Friday, November 12, 2010

Estoy enamorada con Salta, la linda

Ooh, Salta. Where to begin with trying to describe the beauty I have seen...

I packed up my bags and was ready to venture out on the road alone!
It didn't last long though because as I was waiting in the bus station, I met up with a girl named Ryan who had been in 2 of my classes, and surprise, surprise! She was going to Salta alone too. So we ended up being together the entire time. She wanted to go to Salta and travel around, but instead we stayed in Salta (capital) and did 3 different day excursions.

Day 1: Jujuy - Las Salinas Grandes y Purmamarca
Jumping in the salt flats!
On the first day we started out by following the path of El Tren a las Nubes (Train to the Clouds). We bought coca leaves to chew on to help with the altitude sickness, as we made the ascent to 4,170 meters above sea level. I wasn't much a fan of the coca, so I stuck to chewing gum and drinking a lot of water to keep the sickness away, and I really only noticed that I was slightly dizzy when I was walking around a lot (which didn't happen much because we were in the car). We stopped a few times just to take pictures and other times we stopped to visit specific towns and sights. The highlights were the Ruins in Tastil, which apparently used to house 3,000 people in 14th century AD. From there we stopped in San Antonio de los Cobres to eat lunch, and then we headed to the salt flats. The salt flats are just SO big, I can't even begin to imagine how large they actually are. We visited an area that had mounds of salt that they had dug up, and an area that they were digging the salt and reaching the water - there are rectangular pools, and the water is under the salt in all parts, but it's just so dry above that! After that, we headed to Purmamarca. I was SO excited to see the Mountain of 7 Colors, and we barely saw it! We didn't stop for pictures because it's colors are better in the morning, and then from the town, you can't really get a good view of it.
Instead I bought some gifts for my friends and family!
We got back in the car without the young Germans because they planned on staying in Purmamarca for the night before heading into Boliva the next day.

Day 2: Salta - Cafayate
Wisdom amongst the mountains.
To go to Cafayate we were picked up bright and early. On this day we shared our car with two girls from Holland and a couple from France. This was just such a spectacular day, I can't even put it into words. We started by seeing a natural amphitheater that the Salta Orchestra actually performs in once a year. Then we headed to Cafayate with minimal stoppage and visited a winery before lunch. On the way back to Salta from lunch  we stopped to take pictures at La Garganta del Diablo, Los Castillos, Las Ventanas, and more. Apparently the lighting is better in the afternoon for these specific sights, and so it was very nice of our driver to consider that for us.
Our driver on the second day was definitely the nicest. He remembered all our names and he also spoke English, but he made sure to translate everything that he said so that everyone in the car could understand the entire conversation.
On our way back to Salta we stopped the Cabra Corral lake, which is manmade and used mainly for hydropower (got that, US?). Here I decided to be the entertainment for the afternoon and I BUNGEE JUMPED!
It was  27 meters, almost a dollar per meter, haha. Looking back, it probably wasn't the safest, but I wasn't that worried when I was doing it, and I really enjoyed it. It was probably the fastest 2 minutes of my life... I got a cute little diploma, a little bit of a rope burn on my one ankle, and some abdomen pain (I think maybe I pulled a muscle?). But it was definitely worth it. It's definitely not that big of a deal and my poor roommate, Caitlin, is still nervous for me even thought it's all over!
I got home from Cafayate, talked to my Dad for a few, and then fell asleep about 8pm and didn't wake up until my alarm went on the next morning at 6:15.

Day 3: Salta - Cachi
I thought this day was going to be so spectacular because we were going to Cachi on La Cuesta del Obispo, which you should google image, but it was cloudy! Which is apparently quite common, but that means that the drive was slow and you could barely see any of the scenery until we were at the altitude about the clouds (which is really strange to think about - we were ABOVE the clouds). On the way, we stopped at a little cafe for some tea and coffee to warm us up, and I met people from Connecticut! They are the first Nutmegers that I've met here in Argentina, and of course it happened to be at just some small roadside restaurant in the middle of Salta. That's just the way this world works. Anyway, they were really sweet, and I got to speak some English with them! Haha.
We made our way slowly up the mountain and arrived at Nacional Parque Los Cardones - aka Cactus National Park! Who ever knew there could be so many cactus in one place... I have some very fun pictures for there though.
Fun fact: Cactus flowers only bloom for a day.
We continued on our way until we made it to Cachi with occasional photo taking stops. Cachi really is not a big deal, like my friends told me, but it's just a quaint little colonial village. We ate lunch and Ryan and I laid out for a few minute and tried to enjoy the warmth before we made our decent back into the clouds and felt the temperature significantly drop. The ride back to Salta is one that I swear I will never forget because we were driving through the clouds and had seriously, seriously limited visibility. We didn't know cars were in front of us until they were right there!
When we returned to Salta, Ryan and I went out to walk around the city a little bit, and I enjoyed some night photography of Salta's gorgeous Cathedral and Church.

The next morning, I woke up, found out that my amazing friend Stephanie had registered me for my classes (thanks, Steph!), and I got on a bus to come back to Buenos Aires.

