Las Cataratas (Part 2 - Brazil)

I gave you one picture from the Brazil side yesterday so here's one of La Garganta del Diablo from the Argentinian side to even up the score!

Normally my Monday would've been a busy day at the school but as this was National Sovereignty day in Argentina the schools were closed and I got to come to Brazil for a few hours.

There's at least a couple of ways to get to the Brazilian Park of Las Cataratas. My Rough Guide came up trumps by suggesting Crucero Del Norte bus company as they do a direct bus there and back from Puerto Iguazu bus terminal (20 paces from my hotel!). So I booked a seat on their 08:10 departure.

This bus left pretty much on time and the Argentinian border control was careful and efficient so went was reasonably quick. Not so the Brazilian side. The bus driver collected everyone's passport and disappeared. I didn't know what to think of this but was still waiting along with the rest of the bus about an hour later. Finally the driver came back and asked a poor French bloke to hand out the passports. There are quite a lot of French people visiting the falls. This chap started calling out names but soon worked out that pronunciation was a problem so decided to pass them around. I tried to speak to this guy for a while but found myself mixing up French and Spanish. Maybe I only have room for 1 plus a little of a second language in my small head and my school french is being replaced by spanish!

So eventually we get to the park entrance and the Brazilian side appears to be more expensive than the Argentinian side. It was 100 Pesos entrance yesterday for the whole day (apart from La Gran Aventura). Today it was 120 pesos entry. Not much more I agree but comparing what you get it felt like a rip off to me. My guide book had said the Brazilian side is more high-tech and I think that is probably the case. We needed to take an open topped bus to the falls walkway (versus nice old train in Argentina) and this had commentary in 3 or 4 languages. There were a few optional stop off points for walks, kayaking, cycling etc etc. You could even get a helicopter ride on the brazilian side but on grounds of wildlife disturbance I boycotted that. Apparently Argentina has actually banned the helicopters from their airspace for this reason. Fair play I say.

Ok, too much writing and not enough pictures...

Looks like there are some folks leaving for a Gran Aventura at the bottom of that one.

La garganta in the middle of the shot in the distance.

You get pretty close to this part which is on the Brazil side so another opportunity to get a bit wet (duly taken as it's very hot and humid!)

There's a highish viewing platform that gives a look down




















In fairness, there is a different perspective from this side and probably better for the panoramic type view. However, you can do this side justice in about an hour or two really versus a whole day of fun in Argentina.

I'd originally thought I'd be able to get a bus back about 11 but the Brazil customs wait killed off that idea. I had some time to kill therefore before the next bus at 13:00.

During this time I went to the excellent Parque des Aves - Bird park just a 5 minute walk from the falls park entrance. On my way over I was thinking I've only got half an hour, how much would I be willing to pay? 50 pesos was what I came up with in my head. I asked a fellow visitor who'd just bought tickets and he said 50 pesos - I think he was from Argentina as he was folding away some pesos and spoke Castellano. However, when I got to the ticket box they asked where I was from. Proudly I chirped back "Escosia", only to be charged 70 pesos! It seems Brazilians get cheap entry and so do other nearby countries. Oh well, 70 pesos is about £10. I'm not hear very often. But it did add to the feeling that the Brazilian side was a bit pricey in comparison.

All thoughts of cash were soon dismissed however because this was an excellent little bird house. The birds appear to have plenty room (although I'm no expert) and some have big enclosures visitors can walk through. There is a double door airlock system to stop escapes for those wondering.

Some pics...

The toucans are not shy!

They way they carry on I think they would take the huff if you didn't take their picture!

 Yes, yes, very pretty, there you go I've taken your picture. They are seriously beautiful birds and seem to enjoy fooling around. Something tells me they are after food rather than a photo, though.

This is a caiman and although a little bigger looks the same as the one we saw in the wild on Sunday on the Ecological boat trip.











There was also a mariposa (butterfly) enclosure. In this there was also humming birds. I couldn't move fast enough to get a picture of one of those! The most amazing thing was the sound they made as they flew by. Those things don't half move!

There was one enclosure that was closed and I was half disappointed about this and half relieved. As I got closer to this one I began to hear a cacophony of squawking and cries. "Oho, what have we here" I thought. This was the parrot enclosure and these guys were biiiig and misbehaving. There were warning signs about taking care in this enclosure, but after surviving the Macuco trail the day before I wasn't about to flinch at a bunch of parrots. Stiffening my back and pushing back my shoulders I took an assertive step forward towards the entrance only to see the "CERRADO" sign. "CLOSED". I would've gone in if it had been open, honest! However those things were going ballistic and flying about having a go at each other. Maybe it was feeding time or something but I can just see me going in there and having to fight my way back out with peck injuries and feathers sticking out of my hair!

