Mocha Fiesta

Entre Rios

2009-07-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

Benjamin tomó su primer mate! No le gusta mucho pero ahora ya esta!

Sobre el puente de provincia de Buenos Aires y en Entre Rios provincia. Nosotros vamos a Gualeguaychu a visitar Chris y su familia y tambien a ir la carnaval. La Carnaval en Gauleguaychu es muy famoso y popular en todo Argentina. Por 10 fin de semanas, mucha gente van a Gualeguaychu para la fiesta. Yo estuve poco decepcionado y aburrido porque esto era muy lento y sacado. Despues cuatro horas nosotros salimos y todavia no era terminado. Me gustaria la fiesta, pero dos horas fue bastante.
La proxima dia era excelente. Nosotros eramos muy suerte...fuimos la Fiesta del Caballo...me encanta. Millones de gauchos, caballos, riquisimo asado, vino tinto. Yo compre un cuchillo, muy bueno y una manta para los caballos que uso en la pared en mi casa. Nosotros veiamos un juego muy divertido con hamsters en los cajas...divertido pero no divertido tambien! Los gauchos son muy listo y los demonstraciones eran muy excepcionales-que bueno!
Estabamos nadando en la playa Ñandu Baysel ... mirar los fotos. Ñandu Baysel esta una playa en el Rio Uruguay...muy bueno. Me encanta las paraguas alla...no hay nada como estan paraguas en Nueva Zelanda. Necesita que tomar su propio paraguas.
Nosotros viajamos arriba la provincia a Las Palmares, un parque nacional con arboles Palmares. Estupendo! Nunca en mi vida tengo yo visto tantas palmeras que cultivan au naturale. Muy hermoso. Y los carpinchos salvaje tambien, era muy hermoso. Nosotros quedamos en el carro de tren en desuso. La cama fue muy comoda y fui muy cansada, entonces dormi muy bien.

Nosotros pasamos un dia en las termas de Salto, Uruguay....divertido. Yo encontre una pareja muy buena para practicar mi espanol. Yo compre una carpa para carpamiento entonces nosotros tenemos mas dinero para alimentos y cosas mas bien mas que dormir.

Nosotros tuvimos una experiencia muy divertido cuando cruzar la frontera a Uruguay. We tried to use the wrong side of the customs exit when we were in the car.....the guard came over and by this time we knew we were in the wrong place.....and Elias very genuinely said to the guard "como te va?", like there was no reason why should not be where we were.....the guard just smiled and pointed us in the right dirrecion, but it was really muy divertido, and we have been laughing about it ever since. Thank God there are some guards around Argentina with a sense of humour.

La Pampa

2009-02-21T17:01:00.001-08:00

Elias familia

Mendoza

2009-02-21T16:59:00.002-08:00

Vino Tinto - mmmmmm divino
Aconcagua and Andes - spiritual
Cabalgatas -
White Water Rafting -
Hamaca Paraguayas

San Juan

2009-02-21T16:59:00.001-08:00

Valle de la Luna
Rodeo
Las Flores
Mountain Road - muy peligroso

Rodeo y Las Flores
Las parejas muy buena…compartir bebidas y sandia con nosotros. Buenisimo!

La Rioja

2009-02-21T16:58:00.001-08:00

Parque Nacional Talampaya - espectacular, magnifico, sin palabras.
Nosotros montamos unos bicicletas y entramos en este cañon hermoso. La temperatura estaba probablamente cerca a 40 grados o mas tal vez....pero esto valió la pena cada gota de transpiracion.
El guia encontró una pluma de el condor y nos lo dio....la pluma fue muy grande. Just as quickly and easily as we got it, NZ Customs took it off us and destroyed it, because they are trying to discourage trade in endangered species, of which the Andean Condor is listed. I think that is terrible.....not only did we not buy it (it was found in the wild), they then destroy it, instead of putting it somewhere where other people can see it, like in a bird museum or something.....I wouldn´t have minded so much if that was what they did, but to destroy it is a crime. So the photo is a very unglamorous me after a 14 hour flight standing at NZ Customs before handing it over.

Córdoba

2009-02-21T16:56:00.000-08:00

Capilla del Monte - OVNI town
Los Terrones - espectacular
Ongamira - Las pinturas se faltan
Córdoba la ciudad
Alta Grácia - Flying Fox
Villa Belgrano - Brunnen Beer

Capilla del Monte - Córdoba
Sierras, Los Condores, UFO’s, Leyendas
Driving through the Punilla Valley we found Cerro Uriturco, the highest peak of the Sierras Chicas which is the backdrop to this very picturesque town. A lively little place with the excellent Calabalumba campsite….which includes a lovely man with a very lovely basket with even lovelier homemade food al dentro which he was selling to campers - I had the most riquisimo banana, coconut y dulce de leche torta in the world….so riquisimo that I found I needed more, so I had go for a walk and find him and his basket and buy another.
An interesting conversation that buzzes around this town is the amount of OVNI sighting and energy centres that have occurred here. While we were driving around we saw at least two houses that were built in the shape of OVNI´s.
A short drive out of Capilla del Monte….Where los Cóndores fly…..a memorable journey up a very long 5km dirt track brought us to Los Terrones. Oh the indescribable beauty…multi coloured rocks in strange twisted shapes. We walked for two hours up to the top – sadly no Cóndores, but such a magnificent view from the top of the world. I loved this part of the country.
On to Ongamira to see the grutas….another 12 kms of dirt track…Elias’ poor car…and when we got there – no paintings because they have been “lost”. Very disappointing to not be able to see the ancient art works of pre-hispanic people and to think that they are lost forever is very very sad, but we had a great walk.

Alta Gracia
At the northern entrance to the Calmuchita Valley and the town where Che Guevara spent some of his youth in the 1930s. There is a really great museo dedicated to Che…it has his motorcycle, school records and personal correspondence to family, clothes that he used during his life as a revolutionary and many photographs. Gained a greater insight into his life.
Stayed at the worst camp site in the world here....it was totally awful....but we were there for the best ever international food fiesta. Its was totally buzzing.

Villa Belgrano
El mejor cerveza en el mundo – but even better than that was the ride across the river/lake on the flying fox….brilliant! so glad we took the time to come back and do this the next day.

Donde a Empezar ... Wandering Around Argentina

2009-02-21T16:36:00.000-08:00

Estuve el mejor adventure con mi hijo Benjamin y mi amigo en un millon Elias ... no se donde a empezar. Al principio es un lugar bueno,

I have had the best adventure with my son and my friend in a million ... i dont know where to start but I guess the beginning is the best place .... read on above

¿Two to Tango?

2009-01-17T14:47:00.000-08:00

Zorzal Criollo (Creole Songbird) was a name that Carlos Gardel was known by. Argentinas most well loved and famous tango singer, Gardel is buried in La Chacarita Cementerio and his tomb is the most visited in Buenos Aires, if not Argentina.

Today I visited the tomb - it certainly is very impressive...topped by a life size statue of him in a very rakish pose, the slicked back hair and wide grin in place...usually there is a real cigarette between his fingers and sometimes a red carnation in his pocket (check the photos), certainly there are always flores at his grave. In fact while I was standing there an old man came and laid some hastily picked flores there. There are several flower stalls outside the gates to the cementerio for this purpose. Amazing! The surrounding stonework is completely filled up with plaques of gratitude from all manner of people and from all over the world. One plaque is from a very grateful mujer whose husband suffered from depression, and she attributes his recovery in a large part to her husband being able to listen to the songs of Carlos - its very lovely to read the tributes.

The great Argentine writer Borges wrote that "the Tango was born in the brothels", nobody really knows where Tango was born, but it certainly developed amongst the Porteños....the people of the port areas of Buenos Aires....and its bordellos and bars. It is generally agreed that Tango was born in the melting pot of all the the different European immigrant groups, crillos, blacks and natives, that were all drawn together when the city became the capital of Argentina in 1880. "Tango was thus forged from a range of musical influences that included
Andalucian flamenco, southern Italian melodies, Cuban habanera, African candombe and percussion, European polkas and mazurkas, Spanish contradanse and the milonga, which is the rural song of the Argentine gaucho. It is a music imbued with immigrant history." Because of the proportionalely high population of men compared to women, machismo and violence became part of the culture and originally only men danced together in the low class cafes and bars practicing new steps. Their dances tended to be showy but threatening, usually revolving around a possessive relationship between two men and one woman.

While visiting the barrio of La Boca en Octubre I was lucky enough to see two men dancing the Tango together - it was really something and extremely physical and showy. Photo below.

While I was at the cementerio I met a very lovely man who proceeded to take me the tomb of Carlos Gardel and gave me a very quick run down on the man...for about an hour, and I am pleased to report that I understood almost everything he said. Some people I find very easy to understand but others are so very difficult. However, today I felt very encouraged...I just wish my speaking would come along. My reading and listening has improved so much, but the speaking bit is so difficult. I am so worried about it that I think I many have developed a mental block.

Ahora en Castellano:

Zorzal Crillo era un nombre que Carlos Cardel era conocia. El era mas amado y muy famoso cantante de tango - es terrado en el cementerio de la chacarita y su lapida esta el mas visitado en Buenos Aires, si no en Argentina.

Hoy visite el lapida y seguramente esta estupendo. Una estatua esta arriba el lapida y usualmente hay un cigarillo entre sus dedos y a veces hay una flor en su bolsillo, y siempre hay muchos flores en su lapida.

