Grrrr Checked out various places that were closed before going back to the only place I knew was open to try getting the money in pesos. The man behind the counter said my name in the transfer request didn't match the one in my passport (it only had my Chinese name, not Sarah), and had to call his supervisor. After the call, he said he couldn't give me the money. I would have to call Visa to get my details corrected. This I did, after waiting for ages to speak to a person, and Visa called Western Union, where the person said my details had been entered correctly and I should try again. I returned to the money exchange for the third time, where the man said 'Oh yes' and finally gave me my money. From the time I left to catch the subway into to town, till I was able to return with my money, it was a total of 4 hours. On the upside, I did discover I can withdraw 700 pesos with Mastercard at Banco de la Nacion.
Not just the men My tango teacher says it is not only the men who are like this. There was a time when we went to a milonga together, and he had three different women say to him (separately) 'I thought you were coming home with me' before we left.
Even more shocking conversation with Javier You may be interested to know that I went to the milonga Javier told me about, because I had never been there before and had also heard from other people that it would be good. After a dance, he started with the 'You're so beautiful' thing again. I told him to stop it. We made some mistakes in the next dance and I stumbled, so when he started talking about tango as an art and how a dancer is like a painter, I asked him what he wanted to paint. Bad move---he said 'You' of course. He obviously went to the same Argentine school of seduction as Sergio, because then he started saying 'Give me a kiss' repeatedly. When I said no, he asked 'Do you have a price?'(!!!!!!!) I laughed at him, and he put his hands together and said he was begging me. I can't believe it! Can anyone tell me whether this ever works? And does anyone have an explanation of why men who look so good and dance reasonably well resort to such tactics?
Taxi mystery unravelled According to my Spanish teacher, the reason for the dearth of taxis was due to a concert in the area by an important Argentine rock band called Soda Stereo.
Sarah ???? Sarah.. sometimes you do surprise me... when will you be realize.. you are a BABE!!!! I'm sure I speak for the community of Kiwi Tangeros when I say that we are not even a little surprised that you receive such attention... If I were a medico.. I would be more worried about the men who did not make amorous advances towards you..
And those men probably don't even yet know that you are also a lovely person, a wonderful dancer AND a very intelligent young lady...
So please stop being surprised... And could you please change that silly tag line on your blog.. the one that says "Just a boring person trying to be less boring" Sarah - and again i speak with confidence of behalf of all of your friends - darling you are anything but boring.
Muchos Bessos en Brazzos
Stephano
The Nazca lines are patterns left in the desert by the Nazca people over hundreds of years. No one knows why they were made, and one theory is that it had something to do with the stars. Others suggest they marked out water sources or were messages to the gods. The giant geoglyphs can only be seen from above, and I am amazed at how they got their lines so straight, or their spirals so smooth. Read more on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines
I eat a lot Haha, I figured I had pictures of the trail, so I don't need to write about it! And I loved the food, as anyone on my tour can tell you. When we were on Amantani Island, we were told that the host families would be understanding if we didn't eat much (people usually eat less at altitude). Most people left food on their plates, and I went and asked for more!
What are the "Lines" you mentioned? I couldn't quite work it out from your description. Could you explain? Something that relates to constellations I guess?
food for thoughts? Hi Sarah,
Is this the only blog that doesn't mention food? No wait, you mentioned breakfast! haha just kidding, am loving your blogs! You
kept me alive on an otherwise really boring day at work.
Ben
Is there more description of your meals than the trail? Hey Sarah,
Hope you're having fun! One thing I miss in Sydney is the hills and mountains... Sydney is so flat! The only hill I get these days is the treadmill...
Ben
Guinea pig shrinkage Julian, I was wondering about that too! All the live guinea pig I have seen in Peru have looked really fat. Maybe it's the fur which gives the effect, or maybe the roasting does something to them?
Well-preserved The writing is vintage Sarah: quirky, detailed, and verging on the irascible. I liked the story about poor Juanita: it reminded me of the Blessed Albert who must be about the same age and is still around at Santa Catarina Del Sasso in Italy. Keep on posting: the reports are all greatly appreciated! L
I remember seeing guinea pigs with a Skewer through them from top to bottom on a rotisserie. They seemed to have little meat on them, not what I remember of my pet guinea pig from when I was young. PLeased you found other vegetarian food there.When I was there I just ended up eating eggs, fries and salad every day. Buen viaje.
So that's what you think of me, huh? (Thanks for your comments though... it's always nice to know someone reads what I write.) I forgot to add that they show you the guinea pig so you can take a photo, then they take the plate away, chop it up and remove the head, before bringing it back.
guinea pig for tea? Sarah,
You say that you did not eat the guinea pig, but (and tell the truth here) how did it die...you didn't step on it, did you?
Sounds like a fun holiday - and thank you for assuming that we would all know that pie meant foot in Spanish - of course we all did know that but it is handy that you reminded us :)
Cheers,
gaston
Not a party animal I'm guessing this comment belongs to my next post. I would have considered going out late if I weren't still out of action with a sore throat and runny nose. I feel kind of bad about not checking out the salsa scene in Cusco, but from what I have heard, while there are many places where people dance to salsa music, but not many places where people actually dance salsa.
Cool adventures Sarah .. Lookd\s like you are still having lots of fun... How's your Spanish coming on.. I bet you are fluent now..
How come you weren't out dancing with the room mate till dawn??
I don't get it either I don't understand it either. There were three of them, and if they had just come up to me and demanded my things, I would have given them everything. Why play this silly game? And why leave me with all my cash?
Sneaky fake Police What a pain!!! It seems like an elaborate scam to just get your camera tho. I guess you could try and pull it yourself on some other touristas - those Swiss ones sound like good targets :)
I liked your sentence: "As these young miners were clearly drunk, we gave them crackers and coca leaves, and saved the alcohol and dynamite for others". Paints a very clear picture!
You are doing it all wrong though - you should have given them the dynamite and eaten the cocoa yourselves - would have been much more entertaining, i think.
You should at least start carrying dynamite around with you - that way, if someone tries that scam on you again they will get a hell of a fright when they start going through your bag. Har har.
Glad that you are well. Keep blogging - i am now a subscriber! Wooo - go Sarah.
Roberto Brtos
non-member comment
Wester Union
There is a Wester Union office in Correo Central