24 hours!

          Tomorrow is a very special day. It might be simply June 14th to you guys, but tomorrow means A LOT more than that to me. My mind is spinning 100mph and I thought the best way to help that would be to write it out. So... Tomorrow I will be reunited with my family (mother, father, and brother) after 10 long months! I never imagined I would to see them for the first time in such a long time, here, in Salta. I kind of always imaged I would see them when I got back to the airport in Hartford. But, I am so thankful I get this chance. I get the chance that all AFS students dream of, and most don't get this opportunity. My closest family is coming to visit me in Argentina. (CRAZY right? In a good way!) They would not have been able to visit if it wasn't for my host family. When I left Hartford, this was never the plan. But then, I got here and I fell in love with a family, another one, and it was this family that said to me, "Cuando vienen mi otra familia?", which means, "When is my other family coming to visit?'. In that moment, I knew my family and Argentinean family needed to be united. So, with that, comes this moment. It's finally here! In the next 24 hours I will see my family again, and they will see the rest of mine.
          After my mom, dad, and brother arrive, I am bracing myself for the start of the AFS "emotional roller coaster". At the AFS (American Field Service) orientation, they explain what our "emotional roller coaster" might look like. The AFS experience is extremely hard and far from perfect. There are high highs and low lows, there times that are normal and times you have no idea what your feeling, but they say the last month of your experience it the hardest and I can completely contest to that! Seeing my family for the first the time in A LONG time will be very emotional but full of joy. I know that the next two weeks will probably be the best two weeks of my life, and with that, reality starts to set in that very soon I will have to leave this place. Although I am really exited and anxious about going home, I know I am going to miss SOO many things here. This experience has changed me for a life time and made me a stronger and better person. I will miss my friends and the challenge, but most of all I will miss my host family. Saying goodbye to them will be the second hardest thing I've ever had to do, the first being saying goodbye to my family and friends in Hartford. Now, I will have to say goodbye to my friends and family here. But, I will be saying goodbye to something that will never be the same again. There are even people I know I might not see ever again, and thats a hard reality to face. It will be heart breaking yet bitter sweet... and then I get home, where I will be overwhelmed by yet another wave of emotions, seeing people I have missed for so long. But my guess is, about a month later, I will begin to miss what I have here and that will stay with me forever. (It's called an "emotional roller coaster" for a reason).
          With all of that being said, I am glad my family is coming to visit me now. I feel this is the moment I need them the most. I need them to see why I love this place and these people so much, so that they understand why I will miss them later. Words can't describe how exited and anxious I am right now. Counting down the hours and seconds, playing the image of them walking of the plane in my head a million times, and reminding myself that I get this chance, a once in a lifetime experience. I am sure my heart will start beating out of my chest with anticipation tomorrow at the airport, but right now, it still seams completely surreal, just like it was when I left home 10 months ago.

As always Gracias,
I hope I gave you a look at the other side of this experience.
I have 29 days left until I leave Argentina, 31 days till I arrive at the airport in Hartford, CT, and less then 24 hours until I see my family again. When you have a month left, one of the things you can't help but do, is count down.

3... 2... 1... I'm ready to live it to the fullest.

+

= 

:D

Las Salinas Grandes

      For more then a month now I have been planning a trip to Las Salinas Grandes. When I heard about the Salt Flats in Bolivia I started to wonder if there was another place like it, just closer, and such a place does exist! 190km northwest of the city Jujuy are Las Salinas Grades. After a lot of planning, I got a group of 9 AFS students/friends from Salta to go. We left Salta at 7am getting an early start. We were on a small bus with 10 other tourists. The trip started with the route of the Tren a las Nubez (Train to the Clouds). I was lucky to have already experienced the Train, but it was really nice to get a different perspective.

The material used to build this bridge was imported from Europe and is also the same material used to build the Eiffel Tower. It is part of the Train to the Clouds rail tour.

Through out the day we climbed up to altitudes as large as 4,200 meters above sea level which meant the higher we went, the colder it got, especially at the crack of dawn. Our second picture taking stop was breath taking and beautiful as well as freezing. 

Our next stop was in a little town called Santa Rosa de Tastil. It is one of the most important pre-Inca sites in the region, it has interesting ruins and a site museum. Nearly 5,000 stones scattered on a hill nearby bear petroglyphs that the indigenous population carved to convey religious and magical concepts. Some stones bear supplications of Inca gods, others just figures of animals and humans. In pre-Hispanic times, the town functioned as the main regional trade center.

We found petroglyphs painted on the side of the museum to show how important they are to this town and its history. 

Inside the museum we found a mummy that was discovered nearby...  