Breakthrough

2009-01-10T05:57:00.000-08:00

The most amazing thing just happened.....
One of the most difficult things to do when listening to a new language is to understand people on the telephone, and up until now it has been a bit "hit and miss" and most of the time I cant do it because of the speed that native speakers talk.
Well, the phone just went, and it asked me to wait while they transferred my call...I thought to myself shall I just hang up and save myself and the poor person on the other end the stress of trying to understand, because ususally these calls are about something I have no clue about and doesnt concern me anyway because I rent the apartment....but I thought, no, I´ll give it a go - and brilliant, brilliant, brilliant...I understood everything, well not exactly every word but I knew what they were trying to sell...they were trying to get me to change cable television and internet companies and were offering a special deal. Very encouraging.

Navidad en Argentina

2008-12-30T14:49:00.000-08:00

Yo celebraba navidad en Lujan con la Familia Montiel. Navidad empezar aca en 24 de diciembre y familias y amigos reunir juntos a pasar el buen tiempo, compartir comida y vino y para hablar. Usualmente hace mucho calor y este navidad fue no excepción.
Elías empezó el asado aproximadamente a las 17. El encendia el fuego y encima de parilla fue Señor Cerdo. La aroma de asado llamar a la puerta, esta tiempo! vamos a comer! Y en la mesa pusimos pobre cerdito.

Miran los fotos.

I celebrated xmas with the Montiel family in Lujan. Xmas begins here on 24 December and families and friends get together to have a good time, sharing food, wine and talking. Usually it is very hot and this xmas was no exception.

Elias began the asado at approximately 5pm. He lit the fire and on top of the parilla was Mr Pig. The smell of the asado knocked on the door and announced, "its time, lets go and eat". And on the table we put poor piggy.

The Çorrection
Yo celebraba la navidad en Lujan con la Familia Montiel. La navidad (se celebra aqui) empieza aqui el 24 de diciembre. Las familias y amigos se reunen aqui para pasar un buen momento, hablar, compartir comida y vino. Usualmente hace mucho calor y esta navidad no fue LA excepción. Elías empezó (A HACER) el asado aproximadamente a las 5 (de la tarde). El encendió el fuego y encima de la parrilla, (PUSO/fue/apoyo) el cerdo. El aroma del asado golpeó nuestra puerta, y estaba listo! Vamos a comer! En la mesa servimos el pobre cerdito. Miren las fotos! (you all look at them)

Note

Aqui and Aca both mean here. In Argentina most people appear to use aca - i think in Spain it is more common to use aqui, pero some folk aca use aqui also. Entonces, aca o aqui...eso es la cuestion?

Hace Muchisimo Calor

2008-12-30T14:09:00.000-08:00

Hay solamente una palabra a describir Buenos Aires en este momento - calor - estoy muriendo. En realidad estaba mucho calor desde el fin de octubre y a menudo la temperatura esta entre 30 - 38 grados. Gracias Dios por aire condicionado - esta necesario a dormir con el aire condicionado andando. Espero que estar valiente a saltar en el fuente con esta personas.

Right now there is only one word to describe Buenos Aires ' hot ' I am dying. Really is has been hot since the end of October and often the temperature is between 30 - 38 degrees. Thand God for air conditioning ' it is necessary to sleep with the air conditioning on. I wish I was brave enough to jump in the fountain with these people.

I took this photo from El Diario La Nacion

Los Taxistas y las problemas con monedas

2008-12-10T12:41:00.000-08:00

Mi experiencia con los taxis durante mis viajes es que ellos son muy caros. En Nueva Zelanda yo nunca uso taxis.
En Buenos Aires hay muchos taxis – la mayoría de ellos conducen como los maniaticos. Esta muy sorprendente que no haya mas accidentes….pero, bueno - me encanta los taxistas en Buenos Aires - la mayoria de ellos son muy amistoso y amable aunque algunos son gruñones. Hace un mes cuando fui al aeropuerto para buscar Adam, el taxista me canto un tango y tambien me ayudo con el idioma....fue muy bueno.

Even the smallest excursion to the kiosco requires careful planning of the finances almost down to the last cent. Por que? Porque, no hay bastantes monedas en Buenos Aires. Es un gran problema porque necesito monedas para el subte, el colectivo, para todo. Dos veces en la semana pasada fui en el subte gratis porque no habia monedas para cambiar.
Muchas personas apuntan sus dedos en direccion de las companias de colectivos quien ocultar algo – pero, no se. aLa unica buena cosa sobre este problema: los taxistas a menudo cobra $10 cuando vale $10.20.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1859249,00.html

My experience with taxis during my travels is that they are very expensive. In NZ I never use taxis. In Buenos Aires there are lots of taxis - most of them drive like maniacs. Its surprising that there are not more accidents. But, well, I love the taxi drivers in Buenos Aires - most of them are very friendly and kind but some are grumpy. Last month when I went to the airport to meet Adam the taxi driver sang me a tango song and also helped me with speaking....it was really good.

Even the smallest excursion to the kiosk requires planning down to the last cent. Why? Because there ae not enough coins in Buenos Aires. It is a big problem because you need coins for the subte, buses for everything. Twice last week I rode the subte free because they had no change to give.

Many people are pointing fingers at the bus companies who hold onto the coins - but I dont know. The only good thing is that taxi drivers often only charge 10 pesos if the ride was 10.20 because they have no change either.

Chimmichurri :)

2008-12-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

Me encanta chimmichurri, especialmente en choripan :). Me encanta choripan tambien...esta muy sabroso especialmente en el asado. El flavor es muy riquisimo y queria aprender como hacerlo. Que suerte que yo se el mejor Chimmichurri maker en el mundo.

Las fotos dice el historia. No se todas las palabras en castellano pero necesitar parsley, ajo (garlic), pimenton, oregano, pimiento, sal, aceite de soja, vinagre. Esta mas rico cuando left por dos o tres dias.

I love chimmichurri, especially on choripan. I love choripan too...it is very tasty especially on the asado. The flavour is delicious and I wanted to learn how to make it. How lucky that I know the best chimmichurri maker in the world.

The photos tell the story. I dont know all the words in castellano but you need parsley, garlic sweet pepper powder, oregano, salt, pepper, oil and vinegar. It is best left to sit for two or three days.

The Correction

Me encanta el chimichurri, especialmente en el choripan :). Me encanta el choripan tambien...es muy sabroso especialmente en el asado. El sabor es riquisimo y queria aprender como hacerlo. Que suerte que yo conozco la persona quien hace el mejor Chimichurri en el mundo.
Las fotos cuentan la historia. No se todas las palabras en castellano pero se necesita perejil, ajo, pimenton dulce, oregano, pimiento, sal, aceite de maiz y vinagre. Es mas rico cuando se deja macerar por dos o tres dias.

Muchas gracias Elias

Sharing Mate

2008-12-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

Mi amigo Fernando hacias mate por Adam y yo. El flavor de mate es muy distinto de otro te's. Me gusta mucho tomando mate pero algunas personas piensan que mate es un gusto adquirido - como Adam :)

Tomando mate esta muy comun en Argentina y esta un signo de amistad. Casi five kilogramos de promedia por persona por año esta consumido - más de 4 veces la cantidad del café.

La palabra hierba es espanol para herb y yerba es un diferente spelling uso en Argentina. La palabra mate es do Quechua y significa taza (cup). Entonces Yerba mate por eso esta simplamente "cup herb".

My friend Fernando made mate for Adam and I. The flavour is very diferent to other teas. I like drinking mate but some people think that it is definitely an acquired taste - like Adam :)

Drinking mate is common in Argentina and is a sign of friendship. On average about 5kg per person per year are consumed - more than four times the quantity of coffee.

The word mate is from Quechua and means cup. Yerba mate therefore simply means cup herb.

At the Zoo

2008-11-25T14:41:00.000-08:00

Alguien dice me....todo pasa en el zoo. Creo que si, creo que si, es verdad
Es un viaje liviano y animado, desde el lado este hasta el parque

Un lindo y animado paseo - al Zoologico

Y los animales se encanta que si haces.

Someone told me...Its all happening at the zoo. I do believe it, I do believe its true.

Its a light and tumble journey, From the east side to the park;

Just a fine and fancy ramble - To the zoo.......

And the animals will love it, if you do.

Tuve el mejor tiempo ayer en el zoologico de Lujan - el mejor zoologico en todo el mundo para mi.

Check out the photos to see why.......

A Happy Meeting

2008-11-16T14:03:00.001-08:00

Scottish Country Dancing - A Very Happy Meeting Indeed

Hace mucho calor pero, que divertido! Hacia aproximadamente 30 personas bailando todo la noche

2008-11-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

This entry is a work in progress. I am trying to put everything from the trip north into Castellano. So, it will be added to and changed. :)

Hace dos semanas, me dirigí al noreste argentino por nueve dias. Tenia mucha emocion porque quería a ver a los monos en su hábitat natural. Sin embargo, los monos no queria jugar el partido conmigo. Cataratas del Iguazú es un lugar muy especial y muy hermoso, con muchos animales y aves autóctonas de Argentina. Vi carpinchos, coaties toucans y mariposas de muchos colores. En Iguazú hace más calor que en Buenos Aires, por eso es muy dificil a dormir. Fui en la lancha a ver tres fronteras. Estaba muy interesante porque poder ver tres paises en el mismo tiempo.

Despues Las Cataratas, visité Minas de Wanda y Ruinas de San Ignacio por un dia. Espectacular, pero la mayoría de la gente es muy pobre, lo cual es triste en un pais con muchas posbilidades.

En Esteros del Ibera habia mucha lluvia, yacaré esta en todas partes y carpinchos fueron caminar en la calle.

Durante mi viaje, encontré muchas personas simpáticas.

