New Blog

This blog was getting a little cramped so I made a new one...
http://lainybird.blogspot.com/


Thanks for followin'
oxxooxox
e

The Nouveau Year!

ok...I KNOW it's been 3 holidays since I last wrote...and we are now pretty well into January...
I don't really have any excuses for not writing except I was swept up in daily living and also, m camera battery died and I felt I shouldn't write a blog without pictures...bad excuse...
I began the New Year in Montpellier with some of my closest friends here in France, dancing and drinking champagne! It was the perfect way to start out my new year...I have high hopes for this one:)
But I'll go back a little bit in time...
The Thankgiving dinner was a real success! There were about 20 people, French, Mexican, Canadian and American, who came and we had more than enough food. Virginie and Philipe seemed to be very worried about this strange turkey I was preparing, but it turned out really DE-LI-CIOUS! (as most things are when they have wine and butter in them) Philipe started the party out by making a large (and very strong) punch that he insisted everyone to drink with giant straws. This really got the festivities rolling. By the time the turkey came out everyone was feeling courageous and wanted to try it all. Most of the French guests were slightly confused what to do, and when the food came out you could see the puzzlement..no, was that worry?, on their faces. Seeing their looks of relief and contentment after the first bite was worth it and, in true French fashion, they wouldn't let me take their plates away...they continued to eat for 2 hours, while all the Americans and Canadians sat staring forlornly at the pumpkin pie which I wouldn't let them eat. During dessert one of the assistants boyfriends asked Philipe if he had anything strong to drink..."Mexican strong" and Philipe and our neighbor took this as a challenge to bring out the homemade "eau de vie" they had in storage. Let's just say...I'm not sure that the guests really remember much of what happened after that!

I spent most of December trying to find a new apartment, and managed to find one right as Christmas break started. I now live in Place Saint Aphrodise, in a small modified attic..i mean apartment. None of the walls are straight, and the ceiling isn't particularly high, but I've got two great windows, a little kitchen, a big bed and a quiet neighborhood...Life is sweet!

Christmas I spent in Haute Savoie, in the Alps, visiting Martine (my old host mom) and her family. She lives in Clermont-Ferrand now, but grew up in St. Julien next to Geneva. This is a beautiful region with glassy lakes, and lots of snow. I felt so energized being int he mountains! I almost didn't even miss Lake Tahoe....
Boris and I flew out of Bordeaux (I spent a few days there with a friend before we were set to leave). But it just so happened that the weather all over Europe that week was absolutely miserable. Snow, sleet, fog...We got to the airport and 30 minutes before our flight was set to leave it was CANCELLED!! No flights leaving until after Christmas... We were super bummed and I kept imagining us sitting alone in his apartment..cold and lonely on Christmas day...no Santa, no candy canes...The trains were all full too, but we finally managed to find a round about train route leaving the morning of Christmas Eve, and made it just in time for dinner!
The weather in Haute Savoie was gorgeous and I was set on sledding...no one had any sleds so finally Boris and I found some plastic bags, made a trail and launched ourselves down the hill outside Martine's sister's house.
Christmas was really nice. I brought the foie gras they wouldn't let me send to my family (sorry guys) and we ate it all! Then we had a fun dinner with all of Martine's family (5 brothers and sisters!) where you cook your own meet on heated stones. We had seafood, beef, pork, chicken...mmm it was wonderful. Boris and his cousin amused themselves by secretly taking funny pictures with Martine's camera so she'd think that she drank too much...The next day she discovered them, and kept looking through them completely baffled..."what is..what is this?!?! how did this picture of a miniature snowman get on my camera?!" I had to leave the room so I could die laughing...
Christmas was over, i came back to Beziers, and then began moving in my new apartment. New Years Eve I met up with my friend Jules in Montpellier and we had a little dinner party and then when out to some of our favorite bars with another Beziers assistant Becca, and Jules' roommates who were lots of fun.
It was such a fun holiday, and sort of hard to get back to school and teaching again come January 3rd. For my classes, I've been making my students write their New Years Resolutions as an English exercise. "I want to work more hard" "I will listening in class" " I will have my drivers exam" It's been pretty fun to find out what they want for the new year and I've been having fun with that.

