The Party´s Over!

Well Reader,

There are several blog entries I have written on paper as internet facilities have been limited here near the jungle. I´ll get them typed up as soon as I can, from somewhere where I can add photos.
This is today´s update though...

It´s only 10am but already the temperature here in Misiones Province, in the Northeast of Argentina is 35.c. It´s hot, humid, full of insects and evidence of poverty is everywhere. Whilst the jungle is immensely rich in biodiversity, most of its nearby human inhabitants are not rich in cash. Although in general there is a higher standard of living in Argentina, with less poverty than many of Latin America´s countries poverty is still rife. The discrepancy between rich and poor is also less than other Latin American nations, but again, it´s still very much apparent.

Colin has headed off to Patagonia today, since I now move on to the last part of my itinerary, the month long orphanage work program I signed up to where I am to use my newly aquired TEFL skills to teach the children some English, as well as help out with "other duties", ominously yet to be defined.

Colin will be nearer the other end of the country in 4 hours time by plane, whilst it will take me 5 hours on the express bus to get to the capital of this province, Posadas this afternoon. I am currently in Iguazu at the very North Eastern tip of the country, where it borders Paraguay and Brazil. We spent a day in Brazil, but I´ll be able to walk over the bridge from Posadas to get to Paraguay, if I want to tick of another country.

Posadas is 300km south west of here, and I am told it´s a couple of degrees cooler. It better be! I´ve booked the bus for the afternoon so I can enjoy the aircon in the hottest part of the day.

I think the project in Posadas is going to be a far cry from the cycling trip, the wines of Mendoza, the buzz of Buenos Aires and the Spanish lessons (and spa!) in Bariloche, and some of the lovely places Colin and I stayed in and visited.I can´t help feeling the party´s over! However I am sure a bit of hard work will do me good after all the holidaying........ it will be great to meet new people and hopefully get a better understanding of the country and a sense of community. And of course I hope to be useful too. We´ll wait and see.

Anyway, as I mentioned it hasn´t been easy to find places to blog from in the last week or so but I will post the entries as soon as I can, along with the all important photos. I did try and start writing the blog updates the other night from this web centre but I found I could not settle to write them here and after I squashed something rather nasty which was crawling up my leg I decided to call it a day. Today there´s a pitiful looking man with no legs sliding along the floor near my PC terminal asking for cash. I feel a little more prepared for such things since I went to Malawi, but I am not immune. Nor should I be.

Anyway, time to head for Posadas...Chao!