Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Don’t Run Me Down, Bruce
Adios (for now), Buenos Aires! After an uneventful plane ride over the Andes with a Brazilian rugby team, I touched down in San Juan, provincial capital of San Juan Province (Not tonight he doesn’t!…come…in the night…Trogdor…) This is the largest city near Parque Provincial Ischigualasto, U.N. World Heritage Site and self-described (by posters in the tiny San Juan airport) “primero cemetario de los dinosaurios del mundo.” Yes, Ischigualasto has some nice dinosaurs (and more importantly…therapsids) but primero? Del mundo? Have you been to Utah’s Dinosaur National Monument? Well I haven’t! But I will, and then maybe I can legally buy a firearm, so we won’t have to vote you out of office, will we, scumbag?!? But suffice it to say…it’s a mountain. A mountain made entirely of dinosaurs. Perhaps they mean “primero” literally, as in “the first”, rather than “the premier”, as Ischigualasto is known for producing the remains of some of the world’s oldest and most primitive dinosaurs. If so, then…okay. But you’re on thin ice with me, San Juan tourist board.
On the topic of Argentine drivers: for God’s sake, avoid Argentine drivers. As in most antipodean countries I have visited traffic laws are considered quaint suggestions at best around these parts, and pedestrians are a decidedly endangered species. I hope never to travel so fast in a vehicle without seatbelts again as I did on the taxi ride back from the airport. And the tailgating! Traveling at some unholy number of kilometers per hour less than a meter from the car ahead of you: not cool. At least they drive on the right side of the road here (although it’s hard to tell, because all roads are one way).
Adios (for now), Buenos Aires! After an uneventful plane ride over the Andes with a Brazilian rugby team, I touched down in San Juan, provincial capital of San Juan Province (Not tonight he doesn’t!…come…in the night…Trogdor…) This is the largest city near Parque Provincial Ischigualasto, U.N. World Heritage Site and self-described (by posters in the tiny San Juan airport) “primero cemetario de los dinosaurios del mundo.” Yes, Ischigualasto has some nice dinosaurs (and more importantly…therapsids) but primero? Del mundo? Have you been to Utah’s Dinosaur National Monument? Well I haven’t! But I will, and then maybe I can legally buy a firearm, so we won’t have to vote you out of office, will we, scumbag?!? But suffice it to say…it’s a mountain. A mountain made entirely of dinosaurs. Perhaps they mean “primero” literally, as in “the first”, rather than “the premier”, as Ischigualasto is known for producing the remains of some of the world’s oldest and most primitive dinosaurs. If so, then…okay. But you’re on thin ice with me, San Juan tourist board.
On the topic of Argentine drivers: for God’s sake, avoid Argentine drivers. As in most antipodean countries I have visited traffic laws are considered quaint suggestions at best around these parts, and pedestrians are a decidedly endangered species. I hope never to travel so fast in a vehicle without seatbelts again as I did on the taxi ride back from the airport. And the tailgating! Traveling at some unholy number of kilometers per hour less than a meter from the car ahead of you: not cool. At least they drive on the right side of the road here (although it’s hard to tell, because all roads are one way).
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