*ADDED PICS & bold text* John & Ali´s last week...

Aaagh. Next week I´ll be on my own again at the school, and I swear to God the classes are getting naughtier with every passing week.

Some days, I honestly feel like just pulling a sickie and not going in. Today and yesterday I felt like going home after 5b, but more about that later.

Luckily, Monday was a Bank Holiday in Posadas. Well, luckily if you have wads of cash. C & I had 27 pesos still. John kindly lent us some money though, so we joined the chicas in our regular shopping mall (the only place that´s open at lunchtime) for our favourite bruschetta (the only place in Posadas where I´ve found fresh mushrooms, Aida doesn´t buy them as she says they are really really expensive here - well, they are about the same price as back home, but that´s comparatively astronical compared to everything else...I do miss my mushrooms!).

As C & I were on a budget till we could get to a bank (his card has stopped working since the weekend, we are now both card-less), we shared a bruschetta plate between us.

Didn´t do much else really, siesta´d a bit (I have no idea how I´m going to get through a British working day again without these GENIUS 4-5 hour sleepy-time breaks, although I suspect getting PAID might help lessen the blow) and still budget-wary, we went round to Oz Kirsten & Ali´s for a scheduled screening (on her laptop) of Parts 1-4 of Summer Heights High, an Oz spoof documentary set in a school, with the 3 main characters - a Polynesian Hip-Hop-crazy trouble-maker called Jonah; a pretentious female exchange student from the poshest school in town "Ja´mie, that´s J A apostrophe M I E"; and a gay Drama Teacher, supposedly ex-pro (i.e. failed) singer/dancer/actor, "Mr G" - all played by the same guy. It´s apparently won awards and is one of the most popular shows in Oz. www.abc.net.au/tv/summerheightshigh

You´d think I´d want a break from schools of an evening, eh?!
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Tuesday: back to school: FREEZING. Again. I knew the kids would be a handful after 4 days no school, and I was right. We did Partes del Cuerpo with 5a & 6a...as for how the lessons went, it´s Thursday now and I think my memory has kinda blanked them out already.

Touchingly, Facundo, from 5a, who goes from good to naughty (apparently due to a bad home environment), but just really craves attention either way, had written that "John, Ali & I were the best teachers" (in Spanish) and was trying to hide it as he worked. I noticed his peers started taking the mickey out of him when they saw it, and I´m not sure what happened but when I opened F´s book, to show John (Ali had gone home, not feeling well) when we were marking, his work wasn´t there. Think he might have destroyed it after the teasing.

Wednesday: Bit sunnier. Horrible horrible class with 5b this morning. They really are my least favourite class, which is a shame as there are some lovely kids in there, but a bunch of boys at the back just ruin it for everyone.

With 3 of us there, Ali has been able to spot that it isn´t actually all 6 on that table, just 2 rotten apples, and if you isolate them, the rest behave quite well.

Anyway, somehow the boys had managed to get hold of a couple of the girls´ (Elizabeth & Florencia´s) workbooks (I had collected them in to do a test) and scribble male genitalia all over not just the cover and random blank pages, but sadly, in Elizabeth´s book, on a page where she´s got a sticker & stamp for excellent work.

The girls were visibly upset and shaken when they discovered this vandalism, and I did my best to calm them down, whilst John attempted to find out who the culprits were. Obviously no one admitted to it, but we knew the main prepetrators. As their form teacher walked in, the girls & I went to tell her.

Now I hate this teacher. She has the ugliest, scowliest face imaginable, she evidently hates children, and I have ONLY ever heard her shout at her class in a loud, grating, nasal, foghorn of a voice. Even when they haven´t actually done anything wrong. Worse than useless, in week 1, she was the one who whilst marking their homework, proceeded to talk to some children, in the middle of my class.

John quoted Billy Connolly: "Beauty is only skin deep, but ugliness goes right to the bone".

I thought I´d get her involved anyway. Frustratingly though, she didn´t listen to anyone, and started to shout at the wrong boy (a cute, good little kid) who she obviously assumed had done it as he sat behind these girls. Scared, he said nothing. I positioned myself between him and the shouty banshee, tried to say "It wasn´t him" several times, then gave up, exasperated, as she told the whole class that if they didn´t behave, no more English lessons. (I took small pleasure though when I heard a collective sharp intake of breath and whispered "Noooooo!")

We finished the lesson in subdued mood, and I vowed that I was not going to stand for this tomorrow (our last day together as Friday is a school play - I am giving it a miss and going to El Refugio with C), so warned my colleagues that we´d have to be hardcore tomorrow if any trouble.

We reckon Matias (the main bad guy, he´d got his "crew" to pull their tops up over their mouth and their hoodies over their eyes for most of the lesson) will probably be on the rob and in prison in a few years (that´s him written off then).

