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Newsletter February 2012


Dear Family and Friends,

We hope this Newsletter finds you well and in good spirits. This is our first Newsletter for 2012 and we are looking forward to be sharing a lot of news and updates with you this coming year.

The `high` season in Argentina is rapidly coming to an end. Schools will be starting soon and life will be getting back to normal for families and for our little town. Last weekend our town hosted the annual carnival `Carnavales del rió`. This weekend was dedicated to carnival celebrations all over Argentina – a long weekend dedicated to celebrations! I love Argentina! Did I mention that this coming weekend is another long weekend? Seriously! People are actually joking about it but it is all to promote tourism and to give people an opportunity to take a break and get away from the stress in the cities. I think it is a good idea.

The Carnival was great fun! I went on the Friday night with a couple from Germany. The costumes were beautiful and the music intoxicating. Before I knew it, I was tapping my feet to the beat of the music. Things got wet and wild early on in the evening. Children armed with little spray cans, filled with foam, went crazy and zapped each and every person they could lay their eyes on. Nothing and nobody was spared, not even policemen. That got some of the children in trouble and rightly so!

I am including photos of the event (Please click on the link below).

January was a busy month for us and this year we hosted more families with children. We had a family here from Minnesota, USA, with three little ones! The baby, Claire, was subject to many cuddles and Andrey and I couldn`t stop squeezing her. She is adorable! They surprised us by coming back and staying with us for 1 more night before they flew back to a very cold Minnesota!

We had many warm and wonderful sunny days and people crowded the local `beaches`. I took a trip to Playa Miami (Miami Beach) and couldn`t believe my eyes when I saw all the people! It was difficult to believe that so many people can squeeze onto such a tiny piece of sand.

Warm weather also means time for a braai (barbeque or asado, as they call it here). One evening we got invivted by our guests to a barbeque and we had such a memorable evening! One of our guests, Pichi, donated an outside light to Hostel Tinktinkie. Now we have light outside and an evening around the fire is more enjoyable. We call it Pichi-Light. Thank you Pichi, may this light shine bright and always remind us of this memorable evening our group had together.

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