Hi all,
My swab was negative so we are all out of quarantine. Thanks for messages of concern.
I am being locked out of peoples emails as a spammer because I put this link onto my signature. If you have not heard from me, and expected to, then please get me unblocked.
Next posting should be more interesting.
Suzette
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
In quarantine ...swine flu?
Hola mi amigos,
I am home obviously, and I am now in official quarantine as it is possible (not probable?) I have the swine flu? All 3 of us travel companions have 'light flu like symptoms' i.e coughs, aches, temp etc. We mixed with the whole of the Americas in BA and also shared hotels with them all over South America. Murray and I specifically for example had along conversation with 3 Mexicans in Chile on the day before the fair, and swapped cards.
I am to be swabbed in the doctor's carpark tomorrow morning once she is robbed up!!
I had the symptom's last week during the agents fair in Auckland, and during our 3 nights of partying, conference dinners, catching buses etc so if I have got it, I have tried my best to pass it on to the world. I friend who is a Principal in Christchurch was staying with us, and also a Principal from Northland travelled in the car with us. I had assured them it was only a funny sounding voice, which it was the first day! Anti=flams, panadeine and coffee and alcohol seemed to cover up most of the symptoms, plus a good dose of adrenaline for my speech.
Keep you posted,
Suzette
I am home obviously, and I am now in official quarantine as it is possible (not probable?) I have the swine flu? All 3 of us travel companions have 'light flu like symptoms' i.e coughs, aches, temp etc. We mixed with the whole of the Americas in BA and also shared hotels with them all over South America. Murray and I specifically for example had along conversation with 3 Mexicans in Chile on the day before the fair, and swapped cards.
I am to be swabbed in the doctor's carpark tomorrow morning once she is robbed up!!
I had the symptom's last week during the agents fair in Auckland, and during our 3 nights of partying, conference dinners, catching buses etc so if I have got it, I have tried my best to pass it on to the world. I friend who is a Principal in Christchurch was staying with us, and also a Principal from Northland travelled in the car with us. I had assured them it was only a funny sounding voice, which it was the first day! Anti=flams, panadeine and coffee and alcohol seemed to cover up most of the symptoms, plus a good dose of adrenaline for my speech.
Keep you posted,
Suzette
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Barking mad!!!!
The last night of any event usually leads to shenanigans in my experience. It is a mixture of exhaustion, relief and the brakes coming off.
We packed up our fair stand and grabbed 2 taxis for the $2 fare because we were too exhausted to even walk that far with our gear.
The first thing to do was drop our bags and go and have farewell drinks and a snack with our helpers, Jazz, Andrea, and Dani. The nice little cafe called La casa en el aire is located down in the Patio area so we went there. Live music plays most nights but we had not taken much notice of the folksy tunes. The cafe is named after a poem by Rafael Escalona M. Worth looking up. Basically I think it means that the poet is dreaming of having 'a house in the air' so then everything would be alright in the world eg world peace, safety etc. If you have better Spanish than me then feel free to correct me!
Anyway, we had nice mini empanadas, (empanadanitos) nachos etc and also got some water on board. After about a million kisses we managed to say goodbye to the crew.
So up to shower and then meet all of the NZers at the Peruvian Place as per the now established tradition.
How long was the night going to be? What epic stories would emerge to grow with the telling and meld with the Clive and the pisco sour story or Kelly and the cat puppet story?
Would anyone do an all nighter and see the sunrise in up San Cristobel?
I have learnt in my old age however, and had very little alcohol in me ( in fact close to zero) despite the 4.30am finish!
It was a fluke, as I had ordered the compulsory (as in the NZERS last night tradition here), triple sized Pisco Sour called a Cathedral (from Peru) but it was so awful I didn't drink it and then ordered a wine which tasted horrible too because of the previous sips of pisco sour, so didn't drink that either.
The story to add to the pack is kinda about dogs. or more specifically barking like a dog.
The cat man came around again, making a nuisance of himself selling cat puppets to the visitors. He is actually very clever and entertaining, and he sells plenty. We had had two years of stories about how many Kelly from Waikato had bought and why etc, so she looked in horror when he appeared, and also seemed to recognise her, 'oh nuevo zelandesca's or something close to that.
