The week started with a disaster - I ended up having to go to hospital with a severe infection in the throat/glands and was put on antibiotics. Just as well - they took care of the problem immediately but left me feeling drained. Someone must have known I was missing a week of my vacation and my mind was constantly wondering how I could make up this lost time because I got a call from Aerolenias Argentina informing me that they hand DISCONTINUED the flight I was booked on to return directly/non-stop to New York on. I was being moved to a flight to Miami with a connection on Delta to get home. While I was at it, I requested a delay in my departure which they agreed to do without a penalty - so instead of returning on the 26th of May I now I had another 5 days - I am now leaving here on 1 June reaching home on 2 June!
Shahrukh decided to desert me and has gone off to the US for 3 months - I now know no one here any more, apart from gloria who is somewhere in Brazil with the President of India - due to return any day now.
I made up for the 5 days I lost in bed by going to Uruguay with Anna and Kerry, students from my Spanish class. We left on Saturday morning for Colonia and spent the night at a very comfortable albeit newish hostel - clean with fresh linen, shower gel, hand washing soap and toilet paper! They even served breakfast with dulce de lecce!! I was in heaven....
Colonia is a quaint old town with cobbled, tree lined streets, charming old homes made of stone and brick dating back a couple of hundred years. It has an old-world charm to it that has been well preserved. The streets are wide and cycling around was not that difficult, though some parts of the city are hilly. I had to abort a bike trip to the old bull-fighting ring the next morning that Anna and Greg (an American student staying at our hostel) did and a got second-hand report on it instead. Some of the shops stock eclectic and unique stuff - very intersting.
We took the bus to Montevideo on Sunday, hoping to have a good day there before returning to Buenos Aires on Monday but it was a disappointment - it was dead, boring and dull. Monday was slightly better with a few more people on the streets - the architecture is stunning but very disappointing to see the state of disrepair they have let the stunning pieces of history fall into. We walked for hours along the waterfront to the lighthouse, only to find out it was closed to visitors on weekdays... no matter, we still enjoyed the walk - it was cold and windy but the fresh air and exercise were enjoyable.
Back to Buenos Aires in the evening by the high speed ferry Monday night and straight into Spanish class the next morning... we did a lot in a short span of time and I felt like I had been away a week - a neat break from the daily routine of Spanish lessons and tango and milongas all week for many weeks.
My friend Will, a porteno married to a Belgian/Spanish woman and living in Greece whom I had met at a milonga at Salon Canning a few weeks ago gave me a surprise call and asked if I would be going to Salon Canning for the lesson on Tuesday night - I decided to go and he joined me there. We did the lesson and he left soon after. I decided to stay and make it my first night at a milonga by myself - it was the best night of dancing I have ever had in Buenos Aires - I didn't sit out a single dance till I left. Hard to repeat a night like that!
Carole and Vanessa returned from Brazil earlier than expected because they had encountered bad weather - they had nothing but rain for the 5 days that they were there. They came to stay with me - Vanessa left on Tuesday, 6 May and Carole and I started to make plans for our trip to Bolivia. My exams were on 8 and 9 May which went well. I think I will pass! Without studying at all, I think that's not a bad way to go - I was too busy partying all night during my last week in Buenos Aires - can't believe I won't be dancing again till I return on 29th May... and then too, I will have to see how I go.
We spent a very pleasant day on a Sunday walking through Palermo . I had never been there and wanted to before I left and grabbed the opportunity when they suggested we do it. We walked through the cobbled streets, visited the marketplace which was abuzz with life - locals and visitors alike - browsing through handicrafts and new budding designers' collections which are often launched here - some very creative people in this country. Lunch at a local Mexican cafe sitting by the cobbled street in the sun was delightful with burritos, guacamole and nachos, followed by more meandering through the streets. Found a beautiful house at the corner of a street that the three of us decided we watned to buy - gotta have dreams - without them we are nothing!
