It's Doctor Zhivago at my house...

So my musings the other day about how there wasn't THAT much snow and Washington just needed more plows? Mostly true. But then we got even MORE snow. And what Washingtonians

 need is a lesson on how to clear walkways. Above is the walkway leaving my apartment. This poor girl is trying to manuever a stroller through the 4 inch semi-packed snow that was never shoveled from our walkay. She ended up just picking it up and carrying it (no baby was on board).

What I'm trying to decide is which is worse? The next building over has their walkway mostly shoveled...but all to the end of the walkway, in a nice pile. It's like winter hurdles. Who can jump over that thing in heels?
I have no winter jacket and no snow shoes/boots. Seeing me walk down the street/sidewalk in my trainers is quite the site. I'm slip sliding away with each step. And if I move to the unshoveled sidewalk, I sink with every step. So the choices are either fall on my bum or get snow up my pants. It's great to have choices in all things.

Above you will see my shower curtain liner. It's a map of the world. And had been very handy the past few years. While showering I have been able to brush up on all the geography that changed since I was in school. Soviet Block countries and what not. It was in the shower one day that I learned that Burkina Faso is actually a country in Africa, not just a made up country on Alias.

Every few months I toss the liner in the washing machine with some bleach. This week, it turns out, South America was not too pleased to be cleaned (but let me tell you, it needs it! All that graffiti and random dog poop just needs to go away.). Argentina was sliced right in half and the Peruvian/Bolivian border has a huge hole in it. Sad...sad...sad...I was having such a love affair with South America, and this is what it does to me? Looks like a new shower liner is now on Ranee's Christmas list.

It's snowing and I'm peeling...

...and I don't ski. Argentina stays with me. (Until I stop peeling, that is.)

A few days ago it started snowing...little balls of snow. It looked like fake snow. There wasn't a lot of it, but certainly more than the people here are used to. Almost the entire office called in Snow Day. As I was driving to work I was completely astonished by just how bad the drivers were. Going so slow up a hill that there is no way they were ever going to make it. So they gave up, stopped the car, got out and walked away. Just left the car. Who does that?

The Seattle area doesn't get a lot of snow, so people aren't used to driving in it. And even with the threat of snow, people stay home. This road is usually back to back traffic and the shopping center is usually full of cars. The nice thing is that with people not travelling on the roads, the roads stay wintery and white. 

The unfortunate thing about the wintery roads and inexperienced winter drivers are accidents. A co-worker and I were walking down to the shopping center below and saw this big, gaping hole in the brick wall. You could see right into the restaurant's kitchen down below. If you look closely you can see a yellow/orange speck about 3 bricks above the hole. We decided a large white truck slid on the snow, jumped the curb and the sidewalk and ran into the wall and gave the Square Lotus (the restaurant) some instant ventilation. 

I've spent the weekend watching Holiday movies. I love the Fa La La La Lifetime and Hallmark movies. There's just a few basic premises to these movies, and there is little variance and no surprises. Completely predictible. But I love them. Some of them end up being very well done and bring tears to my eyes. Hooray for cheesy Holiday movies.

There's a storm expected tonight. The powers that know these things are warning of no electricity for the following week due to the gusts of wind. As long as the airport has electricity and can get me out of here and home on Wednesday, I'm happy.

Home again home again

On Sunday New Guy and I left Iguazu (after I took the fastest shower I've ever taken at the pool of the hotel we'd already checked out of, with my suitcase at my side), arrived at the domestic airport, caught a cab to the hotel in Buenos Aires where we met up with the rest of our group that had spent the weekend in Buenoes Aires and where New Guy took a hurried shower while I arranged our travel to the international airport. Once we arrived at the airport we decided "When in Rome" and most of us got our luggage wrapped. Turned out to be a life saver for me, cause the wonderful baggage handlers in Buenos Aires crushed my brand new luggage and broke it. Without the saran wrap, my precious Argentine candy would have been everywhere but in my luggage.

The flight home wasn't as painful as the flight there. Isn't it always the case? The trip home is always faster and less aggrivating. Probably because you know that soon you'll be home.

And this is what my home looked like within minutes of my arriving home. (And still does to some extent.) First order of business was to wash Argentina out of my clothes. Debbie said Rosario smelled like a butcher shop. I'm not sure about that, but it definitely didn't smell good. And all of my clothes smelled of Rosario. And for some reason were all moist. Though when I packed they were perfectly dry. Whatever. I'm just glad that washers AND dryers are standard household appliances in the Unites. If I ever move out of the Unites, I'll need to make sure I've got both wherever I decide to live.

That being said, I spent a few hours on Tuesday morning looking for info on working and living in Buenos Aires. Seriously loved the place. Turns out I'd need a Unites company to pay me Unites salary to live and work in Buenos Aires. I'm working on T-Mobile doing that for me. Fingers crossed.

Peaceful Sunburn

After we saw Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) we took a peaceful raft ride back toward the hotel along another section of the Iguazu river with our guide Juan (see bel0w). The river is so calm it's difficult to think that just a few hundred feet down the river are amazing falls. This part of the river empties into the first fotos of the falls I posted.

Juan was pretty amazing himself. If he saw any bit of wildlife he would flip that raft around so fast and row towards it so we could see it. For a skinny little guy, he's sure pretty strong. And butterflies like him. There were some Spanish speakers at the front of the raft and myself with New Guy, a French girl that spoke some English, a French girl that didn't speak at all and a guy from SFO. The guide would tell the people at the front of the raft some thing about the river or the flora and fauna and I translated the interesting bits for New Guy. By the end of the raft ride the French/SFO group looked to me to translate everything. I felt like I should have gotten a tip. 