6b were cool, they´re the class Ali & I identify as with "the sweetest boys and the thickest girls". There is seriously nothing going on behind the eyes of any of these girls, like they´ve been lobotomised, but the boys make up for it. And the girls are, in their catatonic state, at least no trouble! There´s one boy Ali & I really don´t like, a loud-mouthed, work-shy thickie called Pario, but I think I nailed it today with him (more later).

I´m learning new words (thanks to watching the OC, Pushing Daisies and Cold Case with subtitles, I know that e.g. "Callate!" means "Shut up!") which if I use sparingly, and in a jokey fashion to some of the kids seems to shock enough (that I know the words) to work.

And teasing helps. One giggly boy yesterday - he´s not bad, but really mischievious - was distracting the boy next too him too, so I had to try and quieten him. I told him he was like a monkey "Eee! Eee! Eee!" and his mates started to laugh along with him and me, "Mono! Mono! Haaaaa!"

It´s quickly become a running joke. This morning I said "Hola chicos! as he and his friends ran up to say hi...then a cheery "Hola mono!" to him. Queue lots of little boys falling about in hysterics, and he´s loving the attention of being singled out by teacher, with a special pet name.

As for the rest of today: John & Ali´s last day (sob!)...in 5b we did physical descriptions, (heights, builds, hair types and styles, eye colours) which went pretty well and without too much incident after yesterday´s awfulness and telling off.

J&A did laugh, when I illustrated ´pretty´ and ´ugly´ with two faces on the board, the ugly one bearing more than a passing resemblance to 5b´s horrid form teacher!

At least though today she had separated one of the trouble-makers off, put him at the front of the class, and this seemed to make the whole table behave well, even Matias, the car-thief-in-waiting.

There was a hairy moment right at the end, when a kid started punching his much littler friend repeatedly and wouldn´t stop although I asked him nicely (but firmly) several times. Now I know it wasn´t meant maliciously, they were friends and he is normally a good little boy, but still. Something inside me snapped and I just thought, "I don´t care if you´re not the naughtiest, I´m going to make an example of you". So I led him by the arm to the head´s office.

Poor thing looked so contrite, on the way, I gently explained that I just couldn´t have behaviour like that especially in the next two weeks as I was "sola" and did he understand? He nodded, silently.

In the staffroom, not wanting to be too hard on the kid, I explained to Fabiana it wasn´t just him, there were lots of naughty boys in this class, so she came back with us and I let him sit down as she addressed the whole class.

F is soooo the opposite of the horrid teacher. She stood and quietly and calmly explained that they were to behave themselves and listen to us...especially as I was on my own for the last two weeks. They agreed solemnly (well, Matias looked at the floor).

Then John said some really kind words, saying it was his and Ali´s last lesson with them and that they were very lucky to have me for 2 more weeks, that I was v intelligent and experienced (at teaching!?!?!) and they should listen to me as they could learn a lot. Sweet.

I still feel a bit bad about making an example of that boy, Ali & I both noticed he looked so broken afterwards, but hopefully it´ll send a message that I´m taking no prisoners in my last two weeks. And besides, he *was* punching his friend, however you slice it!

6b were cool, they are soooooo adorable and their equally sweet teacher got them to give J&A a round of applause for their time here, and said they were all happy I was staying for 2 more weeks.

6b - cute cute cute!

I´m sure having a lovely teacher makes you want to learn more, and conversely, the horrible teacher is probably responsible for putting her class off school. It´s the old nature-nurture thing. Plus, because she shouts all the time, when she tells them off, they are immune to her anger.

I remember was a good and bright pupil, but absolutely *hated* German, because we had a bitch of a teacher, Mrs Deans, and I dropped the subject as soon as I could. So if with what must surely be a hated form teacher, I can understand how her kids probably hate school and misbehave as much as they do.

I did have a bit of a problem with the loud-mouthed thickie in 6b, Pario, today, but when after John moved him and he *still* didn´t shut up, I asked him to choose between "Maestra alta or silencio?" (big teacher or silence?). Eventually, he chose "Silencio" and kept it zipped for the rest of the lesson. What I loved though, was that all the other boys, sick of his behaviour, kept telling me to take him to the "Oficina". I said I would if he misbehaved again. He didn´t dare.

Apart from that, we had a lovely lesson and I impressed the chicos with my ability to cross my eyes and then move each one individually like a Newton´s Cradle, when we got to "eye colours".
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I can´t blog about a very funny thing today, not yet. This is just here as a reminder - all will become clear. "What´s that girl called again...?"
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Quick social summary: Tuesday did nothing, C´s feet hurting too much to Tango so we had an early one.