On a final note, the week before last I went to Barcelona to meet Dad!! He made to Europe in one piece and is now reading voraciously in my living room (I think he already finished 3 books!)
Barcelona was amazing and I can't wait to go back. We took a double decker bus around the city one day and it was fun to see the different neighborhoods. The 6th is King's day when the Spanish open their Christmas presents so the streets were absolutely packed with people still on vacation. We could barely walk down the street. We ate some good tapas, drank some decent wine and explored the city a little. i got to practice my Spanish (which seems to be leaking out of my brain!) and we found some fun little pubs, because it's always nice to meet other English speakers in a sea of...non..english speakers....
We've got some fun plans for the next month so I'll try my best to keep you updated!!
ps. I still don't have pictures to post...ooops

rambling on and on

It's raining today like crazy and i've got a cold so I've spent my Sunday lounging in pajamas skyping my family and watching movies. What a great day!
This will be a busy week because I have a lot of lessons planned, as well as...drumroll please....THANKSGIVING DINNER! What started out as just a dinner of 10 has turned into a dinner of 18 plus 5 children. I will be doing the turkey, gravy and stuffing a la Martha Stewart...pictures to come.
Otherwise, it's been getting chilly here and even though it stays around 50 degrees, and icy wind picks up and makes everything seem colder. Of course, the weather here never stays the same for long, next week it could be 65 degrees and sunny, so I'm not too upset that I'm freezing!
I can't believe that November is almost over!! This is shocking! I barely saw the time pass by, and if this is any indicator of how the rest of my year will go then I better keep enjoying myself as much as possible. I feel so lucky that I'm able to be here, have the support of my family and friends, learning to teach, and doing something that I never thought I'd be able to do again. Have I said this before? I just can't stop thinking it.
Plans for the next month; looking for an apartment, going to the Alps to visit Martine for Christmas, preparing for Dad to come in January, becoming an awesome English teacher, trying to stay in shape, finishing my book for book club...
oh yeah, i'm in a book club! It's actually one of the most awesome things I've been doing..thought it's only once a month. It's a group of French and British people who come together and chat about a particular book they're all reading in either English or French. They're pretty animated and it's fun to hear their points of view and see how they react to certain things--definitely makes clear different cultural ticks and influences.
Well, that's about all for now. I'll try to add some photos since i finally found my camera!

French movies

Last night I went to see a French film with my french friend and it was absolutely French...
I could barely last through the end, and maybe that was partly because some of the dialogue was hard to follow, but mostly because the movie had all the elements of French culture that I don't really understand! The long idealistic lectures on life, the superfluous show of emotion, the depressing fin...there were some funny parts, but it was "French funny" which is never really that funny to English speakers. Then, in the end...there's a death, and for 20 minutes there is crying, and commenting, and crying again and hugging...quelle horreur...
My buddy, on the other hand, absolutely loved the film. All the parts I thought were horrible and cliche were exactly the parts he loved....In fact, everyone in the theater absolutely loved this film. As they left I heard them saying things like, "oh the end, that was so hard to watch. I was crying all over the place" and "That was one of the funniest films of the year, but wow that ending really got me"
..le sigh
I guess I still have a lot to learn.

