There's a man in our hostel who thinks that the end of the world is coming. He says that there's a New World Order, an illuminati, who are planning to enslave the world. World leaders, such as Bush, Blair, and especially Obama (who's 'not even an American Citizen') are the fronts for these people. They put fluoride in our toothpaste and water because it makes us subservient and docile, the teeth thing is just an excuse (apparently Hitler and Stalin also used fluoride for this purpose in their 'death camps'). He's an American who looks like Hemingway; he has a beard and wears a cap. He says that America is going down the tubes and Mexican's are creating a 'cess pool' in California and Texas. I asked him what the New World Order want, he said, 'they want everything.' 'Aren't they already rich though?' 'Yes,' he said. 'But why bother, they already have lots of power don't they?' 'Yes, but they want absolute power.' He says that they created AIDS and they are also creating bio-weapons to wipe out most of the population, only keeping enough to carry out their bidding, and build them yachts. He said that they did 9/11 to create the terrorist myth, allowing us to be more easily controlled. 'Do you really think some Muslims in a cave could have planned such a thing?' he said. He's really into guns and says that he's ready for them when it happens: and that lots of Americans are armed and ready. I said that if all this is true then I'd rather not know, just live in blissful ignorance: he said that it's better to be ready though, that he's 'in the bullring, ready to dodge the bull.' He said that it doesn't really matter though cos there's an afterlife where the righteous will be given magical bodies that have no blood and can walk through walls. He's a frigging nut job. Jill has managed to let him know she's not interested but he seems to collar me every time we cross paths and babble this crap at me. I usually find nutters interesting but his crap's got really old quickly. Today we went to the botanical gardens and got bitten a lot by mosquitoes, but there were tons of friendly cats which Jill liked to take photos of. On the way back we saw a demonstration outside a government building. One of the demonstrators came over and explained that the local government of BA have created a separate police force who go around beating up the homeless. He said that this violence is just the 'fingers of the iceberg.' He said that the right wing government invest no money in health, culture or the social state. He said they are like the KGB and have files on anyone left wing and get professors the sack. All of the vocal protesters were Iberian, whites of Spanish descent, but there were a large number of silent supporters (well I presume they were supporters) standing nearby who looked indigenous. It seems the indigenous people are the most persecuted but young white students kick up the most fuss.
We've started Spanish lessons. Our tutor is a woman about 55, but when she wrote on the board Jill whispered to me that she has a great ass, which we found pretty funny. She does have a great ass.
Buenos Aires has got a ramshackled, faded glory, kind of charm about it. Lots of wrought iron balconies and crumbing walls. Jill's nearly fallen over four times on the uneven pavements. There's also dog s*** everywhere.
We're thinking of heading South to Patagonia next to go whale watching. Apparently they're jumping out of the water at the moment.
Tonight we're going to a BBQ on the roof terrace of the hostel. It will be the fourth straight day of steak for dinner .They only cost four pounds each and one steak and one portion of chips is plenty for two, which considering how much I can eat is quite something. They serve them with a a chilli sauce full of garlic and parsley which is freshly made and delicious. We've learned how to ask for it rare, 'poco hecho' (little done). Let's hope the nutter isn't there.