Wednesday C & I had a heated difference of opinion about our evening´s plans, but eventually he realised perhaps I had grounds to be upset if he was choosing to go out with 3 teenage/early 20s female voluntarias he´d known all of 2 weeks rather than come with me to K&A´s pad for a few drinks and more Summer Heights High. I was worn out after the horrid day at school and wanted a quiet one, with him and my best (oldest) friends here. Anyway, the footy was on when we got there, so he was happy, settled in with his beer and crisps whilst we girls had a goss...men are such simple creatures, eh?

Thursday: spent the afternoon after school with C & Ali to visit Oz Kirsten at at El Puma, her conservation project...Not an awful lot to say about it, and the pics are self explanatory to what we saw. El Puma is quite small, and I was a little upset to see massive majestic creatures like the two jags they had there, pacing up and down in a tiny cage. Oz K explained that they had started with to build larger reserve areas for them, but when the Argentinian Govt changed (about 3 months ago) the funding was pulled again. Apparently this happens with each new Government every 3 or so years, which means changes and improvements are v slow, if they happen at all. She too was torn about whether it was better to have these creatures cooped in captivity, or let them take their chances in the wild. A bit like living in communist Cuba, I reckoned; where they have free education, healthcare, subsidised food/rent and a guaranteed job - but they can´t leave the country.

What price freedom?

Oh, and the puma of ´El Puma´ was asleep, hidden in his shelter, so we didn´t get to see him. K says she hadn´t seen him in a month of working there, and reckons he may be depressed.

Still it was really good to see where another of our friends works, and to laugh at the monkeys (who had a lot more room to swing about) and play ring-tones to the parrots (they go silent and listen attentively, if you wondered, and some even bob their heads in time...)

Take a closer look (click on pic). This appears to be the world´s first 2-headed crocodile







Tonight going to meet everyone for Ali´s last supper. Well, C&I will meet them for drinks after we´ve had our meal at Aida´s, seeing as we are still a bit careful (I have my card now - hurrah - but haven´t dared trying to activate it yet, lest the machine munches it up again and we are totally stuffed).

And the best news is, I´ve found this internet café next door to Sampaka (so 2 mins from home) and it´s owned by Mario´s wife Laura´s sister (still keeping up?!) so I now get cheery greetings and hugs when I go there too!

Dinner calls...gotta go...

*PICS ADDED* Sunday´s shenanigans PART 2

Marcelo´s party.

It was held at the Sampaka Bar which I discovered (check me out, stick me in a new town in the middle of nowwhere and I´ll discover the cool new places before the locals...!) and which C & I have adopted as out unofficial local, where we are greeted with hugs from Mario, the (gorgeous, lovely, ex-model, married) owner and his big bear of a bro-in-law, Carlos.

C & Tom said, what, did he used to be a hand model?! But they´re just jealous. The chicas however, all agreed Mario is hot stuff, and I *will* get pics up when I get longer than an hour on a computer, I promise!

What with my card *still* not arrived, and C having spent all of the last of our cash on the to-ing and fro-ing (and lending money to OzK) that day, we counted up the last of our pesos - 27 between us (less than 5 quid) - and I felt like a proper student, as we vowed to stick to beer and pretended we didn´t really want to drink that much anyway (after the day we´d had!??!)

How very different to my life in London where I can spend freely; I´ve been debating buying a pair of little ankle boots for 120 pesos (20 quid!) for the last two weeks - it´s getting nippy though, and I´ve only got summery shoes & trainers.

We were therefore overjoyed when we got to Sampaka´s and it was a free bar all night. I wondered how on earth V could afford this, as we know she doesn´t make a huge amount of money, and we´re not sure what Marcelo does, but he used to work in a phone shop.

As an interesting aside, outside, getting some air, I spoke to Mario and Carlos, and told them it was because of me that Marcelo had booked this place, and it was great because now lots of local people (about 50 of their friends) would know about it. He hugged me for making it happen (can´t stop that party organising!) but said it´d been hard work preparing (food, drink, cleaning) and they´d have loads of clearing up after.

C said never mind, they´d also have made "mucho dinero", but Mario, smiled, shook his head and told us he´d charged only 300 pesos (50 quid!!!) for this whole fiesta.

I do despair. I have promoted his bar, got it a booking, the fullest it´s been in 5 weeks of opening, and they must have run this night at a loss. However, Mario said he saw it as publicity for the bar, and V later told me they had taken pics of the packed venue with people dancing and having fun for the website they were building, so I consoled myself with the fact they got something else out of it too.

But still - they appear to want to shoot themselves in the foot! I wanted to offer to help sort their marketing strategy out, help publicise it, advise on pricing even (i.e. um...make a profit?!)...but I reminded myself I´m not working in advertising right now, it´s not my market, and my Spanish isn´t good enough! I do hope they are in business in a year though...

