Quicky update

Well, either I don't have too much to share or I'm not really in the mood to write this blog right now.  I'm going to write it anyway, mainly because I woke up in a bad mood today and combined with having cramps, bloating and muscle pain, Im bored.
I always kind of wonder how I can just wake up already in a bad mood.  Clearly nothing happened - it's just my hormonal imbalance showing up for the party.  And well, I'm not in a very bad mood - I'm just feeling impatient and irritated.
So, just a little update into my life right now - the first week back from our trip was not good.  For both of us, but I'm only speaking for myself right now.  I was feeling completely useless, with no purpose in life, wondering what we were even doing here in the first place?  It's just that, Ro and I are used to having responsibility.  I managed a fitness club before coming here and he managed an office building.  We lived in a condo close to the lake in downtown Toronto.  We exercised everyday (at least tried to), we cooked our own meals, we paid our cable, cell phone, internet, hydro, grocery bills with our hard earned cash.  At night, we sat down in front our TV in the living room eating dinner and watching whatever we liked.  We really like working, making money and being able to support ourselves and live comfortably.
We don't have any of that now.
While it may seem like a dream to some (the taking 6 months off of work, not having to pay rent, cook for ourselves, clean our own bathroom etc.), it's causing a little cabin fever and lack-of-anything-to-do anxiety.  That and we're out of money.

Obviously, in the beginning, it was pretty sweet because frankly we were tired.  We had all of this responsibility but we were really overworked.  Ro's family has been nothing but supportive of us, financially and otherwise.  We're just ready to get back into a routine. 

So, we started looking for jobs immediately because that's the number one thing that will give us our financial freedom - having an income.  My dream, since I was in university, has been to teach English abroad.  I've never really had another set, established dream like this so THIS IS WHAT I'M GOING TO DO.  That, and I don't really have another option anyway hehehe.  Anyway!  Applying for a job has been beneficial for me in a few ways - first, it forced me to speak in Portuguese over the phone.  Second, I was able to learn my address and postal code!  (like a baby)  Third, it has given me something to focus on and get my brain back in action (but c'mon, you know it never stops ;))
So, with my efforts I was able to snag two interviews.  One with a school called New Start which caters to Business English specifically.  They also pay more than most of the other schools.  The other school I had an interview with is Wizard, a school I see around pretty often.

The lady at New Start was a little hesitant because I only have a TESL certificate and she is used to hiring people with CELTA (which is more intensive and longer).  BUT (and this is the only benefit I can foresee to me living in Recreio, aka NOT where foreigners live) because I live in the far west end of Rio and she needs someone out here, she agreed to give me a try.  I did a day of training with her and she gave me 3 classes to teach (the same group).  After the 3, she is going to get their opinion and if they like me, she is going to hire me on for that class!  YAY!
The first class was this past Monday and oh my god.  Yes, I have the TESL cert. but I did it seriously 5 years ago.  I remember nothing.  I literally planned for this class (on my own) for 10 hours.  I mean, I totally had to catch up on grammar, verb tenses and parts of speech, otherwise known as the basics.  Then I planned the lesson (almost word for word, haha, what can I say, I like to be prepared).  When I got there, only one guy was actually at work that day so it ended up being a one-to-one which was ok anyway because I was able to relax a little.  His English is intermediate/advanced so that certainly made it a lot easier.  Anyway!  It went pretty well I thought!  I definitely need to work on my explanations and timing but I think at least that I made a good impression.

Oh, and the Wizard interview?  How about halfway through the woman said,
"Ok, now we're going to see how your Portuguese is and do the rest of the interview in Portuguese."

Seriously?  Thanks for the heads up.  I kind of stumbled through but it wasn't so bad... let's say it wasn't a train wreck.  Anyway, I should be hearing from them this week!

So yay so far for some progress.  The next big exciting news is that my mom and sister are coming to visit on Saturday!!  I'm really excited to see them and our families will be meeting for the first time!  A little nervous about the communication, but at the same time I'm not.  I made it through and barely spoke anything in the beginning.  Ro is a very good translator and now I can help too.  So, if I have time, I will update to let you know how it's going.