Well, that was about it for the Brazilian Cataratas. I was hoping to get some pool time at the hotel before my bus but another hourish wait at Brazilian customs put paid to that - thanks fellas! To be fair it did look very busy at the border, maybe due to the Argentina holiday.

So now I only have a couple of days of teaching left before I head off down south to El Calafate at the weekend to begin the more relaxing part of my sabbatical. So far since I stopped work I've been doing a 2000 mile cycle challenge for charity, learning spanish, learning how to teach English and teaching English. Time to rest and be a tourist for a while I think (although, I'll still be leaning spanish of course). El Calafate is in Patagonia with mountains, lakes and glaciers.

Now some of you may scoff but although I love Misiones and have had a fantastic time here, it really is getting too hot for me now as we head towards summer and I'm looking forward to going somewhere a bit colder. I think I'm allowed to say this as I'm one of the few people who don't complain about the weather in Scotland. However, I'm sure many of you facing morning frosts etc just now back home will probably take umbrage. Call me mad but it's so hot here that a morning frost or two right now would suit me just fine!

Las Cataratas! (Part 1 - Argentina)

Blogging in Spanish has been suspended because if I don't do this one in English I'll be typing for quite some time.

I took the picture above this morning from the Brazilian side - since you can view from slightly further back and higher up you could argue you get a better look from the Brazilian side. However, there is more of an experience on the Argentinian side for me. I'm glad I did both. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

I arrived in Puerto Iguazu about 2:30 on Saturday. My choice of hotel may not have been the cheapest but at 20 paces from the central bus terminal (where all of my buses to and from the falls and back to Posadas leave from) I gave myself an imaginary pat on the back on grounds of convenience. I was able to chill by the pool in the afternoon (another wee pat on the back) and do a bit of reading up on Las Cataratas - the local's name for The Falls of Iguazu.

The Argentine side is in Parque Nacional Iguazu. It covers a pretty big area and there is loads to do. Early start required and I resolved to get the first bus (7:30). All was running to plan (earlyish night, alarm, quick brekky) until I realised I'd forgotten my camera - this was not the day to forget my camera!!! Bad start! I missed the first bus but made the second at 8am.

It's almost difficult to know where to start when you get to the Parque. This is the order I did it in - as much by following my nose than any grand plan...

1. Circuito Superior - Upper Trail. This is a path that winds along the top of about the first quarter of the falls. Some pics...

Hat hair!

WOOF!












One wrong move and woooooosh - never to be seen again (don't worry there's barriers to stop that I'm just using a little poetic licence)

Bad start forgotten!

2. Circuito Inferior - Lower Trail.
This longer trail goes along the bottom of the same part as above and affords some different perspectives on the falls. From here I decided to take the "Gran Aventura"- ride in a boat under the falls and down the river followed by a truck safari through the rainforest. I also allowed myself to be traded-up to include an ecological boat ride later in the day for an extra 30 pesos - I'm not here very often! some pics...

These little rascals are only after one thing .... food that is.

A little birdlife - actually there weren't many birds making themselves visible but this one wasn't shy.

Yes, I'm wet! and my scottish skin is still white. My skin has two colours only -white or red, it's best to avoid the latter!

Apart from the odd bottle neck like this (and at the Garganta - see later) the Argentinian side is so big that the crowds don't cause a problem.

I'm in the boat now. Lifebelt - just in case I suppose. You get some great views from down here. Wonder why they made me put all my still in a wet bag.....?

Ah! Very wet!!!

So the Gran Venture kicked off in real style. In spite of the 30degree heat it took a few hours to dry off. The last bit to dry off (and it took way too long) created a pseudo superman underpants effect - alternatively, a "look at me, I've peed my pants" effect. Rather embarrassing.

On the safari truck ride we saw a wee monkey climbing and feeding in a tree. We'd already seen loads of butterflies and the guide told us a few of the species. Have you ever been on a guided tour and thought "No, he's got to be making that up"? Must get a bit boring giving the same old chat 4 times a day - do you think the guides ever have a game where they try to get away with the most outrageous bit of made up chat? Maybe not, but when this one told us there was a butterfly with the number 88 on its wings I was thinking - no way!!

Well, would you believe it! 

3. Garganta Del Diablo - The devils throat!

You need to get onto a nice old open train to get to this bit. I sparked up a wee conversation with a bloke from Corrientes on this 20 minute ride. A south african woman had asked him about his Mate kit (pronounced to rhyme with latte) and I'd asked if it was terere (mate is a herbal tea they drink here - mate is hot and a broadly similar cold version is called terere  - sometimes they make this with the herbs and fruit juice to make it a bit sweeter - terere, is pronounced like tayrayray, but said quickly). Anyway the guy said no it was mate. My spanish may be getting better because I think he said he was used to drinking it hot in the day and it's a bit like smoking (either that or he drinks it instead of smoking). We asked each other where we were from and he said "wiki" when I said scotland - Ah "Whisky". I said in spanish that I don't need mate cos I've got whisky - he laughed. Later on he shouted out "Escosia, Escosia" to me as I passed him on the way to the garganta - YES! I punched the air and beamed a big smile!

