That tarantula is hanging out in the bathroom again. I have hung clothes to dry that are now more wet than they were when I put them up. It is possible there are roughly a hundred ways to fry dough and serve it for breakfast.
It is also possible that I have nevr smelled this bad in my life--and very hard to do anything about it when you have to put a wet bra back on after your cold shower because the clothes just won´t dry. It is raining again today, and I was scheduled to work in the organic garden today with the guys. Turns out they were going down to the beach to fill 150 pound bags with sand in order to turn it into cement at some point and there wasn´t enough room in the truck for me. Pedro (the volunteer coordinator) really thinks that I am not strong enough to carry it anyway (mas fuerte! mas fuerte!), so I find myself with a bit of free time and can use the computer!
Yesterday I was actually the Spanish translator for new people who came and were getting the tour of the botainical garden--how do you like them apples! Hard to belive my Spanish is better than most people here, as this is the second time I have acted as translator for a tour.
Some fun things I have seen so far this week: We had a boa constrictor lounging in one of the rain gutters the other night. He had his eye on this massive grasshopper that he was making a slow move for in order to have dinner. Apparently he moved too slow or changed his mind though, because in the morning the snake was gone and the grasshopper had moved to a differnt side.
One of the guys here that works out in the forest looking for people cutting down trees and stuff like that has this pretty amazing snake collection. He keeps them all in a jar of formaldahyde in his cabin. Disturbing to consider where the formaldahyde may have come from.....we will put off determining the origin of it for our next moment of reflection.
I like the preserve, but it does have a bit of a summer camp feel, at least right now. Because of the time of year, most people that are here are school groups and into doing things that 18-20 year olds do. Everyone seems more excited about the bar than anythting else, which I find amusing and slightly sad since I am really just past those days..ah well, such as life. Perhaps the other preserves will have differnt people to offer because I will be there during what is typically the school year.
OK, no wisdom to offer today since I am still sick with a jungle cold. Maybe next time, so stay tuned for what is hopefully a more interesting update in the next chapter of our story!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Saturday, June 2, 2007
In a country where everything is green except the lettuce
It´s hot, damn hot....well not so much today as yesterday, I guess. So here I am in the jungle! It has become clear that the computer that is here at the reserve is a pretty hot comidity and the chances of my actually getting on it are probably relatively slim, so here are my thoughts so far.
Ecuador is really a very lovely country. It is not quite as advanced as Argentina, so I am back to remembering not to flush the toilet paper and not to drink the water. The city of Quito looks amazing, although I haven´t had much time to check it out. There will be plently of time for that when Mary is here though and in between my variety of travels and volunteer works. The equator is really near Quito, so I am sure I will drag Mary up there to do the old balance the egg on the nail trick. Will make sure we get plenty of cheesy photos!
Took the bus yesterday to Tena and really had to remind myself to pick my jaw up off the floor once in a while. The scenery is absolutely amazing and the road is often closed due to mudslides. The road is a dirt road for about half the time and there was a spot where the driver was having to steer the bus around all these rocks and mud that are in the road from the most recent rain. That and slowing the bus down so a variety of people can hop on and off to sell you a fruit cup, potato chips, chickens, and white women. Whatever you want I am pretty sure they either have it or can get it.
Then there was the lady who got on the with the mystery animal. These busses run from Quito to Tena, and also at times act as the local bus. It is a bit like riding the M79 from Manhattan to Washington DC. She had a baby slung around her waist and some bag making a variety of chirping, beeping, and mewing sounds. The contents of her bag never having been revealed, I will get to spend the rest of my life wondering....
Anyway, got to Tena and had to hunt around to find the local bus to JS. A very lovely young guy helped me find it and placed my bag on it for me. Turns out he was the one who also hops on and off the bus as it is moving helping folks get on and off. As Shannon I am sure can testify, the idea of safety is a bit negated here. There were a number of children siting on the dashboard in the front window as the bus cruised around town, and everyone´s variety of shopping piled in wherever it can fit. I shared a seat with a couple of children (I know...) and they were pretty suspicious of me and my hair, I think, but very cute. The people have all been really friendly.