Esteros del Ibera

2008-10-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

El mejor cosa sobre viajando esta que encontrar personas muy amable y amistosa. Tenia encontrar muchas personas muy buena. También esta grande para mi español porque necesite que hablar mucho a la gente.

The best thing about travelling is the kind and friendly people that your meet. I have encountered so many very nice people. It has also been very good for my Spanish because I needed to talk alot.
Much as I would like to, I cant take the credit for this monkey photo. My camera just couldnt see them in the trees....I promise they were there 'monkeying' around. The only reason I knew to look up cos there was probably something there, was because something hit me on the head. One of them threw something down at me.....Little Monkeys!

Esteros del Iberá Natural Reserve is located in the province of Corrientes. The word Iberá is formed by two words of the guaraní language: ¨Î¨, water, and ¨berá¨, brilliant. The Castilian translation is something like Shining Water. It is another truly magical place where you can find many species of flora and fauna native to Argentina. Many Yacare (alligators), carpincho, curiyu (yellow anaconda) - I didnt see any of these as it wasnt the right season for them to be around much, and many impressive bird species.

Ruinas de San Ignacio

2008-10-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

The Ruinas de San Ignacio are also a declared UNESCO site. They are located at San Ignacio which is about a five hour drive in the collectivo from Iguazu along the road to Posadas, going along the border with Paraguay. It is a very small town, probably quite alot of poverty but they have the wonderfully well preserved ruins there. The photos show the mission at night, me sitting in one of the rooms and the main street down to the ruins with the street vendors all along the footpath. We stayed the night there and next morning caught a bus to Posadas. I sat next to a very lovely local lady named Marta who happily chattered away to me in Castellano for the journey - very encouraging because I could understand and speak with her with little bother.

Cataratas

2008-10-29T03:51:00.000-07:00

Parque Nacional Iguazú was created in 1934 and the sub-tropical rainforest covers an area of approximately 67,620 hectares. It is now a declared UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This natural sanctuary is located in the far NE and experiences extremely high levels of humidity. The Iguazú River flows for approximately 1320km until its outlet in the Paraná. Its width generally varies between 500 and 1000m however within the park it broadens to 1,500m. A sudden drop in altitude here is the reason for the impressive water falls which form the main attraction of the park. Iguazú (Yguazu in Guarani) means Y = agua and Guazu = grande, entonces translated means Big Water.

The park is renowned for its natural heritage. There are numerous varieties of butterflies, the most impressive are bright blue and as big as your hand - spectacular! The Toucan, which you would swear is an enormous stuffed toy...until it flies - stunning. Tambien, many plants and other birds and animals, insects abound. Carpinchos, Coaties, Monkeys - the list goes on! So very impressive. One of those things you really cant describe the splendour of - you need to see it for yourself.

Went on a launch boat with two very amiable chappies - Nelson and Oscar - we shared the mate, and also went to Los Tres Fronteras, which is the confluence of the two rios (Parana y Iguazu). There, you can almost reach out and touch three countries - Brasil, Paraguay y Argentina. All very close to each other. If it wasn't for the Yacare (alligators) you could swim betwewen all three in a matter of half an hour or so. See the photo - Argentina is on the left, Brasil on the right and Paraguay straight ahead. And thats us sharing mate in the launch. Later that evening we shared an asado together - great way to end the day.

Temaiken

2008-10-11T03:06:00.000-07:00

Rosemary y yo fuimos al Temaiken. Temaiken esta el mejor zoologico en el mundo - en serio! Para mi, los flamencos eran el mejor....muy hermoso, barbaro. No podria creer el color - muy intenso. Era como un pequeño niño - mis ojos no podrían parar el mirar de ellos.

Rosemary and I went to Temaiken. Temaiken is the best zoo in the world-seriously! For me the flamencos were the best...very beautiful, amazing. I could not believe the colour - very intense. I was like a little child - my eyes could not stop looking at them.

Tambien, el mono - he tenido siempre una fascinacion con los monos. Este mono no tuvo gusto de su foto tomada y él saltó en mí - afortunado el vidrio estaba allí.

Also the monkey - I have always had a fascination with monkeys. This monkey did not like having his photo taken and jumped at me - luckily the glass was there. Check out the link below.

www.temaiken.org.ar

En Buenos Aires es que bueno donde puede a ir para un peso. Nosotras viajemos por una hora y quince minutos en el collectivo para conseguir ahi para solamente cinco pesos. Para un peso puede ir dondequier en el subte - muy barato.

In Buenos Aires it is amazing how far you can go for one peso. We travelled for one and half hours on the bus to get there for only five pesos. For one peso you can go anywhere on the subte.

Calath en el Cruzat

2008-10-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

Becripes mis amigos – estoy en mucho ‘flitters’ (una Marian palabra)…esta fantastico cuando paso algo excelente. Cuando fui el Fahy Club encontre Elias quien esta en un band se nombre Calath y hacia cosas escoses y irlandes. Mi amiga Silvia y yo fuimos a ver Calath en viernes en la noche – muy bien amigos, muy muy bueno! Mirar el foto de Elias – el saltado en la silla – yo fui muy positivo el fue caer en mi regazo, pero no suerte para mi…

Ellos tienen bueno repertoire de canciones y tunes (no se la palabra en castellano), y tocar fiddle, guitarra, acordeon, tin-whistle, bass, banjo, mandolin - disfrute mucho!

Muchas gracias to Elias para el correction below:

Elias:Becripes mis amigos – estoy en mucho ‘flitters’ (una palabra de Marian)…es fantastico cuando pasa algo excelente.Cuando fui al "Fahy Club" encontré Elias quien está en un banda que se llama Calath Mi amiga Silvia y yo fuimos a ver a Calath el viernes a la noche– muy bien amigos, muy muy bueno! Mirar la foto de Elias – el saltado en la silla – yo estaba muy segura que el iba a caer en mi falda, pero por suerte, no lo hizoEllos tienen un buen repertorio de canciones y tunes (melodías)y tocan (for they play) fiddle, guitarra, acordeon, tin-whistle, bass, banjo, mandolin - disfruté mucho!

Cumple Dolores

2008-10-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

Mi cumple regalo …de mi, a mi… fue un visitar a el dentist – muy procrastination (no se la palabra en castellano) amigos. Quien gustan voy a dentist – no yo seguro!! Si, mientras en Salta y Jujuy mi diente rompio – no solo uno, pero dos – increible!! Por eso 600 pesos y mucho duele despues, tengo el mejor dientes en Buenos Aires. El mas peor cosa cuando no puedo comer el riquissimo empanadas para cuatro triste dias.

More Teacher Speak

2008-09-24T04:45:00.000-07:00

I love the little primary class I am in - I am observing the teacher and helping the kids who I notice are a bit stuck on something. Here are a some more words that I hear the teacher use often with the children:

Entendiste? Did you understand? (to one student)
Entienden? Did you understand? (to the class)
Terminaste? Are you finished? (to one student)
Terminan? Are you finished? (to the class)
Puedes pegar en el libro Can you glue it in the book
Miren el libro, pagina ... Look at page ... in your book
Sentate bien! Sit down nicely, properly (that kind of thing)

I will note down the classroom rules and post them soon.

Nueva Oficina

2008-09-24T04:07:00.000-07:00

I have a funny story - well we (Silvia y yo) think it is funny and I think you will too. I really hope its not one of those occasions where "you had to be there"...........
Whenever we have a break - Silvia y yo that is - we nip down to the fab cafe which is only five minutes walk away (and has very handsome waiters I might add) for a quick cafe con leche. Well, we always sit at the same table ... a little apart from most other tables so we can take up more room without disturbing others. Silvia usually sits on a bench seat so we can put down the monton of papers and books that we seem to carry around with us, and spread out using two tables, so we can mark childrens work and have professional discussion, as well as partake in the very fine cafe that the establishment offers - our very own little "office space away from the office" you might say!
Anyway, ayer (yesterday) someone was sitting in our seat - can you believe the cheek of it. We stood for ages (15 seconds) just looking in disbelief...we chose another very little table to sit at and before we even got sat down our 'usual' waiter came over and pushed the table next to us to join our table so we could have another office space - it was really very funny and then, as I was putting the papers together I asked if they had scissors that I could use - well, Silvia nearly fell on the floor laughing because that probably seemed quite cheeky. Well, I got my scissors and next time I might try for a stapler too :)
Once we got settled, the handsome waiter, instead of asking what we would like, (they have stopped bringing la carta (menu)), asked "would we like cafe con leche mas leche y medialunas dulces - we are that regular and predictable...its great!
Well, that was part of our day at the office...made us smile, and provided a chuckle during the remainder of the day as well. I will take my camera next time and take a photo to post down the side.
My job now is translate all that into castellano.

Teacher Speak

2008-09-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

What would I do without Pablo - a true godsend! I have not been able to get into any Spanish classes in the school that I work in, but Pablo last week organised it for me - so for the last couple of months of the school year I will hopefully learn alot from the Spanish teachers. Today was my first day and I loved it. The children were 6 turning 7 and of course their English is better than my Spanish but they will be a big help for me. I will learn alot from the teacher about teaching, and lots of new vocabulary from the children.

Here are some of my 'teacher speak' observations from today:
Que ti parece? What do you think
Que dice? Que dice aca? What does it say/What does it say here
Vamos a poner la fecha, prolijo Put the date, tidily
Vamos a cambiar el libro/cuarderno rojo Change to the red book
Escuchenme Listen to me
Mira Look
Buena Good
Ta! This is a gap filling word - means ok or something like that
Vamos a ver Lets see
A ver que dice? Lets see what it says
Levanto la mano por favor Put your hand up please
Muchas gente caminando ... Too many people walking around the classroom
Tarea para la casa Homework

I thoroughly enjoyed myself today. I have a whole new set of names to learn, but the little children are great. What was interesting to me is this: Second Language Learning here is given three hours per week, and we have to struggle to provide 90 minutes a week - priority needs to be placed on time - these children speak well and they have been only learning for one year. They are also very good at their other subjects and are not below par because of having to learn English and the time taken to do it ... very interesting.