Strike

Apologies for not writing earlier, but I wasn't really doing anything particularly interesting this past month...
If you've been following international news, you might have heard that the French are upset again...It seems that when the government rolled back the retirement age a few years ago to 60, they hadn't quite bet on running out of money and having to increase it back again. Well, with a 35 hour work week, and at least 3 days a month of holidays, having to work past 60 was more than any organized worker could handle, and so the French have been doing what the French do best-STRIKE!
Of course, I'm not much affected either way, and wasn't really paying much attention to the hoopla, until I got to school 3 weeks ago and none of my students showed up. No big deal...I walked the 20 minutes home, came back a few hours later to find my classroom once again...empty...The next day, the entrance to the school was blocked off with gates and trash cans, a few revolutionary-esque students with bandannas were manning the gates stopping any student trying to get in, and the rest of the students were grouped on the street, chatting and trying to figure out if they really wanted to go to class that bad. In the Teacher's Lounge it was explained to me that the students had decided to strike for retirement and refused to let anyone but teachers in, naturally. French students have a long history of striking, and actually successfully contributing to the campaigns they take part in...though, truthfully, I'd say about 1% of the students were actually on strike and the other 99% were home sleeping in. Either way, this is something you would never see in the US because an American kid would get his behind kicked if he tried to stop students from going to school. The strike lasted about 2 weeks, until last Friday when our 1 week vacation began...which is why I've worked a total of 4 hours in the past 3 weeks!
While in Tours I got to watch an official manifestation on the streets. I've never seen anything like it...Hundreds of strikers had organized into groups and were parading slowly up the busiest street in Tours, each singing or playing their favorite fighting song. Some stuck to the traditional "we will fight for freedddoooom" while others were more festive with sambistas and drums...This lasted most of the day, and I have to comment (because I always comment) that the French can be amazingly organized when they're against something.

Vins Primeurs

A few weeks ago we celebrated a special night in Languidoc-Roussillon because it was the first release of the regions Vins Primeurs, the "1st wines" from this years grape harvest. You might have heard of Beaujolais Nouveau which is a more well-known vin primeur in California, but a lot of the wine making regions release their own vins primeurs, and since Languidoc-Roussillon is a huge wine region there were a lot of street parties and tastings all over. In the big Place they set out tents and tasting tables, and everyone comes out to try this years newest wines. This is also an opportunity to experience some of the traditional music and dancing from this region which until a hundred years ago spoke Occitane instead of French. Now, the old traditions are dying out, but at festivals like this you get to hear some traditional music and folk dance.

Did you need that NOW? Bof!

I've been in France about 1 month now, and I've only just begun paying attention to the smaller details that amount to "la vie réelle" in France. You know, the things that you see everyday that seem normal until you actually stop and say..."wait a second...Do the French really iron their t-shirts and jeans?" bah oui.
Much of the culture here in France revolves around a love of ritual...The French really like to do things right, and the process is just as important...if not more, than the actual end result.
For example, "reunions" (meetings); The French LOVE meetings. They have them all the time, and usually they are very formal, with invitations, advanced scheduling, podiums, the whole shebang...and of course the goals of the meeting are very clear. Example: "This meeting is to facilitate the exchange of ideas within the company/school/ whiskey club/ ice skating party/etc." Then, they sit for 3 hours drinking coffee and exchanging ideas...which never actually get realized, but non-the-less have been discussed.
The love of ritual also means a strict adherence to all rules to a point of being ridiculous...and because every knows it's ridiculous, they also know that every rule can be bent, secretly, and usually just at the point when you're face gets red and steam starts coming out of your ears.
But yes, this is ze life of ze French. They are used to it, and besides, they know that to change the system would mean even more reunions, rules, and ridiculousness that no one has time for anyway.
This love of ritual is probably most evident in the way the French eat. Invite a friend over for a casual meal, and they think nothing of preparing a meal that most Americans would only find in a restaurant...because that's just what they do! Good food is a wonderful accompaniment to wonderful company, and that, in itself, is just another rule that the French live by. It's interesting stand in a roomful of French people and listen to how many times someone will break into a poetic description of a wonderful meal he'd had.
This is part of living in France...love of the ritual means that you rarely get to your destination on time, but it's the journey that counts.

Ouais!

