It´s Pouring and I¨m Sick -- Again

Hola,

It´s pouring rain, and I have another head cold. But this is all new since my last entry.

Last week was short on work and long on vacation. And the weather was spectacular. Last week was Santa Semana, which can be translated as Holy Easter Week, more or less. I worked only two days. Monday commemorated the war over the Malvinas Islands, a.k.a. the Faulkland Islands. You may recall the war between the Argentines and the Brits in the 1980´s over who owned the islands. Argentina lost. And they remain unhappy about this outcome some 20 years later, understandably so. Tuesday and Wednesday I worked. Thursday and Friday I did not, Something Thursday and Good Friday. Whatever. The weather was spectacular, and I used the time to explore the city further.

Ayacucho is famous for its Santa Semana celebration. It´s a week long affair (that really started 8 weeks ago) with processions everyday. They observe Painful Friday, on which day grandparents flogg their grandchild first thing in the morning with branches, and people stick each othr with pins and nails. Dodging water balloons and shaving cream during Carnival was bad enough. I´m am SO glad I´m no longer in Ayacucho.

Unlike the Peruvians in Ayacucho, the Argentines, also predominantly catholic, are much more mellow. You wouldn´t really know it was Easter weekend. Many businesses worked on Friday thru Sunday. I was even able to attend Tango classes on Easter Sunday night. No Easter baskets, chocolate eggs, special dinners, nails or shaving cream. Life as usual.

Porteños (natives of Buenos Aires) tend to leave the city during this week, taking advantage of the extra days off from work. As a result, there was less traffic and fewer people on the streets, in the parks, at the street fairs. And as I said, the weather was perfect, perfect for walking and just hanging outside.

Things I did include:

Attempting to add more pages to my passport. The US Embassy is ALWAYS a joy to work with -- NOT! Waited an hour for service, and then two more hours only to be told that the computers were down and to come back NEXT WEEK. They didn´t know they had computer problems three hours earlier!!!!!!

Went to El Tigre, a town near the coast, about 30km outside of BA, where five rivers intersect. It´s kinda like the Thousand Islands north of Syracuse. There are lots of islands and rivers and streams. It is vacation spot were people keep summer homes (camps for you CNY folks). Travel between homes and islands is by boat. The area is beautiful.

Took two tango lessons, and much to everyone´s amazement, I was actually able to learn the steps fairly quickly. But two lessons does not make one a tango dancer. Much like lindy, you need to learn and practice a lot to dance this dance. I had taken a couple of classes a few years ago in Syracuse, and just couldn´t get it. But last week something clicked and I did very well. I might have to give this dance another try when I get home.

Saw a Tango Show. A Tango Show has music, singing, and of course dancing. All threee parts were excellent. The dancers were phenomenal. I am continually amazed that no one trips or gets wounded doing this dance.

Also saw two drag queen shows. Both were different in character. The first was more interplay with the audience and male dancers revealing their assets. The second was more entertainment and dance routines, with more clothes. While both were entertaining, it was clear that I was not the target demographic.

After both shows I went dancing and stayed out until the wee hours. I´m usually waking up for work at the time I arrived home. This city never sleeps. At 3 AM, people are sitting in outdoor cafes drinking like it's 7 PM. It´s wonderful.

Well, I need to go in search of food. The rain has let up a bit.

Tomorrow I go to Iguazu Falls, and then I leave for New Zealand. My Latin American tour has come to a close. I probably won´t write again until I hit New Zealand.

I added some more pictures to older posts.

cheers,
Stacey