Bebiendo el Mate

2008-09-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

Mate is the traditional beverage of Argentina...it is a fundamental part of life. It is a strongly caffeinated tea like drink which is drunk from a hollow gourd about the size of an apple. You fill the gourd with the herb, it is then filled with hot water (not boiling) and then drunk through a metal straw (bombilla) that has a perforated end so you can drink the liquid without getting the leaves into your mouth. I need to make clear that the mate is both the drink and the gourd that you drink from.
Mates can be fashioned from anything - wood, with intricate traditional silver carvings, a bulls horn, metal-but most are made from a gourd. The actual herb is called yerba and it is grown in the warm provinces of Misiones and Corrientes in the north.
Mate customs are vary from person to person, but there are some fundamental practices that are important. There is one server - called a cebador - who takes charge of serving the mates. The server serves themselves first (presumably to make sure it is just right), the mate is then passed from person to person. Each person drinks the entire contents of the mate and then passes it back to the server who refills the mate and passes it to the next person. You do not say gracias until you do not want any more mate. After several rounds the mate becomes diluted or llavado (washed) so the server will either change a portion (ensillar) or all of the yerba in the mate. This continues until the last person has decided they have had enough mate...which could be the better part of a day sometimes. When it is your turn to have mate you are not to take too long over it or you could be reminded the mate "no es un microfono!".
Last week we shared mate in class. Pilar, a chica en la clase es el mejor maker of mate. It really is a nice littel ritual, but does go against everything we teach children in health about not sharing spit. But I will continue to drink mate while I am here because I like the social interaction and the drink - if Pilar makes it.

My Feet

2008-09-02T17:35:00.000-07:00

Oh What Bliss - Barefoot - Estoy seguro mi soul esta en mi planta. Silvia y yo fuimos el rio de la plata y I would never have believed I was just outside the centre of Buenos Aires. We took our zapatos off y nuestra pies disfrutamos el gentle mimos del cesped. Nosotros caminamos el parque para tres horas. Fue muchas cometas - this string was particularly eye catching!

El Mundo de Empanada

2008-09-02T04:35:00.000-07:00

Whether they are cebolla llenado salteñas, cebolla y choclo con salsa blanco llenado san juaninos, tomate y varioso quesos en la tucumanas, cordillera y champignone de Patagonia or finely ground cabra en el jujenos …yes I ate a poor wee cabrito … empanadas esta el mejor comida en el mundo. El San Juaninos y La Morada en Bario Norte tenes el mejor empanadas en Buenos Aires if you ask me. Mi mejor favorito empanadas esta choclo – muy rico!!
Y, Mayumi y yo cocinado nuestra primer choclo empanadas hoy. Riquisimo!! Nosotros sentimos orgulloso de nuestra cocinando aptitud.

Salta y Jujuy

2008-08-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

Argentina's north west ... El Noroeste ... is a landscape of infinite beauty, wonder and variety. Deserts with flocks of llama, vicuña and guanaco, blindingly white salt flats, cerro los siete colores, sugar plantations, tobacco fields, montaña's that go on forever.

This region is the birthplace of Argentina - the Spanish colonised and thrived here while Buenos Aires was a struggling trading post on the Atlantic Coast.

From Salta we went to Cafayate ... where I bought four bottles of good wine ... when I say good they had better be because they added a significant weight to my luggage and I lugged them around the whole week. Cafayate has the perfect combination of temperature and humidity that provides the ideal environment for the growth of sweet and deep flavour of the grape. The streets, its houses and mainly its people was a pleasant experience - we were lucky enough to encounter a foclori (spelling?) fiesta when we arrived. It was a real treat. The drive to Cafayate from Salta was a feast of paisaje increible - we passed through the Quebrada de Cafayate where we were treated to a visual symphony of rock formations, Cactus spiking the scenery, La Garganta de Diablo (The Devils Throat), El Anfiteatro - a natural amphitheatre where one lady from our tour started to sing - beautiful! There were musicians and all sorts of artesans - of course...you know me...yo compre mas earings y jewellery.

Climb Every Mountain, Ford Every Stream

2008-08-25T17:38:00.001-07:00

The pueblo de Iruya is 2800 metres above sea level in the Andes. Access is by collectivo - a bone jarring bus trip on a narrow dirt track which crosses stony river beds and winding through a stunningly beautiful and narrow valley from the town of Humahuaca. The road (track) is so narrow that you question how you are ever going to be able to get past the oncoming bus, but you do - albeit with views from the dizzying height of 3900 metres at Abra del Condor pass which where you cross from Jujuy province back into Salta province.

Iruya is such a beautiful pueblo snuggled into the hillside with steep (very steep!) cobbled streets and a timeless atmosphere. Nosotros dined for every meal at Tina's place - check out the photo opposite for a picture her with her ricissimo empanadas.

We went to the pueblito of San Isidro by caballo, a two hour walk away and then returned. This was a highlight for me porque on our return we saw four condores pasando overhead. Truly graceful birds riding the warm thermal afternoon winds. Very special to see the Condor...now I can really relate to my favourite pieve of music El Condor Pasa.

Muy loco conduciendo

2008-08-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

Esta muchos reparacions en mi calle y los calles cerca a mi departamento. Hay muy grande problema con el trafico. En el calle los coches tocar la bocina todo el dia. Muy Loco. Yo sace los fotos de la ventana en mi mansion. Its like they think that tooting horns is really going to make a difference. It is very loud in the apartment - funny thing is the man next door just went out onto his balcony (right beside me) and started shouting at the motorists down below - one of them wound down his window and was shouting back and this carried on for a good five minutes until the traffic moved another three meters down the calle.

Ahora yo estoy empezando mas (more) seguro en mi castellano. Yo siento la lengua tener mas sentido para mi. Thank goodness because I was beginning to feel muy desperado, even though yo se enseno mucho.

Brasilenas y Kiwis

2008-08-04T06:09:00.000-07:00

Chris y yo visitamos el lugares de interes de Recoleta ayer con ella's companeras de Brasil. Me encanta caminando la feria Recoleta. Yo estoy mirando un hombre de Africa quien hace bolsas de cuero... pero no suerte :(
Nosotros terminamos el dia con cafe a Acassuso - of course! (pictured)

El Espectaculo - Hairspray

2008-07-31T05:18:00.000-07:00

WOW! El noche pasado Chris y yo fuimos a el spectaculo 'Hairspray'. El espectaculo estara muy excelente. Me encanta el interpretacion de Enrique Pinti (Edna) y Deborah Dixon (Garganta). Por solo 50 pesos, que barbaro!

Los Vistas, Suenas y Olores de Buenos Aires

2008-07-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

Las Vistas

Ponchos, challinas, buffandas, gorros

Las Suenas

Street musicians, tango, mucho gente, muy hermoso edificios

Los Olores

Garrapinadas, chorizo, incense, cafe

Antes ayer Chris y I fuimos La Rural ... que es Field Days Argentine estilo ... mucho caballo's, vacas, gallos y gallinas, conejas, artesanals, musica, vino y queso (yum...nosotros compramos tres botellas y un pequeno queso y aceitunas). Check out the photos down the side opposite.

Ayer nosotros fuimos la ferias de Recoleta (again) and San Telmo. It is impossible not to be seduced by the sights, smells and sounds of la ferias. We hadn't been to the feria de San Pedro Telmo before and we were completely taken with the appearance of decaying luxury and the theatrical nature of this barrio.

A little history... The grand mansions in San Telmo were owned by the wealthy of Buenos Aires but were abandoned after the outbreak of the Yellow Fever epidemic in 1871. These mansions have mainly been converted into bars and antique shops of which there are many and the superb architecture of the barrio attracts many artists and bohemian types. Un hombre daba gratis abrazos :) Check out more photos opposite.

Nosotros ademas visitamos el museo 10 minutos de mi departamento. El fue gratis y hay pinturas de Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, sculptures by Rodin - muy intersante.

Home Again

2008-07-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back in Buenos Aires and I must admit that I felt like I was coming home as I flew over the city ready to land. I love this city.

Yo fui escocia por tres semanas pasado y pasaba bueno tiempo con mi familia (mis primas Elspeth, Sheena y yo pictured). Nosotros estabamos a Isla de Skye y vimos castillos, montanas y lochs. El Castilolo Eilean Donan (pictured) es particularly hermosa.

Yo empezo mi clases de espanol otra vez en la proxima semana. Ahora la escuela es en vacacion por dos semanas y Chris (el otra profesora de Nueva Zelanda) esta quedando con mi en mi casa...mi mansion. Yo disfrute estuve la escuela a ver los estudiantes y mis amigos otra vez.

Taking a Break

2008-07-18T04:02:00.000-07:00

Just so you all know - I'm in escocia at the moment and returning to Buenos Aires on 23 July. Will update my blog then. I have had a week of serious spanish swot - learning the conjugations of the verbs ser, estar, tener, hacer, haber, ir - now i just need to be able to put them into practice.

