I think I've over done the cliffhanger wait but it's so hot here I can't be bothered to do anything even typing is a mission.
So basically my flight was the worst imaginable. It was an hour and a half plane ride and the second half was the most horrific turbulence ever. My bum came out the seat every 5 mins!!! People were screaming, vomiting, crying and praying. There was a time where the plane was on it's side for what seemed like 5 mins and all I could see was water. I even got the emergency menu out as I was definite we were going to land on the water. People were shouting in Spanish and Portuguese and I was like WHAT'S GOING ON?!?
It's really hard to explain what it was like and I'm not sure people understand until it happens to you but I genuinely thought I was going to die. It was horrific.
The first attempt at landing took 30mins longer than it was meant too but the conditions were so bad the pilot couldn't land the plane. So we had to land in an airport out of town. Once we landed most people just broke down. I was fighting back the tears waiting for the first moment I could call dad when the pilot said that the airport we had landed at weren't prepared to let us off and we were going to have to fly back?!? Nooooo way... Everyone freaked out and I just burst into tears. It was awful awful awful.
It was that haunting that i was planning on how I'd get back from SA by bus!! And the other day I had to book a flight to Recife where I'm meeting Katie and I broke out in a cold sweat! I can officially say I'm now a nervous flyer.
But I'm safe and sound in BA!!
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Chapter 2: Flying Solo
Sorry that my last blog wasn´t in the least bit entertaning and more a school diary type of entry as Daisy so kindly put it (tongue out). It is hard to keep writing and make it interesting, but I hope I havent bored everyone to death. I don´t want people to feel obliged to read...
Anyway... so as I said hard to say goodbye but now on my own and ready for a new experience. Submarino hostel looked after me very well on my first few days alone. The Paraguians took me to the beach one day which was nice and then this really cool Sweedish girl came and I spent the day with her on the beach the day after.
Wowza... brazil really have their own bikini style. I have never seen so many bottoms of all shapes, sizes and ages hanging out on the beach. People were looking at me strangely as my bum wasn´t out?! I saw womens bottoms within the age range of 2-102. Wobbly, skinny, wrinkly, smooth - some as big as your head. They really have no shame. As for swimming costumes they are exactly the same! Bizzare... a little part of me wants to join in, how cool to have a brown bum? Not sure how my bum would feel about that, having never been seen the sun in it´s 22 years of existence.
So I spent the last few nights in Floripa in the hostel, there was always someone to talk to and most people did their pre-drinking till 1am or so in the hostel which was good fun. They had a table tennis table (is that what you would call it?) so I got pretty good at that - once the champ (flo) had left. The brazillians did a BBQ everynight and there was always plenty to feed me to. I really started to feel at home there, but not speaking any Portuguese was really starting to grate on me. Plus the weather was really unpredictable and it was pretty stormy so I decided it was time to go back... not always a good idea when you are travelling - going back that is, but I thought it best to go somewhere I could communicate and if I was in trouble I would know people nearby. So BA it was. Yes, kind of obsessed with the place. So booked my ticket (small fortune) and made my way out of Floripa on 16th.
(Sidenote, anyone aware of the awful flooding near Rio? 560 or so people have died. Terrible)
So 7am on the 16th I make my way to the airport... little did I know that this would turn out to be one of the worst days of my life...
Anyway... so as I said hard to say goodbye but now on my own and ready for a new experience. Submarino hostel looked after me very well on my first few days alone. The Paraguians took me to the beach one day which was nice and then this really cool Sweedish girl came and I spent the day with her on the beach the day after.
Wowza... brazil really have their own bikini style. I have never seen so many bottoms of all shapes, sizes and ages hanging out on the beach. People were looking at me strangely as my bum wasn´t out?! I saw womens bottoms within the age range of 2-102. Wobbly, skinny, wrinkly, smooth - some as big as your head. They really have no shame. As for swimming costumes they are exactly the same! Bizzare... a little part of me wants to join in, how cool to have a brown bum? Not sure how my bum would feel about that, having never been seen the sun in it´s 22 years of existence.
So I spent the last few nights in Floripa in the hostel, there was always someone to talk to and most people did their pre-drinking till 1am or so in the hostel which was good fun. They had a table tennis table (is that what you would call it?) so I got pretty good at that - once the champ (flo) had left. The brazillians did a BBQ everynight and there was always plenty to feed me to. I really started to feel at home there, but not speaking any Portuguese was really starting to grate on me. Plus the weather was really unpredictable and it was pretty stormy so I decided it was time to go back... not always a good idea when you are travelling - going back that is, but I thought it best to go somewhere I could communicate and if I was in trouble I would know people nearby. So BA it was. Yes, kind of obsessed with the place. So booked my ticket (small fortune) and made my way out of Floripa on 16th.