This part of the park is truly awesome. The walkway after the train ride takes us to the edge of a big horseshoe of water fall...

I guess you have to be there!

4. Ecological boat trip.

I thought it would be nice and cool on the water (the day itself being a roaster) but no, when we were on the water in a big dingy there was no expected breeze and with our rubber lifebelts on too it was a little too hot for comfort. Thankfully it only lasted about half an hour and we did see a caiman (little crocodile/alligator), some turtles and frogs.

the boat took us back to quite a central bit of the park and I only had one thing more to do before my work was done for Cataratas day 1. Jungle walk on the Macuco trail. 

5. Macuco Trail.

When the information man sends you off in the right direction with "stay on the path, its very dangerous" I would normally think, "he's just doing his job, health and safety etc", but when I saw the sign with snakes beside the entrance to the path there was the inkling of nervousness emerging. I was taking this 6k walk on at about 3:30 and I don't suppose many people do it anyway so I hardly saw anyone at all on this bit. As I entered the pathway I noticed the foliage making things a little darker. Then I noticed the noises. In retrospect I am reminded of a very funny Billy Connolly story about men not belonging in the jungle. Basically due to all the noise that you don't realise goes on in a jungle until you go there. How anyone can sleep under canvas in a Jungle is beyond me (and Billy). Needless to say I was starting to imagine all sorts of things were behind the noises. Every wee rustle in the undergrowth had a sinister source. So I'm sure you can picture me jumping out of my skin when something big moved right at my feet. We do not belong in the jungle!

This is the culprit. Not far off 1m long if I'm not mistaken. Thankfully just as scared of me as I was of it. In fact there were quite a few of these and this was the only one that hung around long enough for me to photo.

I thought these things only existed in silly scifi films like starship troopers. No that is a big old nasty wasp/bug thing. Probably the length of my thumb. We don't belong in the jungle! 

...and most disturbing of all...

Welcome to the Jungle!

I'm afraid I have no pictures but there were some nice timid rodents - too timid to get on film. Pretty big, but not as podgy or furry as a capybara.

This waterfall was the end of the trail...

Not as big as the other ones nearby but a bit more private and some people were swimming in the pool underneath. After seeing all the beasties, hearing all the noises and not knowing what kind of snakes there were - could be water snakes?!?!? I wasn't for getting in. No swimming costume either and I still wasn't totally dry from the Gran Aventura. Hummph!

Well, that was pretty much it for day one. A whole fun packed day of Parque Nacional Iguazu experience. I got to the park before 9 and left on a bus at 5pm with hardly a pause. Awesome!!

Look out for some more chat and pics when I get some free time. That will probably be Wednesday.

Some pictures of me in the classroom...

Some of you might have seen these already on Facebook (I've been "tagged"on the school's Facebook page) but for everyone else here's a selection with a little commentary added...

This is Itaembe mini English School. I've helped out here a couple of Friday afternoon/evenings here and was very disappointed to miss last week due to my bad cold. (Man Flu...?...probably). There are three classes and between 7 and early teens (14 I think). This is a private school where parents can send their children for some extra English lessons. What you can see in the picture is the entire school! It's only this one wee classroom but that doesn't matter it's still a great school.

"Can you tell what it is yet?". Pictionary here with animals and the added twist where the students have to say correctly "There is a (correct animal)" or "There are (correct number) (correct animal)" to get a point. The referee's decision is final!

These were my demonstration pictures - any guesses? I'm actually quite proud of these, I'm not known for my artistic prowess!

Does it look like I'm enjoying myself?? Yes, I am!

Although the classes like games girls v boys, I think they like Jim v class the best. Here it was hangman and if you're interested one class beat me 1-0 and another beat me 3-1. I clearly need to think up some harder words! I'm still gutted the first class pulled the one in the picture out of the fire for a 1-0 victory. All I needed was the eyes and mouth and they were history, but with their last chance they guessed the whole word right .... hamburger!

I don't have any pictures of me at the municipal school yet - I'll try to get some next week.

Watch out for some stunning pics in my next post as I've just arrived near the Iguazu falls - one of the 7 wonders of the natural world.

Lo que no mata me hace me mas fuerte!

Hola Chicos y Chicas,

Yo dije me he resfriaba la semana pasada. Fue muy peligroso! Pero, lo que no mata me hace me mas fuerte. Yo estaba durmiendo la mayor parte de viernes y eso ayudaba.

