I think I had a mini stroke today. Woke up pretty early. Around 10. I really need to get an alarm clock – can’t figure out how to
get my phone onto Argentina time so I can’t use the alarm right now. Decided to
try my luck at the Brazil Consulate, despite the fact that I don’t actually
have an appointment until January 9.
It was horrendously hot. The one thing that saved me was the
occasional water shower from above as people watered their plants. This happens
all the time. In fact, it’s hard to walk anywhere without getting dripped on at
least once. I’ve been noticing that pretty much everyone has tattoos. I was
surprised at how many women have them. Usually it’s just a small doodle on the
back of their neck or shoulder blade… a lot of them squiggly and uneven, like
an amateur did it at home with a wood burner. Everyone smokes too. And you can
smoke anywhere, even inside. Crazy!
I read in a blog that it was located alongside the very wide
Ave 9 de Julio highway that runs all down the center of the city. So I figured
I’d just keep walking down it until I saw a Brazil flag. After getting lost for
a bit and going to the “other” Consulate (the one for locals I think), I
finally found the right building. I walked in and saw several young friendly
looking attendants at the windows. Awesome!! Maybe they will be more lenient
with the rules, I thought. The security guard pointed me over to line 5 which
had no one in it. That was kind of weird to me because all the other lines were
half full. An old, slumped over lady with a fresh perm shuffled up to the window. No smile, no hello, no nothing. I showed her my
documents. “Appointment?” She growled. “No senora, por favor…” she cut me off
with a tirade of Spanish, flinging my passport back at me underneath the
window. I think she was saying something about Americans just thinking they can
walk in without an appointment, as she jabbed her gnarled index finger at the
“United States” lettering on my passport.
Ok, I’ll admit it. I shed a tear or two after I exited the building. It was just really
disappointing to me as it throws off my Brazil itinerary a lot. But,
there’s nothing I can do about it so, I am trying to follow my own advice:
don’t stress over things that are out of your control. So I went for a walk to
clear my head. Drank an ice-cold pompelo soda – incredibly refreshing! My new favorite! And only 30 cents too.
Took a cab over to Puerto Madero so I could book a ferry to
Uruguay that evening. Normally it only costs $50, but since it was high season
and all they had left was 1st class, I had to pay $100. The ferry
was to depart the harbor at midnight. Whew…. Gonna be a loooooong day. I did a
little self-guided walking tour around the port. It reminded me a lot of San
Francisco’s embarcadero, except without all the smelly crabs everywhere.
It was more elegant. There were 2 pirate ships to admire, and a white walking
bridge with what looked like a giant Carnival Cruise fin sticking out of it. The
sun was beating down on me, so I got a cab back to the hostel. It’s practically
impossible to hail a cab within a mile of the port, because they are always
full of passengers going to and from.
I was really craving something fresh to eat. Maybe an ensalada! Tomatoes, cucumber,
and sweet onion from the market seemed perfect. A can of tuna and some cheap
“mayonesa” went into the basket as well. A lot of Spanish words sound better
then in English, and mayonesa is one of them. I hate the word mayonnaise. When
I got back to the hostel, this curious little wiry guy from Chile was cooking up a dinner of rice and squash. He was the epitome of hippie,
with some baggy linen pantalones, a wiry wispy beard, long hair, and a piece of
jade hanging round his neck by some twine. I told him he was very healthy. He said he is vegan and “holistic”, whatever that meant. I explained to him that my mom is also “holistic” - she doesn’t believe in hospitals or antibiotics. His eyes bugged out. “Ooooohhhh! No ant-ee-beeyotics!!!!!” He exclaimed. I guess he’s really passionate about that. I told him she is into herbals. He nodded his head knowingly and smiled. "Aahhh, herbals, siiii." He probably thinks my mom runs a dispensary.
The tomato/cucumber/onion salad was amazing. The tuna…. Not
so much. It was like tuna soup. The more
I strained it, the more tuna shards went down the drain. So I had to eat it
like that. I tried to give the Chilean boy half my onion to put in his rice and squash stew, but he
backed away with wide eyes. “No!! No ant-ee-beeyotics!!!” It’s just an onion, I assured him and stretched my hand out further. But he continued to insist it was
antibiotics. Haha, what a character! I had a few hours to kill, so I booked a
few flights and planned a quick jaunt down to Patagonia for 6 days while I wait
for my Visa appointment. Feeling better about it now. Everything will work out J
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