Complicity

We went to a great tango show in Buenos Aires tonight. We have been avoiding the touristy servings but were persuaded to go along to this by our language exchange partner not only because of the venue (it was in the Palace of Culture) but also because we figured it would not be tourist fare. We were right. This was not a dance show but a ninety minute concert, passionately delivered and professionally executed.

However, as the evening progressed and my mind wandered a little (I can`t sit still easily for an hour and a half), I got to thinking about all the grey-haired Argentines we were sharing this with. It was no working-class affair. The audience were middle-class to well-off and living in the nation`s capital.

We watched "The official story" last week. It may not have been the best acted film but it was powerful nevertheless. I recommend it if you have the chance: it dealt with the dirty war (see my first May entry) and the search for truth. One powerful scene involved a family argument. The aging father, on the verge of tears, declared to his middle-aged son: "Under this government only sons-of-bitches prosper, and you have succeeded more than anyone".

Walking around this city, you see the memorials for the disappeared. Thousands died under successive military governments between 1976-1983 but especially under Videla in the early years. Children were stolen and the most powerful symbol of resistance was the "Plaza de Mayo mothers", those who had lost their children to death squads.

The "respectable" prospered. The activists were tortured and murdered. Tonight I sat in a "palace" with grey-haired middle-class porteños, and I couldn`t help but wonder about their stories.

Fans` Favourite

Tommy Smith is a shoo-in for Player of the Season (again). Today the Horns won 3-2 at Coventry, Smith getting his sixteenth goal of the season while Tamas Priskin scored his thirteenth and Grzegorz Rasiak netted his seventh. This was our first victory after two defeats and two draws previous to those. Brendan Rodgers has proved himself more than a worthy successor for Aidy Boothroyd.

Global Football Justice

It is time for global football justice and the revolution must start in England.

It was only in 1997-8 that “the big four” took the top positions for the first time. The second occasion was 2003-4, the third in 2005-6 and since then they have shuffled the Champions League positions between them in each of the following three years. There was a “bored by the big four” Philosophy Football T-shirt a couple of years ago but if it is only in the last four years that the Premiership places have been absolutely sewn-up, the relatively recent addition of European Champions League dominance has added an extra level of tedium.

Any initial tinge of patriotic pride in seeing Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United playing in the latter stages of the European tournament should be extinguished by the thought of their Russian and American owners or their lack of English or even British players. These days there is rarely an underdog to support: Portsmouth in last year`s FA Cup, Aston Villa for a while in the league this season (also US owned).

The only level of failure that these teams now know is not reaching the semi-finals or finals of the FA Cup and Champions League. Finishing fourth in the Sky Barclays Setanta premiership is still rewarded with ridiculous cash once the preliminary joke rounds of the European tournament are played out. How boring for the rest of us, but how uninteresting it really must be for the fans of these teams too.

At my club, Watford`s level, a 2-0 win at Doncaster is a triumph against the possibility of relegation while a 1-0 defeat at home to promotion-chasing Birmingham is accepted as not unexpected. Resignation and surprise still exist for fans of most of the G88 (the minor gods in the pantheon that is the football league) and without them a fan`s life is incomplete. Schadenfreude exists too, for us below the biggest, and perhaps for the local fans of the top teams too. It is the “plastics” who will not know that joy of a bitter local rival suffering.

The economic effects stretch to the cost of attempting to play with the big boys. Leeds descent into administration is well documented and Charlton are just the latest of several teams whose inability to “bounce back” has seen them slip into the third tier after the obligatory cost-cutting exercises. The ripples go beyond the lower leagues. Elsewhere in the world, attendances fall when matches clash with a “big” televised Premiership game.

Something must be done. The arguments are there: a player draft, a cap on wages, a minimum number of home-grown players or club ownership being put in the hands of the fans. Alternatively, the majority of the G88 could get together to demand a restructuring that brings (most of) the Premiership back under Football League jurisdiction (if the Big 4 want to float off into a European Super-League, let them). It won`t happen yet. The big four dominate English football like the G8 dominate world economic policy. The seeds of rebellion exist though. Viva Football Justice.

