bariloche

When Sach and his brother Set arrived, we hadn't actually made any definite plans for travel. We all knew that we either wanted to go to Patagonia or to Iguazu. Since Sach was leaving earlier than Set it was really a decision left to him. After cruising around Buenos Aires hearing that there were no flights available to the Southern part of Argentina, Sach found an English speaking travel agent who was extremely helpful and managed to find us flights to Bariloche and out of Trelew. This of course meant that there was a 15 hour bus ride inbetween the two cities....no problem. So, we bought the tickets and got ready for adventure.

We flew into Bariloche on the 12th of March. At least I think it was that day. We took a cab to the city and wandered around looking for a good place to stay. Eventually, we found this strange, large building that had a certain "Shining" feel to it and had we not been tired and lazy, we probably would have looked for another place. Fortunately, the windows faced the trees and lake and mountains, so Set could do some birding from there.

The first day in Bariloche was really nothing too exciting....a lot of wandering around looking for things to do, or cars to rent, or anything. The city was super touristy and really sucked. We ate at some Gaucho restaurant where Sach chose the Swirled Dick...which is what we called it cuz it really looked like a giant swirled dick. It was so gross, but tasted so good. I think we were all tired from traveling and passed out that night ready to get a car and find something fun to do the next day.

So, Day 2, we got the car, and drove and drove. Sherry and I had introduced the boys to Mate, which is the typical Argentine drink here. I was glad to see that Sach was really into the whole spreading of germs ritual. Set, however, thought the Mate spoon, which is made of some sort of metal, was really fucking hot and didn't like to drink from it. He got over that, thank God.

That day, we drove around and explored some nature and looked for some birds. We stopped at some artisan's shop at one point, because it was on the way to some boat we were planning on taking around the lake. The place was called Rosa Misquito (or something like that) and Sherry thought they would sell food. But she was wrong. They sold lotions and tea made of rosehips. We pretended to be interested in the goods and let the saleslady put lotion on our hands and give us a speech about how it would take away stretch marks. At one point she turned to Set and asked "Would you like to cream yourself, young man?" which made us have to hold in the scream giggles. Set was nice enough to say yes to the women and so he creamed himself....right there and then.

Well, we went on the boat trip...it was ok I guess. But we paid for VIP seats and an English speaking tour guide who ignored us the entire time. There were other wealthy Americans on the boat and he was ready to be their BFF, but not ours. That guy was such a dick.

The next day, we planned on doing the whole nature thing and taking a hike in the mountains. Sach had read up a little on a particular path that was considered "very popular" and convinced us to check out of our hotel, hike for 4 hours, sleep in some secret cabin (refugio) in the middle of the mountain, and hike 4 hours back down. No problem, right?

So, we spent the early part of the day birding, driving, drinking whiskey and eating chocolates. I think we barely ate, which makes this particular adventure kind of ridiculous. At about 3:30pm, we drove to the ski lifts that take you to the top of some huge mountain where you begin your trek. We got off, and saw signs that said that the last ride down was in 20 minutes...which meant that if we wanted to go down, we had to do it then. We didn't. Just kept walking. Down some dirt road.....there were absolutely no trees on the top of the mountain, and although I'm not sure how high it was, it had to be pretty damn high.

We tried to follow some path, but got a little lost at a fork in the road. Sach spoke to some mountain peeps and came back saying the we had to climb to the top of some ridge to find the start of the trail. Also, the men had said that the walk was only about 40 minutes. That was such bullshit. So we climbed to the top of the ridge....and all I could see was rocks and straight down....and some red dots that marked some sort of nonexistent path that we had to follow. I was wearing fucking converse and I was petrified. I don't know if it was the whiskey I had been drinking or the lack of food or what, but I was really dizzy and couldn't even stand up. I started to cry. I knew we had to walk on, but I couldn't. I was so scared. I cried like I never had before. This, of course, freaked Sherry out, who started screaming at Sach about taking us on the trail. But I knew that we had to do it. It was already late and the hike wasn't suppose to be that long. So, Sach said that he would hold my hand and walk me down the first part of the trail.

