Survived the bike ride!

Hola from Salta!!

Internet has been difficult to come by the past few days but Salta is beautiful. When we arrived we were taken to a bed and breakfast type hostel deal (not really sure what it was) outside the city of Salta. Even flying in, it was beautiful; while everyone else was sleeping i took pictures of the mountains above the clouds from outside the window! We spent two days in the first town (cant remember the name but will add when I do) visiting some schools, making instruments out of bamboo, and yes- bike riding which i actually really enjoyed!! I was given the option of riding in the van instead of a bike but decided to try out the bike ride and warned everyone to steer clear of me because i could not control my bike, held on to the handle bar very, very tightly and actually had a lot of fun. On the way back i decided to ride in the back on the pick up truck with Emma and Tess after realizing I was so focussed on not falling that I was missing out on just how beautiful everything around me was. Lots of big meals later we moved onto our home stays inside the city of Salta

I have been living with a young architect named Mercedes and her two roommates. They are all very, very sweet and have made me so comfortable. The best part about my home stay is that I am ten blocks away from city center, La plaza nueve de julio. Unlike Buenos Aires where there were many neighborhoods worth exploring, mostly everything in Salta is situated around the main plaza and on one street, Balcarce. I was able to meet up with Ronald, Emma, and their host siblings yesterday which was really fun. We went on a cable car up above the city at sunset and drank mate. It was sooo pretty and I got some great pictures!!

Last night after a very good dinner with Mercedes and her roommate I met up with Ronald, Emma, their host siblings, and some if their friends and went to a boliche on Balcarce. All the friends know each other from an English class they are taking together and told the bouncer they were from the US so no one had to show any ID (the legal age here is 18 so it didn't matter for us anyway but I thought it was so crazy that just because they were able to say they were from "Miami, Florida" they were let right in!)

Overall, Salta has been a nice change from all the craziness of Buenos Aires. While there is plenty to do, it is definitely more of a small city feel and some peace and quiet is not hard to find. Tomorrow we head up to Isonza, which I am so so excited for!! Details to follow as soon as possible