Laundry Money?

So today I leave Mendoza for Buenos Aires at 18:45 tonight, so that´s 6:45 for those of us who don´t like using the 24 h system, myself included. Yesterday my Mendoza possee and I set off to go on a Wine Bike Tour that involves tasting wine at many different wineries (bodegas) and riding low quality bikes. The group included my friend from Michigan who is studying in the north Argentina for a year, two stereotypically English fellows who insist that America has destroyed their language, two Aussies who just wanted to ride around and do tricks, and myself. We decided to do the trip on our own as opposed to the one offered by the hostel to save some money and to have a bit more fun. The 40 minutes bus ride cost us each about 1.40 pesos or $.40. We rented bikes for 25 pesos each and set off. We were delayed because the English gentlemen insisted on getting bread and ¨buttah¨ to go with the wine. And we were off. The Aussies charged ahead, the English moseyed along, and the Americans were somewhere inbetween. Initially the landscape was that of a dilapitated buildings, cracked dusty roads, and even two cars that had been set fire to. Soon enough though and we were on a beautiful 2 laned road line with trees christened with orange leaves (I´ll post pictures once I can find a place with WI-FI). We went to a wine musuem, a chochlate/liquor factory that smelled amazing, and 3 vineyards. I´m curious to know how much a bottle of Melbec Wine from Mendoza costs in Washington so if you happen to see it in the stores let me know. We bought a bottle of 2005 Melbec at the Bodega for 21 pesos. I have a feeling that´s a hell of a deal. So we scooted about the countryside which, seemed like I´d imagine France or Italy´s wine country to be like, for about 5-6 hours. For the bus back I had a 2 peso note and assumed this would be satisfactory to cover the 1.40 peso tarifa. What I hadn´t accounted for is that payment must be in coins on certain bus, and I was sent away by the bus driver for my incompetance along with one of the Englishmen. It was around 6 pm so we figured we´d just go get change from a supermarket or something. Turns out the government is stingy with issuing coins. We went to 3 kiosks, 1 supermarket, 1 farmacia, and asked a half dozen strangers for change but nobody had any. And it wasn´t as if we were being lied to because we could look in the till and see nothing. It was now well into dusk and the fear of spending a night in a small god forsaken wine town was growing. We decided to try another bus driver/bribe him because we had plenty of bills for money. As darkness set in we got on a bus but the bus driver was non-negotiable. I guess he took his bus driving very proudly. Just as we were about to be sent away a local with an Oyster Card took us under his wing and swiped his card twice for us and we paid him $2 pesos each. The point of this story is this, how the fuck do Argentineans do any laundry with such a severe coin shortage. Anyway, I´ve resolved to horde coins from now on to avoid this situation again because things looked really grim. Oh ya, the wine was stupidly good even for my naive palate. Also when we went to a bar the other night I bought a bottle of wine for my friend and I for 15 pesos. Can you imagine going to a bar in the US and buying a bottle for $5? I can´t either because I´m not 21. To answer your question Julianne, I didn´t have the quote memorized but I knew of it. I feel like my Spanish is doing better but I still have been speaking English because I am surrounded by it. That will end soon though as my orientation for school is in about a week. Well so long from Mendoza and may the wind be at your back.