Tuesday, February 26, 2008

We are melting in Buenos Aires

Sorry about the delay in posting. Sean could not bring himself to use the Internet Cafe with the commoners. He was determined to use his own laptop. First we had to find a converter to juice it up and it couldn't take the charge that we needed so we almost burnt the hostel down in the process. The converter melted into the wall but we discovered the boo boo just in time. What a DOUCHE TARD! Anyway, it is working now and the building is still standing.

This city of thirteen million people sounds just like it should. The noise is deafening. The constant trucks, buses, cars and blaring horns is overwhelming. It hasn't interfered with sleeping, tho, because we are both so exhausted from the heat that we pass out when we hit the bed. The temperature makes you feel as tho you are wrapped in a warm, wet blanket. Apologies here to all of you at home who are suffering in the cold and snow.

The flight down was eventful to say the least. It was delayed for the first half hour while the police came to retrieve a rather belligerent latino. I think he may have learned a valuable lesson about verbally abusing women. The next hour and a half of delay was due to mechanical difficulty... just what a nervous flier LOVES to hear. The normally 15 hour flight turned into 17 and by the time we got here my muscles were in spasms from lack of use. I had booked a window seat when booking my ticket and upon arriving at the airport found that I was in the middle of the middle aisle, about as far from a window as you can get. To add insult to injury the tards in the window seats kept their blinds down to block out the sun so they missed the spectacular view of flying over the Andes. Some people are SUCH idiots!

Spent the first day trying to catch up on sleep, but made up for it yesterday. I thought that traipsing thru Chile with Jesse's math books in my backpack was exhausting but hiking around this hot, humid city all day yesterday was debilitating. I am suffering today. Blistered feet and aching calf muscles for me. We visited the Casa Rosada yesterday. It is the main parliament building... the same one where Evita addressed the masses. It is also the place where most protests are carried out and there was one happening yesterday. Not sure what it was about but there were almost as many police as there were protesters. We hope to go back on Thursday when the Madres de la Plaza do their time. These are the mothers of the 'dirty war' victims who march every Thursday. This is just one of the many occurrences that display the passion that Argentines hold dear. Anybody that you talk to about politics say they LOVE their president, Christine. Imagine a Canadian saying that they LOVE their prime minister! We are SO apathetic! You have only to bring up the subject of politics and you are good for a half hour of animated conversation. And, there has never been a woman as revered as Eva Peron. She is an idol here. It is amazing when you think that most people in the world know of her and she was just the lowly wife of a president. Yet she was refused entry to Buckingham Palace and denounced by Time magazine as illegitimate. She obviously did something right to be so well remembered by her people.

The breasts here are pretty outstanding. Either the Argentinian women have the under garment industry cornered or their is a pretty high rate of cosmetic surgery. The breasts are not obnoxiously large like Pamela Anderson's but rather nicely proportioned to the body and look like they are held up on platters under their chins. Sean calls them Platter Boobies. The women walk around in jeans that are so tight I am surprised they are able to move. The business of being a woman here appears to be very superficial. The men are nothing to write home about, tho.

Saw a street Tango yesterday. The gentleman was about 150 years old and did the whole routine with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. The ash didn't even fall off! The girl was about 25 and her attire, what there was of it, was transparent. Sean was very impressed with her platter boobies, which were plainly visible to all.

We took a Tango lesson last nite but had to quit halfway thru before one of us killed the other. It appears that in Tango the man should lead.

We had supper on the waterfront (nothing to write home about) and true to Argentinian fashion, did not eat till eleven at nite. Good thing it was a long walk home and we were able to walk it off. You will be surprised to hear that I have had two steaks so far and neither was as good as what I have eaten at home. I will keep trying, tho.

Our hostel is great! Sean was a tad distressed to discover that they do not fumigate. He did, however, remain calm and not pack and check out immediately. I will spare you of the details but have to say that I was impressed by his ability to ignore what for him must be a challenge. It must be that rosy colored world that he lives in.


Argentina is, to say the least, a colourful country and I am falling in love with it. Can't wait to get to a quieter area tho.

1 comment:

Bev said...

Kim, You are my hero. It all sounds totally overwhelming to me. I'm such a wimp that the noise alone would have driven me crazy. Don't get me started on no fumigating!