And more petroglyphs. These painting are copies of petroglyphs set on the stones on the nearby hill.

After exploring the museum we got back on the bus and headed to our next stop. Along the way we had a scenic route with snow cover mountains and views of volcanos. 

Next stop was a small city called San Antonio de los Cobres. The main claim to fame of this high-altitude city (3,774 meters above sea level) is being a stop on the Train to the Clouds. 

After our lunch in San Antonio de los Cobres, we started the rest of the drive to Las Salinas Grandes. The route from San Antonio de los Cobres to Las Salinas Grandes is about 3 hours on a dirt road, where we found herds of llama and vicuñas. Vicuñas are the worlds smallest camelids, they are wild and very wary of humans. Their fine-quality wool is priced in northern Argentina, and they were almost hunted into extinction. We are lucky to be able to see them now thanks to the help of breading farms that have kept their species alive all of these years.

Its hard to find them in the distance for their sandy color blends in to the landscape. 

And finally what we had all been waiting for, Las Salnas Grandes!!!!! :D

It's not snow, it's Salt!!!

 The white "soil" that adds a new color to the dry northern landscape is salt produced by the evaporation of saline water of volcanic origin. 

The long white plane allowed us to take creative pictures like this one. It makes someone kicking a group of people or holding a tiny person seam real.

We had a great group on this trip. As always, traveling with AFS students is amazing and super fun. [From top left, Sophie from Austria, Laura from Switzerland, Andy from Italy, ME, from bottom left, Tyler from USA, Valerie from Salta, Alicia from Germany, Ruben our Salta volunteer and friend who also helped organize the trip, and Tan from Thailand.]

After the Salt Flats we picked up National Route 52 (famously known as Cuesta de Lipan), which links Purmamarca with the Salinas Grandes salt flats. The route snakes it way up the mountain road which offers a spectacular view of the valley below and the salt flats in the distance. The road makes a climb up to 4,170 meters above sea level. 

 Last stop of the tour was Purmamarca. Home to the Cerro de los Siete Colores (hills which add purple, green, and many other colors to the landskape), makes this town one you can't miss. I love Purmamarca for its quietness, yet liveliness. Although our visit was brief, we were able to walk around the plaza for a few minutes gazing at the numerous stalls along the street that offer many local made crafts.

^A beautiful picture of the Argentinean flag in the plaza looked over by the multicolored hills in the background.

Our day started at 7am and we got back to Salta around 8:30pm. It was a long day but completely worth it. Trips like these remind me of what made me decide to do a year abroad in the first place. My first love has always been travel. I love seeing new places, being introduced to new cultures, and learning about the history and qualities that make every different place unique. I have been living in Argentina for 9 months now and it escapes me at how fast my time has gone by. I have less than 8 weeks left in Argentina and I am planning on making the most of every second I have left.

As always, Thank you for reading!

Iguazu Falls

          May 8th-13th I went on the trip I have been waiting for since I found out I was going to Argentina a year ago. I FINALLY got to go to Iguazú! :D Iguazú Falls is located where the Iguazú River tumbles over the edge of the Paraná Plateau. The numerous Islands that separate the long edge divide the falls into numerous waterfalls, varying between 60 meters and 82 meters high. Iguazú's greatest attraction is where about half of the river's flow falls into a long and narrow chasm called the Devil's throat or La Garganta del Diablo. This famous string of waterfalls is also what marks the border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Okay, so now that I have bored you all with my lovely background information on Iguazú, it's time I told you about MY experience :)

          We left Salta on Tuesday May 8th on a 12 hour bus ride to Resistencia which is in the province Chaco.

As you can see, the bus wasn't that bad. I actually was surprised it was comfortable and I was able to sleep. 

We arrived in Chaco at 6:30am. The other group of AFS students were on their own bus, but they did another trip to Salta and Jujuy before arriving in Resistencia at 9pm. Luckily we weren't the only ones who were there early. At 10am we left the terminal with a group of 12 kids and got a full tour of Resistencia. I actually loved Resistencia. It is a very small city therefore everyone knows everyone, the streets are clean, and there's a nice variety of stores. We went out to lunch and then spent about five hours in the plaza talking, telling jokes, and laughing. One of the reasons I love AFS so much is that we can always have fun, even if it means sitting in the plaza for five hours :)

At 9pm we headed back to the bus station to meet up with the entire group. All together we were 53! It was a magical moment to get to see so many people I met in August of last year in Buenos Aires and meet the new people who arrived in February. At 10pm it was time to get back on the bus and head to Iguazú for another 12 hour bus ride. We stopped for dinner and breakfast along the way. At around 10am we arrived at one of our sight seeing stops. Hardly anyone knew this was part of the trip, so it came as a wonderful surprise. We arrived at a cave that is actually in the process of being mined and has been mined for centuries. Im not sure what the stones are called in English so I'll just show you some pictures so you can get an idea. (My English is still laking LOL)

Thats my hand!!!

