all i have to add for today is: aaachhoooooo
i´ve been sneezing like MAD all day and night.. it´s brutal. potentially allergies - although mak and i have had a hard time deciphering what i´m allergic to. hopefully whatever it is, it wont exist in buenos aires. i'll have to pop some more pills and hope for the best. on a brighter note, my sunburnt lips are on the mend! woot!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
the two week mark....
today is kavitha and i's last day in iguazu falls. we are celebrating by doing nothing! today so far, we have played a couple rounds of ping pong, foosball, and cards (crazy eights, yanif, and go fish). and we get our laundry back today too! we were planning to make a great dinner tonight, however it appears that many of our ingredients were either stolen or tossed out. sigh, the life of a hostel occupant.
as part of my doing nothing, i caught up on a couple of harvard business review podcasts this morning (i know, NERRRRD!). one was on engaging B players in your company, another was on the characteristics of gen y people entering the workforce, and another was on john elkington's latest book on the power of unreasonable people. i found the gen y one particularly interesting - one thing that i really hope is that in the future, the workplace will reflect the gen y's preference for work-life balance. 9-5 revolution!
another thing i would like to point out is the disadvantages of quick drying towels. although they are light and dry fairly quickly, after use they STINK! i think this is because they are made out of synthetic materials (nylon and polyester) and enjoy harbouring bacteria. i am not sure when someone will make some kind of anti-bacterial quick drying towel, because i am very close to picking up a normal towel.
as part of my doing nothing, i caught up on a couple of harvard business review podcasts this morning (i know, NERRRRD!). one was on engaging B players in your company, another was on the characteristics of gen y people entering the workforce, and another was on john elkington's latest book on the power of unreasonable people. i found the gen y one particularly interesting - one thing that i really hope is that in the future, the workplace will reflect the gen y's preference for work-life balance. 9-5 revolution!
another thing i would like to point out is the disadvantages of quick drying towels. although they are light and dry fairly quickly, after use they STINK! i think this is because they are made out of synthetic materials (nylon and polyester) and enjoy harbouring bacteria. i am not sure when someone will make some kind of anti-bacterial quick drying towel, because i am very close to picking up a normal towel.
Monday, May 5, 2008
day 13 - iguazu falls
kavitha and i spent the day today at the brazillian side of iguazu falls. while the trails were not as extensive as the argentinean side, they did a much better job in terms of organization (i.e. there were buses to transport people around) and presenting information (i.e. there was an explanatory exhibit at the beginning providing information on fables, rock formations and volcanic action). the highlight for me was seeing all the rainbows that formed over the falls after a crazy rainstorm. we also ran into some friendly people from salt lake city. (mormons? not too sure.) kavitha's highlight also included the rainbows and the use of our raincoats.
i should add that our raincoats held up really well in the rain today! hurray for patagonia and nike! (Y) (that is a thumbs up emoticon)
getting to the brazillian falls took awhile, as we went a bit too far. from our hostel, we are supposed to take a bus to the argentinean bus station (1 peso). then transfer to a bus that crosses the border between argentina and brazil (2 pesos). then transfer to another bus to the falls (2,10 reals). kavitha and i are now bus experts.
on the way back, it was a bit of a nightmare, mainly because we were given erroneous directions 3 times. for example, we stopped inside a hotel for directions, and they told us to get the bus across the street from "hotel mabu". when we got off the bus, there was no hotel mabu, but rather a chuck-e-cheese's type establishment called HOOBA. mabu, hooba? hum.
dinner tonight turned out to be a vegetable scramble, rather than an omelette. vegetables in argentina are terrible! tomatoes are anemic, bruised, and artificially ripened. green peppers are squishy. i suspect that people are not too into the 5-a-day fruit and vegetable requirement.
also today, kavitha and i caved in for the hostel laundry service. $6. which seemed a bit steep, but we have all been left with one outfit. i am wearing my nice clothing out of necessity, while kavitha is wearing capri pants and an athletic jacket. i believe i will also have to sleep in this attire, as our laundry is not ready until tomorrow before noon.
