cheap, sheep, ship

Balneário Camboriú, the beach!!
We are in Brasil now after visiting the beautiful cataratas (waterfalls) in puerto iguazú.
Quick backtrack:
spent christmas eve in posadas hanging out with the guys who ran the hostel. very cruisy, lots of kids setting off fireworks. here they go out after midnight on christmas eve and celebrate.
went to puerto iguazú, stayed at a hostel a bit like a resort with a huge pool. went to the cataratas and then got tanned but also sunburnt sitting by the pool. Josh copped it really bad.
now in brasil and think portuguese is officially THE weirdest language ever. seriously, it´s strange.
We´re in Camboriú to catch up with my friend pedro whom i met in paris a couple of years back. he speaks a bit of english, a bit of spanish so we get by! and he sort of translates this weird weird language for us which is helpful. i can now count to 7, say good morning and good night, but good afternoon is hard to say. i can also say thank you and sorry. but i think i will never be able to say anything else.
we have to stay in a hotel here as this city, although quite the holidaying spot for argentines, does not have a single backpackers! the staff at the hotel don´t speak english which i thought was strange for a hotel, but we speak poor spanish to them, they said it´s easier for them to understand. they have the best breakfast ever at the hotel, all for ´free´! and they eat cake here fore breakfast?!
yesterday we went to dinner with pedro and today he took us to another beach, even though we are staying near a beach. All the high rises are right on the beach front, they are mainly appartments and when the weather is good (which it has been) it looks exactly like the tourism pics. Big green mountains on either side, a small island in the near distance and lots and lots of people with umbrellas. So the beach we went to was the brava beach with lots of ´beautiful people´ and waves. I´m getting pretty dark now from spending all this time in the sun, but accompanied of course by lovely tan lines.
I went paragliding today!! It was really fun, but a bit expensive. BRL$120 for 15 minutes. worth it though. We´ll spend another day here then take a bus to florianópolis for NY!! hopefully it´ll be really good. in brasil they wear white for NY so we´ll get in on that too. it was a difficult decision where to spend NY, it´s hard to get accomodation anywhere and everything is expensive!
Can´t believe we´re a month in already! Only another month to go and we have to jam pack it with more brasil, bolivia, peru (finally some cheap places!)...also looking forward to catching up with fellow adelaideans soon!

music, fútbol, sex: universal languages?

So la boca juniors won the fútbol against tigre which is good! Except we missed the match waiting for our bus to Posadas. Last night the bus station was sooo busy. We met some other aussies been waiting for their bus for 2 hours!! The station was packed out and buses were waiting in line to come in, they were all late. Luckily ours was only an hour late.
We went to Montevideo the other day (monday? i can´t remember), the capital of Uruguay. A bit of a ghost city, looks like there used to be a whole lot of stuff going on there aout 100 years ago but now all the buildings are decrepit and falling down. I bought a violin there from an old man in an old bandoneon shop. He wanted $300US but I managed it for $275US, case and bow included...Also, Josh, being a numbers man, has been very handy for doing quick currency coversions and helped me save $$ for the violin. Bow is not so good but in terms of a violin (sounds ok, def gd for price) it´s still a bargain but still my budget is suffering because of it. I think I´ll really need to skimp on meals etc soon...do a lot of cooking and such.
Yesterday we went back to Buenos Aires in order to get a bus here and I almost got pickpocketed! There was a man and a woman and they started walking really close in a busy area. Suddenly, the woman went in front of me and bent over to ¨pick something up¨ and so I bumped into her. Meanwhile, the man, jacket slung over his arm to cover his hand, dipped his hand into my bag!! Luckily, my wallet etc was buried inside my bag so he didn´t get anything. Phew. It was pretty obvious what they were doing, but I didn´t realise until the guy was taking his hand out of my bag. If I had better language skills I would have yelled at him.
Also I bought the sheet music to Piazzolla´s tango fugata! It´s got all 5 parts, violin, piano, bandoeon, cello, guitar, so I´m hoping to do something with it when I get back! They looove Piazolla over here, sell his CDs in souvenir shops etc. It´s the whole tango thing. Guys this is my gift to band. Matt, I hope drums will go with it-I´m sure we´ll work something!
So Christmas for us will be a 5 hour bus ride to Iguazu falls! But I´m not too fussed, I like the bus rides, they give me time to think and do nothing. I´m very much looking forward to Iguazu as well. From here (Posadas, Argentina), we can see Paraguay across the river! There´s a huge bridge connecting it and our hostel is right around the corner. It´s cool but very tropical weather, rain, also the roof to our room is leaking in 3 places, but no big deal! So feliz navidad everyone!! x

