Tired and Emotional

Good god, what is wrong with the computer? I have spent countless hours waiting for it to load up and clicking away all the virus pop-ups. I'm starting to lose my patience!

Feeling a bit sad today because Oli headed off back to "England"... the gang's been split up! We are getting 3 more people though, including a girl who will be working at the Refugio with us so that should be helpful.

We made the most of our last night as a foursome, though, with a delicious meal at the same restaurant as last time. I had this amazing steak that was still alive in the middle - just the way I like it! The steak here is better than anything I have eaten in France and so on. I love it! }Our friendly regular waiter, Mauricio, also served us with free cake and champagne, and the whole meal cost around 8 pounds each. I love that too! Afterwards, we headed like a bunch of losers to Copacabanna - there was a quinceañera party going on up the stair and we were the only ones in the lower floor... so embarrassing. We did get a chance to indulge our new-found love of Argentina's answer to Bacardi Breezers - the infamous Doctor Lemon. I'm going to import some of that when I come home. There are other weird drinks - Fernet, Jonny's favourite, which looks and tastes like boiled shoe polish, and Speed (!), which tastes like a better and more palatable version of Red Bull. I am quite partial to a vodka & speed of a night! Hmm!

Of course, we ended up in Mentecato, where the waiter practically knows us as well as any of you. We never leave that place alone! The club room was open up the back, though, and it ended up being packed. I think the whole of Posadas must go there when it's open! I met several Argentines and got a good wring out of my Spanish, it's hard work in that kind of environment. It was all over too quickly though, as was my sleep when the alarm went off at half 7 this morning.

We had a fairly pleasant morning at Arcoaires, Lorena searched for Edinburgh on the internet and was showing them photos of Princes Street and Arthur's Seat - made me the tiniest bit homesick, but a bit proud too. I have taught some of the kids how to do the "bounce-kick" thing from ceilidh dancing and we did that to some bagpipe music that came on. Talk about authentic.

We got our lunch again, and I was horrified to discover it was my absolute nightmare meal... MINCE AND POTATOES. Mum, you'd be proud of me, I did eat a couple of the offending spuds out of politeness, but I couldn't manage more than a few mouthfuls. Yuck! ¡Me de la boke!

We managed to head off early enough to pop round to Jonny and Oli's to see Oli off. While we were there, a programme about the Madres de Plaza de Mayo came on and the boys' homestay mum told us that the headscarves that they wear signify the shawls of the babies that were taken away from their mothers, as one woman used to wear the shawl of her missing baby as a headsquare. She also said that 30 years on from the disappearances, some of the women have been reunited with the children that were taken away from them.

El Refugio is really doing my head in. It's really in a state - there are so many tiny little things tha need done that would make a huge difference to the quality of life of the kids. For example, some bed have no mattresses - no idea where those kids sleep - there are doors off their hinges, missing window panes, doors with holes right through them, and a layer of grime everywhere. There's so much that needs done that I don't know where to start. This weekend Sile and I intend to get stuck into planning what we're going to do with the kids next week and get some proper resources organised.

Right, it's teatime and I want to stay in Cuca's good books!
¡Hasta mañana!