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Pinamar, Argentina
37° 6' S 56° 49' W
Jan 26, 2006 19:13
Distance 327km

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Other entries in Pinamar

Brazil looks a lot like Argentina

Text written in: English

well, when you dont read the fine print, you sometimes get fed the short end of the stick. thats what we didnt do and thats why our mouths have the distinct aftertaste of rotten wood. we got to the airport after a argentina's daily budget worth of cabfare and found out that our visas, which brazil requires us to have because the US imposes the same requirements on brazilians, had expired only 4 days prior to our flight. we had had 90 days from the issue date to use them and we took 94. our fault for not knowing that and for that error, we are not going to go to Brazil. that was two days ago and we are in better spirits now.

we left the airport to go to the Brazilian embassey knowing we were missing our flight that day but hoping that we could work something out and get the same flight the next day. we arrived to find them on siesta and had to wait 30 minutes and then found a very unhelpful and irate woman at the front desk. we had to leave so we could make a phone call to the very same office and discover that it would take 3 more business days to get a new visa (of course including the cost of a new visa on short notice and the cost of changing our flight) so we knew at this point that brazil had dropped off our list of stamps on the passport. we decided our best option was to go to the bus station and leave the city. our two choices, patagonia or beach town. we discussed over double scooped ice cream. david got chocolate chips and banana split, i got the former and a caramel chocolate concoction. clearly one of us chose UNwisely. (finger point behind hand at david). we decided on the beach town because we knew what we were getting at least with that option and it was cheaper and closer. we got on a bus, watched two bad movies and ate a decent sandwich. we arrived to our first rain of argentina and of course, it couldnt have come at a better time. our spirits were low and now our bags were wet (apparently the baggage compartment wasnt waterproof). we got off and realized we had no idea where to find a hostel since we no longer had a guidebook and there wasnt an information desk at this small town busstop. we dropped bags, and i went in to use the internet to find us a place to stay. while waiting to use one of the two availible computers, i noticed an american looking girl and asked her a few questions. it turns out that she was coming from the south and was also looking for lodging but hadnt been able to find any. so she had done the research for us and found lodging a few kms down the road at a town called Villa Gessell. so we split a taxi and have spent the past two days with this very nice girl from Seattle. and she is a football fan as well, and not just a bandwagon fan like Mitch or Jake.

this town has picked up the spirits a bit. the beach is nice but a little crowded, the crowd is friendly and entirely argentine, and our stay here has been fun so far although a little fierce on the pocket book. its a tourist town for the rich of BA so the prices are steep but theres lots to do, like go to the beach, eat, and then party. and not much else after that. but weve actually been having a good time at night. two nights ago we befriended a bartender and wehn he got off work, went out with us showing us the good places to go. and then last night we met a Nigerian man (why he is here we couldnt gather) who's job is to sell Shawarma from the hours of 12am - 7 am. very nice guy named Steven who fatty instantly loved because when we met him, he asked David ¨hows life?¨ which is the equivalent to a one way ticket to davids heart.

so not being in Rio is bad but not the end of the world. it couldve been worse, we could have been stuck in Lima and not Argentina and were not going to miss any more of our flights because of this setback. we are at the beach and having a good time. next stop New Zealand...