Anyway, here I am at the reserve at Jatun Sacha! Things I have learned so far...check the mosquito net before going to bed to make sure the huge evil ants that bite and sting for 4 hours are not in the net with you, Everything you own will be moldy within 2 weeks, no matter what, All the clothes I have are once again inappropriate, My flashlight is crap and hardly helped me find the bathroom last night, These rubber boots I bought in Quito for $5.75 will be the best thing I have probably ever purchased, as the mud I walked in today was halfway up my calves.
Speakiing of today, it is Saturday, so it is todo al bosque, which means everyone goes to the forest. The put us in two groups and the one I went with toured the secondary and primary rain forest, and learned about local trees, the variety of species they have here, etc. It was all in Spanish and I picked up about half of it. A girl in the group was able to traslate though, so that filled in the blanks.
It is raining now, what a shocker, huh? But it is a nice rain and cooling.
On our walk, we ran into a herd of cattle. It was very strange. We are in the middle of the forest, it is dark, and the guide stops us and says to listen. We do, but don´t hear anything, and then we look and a small herd about about 6-8 cattle are stolling up the muddy path from the other direction. They stop and look at us. We look at them. They look at us, trying to decide if we will retreat or they should. The finally decide they should and do so. We follow and I must say that for the next half our or so have to avoid all the cow shit mixed with the mud. A very unexpected experience! After a lunch stop we swam in a small lake in the middle of the forest. OUr guide was great and fed us ants that taste like lemon. Apparently the trick is to make sure you chew them before swallowing or they might crawl back out your nose!
I also just saw my first huge tarantula outside the computer room here. I have one roommate and she is cool girl from Colorado. I am the oldest person here by roughly 15 years, although my roomie is pretty old by standards too--she is 22!
Beter let some others have a turn at the computer, but will try to keep a written log of more things that occur to me and then at some point try to deciipher my handwriting and write it all here! By the way, in case I didn´t mention, it is beautiful here, although a bit more rustic that I thought, but it is all good......more later!
Ecuador is really a very lovely country. It is not quite as advanced as Argentina, so I am back to remembering not to flush the toilet paper and not to drink the water. The city of Quito looks amazing, although I haven´t had much time to check it out. There will be plently of time for that when Mary is here though and in between my variety of travels and volunteer works. The equator is really near Quito, so I am sure I will drag Mary up there to do the old balance the egg on the nail trick. Will make sure we get plenty of cheesy photos!
Took the bus yesterday to Tena and really had to remind myself to pick my jaw up off the floor once in a while. The scenery is absolutely amazing and the road is often closed due to mudslides. The road is a dirt road for about half the time and there was a spot where the driver was having to steer the bus around all these rocks and mud that are in the road from the most recent rain. That and slowing the bus down so a variety of people can hop on and off to sell you a fruit cup, potato chips, chickens, and white women. Whatever you want I am pretty sure they either have it or can get it.
Then there was the lady who got on the with the mystery animal. These busses run from Quito to Tena, and also at times act as the local bus. It is a bit like riding the M79 from Manhattan to Washington DC. She had a baby slung around her waist and some bag making a variety of chirping, beeping, and mewing sounds. The contents of her bag never having been revealed, I will get to spend the rest of my life wondering....
Anyway, got to Tena and had to hunt around to find the local bus to JS. A very lovely young guy helped me find it and placed my bag on it for me. Turns out he was the one who also hops on and off the bus as it is moving helping folks get on and off. As Shannon I am sure can testify, the idea of safety is a bit negated here. There were a number of children siting on the dashboard in the front window as the bus cruised around town, and everyone´s variety of shopping piled in wherever it can fit. I shared a seat with a couple of children (I know...) and they were pretty suspicious of me and my hair, I think, but very cute. The people have all been really friendly.
Anyway, here I am at the reserve at Jatun Sacha! Things I have learned so far...check the mosquito net before going to bed to make sure the huge evil ants that bite and sting for 4 hours are not in the net with you, Everything you own will be moldy within 2 weeks, no matter what, All the clothes I have are once again inappropriate, My flashlight is crap and hardly helped me find the bathroom last night, These rubber boots I bought in Quito for $5.75 will be the best thing I have probably ever purchased, as the mud I walked in today was halfway up my calves.
Speakiing of today, it is Saturday, so it is todo al bosque, which means everyone goes to the forest. The put us in two groups and the one I went with toured the secondary and primary rain forest, and learned about local trees, the variety of species they have here, etc. It was all in Spanish and I picked up about half of it. A girl in the group was able to traslate though, so that filled in the blanks.
