buenos noches amigos!

First of all, I understand that my fan base is reaching new levels at a freakishly increasing rate.  So a big thanks to all my loyal readers who have been there since day one, and a warm welcome to all the new ones. That being said, I am currently lying in the top bunk, under 5 blankets, 2 pairs of pants, an alpaca sweater (literally and figuratively--it's made from their fur and has lil llamas walking around all over it) and my furry neck pillow.  It's a little brisk down here.  It doesn't help that the house has no heat or hot water, but ya win some and ya lose some. 

 Anyways, these past few days have been pretty remarkable.  It all started on Tuesday night at 12, as I cuddled in a ball in seat 26 of the 50-row coach bus we chartered for our 9 person group.  I don't remember the next 6 hours, for the sleeping pill seems to have taken away my memory, but next thing I knew we had arrived in lovely Tucuman for breakfast.  Not only did I look good, but I felt good.  After enjoying a nice breakfast, the group packed our bags into a more modest Mercedes-Benz truck and started our trek north.  About 30 minutes into the trip, we started ascending a mountain into the Selva (rainforest).  It was surreal, and the landscape changed immediately as the roads got narrower and the turns were sharper.  For nearly 45 minutes we drove uphill-- actually I was just sitting in the middle seat pointing at every thing I saw and yelling out its name. If you have ever driven with me, you know I have a tendency to do so.  "A cow! A tree! It's so green! Look at the cloud! That's a big rock!" Unfortunately (for the group) nobody has the cajones to tell me to shut up, so I was unstoppable.  A few hours later, and a few stops to take pictures, we arrived at hotel Lunahuana in Tafi del Valle.  We were the only people staying in the entire hotel, which turned out to be a common occurance during our trip.  They must've heard I was coming to town.  The room was great, I stayed with the same girls I live with here, Mary and Jenni, and we had a big room with 4 beds, and a loft.  We changed, walked around town, went to an ATM to withdraw some pesos (I thought my atm card was broken for 3 days because I forgot to type in the pin every time; however, pin is spelled the same in both languages so I don't know how I let that one get past me).  Anyways, once my wallet was heavy again, we headed in the van with our tour guides, Luis and Maru, and drove to La Estancia Las Carreras.  It was m-azing.  We pulled into a long gravel driveway, surrounded by mountains, where cows, horses, dogs and llamas were hanging out in the fields.  We went inside to the little cabin, with high wooden ceilings an a huge fireplace, and were served super fresh food that all came from the Estancia, even down to the llama meat that was in the stew.  After the delicious meal, we went on a 2 hour walk around the property, saw workers peel thousands of potatoes, watched some cows get their utters tugged at, learned how they made cheese, looked at llamas doing literally nothing because that's all they do, and rode a horse for about 3 1/2 minutes.  We each went in a circle, thanks to my extensive horse back riding experience as a child, I had no problem directing that black stallion around.  This is totally irrelevant and unimportant, but I reached my hand into an unidentifiable piece of poop while I was getting ready to pose for a solo shot.  Luckily I had on my new alpaca gloves (to match my sweater), so the damage was minimal but it was still pretty rank.  All I could think was "I have a belly full of llama meat, and now you lay this shit on me?" 

There's a 98% chance that dark spot on my right glove is shit. But I still look good. 

If you are observant, you will notice that I have only gotten through day 1 of my adventure.  However, due to my lack of sleep in a real bed for the past 48 hours, it is time for me and my alpacas to call it a night.  For that I am sorry, but I promise to enlighten you on all on the rest of my travels in the very near future.  

love,

kris