Hello Spring (for youse)

Why howdy!

Alas, more than two weeks of my placement here in Ascochinga have flown by. For those who don´t know, I´m staying at some form of Catholic mission for mentally disabled men. I´m here with two other Aussies, Reuben and Michael. They are good quality.

The owners of the place, Marta and Juan, are very kind, if not a bit blown away by our lack of Spanish. However, these two weeks have proved that the brain is incredibly adaptable. Putting aside the fact that I still can´t undertstand what they´re saying most of the time, my own knowledge is improving slowly but surely. It´s just their goddamn Argentine accents which make it confusing.

I write from a ´cibercafé´ in Jésus María, which is our closest point of contact with the outside world. Jesus Maria (bugger the accents) is home to 27,000 people, and boasts some amazing Jesuit mission ruins. We are yet to see them, but they are definitely on the list of things to do.

The weekends are very cruisy here. Basically we can do whatever we choose to. The public bus service here is astounding- Argentina created public buses- and offers us many choices as to where to explore. The Sierra Cordobas span along the west and supposedly have great hikes and waterfalls and fun things. We shall also be hitting this up. La Cumbre (about 30 kilometres away) is the ´pàragliding capital of the world´, supposedly, and I would heart a bitta paragliding. We´ll see what happens.

During the week is pretty easy also. We do work- our project is to paint the whole of the complex whilst we´re here. However seeing as I´m a lass I also help out in the kitchen and cleaning/ sweeping / mopping. It´s interesting that gender is so important here.

Between cleaning and painting we are given a mammoth 2.5 hour siesta break in the middle of the day. It has been decided upon that this is the best invention ever and that our motherland should adopt it. After eating such heavy food- pasta, beef, rice, beef, potatoes, beef and mucho pan, your belly is absolutely knackered. A siesta is a must. We also use this time to learn more Spanish.

So it´s spring over there! Back in Aus. Here, it´s not spring until the 21st, which is odd. However the days have been mostly sunny and beautiful (muy lindo) and my north American tan is not fading as quickly as I thought. The sky is so blue here and it is easy to see how Argentina got the colours of the flag when the grass is dry and the sky is blue and sun is shining merrily. Genial.

Until next time, take care chicos. I have consumed dos litros of Quilmes (amongst 2 others) prior to writing this blog so I may be a bit off. However, things here are very pleasant. I hope you are all well.

My love goes out to all.
GGG