Another .......Waterfall

I have done two posts as a bit of an Easter bonus. This one is a special Easter treat for Viv-who-lived-here-for-a-month-and-knows-what-it´s-like and because I know that in a few hours her family and mine will be gathered together at her home for home-made Hot Cross Buns ... without me (and because they will get the in-joke) Hope you are all able to read this together and that someone will have a really buttery hot cross bun for me. Make sure you check out the blog following this.

It´s impossible to describe The Cataratas and, although it is nigh on impossible to take a bad photo - photographs cannot convery the enormity of this phenomenon.

A waterfall ...

Another waterfall...

and the same waterfall ...

But wait, there´s more waterfalls ...

and more....

and with lovely young travel companions.

Another day, another waterfall.

The hat is a souvenir. This waterfall is THE biggie:








This is the guy who offered to take most of my photos of me.
Spot the waterfall...

And here, we have another ...waterfall...

and another view of the waterfalls...

A few things I discovered during my visits to The Cataratas:

Brazilian side on Friday and Argentine side on Saturday.

- All that pre-departure work in Jo and Brett´s Fitness studio paid off [A plug here for ¨You and Improved Fitness Studio in Waiuku.] I have been able to go up and down steps, (plenty of those if you observe the height of the falls) lug heavy bags and walk for miles.

-It was not a busy day for mosquitoes but it is easy to become paranoid every time you feel something touch your skin.

-It is always wise to make sure the bottle top of your malaria medication is screwed on tightly lest they spill all over the bottom of your bag.

- A wrist watch that boasts ¨Bath waterproof¨does not mean it can go under a waterfall.

- Sometimes you wonder what you are doing on a speed boat going sideways over rapids heading towards an almighty steep cliff ... in Brazil, and if your travel insurance covers death-by-waterfall.

- A $5 packet raincoat is not waterfall proof - and yet they still sell them at the point-of-departure. Neither do the raincoats hold great puddles of water in your lap while you are seated on a boat under a waterfall.

- You will eventually dry out.

- Some people pay a small fortune to have their photo officially taken, looking like a drowned rat, in front of a waterfall.

-It is difficult to see anything at all near a waterfall when you wear glasses. It´s like driving a car without windscreen wipers.

- It is very difficult to get a photo, up close, of a large spider or a small iguana.

- Most of the plants in my garden and house, including the weeds, have their origins in South America.

- It´s a good idea to familiarise yourself with the phrase, ¨I´ll take yours if you take mine.¨ People seem very happy to take photos for each other. And, it is easier to say, ¨Yes please¨ than try to explain that you have a photo of yourself in front of every possible view of a waterfall. The lovely guy in the photo kindly offered to take my photo at every new waterfall so I said it was about time I took a photo of him.

- The Argentine people are very proud of their waterfalls and those who haven´t been there have it on their ¨Öne day when I can afford it¨dream list. Everyone I have met is pleased and pleasantly envious that I got to go there. It´s like a pilgrimage and people on the tour were visibly and emotionally moved to be there. It´s almost as if it reinforces the good things about Argentina to make up for all the things they are unhappy with or are unable to change.

Animal Crackers

Happy Easter!

I have included a few random photos of animals for your viewing pleasure. Not an Easter bunny in sight.

This is an ant hill at Misiones San Ignacio. I looked for evidence of ants and mercifully found none. However, it did put my ant-problem-at-home into perspective and I will now not be so upset at the small piles of sand shifted from between the cobble stones when I compare them to these. Now THIS is a serious pile! (approx 80cm- 1m high)

This is a particularly inquisitive, and long, anaconda. There is glass between him and me, obviously.

Check out this guy! This is a coati ... I think. A bit like a possum but cuter with Yogi Bear characteristics. A group of them are on tourist duty at one of the refreshment stops on the Argentine side of the Cataratas. As soon as I stopped filming one of the shop keepers chased him away with an umbrella. I have a feeling he would return. I believe they have a similar shredding effect on your skin to a possum if you should be so inclined to have one crawl up your arm.