Until then, that is my update!  Ohhhh and Nina is getting so big!  God, she's sooooo long!  I think she's going to be the longest cat in the world.  Here are some cuuuuuute pics to keep you interested...

Haha sleeping with her tongue out!!

 

Backpacking in South America - Curitiba

Oh man, a lot has been going on since we got back from our trip!  First of all, I will fill you all in on the last few days of our trip which was the bus ride to Curitiba and the train ride to Morretes.  (This train ride is supposedly the most beautiful train ride you can take in Brazil and its main purpose is to take tourists either to Morretes or further on to Paranagua)

So, after a really nice day in Sao Francisco, we caught the bus early in the morning to Curitiba.  The city itself was pretty nice and we stayed in probably the nicest hotel there of the whole trip!  The room was huge with a small kitchen + stocked fridge, balcony, double bed and single bed, TV, air con - the whole works!  The only downside to being in Curitiba this weekend was that it was Easter and pretty much everything was closed.  We spent Friday afternoon and evening watching streamed clips of Russel Peters and a few English shows we found on the TV.  Our only option for eating was in the mall across the street (which, unbeknownst to us, we would be eating EVERY meal in for the entire weekend).
The next day was one of my most anticipated events of the whole trip.  The Train Ride.  We smartly bought our train tickets the day we arrived in Curitiba, as well as our bus ticket back.  What a good thing we did because we actually lined up to try and change our ticket time once we got to Morretes and were informed that all of the bus times were sold out.  Phew!
So the train ride - I was undecided whether or not we should buy the regular trem ticket (which was already about R$100 each) or the Litorina train (which is the tourist train and 3x the price).  Actually, while I may have been undecided, Ro was not at all.  We took the trem.
Just like on the Litorina, you get a snack box, and unlimited beer and pops and you also get a service attendant.  So for the price, in terms of services, I think the trem is just as good.  The only difference that I can see being plausible is that there are a good, healthy, LACK of spoiled Brazilian children on the Litorina.  Because they are all on the trem.  Oh. My. God.  I'm serious, when your child is clearly VERY fat, STOP FEEDING IT MORE JUNK FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!
The kids who sat in front of us (and their mother) were just about the biggest folgados I have ever seen.  Seeming to have no sense of awareness that there were other passengers on the train, these kids, actually more the mother, chose to take up not just the two benches they had paid for, but four benches, on both sides of the train, which meant they were constantly walking back and forth back and forth with the mother yelling at the daughter to "stop putting your head outside the train!!" basically so she could put her own head outside the train.  The mother was taking picture after picture of nothingness, as far as I could see.  The very fat boy child drank, I think, at least 4 regular cokes in a 3 hour trip PLUS ate his entire snack box (which consisted of at least 6 different types of snack) PLUS asked for another snack box and ate that too.  Every time he started unwrapping another silvery-crinkle wrapper, Ro and I stared at him muttering "don't do it, don't do it, I swear to god you'll regret it when you're 25 and you're still a virgin DON'T DO IT!"   GOD.  It was just too many kids screaming.  Every time the train went through a tunnel it was about 25 kids and their parents screaming 'wooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
After like the 10th time of this happening, Ro articulately stated "I swear I'm gonna kill a kid."
Oh, I didn't even mention the 4 year old-ish boy sitting opposite and a little behind us who was hanging off the back of the bench of the poor woman sitting directly across from us.  He was having the time of his life holding on at the top while kicking his way up the back of the seat.  The woman was on the train alone and I think if we had all made eye contact and nodded there might have been some Kung Fu Karate busted out.  To try and help her out I started looking back at the kid (very discreetly, from behind Ro, obviously so his parents couldn't see me) and started opening my eyes really really big at the kid, y'know, just to freak him out.  Then he would stop for a second, captivated and disturbed by the freaky stranger staring at him and then I would start shaking my head with a serious expression. NO.  No boy, don't. do. that.... very slowly.  Eyes still wide.  Mouthing the words "PARA".    hhahahahahahahaha Ro was like "Lindsey, stop scaring the children".  Oh man.  Good times.
So anyway, oh yeah, the train.  The thing I waited 3 whole weeks to go on.  Well, we saw some trees, saw some canopies, saw some rivers, saw some villages.  It was alright.  I felt the train spent more time in tight spaces where you couldn't really see anything rather than in these big magnificent spaces where the view was spectacular.  Or maybe it was just the kids ruining the experience for me.  Hard to say.  Then we got to Morretes which was also just alright.  We did get to eat the local dish called barreado which is beef that is cooked in a clay pot for about 24 hours, which makes it like pulled beef.  Then you mix some farinha de mandioca (cassava flour) with the beef until it's kind of sticky, add the beef juice, some rice and slice some banana on top.  It was really good but REALLY REALLY heavy.  We were dying for a nap when we finished.  Actually, we were so lazy, tired and bored for the rest of the day, Ro suggested we literally count how many steps it would be to the bus terminal.  Like, toe to heel count.  Hahaha.  SO BORED.
The next day we spent the day site-seeing in Curitiba, which is a pretty decent sized city.  We went to the Oscar Niemeyer museum (the guy who built a lot of the cool, funky buildings in Brazil and who designed the capital city's architecture) and after went to the Polish historical village.  Then, we went in search of a churrascaria so we could eat the barbeque that the South of Brazil is famous for but no place was open.  Our last meal ended up being some good ol' reliable McDonalds and Burger King, which we'd been talking about wanting the entire trip.