Que Bárbaro

2008-06-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

En viernes de la tarde yo fui el Ballet Contemporaneo con Silvia del Teatro San Martin. Que bárbaro...truly. It only cost 5 pesos ($2.20) and was world class. They performed three short pieces 'Excusas para el Dolor', 'Bolero' and 'Journey'. Bolero was particularly good and directed by Mauricio Wainrot who is fairly well-known.
Before the show we had the obligatory coffee and lenteja for lunch. I dont think it is possible to have a bad lenteja.
Un bueno cosa el Gobierno here does is support the Arts in a grande way. Hay mucho teatros y Porteños are bueno theatre goers. Along Avenida Corrientes there is a theatre in each cuadra almost, a veces dos - one on either side del Avenida. Fantastico!

Garrapiñadas y Matambre

2008-06-30T03:24:00.000-07:00

Alejandro and I had a day of eating and drinking coffee today (Sabado). I took him to the Gallego Bar in Palermo. The photo below is of some street art along Honduras Calle just along from the Gallego Bar. Yum! Tried new food - Garrapiñadas are sweet peanuts that have been roasted and covered in the most delicious sweet coating. You can get almonds like it as well. Mmmm very delish. We went to Plaza Francia to get some last minute gifts for family and he bought me a sandwich for lunch which is called matambre - a cold meat. The word matambre means to "kill the hunger", which it certainly did...it was mas grande! The photo is of Alejandro at the stand buying the garrapiñadas.

On Saturday night, we went to Chinatown - so many Chinese restaurants in three blocks. Chinese food is the same the world over - I had roast pork fried rice - when it came out, honestly there was so much and only 12 pesos (about (NZD$5). Eating out here is very inexpensive. I think I have probably only cooked twice - why would I cook when there is so much delicious food to try. My favourite food was locro - a traditional soup, but now Lenteja (lentil based kind of stew) has become my favourite. It is 'que lindo'. It has a little meat (very tender beef), vegetables and the lentils all mixed together with a sauce that I cant describe. I will have to learn how to make it.

Caminando en el Parque

2008-06-16T15:09:00.001-07:00

Today was a public holiday in Buenos Aires. I decided to take the opportunity and go for a walk without the hustle and bustle - it was amazing to see almost the whole of Buenos Aires closed down for the day. I walked to 9 de Julio, the wideset avenue in el mundo - takes three light crossing to get across, and then on to el torre de los Ingleses and Plaza San Martin. Plaza San Martin is an enormous plaza and everywhere there were people sitting and enjoying the sunshine - many Argentine lovers locked in a romantic clinch, dogs laying in the warmest spots they could find, a man entertaining himself and a small crowd by balancing and bouncing a ball all over his body for about 20 mins without dropping it (honestly!), people reading - I wish I'd taken my book to read as well. The plaza boasts the biggest tree I have ever seen - I will go back with my camera and take a photo so you can see it too...it had special stands made to support the branches that had spread so very far....well you can see not even half of the tree, but it gives a good idea of the size of it. I imagine it is a haven for homeless people to sleep because it has many nooks and crannies to shelter in. The Monumento a los Heroes de la Guerra de las Malvinas stands in Plaza San Martin. It is a simple black slab that is inscribed with the names of all the soldiers who fell during the conflict. It is permanently guarded by two guards from the navy, army and air force on a rotational basis and has an eternal flame that symbolises Argentinas persistent claim over the islands. Interestingly, after the 1982 conflict there was talk of demolishing the tower but instead it was officially renamed Torre Monumental. There are still alot of strong feelings among the Argentine folk, young and old, about the Malvinas.

Political Situation

2008-06-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

The political situation here is fairly dire and has been gearing up for the two and a half months that I have been here. The road blocks continue with protesters preventing traffic from passing, there is also a fuel strike today.

The caserrolas were out again yesterday around where I live from about 3pm in Buenos Aires, and they carried on into the night outside the Presidential residence. I couldnt believe what I was seeing on the TV up near Gualegaychu - the police were armed in riot gear and there was a tank that advanced towards protesters pushing them back. They arrested and dragged off some of the protesters. It will be interesting to see what is ultimately going to happen. The President has now apparently stated that the increased taxes will be used for the poor but nobody believes her - what were they going to be used for before is the question?

Below are some links to read a bit about what is going on here. Has any of it made the news in Aotearoa?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/15/2274936.htm
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aNeUyu503UVU

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7584342

http://www.clarin.com/diario/2008/06/15/um/m-01694834.htm

Un muy lindo bolsa de un muy lindo hombre

2008-06-15T12:29:00.001-07:00

Today I went down to the Recoleta Market (again) to look for a bag. After about an hour I came across a very interesting stall and a lovely man helped me...also shared his red wine with me I might add. He deserved my business after sharing his wine with me-I never would have thought I would be standing at a stall trying to decide which bag to buy and sharing a glass of wine with the stall owner - only here in Argentina I think! Anyway I bought a very useful purple bag that ties around the waist - a bit like a sporran - come to think of it, thats probably why I liked it. Anyway here are a couple of pictures of me doing the tango - well posing at least! Chris and I spent a a few days together and visited La Boca, San Telmo, the Gallego Bar .........we have many pictures of us sitting at cafes and eating delicious food. I think my shape may be changing.

Un Caballero Encantador

2008-06-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

No its not Antonio ladies...and mmmm I have to admit he may surpass Antonio. Such a caballero and so very chivalrous...its very nice I have to say. Que lindo! If you want to know more you'll have to ask me by posting a comment. Maybe next time you look there will be a photo.

Pots and Pans

2008-06-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

Argentinians take to the streets banging their pots and pans together … or as the case was last night from their balconies … to show their disapproval of the government's economic policies. The pot is called cacerola (looks remarkably like casserole) and the action of the beating of the pot is called cacerolazo.
Back in 2001 Argentina was facing a massive financial crisis. Having defaulted on a loan to the International Monetary Fund, tens of thousands of la gente lost their hard earned savings when the peso was devalued, and countless more lost their livelihoods. The banging of empty pots and pans is the way that the ‘normal’ Argentinian is able to express from their casa the fear of either (a) having no food or (b) the cost of living being so high in comparison with salaries and that food is very expensive.
I'm not sure how far back in Argentinian history this form of protest goes, but I think it started well before 2001. I have to do a lot more reading and talk to more people about this subject but this is how I understand it at the moment - The debate is between the farmers (el campo) and the Government – the Government is attempting to raise export taxes. The problem is that many of the farmers are smaller holding farmers and they can not afford such a hike in taxes, while on the other hand many of the farmers are fairly affluent landowners who own land and also live in Buenos Aires or elsewhere, and who probably can afford the taxes. I suppose it’s a bit like being stuck between a rock and a hard place…how do you create the necessary balance while maintaining fairness in democracy. Is this where the ‘survival of the fittest’ notion applies? I will continue to find out more about this because it is very interesting.
Alejandro, if you are reading this post it would be good if you left a comment telling what you know and your opinion about the whole 'el campo' debate would be interesting.

Que Idea Mas Ingenioso

2008-05-31T05:50:00.000-07:00

We had a bomb scare at la escuela en Miercoles...dont get too excited, apparently this is not unusual around exam time and happens on a regular enough basis not to be taken too seriously as far as personal safety is concerned. It was taken seriously as far as disruption to the day was concerned though. I realise it is not at all funny, but it was I cant think of a good word to describe the whole event...unbelievable, mind boggling, curious.......
I was flabergasted at the response by school management - were we all sent home as a 'just in case', not on your nellie, however the gas was turned off all over the school and as it was the 'freezingist' day to date all year everyone was mucho helada. This just shows how often it does happen. I'm sure that every possible opening in the school was open as well just to add to the freezing effect and as punishment for whoever made the call. They are not actually sure that it was one of our students because the neighbouring school also had a bomb scare at the same time. All in a days work!

Teacher Speak

2008-05-31T04:57:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for mentors - Thank you Jeanne. This part of the experience had completely slipped my mind for now and I need to get on to it because time really is flying and before I know it I will be home. I have been concentrating mainly on just listening till now and trying to hear the different sounds and trying to hear and differentiate between words. Sometimes when people are talking to me it sounds like one big long word and I get completely lost. That is a characteristic of portenos speech- they speak very rapidly in comparison to people who live outside of BsAs.

This week I will get myself into one or two of the primary Spanish classes in the school so I can listen to the teachers in there and record any formulaic type expressions that I hear. Up until now I have been used in the bi-lingual part of the school and have only worked in English speaking classrooms, so I am hearing no Spanish at school unless the students speak to me in Spanish because (a) they either forget that I am just learning and they rattle of something really quickly, or (b) they are checking my progress. Anyway, todo bien.

Some classroom expressions that I have heard are: you probably already know these but this just shows they really are used by native speaking teachers here - something I think we sometimes wonder about when we are using another language that we ourselves dont hear other people speaking and using.

Eso es - means 'thats right'

Claro - also means thats right or of course (things like that)

Sigue asi - means 'keep it up'

Bueno - means 'good' or sometimes is just affirmation like 'si'

Que lindo/a - means 'its nice' or 'how nice' etc

Buenisimo - means very good need to check the spelling of that one. It doesnt look quite right but I have been taught that there are only two consonants in espanol that are ever doubled - they are ll and rr. However it looks like there should be 2 s's to my eye.

Que divertido - means 'how fun' or 'what fun' etc

If any students from San Miguel are reading this please leave me a comment and add some of your own expressions that you hear teachers using (nice ones please-you know what I mean) or maybe expressions that students use in the classroom, either to the teacher or to each other - that would be really good. Muchas gracias.

The photos above are of the third year class (equivalent to year 11) - wouldn't you like to have class sizes like this all day, and the other photo is of Sebastian (2nd year) and I taken at the school.

Colonia, Uruguay

2008-05-26T16:43:00.000-07:00

Tengo mucho fantastico tiempo en Colonia, Uruguay. Hay mucho antiguo colonial edificios y mucho bueno vino tinto y comida.

