Day 299
BOXING DAY, Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA
We´re still loving our apartment!
And loved making our own breakfast..which was leftover panetone and banana´s!
We arose to a beautiful morning....and we heard the noise of the streets, hum of the cars...and movement of people in adjoining apartments....
Christmas is over.
The quiet and deserted streets of yesterday are, once again, alive.
We felt safe to go out.
We did some grocery shopping...so nice doing normal domestic things! We also bumped into our neighbour who said she got our room with the balcony so that was great to hear!
So we went walking around San Telmo..and up to Puerto Madero, the new part of Buenos Aires. It was almost too new for my liking! The buildings were all apartmentised..in that there were hundreds of blocks of flats...and lots of ritzy restaurants lined up along the river.
I realised i like the old...and not the new. The old part of town has soul and feeling..and people and music and it´s not all sparkling and fake.
We walked over the Women´s Brided, named because all the streets on one side of the harbour is named after famous Argentinian women....
And then decided to take a tour (coin donation) on the ship Frigata ARA Presidente Sarmiento which was an old Argentinian Naval ship. It even had the Commander´s dog preserved in a glass case....called Lamazo!!!!
We tried to look for a restaurant and after looking at the rip off prices settled on one called ¨Fridays¨ which had good menu including seafood and dishes with picante! (chile, which i love!) Greg had a pollo dish and i settled on a pollo enchalada.....we must really love our chicken! It was really nice sitting watching the Presidente Sarmiento that was moored, permanently, on the river.
We walked back through Palermo where we bought my new jacket for the freezing El Calafate weather!! (Going there next week...Greg´s dream place to go!!!)
It was a great Boxing Day....
Apart from hearing the news from Elise, of the murder in Gero...
Which...just makes me feel so angry...
Anyway...apart from that...
Ciao....
Hope you all had a great Christmas and Boxing Day!
Love and Hugs,
xxx
Thursday, 27 December 2007
TRAGIC KILLING of an INNOCENT MAN
26th December 2007
My heart goes out to the family of Bill Rowe, a Yalgoo farmer, bashed and murdered in Geraldton on Chrismtas Day.
It is reminiscent of when my son was bashed, unprovoked and in defence, in the same town, on New Years Eve when he was only 19 years old. His jaw was broken and he had to come to the city to have it operated on. The feeling that he always felt he had to look over his shoulder took a long time to pass...emotional scars never soften overnight.
It makes me very angry that this behaviour continues to exist up there.
My question is, why is it happening?
And why is it getting worse?
Does it take a murder for something to be done?
This is the realism of life in this town. Innocent people are becoming victims of violence when they respond in defence to initiating aggressive behaviour. In Bill Rowe´s case, because he reacted when they tried to steal his beer from his esky.
My son´s attacker was found guilty of assault causing grievous bodily harm. He didn´t receive any ´real´punishment for his crime.
Will the people who murdered this man get away with it as well?
The problem is escalating.
Something has to be done...
But...what?
I hope vigilante groups do not take it into their own hands..and i hope this latest attack and murder does not increase racist intolerance in this town..
This behaviour is not indicative of the the town. Many perpetrators been abused themselves and some of our people in Geraldton are still fragile. The town's tolerance needs building up. It does not need representatives such as those who have killed this man to destroy further destroy the equalibrium of the town. It's the danger of a single event which can magnify a situation.
There is one thing for sure, things like this happening contribute to a boiling monster in the town.
And...I just really fear the safety of people in the town.
Especially my own children.
My heart goes out to the family of Bill Rowe, a Yalgoo farmer, bashed and murdered in Geraldton on Chrismtas Day.
It is reminiscent of when my son was bashed, unprovoked and in defence, in the same town, on New Years Eve when he was only 19 years old. His jaw was broken and he had to come to the city to have it operated on. The feeling that he always felt he had to look over his shoulder took a long time to pass...emotional scars never soften overnight.