And so concludes our 3 week long trip to Argentina and the south of Brazil.  There are so many more places that we want to go - the good news is that my mom and sister are coming to visit in one week!!!!! Yayyyy!!!  During those 2 weeks we're going to get a really good look at Rio and will also be able to go visit Ouro Preto in Minas Gerais!!  It's one of the oldest colonial cities, still in tact.

Since this update is so long I'm going to leave a real update for the next day or two - to give you a sneak preview though: I am teaching my first English class tomorrow evening!!!  It's just a trial run, I have 3 trial classes, but if it goes well I'll be hired!!  Woooo hooooo!!!

Backpacking in South America - Sao Fransciso do Sul

Phew!! I really feel like I've been struggling to keep up with the bloggin lately - partly due to the fact that this week we've been bouncing to different places almost everyday it feels.  That and our lodging hasn't included Wi-Fi since we got back to Brazil.

On Wednesday evening we left Porto Alegre (after a particularly uneventful time there - combination of us getting tired and of not much to see there).  We took a 9 hour overnight Pluma Bus ride to Joinville, where we would be catching a connection to Sao Fransico do Sul.  Well, little did we know we would fear for our lives ALL NIGHT LONG.  Ahhhh just thinking about it is giving me anxiety. 

Case In Point:
1.  All of you ex-pats (and anyone who had been to Brazil) out there know how TERRIFYING it is to be a passenger of any moving vehicle in Brazil.  All cars, busses, taxis, motos etc. drive at an alarming speed, where none of the typical North American "rules of the road" are in effect.  This is especially dangerous and terrifying in bus, I find, where you can feel the weight of the bus moving with the jerk of the brake, or the swerve of the cutting off of the driver next to you. 

2.  We generally prefer to sit at the front of the bus so we can watch the road (and pretend we're watching a movie, tee hee).  We are used to taking the double decker bus where the seats are right against the window.  This bus, however, was only one level and we sat in the seats that are on the same side as the door.  While there is a window there, the curtains were on the other side disallowing us access to them.  And they stayed closed the whole trip.  Actually, the whole bus was encased in curtains so we were like trapped little people in a big bus coffin.  Maybe that's sounding a little too morbid.  Well, to you I say "you weren't on that bus!"

Try applying these anomalies to our bus ride and I give you the coach bus from hell where all through the night the driver drives WELL over the speed limit on particularly small, rough, patchy roads and we have no idea what is going on out there and you will have us gripping our armrests, desperately trying to see a little of what is going on, with wide open bloodshot eyes.  For 9 hours.

At least I was able to drift off to sleep a little but I was awoken more than once in panicked state when the bus definitely caught AIR from flying over huge holes in the road.
In Ro's words: "I didn't know we were going on the bus from 'Speed'" 
Picture the moment where the Bomb-On-Bus bus flies in slow motion (up??) over the enormous 50 foot gap in the highway.  I am picturing it now and I am laughing. Hahaha. 
That night I actually pictured us crashing into a lamppost with disasterous results. 