It is raining now, what a shocker, huh? But it is a nice rain and cooling.
On our walk, we ran into a herd of cattle. It was very strange. We are in the middle of the forest, it is dark, and the guide stops us and says to listen. We do, but don´t hear anything, and then we look and a small herd about about 6-8 cattle are stolling up the muddy path from the other direction. They stop and look at us. We look at them. They look at us, trying to decide if we will retreat or they should. The finally decide they should and do so. We follow and I must say that for the next half our or so have to avoid all the cow shit mixed with the mud. A very unexpected experience! After a lunch stop we swam in a small lake in the middle of the forest. OUr guide was great and fed us ants that taste like lemon. Apparently the trick is to make sure you chew them before swallowing or they might crawl back out your nose!
I also just saw my first huge tarantula outside the computer room here. I have one roommate and she is cool girl from Colorado. I am the oldest person here by roughly 15 years, although my roomie is pretty old by standards too--she is 22!
Beter let some others have a turn at the computer, but will try to keep a written log of more things that occur to me and then at some point try to deciipher my handwriting and write it all here! By the way, in case I didn´t mention, it is beautiful here, although a bit more rustic that I thought, but it is all good......more later!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
You can´t have lunch without a drink!!!
Hello campers! In this installment of our story, we finish our time in Argentina (for now!) and head to the land of the short people with a fine appreciation for food that can be consumed sans ham. That´s right--we are now in a world where not everything is required to be topped by ham, cheese, hardboiled eggs, and olives, usually simultaneously. But let´s not get ahead of ourselves, since I have only been in Ecuador for 2 days and really am not in the know yet.
Last time on our show, we had just returned to Buenos Aires to spend a disappointing night in a hostal in Palermo where our room was right between the reception desk and garbage truck activity outside. Thankfully only one night was required to determine that it was time to move on, and we left the next day for Mendoza. 12 hours by bus will get you there, and suddenly you are in the Argentine wine capital! We stayed at a great little hotel in Mendoza for about a week called the Hotel Zamora, which came complete with a very non-threatening dog who was there to attempt to restore Shannon´s faith in the species. Think it worked, at least to a certain extent.
While in Mendoza we did such things as drink wine, eat something other than steak, drink wine, continue searching for a solution to the good-looking man conspiracy, and drink wine. Mendoza is a lovley little town right after my own heart: These people believe in the siesta, and it is no joke. The whole town shuts down from 1:30 to 4:30 including stores, internet cafes, banks, travel agencies and any other place you can think of to go during lunch hour. The only places open are of course the restaurants, where one waiter was so offended that we were not ordering wine that the now famous line had to become the title of this post. Not ones to offend cultural sensitivitiers, we of course consented and agreed only a full bottle would be most appropraite.
Other things we enjoyed: A tour of the wineries of course where we drank wine (imagine that) and also got a tour of an olive oil factory and a family operation who make their own chocolates and about 100 different kinds of liquor. We had to get the dulce de leche, because really, where else but in Argentina are you going to find such a liquor? We also went on a tour to the mountains that was entirely in Spanish and therefore probably more informative to Shannon than to yours truly. But the scenery was beautiful, and you can check it all out here:
http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w190/sweidmann/Mendoza/?start=0
In the mountains we saw the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, Aconcagua, which tops out at around 21,000 feet, and Punta Del Inca, which is some kind of natural bridge made by the sulfer in the water or something like that. Again, my limited Spanish didn´t really catch any of that story, but at least the pics are cool!
After our relazing week in Mendoza, we returned to Buenos Aires. Shannon returned home and to her real life-and apparently time in the Harlem ER to deal with the real or imagined threat of rabies. So the good news on that end for all concerned is that she is getting treatment for it, which I understand invloves numerous shots given over a period of time. More on that when I find out.