It makes me very angry that this behaviour continues to exist up there.
My question is, why is it happening?
And why is it getting worse?
Does it take a murder for something to be done?
This is the realism of life in this town. Innocent people are becoming victims of violence when they respond in defence to initiating aggressive behaviour. In Bill Rowe´s case, because he reacted when they tried to steal his beer from his esky.
My son´s attacker was found guilty of assault causing grievous bodily harm. He didn´t receive any ´real´punishment for his crime.
Will the people who murdered this man get away with it as well?
The problem is escalating.
Something has to be done...
But...what?
I hope vigilante groups do not take it into their own hands..and i hope this latest attack and murder does not increase racist intolerance in this town..
This behaviour is not indicative of the the town. Many perpetrators been abused themselves and some of our people in Geraldton are still fragile. The town's tolerance needs building up. It does not need representatives such as those who have killed this man to destroy further destroy the equalibrium of the town. It's the danger of a single event which can magnify a situation.
There is one thing for sure, things like this happening contribute to a boiling monster in the town.
And...I just really fear the safety of people in the town.
Especially my own children.
XMAS DAY IN ARGENTINA!
Day 298
Christmas Day, Buenos Aires, Argentina!
Last night we had the most beautiul night on the balcony of our matrimonial suite! After we made phone calls home to our darling family, on their Christmas morning, we spotted a fruit place over the road from the phone booths and went over there to buy some veges to go with our panetone, fruit, wine and crackers!
We ended up forgetting our tomatoes and the young fruit guy came running up to give them to us which made us feel really good after hearing all about the crime in the area...
Most of the buildings had been barred up by the time we´d finished our phone calls and the street was looking decidedly deserted! Of cars at least...there were still a few odd bods about...and we felt secure walking back to our abode. The grills and gated houses really do look ominous tho..and make you think..there must be so many break ins in Buenos Aires. Even the more prestigious areas have the bars, grills and gates outside their homes...
Our balcony became the window to the celebrations going on! We met a gorgeous Israeli woman who spoke excellent english and she sat with us for a while watching the world go by...She was waiting for her daughter who´d she´d come to BA with. Once her daughter arrived she lent us a plate and a knife to put our festival ´bits´on..so we were set, drinking our wine, eating our cheese and panetone with the tomotoes and capsicum...it tasted so good. And healthy too...
We thought of home..and what everyone would be doing. It seemed there would be too much food, and too much indulgence and we were glad we were being simple. It´s the way we like it. No hassle, no feeling bloated and full, no regrets. Just a peaceful reflective evening looking out beyond our walls...the balcony opened out from our room so it was like our own private party! For two! The Israeli woman and her daughter left..and later a french couple arrived to share the balcony with us.
We wondered what Christmas breakfast would be like..and what our Christmas lunch would be!
That night..at 10pm...the fire crackers started flying heavily. Remember how i said we could hear a bang and a scream the other night? And then the next night there was a scream and then a bang....and we thought it sounded like shots....which really wouldn´t surprise us at all...in this neighbourhood!
Well...we worked out they were firecrackers. IT was the same noise that went off all of Christmas Eve!
IT went on and on and on...the firecrakers were LOUD..and the screams were loud! We went out to our balcony to watch..and there were kids, teens and adults all lining the street outside letting off crackers!! It was so funny watching them.....crack, bang, scream! And there were a lot of cracks, bangs and screams! They even had the crackers going off in 2L plastic drink bottles...hmm...
This went on ALL NIGHT LONG.
Nanna, who owns our rooms in the building we´re in...started preparing a meal for her family and friends downstairs at about 11pm....and they were still eating and singing and dancing when i woke up (again) and peered over the staircase to where they were sitting at 4am! (They were eating icecream by then!)
Buenos Aires was going mad on Christmas Eve!
At about 6am on Christmas morning the celebrations started to subside...
