And so it proved. All the normal stuff. E-mail people, go to the gym, think of something to do.

I did a little more work on my translations, typed them up on the computer and got a copy printed off so that I could read it and see immediately where I was going wrong. Lots of places, it seems.

I had been planning on going to the cinema to watch Home Range or Vacas Vaqueras as it seems to be called in Spanish, a cartoon film about a load of, um, cows that was on at tea-time, but then I realised that I hadnt sent Emma a birthday card with the big day approaching.

So, when the shops opened up again in the afternoon, I went card-hunting. Nothing in ABG, the stockists of virtually every other WH Smith style stationery item, and no cards in any of the kiosks or locutorios (phone-shops) that I went to.

I ended up, conveniently as it turned out, in El Tres Magos (The Three Wise Men) on the corner of the main square, opposite the post office, where I picked out what I reckoned to be a suitable card, wrote my message on it (after paying, of course) and then trotted across the road to be ripped off by the Argentinan postal service who charged more for the card than it had cost in the first place to send it over land and sea back to Cardiff.

Hoped it would arrive in time. Knew that it wouldnt. Lol

Having booked the tickets to Esquel, it suddenly seemed a good idea to book a hotel as well! Howys recommended me Casa de Familia Rowlands, a "Welsh" family who rent rooms in Esquel, but when I phoned them they were full up because of the approaching Bank Holiday Weekend, but at least they gave me the phone number for somewhere else which did have at least a dorm room for the week. Job done.

While in the locutorio, it suddenly hit home that I hadnt spoken to anyone at, well, home, for nearly a month in real life, so, looking at the clock, and wondering if my parents would still be awake at nearly 11ish, I gave them a five minute call, just to say I was okay :)

Then, I went home, ate my tea and sat there and finished my Borges book. Finally! Long slog over. Very worthwhile. Now all I have to do is work out what it was all about!