3:05pm

HELLO!

Heck it has been a long time and a few of you out there have been rather impatient to hear more of the good news. Firstly, sorry about my lack of blogging, but now I find myself with lots of time in an internet cafe and the afternoon free. Here it comes.

It´s been nearly two months here. An Aussie staying in Villa Allende, Rosie, just texted me and reminded me that in two weekends we need to leave the country to renew our visas. 90 days up already. Yikes! The days drift into eachother, with very little to distinguish them. Work in the morning, siesta, work in the afternoon, afternoon tea, break, dinner, study/ read, bed. REPETIR!
However it´s not boring or anything, it´s just lovely having the weekends off and being able to explore more of this country.

Since writing last we have done many a thing. Firstly the three Villa Allende gappers came and visited for the weekend. I have really missed having feminine company and it really lent itself to us dipping our tootsies in the stream under the speckled shade and chatting about Argentine boys and different experiences had. It felt so good to be so daggy. I am missing getting dressed up and going out and making my hair look pretty, as it´s been a while since this has happened. However, very soon I shall spend a weekend in Cordoba again with the ladies and all of this will happen. I do enjoy the boy company, certainly, but I really appreciate being able to be girlie when the opportunity comes around.
We ate asado that weekend- actually watched the slaughtering of a pig. The asado was lovely and, accompanied with vino tinto y coca (red wine and coke concoction, similiar standard to goon and juice) proved to be quite the hearty meal.

We went for an explore down the river with some kids of Marta and Juan´s kids and ate the ubiquitous ´fruiti gelatins´ jelly lollies. All was good.

The next weekend we decided to hit up Mina Clavero, which is a small holiday town which picks up in summer, but is nice and quiet for the rest of the year. It is surrounded by the amazing Sierra Cordobas, which run parallel to the Andes. They exist at Ascochinga too, but get more intense the more south you go.
On the way to Mina Clavero our bus stopped at the PARQUE NACIONAL DE LAS CONDORITAS (condors) and we enjoyed an amazing view with big condors riding on the wind current above vast vallies. The land was quite eeiry, in a way. It reminded me of a game we had growing up, Return to Zork. However, it was truely beautiful.
At Mina Clavero we stayed at a weird, newly opened ´Oh La La Hostel´. The owners, a Frenchman and an Argentine woman, had obviously poured a hell load of money into making the hostel, however it was empty. They were lovely and we had to ourselves the lovely new bathrooms and fresh white cotton sheets and drank from the communal mate cup and watched ¡DVDS! and cooked our own spaghetti and stir-fry and pancakes. A great weekend retreat.
We dined at a Swiss eatery which served torta selva negra (black forest cake) and I had a delicious hot chocolate. It played French folk music (Frere Jacques) and also served fondue. Another great find!
We visited an incredible ´Museo Rocsen´ which a French expat-turned-anthropologist set up, containing almost everything you could imagine. A giant (1600kg) cow, old rocks, a mummified Inca, extensive butterfly collection, sketches of the coloseum and Chateu de Chenonseau...Too much oddities to mention really. It was a great way to spend a freezing cold domingo.

Yesterday we returned from OKTOBERFEST (Fiesta Nacional de la Cerveza) which was held in another beautiful small town called Villa General Belgrano. It was probably the highlight of my trip so far. Argentina thus far has seemed quite monocultural, however this celebrated dance/ food/ beer/ costumes from all around the world. The festival runs for two weeks and every day a parade goes through the middle of town. They have a Princess of Oktoberfest, which is a big beauty pagent which we watched. The orginal princess is now old however walks around with a weird cape hood thing on and a big pretzel around her neck. It was all very bizarre, quaint, hilarious.
I made some friends from Rosario, who I think we will visit again when we go to the Jazz Festival in late October. Weekends are filling up very quickly.
This weekend, Iguazu Falls! We´ll be meeting up with the dudes from Buenos Aires there. My malaria tablets well under way, all is set to go. I have heard many amazing things about this place and I can´t wait to visit.

There is so much more I could write but I think that will do for now. I have to sort out some stuff for uni so I better crack to it.

Love for all! Don´t forget, you can send me letters if you fancy. My address is on my Facebook profile.
!Suerte!
GG