b.a. summary

the last two weeks have been good living for me but pretty bad reading for y’all. Filled with boozing, touristing, rambling, bonding fun splashed with the seriousness I have embellished upon in previous posts.
The boundaries of day and night have been blurred beyond recognition, the never sleeping city has proved itself when quiet nights lead us to nodland at 4-5am and discussion filtered in and out between pure unadulterated rubbish, politcs, fashion, economics and telos*(see below) embarrassing secrets, new formed philosophies and opinions profound until viewed by dry, sober eyes.

And I’m off with the beautiful Patagonia in my sights… glaciers, walking, breathing good air, etc.


*telo: a hotel with an hourly rate used by locals and tourists alike and widely acceptable in many circles due to people continuing to live in their parents homes till marriage.they have the usual scale of differences as in any hotel there are different standards and discretion is key. Most amusingly the room service is a menu of all kinds of sex toys complete with glossy pictures.

visiting the neighbours

A quick addition to the countries list; popped over to uraguay for a couple of sleepy days in colonia. A beautiful quaint contrast to b.a. and gave me a wee prep for dorm life again. A mixture of coffee drinking and the usual frollickings proceeded by a first day of extreme bike riding to the beach and playground. I could have made it round the whole of uraguay if ed would have kept up! As it is I believe we gave the mopeds, tourist golf carts and horses a run for their money.

march 24th - nunca mas

the day the military dictatorship started 30years ago, the start of a dark and depressing part of history which is to recent and sore to even be called history and has left the country with fear and depression, pessimism and fight. i don't think i've ever seen such a politically motivated city, everyday you can see signs, protests, events, protests calling for justice on those that ordered the torture and disappearing of a suspected 30,000 people. in the forefront are the 'madres de plaza de mayo' who represent mostl;y the loved ones of the disappeared or the grandmothers of the stolen children. these women are so persistant and strong, they have never stopped demanding the justice they deserve but they are known and respected and are being listened to accross the board it would seem.

i am so inspired by the way in which love compells them to act, there is no other force in this fight eg;money/power. women, seen, treated, trained to be passive - love compells them to fight tirelessly and persevere above all things.

and today a march of ... people through the streets, crowds chant and drum, some moved in silence holding pictures of either those they lost or those they want justice brought upon and whilst i feel immense pride for my kin it is so mingled with discust on the other side.

the faces of buenos aires

As always there are such great contrasts here. Buenos Aires (B.A.) known for her grandeur and sophistication, her beautiful buildings, stylish people and lust for the arts and cultura.

On the corners of the streets darker argentinians with a signature smell root through the bins, filling carts with recyclable goods from 5am to 2am, 7days a week.

The paintings on the wall talk of oppression and the dictatorship mostly but also of the economic crash and the poverty. Down by the docks, where beautifully painted houses stand next to tango bars and authentic restaurants, there is a direct example of the contrast where 2streets away the houses are faded , windows smashed and bricked up, churches used as squats. Its like a time warp and truly the only restoration that is done is purely for the tourists benefit and the money made seems to go nowhere near the rest of the community who really are in need of it.

j'arrive

Like a drowned rat I fall into mr denbees flat in san telmo, Buenos aires and am confronted by the lovely face of my sleepy friend and a beautiful, spacious, characterful and warm apartment filled with incredible 20’s paraphernalia, a big wooden table, open centre, balcony, a roof terrace a beautiful high ceiling rooms. Its like a dream and when the rain passes the next day a glorious and proud city is revealed to me. Paddy’s day goes off, the streets packed, the booze flowing and festive atmosphere all over. We stagger in at 6am after a few bars and a few streets to find a bewildered Irishman on the doorstep, how novel for this day in argentina.

newell old boys

after passing my last hours in sao paulo and brazil with a crazy lady and a lovely old old peruvian vendor i get to my second flight, where i am addopted by a ... of argentian football fanatics/hooligans, who chant until they're stopped and swarm around me asking questions about why i am here and questions about newell, kent where their beloved club founder is from. its highly confusing but very enjoyable, they'll be no peace tonight and tommorow paddys day, aye aye aye!

"brazillian women want guns out of their lives"

i venture into the rarely recommended sao paulo to save myself the torture of waiting 13hours in an airport and to find a bed and shower for a few hours. feeling pretty lost, a bit out of cash and out of luck and generally a tad miserable after a good last nights memories, with good friends i'll miss, were turned sour by one dodgy guy.

the city is daunting and grey. i find some decent, cheap food and head towards the cathedral for a quick look before sleeping and there infront of the building is a "control arms" concert and demo."brazillian women want guns out of their lives" painted on the posters and over their faces. the poor, crazy and young dance to the... interesting music. on the opposite side of the square a man preaches to a good crowd, slapping his bible on his hand to emphasise his point. i hope to myself that god would only be seen dead with the bible basher or in the cathedral and alive and fighting with the passionate protestors in the square.

drunk, bloated bodies pave the cathedral steps and wrap themselves around the palm trees, as tall as the highrise office blocks surrounding. its a suprise ending to my 1st time in brazil and i'm ready to meet buenos aires with renewed energy.

bahia

it never stops!

i knew i had to come and see this place where people have capoeira and dance and rhythm in there blood, where the music wakes you early morning and accompanies you into your dreams at night.

