First Night in Cafayate

After leaving the friends and discos of Salta, I was unsure what to expect in Cafayate. The town is a town, not a big city like Salta. There are many bodegas, which, in Argentine spanish, means wine cellar and not mom-n-pop grocery.

It can be a bit difficult to arrive to a new town and a new hostel. While looking for a hostel, I passed two women, who I took to be Argentine, walking with a couple, the guy having a Oregon t-shirt on. I passed close by to them as I headed to what I thought was a hostel but I did not talk to them. I thought about asking them for hostel info but I had my tourist info map, so was fine.

The hostel I headed to did not exist, so I made my way to a hostel that I had already passed. Although the hostel looked interesting, I did not go there first because I got an odd vibe from a guy outside the info center who told me about it.

The hostel, El Balcon, was my 3rd or 4th choice. When I got there, the Argentine women I had seen on the road minutes earlier were there, too, as were the couple with whom they had been walking.

The couple, American, were finishing their check-in process. Their charge was 210 pesos. They had 250. Since no one in this country seems to have change (coins or small bills), there was a bit of an issue. The hostel did not have 40 pesos change and the Americans did not have a 10 peso ($3+) note. I fronted them the 10 pesos, thinking they were staying in the hostel (wrong, they stayed in a sister hostel 5 blocks away). They assured me that I would get my money back.

During my check-in or while waiting to check in, I was conversing with the Argentines. They told me they were going to tour a cheese factory and invited me along.

I dumped my bags on my bed and joined the two Argentines and an American women they met in the hostel for a 20 minute tour of a cheese factory.

Fun facts I remember from the goat cheese factory: One type of goat gives 2 liters of milk a day and another type gives 1 liter, this factory pipes in classical music during the milking process to calm the goats. That is it. I know they told us more (in Spanish) but it is not in my brain.









After the cheese factory tour, we went to the bodega Vasija Secreta to see about a tour. We arrived a bit after 7:00 pm. After doing a bit of poking around the closed bodega, the Argentines knocked in the ¨Administracion¨ door. A man, who turned out to be the manager, opened the door. As expected, he told us that the winery was closed for the day.



The Argentines, who are studying food science in university, pestered him with a few questions. He answered those questions and more after that. After 10 minutes or so, he gave in and said ´let´s do a tour.´

This is all in Spanish but it is what I believe happened.

We had a very extensive tour. I am sure we were taken places that the general public does get to go. After more than 1 hour, we were taken through the public testing area, down a flight of stairs to a wine cellar. There, lining the walls, were hundreds of unlabeled...doing whatever bottles of wine do prior to be shipped out to stores.

He gave us two bottles. I am sure the bottles are not part of the company tour.

After the cellar, we are shown a private courtyard area where the manager lives. It is after 8:15 and I think the manager is looking like he wants the tour to end and for us to be on our way.

The next thing I know, the 4 of us (2 Argentines, the gringa and me) are heading back to town to go to the supermarket to buy dinner that we will cook at the winery. (The American, whose spanish is much better than mine, told me later that, for the most part, the Argentines invited themselves + us to the winery for dinner.)

80-ish pesos of food later (less than $30), we are back at the winery preparing a fine-looking meal of steak, chicken (for me) and salad. We don´t hve to buy wine as the host we will use one of the bottles given to us and the host will provide two more.

This would have been a great time to have the Argentine steak that I told myself I would have. However, I had already made plans to have that steak in BA with a friend of a friend of mine.

I am not sure what time dinner started but I do know that the evening ended after 1:00 a.m.

Prior to the steaks being done, a kayak-guide friend of the manager came over. He sat down to dinner with us. While talking, it was discovered that the Argentines knew his sister. Before we finished eating, the guide`s cousin and sister show up (below).



And still later, a Frenchman shows up. I had no idea what he was saying but he was making everyone laugh.

All-in-all, it was a great evening - even if I only understood 10% (optimistic) of what was said.

If I had laft Salta earlier, as I had planned, I would not have had this experience as I would not have run into the Argentines.

Sometimes plans not made are the best plans of all.

bjm 03.29.08

Should I Say or Should I Don´t Now

If I say there could be trouble.

If I don´t it may be double.

On the ride from Salta to Cafayate, the young girl in front of my got a bit antsy after 2+ hours in the small seats. For about the final 30 minutes of the ride, her father let her stand in the aisle.

