bull-pullin' in Guaranda

Saraguro

snoozin'

Saquisili

Plaza San Francisco

chowin' in machachi

Sigsig hat maker

Guaranda shoe shine

cuenca

Train 112

El Boliche

Train to El Boliche

Valhalla

cuenca

roofgrass

Vilcabamba

Pig Head Cilo

Aimee & Shaya

Catacocha

Opium

El Comercio

Bananas

Time

El Tricolor

The heat

Oof. It just got hotter and hotter and more and more humid to the point that it was so heavy that no one in the city could sleep or talk about anything else. And then one night it just exploded, and the wind slammed our windows shut and whipped open the balcony door scattering papers everywhere. Lightning ripped across the sky and, in my half sleep, it felt like the world was going to crack open. The next day it was cooler. And now it's just beautiful again.

Accidental Saturday

Bless you, my son

Here's to the folks!!

Av de Mayo

Av de Mayo

the beat goes on

Fun in Congreso

Winding down the evening at Codigo Pais

The Creole Chicken Issue...

The Creole Chicken Issue has likely been solved, thanks to the investigative mind of Fiorella. Although that pinche guero El Gallo might still argue differently.

The Queen of Folklorica

Four days back in Buenos Aires and another dream comes true.
Mercedes Soza live, out side and free.

Warm spring air, a former hacienda in Constitución, surrounded by city but standing on the grass under a giant tipa tree, the moon shining through the branches, everyone hanging out drinking mate listening to the goddess of Argentine folk.
What more could I want?

It's a communist thing

It's so good to be back in Buenos Aires. For one thing, not only is it legal to walk down the street with a cocktail in your hand, but you can walk into a random business and get one for free! Promotions are taken to a whole new level down here. Campari started setting up yesterday, and this evening we can walk into any of thirty different business and get a free Campari and tonic or Campari and orange. And then walk out. And do it as many times as we want.

So tonight we're gettin drunk for free. On Campari. And everyone wins. The stores win cuz people come in. We win because we get free drinks. And Campari wins when it gets new converts (My new evening drink is Campari and tonic, which – and I don't care what you say – is just a little bit cooler than Lou Reed's gin and tonic). I guess the only ones that don't win are the bars in the neighborhood that are selling fewer drinks.

Aimee and I are already four Camparis into the evening and as soon as Marisa and Lucila get here, we're off for a few more before our big steak dinner.

Ah man, and the Jacarandás are all in bloom, everyone's out at night in our neighborhood, and I just can't imagine it gettin' much better than this.

tb

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Flushed

In case you're wondering - and I bet you have been for a while now - our toilet down here in Argentina flushes in a counter clockwise direction. However, it does this not because of the Coriolis Effect (the effect of the earth's rotation on things like bathwater, which, if applied to a toilet, would cause the water to spin in a clockwise direction in the southern hemisphere), but because the water squirts down the right side of the toilet bowl, forcing the water to spin counter clockwise.

So, over the last few days, rather than relying simply upon the limited sampling of our toilet, I took a few hours to use the bathroom in as many restaurants as possible. Of the 24 restaurants I visited, 7 of the toilets flushed clockwise, while 14 of the toilets flushed in a counterclockwise direction. Two of the restaurants were staffed by assholes who wouldn't let me use the bathroom, and one had a toilet that I couldn't get to flush at all.

My conclusion (unless you all can prove otherwise by flushing and posting) is that the Coriolis Effect has no effect on toilets, which, due to their design by Argentine manufacturers, tend to flush in a counterclockwise direction.

A better test might be the draining of our bath tub, but I imagine it will be harder to test other tubs around town.