Uruguay

Check out our pics: Uruguay

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UPDATE: Currently in Tanzania, working on getting our Africa pics uploaded and will write South Africa and Tanzania blog over next few days. Meanwhile, check out our pics from Uruguay and the rubbish below that has been sitting in 'drafts' for way too long.

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OMG you guys. Sorry it's been a while since I wrote. So like right now I'm in Montevideo, Uruguay. Even though I know it's wrong, I like to stress the i in video since it drives Ingrid crazy. We have been here for five days and it's a totally great place just to chill. Folks are so friendly here. Today I got up early as usual and though my immediate thought was "COFFEE", I paused long enough to lift up Ingrid's sleeping wrist and remove last night´s chocolate wrappers, straighten my bed, and pick up Ingrid's stray dental floss on my way to the kitchen. Once I had my coffee in hand I scanned the hostel kitchen and lounge area for new arrivals and then engaged with with them long enough to establish whether they contained information I need. "Taiwan, huh!.....not on my itinerary, who's your friend?"

After chatting for a while, I headed back into our room where Ingrid was beginning to stir. I assessed laundry status then attempted to gain agreement from Ing on the day's schedule. I generally shower before she has sat up. Then I do all the important things. I established early on the "shared responsibility" technique for argument-free travel. Basically, since she habitually loses shit, I am in charge of the purse. And all the credit cards. And dealing with bill payments online, getting cards reissued after fraud, etc, etc and anything requiring a telephone call. On the other hand, she is responsible for deciding on the flavor of cheesecake we're gonna share, map reading, and is the project manager on the blog.

Anyhoo, Uruguay really is friendly. The other day we were coming back from the big Sunday flea market, (which we arrived at just as they were packing up) and happened to spot a poster saying 'Tango Show' in the window of a big modern coffee shop. It started Sunday at 5pm (in 10 minutes time) and was only three dollars entry fee, so we didn't think we had much to lose if it like, totally sucked. So we went in and sat down at a table next to the stage area. There was a group of like, elderly ladies at one table and a real old guy at another. In half an hour the show hadn't started but the place had filled. Finally the show started. A portly man began singing a tango tune accompanied by a guy on guitar. They were both real good. Then a woman got up to sing in a real passionate manner with lots of clutching and stamping and mentions of "corazon" (heart). As the number of singers increased, we gradually realized this was Tango karaoke. Then I was getting like freaked out that we would be asked to sing something. The next act was a couple dancing. They were so cute. When they had finished they came over to us and the woman said "We are not professional. We just like to dance. Sorry!" After that a woman very nervously got up and said something about "americanos", I think our presence was making everyone nervous. She started off shaky but then got into it and sang beautifully. Everyone cheered when she finished. I was like totally tearing up by this time. Then the host mentioned someone's birthday and everyone started singing the spanish version of "Happy Birthday to You". Then he gestured the microphone toward us and said "in English". Before Ingrid had time to clear her throat, I was up on my feet and belting out Happy Birthday into the microphone, cos I know that this is the one song I could get away with. You gotta act quick. I sat back at ease and ordered another beer, and smiled at Ing who was looking a little flustered. At about eight I could see things were about to end so I manoevered our quick get away. As we left, I winked at the passionate lady singer, nodded to some others, reiterated happy birthday to Laura, and gave a general wave to all. Once we were outside Ing sighs "Mabye I should have sung something" and "I wish I'd had time to say goodbye". I told her how I had left my goodbyes to everyone, and that what she needed was a little more in the panache department. Yup, that's something you can't buy. Anyway everyone at the Tango Show made us so welcome, what a great experience.

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After Montevideo, we headed to Colonia and stayed a few days at this Unesco site. Very peaceful and picturesque town. Could easily have stayed longer, and should have. The peeps in Uruguay really are a friendly and laid back bunch. Then we took a ferry over to Buenos Aires which turned out to be quite stressful this time. We needed to take care of some businessy stuff that required internet access so we booked our wi-fi capapble hostel ahead, but when we arrived they had given our room away. We made do at a place nearby. But then I found a cat pee puddle in the corner of the room. I made the manager sniff my bag that had been sitting on that spot and asked for the room to be cleaned. I really should have been more specific. When we got back later that day there were new sheets on the bed and the pillows had been plumped, but the dried puddle was still there!? We spent the next day looking for better accommodation. We moved to another place which looked all plush and designery on the surface but it turned out that their wifi didn't work and the room had a mould problem. We spent the next few days attempting to do errands and looking for new accommodation with internet access in our spare time. It was not very relaxing. Try posting a box in Buenos Aires. We finally gave up. It required more energy than we had. One store for a box, another for the tape, and 30min queues at the post office, each building as far away from each other as possible...and SO many wrong directions.... Fortunately we had some highlights too. We spent a great day with a friend, Jay, from Seattle who happened to be in BA on business. And we found a great place to stay on our last night.