Early on, Dad put his arm around her but after 5 minutes he just held on to one hand. I had thoughts of mentioning to the dad that if we stopped short, then his daughter would go flying through the windshield. Although I do not know spanish for ´windshield´ or ´through´ i think I may have been able to get the idea across.

In the end, I did not say anything. Reasons: language barrier and not my kid.

As it happens, we arrived to Cafayate without stopping short. The kid was fine and no ugly American butted in the business of an Argentine father.

bjm
03.29.08

On the road to Cafayate

After 5 nights in Salta, Argentina, I was able to break away from that town and continue my journey south. (I am on a counter-clockwise ciruit back to BA.) I had a 3 hour bus to Cafayate - wine country, Argentina.

The Mendoza area is truly the wine country of Argentina but Cafayate has its fair share.

The bus (actually a 20 seat van) ride was great. Soon after we left Salta, I thought I was transported to the southwest USA. The landscape reminded me of Arizona and New Mexico. I am sure the pros out there will look at the pics and tell me ¨Sorry, but those rocks, cacti and colors have nothing in common with the American southwest.¨ To my untrained eye, they´re a match.

You be the judge.

bjm 03.29.08

One Day in Bogota

In February, enroute to Argentina, I had a few hours to spend wandering around Bogota, Colombia. Although I am sure the city has a great deal of culture for one to see, I was taken by the buses.

Of the 10 or so pics I took that day, 7 were of buses. If I had one, what would my shrink say?

I will be back in Bogota in mid-April. At that time, I will see what else the city has to offer.

bjm 03.29.08

heading south

Hola mi familia,
Mike and I bought our tickets yesterday and so it is official, we are going to Malawi to visit Evan and Liz and all their friends. We're leaving from NYC on 9 July and coming back to these shores on 13 August. Flying to Johannesburg non-stop but I think it takes about 17 hours. We never did take a honeymoon, so we decided this will have to qualify! We think we'll do a week in northern Malawi with Evan, a week in Neno while he works, a week in Zambia with Evan and then a week on our own, perhaps in other parts of Zambia. Liz may join us for all or portions of this adventure, and her mom, who will be over there around the same time. We are counting on Evan to tell us when he needs to take a break from us.
I don't think there is anyway I can even imagine what it's going to be like, but I'm grateful for the opportunity to go.
I hope to get a camera in the near future, so we can post pictures of the journey. I don't think I'll be as funny as Brendan, and I hope I don't lose as much weight. BTW, I don't know what Brendan is doing in those discos, but when we chaperoned our Navajo students down to Mexico and they went to a disco, the lights went out, the bodies were as close as sardines, and by the end of the night all the girls from Ganado were engaged to smooth-talking guys. Mike had to pry them away. Whatever the scene is, it must be fun!
love,
cathie

Catching up in CT.

I am so proud of myself. Brendan told me for the millionth time how to post a comment and I am finally trying it out. We'll see. Not ready to post pictures yet. I think I broke my ankle so that I would be forced to be home for eight weeks and learn things I should have learned five years ago.

Anyway, the good news is that I got my staples out yesterday. The Dr. said it would 'pinch'. He lied and it hurt, but then it was fine. He took an x-ray and that was weird. We saw the gray, black, white shadows, light, etc. Then there was a plate and six screws right there. No getting around that. He told me that in four more weeks he will take the cast off and I am good to go. I'll have to do rehab, and unlike Amy Winehouse, I won't say "no, no, no."

My neighbors and friends have been great. They have dinners scheduled through April 10th, which is so kind. It has been an interesting ride.

Thanks for all your calls and thoughts and prayers. I haven't been asnwering the phone much until now, but I definitely feel like I turned the corner this week, so I am much better.

Sarah is going to her first high school dance this weekend. She asked a guy friend and their group is taking pictures at a friend's house, so that should be fun. Maybe i'll post a picture of it. Nah...

Easter in Massachusetts...

Here's a snap from this afternoon. We met the Langlois tribe at Uncle John's home in Gardner. That's Terry Jacob and Sam in front. Mike, Andy, Nick, Sheila, Erin, Annie, Nellie, John, Maryann (75 on April 4!) and Martin in back.
Kurt and Jim were at the house but didn't make the after-dinner hike.
Hope you all had a peaceful day!

Hello - it's me!

