Chasing Waterfalls

  When TLC first told me not to chase waterfalls as a youngster I vowed to myself that I would follow their fool-proof advice. However things change and I soon found myself in Northern Argentina staring at 'La Garganta del Diablo' (The Devil's Throat), the most impressive natural feature that I have ever seen. For the first time in a long-while I was speechless for a reason other than a failed retrieval of Spanish vocabulary. The showcase piece of the Cataratas de Iguazu blew me away on the spot as the devilish spit of the waterfalls flew into my face.

  From the moment I arrived in this country, the waterfalls in Iguazu had been sat firmly at the top of my tourist to-do list. The National Park that ties the two South American powerhouses of Argentina and Brazil is a world renowned phenomenon, but I had met very few people that had actually been. So when I got a few days off work to leave the country and renew my tourist VISA, the choice of destination was very simple. 

  Even the prospect of a 19 hour bus trip each-way did little to flicker my enthusiasm and before I knew it I was sat on the coach, with my mate Ed, watching a Spanish dubbed version of the Eddie the Eagle movie (strange choice to say the least). I fell asleep after a 7/10 coach meal of Milanesa (obviously) and awoke to a new window view of red dirt roads and tropical rainforest. This is what I was talking about. 

Dancing In The Wind

  Picture the scene. I am stood in a tarpaulin tent with rain lashing down outside and the hurricane winds lifting the sides up and letting the hellish conditions pollute my temporary dance studio. One child is attempting to hug the stranded, flea-ridden mut that is known as 'Dead Dog'. Another is stamping against the temporary flooring letting in a flood of muddy water. The rest are looking towards their councillor for inspiration. The councillor in question was me, and I was trying to conjure up a dance routine that would suitably pass as a 'punk-rock' edition of Hakuna Matata.

  Welcome to camp.

'Team Jack' about to perform the
Circle of Life set with my
'choreography'

  This was my last group out of four, having already worked me and three other groups of 11 year olds through Circle of Life (Jazz style), Just Can't Wait To Be King (Hip-Hop) and Can You Feel The Love Tonight (Opera). In case you hadn't already noticed we were preparing for a production of The Lion King, which would uniquely incorporate a variety of dancing styles. In charge of this was a man with only two years of dancing experience in a 'street dance' group called 'Dance Dudes' between the ages of 8 and 10. If we add this to years of drunken nightclub dancing then we have quite a resumé - but that didn't quite suffice to 35 eleven year old Argentinean kids.

  I was one of six councillors working on the Lights, Camera, Action English immersion camp with a theme of musicals. As you can imagine I wasn't necessarily picked for my suitability to the theme, but pretty much at random in the line of poor sods that had to spend 3/4 days entertaining a group of school-kids. In this case it was an epic four-dayer, the longest camp provided by the company, and with a theme that had never been done before. If being called for a camp was like jury-duty, I'd been handed a complicated fraud case.

Just Argentinean Things...

  As you've probably gathered by now weird things tend to happen here that aren't normal. Big things and little things that I experience or see that just don't tick in my head. The problem is that I've been here nearly two months now and I'm becoming immune to it. Such is this that things pass by without me thinking 'oh my God I need to write about this', but that doesn't stop them being weird. It was only when I looked back at my most recent weekend, for example, that it struck me that a few un-normal things happened.

Just pick your roast chicken off
a stick and you have your
 Friday night dinner.

  I'm going to write this article with a key, so after something that may be construed as 'Argentinean Things' I'm going to put (AT). So just keep that in mind, let's go...

  With a busy couple of weeks coming up with trips to Buenos Aires and Iguazu sandwiching my first camp as a councillor, I decided to spend the weekend at home with my host family. After some basketball and football fun (half player/half referee) with the kids, I went with the host Mum Tatiana to pick up dinner. This was just like home, chilled Friday evening going to the chippy to pick up dinner. Except the chippy here does not sell fish but a whole roast chicken (AT) to accompany your chips (which are the same chips as 'fish and chip' chips). I speculated to myself that this shop would be very busy on Sundays back at home - a quick way to acquire the star of your roast dinner.

Language Barrier 101

  Immediately this article might seem odd. I'm a university student studying Spanish for the seventh year of my life. To the untrained eye that equals sublime fluency and basically a Latin citizenship, but other language students will understand otherwise. This little guide to what I've experienced so far is aimed at all people, from those around the world in similar situations to those who ask us to 'say something in Spanish' in the middle of a nightclub. A learning curve for all.

  It all started as I strolled up to the immigration officer at Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Buenos Aires. I was confident and I had that 'yeah I'm starting my Year Abroad come at me' swagger going on.* I threw in a few of the 'Si' and 'Gracias' so this guy knew I wasn't just a tourist, I was here for business. It clearly worked as I was quickly struck with a sharp:

"Hablas castellano?" 

This was what I wanted, time to shine...

"Si si mas o menos, lo estudio a universidad" *God I'm good I bet that impressed him*

  I was greeted with what can only be described as the equivalent of riding Stealth at Thorpe Park in Spanish listening. Holy s**t. Not only did this dude launch a hurricane of palabras my way but he was speaking with a thick Argentinean accent. For anyone that (like me at the time) didn't realise the extent of the difference between Spanish and Argentinean Castellano - it's really different. I very quickly crept back into my little British shell...

"Hablas ingles..."