Constitucion building of Congress. A very impressive and imposing structure. All parts were imported from Europe for it to be built.
Don't piss these guys off, they mean business!!!!! Policia Federal Argentina.

WHERES WALLY????? A street graffiti stencil.

This is my first blog since I have been in Sth America. Buenos Aires is a wonderful, crazy, magic, surprising, weird city. It has huge apartment buildings. Today, we saw a house on top of one. Yes, a house. It was at least twenty stories up on the roof. The reason why? Because a rich business owner in the past wanted to have his siesta close by to where he worked. 'So hey, lets put it up here' he said. And they did.

It is very different to Melbourne. For instance, people don't use bins, they just throw their rubbish on the ground. This is because the bins are already overflowing with rubbish. I saw a rat last night, and it was the biggest rat I've seen.

The free city tours have been great, learning the history of some of Argentina's most powerful people. I can't remember the names as there are so many. Argentinian's are very patriotic people. On every building there is a flag and in every shop there are flags. On cars there are flags. some checkout attendants even have flags on their uniforms. It is a lot different from what I'm used to.

It is that difference that I am enjoying the most. Being able to see something that I'm not used to is, honestly, a little nerve racking, but it is exciting and an adventure at the same time. The food, culture, language, they are all new to me and I'm loving it. I had a 'Super Pancho' today. It's a hotdog with mayonaise, salad and then....chips. Potato chips on top as a garnish. I don't know who invented it, but they certainly weren't thinking of cardio-vascular disease at the time!!!!

How do they taste? Great!!!!!

I will go now, and try to upload some photos of today's tour, and try to remember their names.

Bye for now, James.

Some photos

Land at last!

Some sights we have seen on a city tour with bafreetours.com. Sol was a wonderful tour guide!

The pace of life in the city. A professional Dog Walker.

A view down 9 de Jullio Av. to the Obeliske

Recoletta church.

Dinner with a fellow Aussie on his last night in South America.

The atmosphere at dinner

And a little taste of our hostel...

The stairs at our hotel... What with the hours of walking we have done and the up and down these stairs multiple times we are likely to get fit quick!

A gorgeous mural, as seen from the balcony outside our room.

The first 48 horus

We traveled through a day and a night, back to the morning where we started, 12295 kilometers away. I always imagined we would fly right over the pacific, just North of New Zealand, straight over Santiago  to Buenos Aires. No matter how well you know and believe something, it isn't meaningful until its applied. I have looked at map after map of the world, yet never anticipated the rout we would take, as I never pictured the earth being round, even though it's something I inherently know. So we flew by the coast of Antarctica, then over Tierra del Fuego and over the Southern most parts of South America to Buenos Aires.

We walked through Buenos Aires in a daze, attempting to orientate ourselves before realising that was impossible due to the city being so large, 13 million residents, more than half the population of Australia in a single city. We eventually conceded defeat at around 3pm and after a very decent feed at a cafe opposite our hostel we fell into bed, hoping to sleep until morning. I woke around 7pm, convinced it was morning already, but soon fell back to sleep. Again I woke at 10:30pm, with the realisation that the hostel must be located adjacent to a Comedy Club of some sort, according to the roaring laughter of an obviously large crowd.

At around midnight I thought I was about to die. I woke with a start to what I automatically thought was the building exploding around me, I'm sure James has bruises from where I grabbed him, though he was just as terrified. It is amazing how easy it is to assume the worst when your surrounded by the unknown, listening for screams and sirens we realised that it was only thunder. Perhaps the loudest thunder that I have ever heard, but thunder all the same. The night proceeded with a spectacular storm, which we managed to sleep through, and it rained for the whole morning.

It has been everything and nothing like we have imagined it to be. Inside the hostel is a piece of paradise, clean, friendly, comfortable. And I must admit that so far we have stayed in more than we have been out. Heading out the ornate locked door of the hostel, look to the left and you see a narrow car lined laneway, to the right a small family sleeping on a large mattress, with the above scaffolding providing shelter from the rain...

The architecture is beautiful, just stunning. Today we saw the Congressional Plaza, a beautiful monument about 3 stories tall, flanked by amazing statues, yet we couldn't get too close as it was surrounded by a cold, high, fence. I wondered why this was cut off so nothing except stray cats and mangy pigeons could enjoy its close up beauty.

We walked further on, to the Plaza Miserere, where there was another beautiful statue, this time not caged. This was covered in graffiti, nothing inspiration or beautiful as some graffiti can be, but disrespectful, words we couldn't understand but I have no doubt they had little meaning anyway.

Soon we will head out on a free guided tour of the more wealthy neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires... Photos to come!

A couple of photos

Just a few of the people who we will miss (and send postcards to!)

