Important newsflash

The toenail that I ripped in January has finally come off (fortunately in a relatively painless manner). I now have a very ugly looking half-toenail stump. Don't look at me, I'm hideous.

Weekend report

Although Friday night was lost to another nap that went on too long, my body clock was jolted out of that existence by my Saturday night, but first I spent most of the day on Saturday at a shopping mall, which was not as pointless an experience as it sounds. Actually, it's a very impressive reuse of an enormous old factory of some sort, but the main reason I was there was to catch one of the films playing at the BsAs Independent Film Festival. I saw Soy Cuba (I Am Cuba), a famous piece of Castro propaganda made by this Russian guy which is fascinating for lots of reasons, especially the cinematography. I also went on a mission to buy a new pair of jeans, where I have since realised that my attempts to flirt with the salesperson by commenting on whether my arse looked good in the jeans I was wearing may have gone south. It wasn't until much later that I realised the word I used for arse may have been in fact the more pejorative version. Needless to say, he probably wasn't qualified to make that assessment.

Saturday night I sampled some of the famed BsAs nightlife, and it does run very much to Spanish going-out time. You can't even go to a bar before midnight and clubs before 2am. Anyway, Sitges (appropriate Spanish name) proved to be fun, although all the places have this complex system of minimum drinks instead of door charges, which involves different coloured cards that you have to present upon leaving to prove you bought drinks, and you can't just pay the bartender for a drink, instead you have to buy a coupon first, although conversely you can pay cash to waiters who walk around and come back with your drink. Of course, trying to deduce whether I was doing the right thing took more concentration than I was in the mood to access. Also, I did think it was a fairly mixed venue, until I realised that BsAs seems to have the lock on lipstick lesbians. It was very The L Word. Anyway, I did successfully chat to locals until 6am, as usual a few beers brought out the best in my Spanish.

Sunday I was going to go to the San Telmo area (famous for Sunday antiques market) but it rained a little, and apparently this scares off the vendors. So I settled for mostly sleep and pizza (one of the best I've ever had, by the way). I will get around to posting some photos, but I would have to take some first.

On bargain hunting

On my current reckoning prices here are about half in terms of Australian dollars - last time it was more like 1/3. Still, it makes it nice for the traveller. Rent here is damn expensive - people spend about 2/3 of their salary on it, which is kind of frightening. Clothes are looking pretty attractive - lots of shoes at good prices, but luggage limits are going to restrict me from an Imelda turn. At the moment I'm pacing myself, seeing what's around, before I commit to some serious wardrobe replacement. I have actually found an outlet store district - but let's face it, you mostly get what you pay for (ie, cheap clothes that you wouldn't otherwise buy). I don't want people to think I'm an outlet store person - no, the true bargain hunter finds what the general populace can't. Of course, the dilemma for the foreigner is working out whether what seems like a groovy store is perhaps locally maligned. Kind of like finding clothes you want in Just Jeans. The best bargain so far is the discovery of free wi-fi access at Havanna (which is kind of like Starbucks I guess, but not Starbucks, so that's ok) from which I am typing this post. Just a ten-minute stroll across Parque Las Heras, where hundreds of dogs are engrossed in continual debate. So far in Me vs Sidewalk Accident, it is 0-0, although I can't really see how I can get ahead.

Pictures of the apartment I'm staying in can be found here.

44 hours

It´s quite strange that I haven´t even been here two days yet, but already I have these porteños all worked out. The first important lesson for pedestrians is that traffic lights are merely suggestions to drivers that they might like to stop if it suits them. Or not. Also, like I´ve found in most driving-on-the-right countries, there is not a natural conformation to this idea for pedestrians. It makes Australian pavement walkers seem positively regimented. My third observation is that the porteño men seem to mostly possess a special expression that lies somewhere between pensiveness and confusion - I suspect it is a variation on the expression I like to adopt to suggest that I am concentrating on solving a problem that will have dire ramifications for social cohesion as we know it, thus I am clearly an important person worthy of respect.

Arrival in Buenos Aires

Did I mention how much I like LAN's video entertainment system? Oh yes I did. Well, here I am in Buenos Aires. Cool apartment, cool neighbourhood and people have been very friendly so far. The best part was that the LAN flight attendants on the Santiago leg were addressing me in Spanish - I was so much cooler than the perplexed Canadians across the aisle. I start my private Spanish lessons first thing in the morning. After soaking up a little cafe culture I'm sure. Nothing like coffee to reset my clock.

2/3 there

Enjoying the calm serenity of Santiago airport while I wait for the transfer to Buenos Aires. I can happily report that Spanglish is a very enjoyable movie, as is Finding Neverland, and I can't recommend highly enough the on-demand video entertainment on LAN. I can also report that Auckland airport is a construction zone, and the jackhammering wasn't relaxing. I suspect their financial estimates were based on an optimistic assessment of the continuing demand for ugg boots for the fashion set, a ship which has now of course long sailed.

Mission statement

This time around, I've decided to dispense with the more detailed website of my last trip, and concentrate on more regular journal updates in the vein of The Joan Wilder Diaries. The basic itinerary is a month in Buenos Aires, learning Spanish, visiting cafes and perhaps doing some writing. Then to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, followed by Cuba, Spain, London and New York.



I'm excited about the ability for readers to post feedback here - so feel free to express whatever you need to, whether it be advice, frustration or outright condemnation.

The journey begins April 18, 2005.