Only 5 days until Sydney!

Our final week before heading home has been spent in a great apartment in Chelsea (mid-town), New York. The cold is a bit of a change for us as it's the first winter climate we've visited, however, as soon as we hit the streets that NY buzz makes it all worthwhile. Huge thanks to Nat's friends Sophia and Sarah who had us to stay in their beautiful flat and spent time with us out on the town and at the Knicks (a game NY won in the last 15 sec).

On the way from the airport we saw a fight on the bus between the driver and passenger, which ended with the ejected man turning towards the bus and issuing the Donald Trump line "You're fired". I was then kicked repeatedly in the leg by a woman at a subway station seemingly because I had luggage and she didn't want to wait while I got out of the elevator. After the attack she cried "Who do you think you are? some kind of jetsetter?" We couldn't help but think "Welcome to NY".

Most of our time has been spent shopping and eating, with Asian food suddenly an option. The diversity and culture here is endless and it's really interesting to end the trip here after seeing other parts of America and being in countries where many would do anything to live here. Frankly, the life we saw in Queens is tough and if those wanting to leave Central America could only see the faces of the spanish immigrant classes here they might think again.

We also visited a jazz club deep in Harlem called the St. Nicks Pub. It was recommended by an Australian studying at Columbia for some 'real' jazz and as we headed off by subway our two friends admitting they had never been so far north. This feeling of being out of place was compounded when after being asked for directions to the pub the policeman said to his partner "See, I told you white people go there." We survived and had a great time as it was an amateur night full of talent.

One more thing. Last night we were having dinner with two locals when I asked "What are New Yorkers talking about?". The answer: "How stupid our President is!" I then asked whether people thought the same thing 5 years ago and the answer was no. Apparently 9/11 (which is still very raw) shocked people into believing in him.

Cuba II: The Road Trip

After a slightly dissapointing first visit to Cuba due to an over-supply of street husslers we had no hesitation in renting a car and getting out of La habana for a few days - destination Trinidad.

With our excellent guide Daniel we were able to have our endless questions answered. Some of the more interesting things we learned are:

- Rum and coke is called Free Cuba (Cuba Libre) in the latin world and I have enjoyed them throughout central America. However, in Cuba they feel so gipped by Castro's failure that when locals ask for the drink here they ask for a Mentira - a lie.

- Having a free health system sounds great but it's not so good when you have to bribe doctors just to recieve treatment without the usual months long waiting list. Having extra money to be able to do this is only possible for people who either work somehow with tourists, or who steal.

- Free education also sounds great but University placement is determined solely by school results, not by choice.

- Cubans know exactly what is going on in the rest of the world. They get access to the internet through friends with government jobs and read the NY Times and Miami Herald.

- Besides the Florida approach, Cubans also head to Honduras on makeship tube vessels braving shark infested waters. Once there, they can arrange flights/passports for the US where they then discard the new passport and declare their Cuban nationality to US authorities. This automatically entitles them to rights and protection under US law (in an attempt to save them from communism). Unfortunately this means that Cuban ID cards are worth thousands to people in Central America and they are willing to kill for them - so even once they beat the sharks, they still have to get past the Mexicans.

- David took me to a restaurant where locals go - something we had found very hard to find. Customers paid in local currency and dishes were between 1-2 dollars. According to Daniel most Cubans could only afford this treat 1 a month (average salary is around $15/m).

Adios Argentina

Leaving Buenos Aires after 2 months is hard because we were just starting to see what living there permanently would be like. More Argentinian friends, more spanish and less tourist spots.

Buenos Aires has been really good to us and is probably our favourite single city of the whole trip. In fact, when we were asked last night about our favourite places we had visited on this trip, we both confidently answered BA for favourite city, and Guatemala for best memories/experiences.

So we are starting the long trip home... A special goodbye to Aaron and Sarah, Jason and Jimena and a huge thank you to James and Wendy who kindly lent us their beautiful apartment in Recoleta. Also thanks to Andrew who flew in for 2 big weeks!

Now that is a llama!

We spent a fun morning with the animals at the Buenos Aires zoo. Highlights included the world's weirdest looking llama and Nat on top of a shetland pony in a sombrero.

Jack and Andrew agreed it was the best 5 pesos they had spent in BsAs...

La Boca!

El Caminito is a block in the working class barrio, La Boca (which is also home to the Boca Juniors). Apparently the resourceful Italian imigrants who used to live in this neighbour got scrap tin from boats docked at the port, which they painted in bright colours to beautify the neighbourhood.

New Years Eve!

NYE in Buenos Aires turned out to be so much bigger than Nat and I had expected if we´d been asked 3 weeks ago. We started at a house party held by friends from our school (again proving how amazingly social Ibero Spanish School is!) where we counted down to midnight, watched amateur fireworks enthusiasts throughout the city from our 19th floor vantage point and began down the slipperly path of communal drinks.

At around 1.30am we were ushered out by our hosts, above, who were keen to move on (and no doubt get everybody out). We headed to Pacha where others in our group had organised VIP entry the night before. After almost an hour standing on deserted streets trying to hail a cab we eventually found someone and arrived at the club which is a stand alone building on the side of River Plate (ie. the ocean).

Inside we met up with Nat´s friends and took full advantage of our VIP area access. Drinks were dangerous as asking for a vodka means a tall glass full of vodka not a shot in a tall glass (Jay, think Bilbao). We were there until well after sunrise and as the picture below shows, so was everyone else! (check out the waves lapping the shore in the background).