Noroeste

We did so much this weekend I hope I can remember it all- since I am that person that takes pictures of everything I can just look through my camera and see what I did. Entonces, this is going to be a bit of a photo journal!

To recap: this past weekend was a long weekend and so we went to the Noroeste (north west) to Jujuy y Salta with a bunch of the intercambio students- it was awesome.

We left late wednesday afternoon and set off on our 12 HOUR bus ride. It isn't quite as bad as it sounds becasue the seats are big and pretty comfy with a thing for your feet when you sleep (but the foot thing didnt work very well y entonces it was very hard to get comfortable when trying to sleep)  Benedryl was my best friend on that trip :) But at one point the bus started to leak and we didnt really notice in the front, so when missy and I woke up our bag were pretty wet. Luckily nothing important got wet, but still. This is a picture of the back of the bus where there was a small waterfall coming out of the top of the bus- kinda hard to see but hilarious when it woke someone up.

We finally arrived in Jujuy, got off the bus and went straight on a hike. In Argentina they like to pack as much as humanly possible in one trip! We hike up an adjacent mountain to see this mountain (below) called Sierra de siete colores (mountain of seven colors) and it was gorgeous! The mountain has 7 different colors (obviously) and its cool because the guide said that in a few thousand years all the other mountains will look the same. (or was it hundreds of thousands of years?) Anyways this is Missy and me at the Sierra de siete colores on our first day!

After hiking the adjacent mountain we went on another hike around the mountain to see other amazing ladscapes. As usual, we had some dogs follow us and we names them paco and peewe and they stuck with us for a while. I always wonder how they find their way back.....

After the hike we had lunch at the little village and it was gross. I am pretty open to trying new foods, but this was disgusting. Our only two options were lamb asado (lamb cooke don the bbq) or locro (corn soup). I went with the lamb and when I got it I had high hopes. When it arrived I was less than excited, It was 90% fat and the 10% that wasn't was infused with fat so my one bite took me about 5 minutes to chew- no gracias. So I decided to just share Taylor's soup who was next to me. I took one bite and was pleasantly surprised to find something squishy in my one bite.  I came to find out that the put little pieces of fat and CARTILAGE in the soup for extra flavor. again, no gracias. So that meal was mostly bread for all of us, haha but that has been my only bad meal in Argentina yet so I am ok with that.

(Jujuy is the name of the providence we went to)

After lunch we got into three separate vans and headed off to a location unknown to us. I think they might have told us but if I dont catch it the first time I have learned to just wait and figure it out when I get there haha. We pulled over on the side of the road at this lookout and took a group picture. The view was amazing.

Unknown to me when I got on, but the van I was in was the music van. 4 of our professors came on this trip with us, and the two who play instruments were in my van! Roberto plays the guitar and Cande plays the bongos (drums more or less) as well as the one student with us who plays guitar, so needless to say I lucked out. It was really cool because the professors brought song books and taught us argentine songs. It made the long van rides much more enjoyable. here is a sample:

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After the sierra de siete colores, we got in the vans, sung some songs, and then went to the Salinas. Coolest thing ever.  HOW WERE THEY FORMED I was amazing because you got out of the car and all you could see in every direction was white. Under the salt was really clear, extremely salty water, and they had cut a few sections so that everyone could see what was under it. You can see one of the boys, Ben, jumping the "river". It was about 1 foot deep so the only danger was getting wet, but he was successful. It was absolutely indescribable, therefore: here are some pictures!

Since the ground was actually salt, of course we had to try it :)

That night we went to dinner and while we were eating a marichi-ish band came in and played for us. We have seen thee types of bands before who play native music with guitars and drums, but this one caught us a little off guard with this new instrument....

We decided it was a long bamboo stick with a metal horn on it, but we still have no idea its purpose. The guy had to exit the restaurant sideways and almost hit a few people- it was awesome. 

Our hotel was right next to an alpaca farm, so of course I had to get a picture with them. The man saw us  looking at them and he called them over so that we could pet them, and the noise that came out of his mouth can only be described as a moan of pain/ secret alpaca language, but it was all I could do not to laugh. 

That day we went to Humahuaca where they have this huge monument to the "heroes of the independence". It was a hue iron statue with a grandeur staircase leading up to it. It was a bit strange to see in this small town, but still very impressive. The streets of this city were lines with little vendors where they all sold stuff made with from alpaca hair. Very colorful, very cheap, and very unique, so needless to say we all bought a lot!

At lunch another one of the mariachi bands started playing, and started doing the dance we learned in culture class! So, after a little bit of probing by missy, I got up and danced with them. I mean, why not?

After lunch we got in the vans again and started off on another trek with a destination unknown. We crossed the providence line of Jujuy and Salta and of course, had to take one of these pictures:

Below is a picture of the type of road we were on for 4 HOURS! this is one of the better parts too, much of the road went zig zag down the mountain and was all off roading. If it weren't for the amazing view and the singing I would have been dying by the end- but I lucked out

The 4 hour trip was to take us down into this tiny pueblo whos name I can't remember. We got out of the vans, and then hiked up a really steep trail to get to this amazing lookout where you could see the whole town that is situated in the valley. We brought the guitars and sang up there while we had coffee and cookies. I love the relaxed atmosphere of this place.

We took the 4 hour trip back and at one point we stopped on the side of the road because we were an hour away in every direction from a bathroom and almost everyone had to go- so we stopped and all basically dispersed from the vans! haha it was one of those- o yeah im actually in Argentina moments! We met back up at the vans and star gazed for a while. I can honestly say that I have never seen the stars more clearly. It was a perfect night with no clouds and no lights for miles. It was one of those moments where I could do nothing but just smile and enjoy God's creation and this amazing manifestation of his glory.  

