Muito besos a la Cuba Libre

Had a brief moment of excitement on my day off when one of my co-workers said a bunch of people planned to go to Paraguay the next day, and I could just walk over a bridge from Brazil to Paraguay with no visa troubles. Haha... gotta love it.

But, Argentina being Argentina, I was the only one to actually wake up the next morning and after a quick look around the silent house, I crawled back into bed. Pelotudos. So much for that friggin new camera. I`ll get it one of these days. Hopefully.

It`s started to wear on me a little, this place. I know I should give them a month but the novelty has for sure started to wear off. When the weather is good I can at least sunbake but only if I get up in time... and now a few of the fun boys have left (although some were beginning to grate on me) and I am starting to get annoyed with some of the people I work with. Like actually starting to see what their personalities are like. Bah.

Also, it is a little frustrating now speaking the language here... a lot of times I am just sitting there trying to put the fragments of conversation together while they move from topic to topic, all the while a silent figure in the corner, just mulling over what they probably said 5 subjects ago. Weird, freaky corner figure. That´s me.

Work was fine, still a bit slow but I had gotten a good night`s sleep the night before when I bailed because a couple of the others were jamming (piano and violin... eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek) and again I was alone on the couch. Weird couch girl. But for once I actually got a full night`s sleep. Was sooo good.

Because of my clear head, I was fully up for clouding it up again with some booze and Cuba Libre action, particularly since it was the boys` final night here. I befriended some Irish hotties and convinced them to come to the club... fast track to CL and I was makin` out with one of the chicks and dancin` up a storm, grindin` grindin` grindin`... Opa!!

The club wasn`t that full, not surprising since it was only Wednesday, so the talent wasn`t exactly swimming in the pool. Ran into a guy from a previous CL night out, and made out with him. Funny since the last time we met he acted hot n cold, and I was certain he was gay. And I`m pretty sure I made out with a couple of other people, girls and guys, as well. But one can never be entirely sure.

At one stage I lost the others and went outside, ran into a girl from work with a couple of guys, and we jumped into his car to go back to one of their houses. I had a good chat with the guy who owned the house, who works at the hostel down the road also owned by these people, and at first he said I was nothing special when I mentioned the guys loved "exotic J" (ie not Argentinian)... half an hour later he was asking to kiss me and trying to dance with me with a raging hard-on. Grosero. It was at that point I decided to leave. He apologised and gave me money for a cab. That was sweet, at least.

The cab driver kept saying, "muy linda muy linda" (very pretty) so eventually - after some very bad directions to my house - I said, "Just let me out here" in my broken Spanish, and got the fuck outta there. Later the guys from work said they saw me when their bus drove past, walking home at 9:30am. I wondered what time it was. Must start taking my phone with me on these adventures.

Woke up at 3pm. My shift started at 2. Oops. Gotta admit, I rushed a little but not really that much. Can`t really find top gear anymore being here. Muy tranquila. I flagged down a young guy on a motorcycle and convinced him to take me to the hostel, and was there 5 mins later. Sweet! No one really cared and I finished on normal time, fuck doing an extra hour.

Have decided that I will stay until the one-month mark here and bail. I am getting itchy feet and need to see more of this country. And its...uh...sights.... Now. Sleep. Time.

Storm time

A nasty-ass tropical storm is brewing outside the hostel right now. I am glad I am working inside today. Just chilling before work, when I get one precious hour with my favourite little boy, and then tonight is most likely Cuba Libre time, it being Friday n all. But this weather may well put a dampener on things.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. After work, I had just one beer then bailed back to the house because the other boys were occupied with pretty Israeli girls and I didn`t want to stand in their way.

Found out when I ran into one of the other workers on the way home that four of them are leaving next week. Super sad. I like this crew and it is changing so much!! Boo. I HAVE to get that camera soon so I can take piccies of everyone before they scoot off. Alright, time to eat!

Light at the end of the Slovenian tunnel

It turns out I wasn´t the only one disappointed with my performance here at the Appaloosa Ranch in Slovenia. I was sat down yesterday by my hosts who said they didn´t think I was the right 'fit' here and if I minded leaving so the other helpers could get on with things more productively. Well, it wasn´t exactly in those words, there were no hard feelings and I couldn´t agree more.

My finger, although it was damaged by their dog, has really hampered my ability to help out and only the last 24 hours I´ve felt almost back to normal. There´s still more healing to do but I can now do most of the things I can normally do with my left hand, except I still write like a 5 year old child, or a man, same thing.

Now having gotten our grievances out in the open, I am much happier knowing the end is in sight, there are no more expectations and I am glad to see my departure means the lovely Italian helper no longer has to leave. She really loves it here and is a very good fit. And the dog doesn´t want her fingers for breakfast.

Post-discussion, I immediately started making alternative arrangements and less than 24 hours later I had organised an extended trip with dad, arranged a new place to go in Italy with horses and researched the train options in getting to Bratislava for teaching in November. Sorted!

I am really happy, counting down the days til I see daddy (4 to go) and glad it´s all worked out for the best. The place in Italy looks gorgeous, the Italian girl here says it´s just under Tuscany so really nice - yay! And I get to stay with dad longer when we drive from Slovenia back to Italy. Good times ahead.

I realised the other day that I don´t even know what the currency is here and I´ve been here almost a week haha... long live Help Exchange!

Rain eases the pain

OK, so I spoke too soon last night. Just after I posted that blog about giving ourselves the day off, we were summoned to help the gypsies with hay bales (my favourite, ooooohhhh how I love the hay....) but luckily that didn't take too long. I was just 2 sips into my beer when it happened. Afterwards, I was another 2 sips into my second beer when we were asked to help with mucking out the stables, another favourite pastime of mine.

I've still not been talked to about the party on Sat night and I doubt I will, given I've now told them this Sat will be my last night before heading off to the other place. I have been told, however, that my favourite little gypsy boy will be getting the boot on Monday because he's been covering up for the others or something. I think he's one of their best workers - yes, I'm a little bias - but he's good with the horses and works hard. Anyway, I'm not gonna get involved. I just feel sorry for the poor lad. And I'm about to leave too. What a week he'll have haha.

Today the miserable weather returned with a vengeance - it seems they were right when they said it literally changes overnight from summer to winter here. I'm cold!!! We're helping with the grass and maybe taking some horses back to the herd afterwards, although I'm not sure that will be possible given how much grass we have to transport and the number of daylight hours left in the day. I'm not particularly liking today and so that makes leaving easier. Rain makes things boring and harder to escape the boss when he's in a bad mood. Also, the boss' wife smokes inside and that annoys me too. I say that now because it's drifting into my face as I type *insert crude coughing noise here*