I suddenly had a great idea and shared it with the 3 blokes either side of me. As the cat man got closer and closer we caught each other's eye and all of a sudden the 4 of us jumped up explosively and started to bark at the top of our voices at the approaching cat man. It was one of the funniest things to be involved in!!!! Jeannie (Clive's daughter) thought it was the funniest but most embarrassing thing she had seen. This was in a very public place with many diners and other restaurants close by. Had to be there?
Bella Vista is such a great place to hang out in and it took me so many bloody visits to find it!
The whole place was rocking later on at 3am, with rock, jazz, electronic, folk, whatever was your fancy.
Later on that night I was in the jazz place and fell in love. The 2 boys were across the road in the folksy place learning about the revolution and were in heaven by the time I found them around 3am, and the rest of the NZ crew were somewhere else but I found them/tripped up on them at 4am on my way home to bed. They could not believe we had the foresight to stay in such a neighbourhood!
The trip has been great, good company, friggin long hours of travel, but all was good.
I wanted to cry when my coffee didn't come quickly at brekky the next morning, so you can imagine how tired I was.
Hasta manana baby.
We packed up our fair stand and grabbed 2 taxis for the $2 fare because we were too exhausted to even walk that far with our gear.
The first thing to do was drop our bags and go and have farewell drinks and a snack with our helpers, Jazz, Andrea, and Dani. The nice little cafe called La casa en el aire is located down in the Patio area so we went there. Live music plays most nights but we had not taken much notice of the folksy tunes. The cafe is named after a poem by Rafael Escalona M. Worth looking up. Basically I think it means that the poet is dreaming of having 'a house in the air' so then everything would be alright in the world eg world peace, safety etc. If you have better Spanish than me then feel free to correct me!
Anyway, we had nice mini empanadas, (empanadanitos) nachos etc and also got some water on board. After about a million kisses we managed to say goodbye to the crew.
So up to shower and then meet all of the NZers at the Peruvian Place as per the now established tradition.
How long was the night going to be? What epic stories would emerge to grow with the telling and meld with the Clive and the pisco sour story or Kelly and the cat puppet story?
Would anyone do an all nighter and see the sunrise in up San Cristobel?
I have learnt in my old age however, and had very little alcohol in me ( in fact close to zero) despite the 4.30am finish!
It was a fluke, as I had ordered the compulsory (as in the NZERS last night tradition here), triple sized Pisco Sour called a Cathedral (from Peru) but it was so awful I didn't drink it and then ordered a wine which tasted horrible too because of the previous sips of pisco sour, so didn't drink that either.
The story to add to the pack is kinda about dogs. or more specifically barking like a dog.
The cat man came around again, making a nuisance of himself selling cat puppets to the visitors. He is actually very clever and entertaining, and he sells plenty. We had had two years of stories about how many Kelly from Waikato had bought and why etc, so she looked in horror when he appeared, and also seemed to recognise her, 'oh nuevo zelandesca's or something close to that.
I suddenly had a great idea and shared it with the 3 blokes either side of me. As the cat man got closer and closer we caught each other's eye and all of a sudden the 4 of us jumped up explosively and started to bark at the top of our voices at the approaching cat man. It was one of the funniest things to be involved in!!!! Jeannie (Clive's daughter) thought it was the funniest but most embarrassing thing she had seen. This was in a very public place with many diners and other restaurants close by. Had to be there?
Bella Vista is such a great place to hang out in and it took me so many bloody visits to find it!
The whole place was rocking later on at 3am, with rock, jazz, electronic, folk, whatever was your fancy.
Later on that night I was in the jazz place and fell in love. The 2 boys were across the road in the folksy place learning about the revolution and were in heaven by the time I found them around 3am, and the rest of the NZ crew were somewhere else but I found them/tripped up on them at 4am on my way home to bed. They could not believe we had the foresight to stay in such a neighbourhood!
The trip has been great, good company, friggin long hours of travel, but all was good.
I wanted to cry when my coffee didn't come quickly at brekky the next morning, so you can imagine how tired I was.
Hasta manana baby.