Yo te dije conoci Tom la semana pasada también. Después de otra victoria contra Argentina a pool en Sabado nosotros fuimos a partido de equipos locales en Domingo.....

Club Guarani Antonio Franco (Guarani) contra Club deportivo Jorge G. Brown (Brown)

Guarani es el nombre de gente indigena aqui. Guarani esta cerca de la cima de tabla y Brown esta cerca de el fondo. Pero Brown ganaron 3-1 y con sola una carta roja contra tres para Guarani, ellos ganaron eso también!

Quien quieren ser un arbitro cuando necesitan acompañante policia después de la primero tiempo y segundo tiempo. Mucho decisiones polémico!

Otra vez Lunes estaba muy ocupado. Aun mas porque Olie y Emma fuimos a Brazil. Entonces necesitaba juegos muchos y "Dos equipos, chicos contra chicas" esta bien!

Punto culminante del semana ..... Durante de partido, nosotros encontraba otra reportero y se llama Tom "Rooney"  Si, si si !!!!

Hasta próxima tiempo,

J


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subtitles to follow - I've had no-one correcting me yet - I know this is not because my spanish is perfect! Extra bonus bits in brackets.

Hello boys and girls,

I told you last week that I had caught a cold. It was very nasty! However, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger! I slept nearly all of Friday and that helped. (I'm much better now and despite a few sniffles hanging around  I'll recommence my running tomorrow morning)

I also told you I met Tom last week. After another victory against Argentina at pool (Marcelo and some of his friends could find no combination to defeat us!) we went to a football game on Sunday. (Tom was covering it as reporter for his team Guarani and I came along to get a taster of local league Argentinian football.)

It was Guarani versus Brown. Guarani is the name for the indigenous people here. (These were the people the Jesuits set up missions to convert to christianity etc)

Guarani are near the top of the table (I actually think they are top) and Brown are near the bottom (1 point from bottom before the game) but Brown won 3-0 and with a red card count of 3 to Guarani and 1 to Brown, they won that too.

Who would be a referee when they need police escort at half time and full time. Many contentious decisions!

(In reality I think the ref had a decent game. It had been pouring all day and the pitch was wet and puddled in places. He got at least 2 of the red cards spot on and with all the rest of the shenanigans going on Im not surprised they make the odd mistake. The shenanigans I'm talking about are diving, off the ball clashes, coaches having a go at them, players having a go at them (and most alarmingly) fans having a go at them by rattling the (necessary) fencing around the ground and trying to get on the pitch! - Who would be a referee!!!!)

Once again Monday was very busy. Olie and Emma have gone to Brazil (so I'm on my own with the local teacher who sits at the back doing other work while I take the class - to be fair she does intervene if things get really out of hand and I do want a decent go at the teaching as well so I'm happy enough with that. (I have 6 classes of 1 hour 20 minutes on Monday) So I need lots of games and "Two teams, Boys v Girls" is great. (Boys v girls seems to get even the most stubbornly uninterested student involved. I guess you learn these wee tricks as you go along. However, I think it's important to get some learning into the games. I try to evolve the games so they are still being stretched - that's where the class preparation comes in)

Highlight of the week was at the match  -we met another reporter and he called Tom "Rooney". YEEEEEEEESSSSS!!!!!! (Not just me then. Any pasty-faced brit is Rooney - I feel much better now!)

Until next time,

J

El Juego Precioso!

Hola Amigos,

Argentina esta mas feliz después de el partido de Argentina y Columbia de Martes!

Otra vez Lunes fue un dia muy ocupado. Los estudiantes tienen muy mixto habilidad de Ingles. Alguien hablan ingles bueno, alguien no tratan suficiente. Tenemos un proverbio en Ingles..."Peude dirigir uno caballo a agua pero no puede forzar tomar".

El primero falta es pronunciación y tienen que mucho practicar.

Llegaba martes y después de enseñando, Olie y yo encontré Marcelo jugar football. Después de football con Marcelo y suyos amigos nosotros miramos el grande partido.  No jugué bueno pero todavía me hablaron"Rooney"! Como me escaparé este?!

El grande partido no empezó bueno porque Colombia marcó un gol. Argentina estaba jugando malo! Marcelo y suyos amigos estaba preocupé. Pero, después de el intervalo, Argentina jugare mucho mejor porque ellos tendré tres delanteros ahora.

Estaba muy divertido porque después de los dos gols de Argentina uno de Marcelos amigos salte arriba y exigó cambiar camisas con Olie!

Ayer me resfriaba! Tengo una dolorosa garganta. No bueno.

Después de hoy, yo estoy el solo voluntario. Entonces vamos a ir a el bar para pool y bowls. Marcelo te gustaría vengarse que la viernes pasado. Que será, será!

Entonces amigos la próxima dos semanas yo estaré solo mío! Mejor para aprenderé castellano!

