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Dinner time at Tinktinkie.

One of the things we love do at Tinktinkie is to have dinner with our guests. There is something magical about having dinner at the dinner table. I love to use my maroon and gold table cloth from Thailand, for these special occasions. These occasions are special indeed. I believe that food brings people together. It is one of those rare moments where you can relax, enjoy the food and company and forget about all your worries.

Dinner time at Tinktinkie is special. Andrey is an expert cook and I must admit he prepares most of the dishes. They are way too exotic for me to make! My speciality is the Russian salad. We have a couple of dishes that we like to prepare. Our favourite of course is the “asado”, “braai” or barbeque with the Russian salad. But meat has become very expensive so we don’t do that often. The other favourites are “Plov” and “meat balls” . They are excellent dishes.

We have also introduced the “Empanada” evening. This is a fun evening where everybody gets involved in the preparation of the food. We have a tradition at Hostel Tinktinkie where we “toast”. Toasting is a fun way of welcoming people and to thank them for coming here.

This is exactly what we have done when Justin came here for the weekend. We decided to make “Plov”. Now “Plov” is an Asian dish where you use chicken, eggplant, rice, carrots and onions. There is a specific way to prepare “Plov”. I will not get into details but you are welcome to ask us for the recipe. Justin went hiking for the day and was starving by the time he got back. We had a wonderful evening, enjoyed the company and especially the food. Ru was just as happy because she got some left overs.

Who knows maybe we will have dinner with you soon?

Hostel Tinktinkie Newsletter April 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Andrey and I hope that everyone is well. Our friends in the Northern hemisphere are celebrating spring and we down south are preparing for winter. Well, look at the bright side. Winter is time to make big pots of soup, drink hot chocolate, wrap our cold bodies in blankets, shiver in front of the fire and put on weight. I am only joking!

We had a really busy Easter period with a lot of interesting people. Remember I told you in the March newsletter about the Ballerinas? Well, we had 6 beautiful ballerinas here. They are from a city called Rosario, not very far from Buenos Aires. They stayed with us for a weekend. I was dying to get a picture of them striking a ballet pose. While we waited for the taxi to pick them up I grabbed my camera and they were immediately ready to show me some moves. Before Andrey knew what hit him they took him by the hand and he joined them. It was hilarious! Then it was my turn…I don’t think I can ever be a ballerina! But on a serious note these girls are good. Have a look at their website if you have some free time.

http://www.thejazzclubrosario.com.ar

Jonny and Thomas, two cousins from Carlisle in the UK, passed through here on their way to Mendoza. They have an amazing adventure in South America andlater Jonny will head down to Australia. He studied for a pilot and will be learning to fly big commercial planes in Australia! Thomas studied environmental science and we had some interesting discussions about farming and the environment. We also had two women here from Carloz Paz,. Natalia and Micaela! I could not spend a lot of time with them because we had a house filled with people. But I am staying in contact on facebook.

The same day when Jonny and Thomas left, Alana and James from London arrived. Alana is our first Australian at the hostel. They both live in London. Alana and James came from Cordoba and wanted to spend a couple of days in the country side. I had some very interesting discussions with James about South Africa and marketing. There are so many South Africans living in London. In fact even James could speak some Afrikaans and he was actually very good!

April was our month for celebrations. Marina, Misha and Agustina from Buenos Aires arrived and we celebrated Agustina’s 5th birthday here at Tinktinkie. We held a small party for her. We decorated the kitchen with balloons and her mom hid small presents inside the balloons. She was so scared to pop the balloons and ran out and closed the door. We had a delicious cake and in the afternoon we had an “asado” or braai. They had so much fun exploring nature and insects. They brought a telescope with them and watched the stars at night. It is getting more and more difficult to see stars in the big cities.

Here they are so bright you can almost pick them from the sky. Agustina made herself at home playing in the building sand and with Ru. It was wonderful to have a child here. They stayed with us for 5 days and then took the train back to Buenos Aires.Marina and Misha are from Russia but Agustina was born in Argentina. She is only 5 years old but fluent in Russian and Spanish. Incredible!

Daniela joined us when the big rush was over. She came from Buenos Aires and asked the bus to drop her off in the main road, 700m from the hostel. In fact they dropped her off 5kms from the hostel! We did not know what to do. So I decided to get on the scooter and go and fetch her. She was standing next to the road and I loaded her and her backpack on the scooter and came to the hostel. It was fun! Daniela took her time to explore all the places in the Calamuchita Valley. She celebrated Agustina’s birthday with us and she was also here when Hendrik and Laura arrived.

It was Hendrik and Laura’s 2nd visit and it was really great to see them again. They are always willing to help. When Andrey asked them to buy and bring the DVD writer that he wanted from Buenos Aires, they did not hesitate to help us. They only stayed for 1 night and we decided to have a nice meal together. Daniela was still here and joined us. Andrey made one of his specialities called “Plov”and it was a winner. The food and company was excellent! Daniela, Hendrik and Laura left the next morning.