Del Patio
Hola amigos de chile,Fui la proxima noche al restaurante Cienfuegos por cena y me gustó mucho.
Comi la conga, sorriento y bombettas, todo gracias a ustedes.
Suzette, sin duda te mirare en la calle.
Saludos,
Jeremy
Hostel that is very central in Mendoza. Private rooms
Hostel Information:
Hostel: Hostel AlamoAddress: Necochea 740 ,Mendoza 5500, ArgentinaTelephone: 0054 261 4295565Email: info@hostelalamo.comWebsite: http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/argentina/mendoza/5005/Directions: Our address is Necochea 740--CIUDAD, in downtown Mendoza. You can walk here from the bus terminal in about 30 minutes—or you can cab-it in about 10 (it should cost about 9 or 10 pesos). Once you arrive in Mendoza, get yourself a map. On this map of Mendoza, locate the main square—Plaza Independencia—then locate the four smaller squares which surround it. We are ½ a block west of one of these squares—Plaza Chile. Between Perú and Belgrano. On Necochea. We’re directly across the street from a huge supermarket—Carrefour—and two buildings away from the Italian Consulate. Look for the big yellow house! We hope to see you soon! Happy and safe travels!!! - see map
Hostel: Hostel AlamoAddress: Necochea 740 ,Mendoza 5500, ArgentinaTelephone: 0054 261 4295565Email: info@hostelalamo.comWebsite: http://www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/argentina/mendoza/5005/Directions: Our address is Necochea 740--CIUDAD, in downtown Mendoza. You can walk here from the bus terminal in about 30 minutes—or you can cab-it in about 10 (it should cost about 9 or 10 pesos). Once you arrive in Mendoza, get yourself a map. On this map of Mendoza, locate the main square—Plaza Independencia—then locate the four smaller squares which surround it. We are ½ a block west of one of these squares—Plaza Chile. Between Perú and Belgrano. On Necochea. We’re directly across the street from a huge supermarket—Carrefour—and two buildings away from the Italian Consulate. Look for the big yellow house! We hope to see you soon! Happy and safe travels!!! - see map
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Mi casa in Bella Vista
Jazz Club around the corner, fantastico!
One very sassy jazz singer, mi gusto.
Standard afternoon tea in BA.
After a hard day visiting agents.
Craig, Murray and Suzette enjoying a delicious meal in Bella Vista.
Showcase 2009 South America
17 days, 5 countries, 6 cities, 10 flights, 1 ferry, 1 bus, 100 taxis, days in airport lounges, 10 agent offices, 100 key people met, 80 students interested.
Bums on seats in 2009? 2010? 2011? New agent relationships established?
Knowledge of how to market on the road increased by %?
Friendships forged.
Suzette's Spanish increased 500% and got us the right food, to the right places.
Dodged the dengue fever outbreak in Argentina successfully, didn't upset the gun toting but texting soldiers on corners.
This trip has been almost 100% work but of course you cannot work 24/7 so a few hours of fun slipped in!
It was nice to work and travel with Jazz, my niece. She is only 17 and independent in South America.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Another work blog cos no time to write a more personal one.
We arrived back into Santiago at 1am and had the Hotel Patio pickup arranged. It felt like coming back home! I smiled at the cleaner and housekeeper next day and said "mi casa" with my hand on my heart. They grinned. Having the least changes between hotels on trip is good for the mental health. Even modest places can feel like home if you stay long enough.
We gave each other a break and said meet around midday the next day. I caught up on all of washing, we wrote and slept. You need these days! Some slept until after midday. Brunch/lunch basically got us to the point of grabbing taxi for the New Zealand Residence in Las Condes. Bronwyn Golder was the host, the wife of the ambassador who was in NZ at the time.
All participants in the fair,and agents and principals were invited, plus any known NZers studying in Santiago.
I nominated the Farmlands crew, plus my niece Jazz who is there for a semester as an English aide/Year 13 students. We had a lovely time, sipping wine on the lawn,and making sure we met everyone. A school group of girls were there from Queen Margaret in Wellington. They are on a 5 week exchange with a sister school. I used to teach with the Principal who was with them so she got a shock.
Always assume there is a reception the night before a fair, or check.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
