It´s a bit discouraging to see that Vancouver is still stuck at 3 degrees, and Sunday in Toronto will be between -10 and -14. Brrrrrr.
I am now in Rosario, on yet another sunny warm day - about 30 or so. Very pleasant, livable city of about 1 or 1.5 million, and may be a little bigger or a little smaller than Cordoba, depending on who you ask. Either 2nd or 3rd largest city, but much smaller of course than BsAs. It has I think the biggest (longest) bridge I´ve ever seen going over the river...several kilometres long. Big river too - there are ocean vessels going up and down like on the Fraser River.
It was a little confusing at 8:00 this morning, as I had no plan, didn´t know where to find a pillow, and there were no cabs at the bus station. Some guy stopped, asked if I needed a ride, I said sure, and hopped in. We went to the hotel I had picked, he came in to negotiate a deal, and said no, 200 pesos is ridiculous, and he found me an apartment hotel for half that price, so about $33 a night, with breakfast. I ended up hiring him later this afternoon to drive me around to get a sense of the city, and gave hime 100 pesos for his trouble. Definitely a good day for him, but it´s about a third of what he saved me, so no biggie.
I´m only about 300 kms from the airport now, so I can just sorta hang out here and relax or party or whatever for a few days.
I have to admit that given a choice, I´d rather be checking into another 2 weeks of Spanish on Monday, and then heading south to Bariloche. Or head to Bariloche on Saturday and do the immersion there. And then head further south to lake and glacier country. Next time I suppose.
On the other hand, I am looking forward to getting back home to new challenges on Monday, so it´s all good. I´m looking forward especially to some good veggies. I headed to the one (I swear...1!) chinese restaurant in town tonight, and ordered chop suey with great anticipation. The waitress cautioned me that there were a lot of veggies and not much chicken in it. You betcha, honey, that´s the idea. And extra MSG while you´re at it.
Remember the chinese food of small towns (Chinese and Western food here!) before competition? Well, it has never occured to me before that bean sprouts are a vegetable or a food. I´ve always thought they were an extender, like the oatmeal Mom put in the hamburgers, or the powdered milk added to the real milk. And at the end of dinner, no fortune cookies! What the heck? I asked for the remainders to go, but had some time to consider it on the way home and placed it carefully in a dumpster for someone or an ambitious bird to find.
But the others in the restaurant were very intrigued with me using chopsticks. I was intrigued by the owner´s kid in the restaurant (there always is one, isn´t there?) speaking perfect Spanish, and his mom behind the counter speaking bad Spanish with a Chinese accent. I would really have liked a little Cantonese in my goodie bag...that would have sent her over the edge for sure. How is it I can live in Vancouver and know no Cantonese whatever except for some really bad words?
As of today, I´ve stopped taking pictures. I have a 4gb card with 1250 pics and a few movie clips on it, and I just don´t feel like it anymore. Well, maybe 1 or 2 more...I am within walking distance of Che Guavara´s birthplace, and my bro-in-law would be very excited if I came home with a pic of a mural there. Just in case I get mugged by US security again, or lose the camera, I´ve got 4 CDs backing the whole thing up. After I get home, I figure I´ll take a week to do a little editing, and then get some pics up here.
Less than 3 days til I start heading home!
