Dick's Rebuttal

Ok, now it’s my turn to do the blog entry. While I won’t go so far as to call the drive from the airport a “trip though Beirut” I will admit it was dry, dusty, and somewhat impoverished. That was quickly put aside as we settled into our new home. The Posada Olivar is quite lovely in an old hacienda way. There are many pictures of the original owners still hanging on the walls. The furniture is mostly from the early 1900’s. And any minute you expect Juan Peron to peek his head in the door. It is our caretaker, JoseLuis’, grandparent’s house. Jose is in his mid twenties and trying to make a go of this bed and breakfast. Right next to our house is the new building with five guest rooms, sitting area, and kitchen (being built as I write.) We’ve become good friends with Jose and his girlfriend, Eugenia. Both speak very good English and have become our go-to source of local info. The gardener is actually JoseLuis’ uncle, Senor Martin. He’s actually a great guy, always smiling and moving at a snail’s pace as he rakes the lawn or moves the flood gates. It seems they irrigate by opening up small flat metal plates in various ditches around the estate. The water all comes from snow melt off the Andes and the water is diverted to various communities on a weekly basis. When we first arrived we had a raging stream running right along the side of the lawn. Three days later it was bone dry. Today, it’s running fast. There’s no drip irrigation in effect here. The estate is filled with many different kinds of trees and for the most part is green. We have an olive orchard in the back. The house has a nice kitchen with dishware most likely seen at your friendly garage sale. The rooms are large with tile floors. Our bedrooms are simple yet comfortable I will agree with Marianne that lamp shades are non essential equipment in Argentina. It all works though, and the troop seems to be acclimating well. It certainly helps that we have our own swimming pool. And Brian has his own soccer pitch out back complete with goals.
The first thing I learned in Argentina is they take their siesta seriously. Everything shuts down between 1:00 and 5:00. It’s like a ghost town. Nightlife begins at 10:00 so that blanks us from hitting the restaurants. There are no supermarkets in Chacras but there is an American size grocery in Palmeras, about a five minute drive from here. Most of the time we pick up meat from the carneseria, bread from the paneseria, fruit and veggies from the verduria, wine from the bodega, and the balance from the mini mart. Food prices are par with the US except for meat and wine, which is much less. They aren’t kidding when they say beef is the mainstay of the Argentine diet. I don’t know if my heart is going to be able to handle our stay here, but it sure tastes good. The beer is all lager and brewed locally. The wine is strong but that may be more a factor of cost versus style.
Last weekend was our first big foray to the el Centro (downtown for you tourista types.) We packed our bag and headed for the bus stop. It turns out the bus only takes coins and nobody has any. I mean nobody. I must have hit up ten stores for cambio and they had about four pesos between the lot of them. Now I know why the shopkeepers are so loose when giving back change. Everything is rounded up to a paper bill. No one can explain the shortage of coins, it’s just one of those things. Finally I was able to round up enough coins once we went back and raided JoesLuis’ piggy bank. And we’re off. The municipal bus system is very efficient and crowded but you may have to wait a while for your bus. We’re about twelve km from downtown Mendoza which seemed to take us a half hour. Not the most comfortable ride but a good way to see the neighborhoods. El Centro is a mixture of high end clothing stores, tiny kiosks, outside cafes, and glaring billboards/signs everywhere. Saturday is very busy as all the cafes were booming. You can’t do anything between 1 and 5 so you may as well eat and drink. And yes there is a McDonalds. I was proud we chose a local establishment to wolf down a side of beef before our walk around the Plaza Independencia. As in almost every Spanish colonial city, there is the main square or plaza. Mendoza is the capital of the province so it’s the largest city on this side of the country. You get a sense that it’s a country still trying to figure out its place. The economic collapse of 2001 has stifled investment and you don’t see much new construction. They got the double whammy as the recession/depression of the last year has really hit them hard. The folks we’ve met have all been well educated but the good jobs are not in this country. I never felt threatened but I’m not sure I would want to be cruising away from the central market after hours. You’re never far away from the Andes and when the wind blows it carries dust from the plains. So everything seems to have a coating of dust which gives the impression of old and tired. But it certainly isn’t Bahdad.
Sunday, JoseLuis invited us to an Argentine lunch. He got the wood grill going and cooked more beef (are you seeing a trend here?) His sister and her kids came along with Eugenia. We also had a couple from Seattle who were staying at the new house. AnnMarie picked flowers from around the yard and it was a gala affair. A couple bottles of wine and cervaza, and the afternoon disappeared. Life definitely goes at a slower pace.
We haven’t hit the vineyards or for that matter, we haven’t done much of anything except get the home schooling routine back on track. We still plan to do some biking, horseback riding, and river rafting. We’re trying to make plans to head down to Bariloche in late Feb for two months. Sometime before then we hope to get up to Machu Pichu. But right now, I think I’ll make a beef sandwich.