Brazilian invasion

It's August already?! Well now that July is over, the flood of Brazilians learning Spanish at the school has officially tapered off... back to work, school, the beach, or whatever it is that they do. In fact I only have 2 1/2 weeks of classes left at COINED... the time is flying by.

Anyway, the school tripled in size during the month of July -- the stories about Argentina being invaded during the Brazilian winter vacation weeks (all of July) were true. I ran the numbers one week and figured they were clearing $30k USD in one week... adjust it for buying power in Argentina and it's like making $100 grand in a single week!!

The downside is that a few weeks ago, it was so packed / disorganized / ridiculous that we started classes 1 hour late, had to go to a restaurant across the street because the school was overbooked, and my particular class had 8 students (when 7 is the supposed max). Naturally quite a few people threw a fit about it... it was a pretty insane week.

In compensation, I got two days of free private lessons (4 hrs total) to make up for the firedrill that week. Which I was happy with... 7 hrs of Spanish classes per day is a bit over the top for me. Not to mention when you leave, the city/country is your lab so there's no real break from it all. Anyhow, the majority of my time at COINED was mostly a class with a lot of Brazilians (the professor, a Russian, and I were the only non-Brasileños). This is a photo of the class. We'll all be finished by Aug 17. And then....

I'm "mounting an expedition" to Paraguay, en route to the Iguazú waterfalls on the Argentina/Paraguay/Brazil border, for a week or so. Apparently there is such high demand to go to Paraguay that they make Americans get a visa for $45 (one time) or $65 (life of the passport) to enter the country. Hmmmm, could the real reason be that it's just a money grab? Ah well, Brazil's requirements are even worse!

NORMALLY I would have gone to Brazil but their State Dept is having a spat with the USA State Dept, so.... Brazil requires $100 for a 30 day visa (or maybe 90 days, there's no logic to it as I'm told), copies of my bank accounts to prove I won't work (yeah right, who hands over THAT kind of info to Brazil?!!), proof that I have "onward travel plans", fingerprints (seriously! then they just throw them out) and probably dental records and references from my priest/pastor/rabbi/grandma. Ah well, I guess Brazil is teaching American tourists a lesson by refusing 100s to 1000s of $$$ from them in order to win a Phyrric victory of sorts (Google it). Anyway, it explains a lot as to why a country so rich in resources, great weather, food, an educated work force, large population, etc, etc, isn't the world super power that one would expect. So Paraguay, here I come!

I'll wrap this up while talking about July 20 in Argentina... "El Día del Amigo". Apparently every single day in Argentina is "día de something"... kids, dogs, firemen, workers on strike, etc, etc. Basically it's another excuse for a dinner party. I went over to Marta's place (who I rented an apt from, back in 2004). The one in the photo is a different apt because she's renting out the other one to some Americans... real estate sales/rentals to foreigners in this town is a whole subject in itself, some day maybe I'll discuss it. The short of it is that the locals can rent out apts for 3x - 4x of what they could get locally, so it's a huge business opportunity. OK, back on topic...

So, dinner went well towards 2am or so, this IS Argentina, afterall! The night ends with everyone sitting around yapping and sipping "mate". Mate is the odd tea-like conconction that is sipped out of a drug-paraphelia-looking-gourd-bowl-thing with slight overtones of musty socks and subtle hints of barnyard hay. OK, it's not half bad but it's definitely DIFFERENT.