Day 18: September 1, 2007 In Salta
Salta,
Argentina
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Day 18: September 1, 2007 In Salta
We slept in until 8:30. After I showered and ate, I gather all of the laudry. I asked Jorge where a laundromat was located. He told me he was about to go into town so he took me to the one he uses on 25 de Mayo at Entre Ríos. Since nothing in there really needs ironing, the woman said it would be ready between 9:00-11:00 in the evening.
I hopped the 3A bus back to Grand Bourg. Elena told me that it wound all over before getting to our part. I was surprised how much the barrio has grown since I stayed there for a couple of weeks in 1996. I got off right in front of the office and found Señorita Elena all showered and watching a futbol match. I told her to join me in the office when she was ready so that she could do the internet research she needed to do for a homework assignment. By the time she came down, I was done with the things I was doing so I set her up and went back to the apartment to write. I was surprised to see Inez, our housekeeper. I didn't realize she worked Saturday mornings. I wrote while she put everything and order. She finished just as Elena returned.
I went back down to the office and logged on to the TravelPod site to learn how to link all of my other travel journals. It was easy. Then, I started uploading my Iceland journal from earlier this summer. That went fine until a work with a ð in it appeared. It rejected the whole text. That was frustrating because it is such a common letter in Icelandic. I´ll figure out how to get around that tomorrow.
I returned to the apartment at 6:30 to find Elena all ready to go out to a party with Luchi. She was very excited. Luchi arrived at 7:30 and they left. I talked with Jorge for awhile before going next door for dinner. My regular waiter, Ramón, wondered where Elena was. We talked quite a bit until the place suddenly got very busy. It was the first time I had seen more than four tables with diners. I tried the Serratinos de la casa for the pasta. It was probably the best pasta dish I've ever had.
I returned to the apartment at 10:30. I turned on CNN but promptly fell asleep. Elena woke me up at 11:20. The party had been postponed for a week at the last moment so she, Luchi, and a couple of other girls from the class hung out in El Centro until they got bored. We both went to bed after that.