(Sidenote, anyone aware of the awful flooding near Rio? 560 or so people have died. Terrible)
So 7am on the 16th I make my way to the airport... little did I know that this would turn out to be one of the worst days of my life...
Here ends Chapter 1
Back to BA on the 22hr bus to pick up our bags, quick change around and off to San telmo to a lovely French brasserie for lunch and to the airport to fly to Iguazu.
We arrived in Iguazu booked tickets to Floripa for the next night and found a (pongy) hostel and to bed!
Early rise and off to the falls. For those that don't know the bible informs me that the "falls" as I call them,
consists of 275 waterfalls and can be seem from Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay! Absolutely incredible... People go and stay there for a few days but Flom and I managed to do what we wanted in a few hours.
Back to the hostel quick dip in the teeny warm pool and then bus to the border, argentine stamp and back on bus. Off bus for Brazilian stamp. Flo goes through just fine... I on the other hand had a different experience. Hand over my passport and the woman types in my details. Long long pause and more typing... she starts blabbing away to me in Portuguese ahhhhh you what? Finally she manages to locate an English speaker who asked if I'd been to Brazil before?!? NO never... More Portuguese blabbing, a policeman is called over, takes my passport away. After what felt like half an hour, she merrily sent me on my way with a stamp? What was all that about? Il never know but there is obviously some maniac Rebecca smith out there...
We then go back to the bus stop to wait for the next bus to take us to the bus terminal. After half an hour it still hadn't arrived so - panicking about making our bus to Florianopolis, we ask another bus if it goes to the terminal - yes- boom! Thank you very much...
As we approach what appears to be the city, a guy on the bus asks where we are going - flora - well you are on the wrong bus. Instant panic. BUT YOU SAID THIS BUS WENT TO THE TERMINAL flo shouts out... Yes the terminal but not the one you want - he then jumps off the bus. Shit. Another man hears the commotion and tells us we need to get a taxi as we only have 20mins to catch our bus. A lot of English Spanish and Portuguese (all mixed together) was spoken and we eventually got to the right terminal just in time for our 14hr bus to Floripa!
Relief. About 30 mins into our 14hr journey flo and I are fast asleep. We slept pretty much solidly the whole way, we were so knackered from the past few days.
Arrive in Floripa and make our way to Submarino - the hostel where Al was staying. The next two days we just hung out at the hostel as the weather wasn't very good-savouring our last hours together. Rather excitingly Alice and flo both got tattoos whilst there!! Al had three stars behind her ear and Flo a star on her wrist. So we all have stars now!
On the 13th Flo and Al left me behind in Floripa to go to Maui to see their cousins. As you can imagine it was rather emotional! Not only was I leaving my travel buddy (who was the BEST you could get) but I was also going to be alone for 2 weeks. But onwards and upwards...
I cannot believe how quickly the past 3 months flew and the amount of amazing adventures we had. Someone said to me the other day "when you travel it's not fun all the time" well that could not have been further from the truth for me. Everyday there was a giggle...
The past 3months have been the best of my life so far and I have Florence to thank for that. I think we made a great team (which was pointed out to us by someone we met right at the beginning).
Wishing you the best for your onwards trips Flom, I miss you and I love you!
End of chapter 1
We arrived in Iguazu booked tickets to Floripa for the next night and found a (pongy) hostel and to bed!
Early rise and off to the falls. For those that don't know the bible informs me that the "falls" as I call them,
consists of 275 waterfalls and can be seem from Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay! Absolutely incredible... People go and stay there for a few days but Flom and I managed to do what we wanted in a few hours.
Back to the hostel quick dip in the teeny warm pool and then bus to the border, argentine stamp and back on bus. Off bus for Brazilian stamp. Flo goes through just fine... I on the other hand had a different experience. Hand over my passport and the woman types in my details. Long long pause and more typing... she starts blabbing away to me in Portuguese ahhhhh you what? Finally she manages to locate an English speaker who asked if I'd been to Brazil before?!? NO never... More Portuguese blabbing, a policeman is called over, takes my passport away. After what felt like half an hour, she merrily sent me on my way with a stamp? What was all that about? Il never know but there is obviously some maniac Rebecca smith out there...
We then go back to the bus stop to wait for the next bus to take us to the bus terminal. After half an hour it still hadn't arrived so - panicking about making our bus to Florianopolis, we ask another bus if it goes to the terminal - yes- boom! Thank you very much...
