Tranqui en San Lorenzo

Given how much mula I had been spending in Salta, I really needed some out time...and what better place to do it than San Lorenzo. Framed by the mountains that make Salta famous, this suburb is one of the better off - I know this because most of the cars are European and, rather than a soccer pitch, they have rugby. Reminded me of home. Oh home... I`ll be seeing YOU sooner than later.

I slept the first night in the room of my new CS friends` 6 year old daughter, because she was sleeping with her parents. I slept and slept and slept... and when I woke the rest of the CSers had left and the family was out taking the daughter to school. So I found the spare key and took the bouncy, 1 year old Labrador with me to find some shops for food.

Turns out that wasn`t the brightest idea, as the dogs that were behind gates soon turned into dogs without gates, and when that happened, of course fights ensued... I had to rip the Labby off a poor little thing while a patio full of locals just sat there and stared (what is it with me and dog fights???). Yeah, thanks for the help there. It was their dog, after all.

So I turned back and locked the Labby in the front yard, and proceeded to walk blindly until I found some little collection of overpriced shops to buy some rice and tuna and a couple of pieces of fruit. Oh yes, how my diet suffers with no money. But hey, it could be worse. At least I obstained from empanadas this time.

Back at the house, the family had returned and so I had a chat with them while I made lunch for everyone (seems I bought more than I needed in the end!) before the daughter L dragged me into her room to play. Her parents were both dog tired so she had no one else to entertain her. Problem was, I was also still really tired so I wasn`t really in the mood to play. Then her mum came in and asked her to tidy her room for the millionth time, and got frustrated when she didn`t so just left.

I thought it would be nice to have the little girl clean the room for her mum so I guilt-tripped her into doing it, with minimal help from me. It looked like a mountain of work to her, but I tried to make her see it wasn`t. I succeeded, more or less, to her mother`s delight and I got to read some of the Lonely Planet that I found at the house. Now I felt a little better versed with the country I was about to venture into... Bolivia.

That night, I had some nice chats with the couple and moved into the guest room which had a nice big double bed. The house is actually huge, but with minimal furniture because they had just moved in. But it is at the end of its road, and when you stand out on the patio you can see all the other houses around... massive! The one opposite even had a peacock in the yard... que al azar.

So that was one day down. Minimal money spent, plenty of relaxation time (I didn`t even walk into the forest because it looked a bit like rain and, well, I was feeling lazy) and some nice new friends. Bueno.