another element to consider in washing my clothes has been the fact that my right leg has all these strange red blotches on them. they do not appear to be mosquito bites and we have had trouble deciphering what they actually are! grody! one of them, oddly enough, is shaped like a heart! bahahahahaha. (that is for you, andy.)
in terms of mosquitoes, there have been virtually none here. what gives with this malaria business? (knock on wood) i suspect because it is winter here right now they have been a bit dormant. WOOT for us! (i don't think any of us particularly want to take the potentially hallucinogenic malaria medication)
updated questions:
1) what is cheryl's middle name? (we believe her first name should be heather)
2) how was cheryl's 10K?
3) who created playing cards?
4) why are native people not required to enter passport control between argentina and brazil? are native people frowned upon in south america?
5) what are the red blotches on my leg?
6) why is it mostly white people in argentina travelling? (kavitha and i are the only minorities at the hostel.)
i should add that our raincoats held up really well in the rain today! hurray for patagonia and nike! (Y) (that is a thumbs up emoticon)
getting to the brazillian falls took awhile, as we went a bit too far. from our hostel, we are supposed to take a bus to the argentinean bus station (1 peso). then transfer to a bus that crosses the border between argentina and brazil (2 pesos). then transfer to another bus to the falls (2,10 reals). kavitha and i are now bus experts.
on the way back, it was a bit of a nightmare, mainly because we were given erroneous directions 3 times. for example, we stopped inside a hotel for directions, and they told us to get the bus across the street from "hotel mabu". when we got off the bus, there was no hotel mabu, but rather a chuck-e-cheese's type establishment called HOOBA. mabu, hooba? hum.
dinner tonight turned out to be a vegetable scramble, rather than an omelette. vegetables in argentina are terrible! tomatoes are anemic, bruised, and artificially ripened. green peppers are squishy. i suspect that people are not too into the 5-a-day fruit and vegetable requirement.
also today, kavitha and i caved in for the hostel laundry service. $6. which seemed a bit steep, but we have all been left with one outfit. i am wearing my nice clothing out of necessity, while kavitha is wearing capri pants and an athletic jacket. i believe i will also have to sleep in this attire, as our laundry is not ready until tomorrow before noon.
another element to consider in washing my clothes has been the fact that my right leg has all these strange red blotches on them. they do not appear to be mosquito bites and we have had trouble deciphering what they actually are! grody! one of them, oddly enough, is shaped like a heart! bahahahahaha. (that is for you, andy.)
in terms of mosquitoes, there have been virtually none here. what gives with this malaria business? (knock on wood) i suspect because it is winter here right now they have been a bit dormant. WOOT for us! (i don't think any of us particularly want to take the potentially hallucinogenic malaria medication)
updated questions:
1) what is cheryl's middle name? (we believe her first name should be heather)
2) how was cheryl's 10K?
3) who created playing cards?
4) why are native people not required to enter passport control between argentina and brazil? are native people frowned upon in south america?
5) what are the red blotches on my leg?
6) why is it mostly white people in argentina travelling? (kavitha and i are the only minorities at the hostel.)
Sunday, May 4, 2008
day ? - we have already lost track of time
in our last blog post, we spoke about the wonders of rainy days on nice islands in brazil. as luck would have it, the day we were leaving ilha do mel, it was probably the nicest day ever. FOILED! in the morning, we went hiking over large grassy hills and on beaches, and came across lovely pink shells and huge sand dollars. one sand dollar we found was about 6 inches across! excuse the somewhat grade 3 nature of the comment, but it was super cool!
also, it was ridiculously hot that day and we were tempted to jump into the water - alas, we had already hiked too far without our bathing suits and had already checked out of our hostel.
on that hostel note, while the ilha do mel hostel was located on the beach, it was probably THE NOISIEST hostel of all time. walls were so thin you could actually see through them (and not because they were made out of glass). needless to say, we barely got a wink of sleep the last two nights because of
a) vomiting from our german roommates
b) the rowdy brazillian families who were on vacation for the long weekend (kavitha and i did not quite understand how they could stay up so late and wake up so early, i.e. 8AM)
c) the irritating casanova scots who bragged about dancing with all the girls and getting a VIP carriage on the serra verde express - kavitha and i were convinced that these two lads were bookish nerds (more so than we are) that are trying to prove themselves in some strange way. eeesh.
to leave honey island, you need to take the same boat you used to get there - barf city! the waves were gynormous midway through the inlet, and the leftover pasta that we ate for lunch that day almost went starboard yonder. thankfully, it was short enough that we got to pontal de sul in one piece.
from pontal de sul, we took advantage of el cheapo internet ($2.50 reals per hour, aka $1.75 an hour) and then i tried using up the rest of my phone card (to no avail). we then took a graciosa bus back to curitiba, which ended up picking up a bazillion people along the way. by the time we got back to curitiba, it was around 7:30PM and freezing - we all had to add on a couple extra layers and a toque.
we decided to splurge that evening on a meal in the rodoviaria diner - we ended up getting a $5 real dinner called the plato pronto - consisting of beans, rice, spaghetti, an unidentified meat with a carrot in the centre, "salad" (aka 2 leaves of romaine lettuce, 2 slices of anemic tomato, mushy cucumbers and carrots), and mashed potatoes. it was not bad for what it was!
after that filling meal, we took what we thought would be a 10 hour overnight trip to foz de iguacu, brazil. as luck would have it again, there was a screaming child on the bus who insisted on whimpering, screaming, wailing and yelling multiple times throughout the night. his mother's shushing had minimal effect. throughout the evening, i think we all wanted to strangle him or at least throw him in the luggage compartment. we ended up getting to foz do iguacu almost 2 hours early (530AM), and were completely disoriented. it was freezing! we took a bus into the main square of the town, then waited around for an hour until the brazil-argentina bus came. kavitha says, "WOOT! another stamp for our passport!" i add, "WOOT! another country to add in the 'where i have been' application on facebook!"
we got to our hostel at around 10AM, but were unable to check in. the hostel here is GYNORMOUS - it has a gorgeous pool in the front that is not being used right now due to the cold weather, however certainly when it is warmer it would be a huge hit.
instead of waiting around, we decided to go to the argentinean falls on our own. kavitha calls it "niagara falls' great great uncle. it was huge!" i thought it was very nice and got some great pictures, but i think because of all the hype it was given i was slightly disappointed. however, i was happy to get in a lot of hiking! WOOT!
we were also able to see lots of those gross raccoon type creatures called coatis that are native to latin and south america. they have the snout of an anteater and the body and habits of raccoons. GRODY! at one point, one of them attacked a bag of food that a lady was carrying and then a whole army of them pounced on her and the food, almost like a pack of lions. as a collective they made a high pitched squeal unlike anything we have heard before. it could only be described as grotesque. the carnage got so bad that when we walked past the scene of the crime later, a thermos had been broken by them. serious! ferocious!
for dinner tonight, we made a south american fried rice. aka, we used "integral" (?) rice, canned vegetables, eggs and an unknown sausage to make it. typically, day old rice is supposed to be used, however, we made do with what we had. i was amazed because
a) we had cooked rice in a pot!
b) it actually tasted alright!
i think it will be one of those things that will taste better after a day, much like the south american pasta we made on ilha do mel. we shall see!
we look forward to finally getting a decent sleep tonight. until then, we bid you adieu. over and out, officers mak and thomas.
residual questions that have come up over the past few days that we invite answers to:
1) what ARE sand dollars really? coral? invertebrates?
2) how did the portugese lose their power versus the french or english?
3) how do butterflies die? do they have any predators?
ps. shoutouts to cheryl, arti and bossmat, who we will see in 2 more days! WOOOOOT! remember to bring snacks and gloves for the cold weather!
also, it was ridiculously hot that day and we were tempted to jump into the water - alas, we had already hiked too far without our bathing suits and had already checked out of our hostel.
on that hostel note, while the ilha do mel hostel was located on the beach, it was probably THE NOISIEST hostel of all time. walls were so thin you could actually see through them (and not because they were made out of glass). needless to say, we barely got a wink of sleep the last two nights because of
a) vomiting from our german roommates
b) the rowdy brazillian families who were on vacation for the long weekend (kavitha and i did not quite understand how they could stay up so late and wake up so early, i.e. 8AM)
c) the irritating casanova scots who bragged about dancing with all the girls and getting a VIP carriage on the serra verde express - kavitha and i were convinced that these two lads were bookish nerds (more so than we are) that are trying to prove themselves in some strange way. eeesh.
to leave honey island, you need to take the same boat you used to get there - barf city! the waves were gynormous midway through the inlet, and the leftover pasta that we ate for lunch that day almost went starboard yonder. thankfully, it was short enough that we got to pontal de sul in one piece.
from pontal de sul, we took advantage of el cheapo internet ($2.50 reals per hour, aka $1.75 an hour) and then i tried using up the rest of my phone card (to no avail). we then took a graciosa bus back to curitiba, which ended up picking up a bazillion people along the way. by the time we got back to curitiba, it was around 7:30PM and freezing - we all had to add on a couple extra layers and a toque.
we decided to splurge that evening on a meal in the rodoviaria diner - we ended up getting a $5 real dinner called the plato pronto - consisting of beans, rice, spaghetti, an unidentified meat with a carrot in the centre, "salad" (aka 2 leaves of romaine lettuce, 2 slices of anemic tomato, mushy cucumbers and carrots), and mashed potatoes. it was not bad for what it was!
after that filling meal, we took what we thought would be a 10 hour overnight trip to foz de iguacu, brazil. as luck would have it again, there was a screaming child on the bus who insisted on whimpering, screaming, wailing and yelling multiple times throughout the night. his mother's shushing had minimal effect. throughout the evening, i think we all wanted to strangle him or at least throw him in the luggage compartment. we ended up getting to foz do iguacu almost 2 hours early (530AM), and were completely disoriented. it was freezing! we took a bus into the main square of the town, then waited around for an hour until the brazil-argentina bus came. kavitha says, "WOOT! another stamp for our passport!" i add, "WOOT! another country to add in the 'where i have been' application on facebook!"
we got to our hostel at around 10AM, but were unable to check in. the hostel here is GYNORMOUS - it has a gorgeous pool in the front that is not being used right now due to the cold weather, however certainly when it is warmer it would be a huge hit.
instead of waiting around, we decided to go to the argentinean falls on our own. kavitha calls it "niagara falls' great great uncle. it was huge!" i thought it was very nice and got some great pictures, but i think because of all the hype it was given i was slightly disappointed. however, i was happy to get in a lot of hiking! WOOT!
we were also able to see lots of those gross raccoon type creatures called coatis that are native to latin and south america. they have the snout of an anteater and the body and habits of raccoons. GRODY! at one point, one of them attacked a bag of food that a lady was carrying and then a whole army of them pounced on her and the food, almost like a pack of lions. as a collective they made a high pitched squeal unlike anything we have heard before. it could only be described as grotesque. the carnage got so bad that when we walked past the scene of the crime later, a thermos had been broken by them. serious! ferocious!
for dinner tonight, we made a south american fried rice. aka, we used "integral" (?) rice, canned vegetables, eggs and an unknown sausage to make it. typically, day old rice is supposed to be used, however, we made do with what we had. i was amazed because
a) we had cooked rice in a pot!
b) it actually tasted alright!
i think it will be one of those things that will taste better after a day, much like the south american pasta we made on ilha do mel. we shall see!
we look forward to finally getting a decent sleep tonight. until then, we bid you adieu. over and out, officers mak and thomas.
residual questions that have come up over the past few days that we invite answers to:
1) what ARE sand dollars really? coral? invertebrates?