As we approach what appears to be the city, a guy on the bus asks where we are going - flora - well you are on the wrong bus. Instant panic. BUT YOU SAID THIS BUS WENT TO THE TERMINAL flo shouts out... Yes the terminal but not the one you want - he then jumps off the bus. Shit. Another man hears the commotion and tells us we need to get a taxi as we only have 20mins to catch our bus. A lot of English Spanish and Portuguese (all mixed together) was spoken and we eventually got to the right terminal just in time for our 14hr bus to Floripa!
Relief. About 30 mins into our 14hr journey flo and I are fast asleep. We slept pretty much solidly the whole way, we were so knackered from the past few days.
Arrive in Floripa and make our way to Submarino - the hostel where Al was staying. The next two days we just hung out at the hostel as the weather wasn't very good-savouring our last hours together. Rather excitingly Alice and flo both got tattoos whilst there!! Al had three stars behind her ear and Flo a star on her wrist. So we all have stars now!
On the 13th Flo and Al left me behind in Floripa to go to Maui to see their cousins. As you can imagine it was rather emotional! Not only was I leaving my travel buddy (who was the BEST you could get) but I was also going to be alone for 2 weeks. But onwards and upwards...
I cannot believe how quickly the past 3 months flew and the amount of amazing adventures we had. Someone said to me the other day "when you travel it's not fun all the time" well that could not have been further from the truth for me. Everyday there was a giggle...
The past 3months have been the best of my life so far and I have Florence to thank for that. I think we made a great team (which was pointed out to us by someone we met right at the beginning).
Wishing you the best for your onwards trips Flom, I miss you and I love you!
End of chapter 1
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Bariloche
So we had a 22hr bus to Bariloche... it was the most amazing bus ever - especially after such buses in Bolivia! The seats reclined to beds (in bus terms) and we were right at the front infront of the TV which played ENGLISH films (amazing) and we had a waiter. Flo and I couldn't believe our luck. We had lunch after about 30mins after setting off then a snack later on, some sort of alcoholic drink with a pastry, wine, dinner, pudding, coffee with sweet pastries and then a Tia Maria to top it all off! Everytime he bought soemthing new we would get way over excited.
We arrived in Bariloche about 11am. We made our way on a bus into town to locate our Hostel which Al had very kindly booked us on hostelworld.com. We had left our big bags in BA with Corisa and only took our little bags... Mine consisted of a few t-shirts, a dress and the clothes I was wearing (shorts hoodie and flip flops). It was quite cold... hence the coffee to warm up.
Then we saw an activity shop and decided to find out what we could do in this place. Rather a lot it turns out: paragliding, rafting, riding - you name it they do it. So after feeling excited about what was on offer we took the guy in the shops instructions to go and buy me some shoes - as flip flops wouldnt cut it. Eventually we found a supermarket with dodgy blue cheaps shoes which were perfect.
Upon leaving the supermercado we hopped in a taxi and gave the guy the hostel address. I asked if it was close and he said it was a 45min drive away... YOU WHAT? So we quickly hopped out the taxi and made a plan. If we didnt rock up to the hostel they would charge Al's card so we needed to get in touch to cancel it. So we made our way back into town to locate a hostel which we successfully did. The very kind owner allowed us to use the internet to get the hostel tel no. and then let us call to cancel it. Engaged. Try again. Engaged. Again? Engaged. Wow this must be a busy hostel...
We made the executive decision to go there oursleves check it out, stay a night perhaps and move the next night. So we called a taxi and off we went... we got further and further out of town. At first it seemed great. We were close to the lake, it was amazing countryside and all seemed to be improving. After another 20mins it was starting to feel like we were in the middle of nowhere and it was quite concerning when the taxi driver could not find the hostel for the life of him. What seemed like hours later we had arrived. The Hostel looked OK but I didn't start to panic until the door creaked open and we were greeted by a very hairy looking hippie who had a creepy femal sounding voice and asked if we were Florence and Becky. He looked like the type that could easily have a machete/chain saw under his bed.
I got a bad feeling... this is def how horror movies start!
He showed us to our room which was very basic, bland and with little light. That was when we realised we were the only people staying in the hostel! If we were to scream I could not guarentee anyone would hear us. We were pretty sure that this was not the place for us. So we had to explain to creepmeister that infact we wanted to stay a little closer to town and as much as we loved his hostel we wanted to move. He took it better than expected but it was a little awkward when we discovered we didnt have any money to pay him the cancellation fee. So we had to walk 1km to the local supermarket in the blistering heat to get some cash out. By this point we were seriously tired, hot and hungry. We made it back alive - Just, to pay and leave.
