in the group. There is the reticulated python, who cannot spit venom and have to swallow its prey whole; the white albino python, a reference to skin color; the ananconda, longest snake in the world; Californian rattle snake, shakes a tail and warns off predators; and finally, the black mamba, deadliest snake of them all. Of course above all, stands Snake Eater.

Will be leaving for Mendoza in about 5 hours time. Only just finished transferring the pictures from card to hard disk and found out that I cannot upload to Flickr from here. Wondering what will happen in Mendoza; did not really want to go there till I found out that Santiago is really expensive as they say and then some. Plus the fact that we pretty much covered everything during the official part of the trip, from the Spanish house, to Pablo Neruda house to the house that Codelco built. I did manage to finally sat down and write the postcards to the girls; finding a post office to send them is another story however.

Mendoza is located in the Andes, on the Argentine side somehow means that there will be vineyards there which is synonymous with free flow of drinks, given the cheap prices in this country. Hopefully, I will be able to do some biking there. If not, I may have to accompany the SAS to the freak show that he's interested in. Or maybe not. Certainly, we are all looking forward to the trip to Iguazu Falls. I cant understand why some people would not go there on the pretext that they do not want to spend too many days traveling. kinda silly to come halfway across the world and not see at least one of the more splendid views here. Especially if you are going to just spend days shopping in Buenos Aires. Though honestly, I would kick myself if I fail to get that 200 euro Christian Dior suit that the TA said was available there.  ¶ 1:13:00 pm 0 comments

  Santiago After approximately thirty hours traveling, we finally touched down at Santiago International Airport. The long trip was made all the more excitable by the uncertainties of making our connecting flight at Buenos Aires due to a three hour delay taking off from KLIA. Apparently, a new ruling came into effect at the start of the month requiring all PRCs who's transisting South Africa to have a visa even if they are not entering the country. The prof and the the TA got stuck helping out one of the Chinese students sort this whole mess out and ended up missing the connecting flight to J-burg. I would have thought that at least one of them would have come with us on the trip but apparently, they decided to trust me with taking over the group. Which came as a nasty surprise because I speak no word of Spanish, and the job entails talking to a lot Chileans who understands nothing but Spanish. Then it gets better. They appointed ?ab as the official translator of the group and told me to use her for translation purposes. I have work with ?ab before, and I am ?ab's TA for a course recently and let's just say ?ab can get pretty bossy when she wants to at times.

So she pretty much takes over the job, which personally I am all too glad to relinquish to her, though it is my responsibility ultimately and I have to take control of the group. Unfortunately, ?ab being ?ab, just went ahead and gave her own set of instructions without consulting me, to the group, bus driver and everyone else, often leaving me to chase after her half the time to catch up with what's happening. Shrugs... Guess I still have a long way to go being a more tolerable person...

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I didn't get to talk to her; then again it was more like I didn't dare to ask her out to talk to her. Still feels weird, reluctant, like I still want to remain a prick. Beyond that I really have no idea what I am going to do next. I guess a confession is in the cards sometime in the future but I have absolutely no idea what form is it going to take...  ¶ 10:31:00 am 0 comments

  More new toys First she got this. For those in the know, you should know what a big deal this is. For those not in the know, well, its a big deal. A guy got it for her. I look at it in her room and still can't believe its actually there. Who would do such a thing? Truly, love is blind... Or sweet.  ¶ 10:40:00 pm 0 comments

  In 24 hours...... I will be in the air, on my way halfway around the world.

I should have said what I want to say. Unless I chicken out. Which is the most likely case.

I would have completed my last act as a student.  ¶ 10:23:00 pm 0 comments