I managed to catch up with Gloria for dinner at a lovely restaurant at the Design Centre in Recoleta where I met Fay - must keep in touch with them... lovely people! And of course, it was followed by a night at Salon Canning again where I got to dance some again. It's my favorite milonga in town.
There have been a few changes in this place that need to be noted... firstly and very importantly - when I went to my tango class on 2 May I found prices of classes had been increased from 15 pesos to 19.50 - almost a 30% increase overnight... and likewise, the price of Tango shoes has shot up... the same pair I bought for 310 pesos 2 weeks before had gone up to 390 pesos on 2 May - all claiming to keep up with inflation which has been 3% a month for the past few months. I am glad and very lucky to have been here at the right time - wonder if things will ever go back to what they were. It is scary to see, when you go to a bank at the beginning of the month - there are queues a mile long of portenos converting their money in the thousands of pesos to US$ or Euros. We spoke to one and asked why and the answer was simple - they did not trust the local economy and govt after what had happened in the past. They keep their cash under their beds or stashed away somewhere safe rather than in a bank.
Oh, and an interesting point - this being a staunchly Catholic country - everything was open on Easter weeekend - including tango classes, malles, shops, etc, but on 1 May, Labour day, EVERYTHING but the zoo was closed. Yes - I neded up finally going to the zoo that day and spending 4 hours in the glorious sunshine - it was a little nippy but the sun was out shining brightly. The zoo is a pretty place to see but the condition of the animals and their enclosures leaves a lot to be desiered - particularly the polar bear - he looked patheticlally sick and certainly not where he should be. The petting zoo was a hit with the kids with cows, sheep, goats, ducks, geese and other domesticated animals. The hippos did a mighty display of their teeth for people willing to feed him them! The penuins were delightful to watch, though again, not kept in a very inviting environment.
I am all packed and ready to leave - another hour and I will be on my way by a luxury 'full cama' bus - the seats are heavily padded, flatten out completely like a 1st class seat on an aircraft - traveling 20 hours costs just under $100 and includes 2 hot meals along the way. I believe they have toilets on board in Argentina - Bolivia is another story! First stop is Salta in Argentina, just south of the Bolivian border. The food there is supposed to be special - slightly spicy with the best empanadas in the country. I don't think I'm sick of them yet!
I may not be updating my blog for a few days but I will when I get home; I'll be back in a few weeks!! Lots of pics to follow.... some on my gallery already.
Chou - hasta luega!
Shahrukh decided to desert me and has gone off to the US for 3 months - I now know no one here any more, apart from gloria who is somewhere in Brazil with the President of India - due to return any day now.
I made up for the 5 days I lost in bed by going to Uruguay with Anna and Kerry, students from my Spanish class. We left on Saturday morning for Colonia and spent the night at a very comfortable albeit newish hostel - clean with fresh linen, shower gel, hand washing soap and toilet paper! They even served breakfast with dulce de lecce!! I was in heaven....
Colonia is a quaint old town with cobbled, tree lined streets, charming old homes made of stone and brick dating back a couple of hundred years. It has an old-world charm to it that has been well preserved. The streets are wide and cycling around was not that difficult, though some parts of the city are hilly. I had to abort a bike trip to the old bull-fighting ring the next morning that Anna and Greg (an American student staying at our hostel) did and a got second-hand report on it instead. Some of the shops stock eclectic and unique stuff - very intersting.
We took the bus to Montevideo on Sunday, hoping to have a good day there before returning to Buenos Aires on Monday but it was a disappointment - it was dead, boring and dull. Monday was slightly better with a few more people on the streets - the architecture is stunning but very disappointing to see the state of disrepair they have let the stunning pieces of history fall into. We walked for hours along the waterfront to the lighthouse, only to find out it was closed to visitors on weekdays... no matter, we still enjoyed the walk - it was cold and windy but the fresh air and exercise were enjoyable.
Back to Buenos Aires in the evening by the high speed ferry Monday night and straight into Spanish class the next morning... we did a lot in a short span of time and I felt like I had been away a week - a neat break from the daily routine of Spanish lessons and tango and milongas all week for many weeks.