2) how did the portugese lose their power versus the french or english?
3) how do butterflies die? do they have any predators?
ps. shoutouts to cheryl, arti and bossmat, who we will see in 2 more days! WOOOOOT! remember to bring snacks and gloves for the cold weather!
Friday, May 2, 2008
to add to that.... quality reading
while bored on this island, kavitha and i have been doing some reading. before i left on the trip, i found some leftover magazines from net impact that ian gave me that i hadnt had a chance to read yet:
a) the mbas without borders magazine january 2007 edition
b) corporate knights undated 2007 edition
not too shabbo, although one was definitely better than the other.
meanwhile, the hostel here has yielded two quality novels, including:
sugar daddy, by lisa kleypas
and
the house at riverton by kate morton.
let us take some quotations from the back of the first novel:
^hardy cates sees liberty as completely off-limits. his own amibitions are bigger than Welcome, and Liberty is a complication he doesnt need.^
^will they find their hearts desires - or will heartbreak tear them apart?^^
from the second novel:
^a shocking secret threatens to emerge, something history has forgotten but Grace never could.^
amazing.
a) the mbas without borders magazine january 2007 edition
b) corporate knights undated 2007 edition
not too shabbo, although one was definitely better than the other.
meanwhile, the hostel here has yielded two quality novels, including:
sugar daddy, by lisa kleypas
and
the house at riverton by kate morton.
let us take some quotations from the back of the first novel:
^hardy cates sees liberty as completely off-limits. his own amibitions are bigger than Welcome, and Liberty is a complication he doesnt need.^
^will they find their hearts desires - or will heartbreak tear them apart?^^
from the second novel:
^a shocking secret threatens to emerge, something history has forgotten but Grace never could.^
amazing.
day 9 (or is it 10?)
so i finally managed to kick heather off our blog... lol.. jk (she`s actually a much more entertaining writer than i am).
so we´re stuck here on paradise island and it´s been raining non-stop for the past 2 days.. boooo. the hostel is bustling with tons of people -- mainly consisting of middle-aged men who drink beer and caipirinhas all day long, their wifes who disappear and their children who enjoy following us around like little lost puppy dogs - assuming that we will miraculous start speaking portugese. not so much. instead they get blank stares and the occasional obrigado.
to entertain ourselves, heather and i have become quite crafty. we have fixed a broken window, a tempermental light, and created a mosquito net out of bedsheets. also, a dancing/mosquito killing ritual which consists of quick steps and clapping hands. heather is definitely a pro at this one (i think her waiting dance has helped her gain momentum). we have also learned that the game of War does have an end as we have finished it 3 times now (so sad).
our german roommates have thankfully taken some of the attention away from us. they´re fresh outta high school and best described as fresh faced youngens that have enjoyed the advances of the many brazilians suitors here. its quite entertaining for heather and i... however not so entertaining was the late (or rather super early morning) arrival of one roommate who had drunk copious amounts of caipirinhas in pineapples which resulted in several projectile vomiting sessions (btw, our ´ensuite bathroom´leaves nothing to the imagination) -- but thankfully no reminants were left in the morning. phew.
our squareness has come in handy to kill some time. heather and i have a created an intense menu-plan for ourselves which consists of a HUGE pot of spagetti that we made on the first night (with mashed up hamburger meat, peppers, garlic, tomato sauce and pasta), pate (we´re so high-class) ], nutella (which was temporarily misplaced but found again - woot!), bananas, Tatoo buns (possibly the worst bread i´ve ever eaten) and many, many snacks. our squareness also was displayed in our accounting session held yesterday at 5pm where we discovered that we have spent 33% above our budget. BO would not be impressed. we attribute the overspending to the Lonely Planets inaccurate estimates. we hope to reduce spending from $60/day to $50 by the time we enter Uruguay. So far, so good.
