Las Flores

One of the houses on the ranch!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel 2 and a half hours outside the city with my host family to their ranch in "el campo" of Las Flores, Argentina. As we pulled up the house was pitch black with smoke floating out of a single chimney. The house we stayed in is about 100 years old, therefore we only had power at night from a generator. Individual wood-burning heaters in each room are their source of heat. The smell of the fire drenched all of my clothes, but I didn't mind because it felt so comforting, like the smell of burning leaves in the fall in Michigan. Something I absolutely love! The ranch belonged to my host mom's grandmother and now all of the grandchildren share it. They use the land to raise cows and chickens and keep their horses, so in every direction where dozens of cows scattered in the plains. The eggs from the chickens have the yellowest middles I have ever seen and were extremely rich in flavor! yum!

The main heat source in the house

As usual, I was surrounded by family for the whole weekend :) My host parents (Carmen and Luis), Aunt Silvia, Uncle Pepe, 3 cousins (Maelo, Jean-Francois, and Jacques), Jean's girlfriend Alita, and Jacques' 2 friends visiting from France! All of them are so wondeful to be around!! Augustin and Clémence were so fun! They have been married for a year now and were such a joy to be around. They don't speak Spanish so we communicated in English, but it was fun learning some french from them and translating the conversations at times when my family was talking. We also all learned how to make empanadas because Augustin wanted to learn. He was such a riot during that whole night! We laughed so much!

Jacques, Carmen, Augustin, and Clémence making emanadas

I also introduced my family to country music and taught them how to line dance!! My aunt Silvia loved it and wants to learn more soon! I was fun being able to share something from my culture with them that is so completely foreign and different for them! We danced to "Barefoot Blue Jean Night," "You Lie,"She's country," and more :) Love me some country music!

During the weekend I went horseback riding twice and was able to explore the property! My family owns around 25 horses among all of the siblings! My horse's name was Chimango, which is a common bird in el campo! Jacques and Jean-Francois guided us around, showing us the ins and outs of the ranch! I was taken back by the beauty of horses galloping full speed, free from their saddles, simply free to explore the land as we were!

Chimango!

Me and my new French friends and of course, the horses!

¡WATSON!

I feel in love with Watson, my Uncle Pepe's puppy! He is a German Shepard and collie mix! So fully of energy and at times too much :) He would run under the horses' legs, lie in every puddle he could find, and chase every bird and rabbit in his path! He is only one year old but he's huge like Stella was! I WANT ONE! hehe!