I'm still alive and kicking, missing friends and family but having fun speaking french. Since I don't have a really in depth knowledge of the language, I have a few go-to phrases that I use over and over... They have a variety of meaning depending on my intonation and it gives me time to think of how to say whatever it is I'm going to have to say next. Here is an overview;
ouias- yes. yeah. yeah! yeah?
c'est super- That's great. It's great. Everything is great. Great.
ah bien?- really? oh yeah? no kidding? huh?
je vois- i see. i see i understand. i got it. ok, i really got it....

And, I finally have internet on my computer, so I can put up photos!

Martine and I had a " Day of Beauty" and got facials. The lady kept telling us that we looked "eclatant!" radiant!....she might have been exagerating just a little.....

We went hiking in the mountains outside Clermont-Ferrand, where there is a little ski mountain. The view was gorgeous. Strangely enough, we were looking through our binoculars and saw a strange figure all in black walked along on of the mountain ridges. I jokingly said, "oh look it's a monk" but it turned out it was! A group of monks were making their way across the ridge of hte mountain, each one walking solitary along the path. A very strange sight-we still don't know where they came from or why they were there.



As we were walking home, a shepherd was herding his sheep in for the night, and they followed us down the hill. It was sort of relaxing listening to the wind and the bells-i had to take a video...it might be boring....

Martine and I road-tripped down to the south of France together and ended up in Agde, which is right on the Canal du Midi and the Mediterranean. We ate dinner right here.

tapas! the seafood has been....oh la la..amazing!

This is where I am living--Chez les Olmos. We had champagne and oysters on Sunday;) you might be able to guess why i like them so much...

More later!

Bonjour!

I am in France! ...for those who didn't know yet...and am sitting in my a little purple room with a big window, writing this blog. Since arriving in France things have been falling into place sort of incredibly...I'd planned on bringing my bike but at the last minute didn't (thank god since it took me 1 plane, 1 metro, 2 taxis and 2 trains to get here) When I arrived Martine had an extra bike she couldn't use anymore, a peugot too! So I've got wheels, bright yellow ones.
Martine also put out a call to all the AFS families this year (my old exchange program) to see if there was anyone in Beziers who I might be able to stay with for a few days while I look for an apartment, and found Beatrice, the head of AFS in this region, and who has a neighbor willing to house me for a bit. Virginie is the nicest women, with 2 adorable daughters, and it's her house that I'm in as we speak.
So it's really been thanks to Martine, who has been so amazing! She took me in all last week, and we visited about every single person in Clermont-Ferrand we knew, cooked, ate cheese, drank wine, and then went down south by the Mediteranean for 2 days before she dropped me off in Beziers.
This region, Languidoc-Roussilon, is very pretty. It reminds me a little of California in that it's very warm, and dry, with lots of flowers everywhere, and it hugs the sea right down to the edge of the Pyrenees. The land is flat with big round hills rising out randomly like bumps in a quilt. The town itself of Beziers, is perched on a hill with the river L'orb running around the bottom of it. It's a medium size city, with all the things most French cities have; a a bustling city center, plenty of cafes, a cathedral, and plenty of historical sites. It's not a city known for its beauty, but I think that's a testament to the beauty of the region in general, because Beziers is really very nice. One of the main problems has been that, just like in the US, people started moving out of the city and have decided they don't particularly like the people who moved in.
As far as weather goes, yesterday was gorgeous but today has been cloudy since this morning...still it's warm enough to go out without a jacket and be fine.
I've been getting around pretty well with my French. It's sort of funny the weird things I know, and the incredibly simple things I've forgotten. The other day I was describing what Brad does for a living and I told Virginie that he was a nudist instead of a naturalist.....
I meet with the school this Saturday and will hopefully find out what I'll be doing, and when.. where.. how...
And am looking forward to having some work to do. In the meantime, I'm in exploration mode. I already have an awesome pinic spot picked out and a couple bike routes mapped.
A Bientot!

