yu-en-me ´a man who leaves home to mend himself and others is a philosopher, .. he who goes from country to country guided by blind impulses of curiosity is .. a vagabond.´ - oliver goldsmith

when i first arrived in this town, Sierra de la
Ventana, i was so chuffed to finally be able to camp -
having my own little space all to my own little self.
you have no idea how happy i was settling down that
night - i was like a little girl playing house all
over again (not that i ever did that, but you get the
idea). it didn´t occur to me to be scared of savage
animals until i woke up in the middle of the night to
the sound of my guard dog (the campsite´s dog sleeps
near my tent) growling softly - there was what sounded
like an animal snuffling in the background, seemingly
with bronchial problems. every now and then, the
grunting would stop for a few seconds, and then start
up again. initially i was slightly alarmed, until
shock replaced fear: oh my god, i was listening to the
campsite owners having sex. the pauses, i can only
guess, were changes in position. my tent´s about 10
metres from their house, and with the windows open in
the almost-summer warmth, whether i liked it or not, i
could hear everything. it was quite traumatising,
because the couple are lovely but ´of a certain age´
and act like parents towards me. i´m cringing as i
write this but i need to get it off my chest because
it was NOT what i expected my first night in Sierra to
be like. i didn´t know whether to be disgusted,
amused, or turned on. in the end, i settled for being
happy for them, and when i eventually got back to
sleep (once she´d finished disturbing the silence of
the night), i woke up the next morning feeling really
really good, almost as if the endorphins had been
spiritually transferred to me.

a stranger bought me an ice cream when i was at a cafe
the other day; it was much more efficient in getting
me talking to him than an alcoholic beverage ever
would.

speaking of guys: you males in australia could learn a
thing or two from some of these latinos. rule number
1: it´s a girl´s right to be complimented out loud if
you´re already thinking the compliment in your head.
once you´ve mastered rule number 1, things can only go
up.

linguistic trivia (i´m sorry for those who find these
boring, i  get so happy with my little discoveries
that i have to share): in french, you ´piss like a
cow´, whereas in spanish, you ´piss like a horse´.
which leaves me wondering how one pees in english?