I stayed on in BA to attempt to put a bit more Spanish under my belt, although it is entirely possible all I really did was take money out of my pocket and put it into someone else´s. Ah well, I did get to enjoy BA and lived in another apartment in San Telmo with a fun couple from Virginia No photos of that for a while though because I really have no idea how long it will be before I can download any more photos. Some wrap up pics are here though:
http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w190/sweidmann/Buenos%20Aires%20May%202007/
So my time in Buenos Aires has come to an end, and I am left to contemplate such things as:
The disturbing lack of vareity in the diet of such a cosmopolitan city; the thought process of a people who burned down the constitucion train station while we were in Mendoza to protest the fact that the trains never come (apparently not thinking about the fact that now, of course, they can´t come); dulce de leche and what this stuff is really made of; and the gene pool that makes all these people so damn good looking and how one can dip into said pool. Add to all this the puzzling lack of napkins in this country, and I venture to say I will need to spend more time in this country to figure out what it is all about.
Now I am in Quito, where I have spent about 4 hours on the internet and cropped up a bill of roughly 50 cents. Good thing it is so cheap as the days of cheap wine have clearly come to an end here! I am off to the jungle and the start of my volunteer work tomorrow, so will post more when I actually have something to say. :)
Be well my friends and live grandly!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
The Argentine preferred method of travel and Iguazu Falls
Bueno. First of all, thank you to those that are posting comments--it is so exciting to know folks are actually reading this thing!
In our last episode, the intrepid young travellers (or not so young, depending on how you look at it) were happy to be returning to Argentina, home of the hot men, from Uruguay, home of nasty dogs and not so hot men. The most exciting thing for us about Urugauay was the coffee service. $42 pesos (about $1.75) gets you your own coffee pot, steamed milk pot, sweet popcorn, juice, and small basket of sweets. Not shabby.
Anyway, we are done with that now. We took the rapid ferry back to Buenos Aires, which takes about an hour. The river was really choppy and it did occur to us that they had not played the safety video upon embarkation and here was a time in which it might be possible to need it. Although the only thing you really learn from the safety video is that if the boat goes down, you are going to drown.
Anyway, we went directly from the ferry terminal to the bus terminal to catch the 18 hour bus that would take us to Iguazu Falls. The bus was actually pretty comfortable and we had gone first class to get the seats that recline all the way (about $60). They serve dinner, wine, played a movie we couldn´t hear, and had a snafu with the reading light that would not go off. The steward guy finally came over and covered the light with luggage stickers to block out the intensity of it. The light finally burned out about a half hour before we reached Iguazu. Not a bad trip though. No comments necessary about the attractiveness of the on board bus steward.
At the bus terminal, there are a bunch of people trying to tell you about thier accomodation and we decided to take one that she said was just a few blocks away. This being only a week or less post dog, it was important that we not have to walk for an hour with our heavy packs to find a place. Of course, with her directions, it did take roughly that long to find it. Anyway, we finally found it, checked in, took cold showers--apparently adverstising caliente agua is more a hope than an actual reality sometimes--and took off for some lunch. Found a little place nearby that we could sit outside, have a bottle of wine for 6 pesos and a milanesa and just chilled out for a while.
That evening, we had arranged to meet with Rosina, a woman I met on the Lonely Planet website, and her friend Pam at the post office in town. We hung around about for about 15 minutes and this van pulled up and an attractive man (imagine that) got off and called my name. Expecting Rosina to be a woman, it took me a few minutes to realize she was in the van and this guy was the tour guide showing them around town! Anyway, we went with them to see the sites of the city and then have dinner. The night was a lot of fun as there were 4 people in the tour group, the others were 2 guys from Canada, and the personalities involved were all very different from each other so the conversation was really very interesting. You can´t ask much more than that as it makes things quite entertaining. I am glad that it worked out that we all got to meet in Iguazu and they were both really great ladies. They were on some kind of blitzkrieg 5 day tour of BA and Iguazu though, and must have slept for about 3 days upon return!
So the next day, we went to the falls. I am not going to really try to bother to describe them, because it is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen and words and pictures do not do it justice. I only recommend anyone who can go in their lifetime should do so! We had the most perfect conditions: The weather was sunny but partly cloudy to keep the direct sun off of you, temp around 68 degrees, no bugs, no humidity, and no tourists! This is the off season, although for the life of me, I can´t see why. Also, there was so much water in the falls that one of the islands was closed and some of the boating excursions were closed due to the embarkation points being under water.