ANYWAY.  We arrived alive, although exhausted, to catch our bus to Sao Francisco do Sul (which was an hour late arriving) and after another 1.5 hours en route made it to the lovely little beach town!!  It was really a great place to end such a long uncomfortable trip (I didn't mention that this bus was just a regular coach bus with nowhere to put your feet and no meal either - god, we are so spoiled after taking the buses in Argentina!!)
We found a modest, comfortable hotel with an ocean view (oooooh!) and decided that we would change into our suits and hit the beach for the day!  It was a really relaxing day by the water, not busy at all, the water was warm (well the top was warm, the bottom was strangely freezing), the sun was hot!  Later, we went for a little walk down the beach and around a bend where we found a SWARM of bees blocking the entire road.  Have you ever seen a full swarm of bees?  They are not friendly looking.  And Ro made me walk through them!!!!!!!!!!  An old man on the side of the road told us nao mexe com elas e elas nao vai te morde which means don't mess with them and they won't bite you.  Which I thought, well obviously they won't bite but they WILL sting!  hehehe, are you laughing my Ex-pat friends?
Anyway, they didn't bite or sting us and we carried on our merry way.  We found this stairway that led us up a big hill and gave us a fantastic view of the area and of the sun shining on the water.  It was really peaceful and relaxing after our particularly strenuous night.  We topped off the night with a delicious savoury crepe on a stick and churros for desert before falling asleep at 8 pm!! 

This morning we caught an early bus back towards Curitiba which is where we are now!  It's Good Friday and everything is closed so there isn't much to report yet but tomorrow we are taking the famous train ride to Morretes (although we opted for the non-tourist train and will let you know if it is as wonderful as we hear the tourist train is!).  Until then... don't take any overnight busses with Pluma!


Goodnight!

Backpacking in South America - Porto Alegre

What to say about Porto Alegre.... hmm.... seriously don´t understand this city.  It´s SO densely populated.  So many cars.  So much poverty.  I don´t really feel the ´gaucho´culture here.... not like I hoped/thought I would at least.  They do have a very cool Mercado Publico here that we spent some time in today - started by going into the fish market part which was filled with vendors and shoppers and tons of varities of seafood.  We ended up in the public market where you could buy fresh fruit, more fish, and there were plenty of botecos to have a beer.  We ate a place upstairs and figured we should order some of the fish so we got a type of white fish I have never heard of that came with rice, sauteed potatos, salad, and a caper mushroom butter with the fish.  YEOW it was good.  reeeeeally good.  I think we decided it was the best meal we had (aside from the hostel room bread/evoo/meat/cheese combo we had in Mendoza).  We also tried the local beer, Polar.  It was watery and refreshing with an interesting aftertaste but we liked it!  Two liters later (and two chopps) later, I was drunk (again).  How many times have I written that on this trip? 
I decided after this trip I am goin on a detox from beer.


Soooo that pretty much sums up our time in Porto Alegre!  It´s not the most beautiful city ever, or the most cultural in my opinion, but we did actually spend some time by the river which was lovely. 

Until next time in Curitiba ...... take care!!

Backpacking in South America - Buenos Aires pt. 1

Writing a reeeeeal quickie from the bus station before we get on our 22 hour (gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!) bus to Porto Alegre.  Back to Brazil we go!

I have so much to write about Buenos Aires!  First of all, I love love love this city.  I love everything - the style, the music, the atmosphere!  Ro and I saw a lot in the 4 days we spent here but at the same time had a chance to relax a little, sleep in a little (and by sleep in I mean wake up at 8 for breakfast, eat, and then go back to bed for a couple more hours), and get to know the city slowly... it was great!  I have to try and remember as much as I can.

We stayed in Hostel Suites on Avenida Florida this time, which is a more uppity version of Hostelling International.  It was a really nice hostel with lots to do and lots of action all the time but we didn´t really LOVE it like we did some of the others (Hostel Natura in Foz).  It was just really busy but without the same feeling of companionship you have at smaller hostels.  Plus, there was no WIFI in the rooms.  A huge thumbs down from me!  So, it´s been difficult to write the Bs As blog becuase of that.