We had been told that it was very common for people to hitchhike into town so as we walked to the bus stop we very gingerly put out our thumbs just incase someone might stop (which we found very entertaning). That was until a few seconds later and the third car that has passed pulled in! WOW has he stopped for us? Run Florence, Run! Yes - it's for us. So we hopped in the back of the truck and off we went... Things had certainly started to look up. (We got the most amazing views of the lake from the back of the truck.)
We were dropped into town and made our way to the internet cafe to find a hostel to stay in.
We had been given a map at the bus st. and there was a hostel on there called freedom, so I gave them a call, and luckily they had 2 beds but not in the same room. Doesnt matter, we'll take them! We were lucky to find anywhere in high season - Perfect! We went back to book the activities we wanted to do to find out that paragliding was all booked up. Bummer. So we booked Canopy for tomorrow and riding the next day.
As we opened the door to the hostel, EVERYONE turned to stare at us... it took the manager a second or two to realise that we were the people that had just booked the room and jumped to attention. Whilst everyone continued to stare I explained that I had just called etc and he took us to room 12 which would be my room and then right out into the back to this small castle looking thing to the next room where Flo would be sleeping. What a long day and what an unfriendly hostel! Great... we dropped our bags and decided to go out for an early dinner.
We had a 3hour long dinner and by the end had become friends with the waiters! I think we were procrastinating as we didnt want to go back to the hostel. So after that we went online for a hour and slowly made our way back. By this point it was freezing so we went to our prospecive (is that right?) rooms to put more layers on. When I got to my room it was filled with girls getting ready to go out. They were really friendly and introduced themselves. They were all from Israel and they made me feel comfortable straight away. Phew. Then Flom came over and said we should go hang out in her little castle...
When we got into the castle there were 10 boys all sitting around chatting in a funny language... overwhelming or what? They all told us to sit down and join them. Turns out they were all from Israel too! We had been told about this by fellow travellers. Israelis travel in big groups and they take over hostels. So here were were right in the middle of an all Israeli hostel. It all started to make sense. That was why they were all staring at us, they were thinking what are these foreigners doing here?! But we had had NO idea. Hilarious.
So they were all really friendly but it was a rather bizarre situation. F and I with 10 Israelis - who would have thought. Most of the time we had no idea what was going on. Some were more interested in talking to us than others but it was more enjoyable than being hacked to death by a chainsaw! So eventually we decided to go to bed, I tucked Flo in along with her fellow 9 boys and went back to my room.
We had a lie in and then made our way to our first booked activity - Canopy, whilst the boys made their way to the 7 lakes. Canopy was funny. It was basically 9 zip lines around the forest. It turned out that it was probably more an activity for school kids, but we had a laugh all the same and at least I got to wear my new sexy blue shoes! There was one really long zip which was the length of 2 blocks (230m or something) and another which had the most amazing view of the lake. But probably not something I would do again. It didnt really get my blood pumping - unlike the zip I did may years ago off a cliff into a lake which was amazing.
So we made our way back to the hostel and just hung out. The boys came back and told us to join them. They were going out that evening so we sat around had some food and they started drinking. We were unsure as we had riding the next day but when they offered us a drink it was a bit rude to decline. We had an absolute ball, they taught us some really good games and when it turned 1.30am we were def ready to go dancing! So there we were with our new family: Yuval, Dan, Guy, Nitska, Shaggy, Silvan and Roy off to the club. They were so sweet and looked after us so well. Turns out the club was full of Israelis too!
When we got back at 6am we realised that in 3hrs we were meant to be going riding. Erm.... no thanks! So I left as message in my interesting attempt at spanish with reception to cancel it for us.
The next day we just hung out... sunbathing and writing our journals. When you walked around the hostel EVERYONE was on their i-phones/i-pods. It wasn't until our family invited us for supper and explained about friday nights that we got what was going on. Apparently in Israel friday night is really important, where all the family get together for dinner. So all day everyone had been skyping their families as it was the perfect time to speak to everyone.
It was amazing. The boys went to the supermarket and bought all the food for dinner. I cant explain how small the kitchen was and there were 6 of them running around doing various things and an hour later they had created the most delicious dinner for all 9 of us. They even made the sitting room look nice (which was hard). Before we sat down for dinner they did a prayer and blessed the wine which was then passed around.
That night we played more games... we taught them ring of fire - which went down a treat! It was possibly the funniest i've played. I think the rules that went down the best were no names and pick a mate. They found it hilarious when one person said a name and one person would have to drink, but then so would their mates! Brilliant. There was A LOT of laughing and woooooooooooooooowing going on. Later on we went back to the same club.