Chris and I crossed over the Rio de la Plata on the slow boat, a three hour ride - we were so tired because we are fast adopting the Argentine culture (and enjoying it I might add) and we had a very late night and a fairly early start to the morning. So we boarded the boat feeling a little jaded, and I didn't even realise we had boarded the boat - I thought we were in a departure lounge...silly billy.

Uruguayans are obsessive mate drinkers. You see the people walking down the street with their mate in their hand and a flask under their arms...there are even leather satchels designed specifically for the purpose of touting around your thermos and mate.

Colonia is a world away from Buenos Aires in terms of hustle and bustle. It has a very relaxed atmosphere and a very laid-back ambience. I loved this town. It is now a UNESCO world protected site. The quality of its very old architecture is stunning and I just couldn't take my eyes of the beautiful buildings and cobbled streets. The people are also very friendly - and would you believe it we bumped into three other kiwis over there.

I enjoyed the best fish meal I have ever had in Colonia - Sea Bass with vegetables and a delicious cream sauce - very memorable. And the vino tinto is definitely worth writing home about.

La Boca and Football

2008-05-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

This barrio is probably best known for its football team, Boca Juniors, for whom the legendary Diego Maradona played. As it happened he was there when I was - charging 10-20 pesos for a photograph of yourself with him. Well I managed to get a picture of the back end of him. If you look carefully at the photo he is in the bottom right corner wearing his light blue and white striped (Argentinian colours of course) Football shirt with a no. 10 on his back. He has a person walking in front of him and behind him most of the time so you cant sneak a picture...except for me that is. It was quite by accident cos I was taking a picture of the buidlings and didnt even know he was there.

I went and looked at the stadium where the games are played - it is impressive - I would love to go to a game there. There is a picture of the outside of the stadium - the story behine why the team wears blue and yellow goes like this...they were playing a game against another team - River Plate I think - who also had the same colours. It was decided that whoever lost the game would have to change their colours. Well, Boca lost and they decided that the colours of the flag of the next ship that came into port would be their new colours - it was a Swedish ship.

The third photo is of some local lads playing football - one of them may be the next Diego.

The last picture is just some graffiti - i found the message interesting.

La Boca - La Beautiful - La Busy

2008-05-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

La Boca is an array of multi-coloured wooden and corrugated iron houses. The houses were built and painted by the resident dock-workers, of mainly Italian descent, who used leftover materials and paint from the ships. The most famous street, Calle Caminito, possesses the best of the painted houses and is where artists, street performers and tango dancers congregate daily.

Tango was developed in this neighbourhood and, in the 1920s, children from wealthy families would come here to dance the dance banned elsewhere in Buenos Aires. You find many tango shows going on in this area and the fantastic musicians, well I was in heaven!

La Morada - Delish

2008-05-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

Well, it really does pay to talk to the locals about the best places to eat. Silvia and I had lunch today at another best cafe ever. See photos above and on the blog side bar for photos. We had yummy empanadas - I had carne picante (spicy beef) and Silvia had carne suave (not spicy). They make the pastry themslves and you can really tell the difference between the homemade stuff here and the supermarket bought stuff in other places. We also had locro, a traditional chowder type soup with chorizo, bacon, lentils, vegetables - like I said delish - and a very nice glass (rather large one) of red wine. And all for such a good price - 30 pesos ($13) for 2 glasses or wine, a huge bowl of soup and two empanadas...and atmosphere as well.

Pablo - Muy bueno espanol profesor

2008-05-20T17:04:00.000-07:00

Yo pensio Pablo is excelente profesor de espanol. El es paciente as el santo porque yo no bueno estudiante. A veces yo no completo tarea y a veces yo no acodar que yo aprender.

El otra fotografia esta el mucho bueno clase en el mundo. Such good kids - a real pleasure to work with and talk to.

Yo pienso que Pablo es un excelente profesor de espanol. El es paciente y un santo porque no soy muy buena estudiante. A veces no completo la tarea y no me acuerdo lo que aprendi.

La otra fotografia es del mejor grupo del mundo. Que buenos chicos!!! Un verdadero placer al trabajar y hablar con ellos.

It Takes Two to Tango

2008-05-18T16:37:00.000-07:00

I never thought I'd be able say I danced the Tango at a Milonga ... but tonight I did ... and it feels great. I went with Mary to the Confiteria La Ideal. An old man got me up and we danced the Tango and the Milonga. There are very definite codegas para bailando el tango. When you go alone las chicas all sit around tables and los hombres just sort of wander around (on the prowl so to speak). The point of going to the Milonga is to dance and that is the only consideration, so when you are looking for someone to dance with you dont care whether they are old, young, fat, skinny, beautiful or not because you are looking to dance, and nothing else. The men all walk around the women, its probably important to have seen her dancing so that you know you will get a good dance and then they go away. They ask you to dance by catching your glance and giving you the 'eye', and the woman accepts by nodding her head. She then stands and he comes over to collect her. Quite a ritual.

The tango that was danced at this milonga was traditional tango rather than the hollywood version we tend to see on TV shows at the moment. It is beautiful to watch, and I would say when you can dance it is very beautiful to dance as well. Of course my tango skills are sadly very lacking (not for long), but I felt very 'cool' just being walked around the room. I told the old man who danced with me that 'yo no se tango' (I dont know Tango) and he replied 'aprender caminando' (learn by walking), so I really appreciated him. Traditional dancers of tango turn their noses up at the 'touristy version'. The authentic tango is much more simple and beautiful to watch. You hold each other very close (very close and tight) from the chest up and dont touch at all from the chest down, in fact you need the space to execute the foot work. All the men are very strong leaders, which was also really great to watch. There is absolutely no mistaking what he wants the woman to do...and she does it. I am going to go back and take lessons at this place.

The Milonga is the place where you go to dance, and it also a dance. The music is faster than the tango. The tango music is very slow. Then you also have the waltz tango which has three counts but is not like the waltz as we know it at all. So those are the three types of dances.

Tonight there was also some folklore music ad dancing - Chacarera which is Gaucho dance from Las Pampas.

I've had a great weekend, but now its time for bed because I am muy muy cansada. Work in the morning :( Why do we have to work - it spoils all the fun!

Homeless People

2008-05-18T11:58:00.001-07:00

I was quite disturbed today as I was strolling around in the sunshine enjoying the outdoors - I walked through a park where there were at least five different homeless people. Look closely at the first photo - there is a homeless person circled at the back of the photo and not 10 metres away a family (also circled) is sitting having a picnic. There is another person asleep under the cardboard and the last picture shows the man and his dog - everything he owns is in the black plastic bag he is using as a pillow. There were many people enjoying this small park just ignoring the homeless people around. I'm not blaming them - what are they supposed to do? It just struck me as very ironic and I felt a bit cheeky taking these photos but I wanted to highlight the disparity between the people here - the gap just continues to widen.

Monuments and Statues

2008-05-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

There are dozens of monuments and statues around barrio norte where yo vivo. Many of them are of the countries military leaders usually astride a great stallion. They dominate most of the green spaces around the barrio. In fact, one little plaza I walked through today had an enormous statue in the middle and in each corner were fairly substantial statues as well. Borges, the famous Argentine writer once complained "there wasn't a single square left in the city that hadn't been ruined by a dirty great bronze statue or someone or other." I thought was quite funny.

The first photo is of a rather serious looking chap called Ruben Dario (I think...the engraving is practically illegible now) who I guess was a writer - I must check that.

The second photo is of Bartolome Mitre who founded the very influential newspaper called La Nacion.

The third photo is of Uruguay's General Artigas - a guide describes it as being unfortunately quite facist looking.

The Middle East in Buenos Aires

2008-05-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

With its broad expanses, well-tended lawn, minarets, and palm trees, the Centro Cultural Islámico brings a little bit of the Middle East to Buenos Aires. It is the largest Islamic centre and mosque in Latin America. At night, the two minarets are lit and cast a striking contrast with the surrounding apartment complexes behind it.

I would like to have visited here with Hilal while she was still here, but unfortunately time was not on our side. It is muy hermoso y muy tranquilo. There are free tours on Martes and Jueves at 12 mediodia, so I think I will go back. I was 20 minutes too late for the tours today.

The project began under the influence of former President Carlos Ménem, who (though Catholic at the time of his presidency) is of Syrian Muslim descent.

Los Perros Vida ... or maybe el Gato

2008-05-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

El perro - a seemingly essential accessory for the Porteño. The photos above depict a typical Buenos Aires eccentricity - El Paseoperro (the Dogwalker). It is not unusual to see young men and women walking the streets with large bunches and not so large bunches of dogs. Dog walking is a very serious profession. The serious paseoperro also grooms the dogs and looks after their health as well as taking them for their daily walk. The paseoperro is usually a veterinary student and it seems that seniority is shown by the amount of dogs in your group. I have seen some walkers with more than 20 dogs in tow. You cant help but wonder why they dont get all tangled up with each other, but its amazing - they dont - they just all walk along calmly like brothers down the street.

Porteño s love their dogs and in winter time a lot of their four legged friends stroll down the streets wrapped in their dog coats or other funny pieces of winterwear.

I went for a lengthy walk through Palermo and Barrio Norte today - cats and dogs seem to be the theme of my pictures. I walked through one park that had the most incredible amount of stray cats. They were all reasonably fat so I dont know who feeds them, but there were at least 50-60 in the small part of the park I walked through. I took a particularly nice photo of one of them drinking from the fountain.

Check out more photos of dogs and cats down the side of the blog.

Light Fingeredness

2008-05-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

This picture is of a typical cobbled street in Buenos Aires. They are so beautiful to look at besides keeping the traffic to a reasonable pace.