Having recently learned that the small flower on one of my camera buttons did indeed have a purpose.... I have discovered the joys of ´macro´ and, of course, need to share that with you, dear reader. So, here are a few close-ups of butterflies- because I can! There was an abundance of butterflies around, most of them smaller than our monarch butterflies but all beautiful and so delicate. From now on, I will not take monarch butterflies for granted.

There is an abundance of dogs wandering around the parts of Argentina and Brazil that I have been to. They do not appear agressive and all seem to have a confident sense of purpose. They don´t seem to take any notice of people-their attitude appears to be one of indifference. I have felt more unsafe walking past a few of the loose dogs in Otaua than I do sharing the same footpath as these dogs. Maybe there are cultural differences in animals in different countries as well. I remain , however, wary of all dogs in Argentina.

The sleeping dog photo was taken at about midnight in some goodness-knows-where truck and bus comfort stop. He just appealed to me as I shared his territory to have a photo taken with my travel-buddy-saviour, Ana-Laura, shortly before we went our separate ways. The dog raised an eyebrow, decided it wasn´t worth the effort to move, and went back to sleep. It never seems clear if these dogs are just plain feral or have homes to go to at the end of their outings.

And, my personal favourite dog story so far.... this was taken on Tuesday, in Parana. I saw this large ute/small truck go past full of all sorts of dogs, sitting upright and composed and all very well behaved. It stopped outside a house, the driver got out, took a dog from the back, knocked on the door of a house, handed the dog over, got back into the truck and drove off. It looked so funny - like a school bus full of oh-so-disciplined children. On further research, I discovered that the man was a ¨dog-walker¨who exercises dogs for people who are at work all day. It costs $100 (pesos - currently about $NZ50) a month and for that, you get your dog picked up and delivered and exercised in the park for four hours, three times a week. The man takes 20 dogs at a time and has two separate groups. Do the maths! All the dogs get on very well together and there is no fighting or jockeying for position on the back of the truck. They do not appear to be tethered either as they are just all in together, like a truck full of sheep. But they all sit upright and dignified. No leaning into the wind with the tongue hanging out or barking in anticipation. These are classy dogs!

And this one..... I was very much reminded of the snake in the zoo in the Harry Potter movie. This snake was a bit of a performer and it seemed it was his/her shift as it came up through the water and along the glass to give a good view to all those gathered around. Meanwhile, another anaconda was off duty curled up asleep at tha rear of the enclosure.

Lost in Translation

I have posted a few blogs within the past 24 hours as I get chances to get the internet. So, if you are interested, go back and start from where you left off.

And, I will get to the actual Falls part of the story - but take it from me, they were spectacular and truly beyond description.
Had really cute film clip here... but lost it. Watch this space as I will have to totally reload it. Grrrrrr *Shakes fist at Blog set up*

Well, there I was in Brazil (Brasil) quite unexpectedly as I thought we would be staying on the Argentina side of Iguazu Falls, but, it appeared not. So I have another few stamps in my passport and can say that I have been to Argentina four times. (Crossing to and fro for touristy things).

How do you know when you are truly having an intercultural experience? When you are a New Zealander speaking French with a tango singer from Paris on an Argentinian bus tour at a bird park in Portuguese-languaged Brasil.

Some observations on and from a hotel room in Brasil:
- I was not staying in a 3 or above star hotel

- I stretched out in bed and put my recently pedicured toenail through the bottom of the sheet.... I think this was a bit of an indicator that the hotel was ready for a bit of refurbishing.

- I turned on the hot tap over the basin...and cold water dribbled out from under the base of the cold tap. Tested this phenomenon twice.

- The corridor lights worked by motion-sensor (which required leaping or arm-flapping to set them off) and the rooms had energy saving cards that needed to go in a slot to activate the power, in the interests of conservation - but all the taps leaked.