It was so much fun and I can't explain how friendly everyone was to us, not just our new family but everyone in the hostel. In general hostels are quite friendly but here, everyone wanted to talk to us, ask where we were from, invited us out with them - it was great! The other thing that was great was that they really tried to speak in English as much as they could, or would translate for us to keep us involved.
It was also really interesting to learn about another culture... they were telling us what it was like to be in the army. Everyone has to go into the army there when they leave school, the boys for 3 years and the girls 2. They all then go travelling when they finish - mainly in SAmerica. Learning about what they feel about those that dont go to the army, why they all have long hair because they have to shave while in the army and all kinds of things I found very interesting. The most interesting was that they only really meet other Israelis when they travel as they all stay in the same hostels and go to the same places. We were the first non-Israeli people they had met (other than the odd Brazilian). Which was crazy to me!
It was sad to say goodbye but F only had 5 or so days left and there was so much more to do... we had a total blast with the boys and we miss them but there is a small possibility that I may see some of them in Brasil and if not we are def going to Israel at some point!
We arrived in Bariloche about 11am. We made our way on a bus into town to locate our Hostel which Al had very kindly booked us on hostelworld.com. We had left our big bags in BA with Corisa and only took our little bags... Mine consisted of a few t-shirts, a dress and the clothes I was wearing (shorts hoodie and flip flops). It was quite cold... hence the coffee to warm up.
Then we saw an activity shop and decided to find out what we could do in this place. Rather a lot it turns out: paragliding, rafting, riding - you name it they do it. So after feeling excited about what was on offer we took the guy in the shops instructions to go and buy me some shoes - as flip flops wouldnt cut it. Eventually we found a supermarket with dodgy blue cheaps shoes which were perfect.
Upon leaving the supermercado we hopped in a taxi and gave the guy the hostel address. I asked if it was close and he said it was a 45min drive away... YOU WHAT? So we quickly hopped out the taxi and made a plan. If we didnt rock up to the hostel they would charge Al's card so we needed to get in touch to cancel it. So we made our way back into town to locate a hostel which we successfully did. The very kind owner allowed us to use the internet to get the hostel tel no. and then let us call to cancel it. Engaged. Try again. Engaged. Again? Engaged. Wow this must be a busy hostel...
We made the executive decision to go there oursleves check it out, stay a night perhaps and move the next night. So we called a taxi and off we went... we got further and further out of town. At first it seemed great. We were close to the lake, it was amazing countryside and all seemed to be improving. After another 20mins it was starting to feel like we were in the middle of nowhere and it was quite concerning when the taxi driver could not find the hostel for the life of him. What seemed like hours later we had arrived. The Hostel looked OK but I didn't start to panic until the door creaked open and we were greeted by a very hairy looking hippie who had a creepy femal sounding voice and asked if we were Florence and Becky. He looked like the type that could easily have a machete/chain saw under his bed.
I got a bad feeling... this is def how horror movies start!
He showed us to our room which was very basic, bland and with little light. That was when we realised we were the only people staying in the hostel! If we were to scream I could not guarentee anyone would hear us. We were pretty sure that this was not the place for us. So we had to explain to creepmeister that infact we wanted to stay a little closer to town and as much as we loved his hostel we wanted to move. He took it better than expected but it was a little awkward when we discovered we didnt have any money to pay him the cancellation fee. So we had to walk 1km to the local supermarket in the blistering heat to get some cash out. By this point we were seriously tired, hot and hungry. We made it back alive - Just, to pay and leave.
We had been told that it was very common for people to hitchhike into town so as we walked to the bus stop we very gingerly put out our thumbs just incase someone might stop (which we found very entertaning). That was until a few seconds later and the third car that has passed pulled in! WOW has he stopped for us? Run Florence, Run! Yes - it's for us. So we hopped in the back of the truck and off we went... Things had certainly started to look up. (We got the most amazing views of the lake from the back of the truck.)
We were dropped into town and made our way to the internet cafe to find a hostel to stay in.
We had been given a map at the bus st. and there was a hostel on there called freedom, so I gave them a call, and luckily they had 2 beds but not in the same room. Doesnt matter, we'll take them! We were lucky to find anywhere in high season - Perfect! We went back to book the activities we wanted to do to find out that paragliding was all booked up. Bummer. So we booked Canopy for tomorrow and riding the next day.
As we opened the door to the hostel, EVERYONE turned to stare at us... it took the manager a second or two to realise that we were the people that had just booked the room and jumped to attention. Whilst everyone continued to stare I explained that I had just called etc and he took us to room 12 which would be my room and then right out into the back to this small castle looking thing to the next room where Flo would be sleeping. What a long day and what an unfriendly hostel! Great... we dropped our bags and decided to go out for an early dinner.