The first day out on the town Ro and I walked down to the docks in search of dessert and coffee.  All we found was a Catholic University with some very NON Catholic looking students.  Ro wondered if it was now ok to show a lot of cleavage and thigh in the Catholic Church.  Down by the water it was too expensive so we wandered back up to the neighbourhood of San Telmo which is where they sell a lot of antiques and have a huge HUGE fair on Sundays.  I will take this opportunity to express my infatuation "oh hell let´s just call it what it is" OBSESSION, with outdoor fairs/markets.
 Poor poor Ro. 
Everytime we pass ANYONE selling ANY kind of crap - it could be anything - jewelry, belts, magnets, hand painted anything, barbequed guts and livers (they have that here) - I am all over that market like... well, like blood on guts and livers.  (YUCK btw).

So anyway, one other nice thing about this hostel is that everyday you can go pick up a food stamp meal ticket that you can use in the bar to get a free dinner.  I joked becuase we are truly at the point in our funds where we need food stamps to eat.  Ha!  Backpacking is fun!

The next day we went walking in the Recoleta Cemetary area.  This is the cemetary where Evita is buried and also the walking tour our Lonely Planet book told us to go on.  So we walked around the area for about 3 hours or so, toured the cemetary (very awesome and creepy, complete with cobwebs on caskets and wrought iron fences, and black cats roaming the premise), saw the Engineering school which is a big Gothic Churchy looking building.  Wandered down to the UN park where they have this big metal flower that opens in the morning and closes at night like a real flower.
After the tour was over, we called Ro´s cousin Carla who is living and studying in BsAs for 6 months.  We had some things to drop off to her so we took the bus to her house, hung out for a bit and then motored back to our hostel to eat our free dinner. (They only serve between 8:30 and 9 people, you understand)

TO BE CONTINUED

Backpacking in South America - Mendoza, Argentina

Mendoza. Oh Mendoza... You were so bright and hopeful when we first arrived.  Now we kind of can't wait to get out of here.  Well, I suppose I'd better explain myself there...

I will start with the incredible bike & wine tour we went on, which is half the reason for coming to Mendoza.  We walked to the bus stop and were approached by a guy explaining to us, in English, that we shouldn't take this bus, that it would take too long to get to the bike route, that some of the drivers are paid by the bike companies to stop in front of said bike companies when sometimes the company is located halfway down the bike route. 
You can understand if we were a little suspicious, since we still didn't even know the guys name at this point, or actually who he was at all.
But he gave us a flyer and said that his brother owned a bike company and it costs 30 pesos (instead of the 45 we were expecting) AND you get a bottle of water.  He informs us that he will let us know when the right bus gets to the stop, and so he does.
So we rent the bikes and head out on our tour.  Turns out the guy really is a nice guy and the bike company (Coco Bike Rentals?  Pull the bus dinger as soon as you see the giant bottle of wine and the bus will stop right there) is completely legit and they give good service.  It was a beautiful day.  So perfect to be out riding bikes through tree lined streets, wine vinyards and olive tree farms.  We rode all the way to the end of the route (10 km!!) to start the tour with an olive oil tour.  Actually first, we stopped for lunch at a more traditional winery where we had a little tour and got to taste the wines they make.  The lunch included an asado of chicken and steak, french bread dipped in red wine vinegar and oil, and a salad.  Oh yeah, and we got to choose their best wine to accompany our meal and they pour a BIG glass.  I was absolutely not sober by the time we finished and got back on our bikes to keep riding...

So we finally made it to the end where we went on a tour of an olive oil factory.  It was very cool to learn that they press the olives with the pits because the pits have the most oil to give.  We got to taste some bread dipped in oil and also some bread with grilled eggplant as well as bread topped with sundried tomatoes.  We bought a bottle of olive oil and were on our way.  The next stop of the day was at one of the chocolate factories where they make chocolates, liquers, sweets and jarred fruits.  We weren't overly impressed, but got to taste some of the liquers and jams, so that's always nice.  We did stop at another chocolate shop where we bought a jar of homemade dulce de leche con chocolate and then went back to the first winery we visited and bought a bottle of Petit Verdot wine from La Rural Winery. 