It was a long bus ride back, but I passed the time talking to a nice woman who was traveling with her young son, and a man who is full blooded Argentine-Indian. He told me that because I have the cleft in my chin, he knew that I would grow up to be una mujer fina (a 'fine' woman, or something pure, affectionate, true, or excellent, depending on the definition), and a lot of things about living life by what your heart tells you to do - for that is how he became the person that he is today with children and a wife he loves. He was a very nice older man and kept pointing things out to me from the window of the bus and explaining things.

I'm really sorry that this post is actually kind of lame to read. I'm so tired, still, after a long nap. And I know that there's no way that I can adequately describe what I saw these past very days, so I'm annoyed with myself for even trying...


But, it's only a few hours until my Mom's plane touches down! So I'll have a busy next week with her and her friend Miss Valerie!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Endings always bring beginnings...

I've officially finished my first semester of my junior year. It's scary to think that I've now finished 5 semesters and only have 3 left to do! What am I going to do with my life?!
The past week of classes was quite uneventful. I had some written exams and an oral exam in Spanish. And on Wednesday and Thursday we had to go to each of our classes and receive our grades, and then hand this formal document into the University. It's just such an antiquated system of doing things, I'm assuming it's really going to slow down the transcript exchange process. I made two 8's, two 7's, and a 6. Normally, at USC, I would panic with those kind of numbers, but they actually are equivalent to a 3.66, 3.33, and a 3.0 (although, really, at USC, I would still probably be a little upset...). Now I'm just worried that the University here reports them as 8, 7, 6, and I won't get credit for the class I got the 6 in because it appears to be a D instead of a B, and I need C's for my pass/fail credit.
I guess I'll just work it all out when I get back on campus, if I have problems.

Saying Chau! to Jen at the Farewell Dinner.
Last night we had our Farewell CEA dinner at this really nice restaurant called Siga La Vaca. It's in Puerto Madero, which is the newest part of the city. It was sad, and at the same time, kind of funny. About 50 of us showed up, but only 5 are leaving in the month. So when December 3rd comes and we have a SECOND farewell dinner (for the intensive Spanish and Latin American/Integrated studies [my program]), I'm sure many more tears will be shed.
It was sad because the great people who are leaving early happen to be Jen, my friend Dan, and Aeri. And I love those three.

But with so much ending in the past few days, so much is beginning too! It's the part that I've looked forward to for so long, and it starts in just a few short hours (when I get my lazy butt into the shower and then to the grocery store).
And this part is: TRAVELING & VISITORS!
I leave tonight and will be taking an overnight bus to Salta province, in northeastern Argentina. There I'll recorrer (to travel through) the Salta and Jujuy provinces. The highlights that I'm looking forward to seeing the most are: El Cerro de Siete Colores and La Garganta del Diablo (not the same as the one in Iguazú Falls, of course). The most exciting part about this trip is that I'm traveling alone! It's a bit scary at the same time, but with the way technology is, you'll probably know if something goes wrong at the same second that I do. Haha. And I'm actually betting that nothing will go wrong because it's an area that's based off of tourism, so they probably try to keep things really safe.
I'll return home on Thursday (the 11th) in the morn', and on the 12th in the morning, my mom and her best friend land! I'm so excited that they are coming to visit. Ever since they've decided to come, I've been thinking about what the greatest things to do are, and what I have to share with them. It's always great to visit someplace new, so I hope they have a great time, but I'm so excited to be able to show them all that I've learned and show them where and how I've been living for the past 4.5 months. I hope they enjoy it here as much as I have!
Then, they will leave on the 20th - the same day as Jen - and a day or two later, I will promptly leave to go to Patagonia! (I do believe I'm saving the best for last!) I plan on glacier hiking on the Perito Moreno glacier in El Calafate, then heading to the town of El Chalten to hike and see Mount Fitz Roy, and after that I will head to Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego -- THE END OF THE WORLD!

It's amazing that I only have a month until I'm back home - actually, in exactly a month, I'll probably be sitting in the car on the way home from the NYC airport, or close to getting in the car. A month is such a long time, but with so much planned, it feels so short...

Anyways, I need to pack and buy some things for my viaje. I'll write when I get back, of course! :)

Thursday, November 4, 2010

How much do you understand?

Today I went to watch my homestay sister, Elina, in her tela (which literally means 'fabric') class. It's like Cirque du Soleil acrobatics on the giant pieces of suspended fabric.
Why wasn't that an option when I was growing up? or maybe it was was where I was growing up...
It doesn't really matter, I don't have the upper-body strength for it anyway.

The real point of this was, I was in the car with my homestay family and my roommate. And a DJ on the radio was talking. And I was SO impressed with myself for how much I understood. Sometimes, my Dad jokingly puts on a Spanish station when we're driving in NYC -- like when I was getting dropped off at the airport to come here! -- and asks me how much I understand, which is usually like ... a word here or there.
I can't wait for him to do it when he's picking me up for the airport so I can say, "everything."