Adios!


.............................................................................................................................................................

Subtitles time........... (bonus bits in brackets) - please help me by correcting any mistakes, of which I'm sure there are many!!

Hello Friends,

Argentina is happier after the game on Tuesday with Colombia!

Once again, Monday was a very busy day. The students are of very mixed abilities in English. Some are good, but some don't even try. We have a saying in English..."You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink."

The main thing for them to work on really is speaking and pronunciation. (I don't think they are encouraged to practice enough - I speak here about the municipal school - the private schools I've been to are much better at this e.g Itaembe mini)

So Tuesday arrived (the day of the big game) and after teaching, Olie and I joined Marcelo to play football. After football with Marcelo and his pals we watched the big game. I didn't play well but still they called me "Rooney". How can I escape this?!!

The big match did not start well because Colombia got a goal. Argentina were playing badly and everyone was worried. However, after the break Argentina played much better because they now had 3 strikers. (Messi had no support in the first half but after they brought on the extra striker/winger in Aguero he got much more space to cause Colombia problems).

It was hilarious because for each of Argentina's two goals one of Marcelo's pals jumped up and demanded to swap shirts with Olie!! (Olie was wearing an Ecuador shirt that had brought comment earlier)

Yesterday I caught a cold! I have a sore throat. Not good!

After today I will be the only volunteer left (everyone else leaves tomorrow). So we are going to the bar tonight for pool and bowls. Marcelo would like revenge for last Friday - what will be will be!

So pals, for the next two weeks I'll be on my own (not really of course, but the only volunteer). Better for learning Castilian (as they call spanish here).

Bye!

(Other bits and bobs.... I had no lessons today as there was another 1 day strike - another banrock day, Mr Haines :o). However, fear not, I won't be bored as I had already arranged a spanish lesson for this morning and with my cold I think a wee afternoon siesta might be in order -  I need to perk up a bit to ensure honour is maintained at pool and bowls).

Todavia la leyenda vive!

Hola Senoras y Senoros,

I think I need to explain....From now on I will try to do my blog posts in my stilted spanish and give a translation into English with extra things I'm not able to write in Spanish afterwards. One other thing - I will be doing this without Google Translate as that would make it too easy! Also, GT sometimes makes mistakes! However, I will be using my spanish/English dictionary because this will help me increase my vocabulary and I still need to do all the grammar etc etc.

The title of this blog post is my crude attempt at "The Legend Lives On" which was a common phrase on the Lands End to JohnO'Groats cycle trip I did with Gavin Waterston last year. Ok, here goes in Spanish.

Hola Senoras y Senoros!

Me gusta mucho el comentaristos de football en Argentina. No se el nombre de mi favorito pero el dijo "Senoras y senoros" con frequencia. Yo pienso el es "Archie McPherson" de Argentina!!! El habla con mucho excitación y puede gitar "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL" constantemente!

Después de miércoles y jueves con no escuela, yo ayude la Itaembe miniEnglish School viernes 3:30 hasta 7:30. Me gusta mucho y estaba muy feliz ayudar. Mas tarde Viernes yo encontré Marcelo y Tom para pool y bowls. Marcelo hablaba me "profesional"!

Ayer, yo encontré Simon (un otro voluntario) y fuimos a Paraguay! Fuimos a la Trinidad del Parana ruina. No me gusta mucho Encarnacion, el cuidad de Paraguay muy cerca de Posadas pero la ruina estaba muy interesante. Estaba lloviendo, entonces llevaba el "Pocket Rocket"!

Unas fotos del ruina y vista...

Volveré a escuela mañana. Otra vez es "ocupado martes".

Chau!

...........................................................................................................................................................

Ok, I'm sure that is pretty poor but I think if you speak spanish a little you might get the drift or maybe you can drop it into a translater. Let me know how close I got to what I meant to say - here it comes in English. I'll put the extra bits that are too hard for me in spanish into brackets.

Hello, ladies and gentlemen,

I love the footy commentators in Argentina. I don't know his name but my favourite one often says "senoras y senoros". I think he is the Argentinian Archie Mcpherson! He speaks very excitedly and can shout "GOOOOOOOOOOOOL" forever! (in the same way that Archie gets excited mid-word - you know what I mean? - if a ball goes into the box or something, he doesn't stop what he is saying he seems to add a big stress to the word - if the situation ends up being not that exciting he modulates back to normal with great skill! - separated at birth these two I think!)