For dinner that night we went to the Mercado Central to buy some meat, cheese, olive oil, fresh bread, pickled vegetables and some fresh fruits.  Then we went home, laid it all out and FEASTED on our dinner, dipping our bread into our fresh olive oil and savouring our delicious wine.  It was AMAZING.

So, what a great first day in Medonza, right?????

The next day, Ro wanted to see the Andes.  Mendoza is very close, you can drive right through them by going about 2 hours away.  So we bought bus tickets to visit this small town called Uspallata.  There isn't much there, but it's worth the drive.  We only planned to stay in the actual town for about 1.5 hours before we caught the bus to go back. 
Towards the end of the bus ride there, we were getting confused.  It seemed like everyone had already gotten off the bus, save a few people, and it also seemed like the bus had gone to the end and turned around and was now going BACK.  We were a bit on edge about what was happening but when the bus finally pulled into a very small, dingy bus station, we were excited that we had made it and jumped up to hurry off the bus.

Without our camera.

It was completely an accident that it got left on the seat.  We were distracted.  But Ro noticed that he didn't have it no more than 30 seconds after we got off the bus.  He panicked.  "Where's the camera??"
"I don't know, I thought you had it between your legs" (he had been taking pictures)

He jumped back on the bus to grab it, knowing he had left it on the seat, but it was already too late.  There were only 2 people who left the bus after us - a mother and her son.  We frantically looked around for them but they were nowhere in sight.  They were gone and so was our camera. 
It was pretty heartbreaking - not because we left it.  I mean for god's sake, accident's happen.  Who hasn't left something behind by accident?  But Ro remembered LESS THAN 30 SECONDS after getting off that bus.  Those people who took the camera were sitting in the seats beside us for 2 1/2 hours.  They clearly knew it belonged to us.  And they decided to take it anyway.  It feels like they robbed it right out of our hands.  We didn't even know what to do - instinct told us to start looking for them everywhere but it was impossible to know where they went.  We did go to the police station and file a claim though, but there is nothing they can do. 

The emotional pain is a little less today, but the physical pain is not.  Ro kicked a wall really REALLY hard after he had the self-realization that the camera was gone and in doing so kind of really hurt his foot.  Last evening was spent with foot in air, packed in ice.  Silly boy!!! 

So, today, our last day (and another day of day-killing before our night bus) we decided to walk to Parque San Martin just for something to do.  Well, I walked and Ro limped.  So we're walking, the day is sunny, fresh... we are talking, he starts explaining something to me about the street signs and how they say [insert compass direction here] [insert number here] and that indicates how many blocks from dowtown the street is when BAM. I fall into a giant pit. 

Oh, and I don't just casually trip.  I was listening very intently (as I ALWAYS do) to my husbands explanation of the street sign, looking backwards and walking forwards when my foot reached out for some more pavement and there was none to be found.  It was all very confusing and whirl-windish.  First, my left foot lands after like an hour of falling into water (?) and my left knee and left elbow smash against the cement wall that is creating the pit .  My right heel drags down the other side of the cement wall, also landing in the mysterious water, which stole my havaiana from my foot and carried it down stream.  Now I realize I am standing in sewer water, bleeding and only having one shoe.  I was very distraught.
So, I'm sitting on the side of the road now and Ro runs limps for help and to get some sort of stick so he can fish my shoe from the sewer.  To make matters worse, some old ladies saw me fall across the street and one came over to me while I was sitting there and started asking me questions in spanish like "how did I fall" and "I need to be careful with these big holes" and "jibba jabba jibba" I didn't understand the rest.  Which means I couldn't respond.  When i get nervous here, for some reason my instinct is to speak Portuguese???  I can't even barely speak Portuguese so I'm a little impressed that I'm instinctively speaking Portuguese here. 

Anyway, Ro returned with a big metal rod (hahahahahah that's what you found???) and actually managed to find my shoe about 3 sewer drains down.  We decided to keep going on to the park in spite of our state. 

And as we both limped away into the sunset, I looked at him and laughed.

"We really look f'ing retarded right now."

THE END.