It's been said that the white stone gives positive energy. With your left hand on the stone and your right hand towards the sun, you can receive its that energy.

After our trip to the cave and gift shop of course, we hopped back on this bus to go to the hotel. We arrived and after 2 days on the road and as you can imagine it was nice to be able to relax and shower! Later we ate lunch and then it was onto the next excursion. At 3pm we went on the "Iguazu Jungle Tour". We were picked up at the hotel in a giant jeep.

Next, Zip-lining! I had never zip-lined before so I was pretty exited!!! (An understatement) 

^This was high up and the ladder was shaky, but once you got past this part, it was all fun from there.

Zip-line ready! :) Weee

Next stop on the Forest tour was a walk through the woods that ended at a small water fall. I was not expecting that we'd actually end up repelling down it!

It was a lot of fun and one thing I've learned about trips with AFS is that you never know what to expect. 

When we finally got back to the hotel we were dead! It was nice to be able to get 8 hours of sleep, in a bed and not on the bus. We woke up at 6am to get an early start at the falls. Sadly, when we woke up it was POURING rain outside! When we got to the park entrance it was still raining and I we were all really happy to be there, but also praying for the sun to come out. We had limited time to see everything so we got a tour guide right away and got on a train to take us to the famous Garganta del Diablo. After a long walk across the bridges we finally got a glimpse of what is said to be the 7th wonder of the world, and that it was!

An estimated 1,500 cubic meters of water per second plummet into the abyss.

On the train with my pancho! :( Sadly it's not that water proof.

Lunch gave us a wonderful escape from the rain and by the time we headed back outside the sun came out! It was a miracle!

Next was a Jeep ride to the shore of the River.

Crocodile!

Next we got to experience an excursion in a rubber boat that lets you see the magnificent water falls from below and feel the cool spray of their water.

We actually were able to get under the water falls in the boat! It was a crazy experience for sure :)

After a long walk up a trail along side of the falls, we got back on the bus and headed back to the hotel, after one more picture stop of course!

The Paraná river is the widest river in the world and the 14th-longest.

This was our last night together so we decided to stay up and celebrate. With one hour of sleep we all woke up at 5am and headed back to Recistencia where would all go our separate ways. I have to say I think the best part of this experience was being able to travel with 53 AFS students. We are all alike in one way or another which brings us close and lets us have fun! I have never laughed so much in my life! :) Those three days were some of the best days I've had in Argentina. It was sad to say goodbye because in this case we don't know when we will see each other again, but we will always remember that trip and the amazing people we met along the way. 

I got became instant best friends with another girl from the States. Allie's from Oregon and I swear, we are pretty much the same! I will miss her very much, but I will get to see her again at the orientation in Buenos Aires before we leave and when we fly home.

I forgot to write about the swim meet I had the week before the Iguazú trip, so I'm going to briefly tell you how it went. I had three races, the 100 free, 50 back, and 50 breast. My hard work finally paid off!

Bronze medals in 100 Free style and 50 breast stroke.

First place gold medal in 50 Back Stroke :) FINALLY!

3 races + 3 medals = hard work finally paying off :D

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Cafayate y el Tren a las nubez (Train to the clouds)

          I usually start my blog posts with an apology for not writing more often, but this time I will just tell you that I wanted to wait until I finished two important trips so I could write about both of them in one post (So I should just say sorry for being lazy). Its been about a month since my last post and I have stayed pretty busy since then. Since I have returned to school, I have gotten back to my normal routine. I think of school as more of a requirement, its not something I enjoy but I don't have a choice. School is just part of the experience. We get out of school at 1 every day, thats when the fun of my day begins. Being that I am almost 8 months into my AFS experience, I have finally reached the point when I can truly enjoy myself. I don't have to struggle to communicate anymore or use a map to get around Salta, this is the time to have fun and enjoy the rest of my experience. With only three and a half months left, my mind set and goals have changed a little bit. I am spending even more time with my friends and family and planning different trips. I don't want to leave with regrets or the feeling that I missed out on an opportunity. I am also working really hard on improving my Spanish. My Spanish is good, but it's the little things that I adjust that will make my Spanish even better.
          I went to visit my host families horse in Jujuy again, but this time they let me ride! I was really exited even though I wasn't allowed to trot or canter, I was just happy I could ride a horse again.

