March in the Mountains

I spent the first days of March this year going on trip to Fiambala in Tinogasta in the Province of Catamarca. This town is quite famous in Catamarca because it has lots of natural tourist attractions like the hot springs, but it´s also famous because the dakar race always passes through Fiambala. Dakar is really popular here a lot of people have Dakar bumper stickers, shirts, people have been to the Dakar, my first host family told me about it and it sounded pretty cool and we watched them start the race on new years eve. This Year they started in Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires and ended in Lima, Peru. The starting and end point always change but they always go through Fiambala because it is the last point before the San Francisco Pass to cross over into Chile. And it is beautiful! We went with Zatik, a Hungarian boy, and his parents who were visiting him. The first day on our road trip to our destination we stopped to see many things such as an old church made out of adobe and literally in the middle of nothing. Whats amazing is that in the interior of the province the geography is so different. In the capital and in the touristy summer home spots are actually quite green and lush in comparison to whats farther north. But whats incredible is that even when you get to the sand dunes or the high mountains where it is literally just rock and no plants it´s amazing. Later on we stopped at a Winery which it seems that my host parents really love that label and our proud that it is from Catamarca because it is internationally known and awarded. (Don Diego for all you wine people) We had a little tour and some tasting and then when we went to the cellar I realized just how good the label was. They had won prizes on 3 continents, and export almost 85-90% of the wine to the US and other places. There in the same spot where we stopped there was a little church which had a patron saint for the town called San Pedro, it is said that he protects the people of the town by walking around at night. In the church San Pedro is a statue that is about three feet tall and has very tiny feet but the locals swear that he leaves every night to go around the town, they have all of these traditions to change his clothing for special occasions and at the end of every year they change his shoes since for some reason his shoes are worn as if he had been walking through the town keeping watch. I got to see the shoes from years past and the clothing, and they were clearly worn out, but its always up to the believer my host dad said there must be someone wearing them out with something else every night. From there we went to on to the town of Fiambala which is situated in a valley, so then we went to go to the thermal pools in the mountains on one side of the valley. The Thermal pools are natural hot springs that are almost like a continuous fountain, as the water trickles down from pool to pool so does the temperature so one can start at the bottom and work there way up to some very hot water. It was amazing because it´s like a natural hot tub and from that side of the mountain there were some great views of fiambala. It was really pretty at night too since in the mountains here the views for stargazing are really great. The next day we woke up all refreshed from the night in the thermal pools and we got in the four wheel drive toyota SUV to go to a place called the Balcony of Picis. This place has a very high altitude, like 4,500 meters high and while it was hard to breathe one we got there it was totally worth it. The view from there was spectacular. I´d never seen a land like it, We were 40km from the border with Chile and we could see some of the highest mountains in south America. We could see the world´s tallest Volcano and a mountain that is only 10m shorter than the tallest mountain in argentina (the real one is in Mendoza). But the mountains from that point were incredible because they were mountains of all colors of rock, red, gray, green, some with snow capped tops and others just with very rocky formations. One could also see that there were three seperate lagoons with three distinct colors, one was a very turquoise, the other light blue. It was amazing and on the way we saw guanacos, cacti, and stone monuments to the Pachamama or the incan mother Earth.
The next weekend we organized a hamburger night with the exchange students, my counselor, and my host dad. It was great to see everyone together again since there were so many of us doing things or going on vacation or things like that that before that weekend we hadn´t really had a good meeting like that one. From there that night we went to a local restaurant to see a band play. The band was really good actually and he is the friend of my Belgian host brother I lived with for a while so Guille(beligan bro) actually got to play a few songs during the concert, it was really fun. Then after that we just ate and talked and drove around, and I woke up the next day and I realized I had lost my phone. I freaked out and I had an epiphany that it was in the back of my friends car and I must have left it there when we were driving around as a group. I got it back but living 5 days without a phone was hell since I dont have internet and I couldnt contact my friends or anything to do things. So I worked on some Denison Forms and started studying Math since none of my schools here had math as a part of my cirriculum so I´m going to have to study more for that placement test when I get back.
