Reflections of Salta

As we approached Salta, Argentina, the more nervous we got.

We were in our last country. It is over. Sure we are going to try and enjoy the last of it… but it is over.

And while we had been looking forward to visiting our friend Leigh (thefutureisred.com and Cloudhead.org) since our last foray at the 2010 Burning Man, the impending doom of our year long trip was starting to set in.

The first time I met Leigh she was bouncing around in a red, velvet leotard with a tutu attached at Burning Man 2010. It kinda left an impression on us. And hell, this is definitely someone I want to meet up with later in life. We just kinda clicked.

We arrived at Noah and Leigh’s house at about 1:30am, culture shocked as all hell (YOU try and go from Bolivia, a VERY third world country and come back into the world of the “living” with high prices, cold drinks, and internet), ready to hit the sack. Two very large guard dogs were standing in between us and this beautiful house where I knew a soft bed with clean sheets were awaiting us.

We approached. The taxi cab driver shouted, “Watch out with the dogs!”

Or we were HOPING this was the right house. We could be breaking into the neighbors and not know.

As we got to the gate, they dopily started wagging their tails and whining at us for love. Oh great Leigh, ferocious dogs you have here. A little bit of head scratching and we were ready to open the gate and move on to our next obstacle – finding our way around a house that we don’t know in the dark.

Shaun opened the squeal-y gate and the yellow lab jumped on Shaun, causing him to step back (he is carrying a 50L backpack, a tripod, and a skateboard) and momentarily opens a hole of opportunity. The dogs make a mad dash for freedom.

I. Was. Horrified.

I should also tell you, the last time I talked to Leigh she had told me the lab had killed the neighbor’s chickens. I don’t know about where you are from but in Texas it means the dog has a huge chance of being shot.

We spent the next 2 hours chasing them around the countryside but were able to corral them in and get some sleep. We just crashed on the couch.

The next morning I felt compelled to tell the truth about the dogs.

“Wow guys, you actually got them back into the yard? You should have just let them go. They always come back.” Noah exclaimed.

It was that moment where you just have to giggle about the whole situation.

Meet Mani and Pipa. However, here they hear Mani (peanut), they think you’re saying Money and Pipa, well, pipa is Costa Rican word for coconut but here – crackpipe. Yeah, that may be a little more fitting from our experiences the previous night. 😛

The next few weeks went all too fast. We started really getting into the groove with our new family. Our mornings were spent chatting and drinking coffee. Nothing starts the day like talking about the art of blogging (lol!).

Our afternoons were spent browsing the internet – something that we took for granted in Bolivia – or reading in the sunlight. Kittens made themselves at home on our laps. One day we went for a swim. Another we went into town to visit friends. It was a pleasant change of pace to our whirlwind ending to Bolivia. We even decided to cut Chile out of our last plans so we could take our time and enjoy our company.

Leigh even giggled when I would “waterboard” the cats for jumping on the counters and finding them paws first into our curry lentil stew. (There was no spray bottle around.)

Did you know that curry lentil stew will stain a while cat? Brown paws and a faint Hitler ‘stache on a small female kitty – that is all I will say.

Wompus the fat male cat (that looked like BATMAN!) didn’t care if I ran him under the water (hey, there were no waterguns around!) but the girl cat, Screamsy… well, lets just say she gets that name for the a reason. It is horrifying and hilarious at the same time.

Riding to the airport was hard. We would be flying to Buenos Aires. It would be our last stop. We wouldn’t have our new family with us.

We gave hugs, wished each other well and made our way to the terminal. I had held it together. I was proud.

***CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK****

I heard running across the terminal as we awaited check in. Leigh and her daughter come careening down the hallway for one last hug. One last goodbye.

I linger in my hug.

And then…

I lose it.

And of course, the hilariousness of trying to get everyone into a picture: