random

This is a random post because random is all I got.

- Fake 100 peso bills. David (from France) picked up a fake 100 p bill in the first hour he was in Buenos Aires. Getting out of a taxi, he handed the driver a 100 p bill. The driver handed it back saying 'too big'. David paid the fare with smaller bills. Later he finds out that between taking it and handing it back, the taxi driver switched the 100 p bill with a fake one.

- If you want to bond with your fellow travellors - just mention India. Anyone who has been there can not wait to share their unique India horror stories. Language barriers crumble under the overwhelming desire to talk to someone who has actually been there and who understands! I went sightseeing with David (France) and Dan (Calgary). All three of us had been to India. We spent 90 mins in the Plaza de Mayo talking about India. My best India tip was always: Never acccept help from someone who offers, always find someone who isn't offering and ask. David's was: Only ask Sikhs for help.
David: "In India, I only ask Sikhs. Since every Sikh man's name ends in Singh - i just look for a man in a turban and then I say: 'Excuse me very much, Mr. Singh, but could you please help me.' Never had any problems. Very good people, the Sikhs. The taxi driver who gave me the fake bill? Not a sikh."

Dan (Calgary's) peice of India travel advice was: "Tell the taxi driver that you will go to any store, if he will then take you to where you want to go. They get paid if you walk into a store regardless if you buy something or not. It just saves all the hassel of them trying to trick and argue you into going to the store. You can get free rides if you visit enough stores."

Then there are all the medical horror stories - like Dan's friend who, despite having her typhoid vaccinations, still came down with this extremely rare form of typhoid. After trying Indian hospitals where they kept on telling her it was food-related, she got on the phone with her parents, told them to book her a ticket home, and managed to get onto the plane before passing out. It took US doctors another month before they were able to diagnose what she had. Like some horrible episode of House.

Botanical Gardens. Ever since my short but enthusiastic tenure on the board of Columbia Valley Botanical Gardens and Centre for Sustainable Living, I've been interested in Botanical Gardens. Walked through Buenos Aires' todays. The most interesting aspect of it is not the flowers/grass/shrubery but the cats! Apparently it doubles as a cat refuge. A charity provides for food and vet care for dozens and dozens of cats. So you are walking as herds of playful fat cats chase birds, or sleep in relaxed heaps of fur on the sun-baked paths. It is overrun by these cats. They are very good with people. I watched one two year old, upon being relased from her stroller, scream gleefully and toddle towards a cat, hands out stretched. The cat didn't move. The kid got to the cat, froze, then after studing the cat for a long minute, reached out with her chubby hand and gave one very long, deliberate, stroke. Then she started grabbing fur, at which point the cat rose, looked at me with askance, and padded away.


My roomates are currently: A brazilian who isn't snobby at all, an Frenchwoman who is awesome (its like – all French women are Juliette Binoche), and a Chilean (who I can't communicate with). The thing that all three have in common? The abliity to pull dresses and high heeled shoes out of backpacks, brush their hair and look ridiculously glamourous. (my long underwear, t-shirt and runners are not cutting it)

My current French roommate, (who has worn three different outfits today alone), was rushing out of the shower, getting dressed – a date with an Argentinean.

“You must try these Argentineans before you leave.” She said. “But they joke.”
“Joke?”
“They say stuff like : I want you to meet my mother. Or I want to marry you. But it’s a joke. They do not want you to meet their mother.”

“Ok.”

“Like, this guy. Normally, after, a French guy, or an English guy, they would say ‘I had a great time. I really like you, I am happy around you. This guy he says: You are the only person I’ve felt sexually connected to. Who says that? So weird. But I can not help it. It’s true, I am very sexually attracted to him, even though I know he jokes, you still want to believe it right?” She points to her eyes, “he has, I do not know the word, but one eye does not match when he looks.”

“He has a lazy eye?”

“Yes. I am so attracted to that. Now. My hair is wet. What to do? I am very late.”
She shrugs. “He will wait.”

LOVE HER!

eta: almost forgot the most important thing - 16 cms of snow expected in Las Lenas over the next six days!