Colonia

And to think Uruguay was going to be overlooked. I love it here! We are in Colonia at the moment, a very small town by the sea. Certainly not a party town but absolutely lovely! After discovering my fairly recently developed sickness at sea on the ferry ride over here, I was glad to get on dry land, where we were greeted by a half-constructed terminal and a sense of where the hell are we. There were a few taxis waiting, but one wonders why as this place is pretty small; everything is in walking distance really. Everyone here zips around the cobble stone streets on scooters, motorbikes, dune buggies and sometimes golf buggies! There is no shortage of places that hire these out as well, so we decided to get a scooter. I had my driver´s licence, but Josh, who was going to be driving, didn´t. However, the hire guy still let us take the scooter and just told us not to drive on the wrong side of the road or anything, otherwise he would have to pay the fine for breaking the rules and not having a licence. It doesn´t look like the company has any liability. Anyway, riding a scooter is really fun!! Maybe I´ll get one when I get back! Josh did most of the driving but he taught me how to as well. However, I don´t really like negotiating traffic here. They have no stop lights, you just edge closer and closer to the other side of the road until you get there. So we went riding up the coast and went for a swim (it´s very hot here). Scooter is the best way to get around here because you can find things for yourself. Last night Josh also bought some fireworks for under $3. They were bought from 2 pre-pubescent boys who had a whole table full outside a restaurant. We set them off at the beach, they were fairly unpredictable and went every which way, luckily not at us. Our last night here is tonight, but we don´t know where we will go tomorrow. Maybe to another place in Uruguay or maybe straight up to Puerto Iguazu, which I am really looking forward to!

¿Alguna moneda?

Ok so I´ve been told to blog more. Here is another one.
We are still in Buenos Aires but leaving for Uruguay tonight.
Here is a general summary of all things Buenos and specifically, San Telmo, the area we´re in (in no particular order):
tango
bandoneon
party
Cobble streets
mate
dogs
dog poo
ice cream shops (seriously, they love their ice cream here)
roads with holes in them
footpaths with holes in them
lovely old buildings
hot but very nice weather
Spanish
children asking for monedas
children asking to sell cards for monedas
laundry service for 6 pesos
subte
cheap souvenirs, many being mate cups which i don´t think i can bring back in to the country so i didn`t buy one
Also, strange thing here is that there is a massive lack of change. The must be someone witholding it all. Everytime you go to the shop, especially if it´s just a deli, they always ask you for spare change. Don´t even think about taking a 100 peso note to buy something for 2.50...you won´t be able to use it.
Yesterday we went to La Boca. One of the poorer areas where the fútbol team, la boca juniors come from. Apparently it`s unsafe during the day even to walk around in the area away from the touristy parts. The touristy part being the caminito. A very colourful area in La Boca but it is touristy to the EXTREME. Full of tacky souvenir shops, tango dancers asking if you want a picture with them (you have to pay), expensive restaurants with people coaxing you in. We got hardcore ripped off! We had an argument with the waitor, I got heaps angry but with bad spanish haha, he wanted to charge us $6AUS for fanta!! Anyway I was pissed off.
Also we went to a tango show the other day called brazos y abrazos then took a tango lesson last night!! I made Josh come but he was almost didn`t...You`d think it would be easy to remember about 6 steps you`re doing over and over again, but I think I`m not a very good dancer...no more career as a professional tango dancer... sigh...but i wrote the steps down. Maybe I`ll practice.
Also mentionable, succesfullyish had a large part of a conversation in Spanish! It works ok when there are 2 Spanish speakers and then I can say things very slowly once in a while!
So tonight Uruguay, this was an unplanned trip but the boat only takes an hour. Then we have to come back to Buenos to take a bus to Iguazu! We still don´t know where we´ll be for christmas. Also Argentina is not so cheap and we hear that Brasil is even more expensive. It`s so annoying! I`m spending heaps more money than I should be!!
Anyway, I miss my violin and should have brought it with me.
much love!! xx

¡lomo, lomo, LOMO!