I joined a travel site in January, which I am enjoying immensely. I write travel reviews and blogs. It is also through this site that I met Una. She was referred to me by another travel buddy Fernando. Fernando is Argentinian and now lives in Florida. To make a long story short, Una contacted me. They were on their way to Mendoza and wanted to stay here for a couple of nights. What made her trip so special was that her mom, Anne joined her here in Argentina. Una is from Iceland and her mom is originally from Denmark. Then it started to rain and got cold. But luckily they managed to see La Cumbrecita and some other places. We also had a delicious meal together. They returned to Iceland in the midst of the volcanic ashes!

Last but not least was Andrey’s birthday!I wrote a separate blog about that. We had a wonderful day together.

We were blessed with wonderful people here at Tinktinkie. We had a fun filled and action packed Easter week at Tinktinkie. Andrey will be looking for work this month. We need an extra income to carry us through the winter months. Please pray with us that he will find something soon. We wish everyone a good May and God bless.

Andrey and Nelieta

Andrey’s Birthday!

Birthdays are special occassions and it was no different when Andrey celebrated his birthday on the 15th of April.

He really wanted a new DVD writer as his stopped working a couple of months ago and needed to be replaced. For days he was searching the internet for the best prices and eventually found one in Buenos Aires. But what to do? We are 780kms from Buenos Aires! Luckily Hendrik and Laura (friends of ours) came to our rescue and offered to buy the DVD writer and bring it with them later in the month, Andrey was so excited!

But shame when the DVD writer arrived it did not work. He batlled for a full day to install it, without success. Luckily Hendrik and Laura were still in Cordoba and we arranged for them to take it back to Buenos Aires and have it exchanged. He will have to wait a little longer before he can use it.

So with that in mind I did not know what to do to make the day special for him. I knew he wanted Vodka, his favourite breakfast, a braai, cheesecake and a traditional Russian Salad. I went to town the day before and bought all the ingredients. I stopped at Barillin, a chocolate factory and bought him a box of chocolates. I love to go there because the shop is beautiful and they always wrap the presents beautifully. They really have excellent chocolate and they are not expensive. In the photo you can see some of the chocolate..it does not come with empty spaces! We ate some for breakfast. I like the white milk chocolate and Andrey the dark chocolate!

The morning of his birthday arrived and I decorated the kitchen with colourful balloons. Ru, our dog, did not know what was going on! She was scared of the balloons and were hiding underneath the table. Poor thing, she has never seen balloons before. Andrey got coffee in bed and then I called him to the kitchen where he got his favourite breakfast. Eggs, bread, viennas, fried onions and coffee. He loved it!


We decided to have a braai in the afteronon and I started with the preparations for the Russian salad. It is a very delicious salad but takes some time to prepare. I will gladly send anyone the recipe. We also took some pictures of the two of us together to email to family and friends back in Russia. It was fun!

We have not taken pictures of ourselves in ages and we really had a good time. As you can see from the picture it is getting cold. The last couple of days were very cold. Andrey loves the cold weather so it came as a birthday present. The rest of the day he took easy. He answered birthday messages, relaxed and just enjoyed the day.

Next was a late afternoon coffee with cheesecake – another favourite of Andrey. I bought it fresh from the bakery early in the morning. I know, I know it is going straight to the hips!!!! It was so delicious and creamy and did I mention fresh?

I love the bakeries here in Argentina. The people are so helpful and I have met a lady there who has started to study English. I have offered to help her so every time I go there she is so happy to see me. It makes my trips to the bakery special. I walked out of the bakery with everybody congratulating my husband on his birthday.

The salad was ready and we started to braai. Andrey is really getting very good at this. We had a lovely time around the fire. Talking, playing some music and just enjoying the late afternoon sun. Then we sat down for dinner and had a great time celebrating. According to the Russian tradition we always have toasts. One was to Andrey wishing him love, health and , happiness. The next toast was to his Mom for giving birth to him and for raising him to be the man that he is today. The 3rd toast was for family and friends not with us.

Andrey was speaking to a friend in Russia and became very sad. Even though the day was perfect for him I knew in his heart he wanted to celebrate the day with his Mom, sister , nephew and friends back in Russia. It made me sad too. When we celebrate special occassions we miss the people that are our flesh and blood. We miss our friends and the people back home that are part of our lives. That is why I am sharing Andrey’s special day with you so that you know we have been thinking about our family and friends back home!

Our experience of Dakar 2010!






Here are some background on the Dakar race.

“Considered the most dangerous race on the planet, the Dakar Rally starts on Saturday with 378 drivers taking part in the second edition staged in South America because of security concerns.

