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...