I hate trying to find food in Argentina. It starts off ok, medialuna and tostadas for breakfast but after that, sometimes I would rather not eat. The choices here are generally, steak, lomo (steak sandwich), lomito (small steak sandwich), meat-filled empañada, soggy, oily pasta or pizza with just mozzarella. Yum. Choices for vegetarians are mainly frigging ensalada.
We are in the big smoke now in Buenos Aires after leaving Córdoba on Saturday. Córdoba was pretty good, Steph´s friend José, local resident of Córdoba, kindly showed us around which was extremely nice of her, considering it´s exam finals and what not here at the moment. Met some nice people in Córdoba and attempted conversation in Spanish with Spaniard whose English was worse than my Spanish. I always have less to say in Spanish than in English though. If something is difficult to say I generally would rather not say it!
So we got in on Saturday night here at about 11pm. We were going to go to bed after a 10 hour bus ride but decided to go out, being saturday night in Buenos Aires and all. The captain (yes that´s what they call him) who mans the bar told us about a place called Amerika. We went out at about 2 as places here don´t crank til late. Amerika turned out to be a gay bar with bad music and big buff overbearing security guys. I didn´t like it at first but you pay 50 pesos (just under $25) and all you can drink for the rest of the night. Also, it must be mentioned that they fill your drink HALF with gin then a tiny bit of postmix. I started to enjoy it more. We were also with Alex, from mexico who we had met at the hostal earlier. He turned out to be very handy speaking spanish and all as it turned out there were lots of straight men there too that tend to babble something in spanish to you. We returned to the hostel at 7am but the disco was still pretty full. Went to hostel where captain´s friend was having an after party that STARTED at 7am at a club. I piked but the boys went and returned at about midday. Nothing really happened on sunday. We woke to watch the first half of la boca juniors (fútbol) at about 5pm and now it´s Monday. Lots of things to do in Buenos Aires, we´re going to check out the city now!
x

I don´t think they defect cars over here...

I´m exhausted. We´re taking a bus tonight to Córdoba. It´s a 10 hour ride but overnight so we´ll get some sleep, hopefully. At least there won´t be any rude awakening to cross any borders. We just left the hostel, but had to leave our key with the French couple staying next door as there is no receptionist and the owner is a ghost lady who is never there at the alojamiento!
Yesterday we went white water rafting. I was a bit worried because we hadn´t booked, but we rocked up when the booking place opened at 9 and the guy told us there was a bus leaving in a few minutes. Great. We took the bus. We did the intermediate course which was an 8km run which took about 1.5 hours. I was the only girl but tried my hardest to keep up! I think I did ok. We had some very loud and enthusiastic Argentines on our boat. The safety instructions were in Spanish though but the instructor kind of acted them out as well so...I´m still alive ayway. At one point I thought he was kind of making fun of me when the instructor told me to go to the front of the boat and lean over the edge so the water would be on my face, kind of like a figurehead on a ship. What?! Everyone else kept rowing. I didn´t really understand the point, but I think it was just so it was fun with the water splashing. I think. But yeah white water rafting. Really fun. I also have plans to go hang gliding at some point on this trip, even though it´s expensive. Maybe in Brasil...
Anyway, in Córdoba or Buenes Aires I´m going to take tango lessons! I think I´ve convinced Josh...I think it´s really the thing to do in Argentina!
Also, I don´t think I´ll be posting photos til I get back. The last computer wiped all my pics off the memory card and now I don´t trust computers here!! Sorry guys!
That´s all from me for now! ¡Hasta luego!

Alojamiento!

Today is a public holiday in Argentina which for us = nothing to do. Hence why we are sitting in a computer room. It´s quite hot today, which would be great if we could go swimming. I was wondering why all the shops were closed when a helpful hombre told us it was a día feriado. Darn. We got in to Mendoza at about 4 this morning. Pretty shitty considering we were tired and didn´t have a place to stay. What were we going to do?! Luckily, a random woman offered us an alojamiento. ¿Dodgy? Probably. So we went with her to a car, where a driver took us to the place. The room turned out ok, good price too. But I don´t think it´s very legit. I paid cash and she doesn´t even know my name. Usually they take down your passport number etc. It must be what they do here, as when we went to Valpo, a woman came up and asked if we´d like to stay at her place. She had a bit of a moustache.

Yesterday (back in Chile) when we were sitting in a park in barrio brasil, a woman came up to us speaking very fast, slightly slurred spanish. She asked for a cigarette and then kept talking and talking, even after we told her we didn´t really understand what she was saying. I got bits and pieces only, something about poetry? She asked for a pen and paper and wrote some stuff down, I could understand what she wrote but she took the paper when we left so I can´t remember exactly what´s on it! Also nothing made any sense!! I mean it was clear spanish on the paper, but I couldn´t understand why she was writing?¡ Turns out she was drunk. But she stayed with us for ages and asked me to critique what she had written. Very strange...

So as I was saying, we´re in Mendoza but can´t really do anything until tomorrow. Looks like we´ll go sit in a park and read. Ah. Lovely. This holiday´s been good for learning how to relax.

Off to Mendoza...