Backpacking in South America - Rosario, Argentina

So, we arrived in Rosario only abouuuuut 6 hours later than scheduled.   Phew!  It was a long bus ride here but actually wasn’t all that bad - I think I already would rather catch a late bus when you’re already sleepy, sleep off and on for about 10/11 hours, then spend the remaining (10 hours in this case) watching the bus movies in dubbed Spanish, reading, or just staring outside.  The seats are pretty comfortable (and we opted for the semi-cama chairs which don’t fully extend out) and on the trip we were served 3 meals.  Pretty decent.  I would recommend though, if you are traveling for the same amount of time to bring snacks just in case.  We were absolutely starving pretty hungry by the time they served the meals. 

It was an interesting trip here.  First of all, because at the start of the trip we were stopped twice by police ‘blitzes’ - on the first occasion they got on the bus and asked for everyone’s id.  Ok, no problem.  On the second one, I was sleeping, but was awoken by some dogs sniffing around - Ro said the cops had brought these dogs on and they were sniffing in the cracks of the bus etc.  Weird!!

Interesting point two:  There were baby cockroaches.  Everywhere.  Ro went on a killing spree and massacred a good portion of the family but they didn’t stop coming!  It was strange and disgusting. 

But anyway, we made it here and decided again to save a buck and walk the 25 blocks to our hostel.  Which was the wrong hostel.  Then we had to back track about 4 ½ blocks to the RIGHT hostel.  We arrived sweaty and tired to the HI Hostel - Casa da Dona Jaime 2 -  which is awesome!  It is decorated completely with Elvis memorabilia???  Also, in this hostel we have a private room with a double bed AND private bathroom - we are living in luxury people.  Lol, the last hostel we stayed at we wanted a double bed but they only had bunk beds and shared washrooms.  At this point, we want our money to go as far as it can so we’ll take what we can get (except a dorm - no way I’ll sleep in a dorm!).

So night time in Rosario, we went out in search of a good place to eat and stumbled upon this restaurant called La Materias.  Every time we travel we try to drink the local beer so in our true style, we ordered a liter (!) of Isenbeck.  Then we drank it and ordered another haha.  It was really good and we were thirsty, what can I say.  For dinner we ordered a tabla which was like appies for 2 served on a wooden cutting board.  Greasy and delicious (but our stomachs were not thanking us the next morning). 

So the next day, we had about 8 hours to kill before our overnight bus came to Mendoza.  So we literally walked around the city for 8 hours.  I have to say, Rosario is not a really big tourist town - actually it’s a big city but there aren’t many people there.  There are a lot of stray dogs though.  And subsequently, a lot of piles of poop on the sidewalk.  Everywhere you walk has the faint air of dog poo.  Also, for it being the city where Che Guevera is from, you’d think they would have cashed out on that a little, even a little, but there was no sign of Che anywhere.  We walked down to the river, watched the locals fishing, wandered back in-town, ate lunch at Parthenon where we struggled to order in Spanish with an impatient waitress and the obvious town-gossip turning her head completely around “Exorcist Style” to stare as soon as she heard the us speak. 

Anyway, after a long ass day of doing nothing and being really tired we finally went to catch the bus to Mendoza.  Wow the difference between riding Rio Uruguay and Andesmar is 100% different!!!  We got a cama bus this time and it was sooo nice!!  Unfortunately at about 6 in the morning the bus broke down.  Completely broke and we were forced onto another bus to ride the remaining 2 hours separated, and into the lowly semi-cama area.  Haha, now I’m a snob, now that I’ve experienced the upper class - I can’t go back! 

So, made it only 2 hours behind schedule to Mendoza and we already like it!  No dog poop, check.  Lots of outdoor ferias (markets), check.  A pedestrian street, check.  We likey.  Good thing because we’re spending 3 nights here.  In the next day or two we plan to rent bikes for $45 pesos (or about R$30, or about $18) for the day and do the biking wine tour.  Wine tasting on bikes.  Sounds like a disaster?  Yeah, I thought so too! 

Well, we are off to check out the outdoor market to get some cheap food and hopefully water. It’s been more than 24 hours since we drank any water and I feel like my body is poisoning itself.  Hasta luego!