- There was no information booklet or any usual hotel paraphernalia, but at least there was a Gideon´s Bible (Cue Beatles song from White Album .... ¨Rocky Raccoon, checked into his room, only to find Gideon´s Bible ¨ family in-joke, apologies to all others who find that incomprehensible.)

- I looked out the window at 6am Sunday morning, heard glass or a bottle smash, and saw a man attack and chase another one - apparently quite randomly up the street. There were a few other people around, they just carried on about their business.

- I saw, on the main street outside the hotel, a horse-drawn cart stacked unbelievably and incredibly high with.... I´m not sure what -scrap/junk/recycling, but it looked very much like one of those email jokes of unusual transport and vehicles from third-world countries. It was definitely a case of an overloaded vehicle and yet it was certainly a masterpiece of skilful stacking and packing! You had to respect the craftsmanship that went into getting it all on the cart and keeping it there.

- Every single drop of drinking water in the hotel had to be paid for. Not a complementary jug of water at any place or time to be seen. However, there was a piping hot pump thermos of complimentary sweeeeet black coffee and disposable cups outside the lift.

- I had a few interesting conversations with staff there. (Viv, think back to a taxi driver in Adelaide in 2001.) I brought a young male staff member up to my door, saying, “ My door won’t open!” in my best Spanish which consisted of three words relevant to the situation… which was reasonably ineffective as the man spoke Portuguese. He, of course, opened the door right away, by turning the key four times round in the lock… I’d given up after three. The door handle itself spun round with little participation in the whole door opening process. “Well, while you’re here then,” I added pleasantly with gestures, “Can you fix the tv, please, and….where are the emergency exits, or signs?” (Nothing had happened when I turned the tv on and then about five minutes later it burst into white and black dots then up came a sign and said it would shut down in 48 seconds. I was hoping that the word still meant ‘shut’ in Portuguese and not ‘self destruct’). The bloke found a ripped out channel cable, shoved it somewhere relevant and Brazilian tv burst forth. The emergency exit steps were reasonably close but unmarked.

- I had a very interesting conversation (with many gestures and much intonation) with the most terse of receptionists…and I think it went beyond language difficulties, although I became a little terse myself by the end of interaction. By the end of my stay I felt quite sorry for her as I think many of the issues she had to deal with were outside her control…

Me: “Computadora?,” and pointed in the area of the computers. (Hotel boasted conference and computer facilities so I felt it was not an unreasonable request.)
Her: “No.”
After a few repeats and requests for clarification:
Me: Is that internet? (pointing gesture, one hand at computer the other circling and then heavenwards, "internet¨ said in an accent of unknown nationality )
Her: Yes
Me: Can I use it? (further gestures which, from a distance, could have looked as if I was giving a disco dance demonstration)
Her: No;
Me: Why? (you can make up your own mental pictures from this point onwards)
Her: No computer
Me: But there is a computer there
Her: No computer.
Me: (In a very Fawlty Towers moment) I can see that it is working so it is clearly not out of order…. Aaaah, I see… it is booked?…. Can I use it until someone comes? It has been available for some time.
Her: No;
Me: Is there anyone here who speaks English?
Her: No
Me: So, what you are saying is, I cannot, under any circumstances use the computer,
Her: No
Me: (Somewhat pathetically) Well, my tv doesn’t work. Television? Doesn’t work? No go. No functione. Television? Room cuartro cero seis… no television. (Try miming that, those of you playing at home)
Her: OK

Next conversation :
Me:(with gestures and relevant props) Can you please change this 100 peso note (worth about $60 NZ ish)
Her: No

Next conversation to see if computer was available YET?
Receptionist sees me coming and points to another man behind the counter.
So, repeat the above conversation except there is a man answering in the negative
He adds the word “card” . I say , “Oh, I understand, I need a code. OK can I pay for a code?”
(No bonus points for guessing the answer) “No”.
Me: Wireless? (On the off-chance …. and pronounced wee- eer lease?)
Him: Si wee-eer lease …. tres y cuartro pisos ornly tree in for ummm flor
Me: Brilliant, Fantastico! Bueno!I am on the fourth floor, cuatro piso! Yo estoy en el cuatro piso.
Can I buy code/ card. I have my own computadora (cue more gestures)
Him: No, No card.
Me: (Make up your own ending here).

