Return from Vacation

This past Monday I returned from a little vacation in Argentina. I went with three other volunteers and a friend of a volunteer. We took a bus from Asuncion to Salta, Argentina, which is around 18 hours. Salta was a laid back city in the north of Argentina. The lay out of the city is like most South American cities; central plaza near big cathedral, lots of one way streets etc. Salta had a European feel to it with lots of cafes around the plaza where you can sit and sip on coffee or beer and eat a medialuna (Argentina's take on the croissant). The part I liked most about the region is that, because it is in the Northern region and borders Bolivia, there is a heavy native- Andean influence. The people, in general, are darker and a bit shorter and you can see the influence all over; people chew on coca leaves, the food is more traditional, etc. We drove down to Cafayate from Salta. Cafayate is known for it's wine, although it is usually overshadowed by Mendoza. Regardless, we spent a day tasting different wines and going on tours of the vineyards and also a really cool goat farm where cheese was made.
We made our way up north to the region of Jujuy. There we went to different towns such as Purmamarca, and Humahuaca. All these regions are very arid and look a bit like Arizona, with some amazing rock formations and different colored hills.
We made it up to salt flats, which were unbelievable. The road to these slat flats, however, was a bit windy...you will see.
The food in Argentina was amazing. We counted and found out that by the end of the trip we ate 7 different types of animals: beef, chicken, pig, lamb, goat, rabbit, llama. Yes, llama. It turned out to be so delicious. I had it in a stew and the meat was a mix between lamb and tender beef. I wish I had eaten more. I also had the best steak of my life in Salta. The thing was the size of a brick and about two inches thick, perfectly cooked and juicy.
Now I'm back in Paraguay to finish up my last two-ish months of service. It's pretty amazing how fast time flies.

Here are some pictures from the trip.
Salta from above. You can take a scary ride up a gondola to get a better view of the city.





Goats in Cafayate.


Vineyards.

Marcy, Justin, and Neil. My travel buddies.


Lots of wine.

This is what the drive looked like between Salta and Cafayate.

This was a stop off between Salta and Cafayate, called "Garganta del diablo"


Pictures from Purmamarca






This is the road leading to the salt flats...don't look down.


This was a building built from salt bricks cut out from the ground.

Salt benches.


Wells to crystalize/purify the salt, I think.

It's flat.


Salt man.

Random

I haven't posted in a while and figure I should post something before I go on a little vacation.
What's new? Not a whole lot. This coming week I head into Asuncion for my COS conference (Close of Service!!!) where we go over alllllll the paperwork (this is the government, don't forget) we have to do prior to leaving country. We also go over topics like what we are going to do after PC, like grad school, work, resume help, reverse culture shock etc. After the conference a couple other volunteers and myself will head to Salta, Argentina to enjoy some natural wonders, big steaks, and fine wine. Be on the look out for pictures from my vacation in the next blog post.

I'm posting a couple random photos - some are of my garden, some of Maria's garden about two weeks ago. This hasn't been the best year for gardening but we both, especially Maria, are getting our gardens in gear
.

My garden



Maria's garden






Cilantro (or Coriander) in flower. The small bug is a tiny, tingless bee. There are a handful of different species in Paraguay and they produce very amazing honey, though in small quantities. This particular species is called Jate'i in Guarani and loves these flowers.

The other morning when I slipped my foot into my boot I found something hard in the way. Turns out a huge toad made my shoe it's new home. Check out the size of this guy! Thank god it wasn't anything poisonous. I guess I should probably start checking before I put my shoes on...