(from what I've seen on telly so far the footy is pretty exciting here. In two Copa Bridgestone Sudamerica matches (their version of the champions league - Aggregate scores of Vasco 5 - Universitario 4 & Velez 4 - Santa Fe 3) that tactics have been somewhere between all-out-attack and c'mon-lads-lets-have-a-real-go. However, I don't think that is always the case)

After Wednesday and Thursday with no school I helped out at Itaembe mini English school on Friday from 3:30pm to 7:30 pm. I really enjoyed this and it was great to help. (A lot of this was helping with listening and practicing what they'd learned this year to be ready for upcoming exams - they had to ask me lots of questions e.g. do you like chicken, do you like etc football. However, I did get to turn the tables a couple of times)

After the teaching on Friday I went out for Bowls and pool with Marcelo and Tom. (I've mentioned Marcelo before but Tom is from England and over here as part of his Spanish degree - he also did a stint volunteering a couple of years ago - he is working here as a sports journalist so gets to see the Argentinian commentators in action first hand! - I am very jealous). Marcelo called me a "professional" (because my pool was pretty good and I must've scored my best ever 10 pin bowling score of 136 - Marcelo will be after revenge next week - I'm confident I can live up to my pool of Friday but the bowls could be a different story! )

Yesterday I met Simon (another volunteer) and we went to Paraguay! We went to the ruins at Trinidad (these are from about the same era as the San Ignacio ones we went to last weekend but are from slightly later and a little better preserved). I didn't like Encarnacion the city in Paraguay that is very close to Posadas (it's a lot poorer than Argentina from what we could see) but the ruins were very interesting. It was raining so I wore the Pocket Rocket (for those who don't know yet, the Pocket Rocket is my high viz cycling rain jacket - it has served me well on my LEJOG and USA tours and it's special power is being super waterproof but being able to roll up small enough to get into your pocket.)

I return to school tomorrow. Once again it's manic monday!

Hasta La Vista!!!

No teaching today!

This picture shows the Rio Parana (which forms the border between Argentina and Paraguay), the Costanera (promenade and road along the river on the Argentina side) and the bridge to Paraguay. Maybe I'll have a trip to Paraguay at some point.

No teaching?!?!?!?!? I'll explain....

Yesterday, our timetable was a free morning followed by a relatively full afternoon. So, as I do roughly every other morning, I had a run along the Costanera. Even at 7:30/8am it is roasting and humid and the circa 5 miles I do is a real challenge. At least by the river here is usually a little breeze and yesterday there were unusually a few other runners.

The morning passed without anything further to report and after lunch I walked the 20-25 minutes to school. I came across Emma and Olie on the way and we arrived together to find the place almost deserted. This is not normal as during break time there's usually lots of games and chatter going on.

Our fears were confirmed when we found someone in the staff room who said there would be no more teaching this week! Later we discovered that this was due to a teacher strike on Wednesday and Thursday and a fiesta on Friday.

I think I already mentioned teacher strikes in another post. There have been a number of strikes this year it seems and although the article here I found adds on some political motivations, what I have heard here is that the main reason is pay.

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=14093&ArticleId=366636

It's a bit frustrating for me as I'm here to teach but in the wider context who am I to say what a reasonable level of pay is for a teacher here? I don't know the history or context and don't want to take any sides in something I know nearly nothing about. I'll let you read the article and make up your own mind.

So what am I going to do with all this extra time this week? Well, yesterday was unbearably hot so I actually had a very long and delightful siesta! 3 hours off and on of afternoon kip. This is not normal for me but, you know, Cuando estes en Posadas....!

Later on I started to plan a lesson for next monday, looked into some of my post teaching travel and I'm still learning a lot of spanish.

It's the unexpected bits of conversation that bring things my Espanol to an abrupt halt. I can get a table and food at a restaurant no bother. I managed to go into a sports shop today and have a little chat with the guy about footy teams and a shirt I was looking at buying. I can say a few phrases in class so the children understand roughly what is going on and often understand lots of what they say in spanish. However, the other day in California (hold the phone - there's no time warp - the big supermarket in Posadas is called California!) I bought a few things including a large 1litre bottle of Quilmes local lager. I was trying to pay when the assistant gave me a barrage of espanol. I couldn't latch onto any words in it. Sometimes I get a verb or something I recognise to get a clue. This time I recognised not a jot. She repeated and then got her supervisor, who I think just said exactly the same thing! Thankfully an English speaker was nearby (this is actually very rare here and the first time I've come across an English speaker apart from our co-ordinator) and could tell me that they were saying there was a 3 peso deposit for the bottle. That was it?  I'm sure they were trying to be helpful but it's not great for my confidence. I'm sure they weren't saying "tres pesos deposito", I think I'd have got that, or maybe its just because they speak very quickly. Anyway, I'm sure I'll get better in time.

I'm afraid the checkouts posed a problem at California again today. I thought I'd got through safely when the assistant said a word I didn't recognise. I had handed over a 100 peso note and thinking back and looking up slang for 1 peso I expect they said something like "tiene un centavo?" Which means "do you have 1 peso?" I didn't get it but when I looked at the read-out and saw an odd number of pesos I guessed they might be after a 1 peso coin so the could give my change all in notes (the lowest note I've seen is two pesos). Thankfully I was right. I was not looking forward to seeing the supervisor again!