Power to the People:
- I have necessarily learned the word for electrical plug (enchufre). There is a Brazilian shop-owner in the hotel who will dine out on the story of a crazy foreigner (not sure if I revealed my origin) for a while. In short… I realised the phone charger and my computer plugs were incompatible with Brazilian power points; I asked at reception if they had adapters (no points for guessing the answer). So, I went to the hotel shop and was sold one for 7 pesos. Fine! Took it to my room, tried it in every power point * (more to come on this) – didn’t work. Took it to reception and asked if they would try it in their power points – didn’t work. Took it back to the shop (thinking of the Fawlty Towers episode with Mr Orilly and the dwarf with the pointy hat). Gave it to the shop keeper to try – didn’t work. Gestured replacement (more disco-dancing gestures), got replacement and was just about to go when 2 girls from our tour, in a mixture of broken English and Spanish, told me that the voltage is different here and there is a 3 pin power point in each room for the air conditioner. Brilliant! You have a choice of air conditioning or charging appliances. But why is it that a fellow tourist needs to tell me this when no one at reception or the shop owner could tell me – in gestures or a few simple words? So, I gesture exchanging the second power adapter for souvenirs from his shop. Mission accomplished. End note: the shop keeper waved happily to me as I got on the bus to leave Brazil…

- *Power points….. So far, the greatest risk to my life here was from using the power points in my hotel room. There were about 6 altogether, Lord knows why. Most of them were cracked, some of them had holes around them, and the air conditioner one was decidedly “spongy” and the two screws that held it to the wall… came away when I tried to remove the air con plug. Visions of irony as Mark, (husband/electrician and qualified electrical inspector) has to make trip to Brazil to pick up remains of electrocuted wife. And the thing is - I should have known better but decided that if I held the plate firmly against the wall with one hand and pushed/pulled plug in and out , then I should be fine. So, the room lights surged and dimmed (not sure if it was related) and the battery/charging indicator flickered between the two… but, my photos were transferred, a blog entry was written and the phone was charged. Holding a snake and a speed boat trip over rapids and under a waterfall would be a comparative piece of cake! And, I lived to tell the tale.

Flushed and Flustered:

Rule number 1 for travellers: Never miss an opportunity to use ¨Los Baños¨, and, always make sure you know the local words for said facilities. There was a moment of bewilderment on my first stop into Brazil when I was faced with making a choice of Ele and Elf, and correctly headed in the direction of Ele. As in some places in Europe, some toilet stops have people (all women so far) who provide a measured amount of paper for a donation. Unprepared for this, at the first stop I had no coins with me however I was kindly let through with a ¨donation¨ of paper from the attendant.

Rule number 2: Always carry a small packet of tissues . It took me by surprise that just about every toilet had a small bucket or plastic-lined container in each cubicle, with a varying amount of rumpled tissue paper in it. Not thinking too much about this, it wasn´t until I actually found a notice requesting all used paper go in the bucket that I realised.... oh my goodness.... they don´t seem to flush paper here.... gulp! Always taking my own tissues, I completely got it wrong at one place and used one of the measured lengths of paper outside the loo as a most inefficient paper towel. The attendant looked pityingly at me and pointed to a once-was-towel hand towel. I felt very stupid and realised that being prepared for, let-alone understanding the culture of a country can start from the ¨bottom¨upwards. My personal favourite was one set of toilets at Misiones which I paid for with all my left over Brazilian coins. For a small donation, not only did you get a reasonable ration of paper, but, because the cisterns weren´t working, the attendant also bucketed water in the bowl after you to flush it for you. Now, that´s service. Such an interesting juxtaposition alongside a very classy tourist presentation at San Ignatio.