And the next morning..Christmas morning at about 7am...it was DEATHLY QUIET in the streets...we looked out of our balcony..and there was nothing going on. No people, no cars no noise. Rubbish all over the roads, shops and apartments all barred and locked, old cars parked on the edge of the road, some with homeless sleeping within.
Quietness.
No church bells ringing either. We wanted to hear them...
We were still getting xmas messages on our mobile...from my very special friend Silvia....her bulk xmas message got stuck in a loop. We have, so far, received the same message, a christmas greeting message, 46 times!!!
I think she loves us....hehe
No really...one of these telephone carriers really has something to answer for here..whether it´s the Aussie one, or the Argentine one...I hope Silvia doesn´t get charged that many times for sending it!!
Anyway, it will be a Christmas we´ll definitely know she was well and truly in our minds..and at all hours of the day and night!!!!
I guess that is a warning not to send bulk messages...the reality is..they can get caught up in a loop!
We exchanged our pressie..which was a Mate piped straw each..with a mate pot that has Jenny and Greg Xmas 2007 Argentina on it and sent Christmas text messages.
We went to breakfast at about 8am and the receptionist said she hadn´t slept all night. And a couple of party goers who were staying at the hostel also said they didn´t sleep all night. All because they were partying.
I suppressed a comment that we also didn´t sleep due to the partying!!! And it wasn´t our partying!
The dining room at the Hostel was buzzing..and everyone was full of complaints. I was thinking...there was definitely NO Christmas spirit abounding in this place, this morning! The coffee was cold, there was no wholemeal rolls and there was only a few white rolls that did not go around, and there was no milk!!!
After saying all our ¨Merry Christmases´ we all made the best of enjoying our Christmas breakfast. We had high hopes for this, thinking they may put something special on..but it was exactly the reverse! And probably because the staff were all hung over!!!
We were thinking later that we should have bought more fruit and some yummy breakfast fare the previous day, to take over the road to the breakfast area in the main building. We didn´t think of it! We were thinking they would do something nice! We also didn´t have a fridge or anything to prepare it with! Which is why they supply breakfast. Those in the apartments don´t go to the main building for breakfast as they have a fridge!
In the end this South American guy, from Brazil, shared his milk so at least we had cornflakes with milk!!!
We filled our Mate pot with Mate tea...half full like we´d been told....(we had a lengthy discussion with the receptionist about how to drink mate and how to make it and when to change the tea etc).
And then added water..and expected to enjoy our first mate tea...just as the Argentinians do. They LOVE their mate tea and you don´t find many without a little pot of it, with a thermos of hot water in waiting, next to it....
We sipped...
And found it was DISGUSTING!!! So bitter..and like nothing we´d ever tasted before! Arrgh...
I can only liken it to foreigners trying our vegemite for the first time. It´d say it´s an aquired taste!!!!!!
We had a giggle..
And talked about how there are so many peculiar things that make the world go round!!!
After breakfast we went back to our room and packed up ready to go to our apartment next door!
We wondered what it would be like!
Regardless, for better or worse...we decided we wouldn´t give up our barred, gated accomodation in this neck of the woods for anything....we love living in the ´real´ Argentina....
I often think people go on holidays to a country, live in a flash hotel, and never see the real life. They go on tours and back to a hotel that could be anywhere in teh world and go home saying they have been to a country. But have they really seen that country?
I have been on holidays like that..and i know what my preference is. And that is to mix with other travellers, talk to the locals in the best local language we know, and see how people really live.
And it has been a revelation.
Anyway..surprisingly, our apartment is not what we expected!!!!!!
Before we left to go, we said goodbye to our newly acquired Israeli friend...and told her we were going next door and that we could wave to her on the balcony, from our balcony..and she said she was going to see if she could have our room because it has a balcony and she was in the room one back from the balcony....
We lugged our packs up the stairs (no lift in these old buildings that are 6 floors high!) and opened the door...
And.....our apartment is nothing short of FANTASTIC!!!!