Dunes, desert, mountains and other hostile terrain lie in wait for 138 cars, 161 motorbikes, 29 quads and 50 trucks in the 16-stage race that covers 9 030km across Argentina and Chile before finishing on January 16 in Buenos Aires.

Last year’s winner, Ginield De Villiers of South Africa, leads the favourites. The 2009 champions in other categories also return: Spanish motorbike rider Marc Coma, Czech quad driver Josef Machacek and Russian truck driver Firdaus Kabirov.

The symbolic start of the race will take place Friday, with a 349km drive from emblematic Buenos Aires monument, the Obelisk, to the city of Colon.

Racing begins the following day from Colon with a 684km first stage to Cordoba. Drivers then head to La Rioja and Fiambala in Argentina before going to Copiapo on January 5, the first Chilean city to host the Dakar, followed by Antofogasta, Iquique, La Serena and Santiago.

The race returns to Argentina, passing through San Juan, San Rafael, Santa Rosa and finally Buenos Aires. The only rest day in the 32nd edition of the Dakar Rally will be January 9.

Teams from Volkswagen and BMW are the favourites. Volkswagen boasts De Villiers, as well as former world rally champion Carlos Sainz from Spain and Qatari driver Al Attiyah.

BMW will have French driver Stephane Peterhansel behind the wheel, a six-time champion on motorbikes and three-time winner in cars of the Dakar Rally in Africa, plus Nani Roma of Spain.

“The Dakar is the hardest race in the world, you have to work hard and suffer a lot,” said Roma, the 2006 winner. “But when you get to be champion, it’s worth it.” “

Now for my experience!

It is difficult to describe how it feels to be part of such a big event. Some people only manage to watch this on television. Some people never get to see it. I was very lucky and I am grateful for the organizers who decided that the route past our hostel should be included.

Honestly I had no idea what to expect. I knew that 378 drivers were going to take part and that in itself was already enough for me. I had my camera ready, battery charged and I found a very nice spot to be able to take decent pictures. But when the first bike approached I almost missed it because I was so excited. I wanted to get the perfect angle, I wanted to wave and scream and some times I missed the photo opportunity because it was so great to see the riders taking the time to enjoy the atmosphere.

Andrey was excited to see the performance of the Russian drivers and I could not find any South Africans eventhough the winner last year was a South African. But they decided to use the abreviation ZAF and not SA and I only realized it this morning when I was putting names to the drivers. We had some SA drivers and I have some pictures of them!

It was a hot and beatiful day. When the bikes came past some people were complaining that it was too slow. But I don’t think people realize how difficult it is to ride a 2 wheeler. Bikes are not new to me. Back in SA I had a 250cc offroad as well as a 450cc road bike. Here the road is difficult and you need to be so careful not to slide and get injured. It was not easy for drivers to overtake and go very fast. First they went throught the river and then they switched over to some very muddy areas. Then they were back on sand and rocks. You could hear some bikes beeping and obviously something was wrong. Some drivers got upset and others were checking their bikes to see what was wrong. Some spectators were upset and I was totally amazed. Then the quads came and it was easier fro them and they kicked up quite a performance!

Next to come was the cars and man did I enjoy them. They were absolutely great! Then we had the buggies and a little later came the big trucks. I have never seen them before and they were so laid back with 3 people in the cabin. They were hooting and people were cheering.

Luckily we had no injuries here. The police did an excellent job to keep people of the roads. Some people were really doing some crazy things by trying to go on the road with their cars or bikes, but they got stopped. In Rio Cuart a woman was killed and people were injured.

I had a wonderful, wonderful day and I can only say thank you to Dakar who made this event possible. i wish all the drivers well and thank you to the drivers who took the time to wave back at me and who obviously enjoyed the time!

Go Dakar!!!

Dakar 2010 – Argentina to Chile

The Dakar 2010 rally will start in Buenos Aires on 1 January. From Buenos Aires they will make their way to Cordoba, through the Calamuchita Valley. The route will take them right in front of our hostel. They will pass here on 2 January. Then they will go to Chile. What a wonderful way to start the new year! How lucky we are as most people only get to watch this on television.

Today they have started to cut some small branches from trees that might be blocking the way. To be honest I have no idea what to expect. We are expecting alot of spectators but in terms of how many I am not sure. I am very much looking forward to take pictures of the cars and bikes speeding past us. We will have front row seats and can watch it from the terrace. I am really getting excited!

We received a group booking of 12 people and with other guests the hostel will be full. It will be the 2nd time now since we officially opened. I am very grateful.

I will be posting some pictures and in the mean time I am wishing all the paricipants in the Rally the best of luck and safe driving!

Best wishes for the New Year from all of us here at Hostel Tinktinkie. Have a wonderful and blessed 2010.