At this point, Set had gone ahead of us to show us how easy it was, and was standing at the end of the first part of the trek. Sach started walking me, step by careful step while I was blubbering, down the path. On one side of me, there was only down down down and black and the path ahead was narrow and slippery. Half way down the path I could here Sherry screaming "Neshemah come back here. Sach you are an asshole. Fuck all three of you. I am putting my foot down." She was so angry and yet kept trying to walk a few steps towards us and then ran back again screaming even louder and repeating the steps again.

Set stood in front of us looking extremely frustrated about all of this. He started yelling "Sach, leave Neshemah there and go get Sherry." But Sach KNEW that he couldn't leave me there. I would have fainted. So, Set had to come and get me and Sach had to go back and get Sherry. I can't tell you how uncomfortable it is to be crying and covered in your own snot and holding the hand of someone you hardly know. I kept apologizing over and over for the boogers all over my hand and arm and face. Set just looked a little annoyed.

After completing the first leg of the journey, we came to some rocks. Yes, mountain climbing....on rocks... on the edge of a mountain..... what the fuck!

Well, we were all really surprised that Sach had been wrong about the 40 minute part. It turned out that we climbed for 2 hours on the ridge and then over the mountain and straight down for another hour or hour and a half til we finally got to this lake in the middle of the mountain. There was a little green and next to the lake was a cabin.

Sherry likes to call this place Heaven. Because it was. We got there just as the sky fell dark. We were so lucky because we didn't have a flashlight or sleeping bags or anything for camping or hiking and this little piece of Heaven had everything for us.

The Refugio is just a cabin with one man who cooks and cleans and kinda takes care of you, for a price of course. We bought dinner and wine and laughed about our journey there and felt so peaceful. It was definitely Heaven...no other explanation.... and that night we all went to bed in a large room with other travelers, on a large top bunk and started snoring away.....

The next day, we walked down the mountain, which was really easy and beautiful..... still smiling from the night before, we got on a bus and headed for Trelew on the Patagonian coast.

Chuckle My Orto

After 3 weeks with boys, Sherry and I decided to have girls night out. We took a cab to our favorite restaurant in Palermo Hollywood. Wednesdays are 30% off for women only tables. Lomo, wine, sides, and postries came out to 55 pesos. yum yum. Problem: we took laxatives earlier in the night and unfortunately forgot until we were sitting at the dinner table. My tummy started grumbling and after I gave Sherry the ohshit look, she yelled "go to the bathroom!" So, with lomo in my mouth, I ran.

About an hour later and while waiting for someone to give us the check, our neighbors started yelling at the manager of the restaurant. We couldn't quite understand what was happening, but it sounded like there was a hair in their gnocchi. The manager was screaming at them about respecting Argentines and the crowd at the restaurant looked totally stunned. Sherry--I think she was drunk-- started yelling in English "I wish I knew what they were saying, this is awesome!" Sherry wanted to start a brawl of her own by letting the management know that our gellato wasn't the right flavor and I firmly said NO!

We paid soon after the fighting had ended and decided to walk a little of the lomo off. We walked for maybe 10 blocks and the entire way we were harassed. Set had mentioned that men like to stare us down when we walk around, but neither of us had noticed it before. The day that Set left, we decided to take notice of the people around us. Set was so right. Men, young and old, stare at us and give us the love eyes. Well, now we can't avoid noticing. It is starting to freak me out a little and last night, while Sherry and I were walking, men would follow us in their cars and it got so bad that we we had to run and hide in a doorway. At a certain point, Sherry was like "'fuck this" and decided that she would just yell back.

She said:

"chuckle my orto"
"my orto has poo in it....you like that don't you!"
"you wanna chuckle your mom's orto"

BTW--- Choclo del orto means corn hole. Sherry and Sach heard some little shithead kid in Trelew screaming it at some other kids. On a side note, Sherry decided to scream that at everyone she encountered in Trelew including a police officer. When we found out what the phrase meant, I laughed and laughed. Fucking Sherry.