Anyway, as I said, it was quiet when we got to Sampaka, and after their EPIC journey, C & Oz Kirsten were spaced out, but like a good Oz girl, K drank through the pain with a brave and resolute "Beer helps".

All the voluntarios were there, except Ali who wasn´t feeling great, which was a shame as it was Tom´s last night.

Sampaka Bar and the lovely Mario. This was taken another night, but what the heck.

All us voluntarios (but no Ali)...from front, John, US Kristen, Finula, Leanna, C, Oz Kristen, Tom & me


Veronica and Marcelo, birthday boy

Norma our Spanish teacher, out of her cast, and her hubby Fernando (aka a Spanish Anthony Hopkins) - Veronica´s lovely folks

Tom was on fine form, regaling us with some tale of a caricaturist who forced him to have his pic drawn. He was now stuck with a rubbish picture of himself, one he never asked for, didn´t want, and that his own mother would struggle to recognise, but he hadn´t had the heart to not pay him the 2 pesos (33p).

C then had the *excellent* idea (not) of running back to our gaff, and grabbing paper and pencil and getting me to draw Tom properly. (I used to paint people´s portraits when I was 16 for spends - I may have to fall back on this if I can´t get a job on my return!)

I smiled and reluctantly agreed; said I´ve become C´s little performing monkey, to be wheeled out at parties, but I was touched when he kissed me and apologised that he only did it because he was so proud of my skills, and a little bit envious too.

I´ve never attempted to draw anyone who is getting drunk, after I´ve had a few beers, in dim and now flashing lights (by now, a dance floor had emerged from the tables being pushed back), surrounded by a crowd of curious friends and others.

No pressure then!

Tom couldn´t keep still so I took a pic of him and worked from that. All I could do under the circumstances. It wasn´t my best, but everyone was impressed enough - no one laughed or squinted at Tom when they looked at it anyway.

I signed it and got everyone to write messages around it as an impromptu leaving card, although I stressed this was not going to happen everytime someone left.



(Later that evening, and visibly moved - or a bit drunk and emotional? - Tom thanked me outside, and said "You´ve got a good heart", which is the loveliest thing to say, but then I reckon *every one* of these volunteers has a good heart...I guess that´s why we´ve all bonded so well regardless of age, nationality or background, a shared wish to make a difference...)

I did chuckle when C & I decided to head at about 3.30am and Leanne implored us not to leave her "with the couples" (the remaining Tom & John & Kristen & Finula were chatting in pairs)...C gently reminded her we were actually the only couple there.

Anyway, to spare everyone´s blushes, I won´t go into much detail about the *real* gossip of Sunday night, safe to say, one of the guys, for all his boy-band good looks, *didn´t* manage to get lucky with his target chica of the evening (if you´re a regular reader this will all make sense), but someone with the gift of the blarney unexpectedly did.
The happy couple

Sunday´s shenanigans

Well, here is how it should have gone: got on coach, home by 7.30, Marcello´s birthday party at Sampaka from 9.30, had a great time, went home 3.30ish.

This is how it actually went: got on coach. 20 mins in, the guy comes to get our tickets. Oz Kirsten can´t find her purse, with the ticket she´d pointedly zipped into a pocket when she´d bought it (having had to purchase a second one on the way up as she´d inexplicably lost the first one seconds before she got on the bus).

Now this is bad, but waaaay worse when you consider it not only contained her cards and cash...but her passport too.

During a frantic search, this is when it dawns on C that he too hasn´t got his passport. He had left it behind reception at the hostel (despite spending an overly long time settling up this morning). DOH!

I did try and reassure a shaken K, that she would be at least able to cancel cards and replace passport, and luckily she was going to be in Posadas for another 3 weeks.

The bus´ next stop was another 20km down the road, during which we decided it was pointless us all paying another 35 peso ticket each (6 quid each bus journey, Kirsten was about to have to buy a 4th ticket on a return trip, and C his 3rd!), so Ali & I carried onto Posadas leaving K & C to head back to the bus station to see if someone had handed in her purse (quelle surprise, they hadn´t), and to get C´s passport.

On the way back, I realised that I´d in fact left my homestay house keys in our room too, so I called C and asked him to pick those up too. I had to eat humble pie a bit as I´d given him such a hard time for being a dozy ****wit, but before he got too smug, I did point that worst case scenario, if I had have left them and he wasn´t going back, I´d have just got some more keys copied in Posadas, no biggie.
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Ooh, a funny aside, on the way back, Ali & I had fits when I pointed out this ramshackle little hut of a shop, which had various handpainted signs all over the walls, advertising its various services, some (but not all) being: birthdays, weddings, baptisms, photos, books of photos, tyres and car servicing. Now *that* is what you call a "slash-person" - photographer/party planner/caterer/priest/mechanic - I can only imagine he´s rubbish at every single one. I couldn´t get a pic as we were whizzing past - bummer.

