¡Feliz cumpleaños!

South America » Argentina » Buenos Aires
October 1st 2005

Published: October 6th 2005

Friday was a bit of a lazy day, put my photos in to finally be developed. They came back, 7 films all on one cd for just 12 pounds. Pretty damn good i reckon. A new guy Jitesh arrived, didnt see him most of the day tho, he's got friends in BA so he went out to see them and didnt reappear till the following morning! Friday night Erin cooked us all meat balls, then we had a few drinks and played games then watched tv before calling it an early night.
Saturday morning a new girl Kate arrived. The others went to Tigre, but id already been (as you all know of course!) so i tried to sort out some travel for when i leave, getting malaria tablets, looking into hostels etc etc...went to the park and sat in the hot sun for a few hours reading my book and figuring out where i want to travel in Ecuador. It was so lovely, i sat on the steps of a mini temple thing overlooking the lake, with people messing around in boats and the sun sparkling off the ripples. Trees around the edge seemed to reach down to the lake, trailing the tips of their branches in the water. It was all so idyllic, until i became aware of pain on my arms and shoulders and...dammit!! Managed to get sunburned yet again. Gave in and came home, met Kate and James who had been out for ice cream at Volta. Started craving ice cream. Had nice chat with Kate, she seems really nice, like Becky, just out of school and on her gap year.

We all played drinking games , then the boys left to go to a bar and we said we'd just meet them at the club - we went back to Rey Castro for a latino fix. Unfortunately we all got a tad drunk. I seem to remember, among other things, dancing on stage infront of perhaps 200 people, trying to teach Mark to salsa, falling down some stairs, and wading through approximately a whole loaf of bread when we got back, happily thinking it would cure any prospective hangover. No such luck. Sunday was almost the usual washout until we got off our arses and went to Buller for sustenance. It clouded over that afternoon, got worse on Monday, and freezing on Tuesday - weird weather for this time of year. Monday I went with Becky to the Teatro Colon, its one of the five best opera houses in the world, thanks to the amazing acoustics. We did a tour, and got to see all behind the scenes and everything (no pun intended) We saw workshops where they made the costumes, the shoes, the wigs, the scenery - it was another world; so interesting. They had display cabinets dotted around with things like costumes, wigs, violins from the 17th century, and masks used in plays done like 90 years ago. It was such a rabbit warren under the theatre, then we were finally taken up into the auditorium itself. Words cant describe. It was incredible. The tapestries were the originals, 97 years old. There was velvet upholstery, and gold everywhere. Frescoes and oranate mouldings. It was filled with sumptuous detail, i cant even begin to describe. There were at least 4 different types of marble used throughout the theatre, and marble statues - pretty much all shipped from Europe. After the tour we were walking past the coffee shop when suddenly this booming voice started singing something from Carmen i think it was. This opera singer had started randomly doing a performance among the tables, and was joined by a woman in costume playing the castanets, and one of the waitresses also started singing! Weird. But very cool. I went and had my last El Pilar with Erin, which was kind of odd. Strange to think i'll never see those girls again.

Tuesday was good, i went to see the doctors then managed to buy some malaria tablets from Jodie - saving me the stress of getting them in a pharmacy here. Then i went out and got a new camera - my old one had well and truly given up the ghost, causing me immense trauma. I have been close to tears many times this week knowing im about to go travelling round South America cameraless. I felt like i was accomplishing a lot of things, so i even went as far as checking out the prices of anoraks for all that train spotting im going to be doing. No really, Ecuador's going to be a bit wet in places I think. Oh and I booked my hostel in Rio, baby! Im going there pretty close to New Year, and as everyone knows, Rio is party central at New Year, with prices hiked and hostels packed. So I got in there early - dont have to worry about a bed! It looks like a cool place, Jitesh stayed there before coming here, and word about it has spread like wildfire. Take a look: www.mellowyellow.com.br
Tuesday night half of us went to a jazz club and half of us stayed in. I stayed in because quite frankly i havnt got two pennies to rub together. Ah well, we had such a hilarious night. We sat around chatting, Chloe and Becky gave me and Will massages, me and Will had paper aeroplane competitions, when suddenly the girls realised it was 25 minutes to midnight!! They faffed around for a bit before, at 10 minutes to my birthday, ran out the hostel in a 'go! go! go!' stylee, in a frantic mission to buy a cake. They came back with seconds to spare, and we happily tucked in. The first mouthful was interesting, as we all ummed and aahed. 'mmm, tastes....different, doesnt it?' I cautiously ventured, 'tastes a bit like cheese really'. Silence. Soon we could take no more. 'This is the shittest cake ive ever tasted' Chloe declared. We collapsed in fits of giggles, and Becky tried to be optimistic: 'just stick to the spongey bits and you'll be fine!' We gave in and tried to feed it to Will and Asher, but they were having none of it. Even Pablito wouldnt touch it. There was only one thing for it. We got our cameras out and Chloe stuck her head in it, just in time for Pablo to walk out the toilet and be stopped in his tracks....two girls taking pics of a girl with her head in a cake, Becky saying 'wait, wait, theres another camera'. I swear to god, i nearly wet myself.

So Wednesday was my birthday! I woke up in the usual anticlimatic state, wondering what day it was...ah yes, one year older. Had a bit of a lie-in and then did the usual panic over money, poured over a travel guide working out if i can afford that 70p bus trip to a random town in Ecuador. Chloe and Erin had got up early and went and got me baked goods for brekky - proper croissants, and bread with dulce de leche etc...plus a lovely little bouquet of flowers! Mati asked the cleaner, Patricia, to make me sausages and bacon especially! The door rang a while after, and i was greeted with yet another huge bunch of flowers and balloons from Phil. Plus at one point the phone didnt stop ringing with calls from Al and my mum, Mati found it all very amusing. Felt like a princess! So thanks to all of you who sent emails and got in touch...its really not the same without you. Went out for lunch at a posh place up in Palermo Soho called Social Paraiso, gorgeous food. Bit stuffed. Still had dinner to go! Came home, chilled for a bit. Gari suddenly gestured to the 'tuck shop' and asked me what i wanted. I said no, thanks, im full, but he was actually offering me one of the pricey guide books at the bottom! I honestly thought he was kidding, but he whipped one out, wrote happy birthday in the front, and handed it over with a kiss! He's such a cool guy, love him to bits. Cracked open a bottle of the best wine in the entire world - Amalaya 2003 (2003 mind you, far superior to 2004!) thought id treat myself. Plus cant really carry wine around south america for two months, so i HAVE to drink it 😊 Played card games with Asher, Mark and Juan, then went to Siga la Vaca for the travellers dinner. Adriana had even made me a cake! I was so stuffed after a big breakfast, a bigger lunch, and a dinner with two puddings - it was painful how full i was. Jumped at the chance when Adriana offered a lift home to me, Anna and Becky. Funny moment on way home: going past the park which doubles as the red light district at night, we mentioned that we'd not seen the prostitutes and drag queens yet. Adriana immediately rectified that, driving us through, pointing out the 'women' as they flashed their wares at passing cars. Surreal. All in all a great birthday, but i was accutely aware that certain very important people were missing from the celebrations. I miss you all so much!!!

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