So, Sherry and I decided to take a cab home from Palermo. We got out a block away from our building and walked down our street and in front of our downstairs bar, Dada. The owner was sitting in the window and waved as we passed. I said to Sherry "hey, K Fed just waved." She wanted to go back to see him and stood in the doorway were she noticed my 60 year old looking at her. He then turned his head, spotted me and waved. I screamed to Sherry " Fucking run!" We ran to our doorway....I found the keys....opened the first door....Sherry was behind me....I ran to the second door and opened it with the keys and started running to the elevator. Sherry must have turned back or something because she ended up being locked between the first and second doors. As I was pushing the elevator call button I heard her screaming "Neshemah, come back!" and I turned around and the 60 year old was at the first door pounding loudly over and over again. I opened the second door and freed Sherry who felt like "Monkey in the Middle" and told her to run to the elevator. As we got in, I heard the old man talking with someone outside. I was convinced that he was trying to get in the building to chase me....I was freaking out.

Sherry and I made it safely to our floor and had a couple glasses of whiskey and finished pooing.

i heart poo

Set left yesterday for New York. His departure meant the end of the Sokol Twin Adventures. So sad. We went to Bariloche in the Andes, and Trelew on the Patagonian coast. After Sach left, Set, Sherry and I went to Iguazu Falls and some small town next to marshland. This particular part of the trip was alll planned by Set for the sole purpose of finding "bichos". Well, there are many stories that I need to tell, but I think I need Sherry to help me with this. I just wanted to say that I'm back in BA.

And...Fay, Selenne and Colin will all be here this week. Gonna be awesome.

Oh yeah, a 60 year old man gave me his digits last night. He wants to have "language" lessons and said he'll even pay me. Gross. And Coco, this gay jewelry maker in our local bar, gropped me last night. He said "que linda...blah blah blah" then he hugged me and then his hand started to move to my boob and I freaked out. Sherry hates him now... apparently he was molesting her puddin earlier.

Why I went camping??

A representative of Grupo Alavio at this meeting:

4th Latin American Encounter of Popular Auonomous Organizations

24, 25, 26 February 2006
Lagomar: SAG (Sindicato de Artes Gráficas) holiday camp
Km 21.500 de la Ruta Giannasttassio,
Uruguay.

Dear comrades,
You are invited to the 4th Latin American Encounter of Popular Auonomous Organizations which will take place on 24, 25 and 26 February 2006.

The 1st Encounter took place in Porto Alegre (Brazil) in January 2003, followed by the 2nd in February 2004 in Cochabamba (Bolivia). The 3rd Encounter was in February 2005 in La Plata (Argentina).

The Encounter seeks to be a space to share and spread the experiences of struggle of autonomous social organizations and movements that are not tied to political parties or to institutionalist NGOs. We are class-struggle oriented organizations using libertarian principles of grassroots work, direct democracy and grassroots solidarity. We aim to build unity between all those who struggle and consolidate resistance through the values of our peoples and our cultural traditions, while being at the same time an opportunity to coordinate our activities and strengthen ties for the building of popular power.

Thetheme of the Encounter will once again be "Building Popular Power". The first day of workshops will see general debates on building popular power, while the second day will concentrate mainly on analysing how best to build popular power in each of the areas of struggle.

Contact: com_org_elaopa2006@riseup.net
Tel: 507 9538 (Centro Social "El Galpón de Corrales")
If you would like to receive news about previous Encounters, please write to us by e-mail.

PROGRAMME OF THE 4TH ELAOPA

Friday 24th February 2006

Welcoming delegates of participating organizations and social movement and registration.
7.00pm - Video showing and/or debate - to be confirmed

Saturday 25th February 2006

9.00am - Final registration
10.00-12.00am - Opening session
Presentation of participating organizations and approval of the timetable of events, themes for discussion and methodology of the Encounter

2.00-6.00pm - Workshops
Theme of workshops: "Building Popular Power"
The final document produced by the 3rd Encounter will serve as a basis for discussion. Additions, contributions and input to the debate should be circulated beforehand.

6.00pm - Further activities
Debates, video showings, roundtables (proposals to be confirmed, requests are welcome).