I will attach the pictures here and let them speak for themselves:
http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w190/sweidmann/Iguazu%20Falls/
We returned to Buenos Aires on another overnight bus, spent an evening there, and then got on another overnight bus--this one about 12 hours--to Mendoza, which is the wine capital of Argentina. Stay tuned for additional chapters in our continuing saga on why we loved Mendoza, the discovery of food other than steak, ham and milanesa in Argentina, and our attempt to get at the root of the good looking men conspiracy.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
"No worries, you´re perfectly safe here"
So sayeth the man we rented the condo in Punta Del Diablo from......
Punta Del Diablo is a small beachside town in Uruguay about 50 kilometers south of the Brazilan border. Apparenlty in the summer it is full of tourists, and since it is mid fall here now, we were only 2 of about 6 tourists in town. Nice. We rented a 2 bedroom condo on the beach with a fireplace, cable tv and a kitchen for around $35 per day. Here we are, all set to enjoy some fine Uruguay wine ($2 for the boxed stuff that is actually decent), cooking some great meals, reading and writing on the beach for a few days, and in general chilling out and relaxing.
Should have known that first night when Shannon said "this is so lovely, perfect, and cheap, what a great time we will have here!"
Never tempt the gods by expressing your gratitude for something good as it all goes to hell after that!
So the next morning, as I am leisurely getting up, getting the coffee Shannon made, and stepping outside to check out the view and fresh air, I hear yelling from the beach. Shannon has left me a note saying she is going for a walk on the beach. I assume for a minute that the yelling is some people playing around and am about to sit down when it occurs to me that this is most likely impossible, since we are, for the most part, the only people in town. I step over to the fence to see what is up and see a small dark head moving and nothing else. I hear my name and recognize the voice as belonging to mi amiga. I run around the house and am getting on to the beach where I can see she is down on the ground with 2 dogs on top of her and a man is just arriving with a 2 by 4 to beat the dogs off her.
Shannon risked the wrath of the gods by expressing her appreciation for our oasis and was rewarded by being mauled by two dogs on the beach. The situation was pretty grave. She was covered in lacerations and there was blood everywhere. A few men showed up to help her, and I ran to find the owner of the apartment to see if they could call for medical help. When we returned a few minutes later the police were already there and quickly loaded her into the car to go for medical assistance. She was pretty much unable to walk, and understandably shaken and terrified. And trying to communicate what had happened in Spanish! Thank god she actually has the Spanish skills to be able to do so!
We went to the medical clinic where they dressed her wounds, which covered the entire backside of her legs and arms, and determined that she needed to go by ambulance to Castillos, the nearest town with a hospital. The ambulance is about a 1964 station wagon which was driven by one of the cops as there apparently is no one else to do so. We were accompanied by this woman Norma, who is some sort of elected official and liason for tourists. She is also the wife of the cop who was driving. In what has now been determined as typical South American behavior, she and her husband were all over each other in the hospital. I was tempted to tell them Shannon and I could wait in the hall if they needed to get a room. Sheesh. There are people making out everywhere around her. I am a little surprised that they even bother to sell clothes down here as presumably no one spends much time in them.
But I digress: We believe we are heading off for a tetnus shot and rabies treatment. Of course Latin America being what it is, we went to 3 different places before finding the right one where they then gave her the tetnus shot and argued about rabies. Apparently Uruguay has been rabies free for 20 years and so they simply don´t have the treatment. Shannon really wanted it for preventative reasons, as that is one of the first things one would do in the States if attacked by animals. After much arguing and discussion, she was told there would be no treatment and so she was left to further ponder whether or not this might be a problem, on top of the all of the bleeding wounds and fact that she could not walk.
We spent the next several days in our little condo watching bad American films, which I must admit was probably good for my Spanish to watch so many subtitles, as she started to recover. She was in a lot of pain and was really considering going back to New York instead of continuing on with the trip.
When we went out for the first time, about a day and a half later, it was raining and windy. Every stray dog in town, which were numerous, came around us and it was really freaky. In fact, ever since then, no matter where we go, she seems to attract dogs like she is carrying a steak around in her pocket. Creepy. Somewhat amusing though was her newfound fame in the town of Punta Del Diablo. People were constantly warning us that a tourist had been attacked by dogs and they could not understand what had happened, although they admited that the tourists feed the dogs all summer and now had been gone just long enough that the dogs were starving. They were simultaneously shocked and secretly thrilled (I think!) to find that they were meeting the victim in the flesh. Shannon´s most frequest phrase for a while became "yo soy ella". I am her.