Reviving the Blooog

I am about to start a Like Limonade Revival...so here's a quick update on my life;
work, work, teach, teach, sunburn, eat, drink, swimming hole, ride my bike 300 miles, eat A LOT, pack, pack, wait, wait

Did you notice that I slipped in the fact that last month, I, ME, Elaine Hall rode my bike from Carmel to Santa Barbara with my roomate. I don't mean to brag, but I can't help it! I never thought I could ever do it in my life! We averaged about 50-60 miles a day, camping at Hike and Bikes along the way for 5 days, and after doing it, I think more people should try! It was so cool to ride down the same way that I've driven for years, taking my time, seeing every mile(very clearly..sometimes painfully..) So yeah, if you're thinking..what a braggart...It's true!

In other news...I'm leaving for France this Sunday, Sept. 12. Updates will come...
Nothing exciting has been happening here...just packing and hanging out with my roomates who all are semi-unemployed at the moment...very convenient for me:)

Beziers

On an intuitive hunch, I went to my mom's house this afternoon to pick up some mail, and there, sitting demurely on the kitchen table was my contract for France! I've been waiting for this for weeks...the deets of my 7 month stay are all laid out in this little brown envelope.
Here they are:
I'll be in Beziers, a small city on the river Ong (or ang or something...whatever who cares-its a river--awesome) Beziers is 10 mins to the sea, home of wine and bullfighting, and close enough to the love of my life-- Barcelona--to visit on weekends.
Starting Oct 1 and ending April 30, I'll be teaching English in a french high school.
...high...school...
I repeat: high school.
And... that's all I know. This should be interesting.
See you in a few France.

Things I've been doing- An Update

1. Working at State Parks with my housemate...Preparing to lead 750 kids "into the woods" over the next couple months
2. Making smoothies...the magic of the magic bullet has made smoothy-making a daily thing
3. Watching Northern Exposure Re-runs....My roomate turned me on to this show. so good, and aiden from sex in the city is in it
4. Reading Shit...not "shit," just a lot of stuff...Actually one day I really did read "shit." We had a tracking training for work, and we learned how to read animal scat to tell what animal made it and what it ate. So let's change this to "Reading 'shit'"
5.Family Stuff- Both my cousins are in town and put on a party for my aunt's 60th birthday. This was the first time in years our whole side of the family got together in one place.
6. Trying to surf. Actually I only tried to surf twice. Brad took me out and I was such an amazing surfer he took me out again! Actually we just got super busy with work but I know that one day I WILL stand up on on a surfboard. Until then, I'm getting good at looking like I'm really trying to catch a wave, and no, I'm totally not mad at you Brad for taking me into the scary surf where you left me to go catch some waves..
7. getting yogurt at sir-tops-a-lot. This place is delish. You put together your own yogurt with any topping you want and they charge by weight. I spent almost 9 bucks the first time I came...Now I'm getting good---euro tart, strawberry, fruit, mochi...heaven for $2
8. Exercising? I don't know...kind of? trying.
9. Using sun screen. This is a good one, because i really have been using sunscreen every day. no lie.
10. Trying to learn French. I've been watching movies in French, reading magazines, blogs, and whatevs I can get my hands on...but when they really get speaking I still can't understand crap!!!!! Then I switch to perezhilton or facebook and practice my english.
11. Seabright Brewery. I've been finding myself here on occasion, and I'm always eating chicken wings. Very bizarre.

That's the jist of my life. Don't be jealous.

Coming into Summer

I sat out in my backyard this morning, eating watermelon, and noticing how our garden has suddenly launched into a green paradise of leaves, vines and buds. You can practically see our squash growing. My roomates started this garden last month, and, if you like to see quick return on hard work, this garden is starting to pay off. It made me realize that I've gone through some immense changes too these past few months, and...years...and wonder if they will be paying off too sometime. But for now, sitting in my garden, I use the growing plants as a tracker of my own internal clock...I often get caught in the every day and forget what I have gone through and the time it took to get to that day. So, I pay tribute to our bountiful garden....and maybe to myself and the people around me who've worked hard to plant their own seeds of spirit, truth, beauty, art and creation.

