i arrived in the city of Neuquén yesterday at 5.30am
after a long night due to protestors blocking arterial
roads between towns. (a lot of being shuttled around
in private cars, walking around protestors at midnight
with bonfires and banners streaming in the wind.. it
was like out of a movie..) hardly 12 hours were
allowed to pass before the town´s lifeguards started
chatting to me. and NO, i wasn´t doing anything
provocative in the water - i wasn´t even IN the water,
and yet they came..
Neuquén´s quite a large city, so when the municipality
found out that i was looking for a place to camp, they
all tut-tutted and said that that was no way for a
lone female to experience life here, and put me up in
the municipality office with a cute security guard
outside. i was quite happy with that until the
lifeguard encounters, and now i´m staying with one of
them instead... ´tis good being a female from time to
time.
speaking of which, i still occasionally feel out of
place in this land of clearly delineated genders. i
throw like a girl, i run like a girl, and i still
blush delicately when i accidentally expel air in
public. but i also swagger like most boys, flirt
outrageously like most boys, and carry myself with the
confidence of most boys. (now *there´s* a notion to
ponder - the confidence of boys as opposed to that of
girls..) it never ceases to amaze me the way people´s
jaws drop when they find out i´m travelling alone:
´but you´re a *girl*! - don´t you get scared camping
alone?´ at those moments, i wish i could fart
voluntarily just to show them my embarrassment as
proof of my female-ness.
still, it *is* fascinating what people consider
´brave´.. - the 3 times that i´ve felt most vulnerable
so far were in largish cities. (the whole single
female story.) out in Nature, i´m as happy as a dog
sniffing poo.
i wonder if dogs have opinions of human beings´
fashion sense? in the last small town i was in (where
not many people wear sunglasses despite blinding
heat), i swear a dog did a double-take when it saw me.
and another one glared balefully at me as if to say
´what on earth is the world coming to when they start
putting things on their faces..´
on thursday, i climbed a volcano; appreciated
panoramic views of 2 lakes and 7 more volcanoes in the
lakes district; bathed in a crater; walked around
midnight protestors blocking arterial roads to access
my bus to Neuquén (banners, bonfire, horns, the lot..
like out of a movie)..all in a day´s work really -
what did you guys get up to? ;)
i´ve been approached by a Buenos Aires journalist who
wants to publish my thoughts/diary/ groupmails/photos
into a volume on how argentina´s seen from an
outsider´s point of view.. it´s a struggle to not get
carried away by the prospect, since it´s such a
far-out proposal..
to <pick up> (or to <pull> as they prefer it in
england) in spanish is <conquistar>, literally
translated as <conquering>. imagine the conversation
the day after: ´hey mate, what´s the deal with that
chick you were talking to last night?´ - ´yeah, i
conquered her, no probs..´
on that note, my current conquest finishes his
lifeguarding shift in half an hour and he´s promised
me a personal tour of the city with an ice cream
included.. how can a girl resist such an offer??
leaving you in absolute happiness, and hoping you´re
all enjoying the same,
