Mud, Monedas, Music and Nicknames

I just got back from La Juanita. It's raining, and that's not supposed to change for the next couple of days. One issue in La Juanita is that there aren't sewers, just drainage channels, and a lot of the streets and sidewalks aren't paved yet. That's to say it's a good deal less pleasant when it's raining, especially when you consider raw sewage combining with storm water above ground, and then exceeding the capacity of the drainage ditch. This same combination occurs underground in the US, NYC especially, but we don't have to really deal with the consequence - unless you live near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn or some similar aquatic delight. Anyway, it's not that bad near the coop, but... shit happens.

Monedas-there is some issue with a national shortage of coins (monedas) or something like that. So it's hard to get coins, but that's the only way to pay for the bus. 

Ohh and the buses are such a trip! It's like Xhibit came to Argentina and pimped everyone's bus ride (reference to a bad MTV show). I just learned that all the bus lines are operated by different companies, so maybe it's to attract riders? I'm talking blue/pink/green neon interior lights, little shrines to the Virgin by the windshield, chrome wheels, embroidered curtains, glittery lettering with the crazy font a lot of people use for their tattoos... why would you take a normal bus if you could throw your monedas in that machine? It kind of threw me back to the glory days of having blue flame NOS floor mats in my '89 Corolla, the first thing I bought for that beauty. It couldn't shift into 2nd gear, but with those floor mats, who even cared?

It's kind of driving me crazy that I don't have any of my music at this point. Sometimes there's just a random song that I really want to hear. Otherwise though, I'm perfectly set thanks to my decade-long obsession with Latin music.... and plenty other things Latino, but that's neither here nor there. As fate would have it, there is a lot of Latin music here. Argentina's favorites seem to be Regaeton, which somehow never gets to be too much, and Cumbia, which is different everywhere you go but always has the same chh chh chh, chh chh chh beat. I've yet to see Tango, not because it's not around (because it's everywhere) but because... I don't know why. I will this week though, because another friend is coming to from NY to stay with Kenj and me, so we'll be doing all the fun must-do things that I've been too cool for until now.

I was sleeping at Alejandra's this morning after the bakery shift ended when torrents of rain started pounding down on the tin roof above us. At first it sounded like I was in a dryer machine so it woke me up, but that's the kind of ambient noise that plunges me into a sleep so deep you could think I had died. So that's exactly what happened. Then I started dreaming, and it was one of those deep, intense dreams when what is happening around me becomes a part of the dream rather than waking me up. I forget what the dream evolved into, but I woke up, gradually, to 3 people on top of me - Ale's son, Brandon, drumming on my back and drooling, and Ale and her mom both standing over me to grab him off and let me sleep, haha. It was a good wake up call.

Man, I always talk about Ale because she's the shit, and she was killing me again last night because she was sick, throwing up and feeling horrible, and she still came to work all night even though she hadn't slept all day. I've always been obsessed with tough chicks, especially because the tough girls I know are  ten times harder than tough guys. But last night, it was our other companion, Raul, who had the spotlight. Ale and I always take breaks outside to cool down, but Raul works like a horse all night, keeping us on schedule. We were talking about the Paco situation (a new cocaine derivative but it's bad enough to kill people in 6 months) and Raul loved the conversation, and said he had plenty of stories.

To explain Raul a bit first - he's a hell of a nice guy. He knows a lot about baking somehow, and has brought all kinds of awesome ideas for new, high quality but incredibly cheap products, and he's just a cool, warm, friendly guy. He started on about when he was a teenager, started with a lot of different drugs, ended up living in the street for a decade, moved to a province far away, with a lot of snakes, and got his life back together (a painfully miserable process), and now he's just Raul from the bakery. You would never think this guy had a crazy story like that - he doesn't have that used-up look on his face most others tend to get, and is just so... sanguine about everything. 

Stories are my favorite part of traveling, and maybe one of my favorite parts of life. You make plenty of your own stories traveling, but I mean that I like hearing other peoples' stories because they are always so much more interesting than anything I would have to say! It's the most fascinating way to learn little life lessons, through someone else's story. It's amazing when I think about little inspiring things that I've picked up from people, whether it's family or someone that leaves my life as quickly as they entered, people have so many interesting thoughts! Sure, most of it is bullshit, but that's why I like talking to people, because the more I hear, the more I'm bound to come across something new and useful. This guy Sean, for instance, I met him in Rio. He's British, a hell of an interesting kid on a cool trip (him and his friend, both 18, had just set out for a year to go around the world... every continent, the first time they've left home) who I was sight seeing with one day. We had just gotten kicked out of a church, and were bitching about it. We were somewhat on the same wave-length, and he goes on to say, I don't give two shits about religion, but I have to respect it, because how can I just disregard something that gives so much hope and passion to millions of people around the world? I was a little shocked because when I was 18 I would have never considered something that deep! 

On that note, I'm going to go make some dinner, maybe drink some beer, and get ready to, most likely, have the day off tomorrow because we can't work at the farm when it rains. 

Chau gente