We had a 3hour long dinner and by the end had become friends with the waiters! I think we were procrastinating as we didnt want to go back to the hostel. So after that we went online for a hour and slowly made our way back. By this point it was freezing so we went to our prospecive (is that right?) rooms to put more layers on. When I got to my room it was filled with girls getting ready to go out. They were really friendly and introduced themselves. They were all from Israel and they made me feel comfortable straight away. Phew. Then Flom came over and said we should go hang out in her little castle...
When we got into the castle there were 10 boys all sitting around chatting in a funny language... overwhelming or what? They all told us to sit down and join them. Turns out they were all from Israel too! We had been told about this by fellow travellers. Israelis travel in big groups and they take over hostels. So here were were right in the middle of an all Israeli hostel. It all started to make sense. That was why they were all staring at us, they were thinking what are these foreigners doing here?! But we had had NO idea. Hilarious.
So they were all really friendly but it was a rather bizarre situation. F and I with 10 Israelis - who would have thought. Most of the time we had no idea what was going on. Some were more interested in talking to us than others but it was more enjoyable than being hacked to death by a chainsaw! So eventually we decided to go to bed, I tucked Flo in along with her fellow 9 boys and went back to my room.
We had a lie in and then made our way to our first booked activity - Canopy, whilst the boys made their way to the 7 lakes. Canopy was funny. It was basically 9 zip lines around the forest. It turned out that it was probably more an activity for school kids, but we had a laugh all the same and at least I got to wear my new sexy blue shoes! There was one really long zip which was the length of 2 blocks (230m or something) and another which had the most amazing view of the lake. But probably not something I would do again. It didnt really get my blood pumping - unlike the zip I did may years ago off a cliff into a lake which was amazing.
So we made our way back to the hostel and just hung out. The boys came back and told us to join them. They were going out that evening so we sat around had some food and they started drinking. We were unsure as we had riding the next day but when they offered us a drink it was a bit rude to decline. We had an absolute ball, they taught us some really good games and when it turned 1.30am we were def ready to go dancing! So there we were with our new family: Yuval, Dan, Guy, Nitska, Shaggy, Silvan and Roy off to the club. They were so sweet and looked after us so well. Turns out the club was full of Israelis too!
When we got back at 6am we realised that in 3hrs we were meant to be going riding. Erm.... no thanks! So I left as message in my interesting attempt at spanish with reception to cancel it for us.
The next day we just hung out... sunbathing and writing our journals. When you walked around the hostel EVERYONE was on their i-phones/i-pods. It wasn't until our family invited us for supper and explained about friday nights that we got what was going on. Apparently in Israel friday night is really important, where all the family get together for dinner. So all day everyone had been skyping their families as it was the perfect time to speak to everyone.
It was amazing. The boys went to the supermarket and bought all the food for dinner. I cant explain how small the kitchen was and there were 6 of them running around doing various things and an hour later they had created the most delicious dinner for all 9 of us. They even made the sitting room look nice (which was hard). Before we sat down for dinner they did a prayer and blessed the wine which was then passed around.
That night we played more games... we taught them ring of fire - which went down a treat! It was possibly the funniest i've played. I think the rules that went down the best were no names and pick a mate. They found it hilarious when one person said a name and one person would have to drink, but then so would their mates! Brilliant. There was A LOT of laughing and woooooooooooooooowing going on. Later on we went back to the same club.
It was so much fun and I can't explain how friendly everyone was to us, not just our new family but everyone in the hostel. In general hostels are quite friendly but here, everyone wanted to talk to us, ask where we were from, invited us out with them - it was great! The other thing that was great was that they really tried to speak in English as much as they could, or would translate for us to keep us involved.
It was also really interesting to learn about another culture... they were telling us what it was like to be in the army. Everyone has to go into the army there when they leave school, the boys for 3 years and the girls 2. They all then go travelling when they finish - mainly in SAmerica. Learning about what they feel about those that dont go to the army, why they all have long hair because they have to shave while in the army and all kinds of things I found very interesting. The most interesting was that they only really meet other Israelis when they travel as they all stay in the same hostels and go to the same places. We were the first non-Israeli people they had met (other than the odd Brazilian). Which was crazy to me!
It was sad to say goodbye but F only had 5 or so days left and there was so much more to do... we had a total blast with the boys and we miss them but there is a small possibility that I may see some of them in Brasil and if not we are def going to Israel at some point!
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
BA Continued...
I know there is a serious lack of enthusiasm going on here with the old blog writing but I will try and get back into it... Flo is leaving in a few days so i'll be riding solo and will have plenty of time on my hands!
