Day 2 and the headache persists

Today was FINALLY leaving day in the Sierras, not that I want to sound like I am complaining or anything... there are definitely worse places in the world to be "stuck". We ordered a cab for way earlier than the bus we wanted to catch - luckily, since it took almost 2 hours to do the journey back to La Falda (the same journey that was 1 hour or so with the owner). During the ride, we were offered sweets, cigarettes and persistent observations about our surroundings ("que linda, si??" "ahh muy bien" "oohh hermosa, si?") since he was a new driver. We thought we had taken a wrong turn but in the end, we got there.

And then came the price. We were told, again by the owner, that it would be 70 - it was 85. I tried to reason with the cabbie with my bad Spanish but he wouldn`t budge. I was pissed. But then we reasoned ourselves out of our annoyance with the fact we didn`t get charged for the transfer there with the owner (which we were told was 50), and also the fact the gaucho didn`t charge us for the last night or the asado. I gave him a good tip.

My headache was still lingering, and I had to take a siesta before the cab had arrived to try and shake it. The bumpy ride in the cab would have been super fun, had C not supplied me with some drugs to ease the pain. Bless her. So I just tried to drink and drink and drink water. So I was always looking forward to the next bathroom stop.

The view out the window of the bus kept me entertained, with the romanticism of Tom Vernon`s writings still lingering in my head... the houses with their stucco peeling; the dogs roaming casually around the streets or, more commonly, sleeping in a random but central walkway; the wire holding bins for rubbish raised high out of the way of the prying dogs; the beautiful dam opening out to fingers of tourism greedily grabbing at travellers´ pockets... We drove through villages, wound around mountains, passed waterways, the scenery was everchanging.

Once back in Cordoba, the sun had disappeared and we headed to E`s house via the internet cafe where I tried to organise just a little bit of my life. The day extra had thrown a little spanner in the works so I had to reorientate myself with what I was actually doing. I knew I had several options for buses to Salta that evening, as I asked when we got to bus terminal, and all I had to do was repack my bag at E`s house. Mi actividade favorito :(

Still, I somehow managed to still have to RUN to the ticket window with 5 mins to spare before my bus, and had to go up, down, up, down, up while everyone told me different things, all the while straining my back against my backpack... it was a stressful time. Eventually, things worked out for the best and I boarded the bus with 2 mins to spare, sweating a storm but glad I was moving on. Cordoba had been nice but it really wasn`t for me... I could hear Salta calling...

The epic journey continues

Ummm, ok... so that was one of the most epic 24 hours of partying I`ve had in a while. In fact, I still haven´t gotten home yet.

Let´s start from the beginning. I arranged to meet my Italian friend for some partying in Lapa again, and before long we were in the midst of the street celebrations and making new friends. Man, the talent here is ridiculous!! And it´s hot enuf that everyone is shirtless (the men at least) and they are really into keeping themselves looking fit!! haha... And for some insane reason I had the pick. All night I was pulled away by people saying "you are beautiful!!". Craziness... So I basically kept my standards high and when I saw (what I thought) was a super sweet, otherwise never to be touched person, I would make eyes and BOOM. Job done.

The rain - which had meant to clear up for the weekend (and by now it was Saturday night) - was still persisting which at first I was annoying about but then, like the rest of them, I embraced it. I am still scared to put my cowboy boots back on, though... urgh, so wet!!!

With our new group of friends, we went into a club that was rammed - I avoided the door charge luckily by one of the guys paying (phew! It was not cheap) and we danced until it closed. I cheekily snuck off a couple of times to make out with one of the guys who was getting it on with one of the girls in the group... hey, it´s all in good fun, right?!

By this stage I spotted a cute Brazilian girl making eyes at me - wow, her figure - and so that was it. She can´t speak English but that means I am forced to try and understand Portuguese (getting better)... she pulled out some random treats from her big black boots at times, ensuring we were in high spirits until the party all but disappeared from the streets and we were faced with scouring the streets for the last remaining dregs (and getting hassled along the way) or jumping on a bus back to her place.

