Interim Report ...

I´ve mucked up my settings somehow on this particular post and couldn't get my text or photos right... so I´ve started all over again! Grrrrrr! Hopefully it makes sense.

The river beach at Parana.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OMdqMo5iWw This is a Youtbe video of Parana... you might like to check it out and get an idea of wht it is like here.

Wednesday 15^{th April}

Feliz Cumpleaños to God Daughter Rhianon in Broken Hill, Australia,and to brother Dean for the 10th and sister-in-law April for the 11th. Anyone else I´ve foergotten?

All of a sudden my time here is nearly over and I have a dizzy social calendar for the rest of the week… even with a few double bookings. I have not been able to get near a computer recently and when I have... the internet wasn´t cooperating.

It was great to catch up with “mi mejor amiga”, Viv, at 8 am my time and 10pm her time this morning, especially as the 15^th of April is a special day for her for the anniversary of the passing away of her dear friend, Chris. Every 15^th of April we have a coffee together to remember her and this year, in Argentina, I was lucky enough to be having pastries and coffee for breakfast with the class of computer software graduates and to talk with Viv at the same time. So, to remember Chris and to share the moment with Viv, I waved the plate of pastries in front of the computer and by the miracle of Skype... she could see them. And, the students were able to help Viv with a word she needed for her Spanish assignment that she was doing at the time so, again, a spontaneous intercultural moment was had. I have been having an English conversation class with these people two mornings a week from 7.30 -8.30am for the past month. To start with, I talked to them about NZ or showed photos and for the last few times they have each brought photos of their favourite places in Argentina to tell me about. Mathïas brought photos of some of the fish he had caught in the Parana River and we all joked that he had more photos of fish than of his girlfriend.

I was also able to catch up with sister Lynn , on Skype, this morning my time, and she was able to say hi across the world to the class too and we late had abit of a catch up on family events.

A summary of events to date:

Easter was spent quietly and mostly indulgently. I decided I didn’t want to go on another travel jaunt as I wanted to see a bit more of Parana and just have a bit of a break, as I will go pretty much straight back from here into preparation for school when I get home. Also, much as the purpose of my stay here is to be “immersed” in the language and culture, it is really difficult relying on people to help you out when they are not expecting to find a non-Castellano speaker on a bus tour planned for Castellano speakers.

Interestingly, even though so many people here can speak some degree of English, I have only met one English-as-a-first-language speaker in Parana during my whole month here. There is an AFS student called Peter, from Iowa, at the Escuela a del Club Athletico Estudiantes that I have been going to for part of the day since last week.

On Friday Mélisa and I walked along the Costanera (the river front) Well, Mélisa jogged and I walked. There are several private beaches along the river side and other places where you can cook your own asado and have family picnics. Because it is a river beach, trees grow in the sand beside the river. I have difficulty getting my head around trees growing in the sand on a beach but I am used to ocean beaches, not river beaches. The water is quite brown and it almost looks as if the boats are sailing in milk chocolate as in the Cadburys ad on tv. A lot of soil comes down the river from Misiones where the earth is quite red so the river is always a brown colour.

Check out the chocolate river.... It´s not like beach sand at all. Couldn´t resist another sleeping dog photo... These guys clip clop around the city picking through the rubbish...and I think they might collect stuff for recycling. They do not appear to be well-liked or trusted.

On Saturday afternoon I visited one of the girls in one of my English classes and her friend. They wanted to practise speaking English with an authentic speaker and I was happy to oblige… there was a home-made cake and a cup of tea involved and Agustina, Luisina and her family were, typically, delightful. Agustina and Luisina both study international relations and political science at university. Luisina’s mother is an obstetrician at Parana hospital so we had some interesting conversations in a mixture of English and Spanish. They were able to demonstrate mate drinking for a film clip... see below and then Luisina’s friend, a medical student from university in Cordoba, dropped me back home in time to go out to another basketball match with the family.

How to drink mate.....

The basketball match was won bny a wide margin by Sionista (home team) and then, at 11.30 I went with Daniel. Mirta and Blanca (Mirta´s mother) for dinner. I could not, at that hour of the night, eat a large meal and I was tired so had a salad and chips. The town was full of people and, interestingly, quite a few really young primary school age children out and about.

First thing on Easter Sunday, I opened my little parcel from Viv, which she had left me with strict instructions not to open until Easter Sunday.... Joyful Day! Lindt Easter Eggs! I resisted temptation to demolish them there and then and put them on hold for the next family dinner.