Brazil

Check out our pics: Brazil

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After taking a look at the Iguazu Falls from the Brazilian side, we flew to Sao Paulo to meet Neuza. We first met Neuza about 13 years ago in a post office line in Bali and she was so animated we ended up having dinner together that night. We bumped into her a week later in Sumba, another Indonesian island, and then we couldn´t shake her! :) She visited us in Japan and also Seattle about eight years ago. It was so great to see her after all this time. She is 63 years going on 24! We could barely keep up. And she and Ana, a friend who´s living with her at the moment, were fabulous hosts. Her maid Mira, cooked us wonderful traditional Brazilian meals everyday. The fruit in Brazil is incredible. We went out to markets, heard traditional music, went to a nightclub where they were dancing forró (pronounced "fawhaw")... the works. We also spent many evenings in her top floor appartment looking at the view and drinking various tropical fruit caipirinhas. Tracy took the liberty of writing down some of Neuza´s choicest comments, which I will reproduce here to give you a flavor of our conversations.

¨Wherever one goes remember you´re bringing yourself¨

¨I'm proud to shit at least 600 grams each time.¨

¨I wake up new every morning¨

¨A: I love you
B: I got the information¨

In response to Tracy's 'What was it like being the sixteenth child?':
¨Like an egg for a chicken¨

And here's one of Tracy's:
"The key to health is bending over" (though much more fun out of context, this was in reference to the benefits of yoga)

After about a week with Neuza we headed to Rio de Janeiro. OMG, I have always wanted to go there, "Sugarloaf, Christ, Ipanema, Copacabana" poetry to the ears! And there we were! In it! And I was surprised how it lived up to my expectations. It really is a beautiful city, the beaches were pristine, great waves and the people watching supreme! We did the tour of the city and the tourist sites, deciding against the tour of a favela (the shanty town), seemed a little like the Victorians touring the lunatic asylums. Happily avoided dengue fever (there was an outbreak in the north of Rio). Stayed in a hostel ghetto in Ipanema where it was all happening, had great healthy food and purchased the requisite Havaianas flip flops that ALL of Brazil is wearing. Would like to have spent a bit longer there, but we had plans...

Overnight bus to Sao Paulo for flight to Fernando de Noronha, a world heritage eco island off the north coast of Brazil, 4 degrees south of the equator. Warm water and lots of marine life. We swam with turtles, scuba dived, snorkeled, body boarded, saw octopus, stingray, sharks, dolphins etc. We took several boat trips round the island and hiked to beautiful beaches. We also tried aqua scubi, where you hold on to a perspex board being towed by a boat and are able to use it to glide underwater. Fun! We were there during rainy season, and we had a storm, but it was always warm and given the sun-sensitive nature of our pale skin we were always thankful for a few clouds.

The island, and getting to it, is very expensive and when Tracy calculated that we were spending $25 an hour for the 6 days there, it made sleeping in a little too expensive! So we made the most of our time there. We met a lot of interesting people. Jean Luc and Jose from France who worked for UNESCO and their Brazilian photographer friend Thereza Eugenia. Then we met a Scottish guy who sailed into Noronha 20 years ago and decided to stay. We met a South African guy who was captaining a ship for a couple who were sailing round the world. Then we met 2 young Finnish guys, Teemu, an economic analyst, and Ossie who lives in Rio doing a PhD in alternative energy sources. The beers-on-the-porch conversation became very interesting when Ossie asked Kelda from the States how she felt working for Shell in Brazil! We had a great time solving all the world´s problems. If only we remembered what the solution was!

Woops, forgot, Tracy ripped open the space between her little toe while attempting to get on the boat after a scuba dive in rough water. Her toe was slammed into a metal ladder and required 2 stitches in an interesting trip to the hospital. Fortunately, I was there to have my hand crushed as she squirmed when her toes were pried apart to do the stitches. Though I would have avoided all forms of water and fashioned a protective bucket for my foot, Tracy was in the sea that very evening. Such a trooper!

After Fernando de Noronha, we flew back home to Sao Paulo just for 2 nights. Though we got in late, Neuza and Ana were waiting for us and had chilled caipirinhas at the ready to start off another great evening. We were lucky the next day to catch the end of a 24 hour city wide music and arts festival. The music we heard was samba from the old days with famous artists going back to the 60s. Most of the crowd knew the lyrics and sang along with the chorus. We felt lucky to be a part of this very Brazilian experience. I attempted to bend my knees and casually adopt the samba rhythm with my feet, pretending like I'd been doing it all my life. I think however, I am to Samba what Arnold Schwarzenegger is to Ballet. However, later that evening I relaxed enough to not give a damn and I'm pretty sure I came up with a few genius moves that will soon be incorporated into a new innovative dance form that I'd like to call 'SambInga'. After heartfelt thanks and goodbyes to Neuza and Ana, it was time to move on.

Overnight bus to Florianopolis. Weather rainy and overcast. Did a quick tour of the city by the sea and then another bus to Montevideo, Uruguay. Which is where we are now, spending a week here catching up on business before going back to Buenos Aires for our flight on May 14th to AFRICA!!!