Vive La France

After many months of not posting....and many months of getting my sheet together, finding a job, finding a house, etc. I am back with exciting/troubling/confusing/amazing news...
Yes, seriously, all those things.
i got into a French teaching assistantship program in Montpellier.!...!!....
I haven't told anyone, and I'm banking on the fact that no one reads my blog anymore...I only have one week to decide, and I don't want a bunch of opinions swirling around in my brain (I'm an easily swayed person).
So I'm writing on my blog...throwing this out into the world...
What do I do?!?! I just found a great job. I love where I'm living (though it's temporary anyway). My lover is here. I travelled almost half of last year....When does a girl (an almost 26 yr. old girl) stop moving around so much?
On the other hand...Montepellier is beautiful. My French will be awesome. I'll get some great teaching experience.
...Neither choice is a bad choice.
I make my decision April 18th.
EAK

There's Never Really a Reason

I've been back in the states now for over a month...moved into a new apartment, finding a job, getting back into the swing of things...
There was no reverse culture shock, or pain and sadness that i had to go home. In fact, it was as thought I'd never really left. Home is home...not much has changed, and where, before, experiencing new places led me to a lot of internal growth and change...traveling now doesn't create the same impression on me. Don't get me wrong, I had 5 months to think about the person I want to be and the life I want to live, in beautiful, unique locales, with kind and interesting people around me...but getting older means you have to work harder to find surprise and novelty in your environment...

The End???

Today I stepped in dog crap for the first time. The shocking part of it...besides the fact that I was wearing flip flops and had to walk down the street discreetly scraping my shoe across the sidewalk....ew...was that it was the first time! The sidewalks of Buenos Aires are uneven, cobbled and strewn with dog crap, and exploring the city on foot is putting your little flip-flopped feet in perilous danger.
I arrived in Buenos Aires on Christmas Eve with no idea that I would be staying here any longer than 2 weeks. But as usual, plans change, and here I am!
Buenos Aires is like a massive chaotic Paris, with artists performing on the street next to homeless families and tourists. Every neighborhood has cultural centers, tango dancing, free concerts and shows and lots of art. This is expat heaven, and has some of the best nightlife in the world. No one goes out before 11 or 12, and rarely do they come home before 5. I danced tango, saw an air tango show in the park, gave a clown a sleeping bag, stayed up dancing til 8am and then ate breakfast burritos, went to a giant drum circle in the middle of the city, sang kareoke at some random persons birthdy party...
So now I´ve been in Buenos Aires for a month, and in about 7 hours I will be on a plane back home...woh...Can it be true? This trip went by in a flash and I can´t believe how much I got to see and do and how many really amazing people I´ve met. I think I got everything I could have asked for out of this trip. A chance to bond with someone I love, a fresh persective on the world and my life...
Now off to the real world!

Wine, mountains, and trees OH MY!

Ok...There is just too much to update and these last few weeks have been so fun and truly beautiful. So I will try, in the next few days, to do a quick, but thorough update of our trip down the western side of Argentina through Mendoza the heart of Argentinian Wine country, and the Lake District-especially since we are about to head south to Patagonia! Time is flying! I wish i could send mental blog updates, so you could see how beautiful it is here! The clearest rivers I´ve ever seen, deciduous forests that climb up to frozen lakes, crisp fresh air and a million places to hike and camp!
We invested in a tent and sleeping bags and have, once again, changed our plans in order to soak in this beautiful scenery!
In the meantime--Here are some pictures!

Our cabin in the mountains outside of Mendoza

View from our cabana!

Bike tour of the Wine coutry!

Wine Tasting!

