After our families left, Kristen and I started to tick the tasks off our pre-Patagonia checklist.
#1 was buying a used car. We weren’t sure how to go about this, but I happened to stumble across a website that listed the used car inventory at all the dealers in Salta (before that, we didn’t even know if there were used car dealers in Salta!). The process of buying the car, however, was not so easy.
It involved two VERY long days. On the first, we took the 5-9am bus into Salta (requiring riding our bikes into town at 4:15am, in the dark), visiting a few dealerships to see what they had and how the deal would work, and then taking the afternoon bus back to Cafayate. The second, two days later, we caught a 6am ride into Salta with Gary Kinghorn. We arrived at the dealership at around 9:30am, and by 10:30, the deal was more or less done. The guys at the dealership told us they had to go file the paperwork with the local government and police, so we should come back at 7pm or so to finish everything up. Huh?? 7pm? What were we supposed to do for 8.5 hours? We were exhausted, both physically and mentally, and now had nothing to do for most of the day but sit, walk, and eat. Normally I might relish the opportunity for a lazy day in a café, but that day, I just wanted to go home, and Kristen was sick with a stomach bug. Long story short, I drank way too much coffee and was jittery, nauseas, and exhausted for 5 of the 8.5 hours. Fun day. It was around 9pm when we finally left with the car. It was raining and there was no moon. The road was unlit and foggy. Fun end to a fun day. But at least we made it back, and now we have a great car to use here!
#2 was a Spanish crash course – Kristen and I started taking daily Spanish lessons. Learning Spanish is, of course, most of the reason why we’re here. We got lucky, and the husband of a woman who works at LEC is a Spanish grammar teacher who said he’d be willing to work with us 2 hours a day. He speaks no English, which is a plus. The lessons were intense – verb conjugations, storytelling exercises, and homework each day. I think we improved a lot over the course of an intense week and a half. When we get back from Patagonia, hopefully we can pick up right where we left off.
And finally, there was everything else. Getting in workouts and bike rides, planning the Patagonia trip and booking everything, etc. And in the midst of it all, I had the urge to cook. Among other things, I cooked ratatouille, mostly because we watched the movie Ratatouille, but also because after two weeks of illness, we wanted to start eating some veggies again and it seemed like a perfect dish.
Now, on the eve of our departure, we’re pretty much ready to go. All that’s left to do is put our stuff into our backpacks and get out of here. Patagonia, here we come.