Rule number 3: Always take a small botttle of that alcohol handwash that dries as soon as you rub it in. I have used my bottle many times.

A Picture Says a Thousand Words

While I am working on completing the abridged version of my epic adventure, I will upload a few photos. It seems reasonably logical that, if I couldn´t understand much of what was being said by tour guides from the time I left Parana to the time I arrived back, but could still be absolutely awestruck by what I saw... then my photos need little further explanation.














I saw this assemblage of amethysts from a distance and thought, ¨That´s a kiwi!¨















Large ants after the same syrup as the humming birds.

Can you find the humming bird?

If I could talk to the animals....I think this one understood English.














I was going to have a go at having my photo taken with the snake...truly (See two blogs back) but I just didn´t have time to get to know her. (I like to think of it as a her.)















Researching Brazilian culture. I think, (should I have been so adventurous to attempt it), that after two of these I would have been able to speak Spanish/Castellano and quite possibly Portuguese quite fluently. Undoubtedly my favourite taste experience in Brazil. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caipirinha


Observations:
- I think Dr Seuss must have been inspired to create some of the characters in his books from birds in South America.

- Some South American birds also seem to have been the inspiration for some creative hair styles in magazines and posters in hair salons.

- Some of the birds´physical and behavioural characteristics remind me of some people I know.

- With a tour group of complete-strangers-whose-first-language-is-not-English, you forget after a while that you don´t understand much of what is being said, but you realise that you understand some pretty basic universal truths about people travelling together i.e.
......there are the inclusive extroverts who set the tone of the excursion and who understand that they will have an even better time if they ensure that everyone feels part of the group, and do everything possible to carry that out;
......there are the quiet, low-key ones who are travelling with a group because it´s the only way to get to where they want to go and they are quite happy remaining slightly apart from the group;
......there are small groups or pairs of friends who intend to have a great time and hope that there are others similar that they can join up with;
......there are mixed-generational family groups who use the trip as a way of being together;
......there is always at least one person who: sleeps in/ gets lost/ loses their visa...(no names mentioned but it wasn´t me)/wants to visit a friend of a friend who just happens to live near one of the excursion destinations... (ahem, yours truly *waves to Viv in NZ and Monica in Puerto Iguaçu*)/gets left behind for an optional excursion/is a tango singer from Paris/disagrees with the hotel´s version of their bill/ is a high needs, non-first-language speaker of Castellano who tries to ration the number of times she asks English-capable members of the tour, in fluent Spanglish: ¨¿Qué pasa? What were the important parts of that information?¨

and... while I am waiting for another film clip to upload... Have you ever been watching the Academy Awards on tv and not been able to stop yourself from composing your own gracious acceptance and thanks speech.... ?Well, if I could remember all the names of people who helped me out, one way or another, I would be pretty much writing down the entire bus load of Argentinians, plus one Venezuelan and a young boy from Paris, and the German resident of Foz Iguaçu,who told me in broken English, outside the internet cafe, to be careful because he once had a gun held to his head in the very spot where we were standing.

However, if it weren't for a few special people, I think I would still at the first breakfast stop wondering what the procedure was for ordering a meal: The absolutely wonderful Susana from Parana (who just happens to be an English teacher at high school and university and was one of Mélisa´s English teachers - what a coincidence and a God-send) and her gorgeous family, especially the boys who helped me out numerous times and made me feel so welcome when I often joined them at meal times; Ana, from Venezuela, the other passenger travelling ´sola´ who also helped translate for me and who was one of the extroverts; several of the younger girls who have beautiful names which I can´t remember and are all gorgeous-looking (What is it about Argentinian women? They are all beautiful and naturally elegant) and who looked after me at the Brazilian concert night and are responsible for me joining them in a real conga with my own special interpretation of Brazilian dance - the photographic evidence of which has been ...destroyed; the English/Spanish translator who sat across the aisle from me whose name I can´t remember; and the lovely young Ana-Laura who sat by me in the bus for most of the trip and who also helped me on so many occasions - at least one of which deserves its own special entry later on. I cannot begin to express my appreciation. The end-of-speech-get-her-off-the-stage-music has started to play. I have to go to another class in a few minutes.