As we walked in..we were overwhelmed by the spaciousness of the place! There was a huge wooden table in the dining..with a sideboard to match..and there was a lounge with a large tv that we later found out had cable..and the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom were all equipped with everything we needed!´
It´s an old apartment, colonial, and gorgeous! Such character.
The only thing is...we don´t have a balcony..to observe the world from our room we have to peek through the shutters. But the compensation is our own fridge!
IT´s great....!!!
We spent the rest of the day watching Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Ice Age 2!!!
SO that was our Christmas...basking in English movies....in our own apartment!
Who could ask for better than that? :-)
Christmas Day, Buenos Aires, Argentina!
Last night we had the most beautiul night on the balcony of our matrimonial suite! After we made phone calls home to our darling family, on their Christmas morning, we spotted a fruit place over the road from the phone booths and went over there to buy some veges to go with our panetone, fruit, wine and crackers!
We ended up forgetting our tomatoes and the young fruit guy came running up to give them to us which made us feel really good after hearing all about the crime in the area...
Most of the buildings had been barred up by the time we´d finished our phone calls and the street was looking decidedly deserted! Of cars at least...there were still a few odd bods about...and we felt secure walking back to our abode. The grills and gated houses really do look ominous tho..and make you think..there must be so many break ins in Buenos Aires. Even the more prestigious areas have the bars, grills and gates outside their homes...
Our balcony became the window to the celebrations going on! We met a gorgeous Israeli woman who spoke excellent english and she sat with us for a while watching the world go by...She was waiting for her daughter who´d she´d come to BA with. Once her daughter arrived she lent us a plate and a knife to put our festival ´bits´on..so we were set, drinking our wine, eating our cheese and panetone with the tomotoes and capsicum...it tasted so good. And healthy too...
We thought of home..and what everyone would be doing. It seemed there would be too much food, and too much indulgence and we were glad we were being simple. It´s the way we like it. No hassle, no feeling bloated and full, no regrets. Just a peaceful reflective evening looking out beyond our walls...the balcony opened out from our room so it was like our own private party! For two! The Israeli woman and her daughter left..and later a french couple arrived to share the balcony with us.
We wondered what Christmas breakfast would be like..and what our Christmas lunch would be!
That night..at 10pm...the fire crackers started flying heavily. Remember how i said we could hear a bang and a scream the other night? And then the next night there was a scream and then a bang....and we thought it sounded like shots....which really wouldn´t surprise us at all...in this neighbourhood!
Well...we worked out they were firecrackers. IT was the same noise that went off all of Christmas Eve!
IT went on and on and on...the firecrakers were LOUD..and the screams were loud! We went out to our balcony to watch..and there were kids, teens and adults all lining the street outside letting off crackers!! It was so funny watching them.....crack, bang, scream! And there were a lot of cracks, bangs and screams! They even had the crackers going off in 2L plastic drink bottles...hmm...
This went on ALL NIGHT LONG.
Nanna, who owns our rooms in the building we´re in...started preparing a meal for her family and friends downstairs at about 11pm....and they were still eating and singing and dancing when i woke up (again) and peered over the staircase to where they were sitting at 4am! (They were eating icecream by then!)
Buenos Aires was going mad on Christmas Eve!
At about 6am on Christmas morning the celebrations started to subside...
And the next morning..Christmas morning at about 7am...it was DEATHLY QUIET in the streets...we looked out of our balcony..and there was nothing going on. No people, no cars no noise. Rubbish all over the roads, shops and apartments all barred and locked, old cars parked on the edge of the road, some with homeless sleeping within.
Quietness.
No church bells ringing either. We wanted to hear them...
We were still getting xmas messages on our mobile...from my very special friend Silvia....her bulk xmas message got stuck in a loop. We have, so far, received the same message, a christmas greeting message, 46 times!!!
I think she loves us....hehe
No really...one of these telephone carriers really has something to answer for here..whether it´s the Aussie one, or the Argentine one...I hope Silvia doesn´t get charged that many times for sending it!!