Senate Museum

Ah! How great it is to be in a big city amidst real culture again... Today we went into the free Senator Domingo F. Sarmiento museum round the corner and saw the remains of a chair burned when the congress was attacked by rioters in December 2001 and one of Eva Peron`s outifts. There were newspapers from 1933 announcing the death of two-time 1920s President Hipolito Yrigoyen, whom a street here is named after, just as they were lamenting "Father of Democracy" Raul Alfonsin`s death last week. A wall was decorated with a number of colourful caricatures, one of which refers to British greed though I am unsure in what context.

Arise Marilyn Green

Who is Marilyn Green? Here in Buenos Aires there is a public art installation of Buddy Bears in San Martin Plaza (he is the big Argentine hero). Marilyn Green designed the current British "entry", which it took me a second or two to appreciate. Unlike many of the others, which rehash old self-conceits, focus on established symbols, cover the bear with the unique local script or wave the flag, the British bear attempts to say something new about the identity of its country of origin. In this way, it is far superior to the bowler hats attempt of our contribution to the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, for example.

Horns away and home

The Golden Boys got a fantastic three points at Darlington on Saturday to take us above them, Don Cowie getting his third WFC goal a few minutes after they scored a 13th minute own goal. Tonight, though, we let in another late one to draw 2-2 with second from bottom Southampton. Another new boy, Aleksandrs Cauna, put us equal in the first half and Tamas Priskin looked to have sealed it in the second. We`re in a safe looking 15th now, though with no games in hand.

British Council Interview

The "questions" went something along these lines:

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Describe an activity you set up carefully and how it worked.

Describe a pronunciation activity you do for an area students have trouble with and how it is successful.

Describe how you adapt a lesson to a particular class.

Describe how you make sure to involve all students in a class.

Describe a successful class you used technology in.

Describe how you ensured all customers were kept informed.

Describe how you changed your view or approach as a result of other`s input.

Give an example of you assisting other members of the team.

I would have to say that I don`t think it went as well as it could if I had had the questions in advance...

La vida nueva de Van Gogh

Our snow-white stray has been washed and fed some more. Today, after a quick snip-snip at the local vet, we bought him a bed and took him bollockless to the animal shelter at the school we studied at, where they hope to find Van Gogh a new home.

Overfamiliar

The English football players are known throughout the world but the overuse of their first names by Argentine commentators (along with the excessive rolling of the letter "r") is a constant source of mirth: Wayne, David, Frrrrrankie - goooooooool. Gooooool por Ingleterrrrrrrra...

Las Islas Malvinas

It is not difficult to notice references to the war of 27 years ago: there are monuments, maps and references and at the border crossing where we came (back) in after Torres del Paine, there was a bloody great sign proclaiming the providence of the islands. I have been expecting that first discussion on the subject and it occurred last night at the home of one of Jun´s teachers. We were invited for a barbecue, which the weather prevented, but made do with beer, pizza, dancing and karaoke instead. In addition, I spoke more Spanish than I had to this point: the five young men present decided that they wanted to know my opinions on all manner of things and unlike our PM - coincidentally on the same day - I was happy to do what the UN says and discuss the issue.

My basic argument was twofold: though I do not care who has soveregnity over the Falkland Islands, the Argentine claim is not based in history or international law (the French, Brits and Spanish named, renamed and colonised them before Argentina even existed as an independent country) but more importantly, any decision about their "possession" should be decided by the people who live there rather than by a war. I also explained how the war had made Thatcher much more popular and allowed her to wreak the havoc on my country which ensued.
As well as asking whether I knew anyone who had died in the war (the south of the country seems to have sent the most soldiers to their deaths), the youngest of the boys opined that he cared not much for the Malvinas but that he was more concerned about the Argentine claim on Antarctica (the British Antarctic Territory overlaps with Argentine and Chilean claims on the continent).