Here´s a few film clips which need no introduction.







There will be more to come... but it takes ages to upload film clips.

Back from the Frontier

Hi,

This is a quick note to let everyone know I am safely back from Brazil. It is 3am. We left Foz Iguazu (The Brazilian side of the falls) at 7.30ish this morning and and had a reasonably lengthy stop at both the Brazil and Argentina borders (watch this space, there´s an interesting story due
...but fortunately not about me, just observations). We stopped at Misiones Saint Ignatio (I will correct the spelling mistakes in the place names later, remember it is 3am...) for lunch and a tourist visit and then a stop at a generic truck stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Apart from that, I feel as if I´ve been on a very long flight in a comfortable seat. All up, it was a fantastic experience and am coming to the conclusion that if you gather any random bunch of people together from Argentina (excluding those who want to rob you) they will all be lovely, helpful, vivacious and generous, and at least a few will want to practise their English and at least two will be English translators or teachers... or am I just lucky? [Note to Mark: I have also invited a few more Argentinos to stay at our house during the rugby world cup and am pleased that I learned the Spanish word for ´floor´from our Spanish Christmas carol, Viv]

I have said that, yes, I will be at STEP at 7.30 in the morning to take the computer soft ware engineers for an English class. But this time, I think I will get them to do the talking; topic? Where should I go in Argentina for Easter?

Kay In Brazil

I have just written a post and lost it..... Oh no.... for the second time. (Stamps foot, makes unfair statements about Brazilian technology with many examples of evidence, suddenly prefers to have an impossible deadline of running records and Gloss tests ...[individual reading and maths tests] than be here, wants to cry and say, ´Don't want to play anymore!` , makes a few improper comments to the Brazilian keyboard and computer suggesting it could at least be more similar to the Argentino one I have just got used to.... ) Gotta love culture shock. I have composed myself again and am now behaving appropriately. But, I swear, if I lose this post ...


So, (takes deep breath and starts all over again) I am in a Portuguese-speaking country on an Argentine bus-trip. It makes for some interesting conversations. My Argentine phone does not work here, the batteries have flattened quickly and the power adapter I bought to fit Brazilian power points - doesn´t work. The hotel shop owner will find himself at the sharp end of the two prongs if I don't get my money back (Channelling Fawlty Towers)

While I am way outside my comfort zone, I have decided to do the UNDER the Iguacu Falls boat trip this afternoon. (Mark, please check the Visa account...) I would have had my photo taken with a snake (truly) at the bird park yesterday , but I needed time to have a wee chat with him first, get to know him and vice versa ... I don't know what kind of snake it was but the word boa will come to mind when I get to post the photo of the snake-keeper draping it around her neck. I DID see a very large and inquisitive anaconda, through a thick glass pane, and, as it came closer to the window,...... I was very much reminded of the Harry Potter movie.

Anyway, had better go in case I lose this too.

¡ I Swear it´s True!

Week 2 seems to be settling into a bit of a routine and I am now meeting the same classes again that I did last week. This Thursday is the day of Remembrance for Las Malvinas (Falkland Islands for those playing at home). As often happens, when I start asking questions about Argentina, I end up discovering more about New Zealand so I decided to show some photos of previous ANZAC Days at Waiuku and explain the ways we remember those who went to war. It seemed strange to explain the significance of the poppy – one person said they had always wondered about the flower that people wore. I don’t know why I thought that everyone would have known that. Spot the Euro-centric. I was describing that no matter how small a community was, after World Wars 1 and 2, people built or created memorials to acknowledge and remember those who served. I gave examples of how many ways World Wars 1 and 2 were remembered in Waiuku and districts and it was quite a surprise to realise there were so many.