So New Years Eve day I started to get a bit of cabin fever so Flo and I headed on out to a place called La Boca, about 30mins away from Palermo (where we had the apt). This is one of the hottest tourist spots we have been to so far I reckon. It was really cool, brightly coloured buildings and lots of tango going on. To be honest after we had wandered around and had some lunch there wasn't much else to do. However I am really glad I saw it and we had fun.
Then we came back and got ready to make our way to Brian and Corisa's for supper, where we were joined by Carlin - Corisa's brother. They have a really lovely apt in Recoletta where we had a scrummy supper and played lots of games. We taught them the celeb game, which went down VERY well... just before midnight Corisa popped the Champagne and took us girls to her (amazing) closet "as it is essential to be wearing heels to see the New Year in" so we each chose a crazy pair of heels (of which she has many) and trotted off to the rooftop to see the New Year in with lots of fireworks. Flo happened to pick the HIGHEST pair in the world and she fell backwards still holding up her glass of champange... she didnt spill a drop - perfect!
We continued to play games and then Carlin, Flo, Al and I made our way out to find a club to partay the night away. We were successful, it was a pretty random club but we had a hoot and made our way back to Corisa's about 6ish (normal for Arg!).
Awoken with the WORST hangover ever... Corisa invited us to stay for lunch as they had friends coming over. However we only had the clothes we had from the night before, so Corisa lent us all an outfit. There I was prancing around this amazing apt with a beige Ralph Lauren knee length skirt with a matching belt and white tshirt. I have never looked so smart and felt so terrible in my life.
Flo and I managed to sneak out of lunch and make our way to the apple TV where we found a whole season of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (a progamme I managed to fall in love with in AZ). Perfect. We just lay on the bed and watched that all day. In the mean time Corisa's friends had been and returned to play the Celeb Game!! Oh great... so another manic night of games and drink and late night. All in all a really good New Year though... loved it.
On the 2nd it was back to the apt to pack it up as we had to be out by 11am. That night we went out for dinner with Carlin and to the Cinema to watch Due Date which we found hilarious.
I really enjoyed our time in BA, it was like being at home. As you can probably tell. All in all we did SOME touristy things, la boca, the gypsy market and we spent our final day in San Telmo.
On the 4th we made our way on a 22hr bus to a place in Patagonia called Bariloche...
So New Years Eve day I started to get a bit of cabin fever so Flo and I headed on out to a place called La Boca, about 30mins away from Palermo (where we had the apt). This is one of the hottest tourist spots we have been to so far I reckon. It was really cool, brightly coloured buildings and lots of tango going on. To be honest after we had wandered around and had some lunch there wasn't much else to do. However I am really glad I saw it and we had fun.
Then we came back and got ready to make our way to Brian and Corisa's for supper, where we were joined by Carlin - Corisa's brother. They have a really lovely apt in Recoletta where we had a scrummy supper and played lots of games. We taught them the celeb game, which went down VERY well... just before midnight Corisa popped the Champagne and took us girls to her (amazing) closet "as it is essential to be wearing heels to see the New Year in" so we each chose a crazy pair of heels (of which she has many) and trotted off to the rooftop to see the New Year in with lots of fireworks. Flo happened to pick the HIGHEST pair in the world and she fell backwards still holding up her glass of champange... she didnt spill a drop - perfect!
We continued to play games and then Carlin, Flo, Al and I made our way out to find a club to partay the night away. We were successful, it was a pretty random club but we had a hoot and made our way back to Corisa's about 6ish (normal for Arg!).
Awoken with the WORST hangover ever... Corisa invited us to stay for lunch as they had friends coming over. However we only had the clothes we had from the night before, so Corisa lent us all an outfit. There I was prancing around this amazing apt with a beige Ralph Lauren knee length skirt with a matching belt and white tshirt. I have never looked so smart and felt so terrible in my life.
Flo and I managed to sneak out of lunch and make our way to the apple TV where we found a whole season of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (a progamme I managed to fall in love with in AZ). Perfect. We just lay on the bed and watched that all day. In the mean time Corisa's friends had been and returned to play the Celeb Game!! Oh great... so another manic night of games and drink and late night. All in all a really good New Year though... loved it.
On the 2nd it was back to the apt to pack it up as we had to be out by 11am. That night we went out for dinner with Carlin and to the Cinema to watch Due Date which we found hilarious.
I really enjoyed our time in BA, it was like being at home. As you can probably tell. All in all we did SOME touristy things, la boca, the gypsy market and we spent our final day in San Telmo.