Schadenfreude

There are upsides to the ongoing economic crisis: consumption is down in the richest countries, capital will be regulated, China is calling for an international reseve currency to replace the dollar, to name a few. However, it is the outrage directed against the greedy former “Masters of the Universe” which drew a laugh from me this morning.

Stray Cats

We haven`t agreed a name for our latest acquisition yet, but he has been washed, given milk and cat food, fed good quality red meat (hope it doesn`t give cats cancer too) and seems to have adopted our cabaña as a home.

Update: we chose "Van Gogh" in homage to his damaged ears and the Spanish band we are listening to.

Propiedad Privada

Bariloche´s lake (Nahuel Huapi) has "beaches" but as we found out Sunday, access is not always that easy. We walked for more than two kilometres before finding a road that led to a track between two large properties which was an unmarked route to the lake.
Though I was fuming at the time, when we walked a few km further on the road we saw signs of resistance to this, including a meeting that had taken place the previous day, citing the Argentine Constitution.
It does not seem a uniquely Argentine problem if our experience outside Santiago, Chile is anything to judge by. Sometimes we in Britain don`t realise how successful our efforts have been (New Labour defended the right to roam (just not for Iraqis)).

Cervezas Artesanales

I have been able to try beer from five different local breweries here in Bariloche and there are a few I have yet to partake of. Had Yeska in bottles from the supermarket, have been to the Antares bar and tried small glasses of each of their 8 beers (mine´s the Imperial Stout), tried a Diuka stout in a "natural comida" restaurant visited the Linea Sur microbrewery last night and popped into the Blest cevezeria today, though Jun suffered from her (less than) half a frambuesa.

Meanwhile, WFC conceded another after-hours penalty at Cardiff on Wednesday and went down 2-1 but got a point at Ipswich yesterday in a goalless draw. Still 16th, which I´ll drink to.

90 + 7

In our recent season in the Premiership, Watford conceded the latest goal of the entire season (96th minute) in their away game at Bolton to lose the match. Today, the ref has gone a minute better and Sheffield Wednesday have equalised at the Vic three minutes from the ton. What with the phantom goal against Reading, surely the Horns have a claim to be the unluckiest side in the land?
The younger Watford Boy - and doubtless thousands others - saw it differently. His text, which was as succinct as ever, in its entirety: "2-2 ref not fit 2 ref". Anyway, Derby lost 4-2 so we moved up a place in the table on goal difference. It`s not all bad...

Two more steps...

No text from the younger Watford Boy to let me know last night so I checked the BBC today to see we had got another three home points in our relegation clash with Forest. Tanas Priskin and Grzegorz Rasiak again did the business and, unlike last season, it is the home record this year that is so much better than the teams around us. 2-1 and another place up in the table.

Two steps forward...

Joss texted me to let me know the Horns had triumphed at the Valley. After Don Cowie had got his second goal for WFC, Charlton scored twice to be ahead at the break but second half goals from Grzegorz Rasiak and Tamas Priskin must give us confidence for the home game against Notts Forest.

Bariloche

Yesterday we went looking for a short-term let (33 days) in Bariloche, in Argentina´s Lake District, where Jun will take formal Spanish lessons and I will study less formally (at first at least). We found a beautiful little place with a view of the lake (Lago Nahuel Huapi) and are paying the equivalent of half of a hotel´s price. The town (of 100,000 or so) is managable and we went to a cool bar last night called "The Map Room", with loads of framed maps (go figure) on the wall. It was an eclectic selection that deserves further perusal. There are also a healthy number of microbreweries in town that merit taste-testing. Finally, I hope to do some paragliding if the cost is not prohibitive.
On England´s south coast, Watford lost 2-1 at Plymouth (Tommy Smith scored again) and despite their recent run, will drop back to nineteenth as Argyle and Nottingham Forest rise above them (though each has played two more games). We go to bottom club Charlton on Saturday (who lost at home to Doncaster today, how times have changed) and host Forest a week today. Seems there is plenty of opportunity for teams to save themselves, though the Addicks seem doomed, nine points off second-bottom and eleven from safety.