We saw a few crocodiles, ants nests, different kinds of birds and learned a lot about bamboo. The river was pretty shallow...a few centimeters lower and they won't be able to run the river raft tour. This crocodile was either getting some sun or taking a nap...

The raft ride, like the whole trip to Iguazu, was an impromptu thing. All of my sunscreen having been washed off by our boat trip underneath the falls, I got quite the sunburn on my face and arms. Totally worth it though. The raft ride was a nice way to end our trip.

We saw quite a bit of the falls in our short 24 hours there. We didn't make it to the island and we didn't make it to the Brazil side either. It is quite possibly the most amazing thing I've seen in my life. It's also inspired me to travel more. There's so much of the world to see.

In which I get completely soaked

Before we even got to Iguazu, New Guy and I decided we were definitely going to do the boat tour. It's 20 minutes on the river along the ...and who knew...a complete soaking under the falls.

It was better than Disneyland! We went entirely under the falls twice. I was soaked. Best thing ever.

From Iguazu

We rode a little train to the half mile walkway over to La Garganta del Diablo...a three sided incredible falls experience. It's an elevated walkway over the Iguazu River...it's quite peaceful.

From Iguazu

As we were walking back I got a text message...T-Mobile's got coverage even in the middle of nowhere.

Poor Niagra

It's rumored that Eleanor Roosevelt said, upon first seeing Iguazu Falls: Poor Niagra. Now, I've never seen Niagra Falls, but Iguazu Falls is certainly incredible! New Guy and I caught a plane to Iguazu (where Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil meet in the Northern part of Argentina) this afternoon. We decided that we couldn't be this close to an amazing sight and not see it. We'll be here for about 24 hours before we return to Buenos Aires just in time to catch our plane back to the States.

It is absolutely immense and impressive. And I've taken tons of fotos so far. We took a few hours to walk around the park before it closed today.

We're going to take a boat tour tomorrow morning then will go off hiking to see more of the Falls. Seriously...it's amazing.  You know more fotos will follow.  

I will not be posting again until after I return to the Unites, and if you're in my immediate family (whether related by blood or not) I'll give you a call or send you a text to let you know I've arrived back safely to the Unites, and then I'll be sleeping for a long, long time.  

Hello Buenos Aires!

Made it to Buenos Aires.  Our bus left at midnight and we got here around 4 am.  Upon arrival I was told that all of the rooms I'd booked in my name were given free upgrades to the Luxury Tower.  Let me tell you, it certainly pays to take 5 minutes before you book a hotel room and sign up for their Frequent Stayer program.  It is luxurious.  After 3 weeks of being in a not luxury hotel, I almost want to stay here tomorrow instead of go where I'm going tomorrow.  Stay tuned for details.  

Here's the hotel we're at.  And the bellman just brought up my luggage...and rang my doorbell.  There's a doorbell to my room.  I don't even have a doorbell to my apartment.  Crazy!

I noticed this wonderful feature in the bathroom this morning.  An ashtray next to the TP dispenser.  They thought of EVERYTHING.

Mayonesa

Argentines are fond of their mayonnaise. This is just part of a shelf at the grocery store that is full of mayo. FULL. It was all in little foil pouches. No glass or plastic jars. What I really thought was awesome is that they sell Salsa Golf (pre-mixed mayo-ketchup/fry sauce). We need to get some of that.

We head to Buenos Aires tomorrow. I'm really going to miss the people here. They are wonderful. And I really wish Hunter would invent that transporter already...I'm not looking forward to the long flight home.

No air

There are many things I love about Argentina...one of them is that I am one of the top 3 cities as far as population goes and it is almost 2009 but air conditioning seems to be something new for them. Restaurants advertise that their restaruant features air conditioning (see above). Cabs also advertise that they have air conditioning. It's like what I imagine advertising was like when color TV was invented and available to the purchasing public. And it's not like there are restaurants that don't have air conditioning. All that I've been to do...so why now, in 2009-ish, is it still necessary to advertise the fact that you have air conditioning? Maybe the trend is to advertise the obvious...and next year there will be signs popping up outside restaurants that say: We have chairs!

It's beginning to look...

Went to a mall today...it used to be an abandoned train station that they've renovated and repurposed. It's an amazing edifice. And it's got all these great silver holiday decorations all over it. I wanted to bring all of them home with me...but with all the other stuff I want to bring home, I just don't think they'll fit.

Besos!

Neutral

See how close this car is to the car in front of it? They're completely touching. How'd this happen? Well I'd love to tell you. A co-worker and I were waiting outside a restaurant the other day when we saw a guy pull up a few cars away and double park. Double parking is no big whoop here. People do it all the time. But the driver gets out of his van and walks down to just past where we are standing and pushes the car in front of us (the one on the right in the foto) a few feet forward until it just touches the bumper of the car in front of it. Just pushed it. Casually. As if it were something he does all the time. He then walked down to the next car (the car on the left) and pushed it until it touched the bumper of the previous car. He then did the same for the next car down. So three cars this guy has been able to just push along the curb. Then he gets to the fourth car, a taxi. He pushes it backward about 2 feet gets in his van and parks his van in the open space he has now created by pushing cars up and down the curb.

Turns out that out of courtesy, the drivers here park their cars in neutral just in case someone needs to push it to create a parking spot. Isn't that awful nice of them? I've decided that it would be awful nice of me to find a car parked alongside a curb with no other cars in front of it for a few blocks and just relocate a car. The thought of it just cracks me up. A total Dude, where's my car? kind of thing. Of course I'd never do it, but it makes me giggle to think about it.

Ciao!