Brad drinking Mate

On our way to hike in Bariloche-Lake District

El Bolson Jazz Fest last night with a killer dance band!!

t

Our new Home!

We´ve invested in some prime real estate---
Current location: El Bolson, Argentina-The Lake District
More pictures to come

Better LATE than Never!

Bolivia- The Salaria
It is the end of November and we find ourselves 13 hours out of La Paz, stuffed in the back of a landcruiser crossing one of the most stunningly beautiful deserts I´ve ever seen- Bolivia´s Salaria - a great blindingly white salt flat expanding hundreds of miles across one of the most desolate deserts in the world. This place is special, not only because of the spectacular scenery, but because it is also home to 3 types of endangered pink flamingos that live in the desert´s salty turquoise lakes.
Of course (per usual), I wasn´t sure what I was getting into when we stumbled off the bus in Uyuni at 4 in the morning from La Paz, knocked on the first hostal door we could find, and crashed out into our double beds still vibrating from a 13 hours bus trip from hell.
Uyuni is the gateway into the Salaria from the north and consists of a handful of hotels, restaurants, tour companies, and tourist gimmicks, plopped in the middle of the dusty brown flat land. it wouldn´t even exist without the stream of toursits that run through the town inot hte Salaria and down to Chile
There were a couple reasons why I wanted to get out of this place, not the least because our hotel had no water...I mean not a drop...So we quickly found a tour to take us on the 3 day trip through the Salaria. It wasn´t hard to choose. Every company is pretty much the same; The same route (3 days), the same car (Toyota Landcruiser), the same guides (¨chauffers¨)
The next morning we meet the rest of our group at the tour office at 9 where our driver, santiago, is waiting for us. There is an older German man travelling solo (a talker, there´s always one), and a Polish couple who had just gotten off the same horrible bus ride we´d done the day before. Once we were snug in hte Cruiser, we were off!...Along with about 50 other Cruisers, all elaving at the same time, on the same road.
One thing to remember is that Santiago is a ¨chauffer¨ which basically means a taxi driver from La Paz...and though he knew nothing about the salaria, the desert, cooking, safety or apparently earning tips, one thing he did know how to do was drive faster than all the other land cruisers going to the same place...So me Brad, the Poles Marek and Magda, and the German Klaus, bonded while hanging on for dear life as our driver plowed through dirt and gravel.
The Tour:
Around us drifts of brown dirt shift on the flat dusty terrain. On the horizon the brown melts into purple and then a line of pure white. That is the salt Flat, a seasonal salt lake that forms a thick crust of icy white during hte dry season. When we reach the flat there is nothing but miles and miles of blinding whiteness. nohting grows here. Our first stop is a little island that has managed to eke out an ecosystem above the salt. It is covered with fossilized coral and old giant cacti. next to the entrance is a 900 year old cactus! we hike around here, and santiago sets out a lunch for us, then chats with the other drivers while we run off and take funky pictures with the rest of the tourists. The Poles are on a whirlwind tour of South America and take about 300 pictures. We get into the hostal around 3p (thanks to Santiago who would start driving away when he felt like we´d had enough time at a certain place) and since we have nothing to do until dinner we buy about 10 beers and get wasted, laugh, eat, then pass out in our shared room. Brad and I sneak a walk into the desert and watch the full moon rise over us and shimmer across the salty desert floor.
In the morning we leave the salt flats for the lakes. These azure lakes are home to 3 endagered species of flamingos that feed off the red algae that thrives in the salt. It was really something to watch these birds, whose necks curve artfully over their tear drop bodies, flashing pink in the sun, and balancing on two little stick legs as the wind blows violently across the water.

We end up at our final destination of the day...a deep blue lake with currents of red algae, and clear streams flowing into it, creating a lush green frame in the desloate stretch of grey brown.

Here the wind is so violent it take us a half hour to walk to the lake and an hour to walk back against it. The flamingos are pushed comically across the water, tottering on their sticks. It is really a beautiful sight.

