Bernarda House Buenos Aires

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Well, quite a lot has happened in the two weeks since I last posted. Some things have been good, and some things have definitely not. In this post, I think I'll cover a little of each. By the way, it’s kind of amazing to think about but I’ve already been here for more than a month. I have no idea where the time went, and it’s frightening ...

... our espanol speaking ability. Secondly it was our last evening with our home stay who are as good as family now. A wonderful dinner, exchange of presents, big hugs, it was all too much. But these were not the only events of the day, and I probably had one of my most entertaining afternoons for a long time. After Spanish we headed for a place called Deliwok. This is an all you can eat buffet with an amazing variety of cuisine. I counted 47 varieties of cold dishes to choose from ...

... or gas, posing a health hazard in decaying and rotting metal-sheeted tenements. She told me the story of a man who had dedicated his life to helping the local community and was one day taken out by the local drug lord.

I was told of a drug called Poc or Poco which is a shoddy form of Craic, rife in the area. I hear of the squatted houses that 'catch’ fire mysteriously after a council eviction notice that goes unobeyed and I am told about ...

... consisted of a slow plod around a couple of fields with reluctant horses who were much more interested in eating the vegetation than anything else. Still, it was probably for the best as none of us professed to be proficient in the art of controlling a horse, much less cattle driving.

We then headed back to Buenos Aires for Emma and Robīs last few days, this time opting to stay in the more salubrious Palermo district, home of funky shops and bars and a multitude of ...

just spent 10 days in buenos aires. maybe a little long but was great to have a place and just relax for a while. got my brazil visa here. stayed at an awesome hostel called milhouse here which was pretty much a party hostel with a big bar and open area which was pretty much a club at night. met soo many great people from all over the world here. went out a lot before jeff got here ...

Well, we slept in very late. (Bad girls, but we were exhausted from yesterday's traumas.) We got up and went out to a coffee shop - Havanna - on Av. Florida. Kyla's bg was low again, so I "made" her have a frappe with chocolate and cream. We also shared a very tasty Panini caprese. It was, at this point, 12.30h, so we went back to the hotel to see if Paul and Keegan had arrived. I ...

... including a ... Hooters????!?!?! A little bit out of place! We walked around for a bit, but it was getting hot out - so much for our initial arrival in BA, when we thought that it wasn't that hot or humid! We stayed on the shady side of the waterfront buildings for the most part, but then crossed the water to the other side, where we found a nice little cafe called Froilan, for a drink and more importantly, some shade. We chilled for ...

... the porteno schedule of a light continental breakfast, lunch at about 1 or 2 o'clock, and dinner at 9 or 10 o'clock. This is very late for us, but our bodies are starting to adjust, after 5 nights! · The city tour offered by Eternautas (http://www.eternautas.com) was excellent and gave us some understanding of history and an overview of Buenos Aires neighborhoods. It really helped us to get oriented. · There ...

... America then and now had been a wonderful experience but upon my return to the UK I had taken a job in Runcorn. I had not wanted to leave London as with America. I didnīt know anyone and like now I would be staying with strangers until I moved on. The feelings of isolation and yearning for all things familiar were rife. At the age of 20 I suddenly found myself homesick in my own country! Things improved drastically once I moved out of my bossīs house ...

... a multiple of currencies to help a child start their first coin collection. (And when a piece of paper featuring Uncle Sam could buy you anything on any back streets of eastern Europe - the good old days) Those times have long past and nowadays any good back street Albanian spiv would spit on the American dollar in favour of the Euro. At least you can still play the border game here in South America with some ...