There´s a lot of shops which seem to show such diverse services. Money is scarce in Posadas, so many people have two or more jobs to make ends meet. V, our co-ordinator not only works for i-to-i but also has a full time job in recruitment for Manpower (God only knows how she fits us all in what with C´s hospital visits, K´s lost passport, getting my parcel from the Post Office, etc, we voluntarios are always needing her for one thing or another). My fruit & veg shop over the road also does car servicing and car washes, the vets are also pet shops (at least, C said, the animals should be well cared-for), and I am particularly intrigued and am trying to organise an evening at the only Chinese restaurant we´ve found, which also appears to do car servicing! I´m wondering if the screwdrivers double as chopsticks, or if they cook in Castrol GTX?! The mind boggles.
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Anyhoo, after a massive "Planes, trains and automobiles" journey (during which time I wandered to a café and did my last post) our two intrepid explorers returned, C triumphant, K, unfortunately not.

They were full of tales of the ineptitude of the local police, not least the fact that whilst K was trying to report her "lost identity", one cop was at once taking down her details and then also MSNing his sister (on webcam, who he got to wave at her), and the other cop offered them some of what they were drinking, which happened to be a huge jug of wine & Coke ("Not cocaine!" they joked. Quite.)
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Marcello´s party was a bit slow to start off, bright lights and everyone sedately sat down, but as with most evenings, it loosened up and we were eventually dancing with our hands in the air and a great time was had by all...

Surprise surprise, I´m being booted off by Flor, so I´ll tell more of that eventful night later...ciao for now...

*PICS ADDED* We´re going Iguazu-zu-zu...

(To the tune of We`re going to the Zoo)

We´re going down Iguazuuuuu tomorrow, zu tomorrow, zu tomorrow
We´re going down Iguazuuuuu tomorrow, zu tomorrow, zu tomorrow
We can stay all day
We´re goin Iguazu-zu-zu
How about you-you-you
You can come too-too-too
We´re goin Iguazu-zu-zu...

C laughed as I sang my silly little song on the bus, and asked what other 37 year old woman would have come up with that song. (Answer: None, I´m unique).

Iguazu Falls are the local must-see in Northern Argentina, with the highest concentration of waterfalls in one area on the planet. They are, at 71 metres, 50% higher than Niagara falls, fact fans.

We checked into the Hostel Inn, late Friday evening after a 7 hour journey. I had been seriously considering the Sheraton Hotel, which apparently looks out onto the falls from every room, then I remembered that C and I don`t have jobs any more...
Hostel Inns are surprisingly good. Basic, clean, with a TV and air con, I likened it (with the orange bedspread) to what I imagined and EasyHotel might be like. I didn`t think I`d like it, but honestly, I would recommend them.

I was a bit tired and grumpy as I´d not eaten for 7 hours (C had chucked our provisions in the hold on the coach...doh!) and could not contemplate the all-you-can-eat buffet at 9.30 at night, plus I was sulking by now, so we tore open the food I`d bought and had an impromptu picnic in our room.

I`m like a Gremlin, feed me regularly and I`m a happy bunny. Without food, I turn into a whiney little girl, and then a stroppy one. Feed me and instantly I´m right as rain again.

We also opened a mini bottle of Moet we`d brought with us, a tiny taste of luxury our good friend (and regular reader - hi!) PK bought us before we left, as it was the only night we´ve had to ourselves since we got here.

She´d given us two bottles to take with us and perk us up when we had a low spot, but I said to C, I´d prefer to drink it with fonder memories. Besides, we`d have drunk them both in the first week if we`d stuck to the original plan.

5 weeks is definitely the longest I´ve gone without drinking champagne I already possess though!

Exhausted after the long journey, after we´d booked our day trip to the Falls and C had a beer, we stayed in and watched ´8 Mile` on the telly and fell asleep, preferring to conserve our energies for the long day ahead and K&A´s arrival.

Rock and roll.
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Saturday: next day, up early, a basic breakfast of hot chocolate and "dulce de leche" on bread, and onto our minibus to Iguazu.

The weather forecast had been for 25º and sunny...but it appears their forecasters are every bit as shite as the British ones. It was a dull, muggy day, which later turned torrential.

And after our boat ride (which did 4 doughnuts underneath the splash of two waterfalls - pretty cool, actually, and quite an experience getting that close to the force of it), I was absolutely drenched. We´d brought dry clothes to change into, but it was a bit public, so I kept my bikini bottoms on. This then meant I was wandering round for ages looking like I´d peed myself, so I had to find a loo and dry off properly under the handdryer.