On the 4th we made our way on a 22hr bus to a place in Patagonia called Bariloche...
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
Punta Del Este
So we arrive in Punta... supposedly the Uruguian equivilant to St Tropez. Never having been to St Trop myself I suppose I can´t really judge, I just hope that for those that do go - its a little more happening than Punta!
Drop our bags and head straight to the beach. It seems like forever since we were last on a beach and it was great to apprectiate the sun as you really can´t do that in a city. We had a lovely relaxing afternoon but by dinner time all was not well. Flo had tonsilitis and A and I were feeling a little under the weather. Not the best situation. Luckily farmacies here will hand out anything over the counter and we managed to get some antibiotics for Flo and had an early night all round.
Next day Al and I head to the beach whilst poor Flo stays in bed trying to get better. Not quite the mini break we had intended... However the people watching was hysterical. The worst sight known to man was found on the beach that day, and we named her Fatty Red Skin. This woman was the size of a medium sized house wearing a size too small purple bikini (disgusting enough). As she walked to the sea I thought she was wearing a red and purple swimming cozie but it turned out the shiny red stuff was her SKIN! You know when people use the term "she looks like a lobster" when in fact they are just a bit too red? Well when I say lobster I MEAN lobster. People were stopping and pointing at her shiny illuminous red skin and I could hear mothers saying "THATS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DONT WEAR SUNSCREAN" as I whipped out my factor 60! I am surprised that woman is still alive. I was mortified to see that she was sunbathing whilst smoking (and as Alice rightly put it) she really needed to go into her house and shut the door! I did feel sorry for her when I realised she had a moustache and her chin was by her ear, but she really had brought it upon herself...
Rant over! That night somehow I ended up in the sea at 5am?! I cant tell you how the night transpired but all I can say was that it was certainly aided by my not so good friend vodka and the over zealous alcohol pouring midget bar tender at our hostel. Oops. As my always-right-mother would say "Your burning the candle at both ends darling". I dont know HOW many times I have heard this and dont learn - but BOOM I wake up that morning with a sore throat. Of course. And all I could hear was a dissapointed¨voice in my head. Sorry mum!
So as you can imagine there was a lot of moping around and feeling sorry for ourselves and were infact quite relieved to back to our appartment in BA where no one would judge us for the lack of Christmassy spirit. Just enough time to get better for NYE! (I can see mum cringing).
Please note, the last few weaks have involved a bit too much drinking I do appreciate that, but please remember you were all doing it to!!!
Drop our bags and head straight to the beach. It seems like forever since we were last on a beach and it was great to apprectiate the sun as you really can´t do that in a city. We had a lovely relaxing afternoon but by dinner time all was not well. Flo had tonsilitis and A and I were feeling a little under the weather. Not the best situation. Luckily farmacies here will hand out anything over the counter and we managed to get some antibiotics for Flo and had an early night all round.
Next day Al and I head to the beach whilst poor Flo stays in bed trying to get better. Not quite the mini break we had intended... However the people watching was hysterical. The worst sight known to man was found on the beach that day, and we named her Fatty Red Skin. This woman was the size of a medium sized house wearing a size too small purple bikini (disgusting enough). As she walked to the sea I thought she was wearing a red and purple swimming cozie but it turned out the shiny red stuff was her SKIN! You know when people use the term "she looks like a lobster" when in fact they are just a bit too red? Well when I say lobster I MEAN lobster. People were stopping and pointing at her shiny illuminous red skin and I could hear mothers saying "THATS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DONT WEAR SUNSCREAN" as I whipped out my factor 60! I am surprised that woman is still alive. I was mortified to see that she was sunbathing whilst smoking (and as Alice rightly put it) she really needed to go into her house and shut the door! I did feel sorry for her when I realised she had a moustache and her chin was by her ear, but she really had brought it upon herself...
Rant over! That night somehow I ended up in the sea at 5am?! I cant tell you how the night transpired but all I can say was that it was certainly aided by my not so good friend vodka and the over zealous alcohol pouring midget bar tender at our hostel. Oops. As my always-right-mother would say "Your burning the candle at both ends darling". I dont know HOW many times I have heard this and dont learn - but BOOM I wake up that morning with a sore throat. Of course. And all I could hear was a dissapointed¨voice in my head. Sorry mum!
So as you can imagine there was a lot of moping around and feeling sorry for ourselves and were infact quite relieved to back to our appartment in BA where no one would judge us for the lack of Christmassy spirit. Just enough time to get better for NYE! (I can see mum cringing).
Please note, the last few weaks have involved a bit too much drinking I do appreciate that, but please remember you were all doing it to!!!
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