alrighty.. time to go get harassed by more brazillian children. woot.
so we´re stuck here on paradise island and it´s been raining non-stop for the past 2 days.. boooo. the hostel is bustling with tons of people -- mainly consisting of middle-aged men who drink beer and caipirinhas all day long, their wifes who disappear and their children who enjoy following us around like little lost puppy dogs - assuming that we will miraculous start speaking portugese. not so much. instead they get blank stares and the occasional obrigado.
to entertain ourselves, heather and i have become quite crafty. we have fixed a broken window, a tempermental light, and created a mosquito net out of bedsheets. also, a dancing/mosquito killing ritual which consists of quick steps and clapping hands. heather is definitely a pro at this one (i think her waiting dance has helped her gain momentum). we have also learned that the game of War does have an end as we have finished it 3 times now (so sad).
our german roommates have thankfully taken some of the attention away from us. they´re fresh outta high school and best described as fresh faced youngens that have enjoyed the advances of the many brazilians suitors here. its quite entertaining for heather and i... however not so entertaining was the late (or rather super early morning) arrival of one roommate who had drunk copious amounts of caipirinhas in pineapples which resulted in several projectile vomiting sessions (btw, our ´ensuite bathroom´leaves nothing to the imagination) -- but thankfully no reminants were left in the morning. phew.
our squareness has come in handy to kill some time. heather and i have a created an intense menu-plan for ourselves which consists of a HUGE pot of spagetti that we made on the first night (with mashed up hamburger meat, peppers, garlic, tomato sauce and pasta), pate (we´re so high-class) ], nutella (which was temporarily misplaced but found again - woot!), bananas, Tatoo buns (possibly the worst bread i´ve ever eaten) and many, many snacks. our squareness also was displayed in our accounting session held yesterday at 5pm where we discovered that we have spent 33% above our budget. BO would not be impressed. we attribute the overspending to the Lonely Planets inaccurate estimates. we hope to reduce spending from $60/day to $50 by the time we enter Uruguay. So far, so good.
alrighty.. time to go get harassed by more brazillian children. woot.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
honey island - day 2
yesterday, when we got to the hostel we were about 2 of 4 occupants staying here. there seems to have been a mass migration of brazillians to this hostel, because this morning we found it crawling with people. it turns out the next couple of days are a national holiday in brazil. in our room are now two germans.
today has been a bit rainy. this morning we made a mini hike to the top of a precariously windy hill overlooking the ocean. for some reason, it was ridiculously tiring.
afterwards, the tide came up - as our hostel is right on the beach, this posed a problem. in low tide you can walk on the beach right to the front of the hostel. during high tide, you are wading through water. unfortunately, we encountered the latter and our feet were soaked. i hung my socks out to dry, however unfortunately it started pouring!!!
the afternoon was filled with playing foosball, multiple card games, and the like. in the rain, it is hard to do much on the island except for what the hostel offers. the brazillians seemed to take a keen interest in the fact that kavitha and i were canadian and resembled indians and chinese people. sometimes, it feels like the equivalent of being a sideshow attraction!
today has been a bit rainy. this morning we made a mini hike to the top of a precariously windy hill overlooking the ocean. for some reason, it was ridiculously tiring.
afterwards, the tide came up - as our hostel is right on the beach, this posed a problem. in low tide you can walk on the beach right to the front of the hostel. during high tide, you are wading through water. unfortunately, we encountered the latter and our feet were soaked. i hung my socks out to dry, however unfortunately it started pouring!!!
the afternoon was filled with playing foosball, multiple card games, and the like. in the rain, it is hard to do much on the island except for what the hostel offers. the brazillians seemed to take a keen interest in the fact that kavitha and i were canadian and resembled indians and chinese people. sometimes, it feels like the equivalent of being a sideshow attraction!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)