There are cheaper ways to do the Falls. Don´t do the 120 peso trip. Ali & Oz Kirsten had pretty much the same day (less the boat trip) and paid about 100 pesos less than we did. And you still need to pay 40 pesos in! We were ripped off, but we consoled ourselves that it was only about 20 quid, less than a round of drinks in London, and we´d had a great day.

No point me describing the falls to you - it`s just a lot of water falling off some big rocks, so here are some pics:

Can you see the rainbow?

Big water

More big water

Oh yeah, forgot to mention we saw a TARANTULA when we were in a shop...it fell off the doorframe and a girl screamed as it nearly landed on her. It was about 4 inches across. You can click on any of the pics in this blog and they go big.

That evening, we had a few drinks with Kirsten, Ali and Roshan - a guy we´d met on the boat trip who lives in Acton...(two tube stops from me back home!) and Sam, a lovely guy from North Carolina who was travelling on his own too. Roshan had asked us if we´d seen his mates Andy and Chris from Preston (we`d all shared banter on our boat trip earlier) but they were nowhere to be seen.

Andy & Chris were funny - they told us they were 3 weeks into a year-long trip and had already spent a quarter of the money. Ha!

Anyhoo, we spent a good night chilling, drinking, chatting to random other people and swapping stories, and C & the girls had a bit of a go on the pool and table tennis tables. (I was still smarting from bowling t´other night, so gave it a miss)

Fab table in the hostel where we had dinner

Next day, a little hungover, we four said goodbye to our new buddies, swapped facebook and email contacts and set off home. I`d been hoping to go to the Brazilian side of the falls this morning if the weather turned good (just our luck, it was glorious today...aaaagh!), but we´d heard there was a bus strike on so decided to head back asap, as we had to be back for Marcello´s birthday party that night in Posadas (Bank Holiday Monday...no school again!) and we´d no idea how long it might take.
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C`s just come back from watching the footy, it´s cold and we`re going home, so I`ll post again soon about Sunday´s shenanigans.
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Catch up...week 5...

It´s been ages since I blogged. Sorry about that. We´re supposed to have broadband at our homestay...well, we *do* except Flor is on it all the time, 40% for college work, 60% it seems, for MSNing her mates. She then hovers over you, pointedly, if you manage to jump on briefly to check your emails.

Don´t young people go out and drink in parks any more?!

In frustration, C has virtually given up his blog (don´t worry, mine´s funnier), but in my determination here I am in a crappy internet café (like a common student), on a keyboard with some of the keys faded completely and others with the letters rewritten on bits of paper and stuck on with sellotape.

The place is called ´Cyberrott´, which sounds like a fungal infection to me. C said it sounds like a computer virus...geddit?!).

You have got to admire my dedication to the cause...i.e keeping you amused dear readers - so keep those little messages coming!
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Monday: it chucked it down ALL day, I seriously didn´t know there was that much rain in the sky. Today was meant to be my school´s 75th birthday party. I texted V to check if it was on. She phoned the school and they said they would ´probably´ cancel, in which case I texted V t say I would ´probably´ stay in bed! I texted John & Ali to let them know and had a BIG SLEEP. Couldn´t venture out all day; the rugby we were invited to wouldn´t have been on, but I felt bad we didn´t go to the refugio as C & I had promised the kids we´d be back today. C was meant to start his footy project today, but rain stopped play, again.

Tuesday: back to school. John had slept in (he said his alarm didn´t go off, I reckoned it was a chica...) so Ali & I took 5a alone.

They were really really naughty today. Acting up, running around like proper LOONS.

I put it down to the fact they´d not been in school for 4 days, and probably not even been able to play outside due to the weather (these kids won´t have the luxury of Wiis or X-Boxes) and were a little stir-crazy.

Or it could have been the E-numbers and sugar in the sweets and luminous fizzy pop the kids consume throughout their lessons. I´m not sure the teachers have made a connection between this diet and that nut-nut behaviour, but it´s a bit difficult to enforce a no eating/drinking rule as a voluntary teacher, when the permanent staff don´t seem to give a toss.

Anyway, we started ´Partes del Cuerpo´. Oh how the kids laughed when we got to "bottom" and I had to point at my arse.

Damn John for not being there, I was going to use him for that one.

There was a bizarre break in proceedings when a scruffy random woman was let in (by their form teacher!!!) to start selling Boca souvenirs (presumably for Father´s Day, C said, but *still!* in my class?!?!?) and she hawked her wares, showing off various plaster plaques; horses, ties, horseshoes and football shirts, painted in Boca Juniors´ blue & yellow stripes. How very strange. The kids seemed as bemused as Ali & I were, and, not surprisingly, didn´t buy any of her tat.