Driving home after dropping off Sarah at the train station ... a phone conversation is overheard. Let's listen in!

Mango Eats Snow!

We took this video about 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately, not much of the snow has melted yet!
We've had to resort to having mango ingest as much as possible...

A Week in the Life of Sr. Gringo

Well, it is more like a half of a week in my life. This info was written prior to the posting below and and i should have posted it but I am a busy guy. So, some of this post will be a repeat of the post directly below. Although, since I am posting this one minutes after the one below, there is a good chance you have not read the first post. Good. Read this first.


My week, Monday, March 17 to Thursday, March 20:

I left Iguazu at 23:59 on monday and arrived in Posadas at 0600 or so - without much sleep. I talked to a few people and they told me not to stay in Posadas, so bought the ticket to Salta. It seemed like a place where I could get outdoors and see some beautiful sites. Thes Salta bus left at 13:00 and there was a change of bus at 18:30. I walked around town for a few hours waiting for my 13:00 bus. I was tired and hot as I walked along the river in Posadas. Looking across the river, one sees Paraguay. It looked okay. I thought ´shall I go over and give that country a second chance?`.

I did not.

I caught my 13:00 bus, as planned, and headed west. My 18:30 bus showed up at 20:30. 2 hours waiting in small bus station was not fun. And when the bus finally arrived, it was not as good a bus. I have had great buses with the company Via Bariloche but not this time. The seats seemed smaller than most semi-camas and it seemed a bit on the dirty side.

We were due to arrive in Salta around 0700 Wednesday (my second straight night on a bus) but that would not happend because the bus was late to arrive.

In the middle of the night, the bus was stopped moving. We were in the middle of nowhere. I did not think about it too much as buses often stop - for what appears to be no reason. After sitting there for a bit, without announcements, of course, I recognized that we seemed to be stopped for a longer period of time than normal. As the door to the outside was open and as some people had gone outside, i decided to take a look to see why we were stopped. I got out of the bus and looked up the road to see a fire burning in middle of the road and a number of vehicles spread across the two lanes of traffic.

I was sure we had come upon a horrible accident. Aside from the fire, the scene was eerily dark. The moon was out and the stars looked beautiful on the quiet highway road. The quiet was what struck me. With such an accident (it appeared to be 5 or more vehicles), why were there no emergency workers. Were all the victims taken to the hospital and tow trucks would come later? I asked someone where were the police. He told me they were there but then they left.

As a typical human, I decided to walk up the wrecks to get a closer look at this multi-vehicle pile-up. As I approached, I could see that a pick-up towing a farm machine had jacknifed and then other vehicles seemed to have gone into it. There were some cars, undamaged, off the shoulder. I assumed that they tried to get around the accident but got stuck in the sand-like earth off the shoulder.

As I drew closer, a man came around the farm truck and said `hola` and maybe some other words.

It was at that point that I realized the scene was not an accident at all, rather, it was a protest/blockade by farm workers. They were blocked the main roads throughout the area in which I was travelling. (I do not know if it was country-wide or not.) I then remember someone mentioning that the 18:30 bus was late due to protests.

But who protests at 2:00 a.m. on a two-lane country road? Although it is only two lanes, it is the main road to Salta. If this one is blocked, you`re taking the long road to Salta.

I chatted, as best I could with the protester. I tried to get a bit of his story. More importantly, I tried to find out when they would be moving the blockade. My Spanish is not great, and I missed some of his words, but I did hear the words `martes`. Ouch. `Martes` is Spanish for `Tuesday`. I knew we weren`t going to be sitting there for a week but I was thinking we might be until well into Wednesday morning.

If the blockade would be there for hours, i could not figure out why we were not trying to get around it, one way or another. When I walked back to the bus, I saw that we were in the soft shoulder. It looked like the driver tried to do a K-turn and was worried about getting stuck. A big bus and a two-lane road do not add up to an easy K-turn.

At some point, a pick-up truck comes from our direction, pulls in front of the bus and 4 guys jump out and talk with the driver. It appears they are here to help but I do not know how. I look at their truck and I look at our bus and I think `It looks like a big truck but it is not going to pull that bus.`

After a short discussion, two of the guys slide under the bus and beging working on something. Somehow during the stop something happened to the bus and we were not able to drive. An announcement from the driver may have been nice but that did not happen.