there's in an incredible mix of black, white and latino here that is more natural and intergrated than anywhere i've been before.

the people are so colourful, joyful, active and can stretch the truth to unknown limits. i feel totally embraced (a little too close at times.) after meeting some locals last night for some drinks, dreads and fun we took to the beach today with the same likely lads. still stunned by their boyish pride and flexibility we were freestyle rap on the bus, given capoeira lessons and hit on in the most shameless, obvious way and eventually, when set straight, befriended.

a very strained discussion in portugese highlighted to me the anger one of the guys held for the attitude of the rich toward the poor here, the discrimination in healthcare and his passion and anger burned a hole in me.

arrial a'juda

of the little i do actually plan for this voyage of mine, i´m seldom right and i believe this is often for the best. as i left rio i anticipated the next week being quite solitary and in all honesty i felt it was what i needed, but insteadi met some people whoi i have the ability to be so comfortable with , i barely needed time apart from them.

well apart from myself and these guys (representing italy, sweden, belgium and peru) everyone in this place we have come is from israel, it is quite phenominal and we are constantly spoken to in hebrew!

the whole place had the usual paradise feel and i caught myself acting as if it were normal to live this life of luxury and adventure constantly.

ihla grande (big island)

the diamond studded sand beneath my toes stretches out into the dark, calm sea, lapping against the boats which jut into an equally jeweled sky. i find the beach giving me a strange sensation of home and i realise again how easy it is to be part of these beautiful islands.
ihla grande lives up to its name and is a mass of unexplored and exotic forest and hills, rocks and bweach. small crabs pop in and out of the sand infront of me and mosquitoes feast on my rich vegetariean blood.

sadly the world and his wife in the form of backpackers had the same, apres carnival exotic island chill out, idea.
the days that followed held many delights; a boatride to the acclaimed best beach in brazil, where the sand squeaks beneath your feet like fresh snow and tartan fish dance around you. hikes up to the highest point in the island with a view indescribable. the jungle wove its own path with tree roots and it was hard work but vibrant with sound and colour, descending to cool off in a freezing natural pool with rock slides!


the island is a web of windy little streets, vast unpacked beaches, pousadas with so many flowers, humming birds and vultures. the feeling of safety is immense, the pace is half that of rios.

however on returning to rio for one evening a sadness befalls me as i see that ihla grande is the land of the rich, the ideal paradise, by sitting for a drink in a side street my eyes are once more filled as i see the truth and the other side of the gap, the vast gap, leering men, scantily clad, starey eyed girls, dirty, drunk, young and old, poverty, drugs and prostitution. theyre the ones the rich build their security gates to keep out, the ones i fear and love so much more.

carnaval

6days of seeing the sun appear and dissapear, of sequin bikinis, vibrating brown bums, drums and rum!
its hard to describe and my memory is somewhat hazy but i will try.

the carnival parades themselves were awesome to behold, beautiful floats and costumes, thousands of dancers and musicians giving everything and never stopping.
the streets were, a different but, equally thrilling spectacle. every corner offered food, drink, bands, drums. the brazillians were sambering, the gringos staggering and every person of every age and colour partying 24hours of the day.

the beaches packed with barely clad bodies, mini thong bikinis and trunks, most proudly displaying a brazillian flag to barely cover some bodyapart.
at ant point you could turn into a street to find swathes of people following a shaking carnival float, a patriotic song, flags, drums, the works.


the city didnt stop for a rest and yet there is a natural pace that is so unimposing.
time up and my body needs a rest, every organ seems to be trying to communicate its dissaproval. i fear i~ll miss this incredible, vibrant city all the same.

iguacu

Brasil side
as for my dream, my lifes unseen love, to go to the iguacu, to more than look in my rainforest book and allow my imagination to run but to touch and taste and smell and be amongst and within those falls.

it was everything and more than i dreamed, it was soul shaking an dutterly peaceful and i blubbered like a baby betwixt its magnificence and essence of awe soaking my skin.

Argentina side
after being rained off and frozen the next day we tried one more time the morning before we set off for rio an dcarnival.

the sun didn~t grace us with its presence but nor did the rain (raechs curse lifted)and we saw the falls more intimately than the other side and perhaps more than we should have...

a tip off lead us onto an island, through a barrier adn after a fevoured scramble over rocks, across ominous pockets of murky water, under abandoned boats and out into a gushing waterfall. feeling like naughty children the whole time we found our little paradise and swum amongst the rainbows and nipping fish with the constant warmth of the waterfalls spray all over us. the onlty people to be seen were ant sized on a viewing platform we had been 2days previously.

~fast feeted ladies

everything here in brasil is very lush but i miss mexico a little and the ability to communicate, it was becoming much easier with the spanish but portugese is a new world of grunts to me!

last night pulled by a craving for icecream at midnight went out but with plans for an early night before 22hr busride at 7am . but one thought of icecream lead to a caparhina and one of them led to another and before we knew it we were stumbling home at 5am having had our funk dancing appreciated and our attempts at samba mocked and looking like wed been in a swimming pool but smelling worse.
it was ace! token tourists in local rio and totally loved for the novelty of it even by the lovely stunning, fast feeted ladies too.

my guts twist in excitement at the thought of those falls i desire so much, only 9hrs to go