A Few Other Characters in This Travelling Circus Show

Although Frijole and I are the main characters in this adventure, there are many others we've met along the way who deserve a little blogspace. Here are a few:

Name: Alex Triantaphyllis
Alias(es): The Greek, El Griego
How we met: Alex went to St. John's and I learned from his Mom at this past MS150 that he's getting a masters in Buenos Aires for the year.
Claim(s) to Fame: Will go down in history as the man who Introduced me to fernet; Fondness for making "Rock On!" type gestures at Argentine dance clubs; Playing a major role in making sure our BA clubbing experiences made it to "that next level."

Name: Flore Franck
How we met: Worked with Bean, was Georgetown Class of 2006, is Argentine and currently lives outside BA
Claim(s) to Fame: Taking unsuspecting Gringo visitors to popular BA clubs located under a bridge near a dark lake ringed by transvestite hookers; Being an excellent native tour guide.

Name: Deb and Erica
Alias(es): Deberica
How we met: Deb is a high school friend of a Georgetown friend of Frijole and Felipe; Erica is Deb's former coworker; Deberica is on a similar South American adventure and we overlapped in Rio.
Claim(s) to Fame: Meeting very forward Brazilian guys who say amazing things like "When I want something, I get it....."; Having experienced, along with Felipe and Frijole, the worst "English Speaking" tour guide in history; Having experienced, alongside and because of Felipe and Frijole, possibly the worst samba/forró dancing in history.

Name: Wilson Griffin and Friends
Alias(es): The guys staying at the hostel at the end of Gringo Alley
How we met: Will is the younger brother of Elizabeth Griffin, a Georgetown friend of Felipe and Frijole; Will is travelling around the continent with 2 friends and, unbeknownst to all parties, was staying in a hostel 40 feet from ours in Rio.
Claim(s) to Fame: Sharing the amazing coincidence of staying 40 feet away from us and being on the same sidewalk walking to Ipanema beach at 1:00 PM on Thursday July 5; Having ridiculous beards; Serving cheap yet surprisingly potable Brazilian hooch called cachaça to us; getting into a samba club for free by flirting with the transvestite bouncer.

Well, these just get us up through Rio. Expect more tales and characters from the last week, too. Chile has been cold, cloudy, and relatively uneventful. Tomorrow we go to Cuzco where we expect lots of gringos and lost, but found Inca cities!