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Our pets at Hostel Tinktinkie

An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language. ~Martin Buber

We have two pets at Hostel Tinktinkie and a regular guest. I will tell you more about the guest later. Let me first introduce you to our dog Ru.Ru is a very special dog that became part of our family in 2009.One sunny morning Andrey and I visited the Supermarket in town. I saw an elderly man standing outside with a puppy in his hands. I stopped to stroke the puppy, when he said something to me in Spanish. I didn´t understand much and wanted to know how much he wanted for the puppy.

Andrey was already close to the car and I was running behind him like a little child. “Baby, please ask the man how much he wants for the puppy!”, I cried. “Please Baby, I want the puppy.” Andrey reluctantly went to ask the man and he said we could have it for free. Before Andrey could change his mind, I took the puppy and went to the car.

Andrey has never owned a dog before. He is a cat person and was very sceptical about the dog. There I sat with this tiny white bundle, while hubby rushed back to the Supermarket to buy dog food and shampoo.

I will never forget how Andrey took this puppy and studied it from all angles. Now we had the big task to choose a name. None of the names that I have picked seemed to work. Eventually Andrey came up with the name Ru. It is a unique name and one of a kind. In Argentina Internet URL´s end with.com.ar,in South Africa it is .co.za and in Russia .ru. The @ sign in Russian is called ´Subaka´ which also means ´dog´. Subaka Ru or @Ru got a name that day!

Ru is such a big part of our family. She has the sweetest nature and loves people. This is so important for our business because people like to stroke animals. She loves people too much and when they leave she goes into depression and refuses to eat for 2 days. It is sad to see her like this.

Ru is not camera shy and when our guests pose for photos she is there with them, watching and smiling! Our guests love Ru! We know, we love her too!

Ru posing for the camera

A couple of months ago we heard a noise at the kitchen door. When we opened it a small cat walked in. We looked at each other and smiled. We didn´t have any cat food in the house and gave him some milk and human food. Andrey and I both loved him immediately. We called the cat Minkie.

Maxie when her first arrived at the Hostel

A couple of days later we realized our mistake and renamed the cat to Maxie.

Maxie stayed with us for 2 weeks and suddenly left. We were heartbroken. He stayed away for almost a month and then suddenly reappeared with a female cat. This is our guest. She is a very timid cat and does have a home but she stalks poor Maxie. Every day she is waiting patiently outside for him, while he is snoozing on the bed!

Maxie hunting

Maxie has a beautiful nature and the two of them are getting along just fine! We often see them lying together underneath a tree. This makes me smile.

Ru and Maxie our pets
Ru and Maxie

Ru and Maxie are looking forward to be meeting you one day!

Ivan and his Didgeridoo

Ivan arrived here with a very strange looking pipe. I was not sure if you smoke from the pipe or what exactly you do with it. I thought to myself that smoking could not be a possibility because it was too big. It must have another purpose. But I was so busy and I didn´t get an opportunity to talk to him about it.

The next morning I saw Ivan sitting on a big rock in the corner of the yard and I got the distinct impression that he did not want to be disturbed. He had his eyes closed and was meditating. I tip toed not to make a noise and then suddenly a deep and haunting sound came from the pipe. It was a musical instrument! The sound lasted for a very long time and I stood there frozen, listening and admiring it.

Later after breakfast I asked him what the name was and where it came from. It is called a Didgeridoo. I have never heard the word before and didn´t even know how to spell it! Luckily I was not the only one!

So what is a Didgeridoo?

The Didgeridoo is believed to be the worlds oldest wind instrument. It dates back thousands of years and originated as a musical instrument of the North Australian Aborigine. Ivan however did not get his instrument from Australia but from Indonesia.

Traditionally it is made from one of many species of Eucalyptus branches or saplings. Even though there are hundreds of species, only about 12 are used for Didgeridoo making. The Eucalyptus is naturally hollowed out by millions of termites. It takes at least a year for the termites to hollow a tree out. Harvesting has to be timed so that the wall thickness of the instrument is not too thin or not too thick. It has to be “just right”. Making for the perfect instrument!

The thickness and shape will determine which key the instrument will be in. Shorter lengths have higher pitches and longer lengths have lower pitches. Didgeridoos generally range in keys from a high “G” to a low “A”. A common “C” didgeridoo will be two steps below middle “C” of a piano. The keys of C and D are the easiest keys to learn how to play on the didgeridoo.

The bark is stripped from the outside and the termites removed and a rim of beeswax applied to reduce the diameter of the large opening. Wax also creates a good airtight seal for the mouth and makes it more comfortable to play. The instrument is now ready to be decorated with ochre paintings that symbolize a tribes food and/or totems.

Before Ivan,Jose and Javier left we asked him to pose for a couple of photos. He took positioning on the rock and started to play. It is not an easy instrument to play.You blow down the tube with loose lips creating a vibration that echoes down the tube coming out amplified as a drone.It is very important to stay relaxed because if you try too hard it will tighten your muscles which contradicts the need to create loose lips. Buzz your lips while gently pushing air down the tube.

We stood there for a little while admiring the sound that came from this tube. The wind was rustling through the leaves and the birds were flying in the sky. It was a beautiful autumn morning and the sounds made it even more beautiful.

Jose told me that he bought the instrument as a gift for Ivan in Indonesia. He owned a small furniture company and imported from Indonesia. Time stood still for a little while but then they had to get ready for the long road back to Buenos Aires.

Ivan, Jose and Javier.

When I look at that rock in the corner of the garden I will remember Ivan and his Didgeridoo.

Here is a video clip of Ivan playing the Didgeridoo.

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