Maybe I can really kick-start my spanish by going to California a few times a day! I'm not sure if I can handle the humiliation though.

Oh well, no teaching this afternoon...what shall I do?....Cuando estes en Posadas....siesta...? Tal Vez!

Manic Monday!

You've probably worked out that this is not a picture of a manic monday at all. It's actually the ruins of the Mission at San Ignacio. San Ignacio is not far from where I'm staying, Posadas, the capital of the Misiones province. Misiones is so named after the large number of Jesuit missions set up around here (in the 17th century and later). Along with the 5 other volunteers who are here at the moment I visited San Ignacio on Saturday. Simon (from near London) is doing ecological work in the jungle, Agi (from Hungary - I hope the spelling is right) and Amy (from Australia) are helping out at the local orphanage, Emma and Olie (also from near London) are here to teach English like me.

So, Manic Monday! After the relaxing Saturday sightseeing and a very long lie (for me) until nearly 10 on Sunday morning the reality of teaching on Monday hit home. First I was given my timetable for the local municipal school. I think due mainly to strikes earlier in the year the core curriculum is being crammed in and English fits in around that so we have a very skewed timetable. 7:30am until 5:15pm on Monday (an hour and a quarter off for lunch) then much freer days for the rest of the week. School works in 2 shifts here. Some kids are in the morning - 7:30-11:45 and some are in for the afternoon 1pm-5:15. We are teaching at 7:30am three days of the week - muy temprano!

Some of the spaces in our timetable are being filled by helping out at other schools and institutes (I'll be going along with Emma and Olie to one of these later this afternoon). At the municipal school the classes we are teaching are year 5,6 and 7, which are 10-12 year olds and they are pretty much beginners but the standard seems to be quite mixed. I'm very glad that for the first 2 weeks it will be the three of us in each lesson. However, after that I'll be on my own.

I spent a bit of time on Sunday planning a lesson based around food for the four year 7 classes on Monday and went 10-pin bowling with the other guys in the evening to celebrate Agi's birthday.

Monday morning comes and I hadn't slept great - I guess you never do the night before something new and potentially hard and a 7:30 kick-off is brutally early. But as it was my first day Marcelo gave us a lift to the school so it wasn't so bad.

I'm staying with Marcelo and Veronica in Posadas. Veronica is the main co-ordinator of the volunteers here and has almost perfect English. Marcelo is Veronica's husband and speaks much less English so I can practice Spanish with him. The universal bloke language of Football is a great start! However, Marcelo's team River Plate are languishing in the second division of the Argentine league just now so hard times for River fans compared with their illustrious past.

Olie, Emma and I were dropped off and soon discovered that the local English teacher was off ill. So we'd be running the classes ourselves today. Ok, now I'm seriously glad it's not just me here!

My first introduction to teaching English as a foreign language was a great lesson in having lots of plan B's up your sleeve. The lesson I'd planned for the year 7s wasn't any use as they'd done the material before so just as well Olie and Emma had something in reserve on Places and directions. The most unexpected part of the morning was when one of the boys showed me a picture of Wayne Rooney from a computer game box and started calling me Rooney! News travels fast in a school and in almost every class since I have been Rooney!

The morning shift was incredibly tiring as with even three pairs of eyes its difficult to keep tabs on everyone. I guess they know we're only here for a few weeks, the real teacher is not there so there's less of an incentive not to misbehave for some. However, we got through it. The students really love games the best so we have to try to make up games that also involve a little learning. They like the numbers and colours bingo warmup but they went a little mad for the blindfold direct a classmate game. They are supposed to only use English directions (turn right, straight on, stop) but of course some cheating is inevitable!

Lunch would have been a welcome break if not for the stifling heat and soon enough we were back in for more year 7 places and directions. Except the after lunch lesson was a real graveyard shift. All three of us were toiling and the class were very quiet so it didn't rush by. Thankfully the next year 7s were a bit more up for it and just to round of the day on a high note the younger year 5s were an absolute joy. This lesson was about colours and animals and we had no lack of volunteers to mime out animals and draw on the board for pictionary.

So the day ended on a high note but it was a very long day and we, all three, were exhausted. I for one was a complete zombie in the evening. I gave Marcelo and Veronica a laugh though as after saying in Spanish correctly that I was very tired I went on to say Estoy muy caliente. I thought this meant I'm very hot...it does..but not in a heat sense - a sexy sense! That is good to know for future reference! Mucho calor from now on.

I managed to just about make it to 10pm before going to bed and managed a run this morning. Even at 7:30 when I set off it is mucho calor, and humid too but it would be just impossible to run later in the day.

