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Published: October 12th 2005
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Well it's been a while since I last wrote and I'm now in sunny Puerto Iguazu.
Since my last e-mail, I moved in with Heain, the Korean girl from my class. She had rented an apartment in the city and initially had a friend that she was staying with, but he left and she had a spare bed. The place was pretty small but rent was really cheap and it was really nice to have Heain's company.
I finished my four weeks of Spanish classes, so my last two weeks in Buenos Aires were free to venture around town and practise my Spanish on unsuspecting Argentinians.
My Spanish continues to improve. However, I've had a couple of embarrassing 'lost in translation' moments where my listeners have been in stitches after I've mistakenly told them "I'm pregnant" and that "I like to touch boys".
I had a great time in my last two weeks in BA, mostly spent sight-seeing and finding some good places for beer-drinking (try as I might, still haven't found a place that serves Speights, Biddy).
My attempts at taking in some of the local music in Buenos Aires weren't very successful. This one
time (at band camp), Georgia and Anna (Aussie's from my Spanish school) and Heinz (their housemate) and I went to catch some free "contemporary Argentinian music" upon the recommendation of their landlady. When we arrived in our best travellers clothes, the crowded, smoke-filled room of "contemporary Argentinians" that we were expecting, was replaced by a very civilised scene of rich, grey-haired Argentinians, dressed to the nines for their night on the town.
In a tiny theatre, a pianist, cellist and clarinetist played some extremely alienating "contemporary" classical music. We lasted for 3 compositions then had to politely excuse ourselves.
A couple of weeks ago Heain, Heinz and I caught the 3 hour ferry across to a little town in Uruguay called 'Colonia'. The place was really cute with lots of cobbled streets and nice shops but it was bloody freezing so we spent most of our time in a cafe, playing 'Jenga'. The concept of just popping across, on a ferry, to a whole other country for a day, was a little weird.
That whole concept was a little less weird than my experience today when I went on a morning walk. At the end of a
Puerto Iguazu
From my sunny little patch of grass in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. On the left is Paraguay and on the right is Brazil. quiet, leafy street I reached the end of Argentina and on a high, grassy area I sat and looked out on to the place where the Rio Parana meets the Rio Iguazu. Just across the 100m stretch of water Brazil was to my right and Paraguay was to my left. So I watched the sun rise over Brazil and I went back tonight to watch it set over Paraguay.
I arrived here on Saturday, after an 18 hour bus ride, with Heain. The trip was made really comfortable by the luxury buses Argentina has to offer. All are double-deckers that have leather seats that recline to a bed and a toilet at the back (which I somehow always managed to chose to visit when the bus was turning). I'll be savouring my next couple of trips on these buses because I've been told that once I reach Bolivia I'll be sharing my bus trip with various farm animals (and hopefully a Brazillian Tapir or two).
I'm staying in another pretty dodgy hostel, one of those places where you know you're contracting Tinea even though you're wearing shoes all of the time. I'm still baffled as to what the
Tango
I'm smiling now, but shortly after I was pushed by Heain and dragged
to the dancefloor by the professional Tango dancer. After the dance
had finished I left the dancefloor and saw that a crowd had gathered
and were now cheering my performance. Not because I was exceptionally
good, but because I was exceptionally bad. I'm sure it made for
interesting viewing also, because my professional Tango dancing
partner only came up to my shoulders. electrical cables heading into the shower-head actually do. I figure it's somehow related to the operation of the lights because each time i adjust the water pressure the intensity of the lights increases and decreases. The place is peaceful and quiet though and I've had the 12 bed dorm room to myself.
I've spent the last couple of days at the National Park where the falls are. They are amazing. Heain and I arrived really early on both days and have had a chance to appreciate the breath-taking views, from all angles, before the maddening crowds.
The weather has been perfect, with not a cloud in the sky, and I'm really enjoying spending time in this place. It's kind of got a tropical, cruisy feel about it, a bit like Byron Bay without all the tacky touristy stuff. There's lots of Hippies around, peddling necklaces and bracelets.
I'll be heading for Tucuman in a couple of days, which is in the North-West of Argentina. After that, I'll probably head up to Salta and then on to Bolivia.
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