Andean Mountain Cats

One of the world's rarest cats is also one of its least known. The Andean mountain cat, sometimes called the "snow leopard" of the Andes, is an elusive species found only at high elevations of the Andean region in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru (elevations of 5,100 meters.) Little is known about its ecology and behavior. While the species is known to be rare, no one knows how many individuals survive in the wild. This cat specie is the size of a domestic cat, it appears larger because of its long tail and silvery-gray, striped and spotted long fur. The body length is about 60 cm (24 in), the tail length is 42 cm (17 in), the shoulder height is 36 cm (14 in) and the body weight is 5.5 kg (12 lbs). It is one of the least known and rarest of all felines; almost all that is known about it comes from a few observations in the wild and from skins.

Mate

The many colourful packets of yerba-mate are one product that stand out as being a bit different. Mate is the national drink and there is a huge variety of different brands and blends of yerba to suit any Argentinian's taste.
Many of the locals buy their yerba with palo - small bits of stem are mixed in with the semi-ground dried leaves in order to create a milder taste, but packets of yerba sin palo are also available, along with packets mixed with a multitude of herbs and other flavourings. This taste is something similar to the tea. Something you have to try in your life. Delicious mate.

Victory!

The Argentineans defeated France in Marseille yesterday and it was Maradona's 100th day on the job as the team's coach. Goals from Jonas Gutiérrez and Messi (of course he had to score!) ensured a 2-0 victory in front of the packed stadium yesterday. "My guys played well," Maradona said in an interview at the end of the game. “I am very glad. I am happy with their performance.” This brings comfort to all the Argentine people. Now we believe again. I think that we played better without the importan player Riquelme whom his shirt reads number 10 on the back, but maybe im wrong, maybe we could of won by more goals, nobody knows for sure. Everybody played good against the powerful france. France is pretty good, they got second place in 06 world cup, plus they have very skillful players, like Rivery, Henry, Abidal and more. And the vicroty is secondary, what comes first is how the players we have feel the love and passion for the jersey.

New Maradona

In the shanty towns of Buenos Aires they used to call him el pibe, Argentine slang for the little kid. But Diego Armando Maradona, the diminutive Argentine footballer whose ball skills are something you will never forget, became El Maestro with his imminent appointment as manager of the national team. I think the whole Argentina, every country, or maybe people that know about him wanted to see him coach for the national team. Because he still is the greates player ever existed. For you all that dont know him, he almost die in 2004 because he was getting too fat and because of that, he was getting some heart problems, poor Diego, his the best. I admire him very much. Since Maradona is the coach right now, he made some changes in the squad. like the captain, before, it was a defender named Javier Zanetti, he was the captain for many years, and now he gave the responsability to a defense midfielder, Javier Mascherano. He included five local-based players added to the squad on Tuesday. One of them is Juan Sebastian Veron, Maradona recall him to the National Team because Veron was voted Latin American Player of the Year in 2008. And because he had been watching Veron play. Now Argentina faces France on Feb. 11 in Marseille, their second game since Maradona was surprisingly named coach. In his first outing, Argentina beat Scotland 1-0 away in November.



The foreign-based players were named last week.


Goalkeepers: Juan Pablo Carrizo (Lazio), Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar)
Defenders: Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich), Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid), Daniel Diaz (Getafe), Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan), Walter Samuel (Inter Milan), Marcos Angeleri (Estudiantes), Emiliano Papa (Velez Sarsfield)



Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Maxi Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle United), Luis Gonzalez (Porto), Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiates), Daniel Montenegro (Independiente), Cristian Ledesma (San Lorenzo)



Forwards: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Carlos Tevez (Manchester United), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli), Lisandro Lopez (Porto), German Denis (Napoli), Angel Di Maria (Benfica).