I am not the best mechanic but I think the driver lost the ability to shift gears. If I had known that was the problem, I would have slipped under the bus, put the two rods back togther and tied them down with a little chicken wire. I did the same thing with a Dodge Omni in 1981. No hay problema.

In short order, the guys in the pick-up got back in the truck and the driver started the engine.

After 2-3 hours, we were back on the road. Well, mostly back on the road. It took about 20 minutes to back up and to drive the bus, in reverse, down a dirt road so that we could then go forward on another dirt road for a distance to swing around the blockade.

During all these hours, the bus company gave us a small meal of ham (which I do not eat) and cheese and a cup of soda.. I had some cookies and some water, so I was able to survive. Never get on an Argentine bus without some food, water and toilet paper.

During the morning, when we were about 100km from Salta, we ran into another protest/roadblock. There was no going backwards here as there were 30+ cars behind us within minutes of stopping. At some point, the news came that the protesters would move the blockade at 10:30 a.m. And, good to their word, trafric moved shortly after 10:30. I think we were there for a bit less than 1 hour.

we finally arrived in Salta at 12:30, 5+ hours behind schedule.

I was exhausted after spending most of the previous 36 hours on buses.

On the last bus, I met a Portuguese guy and a Cape Verde guy (travelling together). Since we went through that bus ride together, we decided to find a hostel together. we moved to the hostel but then i went to check out another one that some people with whom I spoke in the Salta bus station recommended. In that second hostel, I met some people from my Spanish school in Guatemala. We had taken lessons at the same time. I had not seen them since December and I had no idea they were in Argentina.

On Wednesday night, depsite the lack of sleep, the 2 guys, the Guate people, and people from their hostel and I went out (after i had dinner at their hostel - best $2 meal i have had in ages). We went out after 1:00. The Guates and some others went home around 2:30+. I decided to continue the night at a disco with 10 or so from our group.

We closed the disco and at 6:30 in the morning (this morning), we made it back to the hostel and to bed. I had to get up before 10 to check out of the first hostel and move to my Guate friends´ hostel. The Portuguese guy had set an alarm for 8:30, don´t know why, so I did wake up in time. Although the alarm sounded every minute for 30 minutes, he did not wake up. I shook his bed but there was no movement - only snores. Not my problem. I let him be.

After the two night buses and the 6:30 a.m. disco evening, I decided to take it a bit easier. However, I do not think I made it to bed before 4:00 during my time and I never slept past 9:00, except today when I woke at 11:00.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

bjm 03.23.08

Salta, Arg.

Never has one man done so little in a 5 day span.

I arrived in Salta, Argentina this past Wednesday. It is Easter Sunday and i think `what have I done these past 5 days?`

There is much do in the area surrounding Salta. That is what they tell you in the guide books. They may or may not mention that `area surrounding` means 3 hours drinving - in one direction.

So I spent the last few days hanging out in Salta with Gareth and Linsey, a couple I met in Xela, whom I bumped into in a hostel my first day in Salta. Along with G&L, I have been hanging out with an artist from Spain and a wanna-be artist from France. G&L met them on the road in Bolivia and the four have been travelling together for a few weeks.

It has been good to hang with this group. We have had a few group dinners at the hostel, which saves everyone some much-needed Pesos.

G&L moved on today and I thought I would do the same, however, I had not had a good night´s sleep since last Sunday (more, later, on part of the story). Although there is not much to do in Salta during the day, I found myself in discos until much too late each night since I have been here. I am not sure why I was out so late since many of the discos play hours of cumbia - a music that really turns me off.

Last night, I had finally had enough. There was one cumbia song too many and, at 4:30, I left my last Salta disco behind.

bjm 03.23.08

Going in all directions

Well, my time in Paraguay was very short lived.

I took a test run to the border town (Ciudad del Este) yesterday. I only saw a bit of the city and i was not too impressed. the bus dropped me off on a grand avenue that had market stalls on both sides of the road and each side street.

I am not sure if i was being paranoid, but it felt as if many people were staring at me and that they wanted to rip me off.

They`re probably all hard-working individuals just out to make an honest buck...by selling pirated dvd`s and socks that fell of the truck.

I went back to Iguazu and hung out for the rest of the day and much of the night. I caught a midnight bus to Posadas. I was told it could be place to spend a day or so.

I will spend hours here. I will catch a bus this afternoon for Salta. I think that area will be much more to my liking.