BTW They *do* celebrate Father´s Day here (Dia del Papa), but I have searched up and down for a card for weeks. No cards! No card shops! Not even any postcards! Bizarre. I found some truly crappy birthday cards, but they didn´t seem appropriate, so sorry, Dad. Happy Father´s Day!

Back to the lesson. On the plus side, at the end of a difficult class, one of the fat kids who´d given me a hard time in the first week, Geronimo (really bright kid), made me an origami frog that actually hops! And Ali got a homemade bracelet from one of the girls. Cute. I do like 5a, they´re a rewarding class to teach.

6a were much harder work (I don´t like this class so much, there´s a few too many that think they´re too cool, and therefore it´s really hard to reel them all in), but we managed between the 3 of us to get through it.

And we used John´s bum this time.
___

Tuesday evening: TANGO - yay! I like that it´s on Tuesday at it makes me feel closer to my girl-friends back home, who I usually do my regular dance class with. Different dance though!

We´re doing OK, C & I. John & Ali joined us again tonight and new girl Kristen came along. (NB: not KIRsten, who´s the Aussie, KRIsten who´s new and from Florida, Claro?! Bueno. I´ll use their countries of origin in future so you know I´m not misstyping)

As we were 3 girls and 2 boys, we mixed it up a bit and shared the John & C man-love. This did mean that at any one time, one of us chicas was left hovering like a wallflower at a 50´s school prom.

However, that didn´t last long, some of the local men, probably glad of some younger laydees in the room, came over and asked us to dance.

NOT the dashing one with the chiseled cheekbones and fancy footwork, before you get all excited. *He* stuck to a *tiny*, cute, lithe and petite girl of about 19 with the pertest arse ever, wearing a figure-hugging grey towelling tracksuit (John was agog, but C had the grace to pretend not to notice!) who was equally slinky-of hip and fleet of foot.

No, I got an old feller in his 70s, about my height (or shorter) and rotund of frame, who gallantly took me by the hand and asked me to dance.

I thought "Sweet! I might learn a thing or two from this old-timer", and started the ´one, two, three...´ I´d been taught. I didn´t get past the first step.

He appeared to be doing a jig, hopping from one foot to the other very fast whilst wiggling his hips and turning me round and round the floor, motioning that I follow. I had to anyway, to prevent my feet getting trodden on. It was quiet the weirdest dance ever, and I´m convinced it wasn´t Tango!

My next new partner was a man in his late 30s, Martin, who spoke very good English and actually taught us a few new moves. Softly-spoken and studious-looking, he told me he was an actor (I thought), but then Ali said he´d said "architect" to her, which seems more like it.

So we´re making local friends now...I´m really enjoying living here and really not missing the turmoils of London life at all, which is the biggest surprise ever. I always thought I was a London girl through and through.

We went for a drink after (Ali headed home early, but Tom came out to join us). I wasn´t feeling great so had water and a smidge of beer (couldn´t bear the thought of wine!), but we had a good evening chatting about all John´s conquests.

He´s met a local girl called Susannah who even cooked him lunch today, although Tom said he reckoned she was going to be hard work as she only allowed John a kiss on the cheek so far after two ´dates´.

Anyway C told me later he reckons John´s now got the hots for US Kristen.

Honestly, the boy is one big walking hormone! Oh to be 19 again, eh?!

Kristen *is* very pretty in a clean-cut, high-school cheerleader, All-American girl-next-door kinda way. Straight long light brown hair, clear skin, cute little button nose, perfect white teeth.

That´s where the cliché ends though; she´s also funny, self-deprecating, thoughtful and intelligent (Lisa, hon, I´ve found another one!).

She has just completed a degree in Speech Therapy and I was quietly impressed when C told me that she wishes to transfer to his old refuge project as the one she is at is relatively clean and happy (12 kids as opposed to C´s 30 or 40), already has Leanne (the other new voluntaria whose name I´d forgotten when I introduced them a few days ago) and Finula working there, and K felt she could better use her therapy skills with Danny & Walter, the two special needs boys, as well as make more of a difference with the other kids.

C too, is reconsidering going back to the refuge. His time is split between two football projects now, but one, it appears, already has a local coach who has it under control, and C´s role is reduced to that of gopher (fetch balls, stand there as a marker - a job, he pointed out, a plastic cone could do). Not really helping anyone, is it?!

It´s an amazing turnaround (remember how he moaned in the first week?!) and I´m really proud of him, and K, for not taking the easier option.

I think he´s really bonded with, and is missing those kids too.