Well it probably had to happen at some stage, and today was the day. Some little @#$%%^&* knicked my wallet out of my bag on the subte. I have spent the afternoon down at the Turista Police station with an extremely mucho mucho handsome policeman, which was a bonus cos I would prefer to have been walking down to Puerto Madero where I was headed to pick up my ceiidh ticket (the difference between normal police and the tourist police is that tourist police speak English).
I cant even say I felt it happen other than being very heavily pushed as I was boarding the subte. Obviously very well practiced at their job. AFS has been really great and has lent me money until replacement cards arrive and the bank will quickly send new cards.
It was quite stressful actually - I only noticed because I went to pay for something and then couldn't find my wallet. And then you go through the whole 'it must be here' or 'i must have left it at home', but then I had to pay for the subte and my return ticket was in my wallet.
A lesson learned..I will buy a new bag with a zip - although the thieves here also cut the straps of your bags to get what they want as well...so, you just dont know.

Compare and Contrast

2008-05-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

Buenos Aires is certainly a cuidad of contrast. Today we drove to San Isidro which is in the northern part of the cuidad. Very flash – apparently that is where the Government officials and company directors all live. I have been assured by a very reliable source, that although it is a very posh area it is also very dangerous because of that – you know, the criminal element hang out there because the goodies are that much more desirable. I think he was trying to pull my leg because it seemed very tranquil to me and I certainly didnt see any shady types loitering behind the trees or in hedges.
Well I started to pack my bag for the big move in the Capital Federal. Even though I started off with one bag and had the very honourable intention of keeping to that, I appear to have accumulated some extra “stuff” – I’ve found that I’m very predictable…you only get one guess as to what those acquisitions might be – a wrap, a scarf or three, earrings – a chica’s got to have what a chica’s got to have…right???
We had a chicas night last night – no boys allowed. An evening of great merriment was had – funny isn’t it? Girls are the same the world over – we laughed a lot and talked about everything there was to talk about. A very late night – didn’t get home till 2am.

Peculiar?

2008-05-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

I just saw the funniest thing - well it struck me as being quite comical - I was driving down the road on my way home and I came upon a horse waiting at the petrol station on the corner.

Sherri, Sherri – Wherefore Art Thou My Hairdresser?

2008-05-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

Mis amigos, what am I going to do? Chicas, as we all know there’s nothing quite as important as a girls hair. I’m desperate for a haircut…really desperate…bordering on inconsolable distress. If your hairdresser really loved you she would come to Argentina for the weekend just to sort out the hair crisis, so I could be seen in public again. I’m sure people are starting to point and laugh. I’m finding it really difficult to go to the hair salon – peliqueria – what if they cant understand me and it comes out all wrong – unimaginable misery. I think I will start to hide it under a scarf and grow it longer, but then there is the problem of the blonde bits that would appear and it would look like there was more than there really are because of the long hair – cos really there aren't that many (I swear).

Well, mi muy guapo hijo has appeared in his first publication - looking extremely suave I must say. Bride and Groom Magazine, the May - July edition - check it out - photo above. I'm a muy proud madre.

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

2008-05-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

Not - Fat chance of that happening. I move into an apartment this week - completely furnished and on the first floor, but sorry to say tiene no gato - no gato could replace my lovely Fergus anyway. This will be an interesting experience for me as I never in my whole life been by myself for any length of time. There is so much to do in BA and it seems that it really comes alive at night time. I am going to be living in Recoleta - about three blocks from Colegio San Miguel where I work, and about 10 blocks from the school where I will attend espanol language classes in the afternoons. So everything is nice and close. The subte (underground) is very close also so I have quick access to public transport when I need it as well. Its only about a half hour walk into the city centre so I am set. Mis amigos - I will email you all the address so you know where to send presents or at least where you may come and visit. I will take a couple of photos of the apartment for my next posting, and of the view - and of the lift - lifts in apartment buildings (actually not just apartment buildings - its everywhere), here are not like lifts in NZ, they are the old fashioned ones that you need to open the grill-like doors yourself - they are like a cage and so you can see everything on the outside of the lift as you go up and down. I discovered that the doors are not automatic after waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the lift to arrive - in the end the security man came over, smiled very nicely to me (probably thinking 'tonto' (idiot)) and opened the doors for me.

Last night I was down at the local rugby club (Los Toros - I think I may have mentioned them before - if you would like to hark back to the haka incident) and would you believe it - next week they are playing against a visiting team from Aotearoa (Auckland, but we wont hold that against them) called the Dandelions. Apparently they are a team that you can only join by invitation, so the team here are really hoping that there might be some ex All Blacks to play against.

The photos above are of a llama (pronounced shama) and the floralis generica which is a monument to all flores. The amazing thing about this monument is that it opens to sun and closes at night time - pretty cool!

Caballeros and Caballos

2008-04-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

We went out for the day to Mataderos where we were able to see caballeros playing on their caballos. Muy interesante. Muy muy fascinating indeed. The entertainment was fantastico - lots of dancing and music......and caballeros on caballos which were so exciting. They have to ride their caballo flat tack down the road towards a very tiny ring that is suspended from a bar which they ride under. They have to aim very skilfully with a stick (as small as a pencil) and put it through the ring and ride off with it on their stick thing. If you look carefully I have circled around the ring he is aiming for - its right in the middle of my circle. Very few managed to do it but some did and there was a great cheer for their success. One particularly clever caballero managed to do it twice in a row. Gracias to Francisco for giving me this photo - they were riding so fast that from where I was standing I only managed to get the caballos tail on the side of my photo.

There was another act that was remarkably like poi but the ends were metal and they were banged on the floor as they were swung and along with their feet clicking on the floor, they created a percussive rhythm which was estupendo. I have tried to upload video but cant seem to get it to work properly. I'll show you when I get home.

Have a look at the picture of mois...see what I'm standing next to...the black post is an original post that was used to tie up caballo's back in the 'old days'. Its in pretty good knick as well.

The fair was crowded with people and the atmosphere was buzzing. I was so tempted to buy every woollen wrap I could find but I was very restrained. Today it is freezing cold so I wish I had. It was 6 degrees this morning - a huge change from what we have been having for the past week.

Blabber Mouth

2008-04-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought I could talk for so long...this morning I gave a talk at the Universidad de Moron - dont laugh at the Moron name you English speakers...the accent goes on the last syllable...so Mo-RON.
I was asked to go in and talk about NZ. I enjoyed the experience and managed to speak for over an hour...who would ever have thought I could manage that. It was a Tourism and English class combined, so the students seemed to enjoy it as well.
At the end they presented me with a gift (regalo) - a university pen (very nice), a book of short stories in Spanish and a brochure from the university detailing courses that offer for people learning Spanish "espanol para extranjeras" :)

The photo is of some of the estudiantes with me - my moment of fame!

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

2008-04-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

Buenos Aires has been covered in smoke the last few days. It wasn't too bad until yesterday when I started getting really sore eyes and dry throat. I took these photos of the sun at about 1pm on Thursday, so that gives you some idea of how dense the smoke has been and how dark the city has been.

Check out these articles from the newspaper:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7355723.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7356919.stm

Today the wind has changed direction, the sky is clear and the sun is shining. Thank goodness for that.

Busking Babes

2008-04-20T08:17:00.001-07:00

This is Raymi - one of the best buskers I have ever heard. I was mesmerised by his music. I bought two of his CDs...one is traditional native music the other has some traditional music and some popular tunes like Tears in Heaven etc. My favourite tune is El Condor Pasa which I now have in about cuatro variations on my iPod. All the musicians here play it with their own variation and every time I hear it I say to myself "this is the best one I've heard yet", but of course I've said that at least four times now and that is not including the Simon and Garfunkel version. I'm having trouble uploading the video clip - sorry!
We also watched an entertaining Tango demonstration - see what I mean about Argentinian men not being afraid to dance...they will even dance together. It turns out that Tango may have originally been danced by men and women entered the scene later on.
I came across another busker on the street the other day who was also playing traditional music on his pan flute - very beautiful and quite complex - but the amazing thing was he was accompanying himself on his guitar. That must be really difficult to do.

A Day out with Hilal

2008-04-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

Spent a lovely afternoon with Hilal yesterday. We pounded pavement for about 3 hours - Hilal in her heels :(

We had coffee at El Gato Negro (The Black Cat) - established in 1668 or some other date a very very long time ago. The building is now historically protected. Here is a lovely photo of Hilal looking very ladylike. We had coffee coffee from costa rica and two lovely medialunas.

Porteno's pride themselves on their literacy and there are literally hundreds of bookshops (probably thousands) all over Buenos Aires. This photo is taken in one of them. There are old books, new books, any sort of book you could possible want. There are many books about Che Guevara.

We looked at some very old buildings (photo included above). The buildings are very beautiful but I imagine living in them might be a bit drafty. They also have very little light because as the buildings are all joined together on the sides, they can only have windows at the front and back.

The next two photos are taken inside a very old and beautiful building that is now a four level shopping mall. Chicky's you would be very proud of me....there are soooo many scarf, hat, earring and acccessory places here - but I have not yet succumbed to temptation. Actually I tell a lie - I did buy one nice little pair of earrings but the day after I bought them a lost one down the plug hole while I was showering - not impressed!! I have to remember that I am here for a year and I dont need to rush into buying everything I like - because apart from anything else how will I get it all home.

