Our First Visitors 😊

So a few weeks ago, after months of waiting and rather a long journey, my parents finally arrived! I still find it completely baffling when people turn up after being so far away, and then suddenly, they’re here right in front of you, but I’m most definitely a fan!

Anyways, I thought I should give you the download on what we got up to whilst they were here.

So they arrived on the Thursday, had the obligatory house tour, met the dog, said a quick hello to the Matus’ and generally just hung out a little bit before turning in for the night.

The next day we mainly just chilled out, giving mum and dad some time to relax after the long journey, but in the eve we had our first ever asado in our house, done by chef Noly and Cristian! Unfortunately we forgot to warn mum and dad not to fill themselves up too much on the salads and breads and things so by the time the beef was ready they were already fairly full, though they did get a good taste still.

Then on the Saturday we went out in search of the tourist bus, which was bizarrely signposted to be in a different place than it ended up being (welcome to Argentina), grabbed a quick bite to eat and off on the bus we went! Nolz and I were of the younger demographic and we were all slightly amused when the bus started playing v traditional music and all the old ladies merrily started singing along!

The bus was fun, it took us around various different places and had a commentary in Spanish and English. This confused me so much that I could only half pay attention to each translation resulting in me not really paying attention to any of the commentary at all. Anyways, we pootled around and got off here and there and generally had a really fun time! At one point Nolz started talking to one of the old ladies, bringing me into the conversation, which got another old ladies’ attention who started asking about our relationship and soon enough about half of the ladies on the bus had turned round to hear how an English lass had ended up getting married to a Saltenian (they love their relationship stories here) 😂

Once we’d finished on the bus we ambled back home and retired for the night. Somehow its v tiring being out in the wind! Bot quite sure why.

The next day, Sunday, was the classic Sunday. Church, then we had lunch out at the golf course, meaning dad could get his teeth into some steak, and back to Nolys parents for tea and cake 😊

On Monday we went out to the castle in San Lorenzo for a cuppa tea and sandwiches and on the Tuesday morning mum dad and I had a little explore round San Lorenzo (Nolz was at work). I had been longing to see some toucans and, after willing it for so long, believe it or not we spotted some in the trees just randomly!

The next day, Wednesday, was census day! So we had to be in our houses until the census person came by and it was a lucky dip as to what time they swung by. I had a private class in the morning and, we were quite lucky in that the census person came at about 2 in the afternoon, meaning we could then leave! So off we went to San bernado Hill to walk up it. We didn’t get all the way up to the top (I did it once on my gap year and it took a v long time), but it was nice even still 😊

Then in the eve we went to Nolys parents to celebrate Monica’s birthday 😊

On the Thursday we had a chilled day and then on the Friday after Nolz finished work off we went to Cafayate! (the place that looks a bit like the Grand Canyon. It’s about three hours away and the drive there is amazing! It’s like driving thru the grand canyon).

We had a really really lovely time in Cafa! And my goodness we ate a lot of food. If we weren’t eating food, we were thinking about what we were gonna be eating next! We also went to my favourite place in cafayate which is the Viñas en Flor vineyard 😍 and we went to the wine museum (a museum I actually enjoy! Surprisingly.), as well as more food places and an artesanal Market 😊 it was such a lovely weekend away! And nice to be a few fewer in number so both families could chat and connect 😊

Soon it was time to pootle back off to Salta, so off we went. On the Monday we had a chilled day just hanging out and went for a little walk in the neighbourhood we live in. The next day, Tuesday, we went off in search of some museums. We had three in mind and, would you believe it, all three of them were closed, despite, mockingly, saying on the internet and outside each museum that they were open on Tuesdays so off we went to have a cuppa tea and cake. I told mum and dad this was a good induction into Argentinian culture and life and enjoyed my cake. Probably worked out best for me in the end if we’re honest. Not a huge museum fan if you hadn’t already picked up on that vibe…

Then the next day we had a farewell dinner for mum and dad at our house and soon enough it was Thursday and once more I found myself at the airport saying goodbye to loved ones… I think no matter how long I’ve been away it will always be sad seeing people leave, always somewhat bittersweet, but we had a really lovely time together and it’s not long now till we’ll be jetting off to England!

Now, if you’ve reached this point I applaud you for getting through this whole blog post (it’s a pretty mammoth one!) and don’t like to keep you much longer! I just have a prayer request for anyone who prays and would like to pray for me. I’ve had quite a lot going on over the last couple of months (/years tbh) and I’m pretty exhausted, which has led to me getting a few bouts of colds and things like that. The combination of all this hasn’t been especially good for my mood either! And living abroad is a tiring thing on top of all these things. Please pray along these lines for strength and energy over me and all those kinds of things. Thank you in advance!

Much love to all at home and those here as well, xxoxox