All for now

bjm 3.18.08

Kitten Update, in the words of Peter Tosh

Gonna walk and don´t look back.

bjm 3.17.08

What next where?

I am not quite sure where I am going from Iguazu.

I think I may head into Paraguay, although you do not meet too many people who have spent any time there.

At the moment, I am scheduled to fly (april 15) from Buenos Aires to Bogota. I was to fly back to Panama, but I changed the date and the destination of my ticket.

This way, I will get to see a bit of Colombia. And, if all goes well, I will hop on a boat to sail from Colombia to Panama.

In the meantime, I will the better part of month making my way back to BA. I do not think I will go south of BA, so I will have to find some places to roam in the northwest of the country.

If you have any thoughts or suggestions, they will be welcomed.

bjm 3.17.08

Animals of Iguazu

I spent the weekend at Iguazu Falls, near the crossroads of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

The falls are incredible. Upon seeing the falls, Eleanor Roosevelt said ´Poor Niagara.´

It is true. Once you see these falls, i do not think Niagara compares.

I have many pics of the falls and I will post the good ones later.

In the meantime, I post a few pics of some of the beautiful creatures that I saw there.

bjm 3.17.08

Get Your Mate On

The people of Argentina and Uruguay love their Mate, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(beverage)

As you walk down the street or on a trail, you will see people holiding a thermos in one hand and a mug-like item in the other. Sometimes the mug items are made of gourds; while other times, they are made from different parts of the cow family (including the carrying case for Rocky Mountain Oysters, ewwww!).

Although the travelers walk around with their big daypacks, it is afunny sight (to me) to see someone on the trail with a thrermos and their mate.

I have tried it a few times. It is a bit bitter. I thought it was okay with sugar, however, Carolina assured me that real men do not use sugar in their mate.

I say bring on the quiche.

bjm 3.17.08

Ferry Buenos Aires to Colonia, UY

Here are a few pics from the ride to Uruguay.

good-bye BA

Arriving in Colonia

Nature taking its course?

Minutes ago, I came upon a disturbing sight.

As I walked down the street of Iguazu, Argentina, I heard ¨meow! meow!¨ on and on.

I knew i was heading in the right direction as the cry got louder as walked along the sidewalk and approached a tree. I assumed a cat was stuck in the tree.

As I drew near, I realized the sound was coming from near my feet. On the ground, in the shade on this 27C day, was a kitten. Its eyes were open but it was very moist - looking like a new born.

What can I do? At the moment, I have walked on by. Other people (locals) were in the area and must have heard the kitten, too. However, the kitten´s cries were not turning any heads.

I will check and see if there is an animal shelter here. I´d be quite surprised if there was one. The well-being of animals does not appear to be a top priority in the countries I have visitied on this trip.

What would you do?

bjm 14 march 2008

Paving Roads with Good Unintentions

I know the road to hell is paved with good intentions. What road is paved with good UNintentions?

This past weekend I was in Punta del Este, Uruguay, where the people are beautiful and the prices are high. Well, I was there post-high season, so I can only confirm that the prices are high. If you go in January and February, the place is said to be full with of the rich, the powerfull and the beautiful.

While there, I stayed at Hostel 1949. A decent enough place with a bit of a view of the water. Despite rain for 3 of 5 days i was there, it was a good time. I was able to make it through thier casino without gambling.

Yeah me!

As usual, the hostel had backpackers from all over the world, including two co-eds on spring break from NC State. (Is it spring up there? what happened to winter?)

The co-eds left for Montevideo about 4 hours before me because they had to catch a ferry to BA. When I arrived in Montevideo, one of them was in the terminal. She explained that she had left her passport at the hostel and that it was arrving on a bus. she went on to explained that she had now missed the ferry and she would have to fly to BA to catch her flight to the States.

The only problem, aside from missing her ferry and wondering whether her passport would arrive and thinking that the flight from UY to BA might not be in time to catch her flight to the states, was that she had no UY pesos. Her bank card didn`t work and she would have to pay a departure tax since she was flying instead of taking the boat.

She had 100 Arg Pesos. I had about 1,650 UY pesos, so i told her that i would give her 600 UY pesos for the 100 Arg pesos. An even trade for both of us.

After the passport arrived, I went on my way.

The next day, the day i planned to leave Uruguay, I was looking for my 1,000 Peso note. I knew i had it because I had had it for a few days. I saw it again when I was exchaning the 600 Pesos. I needed the 1000 pesos because i was trying to time my money so I would be done with pesos at the border of Argentina.