          On April 21st, I went to Cafayate with other AFSers living in Salta. Cafayate is about 4 hours South of Salta. It is famous for its beautiful wine country and some of the highest (altitude) vineyards in the world. We arrived late Friday night and went out to dinner. The next morning we woke up early and headed to the wine festival. It was the perfect weekend to visit Cafayate because they were celebrating their second annual wine festival. It started at 9am with breakfast and tea and then we moved on to other activities. First, we got to help harvest the grapes. It was a lot of fun and I had no idea we were going to be able to help. Not only is the scenery gorgeous, but how many people can say they helped harvest wine grapes!? I mean really!!!

Later we sat down to eat lunch and enjoyed listening to different bands from all over the province of Salta. The stage was breathtaking. It actually looked like the bands were standing on the vines of the vinery with a spectacular view of the city of Cafayate and the Andes Mountains in the background.

Next was the wine tasting!! It was actually really cool and as you can imagine, the AFSers were very exited for this part of the festival. They explained how and why they use a specific type of grape to make the wine. Just by looking, feeling, and tasting one grape, they knew how many days it needs until its ready to be harvested, if it would make good wine, or even how rich it would taste once they made it into the wine. 

The festival ended at 6pm and we headed back to the hotel to rest. Later that night we went out for dinner to the coolest empenada place I've ever seen!! They had every type of empenada you could imagine, but that wasn't evven the best part. The walls of the restaurant were covered with names and notes left behind by the people who traveled through. Before we left, we wrote AFS and all of our names and a list of the countries we're from. Italy, Austria, Germany, Thailand, Switzerland, and the United States! I love that we were able to leave a piece of us behind. Thanks to AFS I have friends from all over the world :) 

The next day we went to the wine museum, visited a another vinery, and finished our trip with wine flavored ice cream. 

Even though the trip was short, it was a lot of fun!

(One of the many landmarks we passed on the drive back to Salta.)

          Easter weekend had to be one of the best weekends I have had so far while living in Argentina! 

I got to catch up with a friend I met at the orientation camp in Buenos Aires. Luke has also been in Argentina for about 8 months and is from Australia. He was visiting Salta on vacation with his host family. It was great to get to catch up with another AFSer. Sadly he had to change host families and didn't have as pleasant of an experience that I have. Listening to his experience makes me appreciate mine even more. I was lucky enough to be placed with a family that I grew to love and treat like I would my own. My experience has still been difficult at times, but mine doesn't begin to compare to his. He has now switched host families and is a lot happier. When we didn't have school Monday, Tyler (another AFSer from New Jersey) and I took him to see the monument and downtown Salta. It was nice to be able to show someone around Salta and show it off a bit. I love Salta and I was very fortunate to be placed here. After all, it's nickname is Salta la linda, Salta the beautiful.

Thursday and Friday I got to out and spend time with friends and Luke before he went back to Neuquen, Argentina. Saturday was a big day! I finally got to go on the famous Train to the clouds. The train to the clouds or Tren a las nubes is known famously to be the most amazing train in the world, the one that takes you to the clouds reaching a height of 4,220 meters about sea level on the 217 km trip. The train departs from the city of Salta, passes though the Valle de Lerma, enters the Quebrada del Toro and finally reaches La Puna.

This is the end of the train ride 4,220 meters above sea level, La Puna. This is when the train stops and prepares to turn around for the ride back to Salta.

This picture was taken in San Antonio de los Cobres at 3,774 meters above sea level.

I found the most interesting part of the train was learning why it is so unique. In every dar there is a tour guide who explains everything, I thought it was nice to be able to not only enjoy the scenery, but learn as well. The number of spirals, viaducts, tunnels and other twists and turns that the train passes through arises from a decision made by the designer of the project, the US engineer Richard Maury. Maury was given a small budget and an almost impossible task, but he took into account the principle of adhesion of train wheels to the railways and the laws of physics, ruling out the funicular system commonly used, so that the train may safely reach the expected heights. The train has no cogwheels, not even for the steepest slopes, since the railways are peculiarly arranged, running though a system of zigzags and spirals it allows the train to slowly make its climb to the clouds. The Train to the Clouds is one of the leading tourist attractions in Salta.

          These past eight months have gone by so fast and it's still hard to believe I only have three months left. There are a lot of things I am looking forward to in these next three months. In May I am am going to Iguazu and in June my mom, dad, and brother are coming to visit me! 

I know these next months are going to go by extremely fast, 

which gives me even more reason to live every day like my last.

(I didn't mean to rhyme, but that sounded pretty good!)

Thats all for now! Thank you for reading :D