I suggested he do the one footy project where he *is* of use, and then spend the other 3 days in the refugio. V is cool with that, too.

Wednesday: Really bad tummy ache and didn´t sleep all night, dunno if something I ate, so took the day off. Ali & John took 5b & 6b for ´Partes del cuerpo´ today. Ali came over to get the notes and I went back to bed, slept all day.

Later (10 ish), I was persuaded to go out as it was Tom´s last big night out before we go to Iguazu Falls (C & I & Oz Kirsten & Ali) and Tom finishes this Friday. He´d arranged for bowling. Now I´ve told you before I get all competitive, but I kept a low profile about it.

Just as well. I bowled probably the worst game of my life, finishing 2nd from bottom. C came top. I was SO angry with myself; the last time I bowled (at my emap leaving do) I was the highest scoring girl, with 120-something, so this was *appalling*.

I put it down to not being used to bowling Southern Hemisphere (well, gravity´s upside-down here, innit?). Yeah.

Or more likely, because I wasn´t feeling well, and therefore not drinking.

We went off for an earlyish night whilst Tom, John, US Kristen and Leanne went off to the (in)famous Cristobal.

C told me John had been taking photos of US Kristen´s behind as she was bowling. His courtship rituals are nothing if not subtle. Oz Kristen, Ali and I have started using the word "SUB-TUL!" (pronouncing the ´B´) to when he does stuff like that. Like "Oh! John´s being SUB-TUL again!"

(Should US Kristen read this, John´s cover´s blown. I know Tom´s reading this (Hi!) and finding it funny). Think he´ll not be successful though, she´s 26 and I´m not sure it´s reciprocal. She apparently went home from Cristobal early, so John sloped off and left Tom and Leanne alone together...(woooh! A budding blarney romance! Shame it´s Tom´s last week...and as he pointed out, he came all this way, only to meet an Irish girl...)

Thursday - more torrential rain. No school (again) as they had shut for cleaning; their birthday party had been postponed till tomorrow. John had arranged to come round so he could get some of my pics and I could transfer all his stuff onto a USB stick - Flor hovered over the computer *again* when she came in for our last 15 mins. (Jeez! This is really winding me up! It makes us feel really uncomfortable)

We headed into town for 1pm lunch (in the only place that´s not closed for siesta, the shopping mall) with Ali, Tom and Finula (the other newbie) who´d been in bed with flu all week. John had cancelled his date with Susannah by *text* to join us (I did tell him he should call her, like a man). He said she´s getting "a bit clingy" (after 2 dates!) and she´s "not that pretty" (like US Kristen?!). Ah the fickleness of youth (or is that just men?)

Everyone was knackered Thursday, so we didn´t do anything in the evening. Good to give the old liver a break and I´m still not feeling right or sleeping well.

Friday am: school birthday party. A balloon arc and big banners on approach, it looked so promising, but turned out to be a *lot* of speeches, a police band, a few flag-bearers, a few class songs, it was over in 1.5 hours, and wasn´t really very party-like, but there you go.

A lovely day, really hot, so I think the school missed a trick in not making some money selling fizzy pop, sweets and souvenirs for profit (they do it in the lessons, after all).

And a bouncy castle and coconut shy would have gone down fantastico!

That same morning, C went down to the refugio, and it fair warmed the cockles of my heart to hear later, that he was virtually mobbed by every single kid in there. It took him 5 minutes to get through the door as they shouted his name and reached to grab and touch him. He said he felt like a star. They obviously really missed him, as he did them.

It´s already really upsetting me, the thought of going home and never seeing these kids again, never knowing how their lives turned out. We can´t keep in touch with them; they are largely illiterate and of course will not have access to computers/email, and the staff (when in evidence) are the same in those respects.

I kinda wished I was doing the refugio project now, these kids so need attention and love, but I made my decision to stay at the school for valid reasons, and I can´t chop & change. I can´t wait to go there again though, I´ll work some afternoons in with C if possible whilst we´re here.

That afternoon, C&I packed for our weekend trip to Iguazu Falls (6 hours North, and predicted 25 degrees and sunny, YAY!) this weekend. We´ve taken 2 nights at the Hostel Inn (the idea of a hostel sounded horrid - we´re a bit over dorms! - but I checked the website, it was recommended and I could book us a private room with its own bathroom, so phew!).

Oz Kirsten & Ali are following on the night bus to save a night´s stay (and money), but we quite liked the idea of an evening to ourselves, the first we´ve had since we got here.

I have to head back ´home´ for dinner soon, and I´m nearing 2 hours logged up here, so I´ll do a separate post about our trip, hopefully tomorrow - it´s a Bank Holiday, so no work (again!), although I´m not sure if the cafés will be open.

This may have to keep you going for a bit. Ciao!