The weekend of March 16,17, and 18 we had the Rotary Youth Exchange Orientation in El Rodeo, a town here in Catamarca. It was so great to see the other exchange students from Cordoba and La Rioja again and to show them around like it was my home turf. When they arrived in the capital we went to the mayors office and we had a presentation of Folklore dance which is from the north, and some local cuisine. On the bus ride to El Rodeo everyone was like wow, Catamarca is so pretty! Because we passed Las Pirquitas on the way which has a huge lake and with the mountains surrounding it its very pretty. Then after being reunited with everyone and all the "ahhh OMG HI HOW ARE YOU?" hugs (american hugs, I get teased by all of the Europeans) we got out room info and I was actually one of the luckyy ones who stayed at a different smaller bed and breakfast type deal. It was a little farther away but it was worth it because it was prettier. Its this pink building in the mountains that is situated right by one of the rivers. I liked it because we were our own little community for the weekend and on our way to and from the main hotel where all of the important presentations were at we got to ride in my host dads truck where I stood up in the back and it was fun. That Friday night we had the talent show. Us as a group from the kids in Alta Gracia we decided to do to Haka, the traditional warrior dance from New Zealand. It went pretty well. It was fun to see how everyone else presented their talents, many people who are on exchange in catamarca can sing very well. We also had the presentation of the North Trip which I am so excited for since there is only 21 days until we go! :D The next day we had the typical long explination of the rules, some interviews about how we were doing on our exchange, then we did a little hike in the afternoon to the other hostel. Later on after we got changed and went back we had our costume party I went as a Dutch girl, wearing the flag wrapped around me and my dutch friend did my braids and I wore clog slippers. Which it was fun since she was an american last time so I feel we´re even now. Then we all had a crazy dance party. That Sunday we had a hike up to the Christ statue that looks over all of El Rodeo. It was cool to see the top with all of the other exchange students because on the way up as you can imagine there was a fair share of complaining, but it was worth it since at our last orientation they didnt even let us leave the hotel so this one was like more outdoorsy which was good.
Then after that I called my Brother and my family for his birthday that Monday. And that Monday I started going to the University. So I reunited with some of my classmates from my frist school. It was nice, and I still see them at least twice a week now. That week my parents told me they were going to Buenos Aires to do a final Medical Checkup on my dad since he was operated on for prostate cancer a year ago and is fully recovered. They said they were only going for the doctors visit and not to see the city so they gave me the option to stay in Catamarca. I ended up staying with Pablo Moya´s family! The world is so small, (Pablo went on exchange to Westerville, Ohio in 6690) I met his sister at the orientation weekend and she just got her destination as the USA! I had a great time with them. They are such a loving family and so nice. I wish Pablo was home from college that weekend but he says he´s coming back soon so I´m hoping to see him then. I went to the university but then there was no classes that weekend for a national strike so I just hung around with Sofia (Pablo´s sister) and the family. Then that Friday I had mate (pronounced mat-ay, its like a tea) with some of my friends from the university and another exchange student from New Mexico. I really enjoy this group of friends, we talk about everything, life, literature, cultures, everything. So then we had such a good time talking and laughing we decided to go together to our friends birthday party the next day, the same group. It was so much fun. Then came the time for me to go back to my regular house once the weekend was up, and I miss Pablo´s family since I´m living alone in my house so I really miss the sibling activity and I got along really well with Sophia. This week was pretty normal, had classes, then Tuesday when I didnt I hung out with my university friend who is really interesting and we had a 3 hour conversation about all kinds of things. I really enjoy the conversations with this group because its really popular to gossip here and I feel that when people gossip I cant really participate since I dont know who they are talking about and I feel uncomfortable doing it so I always gravitate towards the conversations about weird things or the world. Then on Wednesday I had my Geography of Catamarca class which is really good because now I´m learning more and more about Catamarca as a whole and plus in May we are going to Antofogasta de la Sierra as a class. Then Thursday was a Surprise birthday party for Zatik at his house where we had empanadas, meat, potatoes, like 4 different deserts. We´re still having leftovers. His mom cooked for like 40 people and we were only 15 people. It was all delicious though. Then we tried (but failed) to enforce the argentine tradition of shaving the head of the birthday boy (this is only done at age 18, which Zatik is now 18). He wouldn´t let us so we just threw him in the pool and shaved Miles´ head instead. Friday I had mate with my friends again close to the University and then we had an obligatory walk in the mountains with all the exchange students and the counselors. The north trip is in 20 days and we are going to Iguazu, Jujuy, Salta, Catmarca, Tucuman, La Rioja, San Juan and Mendoza! It will be 15 incredible days I can´t wait! Plus the last day is my brithday so its almost as if its a birthday present. :)