A Very Good Friday

People are always wanting to ask me about my family (in English and Castellano) because asking for and supplying personal information is one of the first things people tend to learn in structured lessons in another language. I have to reply using simple vocabulary, because I only have a limited repertoire of Spanish, or they may only have a limited English vocabulary. So, one class was asking me about my son (Julian 18 years) and I was explaining that he has been at home playing and composing music on the guitar, drums and computer for most of the year, that he is a ¨good¨boy and helps out at home in return for this self-indulgent interlude in his career path. However, he is now staying with his godmother in the outback of Australia, helping her in her Motel. (See one of my earlier posts for more info. Not sure how to organise direct link).

Anyway, Roxana, the English tutor of the class, told me that Julian reminded her of her son, Juan, who is in a rock band (La Posta) on the point of releasing their first CD. (Again, refer earlier post for link to You Tube).

On Friday night, (Good Friday) Roxana invited me to her home for dinner (empanadas - very Argentine) with her delightful family. We then went, with the 83 year old abuela (rock-granny!) to a ¨gig¨at the local arts venue, which had once been the train station. Great place but my camera batteries had flattened, so no images. Juan, and Roxana´s son-in-law were to be guest performers at another (Astro Bonzo)band´s gig. Apparently when they are each playing in each other´s home town, they do guest spots for each other. It was a great performance... I realised that the main act must have been a band of some success as they had their own roadie to-ing and fro-ing with equipment. All the songs seemed to be originals until the drummer did an amazingly long and exhausting drum solo which very nicely segued into Led Zep´s ¨Whole Lotta Love¨. Now that I could understand. It was brilliant and the best version I´ve heard since seeing the original at Western Springs many years ago. I would hazard a guess and say that I would have been the only one there who would have ever seen Led Zep perform live. By this stage, I had run out of battery for my camera and I wish I had taken spares. However, Julian, I tried to get the Marshall amp in the picture for you.

Roxana and her 83 year old mother-rock-granny and I were standing and had a good view. It was a reasonably small venue (about the size of the Waiuku Town Hall, for those of you playing at home) and it wasn´t too crowded. Although it was loud, it was an excellent sound... and I´m sure Mark, Laura and Julian would have enjoyed it and been able to discuss the music´s merits far better than I could. The lead singer was fascinating to watch - a brilliant front man in a Mick-Jaggeresque way with postures and strutting and some potentially dangerous moves with a microphone stand. He looked a little Jesus-like (would be an excellent choice for JC Superstar) which seemed appropriate for a Good Friday gig. In my pursuit of investigating what is Argentine culture, I noticed that people didn´t seem to dance or move around to the music, they were more inclined to sit or stand and watch - although everyone was enjoying it and cheered loudly and appropriately as required. No one seemed at all surprised to see an obviously elderly person at the concert (the abuela, not me!).

I have a ¨hot off the press¨ copy of the CD by La Posta (Juan´s band) called ¨Raices¨which means roots ... I think, and I am looking forward to playing it loudly at home. It sounds excellent on my computer and I´m sure you will like it, Mark and Julian.

Spot the Marshall amp in the far right hand corner, Julz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4AWIosJYP8 Here is a link to the band ¨Astro Bonzo¨ doing ¨Whole Lotta Love¨ somewhere else last year. It's obviously not at its best through a computer, but you´ll get the idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhPlg6lcpZI Here is a link to You tube with the song that Juan and Licho from La Posta did with Astro Bonzo at a previous gig. My film clip is resisting uploading.

Sleeping Dogs:

On Saturday morning, I bravely walked by myself from home to Mélisa´s shop. It is only a few blocks away, but all roads and most houses look similar to me so Daniel drew me a map and off I set. I passed a few stalls of ¨artesanos¨along the way and bought a few bits and pieces and eventually safely arrived at the destination. I did a bit of shopping, which takes surprisingly longer than expected when things may look the same superficially but require careful examination before committing to purchase. For example, I thought I had bought a CD of children´s songs in Spanish, when in actual fact, I discovered later on that day, that I had bought a CD of ambient music suitable for young children. Fortunately it was not too expensive a mistake.

I walked back home with Mélisa at 1pm (her shop closed until about 5pm) and I couldn´t help but notice dogs lying everywhere, in the shade, in blissful repose. It was as if, suddenly at one o´clock, all the dogs just drop and sleep. There were quite a few more, but I couldn´t stop and photograph them all... but you get the idea.

