The Little Town of La Cocha, Welcomed by a Real Argentinian Family

And I still have more stories to tell!! Just a few days after I returned from the coast of Argentina I left to La Cocha, a small town in the province of Tucuman where my friend's grandma and family lives.  Although it was a long 16 hour bus ride it was well worth it.  I was greeted by my friend Abi's mom and grandma at the bus stop and treated to hot mate (Argentinian tea) and crackers with dulce de leche at her grandma's house.  I got to meet Abi's uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends who were all so sweet.  It's a small town so all of the people are a lot more friendly and I came back with so many new friends!  Abi's grandma was a wonderful cook and there was a strict meal schedule so there was never any time to be hungry.  The town and houses are exactly what you would expect when you think of a South American country, as opposed to Buenos Aires which is a big city.  We didn't have hot water, we had to heat it to take a shower and there was definitely not as much technology as there is in Buenos Aires.  

While I was in Tucuman I went to a place called Cerro San Javier, which is basically a gorgeous mountain area overlooking the capital, San Miguel de Tucuman.  I went with Abi's sister Vanesa and we took a tour through the forest/mountain area.  

After Cerro San Javier we went to San Miguel de Tucuman to stay the night because the next day we were going to Tafi del Valle, a cute little town in another mountain/forest area.  We had to take a bus which took a few hours but the ride up the mountains was gorgeous!  Green lush trees and waterfalls surrounded us on the road to the valley. When we got there we looked through an open market and ate lunch. It was a small town, not much to do but the scenery was amazing.

We also went to the museum where they signed the declaration of independence of Argentina.  It was nice to learn a little bit about the country that I've been living in for so long, and also interesting because it wasn't in the capital of Buenos Aires.  

Every day we were visited by a few people who came to join us for lunch, it was so nice to have so many people to visit with. This trip was amazing, I got to meet so many wonderful people and visit a different part of Argentina.  I also loved it because I spoke so much Spanish, hardly anyone there spoke English!  It was great practice and it was nice to know that I could do it.