The Argentine Way of Things

There alot of things that can be said for Argentina butI dont have the time or patience though to write them all down. It wouldnt do it justice. But hopefully these pictures do bring to mind some thoughts.

Argentina from what I have seen so far is a land of complex feelings and diverse mentalities. Nothing is black and white here. The political ideals change depending on where and with whom you talk to, as it would in any country. While visiting Mar de Plata I found many people in favor of the current president Kirchner. In the country, most were very opposed to her due to her harsh anti-agrarian policies. But aside from the politics of it all, Argentina is interesting because of its people and the cultural mindset they have. It is one of tranquility. It is one of familiar surroundings and family gatherings.
It is one of contemplation of the next meal and the next time they will have yerba mate with a friend. True for many there are challenges that arise, and we have seen that the problems the people face vary in intensity depending on where they live and what they do. But what I have observed so far is that for the most part the people here are welcoming, warm and always looking to feed you lots and lots of meat.

This is one of my favorite pics on this trip so far, (well this and the one of CiCi drooling on herself in the car as she sleeps,...just kidding CiCi). This man stood ourside his little cabin and just stared out onto the lake for about an hour. Why was he there? What was he doing alone? What was he thinking? Impossible to tell, but I....was...envious. Americans are so rushed! Not only do we not stop to smell the roses, but our problem is we want to try and figure out how much we can earn from cutting them and selling them.
Not so in Argentina.

Sunday

In the morning we were whisked off to a lovely neighborhood where we met Martiniano who opened his arms and home to us. We saw the first Quincho which is a special room that has a built in¨Bar-B-Que grill¨, kitchen and space for tables. In this case it was his garage. We had our first homemade empanadas, which were to die for. Then came the asado ¨BBQ¨: Argentine sausage, beef on bone, beef without bone and then as the guests we were offered a grilled small intestine. Martiniano was kind enough to offer his home for us to practice our presentation. We went for shopping for essentials hair straightener a computer cord with the correct plug. We were whisked off to dinner with the lovely Maria. We went to ¨Studio Cafe¨ that looked like a Hardrock Cafe with a live band playing Argentine songs with the crowd singing along. It was Karoake night and as typical americans we decided to grace the crowd with ¨I will survive, by Gloria Gaynor.¨ It was a huge success. We went to a local cafe and had our first Argentine coffee ¨cortado¨ half coffee and half milk.

Mar de Plata

It seems that we carried some rain clouds with us because it rained Saturday morning. We saw the coast and the sea lions. We went to the pier where the Italian fisherman were preparing their nets for departure. The fish market has fresh seafood from fish to squid. I was able to finaly make contact with my family and inform them of my arrival. After a long morning of touring the city in raining weather the sun came out and we had lunch in a lovely resturant where we had our taste of calimari, fresh fish, batata and dulce de leche (which is something they put on all their desserts). I went to the enchanted Sierra de los Padres with its wonderful seanery and tasted Argentina´s version of orange juice, which is hand squeezed fresh oranges. I went to the local hardware store where I discovered that the two head skeleton key was the most common house key. We were invited to a masque party that the Italian embassy held. We danced and were surprised to hear YMC and some 80´s music. We than went to Mar de Plata´s version of 6th Street where we witnessed the night life which did not end until 5 am. It seems that people like to start the night at 2am and end at 7am. The next day I visted a local university which had metal bars on all the doors for security reasons. The scientist were packed in a very small building however, I witnessed the great friendship that each colleague had with one another. They worked as a family, with each other taking care of each others needs. TEAMWORK is family.

Some pictures from our first city, Mar de Plata

After our first presentation

Our first meal hosted by one of the Rotary clubs in Mar De Plata

Yes those are sea lions...

And of course the coastline...

Arriving at Mar de Plata

As we made our way through Mar de Plata I notice all the beautiful people. The streets were narrow and crowded. When we came to our final destination and disembarked the bus I noticed that the all the passengers had a huge group of what appeared to be family and friends. We became a little sad but where quickly happy to realize that we also had our own group of friendly faces. We quickly greeted each other and were divided into our new homes. Analia was my hostess who lived in an apartment downtown. We had enough time to refresh and change. We arrived at an "asado" which was a Bar-B-Que. The meat was melting off the bones we had a mild sausage and a "morcillo" or blood sausage. Since we were so tired from the travel we slept around 1:00 am.

Argentina here we come...............

I apologize in advance that I am new at this and I do not know how to post pictures. We started our trip late Thursday evening at 9:00 pm as we were packed into a plane. During the flight some of us slept and some of us did not. It was not a comfortable ride but the final destination was worth it. We landed in Buenos Aires at 11:30 am and I quickly realized that I was not in Texas. We waited in line for immigration and walked through a store then a hallway and to the luggage carousel. After several rotations our luggage was all collect were we preceded through customs and purchased a bus ticket to Mar de Plata. The ticket was for 12:50 pm so we were quickly rushed to make the bus and left at 1 pm. The view was amazing and as the drive proceeds the landscape became breath taking. IT WAS GREEN! The bus made one stop were we made contact with a fellow Rotarian and arrived at Mar de Plat at 8:00 pm.

Two Days Before Departure

Having been in the team’s situation nine years ago, I remember well what each team member is experiencing as the days, and soon just hours, count down. I recommend that each of you pause, take a deep breath, being conscience of your breathing for about 60 seconds.  This will help relieve some of the tension.  Keep this in mind and do it every now and then. 

kenne