The next morning we woke up and went to this ancient city whose name I also can't remember (i should start taking a pen and paper with me when we go on tours) It was apparently older than the aztecs but everything there was a replica. A few year back they decided to build a replica of what they thought it looked like on top of the place where the city used to be. Interesting. So the pyramis below is replica, and apparently has some controversy with it because there weren't pyramids at the time. Again, i need to start taking notes...

We walked past this "botanical garden" and i thought it was funny because it only had cacti. Argentinas version of a botanical garden :)

As usual we had a dog follow us, but it was obvious this one had JUST given birth, and yet she followed us for over an hour. I would definitely be that crazy lady that took in all the stray dogs if I lived here.

After that we went on anohter hike to the garganta del diablo, which means the devils throat. It was a beautiful waterful, but the pathway down to it was the best part. It took us almost an hour and we had to cross this tiny river back and forth like 5 times and make our own pathway over the rocks- adventure!

After that we went to lunch, and then headed to Chalala. To preface, Chalala is an tiny pueblo in the northwest of Cordoba. It consists of only 80 families and is pretty poor. But if I've learned anything here, the word poor is a relative term. This tiny pueblo may not have many material things, but that are very rich in culture, and that is what matters to them.

Before we left Cordoba, our trip advisor Alejandro organized a charity drive more or less, for the people of Chalala. He colected everything from computers to clothes to shoes to school supplies. It took our whole group (over 50 students) 30 minutes to load it all! When we arrived at Chalala we made an assembly line and started to unload everything. We had a few kids run to meet us and excitedly watched us unload all the goodies. It made my heart melt to see their faces light up whenever they saw things like the VCR and the DVD player (both of which were very old, but it made no difference to them!)

After we finished unloading everything- I wish I had taken a picture cause our assembly line was hilarious. But after we unloaded we were greated by the 'mayor' more or less and they were all very excited to show us their new salon. Last yeah when UBP (my school) came here, they brought 3 computers and a printer among other things (clothes, school supplies, ect..) and the people of Chalala had set up a room "salon" so teach their kids how to use them. Well, to teach everyone how to use them!! The best part was they had saved the "grand opening" until we got there and got Alejandro as well as an older person from the community and a child: and all three cut the ribbon. It was really really cool to watch. 

Inside the room, they had the UBP flag right next to the Argentina flag! The little kids were so excited to finally get to use the computer. This is my "friend with the nike hat" because I never got his name, but we became good friends that day. 

After the salon we got a tour of the city, which took about 20 minutes! But it was really cool to hear their history and all about their Carnival riturals. Carnival is a time during the year that they celebrate Pachamaa (mother earth) and its a big festival. They have ancient traditions that they still follow and it was incredible to see that aspect of the culture. 

This is our friend with the vest. He followed us everywhere and was the most precious little boy ever. He was always laughing and trying to get you to play with him- we thought about stealing him and bringing him back, but decided he wouldn't fit in my bag. Bummer.

Another thing to preface this trip, Alejandro told us that we were going to have an intercultural aspect. Meaning, that they were going to share things from their culture, and it would be great if we wanted to share things from our culture. And in all honesty it took me a long time to think of something that is uniquely American! But Missy, Jeff, Jonathan and I decided to show them the dance of the south: shag. Jeff was amazing and even though he had never danced it before, he agreed to do it with us. (being the procrastinators that we are, we taught him the night before!) But it was actually really fun and I think they liked it. I'm sure we looked so strange to the people of Chalala, but thats ok, their dances were a bit strange to us too :) 

The four of us showed them shag, Raquel sang, Jules danced,  Janea recited a poem, the girls from France sand the national anthem, Yuri did urigami and Emory played a song on the guitar. It was really cool to see the mix of cultures coming together to create this "show".  The people of Chalala showed us some of their native dances and I was in the front row so I had a feather or two land on me, but it was so much fun!

What stuck out most to me was the attitude of the people of Chalala. They were genuinely excited to have us there and show us all around their pueblo. They all stared of course, everyone in this country does, but they stared because they were curious. Some of the children had never seen a white person up close and so they just looked kinda confused! We got a chance to talk to a few of the women and play with their kids, and this was the fun part. You don't have to speak the same language to play tag. :) My friend with the Nike hat was my favorite. I would take his hat and run and he would sprint after me and even after I gave it back, he kept standing really close so I would take it again so he could chase me. These kids were just plain happy. I honestly can't think of a better word. They were content, joyful, loving, but more than anything, just plain happy. It reminded me of when Jesus said "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." I wish my heart were more like these kids. Full of joy that is not dependent on my circumstances and completely content to just play tag all the time :)

After our "show" they gave us homemade bread and tea- which was really good! I am always astounded by the unselfishness of people who have so little. I don't know how much it cost them to make all that bread, or buy the soda and tea, but they didnt care. They were sharing the little that they had with us, because we shared with them. As we were leaving, they gave us each a little 5 or 6 page homemade booklet with the history of their pueblo, and other facts, all made on Microsoft word. I cant imagine how long it took them to make those, or how much paper and ink they had to use, but they were so excited for us to have them. 

I was truly humbled but this stop in Chalala, and even though I know I will never get the chance to go back, the people of Chalala will always have a place in my heart. 

The bus ride back was long and boring, but we survived!