My friend Will, a porteno married to a Belgian/Spanish woman and living in Greece whom I had met at a milonga at Salon Canning a few weeks ago gave me a surprise call and asked if I would be going to Salon Canning for the lesson on Tuesday night - I decided to go and he joined me there. We did the lesson and he left soon after. I decided to stay and make it my first night at a milonga by myself - it was the best night of dancing I have ever had in Buenos Aires - I didn't sit out a single dance till I left. Hard to repeat a night like that!
Carole and Vanessa returned from Brazil earlier than expected because they had encountered bad weather - they had nothing but rain for the 5 days that they were there. They came to stay with me - Vanessa left on Tuesday, 6 May and Carole and I started to make plans for our trip to Bolivia. My exams were on 8 and 9 May which went well. I think I will pass! Without studying at all, I think that's not a bad way to go - I was too busy partying all night during my last week in Buenos Aires - can't believe I won't be dancing again till I return on 29th May... and then too, I will have to see how I go.
We spent a very pleasant day on a Sunday walking through Palermo . I had never been there and wanted to before I left and grabbed the opportunity when they suggested we do it. We walked through the cobbled streets, visited the marketplace which was abuzz with life - locals and visitors alike - browsing through handicrafts and new budding designers' collections which are often launched here - some very creative people in this country. Lunch at a local Mexican cafe sitting by the cobbled street in the sun was delightful with burritos, guacamole and nachos, followed by more meandering through the streets. Found a beautiful house at the corner of a street that the three of us decided we watned to buy - gotta have dreams - without them we are nothing!
I managed to catch up with Gloria for dinner at a lovely restaurant at the Design Centre in Recoleta where I met Fay - must keep in touch with them... lovely people! And of course, it was followed by a night at Salon Canning again where I got to dance some again. It's my favorite milonga in town.
There have been a few changes in this place that need to be noted... firstly and very importantly - when I went to my tango class on 2 May I found prices of classes had been increased from 15 pesos to 19.50 - almost a 30% increase overnight... and likewise, the price of Tango shoes has shot up... the same pair I bought for 310 pesos 2 weeks before had gone up to 390 pesos on 2 May - all claiming to keep up with inflation which has been 3% a month for the past few months. I am glad and very lucky to have been here at the right time - wonder if things will ever go back to what they were. It is scary to see, when you go to a bank at the beginning of the month - there are queues a mile long of portenos converting their money in the thousands of pesos to US$ or Euros. We spoke to one and asked why and the answer was simple - they did not trust the local economy and govt after what had happened in the past. They keep their cash under their beds or stashed away somewhere safe rather than in a bank.
Oh, and an interesting point - this being a staunchly Catholic country - everything was open on Easter weeekend - including tango classes, malles, shops, etc, but on 1 May, Labour day, EVERYTHING but the zoo was closed. Yes - I neded up finally going to the zoo that day and spending 4 hours in the glorious sunshine - it was a little nippy but the sun was out shining brightly. The zoo is a pretty place to see but the condition of the animals and their enclosures leaves a lot to be desiered - particularly the polar bear - he looked patheticlally sick and certainly not where he should be. The petting zoo was a hit with the kids with cows, sheep, goats, ducks, geese and other domesticated animals. The hippos did a mighty display of their teeth for people willing to feed him them! The penuins were delightful to watch, though again, not kept in a very inviting environment.
I am all packed and ready to leave - another hour and I will be on my way by a luxury 'full cama' bus - the seats are heavily padded, flatten out completely like a 1st class seat on an aircraft - traveling 20 hours costs just under $100 and includes 2 hot meals along the way. I believe they have toilets on board in Argentina - Bolivia is another story! First stop is Salta in Argentina, just south of the Bolivian border. The food there is supposed to be special - slightly spicy with the best empanadas in the country. I don't think I'm sick of them yet!
I may not be updating my blog for a few days but I will when I get home; I'll be back in a few weeks!! Lots of pics to follow.... some on my gallery already.
Chou - hasta luega!
