Come on Cordoba!!

Definitely wearing thin of this city. Itching to get out, and today, knowing that I am leaving tomorrow, I feel ready to go. One final night out, hopefully with my amigos de Buenos Aires, and it should be a fitting farewell. I will miss them, but such is the nature of the gypsy.

Yesterday I got an email from a freelance contact in the UK, asking if I wanted to cover the Ibiza Dance Music Summit - free flights, accomm, food, everything, of COURSE when I don't live in London anymore. Ho hum. But I am advancing my talks with the other job offer in the Caribbean, which is sounding more promising by the day and which I believe I have a good chance of getting... now just to figure out how to break the news to my family that I would only be home for 2 months...

The guy from work who was stand-in manager while the other manager was away is being a bit of an ass to me, making sure I speak to the proper manager now she's back and saying I need to work out with her whether I need to pay some money for my room etc. I told him I still didn't know my plans and that I would speak with her... fuck getting spoken to like that by someone who ain't even in charge anymore. I will deal with the manager, as I have been doing already all on my ownsie - she is much nicer than him, anyway!

Yesterday, I was feeling fine - although had a little trouble bending down quickly without a light head - and went to see the manager at the Ritz, the lady I worked with in Iguazu. Also had to say goodbye to my friends at their hostel, they had woken up after the previous night's efforts in a frenzy wanting to organise a quick trip to Igauzu. $1000 later (seriously, that is my budget for almost 2 months!!) and they had flights, accomm, falls activities etc etc... and were in a mad rush. Chao chao, amigos, hasta luego :)

The manager at the Ritz, just a few weeks into her new gig, was already looking frazzled and stressed. Reports passing my way were saying no one liked her there and while I do feel a bit sorry for her because of that, I also remember my one night working side by side with her for the pizza party. Man, that was intense.

Anyway, she said the pizza party was still running on Thursdays and now Tuesdays but only on Tuesdays did they do the Pub Quiz as well. Thank god, NO MAS PUB QUIZ PARA MI!!! I hated that! But at least I am doing something for the hostel, and people can't think I am just bludging around. There still is definitely an element of bludging being done on my behalf but at least now I feel I am earning my keep.

Started my research for Bolivia... I think I will try to get into Tupiza somehow to see the red canyons there. Really, I have NO idea about anything with Bolivia, all I know is that it is CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP and that, to me, sounds mighty good. My budget is going well, though, considering I am still within it, even after factoring in a tattoo, new camera and all my travel. And also that I was in Brazil for a couple of weeks, and possibly the other most expensive parts of Argentina. Now just to take care of Chile...

Tossing up whether I want to do Cordoba by train or bus tomorrow. With the train, it is MUCH cheaper but I hear bad things about kids vomiting and people throwing stuf at the train through the journey in cattle class, and also it leaves at night, virtually robbing me of a night out in Cordoba (the whole reason I wanted to go on a weekend). And it takes 5 hours longer than the bus.

On the other hand, the buses leave regularly - god knows how they have the foot traffic for that many services - and are complete with meals and drinks, which I for one am all in for. The bus ride from Iguazu here was pretty lush so I might just opt for that in the end. To my Argentinian friend I had drinks with last night, 50-odd American dollars was super expensive but to me, not so much.

Speaking of last night, it was a bit of a stunted mission. I went with Y, a former guest at Iguazu that I still speak to, to the tattoo artist's hood who did my tattoo in Iguazu. She was poised to get a new tat, but when we got to his dodgy little part of town, he was nowhere to be seen and wasn't answering his phone. We found an internet cafe and saw on FB that he messaged her today saying the girl he was seeing may be pregnant and he needed to go to the hospital with her. Dramas dramas dramas. Anyway, he failed to see the point of messaging her phone as well, so we had made the journey for nothing. Good call, mate.

We went back into town and had some beers at a really cute little bar that she has been going to for years, with an old, black-haired lady roaming around that had themed the place "dark" with vampiric, magic-themed pictures adorning the walls and a fat, black cat sitting in the corner. It was rather cool, I say, rather cool.

Afterwards, I just went back to the hostel, not wanting any more beer because my stomach was already straining from the weight of too much pasta for dinner and wheaty drink, and I was knackered from the night before... and just starting to feel it. Tonight is the night for bang bang baaaaang party time. Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooot. One last time in this wretched city - let's see what you got for me.