Gobsmacked

2008-04-18T04:54:00.001-07:00

Here is the photo of the Gallego bar that I frequent for coffee. I took this photo off someone elses blog. It appears to have been taken by a newspaper along with an article which I have included. Simon sent me the link to this blog and I could not believe my eyes when one of the first photos I looked at was this cafe I have been raving about. I thought the coffee maker was old, but I didnt think he was that old. I have included a link to the other blog at the bottom of this post.

The article appears below:

This is the bar of Emilio Sangil, 78 years old, located in one of the most fancy corner in Palermo Hollywood. He’s been offered seducing amount of money to sale his bar, but up until now he refused all of them. As he said” I’m 78, I have no interest in selling, at this age, I don’t want any more adventures”, and he went on adding “I already feel surrendered here.” I gotta go visit this bar one day, this is the kind of story that I like and that makes me smile :=)

http://www.akworld.net/webblog/

La Familia

2008-04-17T08:07:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos of the family I am lucky enough to be staying with. They are such very welcoming and lovely people - I am very grateful :)

Agustin and Juan (18 and 7) cooking the asado (bbq), Inez and I (grandmother of the children), Patricia and Lourdes (the mum and 15 year old daughter) and Jose and Patricia at Palermo Soho in Buenos Aires.

Rugby Sevens - Argentine Style

2008-04-16T10:33:00.001-07:00

This is how you distract the other team and keep their mind off their game - see the dancing girls, and it was a freezing cold day:

I had the pleasure of spending Sunday at a Sevens Tournament. It was fun but extremely freezing. Winter has arrived with a vengeance in Argentina. It has gone from singlet weather on Friday to 563 woollie layers weather by Saturday.

In the evening (they call it the afternoon but to me 6pm is definitely getting on to evening time) on Sunday I went to watch Jose's team play. The club is Los Toros (The Bulls) ands they were playing a team that had two ex puma's in it. Of course I had to have my photo taken with one of them - he had even been and toured NZ as a Puma and played in Hamilton.

I was given a present (regalo) by the club, simply because I come from the Land of the All Blacks, but wait for it, I had to perform the haka - haha haha - I couldn't even pretend to know the words and actions because believe me they ALL know it over here. It was really funny, and besides I had had nowhere near enough Quilmes to drink to do a good job of it.

The day concluded with an asado put on by the club - now the argentinians really know how to BBQ - this was something else, and of course dancing - and thats another thing, Argentinian men are not afraid to dance. An excellent day!

Rocks and Hard Places

2008-04-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

I feel stuck between a rock and hard place - the olympic flame is in Buenos Aires today and I really want to go and see it. Buenos Aires is the only city in America that is receiving the flame (if I am understanding the news properly - questionable seeing as how I am only on level one Spanish). However my principles tell me not to go because I disagree with the Olympic Games being in China . There is a huge protest from the Chinese community and from the Tibetan community going on and I support their cause. Why should a country that doesn't have equal rights for their citizens have the right to host the Games - surely there is a responsibility that goes with the privelege and honour of hosting such an important world event. What do you think? Anyway I'm not going, but I will watch it on TV.

Gastronomic Delight

2008-04-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

I have found the best coffee maker in the world (certainly in Argentina) - a little old man in the El Bar Gallego (actually two little old men) . I have to say to my fellow coffee chicks...I think the coffee might be better than Jacks and that is saying something. The Gallego Bar is in Palermo which is extraordinarily pretty and green...it has wide cobbled avenues with balconies overflowing with flowers. The Gallego bar by contrast is down a side street, is fairly untidy (bordering on dirty) but the coffee and the style of the bar came highly recommended by Jose and I have to say he is right...who cares about a little bit of dirt if the coffee is good right. Has anyone seen "the bucket list" a film with Jack Nicholson? Please dont tell me the coffee has the same origins as the coffee on the film - something to do with dog poo additive!! I shall try and post a photo of the bar - I am having problems uploading photos, but I shall do my best. Because of this brilliant 'find', my daily routine is going to change. Instead of catching the subte (subway) from Palermo to Recoleta, which is about 6 stations away, I am going to walk to work so I can linger every morning and experience the delight of this very fine coffee, and yarn to the 'little old man' who is very happy for me to practice my espanol on him. Oh I forgot, another gastronomic delight here is the medialunas that come with the coffee mmmmmmm, I'll have to be careful not to go back home twice the size that I left.And, empanadas ... finger licking good!

A Global Community

2008-04-16T08:17:00.002-07:00

I have had my first two days of Spanish class this week and the global nature of the community(ies) in which we live has certainly been made clear. There are six students in the class, one from France, Kenya, Korea, Turkey and another girl from Christchurch in good old Aotearoa...and our teacher is Brazillian - how is that for international diversity. (That is my class above)

After having a language proficiency test (oral) they decided I should be in level one ... I could have told them that for free - I certainly didnt need a test to discover my shortcomings in speaking Spanish - anyway level one Spanish in a Spanish speaking country is hugely different to level one Spanish in an English speaking country. It is way more difficult. The good news is, I can only get better - right????

Evita

2008-04-16T08:17:00.001-07:00

Well today I played tourist and visited el cementerio la recoleta - a truly amazing place. Evita's tomb is here which is what I was really interested in seeing. (The photo with me in it is beside her tomb). This cemetery is in the grounds of a monastery which was set up by Franciscan Monks in 1720. The current cemetery was inaugurated in 1822. The barrio (suburb) is called Recoleta because the area is/was very tranquil which was deemed perfect for meditation or recollection hence 'Recoleta'. The cemetery is a city within a city, with different architectural styles and fashion using marble, granite, bronze, stone. You walk in the gates and are greeted by a huge towering statue of Christ, from which you walk along avenues and calles (all named) lined with giant vaults and tombs resembling churches and houses...some are simple and others bombastic masterpieces! It has a mixture of marble and flowers and little plaza's. Relevant players in Argentine history lie here - presidents, poets, writers. It is a lovely place (strangely) to wander in peace and quiet, exploring narrow calles and wide avenues among the yew and cypress trees.

Handsome Argentinian Hombres

2008-04-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

Yes - Argentinian men are certainly well above average in the looks department - however........having 20 of them squashed up against me in the train doesn't do it for me I'm afraid. Two days ago I made the error of catching the train home at 6pm - muy grande mistake! It was ok when I got on at the beginning of the line, but by two stops further on I was in a sardine can - and, I had lost count of the number of stops we had made (because I still have to count the stops to know where to get off cos I dont recognise where I am yet) and I could not longer see the map on the wall cos there were too many people on the train. Honestly they were having to hang out of the doors and windows - not exaggerating - I was worried I was going to end up in Rio before I could get off. As it was I nearly lost my laptop because I was holding on tight to it but unfortunately it wasn't taking the same path off the train as I was - my arm is now 350cm longer because I was not letting it go. There were two casualties during this experience - one of my ear rings broke (tragedy) and my middle finger got dislocated. One of those interesting experiences that one must have, but never ever repeat again!

No Fruit and Veg For Me

2008-04-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

The political situation is fairly dire at the moment as the farmers have beeen picketing the roads in about 400 places around the country for the past 15 days. They are blocking fresh produce completely and also delaying all traffic. Bus journeys that normally take 13 hours instead are taking 25 hours - imagaine the frustration for travellers. There is also a shortage of fresh meat in the supermarkets - all the freezers and refrigerators are empty. So, no fibre in my diet this last week and it is not looking to promising for the next week or two either - my bod is objecting strenuously to this state of affairs.

I had the day off school today and tomorrow is a public holiday ... celebrating independence day ... so after going into the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) I played tourist for a while. Whilst wandering the street I walked straight into the middle of a political rally called by the Government to try and turn the people against the supporting the farmers. I think that most people here support the farmers cause. Funny thing was a reporter from the radio tried to interview me - we fumbled through with mixed English and Spanish (Spanglish) and found that I had the wrong end of the stick completely - I thought the rally was the farmers petitioning the Government but instead, it was the other way around...never mind, my Spanish is improving daily.

Chau for now

Man-sized Ants

2008-04-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

You would not believe the size of the ants here ... honestly, they are at least 20 times the size of ants from Aotearoa. You cant even squash them when you walk on them - and believe me I have tried...they just look a little stunned, get back up, shake themselves off and carry on with their business.

First Impressions

2008-04-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

Argentina is such a vast country....flying over it seemed to take almost as long as actually seeing land after all that ocean. Unfortunately I was having a zzzzz when we flew over the Andes. The south of Argentina was very very brown with some beautiful lakes dotted around, the it quite quickly changed to being green as we approached Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is massive - 14,000,000 people.

The poverty here is very obvious. The roads are in ¨not such good knick¨ with holes everywhere, not just little ones...these ones you could lose a cow in. The drivers are mad...there are no painted lanes on the road so consequently people drive all over the road and just stop when they feel the urge causing mucho blaring of horns and shouting. The taxi I was in to come to my host family didnt know how to read the speed limit sigh that said minimum 50 maximum 100 because he was hooning along at 135 :( The most interesting site last night was a man riding along on his smallish motorcycle with his family of four children squashed in front and behind him, all the while dodging the potholes and none with helmets on. I didn't have my camera at the ready but here is another photo that I took when I did have my camera - at least one of them is wearing a helmet.

My host family are lovely and the people are very friendly. This morning I visited the school where I will start work tomorrow - Colegio San Miguel - a private Catholic school in the barrio of Ricoletta...miles from where I am staying. School facilities are very different to modern NZ schools. The admin block in this school is one room not even the size of our Student Centre with three desks squeezed in and very dreary - but they are happy.

I am feeling muy muy homesick - missing everyone I love. I think that once I have my mobile sorted (hopefully tomorrow) and skype up and running that this feeling will improve. Its also difficult hearing very little English and having to concentrate so hard on understanding and being understood.