10.00pm - Entertainment and dinner

Sunday 26th February 2006

9.00-12.00am - Workshops
Theme of the workshops: "How to build popular power in each area of struggle".
Workshops will be divided into several areas:
Human rights: Impunity and historical memory - political prisoners and the criminalization of protest/poverty
Labour: The labour movement - class tendencies - recuperated factories
Local: Neighbourhood organizations and community work - Unemployment - Community radios
Students: The student movement and the popolar movements - autonomy and co-management
Land & Natural Resources: Land and Production - Privatizing Natural Resources.
2.00pm - Closing session
The closing session of the Encounter will deal with:

Summary of the Encounter
Coordinating activities between Encounters
Aims and venue of the next Encounter.
Translation by www.anarkismo.net

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Spanish translation
by nestor - Anarkismo Monday, Feb 20 2006, 4:19pm

This article in Castellano:

http://www.anarkismo.net/newswire.php?story_id=2289

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Haedo Protest Photos

Here is a little background information about the reason behind the protest that Sherry and I attended:


A riot triggered by the suspension of a train service has left more than 20 people injured in an Argentine suburb.
(online media source...you'll have to excuse me, i can't find the link)

Passengers and masked demonstrators set fire to their train after being told it would not leave Haedo station, about 15km (nine miles) west of Buenos Aires.

Six police officers were among those injured during the five-hour rioting. More than 80 people were arrested.

The clashes come as the city prepares for the Americas summit, which will be attended by George Bush among others.

The Argentine authorities said they believed the incident had been instigated by members of the railway unions and leftist groups.

'Planned'

Violence broke out after officials of private rail company TBA announced to the nearly 2,000 travellers on board the train that it would not leave the station due to technical problems.

The passengers had already been held at Haedo station for about 50 minutes.

Witnesses said that the passengers got off the train and, joined by dozens of people wearing masks, began to hurl rocks at the train, breaking windows.

The masked demonstrators also set fire to several train carriages and a police vehicle. Nearby stores were destroyed by the flames.

Police officers used rubber bullets to contain the violence.

"This was planned, these were armed groups," said Interior Minister Anibal Fernandez.

Correspondents say the incident was one of the worst in the country since the street rioting seen during Argentina's economic collapse four years ago.

-----

It turns out that quite a few people were arrested at the riot (some people had nothing to do with it at all) and have not been released. They, in turn, have become social and political prisoners in a democratic nation. It is horrible that 30 years after dictatorship that political prisoners still exist.

Sherry and I went with Grupo Alavio to document to protest through video and photography. Grupo Alavio mainly documents events at the request of the organization involved. They are historians and journalists rather than activists. Sherry and I (using 2 different cameras) took photographs of the events for articles and the documentary stills.

Here are a few of them (There are many more...and many of them are much better quality, but uploading is such a pain):

pictures from my weekend camping

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hvsd17h.18sgjc3h&x=0&y=b4fxr1

You'll have to cut and paste them.

Montevideo ones will soon follow.

Also, some lovely ones from a protest here in BA, at a train station

Lupa's Father

Some people are capable of amazing work.

http://giam.homelinux.org/

(using a mac so i can't do the link thing)

NO SEXO

Thanks to my new friend Lupa, I now know all of the phrases that will either get you into bed or are an attempt at getting you into bed.

I am going to list them- minus accents or beginning question/exclamation marks.

Here goes:

Estoy aburrida. Vamos a un lugar mas tranquila?

Que lindos ojos que tenes.

Vamos a revolcarmos a la playa?

vamos a coger!

Vamos a un lugar a solas?

" La lengua es el organo que algunos degeverados usar para hablar."- this one is a joke. plus I'm not sure if I am spelling everything correctly because Lupa's handwriting is sometimes hard to read (LUPA, correct me if I'm wrong)

Vamos a chocar los meones!-- something about hitting our privates together. Gross huh?

So there you are. A very important Spanish Lesson.

---> and I have beautiful pictures from Montevideo and my weekend camping. Next Next Next.