Carnaval in Salta

well folks, i have finally left salta. it was nice to get to know the city, and i met a lot of great musicians, and ate a lot of really good ice cream...but i had about enough of the hostel i was in. the highlight was really the carnaval, and was, for the most part, why i stayed through the weekend. on friday night there was a parade with all sorts of crazy costumes, some serious dance revolution moves, and lots and lots of snow. they were selling these spray cans of snow, which really was more of a foamy soap type of thing. it was a blast, though because everybody was just spraying everybody. there are some more pictures on the picasa site, so enjoy. after, that i really didn´t do a whole lot. this country is rabid for soccer, and on saturdays and sundays, there´s soccer on pretty much all day. in the mornings they show the european leagues, and in the afternoons and evenings the argentine league. it´s pretty cool to watch the different european leagues and see the different styles of each country...it´s also way better soccer than anything we get in the states. anyway after a night of pass the pigs, a game a french fellow had, which is actually from england supposedly, and actually quite entertaining, i took off and headed south for a town called cafayate.

the road down to cafayate was beautiful, it´s called the quebrada de los conchas, and is full of really red earth and stone, slot canyons, and a river that runs right down the middle. anyway, i got to cafayate on a monday, and the previous week there was a huge music festival, and the town seems pretty exhausted from it. it´s a nice little town, though, and is known for its wineries....i don´t really know much about wine, but it´s a big deal here. they even have wine ice cream.....which i am not really sure about. i don´t think i really like it, though. i don´t see the need to mix wine with such an already perfect food...now fruit, on the other hand, is quite tasty with ice cream..they even have cactus ice cream....mmmmmm.....i could go on and on about this thing that i love so much. but i won´t.

last night we had an asado, or bbq, and bought a slew of meat and vegetables, 5 liters of wine for 6 bucks, and some cuban rum....and if you can believe it, i was the one who cooked everything. now it is quite an unusual thing for me to be the one who is in charge of the grill. many of you know of my past experiences with the whole not eating meat thing, and it may surprise you to hear this, but for some strange reason i end up running the bbq...not sure why, but i´m at least getting better at it. the meat here really is amazing, and the wine was good as well, and fun was had by all..

so i´m not really in a writing mood, so i´m going to stop there...