We had lost her friends by this stage so we jumped on a bus alone, only to do a loop of the city (it seemed) and finally arrive at her place. Well, a walk away from the bus then to her place. It was at this stage I realised I was COMPLETELY lost and would be fucked if I attempted to get back to the city. There were local markets, a big highway above my head and lots of non-tourist people quite obviously wondering what this blue-eyed, tutu-toting white rasta woman was doing in their neighbourhood. Good times.

Her friend - who speaks a little Spanish and very little English - was at la casa when we returned and the party continued. At times a young boy - I think maybe her son - came by to hang out with us and I helped him to speak English and some Spanish. Not that I am any good, mind you!

So... here I am, still at her house, more than 24 hours later, having spent last night on a mattress on the floor in front of the TV where Carnaval was being televised from the Sambodrome. WOW. Those costumes are INCREDIBLE. You just don´t believe!! Our bus has gone past some of the floats heading to the dome earlier in the morning and they were also awesome. But the costumes... oh MAN!!! Glitter galore!! And you know how I am about glitter...

And a quick update... just looked in my wallet and I still have half the money left that I came out of the house with yesterday! How I managed THAT I don´t know... But I am certainly not complaining!!

Now we are up n at´em, I´ve assured my CS friend I am still alive and he sent a cryptic reply about taking one thing for another (hope he´s not mad!!)... I hope to get back to the apartment to get changed at one point before I head back out to the festivities. My friend is already parading around in a cute little dress (schwwwinnggg) so I gotta try to spice things up a little. I think I understood her say there was a party we had to go to, and Catete, where I stay, is before that so we can stop off and change clothes before I go out again. Hope so. I am gross.

South American plans slowly take form...

Well, my whip blister didn't live too long to see this world. I popped it while cutting the beets for the deer. In the eerie basement. Although, in recent times, finding a gigantic pile of moulding sugar beets in an Austrian basement instead of anything else is something many would consider lucky...

The snow was a sight to see this morning - at one point the flakes were MASSIVE and I stopped working to try and catch one to look at at. Well, technically they aren't giant flakes, just a whole bunch of smaller flakes bunched together. Still, I love them!

G asked if I wanted to ride after the morning work and, considering her 10-day leave to a health retreat (well, someone's gotta do it, right?) would mean no riding in her absence, I said yes. I got to choose who I rode, so I took out the youngest Creo (also the spotted leopard one!) who is a nervous wreck. He was as expected. Then Gnom again who, rather than being fast and having to be reined in all the time, actually verged on being lazy today. Is it me or him??

I spent the rest of my day concreting the Spanish I'd taught myself in my room or while mucking out. Problem with the latter is that I always get back to "I love you" and then BOOM, Rihanna's Te Amo is in my head and I find myself losing all interest in espanol and shaking my ass to "she put 'er 'and around me waist" instead. Dammit, now it's back in my head.

Started to get a little tired of listening to G's husband talk about why the way he lived his life was the best way (breathe) and henceforth politely declined his offer of going for a drive to a racetrack (more one-on-one time with him). I wouldn't have minded seeing some nice vintage cars but I just needed some "me" time, and I was tired of agreeing with him.

After yesterday's efforts with writing intro letters to South American Help X places, I got 2 replies from Argentina, 2 from Peru and one from Ecuador. All but 1 in Argentina were positive so now it's just a case of seeing what fits where... possibly when I get to Brazil. Some will incur massive bus trips but it's nothing I ain't done before. I don't want to commit to too much though, and then find I get some other random opportunity when I hit South America that I really have to take. But most of the places seem pretty casual so we'll see...

As it stands, I want to get to Brazil, then Bolivia on my way to Peru, then upwards to Ecuador and down down down to Argentina and finally Chile, where I fly home to. Woot woot!! Excitement plus. About EVERYTHING!