Well our stay in Chile is coming to an end! Friday night we went out and met up with Caroline, a friend from Adelaide. The club we went to is called Las Urracas and, according to our receptionist at la casa roja, it´s an exclusive club in one of the more wealthy areas. Luckily my name was on the door, thanks to Caroline! Plus the bouncer let our friends in too! Otherwise you have to pay. It was about a 20 minute cab ride from us, but we split it with the Israelis so it wasn´t too expensive. Las Urracas was pretty good, we got there at about 1am and finally managed to find Caroline! Did a lot of dancing and returned to la casa roja where the boys got ridiculously drunk on shots of vodka, rum. Got to use my french a little as well upon meeting a frenchie, well, from nouvelle calédonie anyhow... Josh got drunk and injured his foot, and now has a bit of a limp. hopefully it´ll get better but it´s his own fault anyway!! I woke him up at 1pm the following afternoon and he was still drunk! Passionate conversations about Isreal and Palestine were the topic of the night. Probably not the best topic when drunk...Pissed off people trying to sleep by talking too loudly and knocking things over at about 6 in the morning. I think the receptionist got annoyed too.

Last night was Valparaíso. Loved it! But lots more stray dogs, lots more than in Santiago! Very nice city by the sea, went to the most charming cafe called color cafe and ate a lovely late lunch. For dinner Josh got something called a chorrillano or something...THE MOST DEGUSTING THING I HAVE EVER SEEN!! Chile´s answer to the AB....ugh. It´s pretty offensive. Especially from a vego´s point of view. After, as we were still very tired, we decided to go see a mov¡e. Quantam of Solace. Luckily it wasn´t dubbed...

Tonight it´s off to Mendoza in Argentina, overnight bus ride. There we hope to do some of the outdoor stuff, cycling, climbing, rafting...not sure exactly what though.
Also, Josh and I have decided to buy a dictionary so that instead of asking for ¨paper for your nose¨, I can simply ask for ¨tissues¨ (in spanish of course)...
xx

Toilet paper goes in the bin, not the toilet

Ahora, estamos en Chile...
Santiago, to be exact. We're staying in a place called la casa roja, a pretty cool hostel with a pool!! The weather's been perfect and the city is pretty nice, though a bit expensive. Nonetheless, pretty decent accomodation here is about $30 and a good meal with a drink at a nice cafe is about $5. Not bad compared to aussie. And yes, the toilet paper not supposed to go in the toilet, but in the bin. Hmm...
Santiago is quite nice. We're staying in the barrio brasil, which, according to my lonely planet guide, is the bohemian area. There are a lot of stray dogs wandering around, but they all look well kept! Weird. Yesterday we went to the centro, climbed a hill that is a park, with a church, or something, and went to the museo de bellas artes. Very enjoyable. Then we came back to the hostel and hung out at the pool. Last night we met some Israelis, an American and a Swiss and hung out at the hostel before going out. We went out to barrio bellavista, in the centro where all the clubs etc are. Here the parties start at about 1ish, as opposed to Adelaide where the bars practically start closing. After drinks at the hostel, the cab driver let us fit in not 5, but 6 people into his cab!! But he also turned the meter off and told us he'd do a good price. He ripped us off, we realise now.
It was a thursday night and it may as well have been the weekend. People pushing in line for tickets, lines everywhere. The club we went to was pretty packed and all in all a pretty good night. On the way back we tried to find an atm for ages to pay for a cab. We asked a man who spoke reaaally fast and kind of mumbled. He was very nice though and ended up trying to GIVE us money for a cab!!! We declined but thanked him. Tonight we will try and catch up with a friend from Adelaide who is doing an exchange in Chile and tomorrow off to Valparaiso!!!

If you brought small children on the plane, don't forget to take them with you...

So here we are in LA, and I must say, it's not really what I expected. We're staying in a hostel in Venice Beach, just a few steps away from a whole strip of market-type stores where they sell lots of novelty t-shirts and the like. We landed at 7 in the morning to find a low cloud shrouding the city in a dismal dreariness; it's now the evening and the low cloud hasn't lifted. Maybe it's smog. Hopefully the sun comes out tomorrow.
The Venice beach strip is interesting. LA is full of fitness junkies; you can pretty much find any sport here. Basketball, roller hockey, a giant kind of playground for gymnastics, handball etc. There's even an outdoor weights gym where super muscle guys can show off. It's a bit gross. The strip is also full of hippies and guys selling advice for a dollar. We decided to hire some beach cruisers and went for a ride down the coast, probably the nicest thing we did today. The place is quirky but mainly a bit shit and I'm not sure if I'd walk around here at night...
Tomorrow we'll go downtown and check out the Hollywood stuff. But so far, LA kinda sucks and we've decided that instead of staying a week here on the way back, we'll take a bus to San Diego and go to Mexico.
Looking forward to our flight to Santiago on Tuesday!!
xx