The following two pictures were taken of dogs along the river side walk at Paraná. One guy was taking his dog for a swim in the fountain and I caught him just as he was pulling the dog out. The river side is faintly like Mission Bay in Auckland, especially in the way people use it.

Almost literally, every man and his dog walk or jog along there. Families have picnics and groups of people meet and many people are sharing mate. Mindful of my previous observations and comments on the local dogs, I couldn´t resist this photo of a dog, exercising himself. He looked as purposeful as every other two-legged jogger. Leashes? Owners? Who needs them!

A few random observations:

- How would you try to explain the word ¨sea lion¨, understanding that a literal translation just doesn´t convey the right meaning? Yup! Some things you´ve just gotta demonstrate. Now picture trying to demonstrate the difference between sea lion and walrus. Likewise, how would you say, with few of the specific words needed to accurately describe an anatomically correct pukeko, that it has a tuft of white feathers under its tail. Then, I was trying to explain hot cross buns to someone who hadn´t seen them before ... how would you demonstrate the reason for a cross on the bun? (Shades of The Life of Brian). And, my personal favourite: Mirta (¨parent¨¨ and owner of my address in Parana) described her extended family´s Passover gathering at her mother´s house as a br.........l (avert your eyes, students) because there were about 25 people including active preschoolers and their accessories, food, dishes, chairs, two different tvs going with two different sports games, noise and general merriment. When asked if I understood what she meant, the nearest vocabulary I had to suggest a definition was translated into Spanish as ¨A house of agreeable women?¨

- Argentina has the most beautiful and varied scenery. People in Argentina have the impression that NZ is a most beautiful country ... but, there is nothing on a scenic NZ calendar than can not be equalled or bettered by somewhere in Argentina - it just takes a lot longer getting there in Argentina.

- So many people want to learn English because they feel it is vital in their job or for their future, but few of them see travel as realistically achievable. I have met so many people in Argentina who dream of travelling overseas but it seems to be such an impossible dream because of the current value of the peso.

- Every single taxi driver I have encountered in Paraná has been pleasant, helpful and some have given me cheaper rides when I didn´t have the correct small change. I use up to 5 taxis a day and they have all been quick to arrive and not a single driver has had a word of English apart from ¨All Blacks. Taxi air conditioning consists of an open window, seatbelts are impossible to find and their Castellano is inevitably a gravelly mumble not requiring lip movement. I am almost fluent in discussing the weather with taxi drivers. Fortunately for my communication skills, it has always been perishingly hot. There are several ¨safe¨taxi companies and I have been lucky that there has always been someone around who could make a telephone call for me as my Castellano over the phone to a taxi company would be pretty time-consuming.

-

Third Rock From the Sun ..Reporting in

There are many times when I have felt like the alien family in that tv programme, “Third Rock From the Sun”, and that my blog and observations are my reports to “The Big Head”. This is because, in return for this unique opportunity, I am expected to demonstrate or give evidence of improved language acquisition, knowledge and understanding of the culture of my host country – especially when it is related to language experiences, and to recognise and relate my experiences to language teaching/learning pedagogy. I am here “sola” (alone) so I do not have the chance to immediately discuss or compare or share new experiences with anyone else from NZ so it is much easier to fit in as a member of the family/school/group rather than as a tourist and I just try to work things out as best I can.

It was difficult not to make judgements in the first few days when everything was new and the differences leap out– especially ones which make you feel uncomfortable or unsafe or where you want to say, “You know, if you did this…..” or, “Why don’t people…….?” or “Why don’t the police……? “ or “Why do the police….?” or, (my personal favourite) “Are they allowed to do that…?” After the initial shock (just as well AFS gave us a few pages of information on how to recognise and be aware of the realities and implications of culture shock) everything starts to seem normal and the reasons for things being the way they are start to unfold.

Sister Lynn had a similar experience returning to NZ from the West Australian outback for the Easter holidays. She said that she was really surprised to notice so many trees in the suburbs, so close to houses, while driving to the North Shore… and her instant reaction was, “How dangerous would that be in a bush fire!” But we don’t have bush fires that wipe out towns in Auckland.

On the tour, there were several times when the young boy born in Paris, the young woman from Venezuela and I had a different price to pay for venues or needed something extra on our visas at the borders. For example, Argentine nationals had to pay only $20 (pesos) to get into one National Park, when the “extranjeros” (foreigners) had to pay $60 (pesos). I think I got into one venue as a National but Claudio, the tour guide, said that I shouldn’t talk because I would definitely sound like an extranjero. At least, that’s what I think he said because I never understood a word he said before or after. [Important advice to anyone who ever has to speak to someone with marginal acquisition of your language…. Clear enunciation is everything!] I decided that “extraterrestre” (extraterrestrial) was a much better sounding word so that is what I called myself from then on.