Apple tea, olives, extra seats = sweet sweet bus ride

That´s it, I´m outta Slovakia and back in Germany! And it seems I was running away from the snow, which was my exact idea really... I got on the bus in Bratislava and it had just been lightly snowing, then as I traveled through Czech it was evident it had been really pouring recently. However, it held off largely until - when I was semi-comatosed from a sleeping pill - the bus had to slow to a virtual crawl and therefore ended up adding another 1.5 hours to the already 14 hour journey. Now in Germany, there´s little evidence of recent downpours and I´m hopeful I can ride some at G´s place.

I am so thankful for sleeping pills. Except when you´re woken by a jab from a policeman at the German border asking for your passport. That is one confusing wake-up call. I must´ve looked like a drugged-out escapee from the forests of Slovakia (I´m sure there are some out there) with my lion hair spurting all directions and unable to fully open my eyes for them to compare my passport photo with my actual face. Perhaps the pill worked so well because I´d lubricated myself up before I got on the bus with 5 beers and pasta with a sauce I created myself that included a Baileys-styles white liquor before I got on the bus. Mm mmmm...

The times I did look out the window it was quite pretty, with little mounds of snow everywhere and white roofs and streets covering the scars of the world. Nothin´ like a good bandaid hey.

I tell you, it is quite a weird experience teaching kids while looking out the window at their playground just covered with snow. I know I have been away long enuf to appreciate the look and experience of snow but somehow I just can´t get over it.

And speaking of kids, me and N did our presentation with them for the parents, teachers and virtually all the students and it went much better than expected. I was super stressed because the boss had arrived from Budapest and I didn´t want him to think he couldn´t leave the week to us and not screw it up. But everyone seemed to enjoy watching it... I guess it helps when we dress up one of the kids as Santa and get him to throw lollies into the crowd.

But regardless of the delay, the bus ride was pretty sweet. From Prague, the numbers started to dwindle - even tramp lady with evil smelling feet got off, thank fuck - and I was able to stretch across the whole row of seats and enjoy several free cups of apple tea and hot chocolate. Yum. Oh, and I popped out at one stop to get a sandwich and found the BEST olives EVER. Oh yeah mama...

Now I have to chill in Hamburg - which I´ve just found out is the sex capital of Germany (lucky chance or not...???) - for a little while before heading back to Lüneburg and then Göhrde, wherever the hell that is. I just hope someone is there to pick me up!

Cute little Kookaburras

Friday arrived along with my fuzzy head and after just one close call in the classroom, I managed to refrain from vomiting the entire day. Word to the wise: do not try to write on the chalkboard when hungover. For something I never realised had a smell, that shit STINKS to high heaven when you´re battling a funny stomach.

We had our presentations to the parents, teachers and some other classes - my kids sang ´Kookaburra sits in an old gum tree´ and told the audience what they learnt in English class - and we gave out the certificates for the English week. My kids did really well, I was well proud and E said he thought my presentation was the best of the 3 classes. Chuffed with that! I was even asked by one of my students if I did private tuition :) And the kid was 9 years old OK, so don´t get any ideas...

After school, we went back to the apartment and the others packed quickly for their train while I chilled out a few hours before going to the bus stop for my ride to Munich. After all, I had to have time to finish cleaning the damn oven!

My bus left at 7:15pm and took 10 hours to get to Munich, via Budapest and Prague. Every time we stopped I had no idea which country I was in or what weather it would be. Well, it´s a given it will be cold, but at some points it was snowing and that just threw me. Imagine not even knowing where in the world you are... very strange situation.

Read the warning: sleeping pills cause stupidity

I write this from the cosy little apartment I'm staying at in Budapest, having had a hectic last 24 hours getting here. Having been ferried from Reghin to Targu Mures for a bus trip that would take 12 hours to get to Budapest, I settled into the backseat (momentarily squashy due to a lady who found the fact I knew a few Romanian words fascinating) and popped a couple of sleeping pills. The next few hours were a blur, as I rocked in and out of consciousness and somehow negotiated toilet stops throughout.

