Well as I type this I can officially say that I am in back in the United States, well at least in the air between Atlanta, Georgia and Denver, Colorado! Holy buckets, it’s been a whirl wind of activity since the last time I wrote and I figure that once again only pictures could truly give the trip that Katie and  I took justice! We ended up taking a bus up to Salta Friday afternoon and spend Saturday and Sunday with Netel’s family. His mom and sister (Alicia and Raquel) were the most amazing hostesses. Monday- Thursday we spent exploring the province to the north call Juyjuy, and then made our way back down to Salta Thursday night. Friday took us on a tour of the beautiful countryside on the way to Cafayatte, Salta. We spent the night there and then the next morning continued south the capital of the province of Tucuman to take the 30 hour train ride back to Buenos Aires : ) 

Arrived back at Grace’s around midnight Sunday and then left at 5 in the afternoon Monday for the airport : ) Dani and Ana and all the guys at the Bible Institute cooked up a goodbye lunch for me Monday before I had to head to the airport. It was so nice to be able to see them all just one more time,  and I still am in completely awe and so thankful for all the incredible friends that God has brought into my life through this incredible experience. It was really hard to say good bye to everyone but I just feel so blessed to have been able to make so many lasting relationships with so many incredible people. I have no doubt that I will see them all again someday : )

Feeling completely shocked that I am ALREADY back in the states and that 4 months has already gone by. Want to thank you all once again for hanging in there and supporting me through this journey, God has blessed me with amazing friends, family and support all over the world.! SEE YOU SOON! 

Bail

Katie and I at the little Anglican church in Salta! It was a great service with more great people :)

The view from the Cicka's back porch! It's so beautiful! We were so lucky to be able to stay with Alicia and Raquel for 3 nights, they took such good care of us : )

The view from the top! Climbed to the top of this hill with Raquel and her friend! You can see all of Salta capital! Beautiful day!

Katie, Alicia, Raquel and their two family friends : ) The moms waited  for us at the bottom with mate and crackers! Only in Salta! hahah

Juyjuy Destination #1: Purmamarca. The mountains of 7 colors : )

Not only do they have beautiful views, but the most delicious desert that either of us has ever had! Ice cream made with goat's milk and blueberries! With apple tart on the side! SOOOOO GOOODD! We were able to visit the farm where the goat lives that donated the milk : ) hahah.

Another view of Purmamarca, it was such a beautiful place!

Destination 2: Salinas Grandes! We met a girl from France at the goat milk restaurant and she drove us to the salt flats of Salta! People are so nice and giving, it's incredible

Destination 3: Tilcara. This is the view as we hiked to a waterfall about 4 KM out of town. Pictures don't do it justice

THE RAGING "GARGANTA DEL DIABLO"! Ferocious and mighty eh?? Well the waterfall was kind of small but the journey was beautiful!

Our friend Pierre! A retired school teacher from France who is backpacking through Argentina and Chile for 3 months. Muy buena onda! Really neat guy!

View from the terrace of our hostel! Not too shabby for 11 dollars a night! haha

Cerro de la Cruz! A hill marked with a cross that gives an amazing view of all the surrounding areas of Tilcara

No you aren't reading that wrong, and yes I ate a llama hamburger and it was AWESOME! hahah

Destination 3: Iruya! We knocked on the door of this little place to eat and ended up chatting with the owners and went with the woman to their Wednesday night church service : ) We got up in front of the congregation and thanked them and shared a verse, Romans 8:37-39. It's so amazing how God has been with us each step of the journey

^"37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. "

Thursday morning we walked to San Isidro from Iruya, a beautiful route.

Katie and Geraldine, another friend from France! I want to be like her when I am 40, still traveling the world! haha

View from San Isidro

We stopped at a little home and ate empanadas and sipped on some coffee for a couple hours : ) This is one of the sons of the family : )

The hill that we had to trek up to get to our hostel : ) I loved the way that this town way built on a hill!

BACK TO SALTA! We did the classic Ruta del Vino to the south of Salta, with many beautiful stops along the way. Here is another Garganta del Diablo haha

Matrix! :)

Just another beautiful view!

Picture speaks for itself : )

We met Daniela and her mom in passing on a trail in Tilcara and then ended up being on the same tour with them is Cafayatte! Small world! Here we did a winery tour and tasted the famous white wine of Salta!

Wine ice cream anyone!?? : )

"Slow" good advice from a road sign on our bike ride from Cafayette

Biking along the road to Cafayatte! Action shot!

Our friend, Nico, who lives in an indigenous village about 5 hours walk from Cafayatte, we drank mate with him and chatted for a couple hours! He brought some walnuts from his village and taught us how to crush them in our hands : ) I'll teach you the technique : )

We made it to Tucuman (one more province to the south), early Saturday to catch the train. We had hours to kill before our train so we just sat in this park for hours like bums ; ) Here Katie is playing a lovely melody on a flute she bought her nephew.