There was also this political undercurrent of the fact that the police do not have the jurisdicition to get rid of the dogs and there are two opinions of the townspeople: one that they should get rid of the dogs, other that it is cruelty to kill them. We did hear though that they had gotten rid of the two dogs. I guess a posse went out in the middle of the night and made the problem go away...unofficially, that is.
We left PDD and went to Colonia, which is a small conlonial town across the river from Buenos Aires where people go to get their passport stamped when they need to extend their stay in Argentina past the 90 day limit. It is a lovely litte town, and we spent the night there an spent an obnoxious amount of money on a dinner that was average and had no alcohol. Colonia is a weekend getaway destination for porteños, so the prices are understandably inflated. It was lovely though and we are glad we spent a bit of time there.
Shannon decided to go ahead and stay after all as our next plan was to go to Iguazu falls and knew that if she returned to NY, she would no doubt feel better quickly and be really upset that she missed Iguazu. This turned out to be true, and maybe tomorrow I will write about that portion of the trip. For now I am going to act like a local and go take a sietsa!
Here are some photos of Uruguaÿ:
http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w190/sweidmann/Uruguay/
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
The verdict is in
So we have assesed the situation and at this point have come up with a mutual decision. All the hot guys in Argentina are noticibly missing in Uraguay. Not that they are dogs, but it is much like being home in good old NYC where more often than not you are not going the check out the guy crossing the street towards you.
Yes girls, in case you are wondering, Buenos Aires is where all the attractive men in the world are living. We have decided that we have not seen one ugly one yet, even down to the little old men. We have decided that further investigation into Argentina is called for, so stay tuned for an update.
In other news, Shannon arrived about a week ago and we spent the time kicking around the city and me mostly stressing about my evening Spanish lesson. No studying during the day makes for more than a few dirty looks at night when I reach IBL and attempt to communicate in what passes for Spanish. Shannon is having a field day with all the new words down here though and the Catellano Spanish, assuming I am even spelling that right...but I digress. Yo is pronouced jo, and ella is ejja which to most Spanish speakers is completely foreign. Over several glasses of wine tonight we are going to need to consider whether the pronunciation contributes overall to the attractiveness of the people. Anyone with an opinion on that should feel free to weigh in.
So here we are today in Montevideo, Uraguay. We got here yesterday on the ferry-bus combination to be warned within the first half hour of our arrivial--both by the taxi driver who then ripped us off, as well as the woman at the hotel--to not leave the hotel with our purses and to only walk on certian streets. Today we can understand why. It is primero de Mayo, which is basically Labor Day to all you on the other side of the Equator and NOTHING is open. There are some shady people on the streets though, so at least we were not totally alone. We have found this internet cafe to be open as well as a couple of restuarants. The requirement for open restuarants seems to be that they must sell pizza. We are OK with this and so will probably head off for a pizza in a little while. We need to be heading to the bus station at 5 manaña, so will make it an early night....which is OK since there is nothing to do. Montevideo is cute and interesting, and perhaps it being all closed may contribute to our feelings, but we have decided we have seen all there really is to see.
Tomorrow we are off to Punta Del Diablo, a beach town near the Brazillian border that has come recommended by both my Spanish professor and my compañero, Fabian. It is off season, so we are assured no one will be there and that will be lovely as we want to spend a few days kicking back, reading, and staring at the waves. There will probably be very little email access and no food, so it should be an interesting time. We are looking to lose some weight anyway, and so will send pictures after our time at the beach!
Yes girls, in case you are wondering, Buenos Aires is where all the attractive men in the world are living. We have decided that we have not seen one ugly one yet, even down to the little old men. We have decided that further investigation into Argentina is called for, so stay tuned for an update.
In other news, Shannon arrived about a week ago and we spent the time kicking around the city and me mostly stressing about my evening Spanish lesson. No studying during the day makes for more than a few dirty looks at night when I reach IBL and attempt to communicate in what passes for Spanish. Shannon is having a field day with all the new words down here though and the Catellano Spanish, assuming I am even spelling that right...but I digress. Yo is pronouced jo, and ella is ejja which to most Spanish speakers is completely foreign. Over several glasses of wine tonight we are going to need to consider whether the pronunciation contributes overall to the attractiveness of the people. Anyone with an opinion on that should feel free to weigh in.
