Perros Mutantes y Animales Que Se Drogan

"So Ladies, what was your favourite part of the travels of the last two days?", begins the dinner conversation. "The dogs". 

We've had dogs as travelling companions nearly everywhere we've been. Portenos' love of their dogs in Buenos Aires makes the pavements of Palermo into a minefield of poop. In the Andes we're pounced on by mongrel car-chasers ("you want a piece of me?" I shout from our 4x4 as we roll by...). Jasmine's "Perros del Mundo" sticker book is a good reference for the breed these muts may be descended from, and to identify the occasional thoroughbred we meet along the way. In "San Perro de Atacama", our cabalgata turns into a travelling circus of dogs. When not chasing the horses or each other, their after the one eligible lady dog in town. Home schooling includes not only horse riding, but also an unexpected chapter on sex education. 

That brings me to the subject of film. Resourceful as ever, Flo packed a number of films for the long-haul parts of our trip. "El Perro Bombon" is a lovely film (hat tip Vanessa for the recommendation) that really gives you a sense of Argentina's vast distances, and the distance, literal and metaphorical, between gilded Buenos Aires' middle-class prosperity and the sometimes bleak prospects of the hinterland. A recalcitrant Dogo Argentino is the protagonist, as you might have guessed. The perfect complement to our flights from BA. 

Flo also took in "Historias Minimas" by the same director, which I have yet to see. Then there was "Patagonia", which we watched before departure. And for her part, Flo has yet to see The Mission, a terrific depiction of the Jesuits in South America. But more on that in my next post...