Today we have a much lighter timetable and this mornings class was with a good local teacher so we were mainly helping the students out with an exercise they were doing. As I said we are helping out at an institute later so I'm interested to see what that'll be like. The remit is to help revise weather and food so  we are taking some bits of fruit and some flash cards that were conveniently left behind by a previous volunteer. I'm sure there'll also be time for a game or two of number and colour bingo!

...haz como los Portenos.

Hola from Buenos Aires! You may have already noticed that this blog might be a little bit of a mix of English and Espanol. I am trying to learn Spanish as quickly as I can but that's still registering as "quite slow" on the learnometer it seems to me. So all the practice I can get is bien recibida.

Welcome to my new blog! For those of you familiar with my previous blogging (on Lands End to JohnO'Groats and the West Coast of America) -welcome back! but please note this will be a less frequent blogging experience. Daily posting is a big commitment and I'm not going to do it this time. However, I expect I'll want to put something on here about weekly. Maybe it'll be weekly and maybe you'll see nothing for 3 weeks and then a festival of blogging - I just don't know yet. As it could be annoying to folks checking the blog and not seeing anything here I've arranged for an email to be sent to the most likely candidates (those who have asked for updates) each time a new post is put on. If you want to be removed or if you'd like to be added to that list let me know on jamescockburn@blueyonder.co.uk and I'll see what I can do.

Setting the scene.... I have 10 weeks over here and for the first 4 I will be teaching English in Posadas (in the north East of Argentina). For the other 6  - I currently have no plans. I want to experience a few new things and relax a bit too before making the big decisions about what I'm going to do next and have to contemplate the "w" word again.

So here I am in South America and I actually have to remind myself I am indeed in South America because so far I feel right at home in Buenos Aires. It has lots of Spanish (of course) and Italian influences and los Portenos appear to be a very friendly and helpful bunch. Only twice or thrice have I taken my tourist map out into the sunlight to ponder and each and every time a local has stopped to ask if I need help or directions.

The food has a very european feel and although there is a big financial centre here and industry too, there also appears to be a mediterranean-style lets-not-rush-things-too-much attitude. You know, it's pretty hot here - if you rush around you just end up all hot and bothered. Secondly, there's so much to enjoy and chat about so why rush along? I like this!

Ok, before I get carried away here and chill out completely, I have to remember that tomorrow I fly to Posadas to teach English. I have this very day submitted (at the second attempt - they're not easy!) the final assessment of my online TEFL (Teach English as a foreign language) course. The deep end will be waiting for me on Monday - my first day at the school. However, that's what I'm here for - a bit of deep end can't-speak-the-language and need-to-pretend-I'm-a-teacher action could do me good.

Noteworthy stuff so far....?

Dulce de Leche - this was recommended by two Argentinians - one on the flight and another who tried to help me with my map in a cafe. Dulce de Leche is apparently an institution here. I tried it and here's my thoughts.... most of you know I don't have a sweet tooth... but in small quantities DDL is very nice. Moreover it is remarkably similar to Scottish tablet! It is basically made by heating up some milk and adding sugar until it melts and all turns brown. When it cools it hardens a bit on the outside but remains a little soft on the inside. Sound like tablet? In reality I think the scottish version is a bit sweeter (being made from condensed milk according to a web recipe - we do like things sweet en Escosia!). DDL is used in almost any sweet/dessert on the menus here and apparently opinions are divided on the best brand and this can cause heated debate.

Argentinian Steak - is phenomenal! I've had 2 steaks already and can't get enough.

Spanish speaking update - I've had mixed results so far. My reading is much better than my conversation skills. However, I'm beginning to try to at least learn from every conversation (or failed conversation). Some people do speak very good English and it's difficult to speak spanish with them as they revert to English to help out or get things sorted quickly. However, some people don't speak English much and that's when the awkward silences can arise! Oh well, I've done not too bad so far - I had a wee chat with a Chilean bloke on the tourist bus today and managed to argue back to a woman complaining about me jumping the queue - I hadn't, by the way!

Ok, that's probably enough given I need to get up for an early flight. One thing before I go - for how long have we not been allowed liquids on flights? Anyone tried to take a bottle of whisky in hand luggage recently? That'll be me! I had to take the walk of shame at Edinburgh International Airport back through security to check in a second bag! The shame!!!

Thankfully my ticket allowed 2 hold bags and double thankfully it arrived safely - it's a wee present for the folks I'll be staying with in Posadas.

Until next time...

Ciao Ciao!

PS What is he talking about with the "Portenos"...?!!
...I looked up google to see if there was a word for someone who lives in Buenos Aires and the best it came up with was Portenos (which means people of the port). Anyway, there isn't a word like Roman or Glaswegian or New yorker for the inhabitants of Buenos Aires.