So here we are today in Montevideo, Uraguay. We got here yesterday on the ferry-bus combination to be warned within the first half hour of our arrivial--both by the taxi driver who then ripped us off, as well as the woman at the hotel--to not leave the hotel with our purses and to only walk on certian streets. Today we can understand why. It is primero de Mayo, which is basically Labor Day to all you on the other side of the Equator and NOTHING is open. There are some shady people on the streets though, so at least we were not totally alone. We have found this internet cafe to be open as well as a couple of restuarants. The requirement for open restuarants seems to be that they must sell pizza. We are OK with this and so will probably head off for a pizza in a little while. We need to be heading to the bus station at 5 manaña, so will make it an early night....which is OK since there is nothing to do. Montevideo is cute and interesting, and perhaps it being all closed may contribute to our feelings, but we have decided we have seen all there really is to see.
Tomorrow we are off to Punta Del Diablo, a beach town near the Brazillian border that has come recommended by both my Spanish professor and my compañero, Fabian. It is off season, so we are assured no one will be there and that will be lovely as we want to spend a few days kicking back, reading, and staring at the waves. There will probably be very little email access and no food, so it should be an interesting time. We are looking to lose some weight anyway, and so will send pictures after our time at the beach!
Sunday, April 22, 2007
In the company of a Bush twin....oh the shame of it!
And so begins another chapter in our continuing story on life in Argentina. This is a land where the term "live your life today because you could get hit by a bus tomorrow" needs to be taken quite literally. The sidewalks here are roughly a foot and a half wide, and god help you if you need to pass someone. The buses here are all on some sort of race to the finish and will come to within an inch of the curb. So if you step into the street to pass someone on the sidewalk and a bus comes up behind you, chances are quite good that you will not survive the encounter.
Not only do the buses speed through the street, ringing the bell for the bus to stop so that you can get off is more of a suggestion than anything. For the most part, as they reach your stop, they slow down to a crawl, the door opens, and you jump out, hoping that your feet make contact with the street before the door handle hits you on the head as the bus speeds off. If you are lucky, many people will be waiting at the bus stop to board the bus. In that case, the bus will actually stop--which is good. I am certainly learning some new skills for coordination.
What I am not learning, unfortunately, are new skills of observation. That's right friends, your favorite blonde traveller had her purse ripped off at dinner the other night. About a bottle and a half of wine into the evening in a very busy place, I got drunk, lazy, and careless, and stopped paying attention to the activities of my handbag, which took that opportunity to find something else to do. Biggest tragedy of the night is the loss of my little red book, that has all the contact info for everyone I know and everything I need in it. That and the fact that bank of America says it will take 7-10 days to get me a new ATM card. Huh?? What a joke--I would be in real trouble if it was the only ATM card I had as a week is a long time to go without cash! That and replacing my NY DL will be a pain. They will only mail it to me in NYC and it will take a couple of weeks, so by the time it is received up there and sent to me, I will be somewhere in the jungle of Ecuador. Oh well, guess I have to work it out. Biggest loss number two:: the loss of my favorite, and apparently irreplacable, lip balm. Can't find it in Argentina--but Shannon will be coming to my rescue in a few days with a supply.
Small comfort that one of the Bush twins had her purse snatched in Plaza Dorrego, which is here in my hood, right in front of the secret service a couple of months ago.
In related news, apparently the police officer who made the report for me was trying to pick me up, and I was busy living up to the blonde hairdo and totally oblivious. We went to the police late Friday night here in San Telmo and they told me to go to the tourist police on Corrientes Saturday morning to make the report (supposedly for my insurance, but my deductible is too high and I really just want the police report in the event that I end up with an identity theft situation). I got there and he proceeded to tell me in a mixture of Spanish and English that I had two choices. I admit I had a moment where I was wondering if he was going to tell me that for 20 pesos he could make it much simpler.
If I wanted to list the restuarant as the place of the theft, it was in a different district and we would need to make an appointment for later in the afternoon to go there with an interpreter, etc. to file the report. If I didn't care about the location, they would take me now to the closest precinct on Lavalle calle and file a report saying some guy grabbed it from me on the street. Not giving a shit about the location, I opted for the now option. He called in another officer to take me to the police station and there we filled out the report about my "attack", which apparently now had happened at the intersection of Florida and Cordoba streets.