Our first stop, once through the border, was at a huge bus-tour-group dining room which accommodated several colectivos (double-decker buses). Because people eat a full sit-down meal in the middle of the day, there was an enormous buffet for $25 (pesos) each. I only felt like a sandwich or a bread roll and wasn’t going to pay that much for a nibble (I know, some of you can’t believe my non-appetite in Argentina, or, in this case, in Brazil) so I joined Susana and her family for a piece of pizza down the road. The next day, the bus stopped at a different location with no other eating option nearby. Again, I could not face a full meal ( yup… believe it!) and asked the manager, in my most polite Castellano, if I could just pay for a bread bun and a drink because I could not eat a big meal while travelling. He said no, I had to buy the full meal, they did not sell items separately.

I said, “OK, how about I buy a $10 drink and you give me a complimentary bread roll.”

“No” …..

“So, you are telling me I have to pay $25 for a bread bun, and then pay extra for a drink? ¨

“ Si.”

Reminding myself that I was an “extraterrestre” making observations, and not a NZer expecting to demand or comment on good customer relations, I stalked off to sit at a table with a group of others. I had to stay inside as I would have been desiccated in about 15 minutes in the heat outside, and took smug satisfaction in the knowledge that I was using his air conditioning without payment. I would not buy a drink and politely turned down offers of bread from other people, trying to explain the meaning of the word, “martyr” in broken Castellano. This was best done by trying to mime Joan of Arc with words like “fuego” (fire) and “muerto” (dead) and “creo” (I believe). I have since learned that using the word “mártir” would have been a lot more efficient and taken up a lot less table space. I kept thinking, ¨This would never happen in Argentina!¨ because I have had unfailing pleasantness, helpfulness and generosity above and beyond the call of duty in Argentina. At the next stop I bought a bottle of water and a small packet of peanuts which sufficed… although I did get a bit concerned when my malaria tablet bottle top came off in the same plastic snap-bag as my peanuts.

A random comment here, while I think about it, about movies. We had 4 DVDs all up on the tour. During the middle of the night on the way to Iguacu, there was some killer-thriller movie that Mark would have loved and I usually would avoid- but there was no escape. It is a lot easier to watch a violent film when the sound track, although in English, is turned down so much that you get no clues to assist comprehension and you have to rely solely upon what you see and can read at speed in Spanish. I didn’t catch the name of it ( I have since discovered it was "Transporter III") but it had a guy who had some wrist band on that would explode and kill him if he did the wrong thing, and some girl who had to take a car somewhere. Lots of people died suddenly and gruesomely along the way and the hero got to survive underwater for a long time by breathing escaping air from his car tyre, and there was a train involved. I’m sure someone will know it. We also had “Wild Hogs” with no subtitles but dubbed in Spanish. John Travolta and Tim Allen just aren’t the same without their own voices – but the visual gags were easy enough to understand. Then there was one called “Eagle Eye” with subtitles, which I slept through, and then “The something or other of Benjamin Button” which was in audible English with Spanish subtitles… it was quite a delightful but wacky movie and I picked up a fair bit of Spanish vocab along the way … but fell asleep before the end.

Random photo of street stalls at Puerto Iguacu at night.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind:

My mejor-amiga-since-we-were-born, Vivienne, spent a month in Puerto Iguacu in 2007 on the same AFS programme as I am on now. She stayed with a teacher called Monica in her bedsit and shared her life, very closely, for the entire month. When Viv found out I was going to Iguacu, she tried to arrange a meeting between Monica and me. So, a few emails went three ways (Monica does not speak English). At the last minute, I found out that the tour was staying in the Brazil side of the falls so it looked like it was going to be a case of “So Near Yet So Far”.