Our private train car! CLASSY EH!?! There's even a sink!

You aren't imagining things, that's BUNK BEDS!

Our lovely neighbors, two women from Tucuman, lent us their computer to watch movies : ) Pretty rough traveling eh?!?

As if 9 days of adventure wasn't enough, we met this little tike on the train. We had a ninja fight, he told us his plans to be a doctor and then told us how Jesus died on the cross for us all and healed the world with His touch : ) Wow, child like faith is a beautiful thing : )

Farewell lunch : ) I miss everyone already!

Well the home stretch is going faster than I could have ever predicted! Finals week is flying by and I have officially finished all "work" and  I am now just in the midst of receiving all my grades! It's been a week of enjoying every moment with the amazing people down here.. Study dates with Megan, coffee with Gaston, cooking a torta with Megs and Katie, lunch with Dani and the guys at IBBA, cooking and chatting with Grace in the kitchen, eating Persicco and talking into the middle of the night with Emma... and the list goes on : ) It's been a week filled with memories and nostalgia and more "see you laters" (hasta luego) instead of "goodbyes" (chau). Words can't describe how incredibly grateful I am and in complete awe of God and the beautiful journey that He has taken me on through my study abroad experience. He has shown me time and time again that it's not about the place you are, it's all about living each day as gift from Him, and loving and enjoying the precious time with the wonderful people He places in your path. Every moment has a reason : )

Katie and I take off on a 30 hour train ride up to the north of Argentina to spend 9 days getting to know Tucuman, Salta and JuyJuy : ) I know, 30 hours, we are CRAZY! : ) I will get back to BA late Sunday night and then my flight leaves for the states Monday night! It will be a blur, but I am so excited! With that said, probably signing off my last blog from Buenos Aires... Thank you all for sticking it out with me and for supporting and encouraging me along the way, see you all soon!

Un abrazo fuerte! 
Bailey

Hello all! I'll do my best to keep this one short, to avoid wasting too much time (i should be studying) and to avoid crying! haha. Spent another amazing weekend with some wonderful friends and met some amazing kids : ) Friday the ladies from the Bible study all went out to lunch, and I began the first of many "lasts" here in Buenos Aires... : ( Spent a wonderful morning with them and then made my way to the Bible institute to hang out with Ana and Dani for the rest of the day : ) Friday night 8 of us went down to San Telmo to enjoy some live music in a really cool bar! We rocked out to some blues, jazz and rock and sang along and danced till 4 in the morning, the kid's from the institute are really just incredible, so bittersweet to be meeting so many cool people right at the end of my trip haha. O well!

Saturday brought a beautiful day, perfect for the church's annual celebration called, KERMESSE. It's a big party/open house that's open to the entire  neighborhood. There was a parilla (of course : )), carnival games, raffles, games for the kiddies and much fun was had by all : ) Katie, Dani and I were in charge of the kid's free play area so we enjoyed a day of coloring, soccer, tug of war, duck duck goose, painting... and the list goes one. It was a beautiful day and so much fun. Saturday night a few of us hung out at Irish Pub and chatted. Katie moved into the house attached to the church with 5 other students and so it was nice to be able to crash at her place and literally roll out of bed and into the church : )
This was my last Sunday at church and it was tough to hold back the emotio, the entire congregation prayed over me at the end of the service and at that point I may have shed a few tears to say the least.. It's hard to believe that I could be so blessed with such an incredible church family down here and I could never thank God enough for the gift he gave me in all the amazing people and forever friends that He has given me through this experience... Truly amazing

Well I guess, I had better head to bed so I can really get some quality studying done in the morning.. Still lacking the motivation! hahah. I have no idea what I am going to do when I return to the daily grind of Biology classes back at Doane, YIKES! : )
Hope this finds you guys staying warm, love you!

Bailey

Making a cake, turned into a bit of a flour fight haha

I think that Dani (right) and I got the worst of it! haha

3 of the girls from the institute,  buena onda : )

CHORIPAN! I think that every single picture with Katie and I has food in it : )hahah

Our domain at KERMESSE haha

TUG OF WAR! The kids were awesome, crazy, hyper, all over the place and speaking Spanish!  Adds a bit of a different aspect to the whole experience hahahaha

Netel and Katie! Netel is helping us plan our trip to SALTA! : ) Had to put this picture up as an inside joke with Katie, how was that bread girlfriend?? : )

It's almost surreal to be able to write that I have finished my last week of regular classes... INSANE! This week, like this trip, flew by as well! Tuesday night I went out to dinner with Dani and Ana, 2 girls from church and turns out that Chinese food in Argentina is quite similar to Chinese food in the states : ) Wednesday I went to the pastor's house again and talked to his wife, Lucy, the physical therapist! I returned a book that she had lent me and we ended up chatting, not so much about physical therapy, haha but it was so nice to see her again and to be able to thank them for all they have done to make Argentina feel like home. After tea, I went to the Bible Institute to hang out with Dani for the day and to do a little studying. One of the guys who is studying music and theology there is from Brasil and made Dani and I a Brasilian speciality for lunch, it was a super nice surprise : )