I looked in all my money-keeping spots but I could not find the bill (about US$45) anywhere. I had to take more money from the bank.

The other day, I received a nice thank you email from North Carolina. ¨Thanks for the help the other day. I had to pay additional tax for....(who knows what)....Thanks again, best of luck traveling, and don't worry, I'll pay it forward.¨

¨Pay it forward¨??????? but we had an even exchange of currency.

Or did we?

Email:

Me: I don´t suppose i gave you a 1,000 peso note in with the 100`s, did I?

Her: Ahhh yes, you gave me the 1000 pesos. I didn't realize it until I got the airport but it was very fortunate because there was no ATM in site and of course I had no money. Honestly I don't think I could have made it home without the 1000.

Me, to myself: ¨can you pay it forward to my bank account?¨

I am sure goodwill will come my way for this untintentional good deed - but I would rather have the cash.

bjm 13 March 2008

Picture Not Taken Worth More than 1,000 Words

During the travels, I have found myself taking a number of photos of similar subjects, i.e., dogs in Guatemala and old French cars in Argentina.

I also find myself taking pictures of people lining up outside a bank. Something strikes me as odd when I see 100 people outside a bank´s doors. It is 2008. Why do banks have such lines?

As I was wandering through Salto, Uruguay today, on my way to Argentina, I came across a bank with a line around the corner. I got the camera out, as i had not taken enough photos of Salto, and panned across the bank to see if i could get a good shot. Not that I have a photographer`s eye, but I sometimes know what will make a bad photo.

The two policemen in front of the bank did not seem to be fans of people taking photos of those lined up outside a bank. They looked my way and called me over. I thought about making a run for it, however, I did not have my running shoes and I am not in shape for sprinting.

I went over to talk with the fine gentlemen. I didn´t catch much of their Spanish. I am fairly certain they were asking me why i was taking pictures of the bank. They demanded to see the camera and my ID. I have taken to carrying my license with me at most times, so I passed that off to one officer. I told the other that i did not take any photos of the bank, which I hadn´t because i could not get a good shot, and I showed him the last photos I had taken (just around the corner).

He seemed somewhat satisfied with the pics that he didn´t see, i.e., one of the bank. I, too, was happy not to have a pic of the bank. We chatted a bit. I didn´t want to be rude and rush off. After more than 5 minutes, I asked ¨Is everything okay?¨ and indicated that I was ready to leave. He told me to wait. I then realized that his partner was in the car waiting to hear back from HQ on whether or not there were any warrants out for my arrest.

My record is clean and 15 minutes later, I was on my way.

I have left the country and I am not looking back

bjm 13 March 2008

Dance Revolution

If the revolution occurs, let´s hope it will not be televised.

I found a dance school while I was in Montevideo. Their schedule told me that they had beginner and intermediate salsa lessons that night.

Having been dancing for sometime, I skipped the begginer class and got there for the intermediate lesson.

There were 30 or so people there. Most were female and the age range was 12-ish to 60+

The skill level seemed to be beginner to advanced.

For my part, I can honestly say....mistakes were made.

I have (re)discovered that I have very poor eye-foot coordination.

Did he turn clockwise or counter-clockwise?
Why do i have my right foot forward while everyone else has their left foot out front?

Part of the lack of coordination was due to the instructor speaking in Spanish. What is up with that????

We danced in two lines and I and la chica next to me (and others) were not doing too well. I figured it could not get any worse.....until he has me and the 5 other guys partner up with women

I was almost as if I had never danced before in my life. If I was moving at all, it was in the wrong direction. Much of the time, I found myself trying to watch the instructor to see what he was doing. However, by the time you see it and recognize it, it is too late - the move is over and you need to be on to the next one.

I may or may not have made it through a song. I don´t know. I know i held 2 or 3 women in dance postion. I can{t say I danced with 2 or 3 women because what I was doing would not be considered ´dancing´ in most books.

I dropped out after that. They wanted to give me a refund but i turned them down (about $3 for 1-1/2 hour lesson) as it was not their fault that I can´t dance.

If I am in Montevideo on Monday, I will head back and try again. Well, I will try the beginner lesson.

If I am not in Montevideo on Monday, it is because I am heading towards the Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil borders.