On the Saturday night of our trip, we had the option of going back across the border to Puerto Iguacu to go to the Casino. I got my delightful travelling companion/lifesaver/translator, Ana Laura, to use my cell phone to call Monica to arrange a meeting and it looked like it was going to all go ahead. But, the times had only been approximate and then the tour guide told us that we could go shopping in Iguacu first. Aarrrgh!!! I established a new e.t.a. for the Casino, and got Ana Laura to ring Monica for me – she said she was already at the Casino waiting and it was at this point that we realised there were two casinos and Monica was at the other one. She would head off and try to get to the one we were going to be at… except the group was going to stay a bit longer shopping. Aaaarh! We couldn’t contact Monica so Ana Laura, (Bless her) said, "Let’s walk to the Casino and get there before the bus group…. " We let people know what we were doing and headed off in the general direction, along mostly well-lit and well-peopled streets. Ana Laura asked directions a few times and eventually, after me stumbling over (it had to happen at least once in the story) on very uneven paving, and grazing my knee but, gotta love Caroline Eve trousers… no rips or tears to the clothing!

We ended up at the beautiful Sheraton hotel whereupon I bought us each a large and soooo refreshing Caipirinia while we waited… and waited… and waited. We couldn’t get hold of Monica by phone, the bus tour arrived and went into the Casino. I gave my $10 peso voucher to Ana Laura to use as I’m just hopeless in casinos and I was still keeping an eye out for Monica.

Just like a movie, when you think things aren’t going to happen before the time runs out…. and just as everyone was getting back on the bus, Monica roared up in a little red car and we just knew who each other was. So there we were, in the front of the very grand Sheraton Hotel, with the car parked in front and the door left open, hugging and crying and me talking in English, Monica in Spanish and Ana-Laura taking photos and translating, in the semi dark, while the bus is revving and getting ready to go. It was truly a very strange moment where two people who have never met before are in tears on the other side of the world because we both know Vivienne back in NZ. Gifts were exchanged - Viv had given me a US$5 note to spend on something special while I was here, and I had intended to buy Monica a drink but there was absolutely no time. Try to imagine the culturally sensitive tight-rope I had to walk to try and explain in gestures and a few words, in a few seconds, to someone who would not let Viv pay for anything during her entire month, that if Viv or I couldn´t be there to have a coffee or drink with her, then would she please take her friends out and have a drink on our behalf and tell the story about this evening... I think she understood in the end but it was definitely a moment of cultural negotiation over who would be offended the most if the $US5 was accepted or not. More hugs and then we had to get back on the bus. The whole episode was less than five minutes… but at least it happened and it was madcap crazy and ultimately successful and will remain a very special memory. ¡¡

¡Hóla, Viv!

Highway Robbery:
I have told several people in Argentina about the following incident and some who knew I was writing a blog said, “Don’t write about that because it makes us look bad.” Which in itself seems to me to be the essence of the Argentine people (that I have met so far). They love their country and are very proud of its culture, its natural features and their own personal stories of their families´ origins. But there is (trying to think of the right words here) a dissatisfaction, sadness, possibly an embarrassment and a resignation that this is just the way things have been, are now and probably will be and that change will happen slowly.

Anyway, we stopped at the Argentine border, returning on Sunday, and Claudio-the-tour-guide sorts out all the passports, visa etc at the border office. We had had no problems crossing the border two previous times for excursions. This time, someone in control at the border said to our guide that if each of us paid $4.00 (pesos) we could go through with out having our bus checked. Otherwise, we would all have to get out and every bag would be checked- taking Lord knows how much time. I could not believe this!

A fellow passenger collected all the money and everyone kind of shrugged their shoulders and said, “This is Argentina.” I was naively and thoroughly astounded and asked dumb questions like, “But won’t someone tell the police?” and “What if everyone called their bluff and every bus said, Go ahead, check us! There’d be buses backed up for miles….” and generally being gob-smacked and uncomprehending of what had just happened. The money was collected (I paid up, of course…. I don’t do political martyrdom and I had to remember that I’m just an extraterrestre) and we went merrily on our way.

After it was all over, I thought it was quite funny and tried to explain in broken Castellano that I have spent a lot more money in the past on legitimate transactions and had a lot less entertainment. So, as a cultural and learning experience, it was probably the best value for money I have had here.

Photos of San Ignacio, Misiones. I tried to find a Wikipedia link but the page is in Spanish only. See what you can find youself because I missed the really good touristy photo shots. This is a fabulous place and I would have loved to stay here longer. The story behind it is fascinating and I need to read a bit more about it as I couldn´t understand too much of what the tour guide said. There is a brilliant display museum and I find my ability to read and understand Spanish, at my own speed, is far greater than my ability to listen to it.

This is the lovely Ana Laura who helped me in so many ways. If it wasn´t for her, I would never have been able to catch up with Monica for Viv. On the other side of the world from NZ, someone I have only met two days before, goes out of their way to help me meet someone else I have never met before. Now THAT´S international relations!

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.