Thanks for a lovely day today

Weary World Wanderers

A beautiful poem written by our dear friend Kirsti and performed at our going away picnic today...

Weary world wanderers

take these eyes

and shackle them to adventure

tackle the earths moonscape

for all of your forevers

surrender

to the sea

and please remember me

When all the sunsets are just too beautiful

when all the mountains are impossibly high

when love is too great a journey to roam

I pray, always, for your safe return

and I pray that your heart will not return home

Mold your headscape on dancers in costumes too bright

and your darkness on fireflies speeding the night

and birds of wild colours aiding you in your flight

so far from here my friends

and look in the eyes of all people, the same

know these eyes will be waiting when you come home again

but drink their forgiveness out the font of the earth

it's a kaleidoscope planet that you both deserve

And hold each others hands

when the road is to steep

when the holes in your knowing

match your sore blistered feet

when the world is not easy

when the twilights are cold

when you feel so much younger

than your ages once hold

Let your hearts be the sunset

and your passion the plane

let the quest and the end point be one and the same

let samba and rhythm wriggle down

to your pinkie toe

be shackled to adventure no matter where you might roam

Till we make our new adventures

when you one day

come home.

Everybody Dance!

That's the name of the song I'm listening to at the moment as I write this.

I finished work yesterday, and I was very saddened to say goodbye to a lot of great people. I have had a wonderful journey with them, learning something new everyday and having a great and fun filled time doing so.

Well, it is only 9 sleeps to go before our epic trip to the other side of the world, and I'm looking forward to it! I wish I was there already. It's very strange to know that I'll be so far from everyone, everything, for so long. No normal for us I'm afraid. Living out of a backpack will be exciting.

I really wish there were photos to put up now, but there will be some put up next weekend, from our going away party(ALL WELCOME).

I'll leave now, and Ill post something up new next week. Brenna might post something during the week, we'll see.

Good bye for now,

James.

Fortnight!

2 Weeks. That's all that's left before me and my wonderful wife go flying over the great blue yonder. I'm so nervous but also filled with a great excitement that I can't explain. It's like waiting for Christmas day when your a little kid. You know your getting something, but you have no idea what it's going to be. I had my last day with the 'boys' at work. My fantastic colleagues arranged for a card to be signed by all of them. I really appreciate the time I have had with all of them, because everyone has given me at least one life lesson. There is just so much you can learn from your elders. You just have to listen.

I have only three more days left to work. Then I will be off paid employment for probably a full year. This I look forward too, but I am also very weary of this, as it is a comfort to be able to go and see familiar faces that you know and trust. When I go away all of this will be turned upside down.

But I take this as a challenge. I know that I'll adjust pretty ok to a back packers, couch surfers and or hippy lifestyle. Hey, maybe I'll get dreadlocks too!...................Well, only if Brenna allows it.

Bye for now, James.

The Last Days

This time in 2 weeks we will be preparing to land in Buenos Aries, a whole world away. I would like to say all that I am feeling is excitement, but there is a lot more than that. This intense excitement isn't new, but the huge anxiety that goes with it is... The thoughts that are coming with each everyday, mundane task that I carry out put a little knot of worry somewhere in my chest, 'this may be the last time in a year that I fill a car with petrol'... 'it'll be a long time before I mow another lawn'... all make me a little more nervous than before, a little more out of my comfort zone, in over my head, but I suppose that is partly the purpose of this trip. To feel things and face challenges that I have never even comprehended before, to make my world view a little bit broader, slightly more valid.

The thought of the actual leaving fills me with jitters. Thinking of giving my parents a hug goodbye brings me to tears, while imagining handing over my boarding pass and walking onto the airplane makes my head spin with excitement.

There are so many things I will miss, things I will indulge in before we depart, things that I usually take for granted... buttery Vegemite toast, warbling magpies, mums cooking, walks in the hills, Cadbury chocolate, spotting possums at night, knowing that I'm safe.

As always, all of these feelings, even the nerves, make me look forward even more to the next little chapter in our story.

-Brenna

Not long now!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is my first entry into this blog. I am extremly excited to be going away with my wife Brenna in a few weeks. There are only 24 days left before we fly out to Buenos Aires, Argentina. I'm going to miss my family very much, I still havn't thought about it too much. I guess It'll hit home once I'm really gone. I'm really looking forward to the great adventure I'll have, seeing the Amazon rainforrest, Machu Picchu, the Andes, the Carribean, toucans and macaws, llamas, medievil buildings. It hasn't sunk in yet. I don't know any different from Australia. It's a bit scary. I'll just have to take every day as it comes. Anyway it's quite late, 03:15 am, I better be off. Ta Ta for now.................. JAMES.