Our last day is spent seeing some of the amazing geological fomrationsa round the area...though Santiago has no clue exactly what they are....There are natural rock formations, geysers, and a volcano that is still active today.

This natural beauty isn´t even dimished by the fact that we get stale bread and nescafe for breakfast, or that Santiago failed to mention to us that there was a natural hot spring that we could swim in if we wanted. At the springs there are about 30 college kids splashing around in the hot pool...we look longingly at it but our suits are packed in the top of the Lancruiser and so we walk around a bit. In search of some warm coffee to lift our spirits we stumble into an albergue where other tour groups are being served....our mouths drop....cakes, coffee, yogurt, fruit!? Sometimes ignorance is easier to handle...we all go grudgingly back to the car, to Santiago and his stale bread....Such is life in the cheap tour department.

We end up at the Chilean border where B and I leave our new friends and head off to our next leg of our trip...Argentina!!

Friends and Foooooood!

It´s been a while since I´ve had a chance to update this old thing..which is a good thing!
Brad and I have been muy busy...so I´m waaay behind
Northern Argentina is hot and humid. After staying in Salta a few days, I met up with a friend, Sheeva, who has been studying photography in Tucuman,AR through the Sacramento Rotary Club. As soon as I got off the bus in this little city the heat and humidity hit, and I soon found out that 100 degree weather is nothing compared to the middle of the summer! Nonetheless, the heat felt good after the dry and cold of the mountains. Sheeva and her roomates welcomed us into their little student crash pad, shared their beds and food and beer and music. The pace of life is very different here. We would get up at 11, eat breakfast and lunch sort of, eat a snack at 5, then go to the store to buy dinner at around 10, eat at 11 or 12, go out at 12:30 and saty out until 3 or 4 (or 6 or 7)They taught me how to drink Mate (the traditional Argentinian tea) and her roomates who are musicians played a beautiful show at a little cafe one evening. Sheeva started a children´s photography program in Tucuman at the food kitchen and has given a group of kids the chance to take picures of their own lives, families, and homes. She is showcasing their pictures this wednesday! (So awesome!)

Anyway, hanging out with Sheeva and her friends was a great change of pace, and they went above and beyond for us...it was really a wonderful treat!
Cordoba

We would´ve loved to stay longer with Sheeva but had to keep on moving South. Our next stop was Cordoba, a university city in the middle of Argentina known for its horses and beautiful countryside. Brad and I stayed with friends of my aunt and uncle and found out, right before we left Tucuman, that Manu Chao was going to be playing in Cordoba while we were there. As soon as we arrived we picked up tickets and a few hours later headed to the packed stadium to dance like mad. The show was awesome, and we got a chance to explore the city a fair amount since we were staying on the outskirts. Right as we were about to head out of town, the people we were staying with told us their friend would be going to the country that day and wanted to take us out to explore the countryside and see one of the Jesuit Estancias built here-Before the Jesuits were kicked out of South America for being ´subversive´(i.e. a little too powerful)...they built huge farms and monasteries powered by the natives (the devout and the slaves). Once kicked out, the estancias were sold. Alejandra´s great great great grandfather bought this one outside of Cordoba. It now belongs to his ancesters...all 2000 of them. They are really beautiful.

But-First stop, one of Alejandra´s favorite restaurants, a little parilla (grill) in a little country town where they serve up some killer steaks..One the way out the car breaks down...The chef comes out in his apron to help Brad push our little Renault to the gas station

Second stop--Alejandra´s family home. Here father built it out in the middle of nowhwere and it´s become pretty delapidated so she took us out there while she met with some people who would fix it up for her. It was hard not to entertain fantasies of taking it over and building a huge garden on this beautiful property..., and then we headed to the estancia to look around the secret rooms and have a beer with some of her family. Truly a wonderful end to our trip in Cordoba.

Next stop--Wine Country!! Mendoza!