My next class was an adult beginners and usually revolves around the personal information stage of vocabulary. I have now introduced the words “moggy’ and “chick flick¨ to them. There was a bit of an embarrassing moment for me when I boldly used an (unknown to me) inappropriate word in Castellano (think donkey in English) when talking about new vocabulary for body parts. It was I word I had picked up in a saying I had heard and thought I had a grasp of its meaning. I now have a much more...appropriate word for that which is sat upon.

Conclusions and Observations:
- Inappropriate words in another language tend to not have the same frisson of risk-taking or boldness when spoken by a learner of that language. No alarm bells ring in your head and there is no indication in its sound or appearance that this word is a no-no.

- No word leaps out and grabs your ears in the context of another language as much as one of your own language’s swear-words used in passing by a non-English-as-a-first-language-speaker and probably without a real understanding of its gravity.

I received a message that Migael de Cervantes Saavedra (see previous post) was closed for the day because there was no water due to public works maintenance, so I stayed on at STEP and caught up with correspondence. Then home for a two hour siesta (I know, feel sorry for me) and eventually back at night for the adult conversation class. We discussed problems which had arisen we we thought we knew enough of the language to get by, but once you find yourself in the ¨real thing¨you discover that native speakers do it differently, faster and with an unintelligible accent...and it´s even worse when you are on the phone. I recounted my bus-from-Buenos-Aires story as my evidence of language-shock.

I have taken several English classes by myself and it´s quite fun... it´s not too hard when there´s only been a maximum of 11 in any one class... remember it is a private language school. I have learned just as much about the language-learning process by helping people here learn English, as I have from my own trials and tribulations with Castellano. (Note... I spelled it incorrectly a few posts back ).

It continues to be hit-and-miss connecting on Skype with friends and family - and my lovely students of Huia 1 who seem more excited to see me and talk with me when I am pretty much as far away as I can possibly be before I start coming back again, than when I am standing in front of them. (Not to self,... cherish these moments and remember them on those interminably long wet lunchtimes in the middle of winter when we have all had enough of each other.) I very much appreciate those of you (Lynn, Mum, Julian, Huia 1) who think you are about to have a conversation with me and then you discover you are the focus of an English language lesson. Students of English in Parana now know the temperature in Tardun, Western Australia and in Broken Hill, New South Wales, and the names and ages of my students; but more importantly, they know how to ask relevant questions in real time in a relevant and authentic context to real speakers of English... and how to answer those same questions themselves. And my NZ students rattle of a very limited repertoire of all they know... quite confidently. It´s great to hear my Parana students say, por ejemplo (for example), ¨Hola, ...tengo trece años,¨and hear my NZ kids all say, ¨He´s thirteen.¨

Breaking news: the former president of Argentina (Alfonsin) has died, not unexpectedly, but thousands of people are thronging the streets of Buenos Aires to pay their respects. You have probably seen this on the news in NZ. I am just watching the headlines on TV now, ¨La democracia esta de duelo... Miles de personas despiden a Alfonsin.¨

And, now I head off to Iguasú. I am armed with industrial strength insect repellent and malaria medication. Watch this space.

¡¿¿¡¡¿¿¡¡¿¿¡¡¿¿¡¡¿¿¡¡¿¿¡¡¿¿¡¡¿¿¡¡¿¿¡¡¿¿¡¡¿¿ññññññññññññ¿¡¿¡¿¡¿¡¿¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¿¿¿¿¿¡ (Because I can - on this computer - with one simple touch of one key!. I know, I am showing off but it´s so nice to be able to use all those keys without using about three other keys first. I guess this is an intercultural moment.