He asked me if I was single, and then proceeded to tell me 4 times that he was too. He also advised that I should have some Argentine friends to help me practice my Spanish. This is true, and he was really attractive :) but somehow after having a hangover and only about 3 hours of sleep this went over my head......sigh. Maybe it is time to start a new blog about my life and the myraid of missed sexual opportunities because I just wasn't paying attention and seeing the signs...sorry mom, don't read that one. :)
OK, I am outta here for now as I have no money and need to buy a handbag--although thankfully I now have a comb! Roger was nice enough to lend me some money so I could comb my hair...pathetic, I know. Worse than all this is the look of disdain I will no doubt get from my Spanish instructor tomorrow while he tries to decide if I am telling the truth about my textbook being in my handbag when it was snatched, or if I am making up a story about why I didn't do my homework.
Not only do the buses speed through the street, ringing the bell for the bus to stop so that you can get off is more of a suggestion than anything. For the most part, as they reach your stop, they slow down to a crawl, the door opens, and you jump out, hoping that your feet make contact with the street before the door handle hits you on the head as the bus speeds off. If you are lucky, many people will be waiting at the bus stop to board the bus. In that case, the bus will actually stop--which is good. I am certainly learning some new skills for coordination.
What I am not learning, unfortunately, are new skills of observation. That's right friends, your favorite blonde traveller had her purse ripped off at dinner the other night. About a bottle and a half of wine into the evening in a very busy place, I got drunk, lazy, and careless, and stopped paying attention to the activities of my handbag, which took that opportunity to find something else to do. Biggest tragedy of the night is the loss of my little red book, that has all the contact info for everyone I know and everything I need in it. That and the fact that bank of America says it will take 7-10 days to get me a new ATM card. Huh?? What a joke--I would be in real trouble if it was the only ATM card I had as a week is a long time to go without cash! That and replacing my NY DL will be a pain. They will only mail it to me in NYC and it will take a couple of weeks, so by the time it is received up there and sent to me, I will be somewhere in the jungle of Ecuador. Oh well, guess I have to work it out. Biggest loss number two:: the loss of my favorite, and apparently irreplacable, lip balm. Can't find it in Argentina--but Shannon will be coming to my rescue in a few days with a supply.
Small comfort that one of the Bush twins had her purse snatched in Plaza Dorrego, which is here in my hood, right in front of the secret service a couple of months ago.
In related news, apparently the police officer who made the report for me was trying to pick me up, and I was busy living up to the blonde hairdo and totally oblivious. We went to the police late Friday night here in San Telmo and they told me to go to the tourist police on Corrientes Saturday morning to make the report (supposedly for my insurance, but my deductible is too high and I really just want the police report in the event that I end up with an identity theft situation). I got there and he proceeded to tell me in a mixture of Spanish and English that I had two choices. I admit I had a moment where I was wondering if he was going to tell me that for 20 pesos he could make it much simpler.
If I wanted to list the restuarant as the place of the theft, it was in a different district and we would need to make an appointment for later in the afternoon to go there with an interpreter, etc. to file the report. If I didn't care about the location, they would take me now to the closest precinct on Lavalle calle and file a report saying some guy grabbed it from me on the street. Not giving a shit about the location, I opted for the now option. He called in another officer to take me to the police station and there we filled out the report about my "attack", which apparently now had happened at the intersection of Florida and Cordoba streets.
He asked me if I was single, and then proceeded to tell me 4 times that he was too. He also advised that I should have some Argentine friends to help me practice my Spanish. This is true, and he was really attractive :) but somehow after having a hangover and only about 3 hours of sleep this went over my head......sigh. Maybe it is time to start a new blog about my life and the myraid of missed sexual opportunities because I just wasn't paying attention and seeing the signs...sorry mom, don't read that one. :)
OK, I am outta here for now as I have no money and need to buy a handbag--although thankfully I now have a comb! Roger was nice enough to lend me some money so I could comb my hair...pathetic, I know. Worse than all this is the look of disdain I will no doubt get from my Spanish instructor tomorrow while he tries to decide if I am telling the truth about my textbook being in my handbag when it was snatched, or if I am making up a story about why I didn't do my homework.
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