Anyway, it will be a Christmas we´ll definitely know she was well and truly in our minds..and at all hours of the day and night!!!!
I guess that is a warning not to send bulk messages...the reality is..they can get caught up in a loop!
We exchanged our pressie..which was a Mate piped straw each..with a mate pot that has Jenny and Greg Xmas 2007 Argentina on it and sent Christmas text messages.
We went to breakfast at about 8am and the receptionist said she hadn´t slept all night. And a couple of party goers who were staying at the hostel also said they didn´t sleep all night. All because they were partying.
I suppressed a comment that we also didn´t sleep due to the partying!!! And it wasn´t our partying!
The dining room at the Hostel was buzzing..and everyone was full of complaints. I was thinking...there was definitely NO Christmas spirit abounding in this place, this morning! The coffee was cold, there was no wholemeal rolls and there was only a few white rolls that did not go around, and there was no milk!!!
After saying all our ¨Merry Christmases´ we all made the best of enjoying our Christmas breakfast. We had high hopes for this, thinking they may put something special on..but it was exactly the reverse! And probably because the staff were all hung over!!!
We were thinking later that we should have bought more fruit and some yummy breakfast fare the previous day, to take over the road to the breakfast area in the main building. We didn´t think of it! We were thinking they would do something nice! We also didn´t have a fridge or anything to prepare it with! Which is why they supply breakfast. Those in the apartments don´t go to the main building for breakfast as they have a fridge!
In the end this South American guy, from Brazil, shared his milk so at least we had cornflakes with milk!!!
We filled our Mate pot with Mate tea...half full like we´d been told....(we had a lengthy discussion with the receptionist about how to drink mate and how to make it and when to change the tea etc).
And then added water..and expected to enjoy our first mate tea...just as the Argentinians do. They LOVE their mate tea and you don´t find many without a little pot of it, with a thermos of hot water in waiting, next to it....
We sipped...
And found it was DISGUSTING!!! So bitter..and like nothing we´d ever tasted before! Arrgh...
I can only liken it to foreigners trying our vegemite for the first time. It´d say it´s an aquired taste!!!!!!
We had a giggle..
And talked about how there are so many peculiar things that make the world go round!!!
After breakfast we went back to our room and packed up ready to go to our apartment next door!
We wondered what it would be like!
Regardless, for better or worse...we decided we wouldn´t give up our barred, gated accomodation in this neck of the woods for anything....we love living in the ´real´ Argentina....
I often think people go on holidays to a country, live in a flash hotel, and never see the real life. They go on tours and back to a hotel that could be anywhere in teh world and go home saying they have been to a country. But have they really seen that country?
I have been on holidays like that..and i know what my preference is. And that is to mix with other travellers, talk to the locals in the best local language we know, and see how people really live.
And it has been a revelation.
Anyway..surprisingly, our apartment is not what we expected!!!!!!
Before we left to go, we said goodbye to our newly acquired Israeli friend...and told her we were going next door and that we could wave to her on the balcony, from our balcony..and she said she was going to see if she could have our room because it has a balcony and she was in the room one back from the balcony....
We lugged our packs up the stairs (no lift in these old buildings that are 6 floors high!) and opened the door...
And.....our apartment is nothing short of FANTASTIC!!!!
As we walked in..we were overwhelmed by the spaciousness of the place! There was a huge wooden table in the dining..with a sideboard to match..and there was a lounge with a large tv that we later found out had cable..and the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom were all equipped with everything we needed!´
It´s an old apartment, colonial, and gorgeous! Such character.
The only thing is...we don´t have a balcony..to observe the world from our room we have to peek through the shutters. But the compensation is our own fridge!
IT´s great....!!!
We spent the rest of the day watching Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Ice Age 2!!!
SO that was our Christmas...basking in English movies....in our own apartment!
Who could ask for better than that? :-)
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