Wednesday afternoon Katie and I went to visit the missionary family from Guatemala, the father, Dennis, is the man that originally put Katie and I in contact many months ago : ) We both wanted to be able to thank him for putting us in touch, it's so amazing how God used so many "coincidences" to bring Katie and I together, a blessing that I can't even describe, definitely a friend forever! : ) Well we ate some cake with the family, learned about Guatemala (big surprise, I had tons of questions haha), heard parts of their amazing story and spent some time with one of their sons who is 17. Come to find out, he is the 2 time Central America Speed Skating World Champion, so that naturally lead to all kinds of cool conversation! : )

Finished up classes today then met Katie at an outside jazz concert : ) The city is hosting an international jazz festival and so there are free jazz concerts and "jam sessions" for 5 days. Spent a beautiful afternoon soaking up all the sundress weather that I possibly can and came to the realization that I really like jazz music : ) Sending warm thoughts from the South!
Bailey

Jammin out to jazz

Couldn't resist another mate pic

Things are quickly coming to a end down here in Argentina! I can't believe that it's already my final week of regular classes, the way that the time has flown  is mind blowing! This past Friday, Meghan, Katie and I got together to have a girls night of cooking, dinner and fun at my house : ) We all pitched in and got the ingredients to make a couple pizzas, garlic bread, fruit salad and even a delicious dessert! It's insane how cheap you can put together a really complete meal, we ended up spending about 6 dollars each! You can check out the spread below : ) The most fun part was all the mistakes along the way. Our first pizza was super doughy so we ended up cutting it in half, moving it to three different pans, putting it in the oven about 5 different times and by the time it was ready, it looked more like a burrito than a pizza! The flavors were still on point though! I am so lucky that we have a big enough apartment, and that Grace is so willing to let the girls come over and spend time. I coming to the bittersweet realization that this chapter is coming to an end, and so it was really nice to be able to spend the night just laughing and enjoying eachother's company, feels like home : )

Vicky from our Bible Study at the International Bible Church invited us to a really awesome event at her son's school on Saturday. Vicky's husband works for the American embassy down here and her son attends a high school at one of the very well known schools down here where many of the embassy kids from all over the world go. Needless to say they have students from all over the world so they organize an International Day, in which each country can display their culture! The school is incredible and they had their courtyard set up so each country lined the outsides and had a booth with traditional foods and their was a stage in the middle where countries were able to display traditional dances. We bought tickets and then took a little culinary world tour, SO COOL! We tried bruschetta from Italy, saltenas from Brasil, pulled pork from Dominican Republic, tacos from Mexico, fudge from Canada, fried sweets from Kuwait and the list goes on and on and on! It was so cool to be able to see the different outfits, foods and traditions that each country represented and really incredible to see young kids getting so excited to be able to show their friends and fellow students about their culture. It was truly another one of once in a lifetime experiences that God has brought into my life down here. It's incredible to see that although we may be from all different parts of the world and walks of life, we are all just people and we have so much more in common than we could ever imagine: )

Sunday I was finally able to make it back to church! 5 weeks of traveling had left me MIA from church services but like my friend Agustin told me recently, "Lo mejor es que El Señor no solo esta en la iglesia ;)" "The best thing is that God isn't only in the church". And isn't it so true, God has been in all edges of Argentina through this incredible journey, from the Andes to Iguazu Waterfalls and everywhere in between, God is ever present and all powerful! : ) Needless to say, it was still SO nice to be able to catch up with all the guys at church and Dani and I were able to spend the afternoon together, eating Peruvian food, doing homework on her terrace, having merienda with her roommates (she has 18 of them!) and just hanging out! Dani lives in the dorms of a Bible Institute that some of the guys from church attend and it was so cool to be able to meet some new kids and see a totally new style of living, Buenos Aires has it all!

Well I have once again delayed starting my homework to write my blog instead, SOOOOO I am going to stop rambling and get to work! I have finals to study for, YIKES! I hope that this blog finds you all doing well and that you aren't freezing yet, I don't even want to think about SNOW!

Sending love! Bailey

SO cute! haha. We did have a pretty nice spread: )

France

Portugal, do you recognize anything grandma??

RED WHITE AND BLUE EXPLOSION!

Camille, Meghan and Vicky's daughter, Laurissa enjoying Bolivian Saltenas

The food from Kuwait was incredible! SO many little hand made things, can't imagine the hours it took!

Check out that view, I wouldnt mind going to a school on the river : )

Start with Little Indian dancers

Next, Korean Hip Hop

And finally, a little bag pipe! : )