Orphans Christmas and New Years

When we started our trip we had no idea where we'd be or who we'd be spending our first South American Christmas or New Year's celebrations with.  But as it so happened, a friend of Kurt's from home and his girlfriend were in a town not far from Buenos Aires for a month, so we decided to join them in an orphan's festive season.  And it was pretty bloody festive, that's for sure!

Nice and early on Christmas Eve we packed a bag and left the farm to go back into Buenos Aires, where we then got a bus to a place called San Antonio de Areco, to the hostel Jimmy and Ash were staying at that their Aussie mate Sal runs with her Argentinian husband (recently married) Felipe.  It ended up taking us about 5 hours to get there, but we were rewarded after a hot and sweaty walk to the hostel by a cool and inviting pool that had just been filled that morning.  Perfect timing.  And the perfect accompaniment?  Ice cold beer of course.  And that was pretty much how we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening - swimming and drinking and enjoying the sun.  Jimmy and Ash had a dinner to go to so we amused ourselves by drinking a nice concoction of vodka and Speed (an energy drink, before you all freak out) and slowly pouring the rest of the bottle of vodka into a watermelon.  

Because that's what you do on Christmas Eve.  Well, when you're alone in South America that is!  Jimmy and Ash got back at about midnight and we thought it only appropriate to stay up drinking until the sun came up.  And build a fire.  Not a bad start to the festivities!

Christmas Day was basically the same - a lazy day of drinking and swimming.  We'd also made a big damper at the farm to make damper dip for the occasion, and it turned out awesomely.  

A whole lot better than the vodka watermelon, that's for sure.  We decided it was time for some refreshing alcohol infused fruit in the afternoon, so carved the beast up.  However, each bite was like a punch in the face - and not in a good way.  All vodka and no watermelon goodness.  Never fear, the potent watermelon was put to good use the following weekend.

Boxing Day was a late start and spent lazing around the pool again.  Kurt and Jimmy jumped on bikes and went in search of a delicious hunk of meat for an asado (Argentinian style BBQ), but after about an hour Keryn and Ash were wondering if they should be worried.  Then they remembered that the guys were both hammered so would be handling the bikes with professional ease.  Their search was unsuccessful but they returned in one piece.  More or less.

The next weekend we made the journey back to San Antonio for New Years celebrations, but it was slightly shorter this time as we were already in Buenos Aires after leaving the farm.  We arrived at lunchtime and didn't waste any time in cracking open a cold one.  The rest of the day was spent in much the same way as Christmas - drinking, swimming and enjoying the sun while things were being prepared for the Mexican themed party that night.  People started to show up and it was rammed by 10pm.  Kurt and Jimmy had thought ahead and purchased fireworks and cigars to welcome the new year in, Ash had made a pinata for everyone to bash the shit out of and the vodka soaked watermelon was added to a bucket of punch which everyone smashed back.  The rest of the night passed in a blur of music, booze and pyromania, and one by one we crashed out.

New Years Day was another late start and some were more hungover than others, but thankfully that passed.  It started with a beer in our hand and ended with a beer in our hand.  We just want to say a massive thanks again to Jimmy, Ash, Sal and Felipe for an awesome couple of weekends.