Three on the trot

We arrived in El Bolson, Argentina, yesterday. Our Bible, Lonely Planet, describes it as Hippie Heaven (or something along those lines) but apart from a market that is not so different from any traveller-oriented one, I can't see why. The mountain setting, though, is breathtaking. Planned to leave tomorrow for Bariloche and Spanish lessons. That plan may yet change. Think we are both happy to be in short sleeves and open shoes again after the cold of Patagonia.
At the Vic, Watford beat Palace for the second time in 2009, winning 2-0 for the third game in a row and easing our relegation fears still further. Another new boy, Don Cowie, scored one and assisted with the other. With so many of the thirteen remaining games against teams right around us, home wins will ensure our safety.

New Watford Boy

Waiting at Esquel bus terminal to take Ruta 40 south after we had hitched into Argentina the day before my last entries, I got talking to a Californian, Clay, who is a Chelsea fan. We chewed the football fat and compared travellers' tales and spent some time together in El Chalten too (when we arrived some 26 hours later). The trekking there to the Fitz Roy range was good but Jun was ill and pissed off that I went out for a few drinks so we left the following day for El Calafate.
Clay caught up before we took advantage of the town's access to Perito Moreno glacier, probably the single most impressive sight of my travels so far, so we did that together too. WFC have a new fan (second-team status) but I have not rethought my views on Chelsea. His new allegiance coincided with important away victories for both sides, Tamas Priskin and new boy Mike Williamson both scoring as we won 2-0 at Blackpool.
We got to Peurto Natales the same day and met up with our Chilean friend Jackie, who has taken a holiday to head south from the capital. I travelled with her and her friend Ximena to Parque Nacional Paine for an eight-and-a-half-hour trek that took in the towers there. Unfortunately, that was all I managed, leaving the same evening with a temperature and a nose that wouldn't stop dripping. We head north tomorrow.

Chaiten

In May last year, Chaiten suffered under the eruption of a volcano that was thought dead but had laid dormant for 9000 years. Thousands were evacuated and much of the town was destroyed by subsequent floods. Most ex-residents have started new lives elsewhere but a hardy bunch returned and are demanding the reconstruction of their ash-covered hometown. It was easy to sympathise: the surrounding countryside was beautiful; the government, however, which has being paying a "salary" to the affected families, has abandoned the town. There is no water or electricity there now.

We passed through about a week ago on our way to Futaleufu, about 100km away, which was also blanketed in ash at the time of the eruption. Today, though,the BBC news was reporting more activity and further evacuation from Chaiten. Unfortunately, the government may have got it right. We may also have been some of the last passengers on the Navimag Austral from Quellon to Chaiten for a while.

Tommy Smith

He gets the ball, he scores a goal, Tommy Tommy Smith. The Horns beat the Swans at the Vic 2-0 tonight and moved out of the relegation zone with games in hand over the teams around us. If they can keep the home form....

Living the dream

Waiting out fifteen and a half hours in a small town for a long bus journey, we had time to see if our computer could be sorted (no), buy a mobile, a hat and a top to replace the WFC hoodie I left on a bus a week ago, dawdle over dinner, do twelve laps of the centre, walk up a hill and down again and sit down in the same park twice. This is the second time I´ve been on the internet, and if this place weren´t closing in an hour, I´d be here for four.
As we cut up boiled eggs for rolls in the park with nowhere else to go at about one o´clock, Jun commented that we were "living the dream". We laughed about that. Having hitchhiked into Argentina yesterday, we can´t really complain about how things are going but I missed out on the chance to white-water raft one of the world´s best rivers (Futaleufu) because I chose a "family company" and we were unable to climb a volcano in Pucon because of the weather.
Still, mustn´t grumble. We´ve seen sealions in Valdivia, penguins in Ancud and scenery to sit down and contemplate throughout the Andes regions. My Spanish is beginning to improve at last and Jun is learning too. We trekked to the top of an Andean peak (a small one) two days ago and head into deepest Patagonia when our bus leaves this depot at two in the morning.
In Watford, Joss was unable to go to the Chelsea FA Cup match (I guess his dad hadn´t sussed that he needed to buy tickets before a certain point). Tamas Priskin put us ahead in the second half, but Nicolas Anelka got a hattrick for them. A home league game was postponed and we still sit third bottom and in real relegation trouble. Did I mention I lost my WFC hoodie?