Keep reaching for the stars

bjm 03.06.08

Shake Hands and Make Nice

Well Colombia and Ecuador can´t get along but Brendan and the t-shirt guy can.

On Monday, I ran into Sr. T-Shirt selling his wares on the street. I saw him and walked by and didn´t look back. But then I decided to turn around and talk to him.

I went up to him. He may or may not have recognized me (i was wearing the same clothes as the day before). I am not sure. He seemed to be agreeable to speak with me, unlike 24 hours earlier. I apologized for my joke - I told him that I was just kidding.

He shook my hand and seemed to walk me away from his booth as he said ´have a nice day´ (in English). I do not know if he accepted the apology but that is all he is going to get.

It has been 4 days since the incident and, I believe, I have not offended anyone.

Yeah me!

I did offend a friend via email but that was last week. I am a changed man.

bjm

Welcome to Punta del Este. I hope you brought your wallet.

I am in Punta del Este aka Uruguay´s answer to France´s Riviera - that is if the question is What´s the name of the beach town in in Uruguay where things are very expensive and it is raining a cold hard rain?

I left Montevideo today for a few days by the beach. The beaches appear to be great here (although I wonder about the water as i see a brown foam on top of the water where people are surfing) but the weather is not. It rained my last 2 days in BA and it has rained, off and on, since i arrive in Uruguay on Friday. It was somewht dry when i got off the bus today, but now the rain has returned.

I will be here, or near here, for a few days before heading back to Montevideo this weekend. On Sunday, I plan to have dinner with an ex-colleague from the Disney on Ice days. He no longer does work for DOI. We will have fun talking about the good times there....I think there was a Tuesday in 1997 and a Friday in spring of 1998.

I had thoughts about hitting Brazil, since i am so close, but the cost of the visa is $240. I already spent $100 on a visa I didn´t use. For the amount of time I might be in Brazil, I don{t think the visa is worth it.

Gambling update: lost UY 100 Pesos the other day. the roulette ball landed in the slot right next to my number.

Damn.

update #2: 80kg with shoes and clothes

Double Damn

bjm 03.05.08

Separated at Birth?

From 60 to 0 in 5 words or How Not To Win Friends

I may not be able to win friends but I can certainly influence people.


I have made my way to Montevideo, Uruguay. A city of 1+ million people in a country to 3+ million. For the first time in 10 years, I have been able to meet with my Uruguayan friend, Carolina.

Today, Carolina and I went to the local street market. The market fills numerous streets in a neighborhood of which I know nothing. Although there were a few new items, mostly hardware goods, most of the table seemed to be filled with many persons' junk. I do not think the stuff could be turned into someone's treasure.

We did come across a table with a guy selling t-shirts. The design on one shirt had a map of South America, upside down or rightside up - depending on your point of view. (It turns out that the design is actually a copy of a work by a famous Latino artist. I did not get his name.)

So, Carolina, the t-shirt guy and I (but mostly the t-shirt guy and I) are discussing the map shirt. From the first word, all the talk was in English. I mention that the design was put on upside down. We seem to have a good laugh. he tells me that it all depends on one's point of view. We're chatting and things seem to be going well with the world upside down bit. He is sticking to his story that the northern hemisphere is not on top of the world.

I ask how much the shirt costs. He tells me USD 12. Since my humor is working so well, I do my best to comment that when he is designing the shirt (at that time i thought it was his design), he put the South on top, but when it came to money, he wants US dollars.

Well, faster than Foreigner could say ' Cold as Ice' we went from a big happy family to 32 degrees F in the shade. He started talking about the US's hands in everyone's business. the word "imperialism" may or may not have been mentioned. The words "I don't want your money and I will not sell you any of my products." were said.

Carolina back away slowly, probably mouthing "I've never seen that gringo." Meanwhile, I am standing there a bit dumbstruck wondering ' what the heck is going on here? i am a funny guy. we were all joking here and having a good time.'

After a moment or two, Carolina stepped in and was able to play Jimmy Carter; Egypt and Israel, or should I should i say the gringos andthe latinos, were able to shake hands. I told the guy I was just joking. He did not have too much to say; he wished me good travels and seemed to direct me away from his table.

Needless to say, there will be no t-shirts with upsidedown maps of south america in anyone's Christmas stocking.

Here's hoping I won't offend anyone tomorrow.

bjm March 2, 2008