Once at Budapest, at 4am I was faced with then negotiating a bus station I had never been at, hardly anyone speaking English, no stations open to even get money out and no idea which direction to get a tram, should I find one running. I found some young Hungarian girls that spoke good English but had little more suggestions other than wait, meanwhile my mate's on the phone saying he needs to get up soon to do something so I am being pushed to get to his sooner than later.

He orders a cab to the station cos that's cheaper apparently, while I searched for a cash machine. Once located, I in my groggy sleeping pill state, stared blankly at the screen asking for my PIN number. Blindly fumbling onto some keys, I managed to get it wrong twice and at least recognise that another attempt might lose my card forever. So I had to think fast (not an easy task for me at this time) and ended up getting public transport (tram, metro then walking) and making it to the flat before he left. My back was killing me from my hectic backpack but in hindsight, I did save money from getting a cab!

Got to C's place about 5:30am, the second time I've arrived at such an hour (poor thing) and he left shortly after. I had a good few more hours of sleep then woke with a sudden flash of non-sleep deprived intelligence, and rushed to the bank to try my 'PIN'. Seems I was onto a good thing and now I'm flushed with cash - yay! Now I have today to try and sort out some shit on the computer and chill out before the Swedish girls arrive on Friday for a night of my fabulous tours :)

Truvant proves its worth (nothing)

The most interesting thing that's happened in the last few days was the pub and party that followed we went to, perhaps which was entirely created for us, with a bunch of underage kids with nothing better to do. First, we started at the pub playing pool with them, then once that closed they told me to jump in a car and go to a party. So I grabbed the boys and we all piled into car after car to drive (drunk of course) up the road about 500m.

I still don't really know whose house it was or indeed whose alcohol I was drinking, however it was quite entertaining, particularly when the home-brewed palinka (although apparently you don't call it that here) came out. A few swigs of that and I had reached my limit - I asked to lie down somewhere (I'm getting old) and after shooing off a guy who came to sit (or hopefully lie) with me, I went to close my eyes. Next thing I knew I was being whisked into another car with the annoying, shirtless brut of a boy winking at me from the steering wheel. Not knowing what exactly was happening, I protested but then all the girls at the party (about 3) jumped in with me so I felt a little more safe.

The next day, slightly foggy, me and the 2 boys piled into the back of the Truvant (a hard task considering the American is about 10 ft tall). After a little while, we started to notice a particularly carbon monoxide-like smell and soon after, realised the exhaust pipe was dragging under the bottom of the car. So we jumped out and aired ourselves in the rain, already poisoned and more hungover than before, and eventually had to get the local bus to Reghin.

Today the boys are off trying to repair the shitbox which has given me and A some down time. I really like her, we get along well and she is so lovely. She showed me photos of her when she was younger, not that she's old now (just over 40) and she looked like she could've been a classy Romanian film star. Shame she gets to berated by the asshole she's with sometimes. Saying that, I've had a few more good moments with him and I guess we get along cos he realises I have a good head on my shoulders. Just wish he'd have the same faith in the one he loves.

Their builder has a nephew with a carriage he wants to sell, so unless he gets drunk he'll be taking it over here and showing us. If he has a harness small enuf, we could attach it to Gina and test her out the back. She was a little shit today, biting and kicking when she could. But we'll soon beat that out of her - kidding!

Looking up bus routes now, super fun... trying to get the route from Reghin - Budapest which A says does exist. But unless it's a train, any online information is hard to find! Only a few more days, though, and I'm back in Hungary - yay! I think I'll go visit that English school and have a chat with them about the details. I'm confused about what they say they pay because it seems very good... Anyway, I digress. Must stop writing and focus on less shiny but much more important matters at hand... or in the belly ;)