The disappeared

In Chile, having slept off some of the tiredness we had from the flight and a last night that deprived us of much sleep, we walked along “Londres”, the name of the road we are staying on and the Pension we are staying in, and immediately had a reminder that history lives.

Thirty five years ago this month, Gerardo and Ernesto Morales were brought to number 38 of this street, to a “Casa de tortura” of Pinochet’s. They were never seen again. Outside the building, people gave speeches, played music and remembered the half-brothers and the other victims of the murdering tyrant who escaped appropriate justice in this life (friendship with Maggie Thatcher doesn’t count).

Pinochet of course took power in a coup on 11^th September 1973, deposing the democratically elected Socialist Salvador Allende, who died in the process. His reign of terror was such as to alter the English language: the verb “disappear” changed from being solely an intransitive verb (eg The brothers disappeared) into a transitive one too (eg Pinochet’s henchmen disappeared thousands of innocent people). It has since been used in the latter manner in other Latin American countries we will visit in the coming months.

Fool me once...

At two o’clock on Thursday 22nd January, I managed the feat of being in two places at once: I was both at the house where Jun’s friends live in Auckland (on the net) and also in Santiago, Chile (on the bus). Where did the eleven hours I spent travelling between the places go?
Three cheers for the inauguration of President Obama (first act: suspend trials at Guantanamo) and especially to see the back of Bush. Unfortunately I find myself reminded of one his more renowned miscommunications in the events of today. We decided to catch a taxi from the bus terminal to the centre of Santiago.
When we arrived at our destination, the meter read $3400 so I gave the guy a $5000 note which he returned to me saying “banca” because the corner was torn. I think I apologised. I gave him another note, which he returned saying “una mil” – one thousand, I thought I’d given him ten – and finally he shortchanged me from the 10,000 I gave him, apologising when I pointed out the mistake.
Counting the cash in the hotel, I realised I was down $9000 (the swapping of bills happened to me once before, in Honduras, and I didn’t realise then for days) and I also have a note I have to take to the bank now. How did Bush try to put it?
"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." —President George W. Bush, Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002

Hop connoisseur

As a vegetarian, the range of food I choose to sample abroad is limited and I am unable, perhaps, to get as close as others to an authentic experience of the places I visit. This provides a fairly good excuse for my attempts to drink as many of the local beers as possible (are you buying?). In both Australia and New Zealand, I was given recommendations about tipples and tried those and more but even in China I had gone for variety. My Chinese list is abridged, as it were, by my failure to note properly in Guilin and by the lack of words used to distinguish the varieties each brewery produces.

China:

Harbin (draft & classic)

Tsingtao (black, draft & other)

Yanjing (draft & other)

Australia:

4X (gold & bitter)
Carlton (mid, draught & cold)

Cascade (stout & pale ale)

Cooper

Hahn Lite

James Boag’s Premium

Tooheys (old, new, premium)

Townsville Brewery (stout, red, Digger’s & bitter)

VB (green & gold)

New Zealand:

Dux de Lux (Queenstown brewery) (Black Shag, Hereford Bitter, Alpine Ale)

Lion Red (& Steinlager)

Mac’s (Spring Tide, Sassy Red & Black)

Mangatainoka Dark

Monteiths (Celtic Red, Original Ale, NZ Lager & Radler)

Speights (Golden, Distinction & Old Dark)

Summit beer

Unsurprisingly, the microbreweries in Townsville and Queenstown had the best beers, with the Townsville Red taking my top prize but Monteith’s Radler was an excellent fruity beer from a big(gish) brewery that I’d search out.