I have been in Bariloche for two and a half days and I am starting to get my feet under me. As I told you, I was greeted by a heavy snow storm which did not stop dropping snow until Monday afternoon. Plus, Monday, even though it was still snowing, it was also warm enough that it was starting to melt, so the streets were filled with slush. To cross them was an adventure, because at all the curbs there was ankle deep slush, which was extremely cold, and athletic shoes were not really adequate footwear for such an occasion. Therefore, for the first two days I had extremely cold feet during my several excursions. These included going into town twice and to the school once, although it turned out I did not need to go to the school, since it had been suspended due to the horrible weather on Monday. Seems they lost their electricity, so they had not light or heat. They tried to reach me by telephone, but for a variety of reasons could not and I showed up anyway. Oh well, the adventures of a Miamian in the cold of a Patagonian winter! I didn’t consider it a lost afternoon, as I located the school, took the bus back home and figured out how that worked, and became better acquainted with my surroundings.
Tuesday the snow had stopped and it did not rain, as forecast, so it was a beautiful day. There were heavy clouds off and on, but in between moments of bright sun. When the sun was out I got a real sense of the beauty of this place and now better understand why every Argentinean raves about Bariloche! It is on a beautiful, large mountain lake with mountains rising out of the water all around it. The larger ones on this side, so I don’t see them as well, but from the school I could see Mount Otto, which is a small mountain really, but has an observation building with, I believe, a restaurant which evidently provides spectacular views of the surrounding locale.
With the snow stopped and it warming up slightly, the roads have begun to clear and it is easier, and somewhat drier, to walk. So, I walked home from the school Tuesday afternoon, a distance of about 2 kilometers, or a little more than a mile. It took me about 40 minutes and was good exercise. I want to keep up my walking, which I have been doing a lot of the past four weeks, so I can really surprise Dianne when she arrives in September with my new, trim physique. (Well, at least trimmer than I was when I left for sabbatical in July. If I can keep walking, I may just reach my ideal weight, which I have not seen for many, many years. Between eating more simply, which they tend to do here, and all the walking which I am doing, compared to at home, I am definitely losing weight and improving my health. My doctor will be very happy.)
The Spanish is definitely coming along. In my first class with my new teacher, Anna, we spent the entire three hours in conversation and I think I did pretty well. She is very patient in allowing me time to search for the words and the conjugations. She corrects my grammar gently and affirms me when I actually use the correct tense of a verb, which I am actually starting to understand, remember, and use. I did some work Monday and Tuesday morning on perfect and imperfect past tense verbs and I am starting to remember them. I really believe I have enough foundation now to move on and what I primarily need is more practice – much more practice, which I will continue to get for the next two months as I live here in South America. And, I know, all my Spanish-speaking amigos y amigas in Miami plan to keep me in practice when I return.
I am sorry I have no pictures to provide with this post, but the weather has been too lousy to risk taking the camera out and about. It is supposed to be nice the rest of the week, so first chance I get I will walk around town shooting some pictures to give you a taste of this beautiful, idyllic, mountain village.
Tuesday the snow had stopped and it did not rain, as forecast, so it was a beautiful day. There were heavy clouds off and on, but in between moments of bright sun. When the sun was out I got a real sense of the beauty of this place and now better understand why every Argentinean raves about Bariloche! It is on a beautiful, large mountain lake with mountains rising out of the water all around it. The larger ones on this side, so I don’t see them as well, but from the school I could see Mount Otto, which is a small mountain really, but has an observation building with, I believe, a restaurant which evidently provides spectacular views of the surrounding locale.
With the snow stopped and it warming up slightly, the roads have begun to clear and it is easier, and somewhat drier, to walk. So, I walked home from the school Tuesday afternoon, a distance of about 2 kilometers, or a little more than a mile. It took me about 40 minutes and was good exercise. I want to keep up my walking, which I have been doing a lot of the past four weeks, so I can really surprise Dianne when she arrives in September with my new, trim physique. (Well, at least trimmer than I was when I left for sabbatical in July. If I can keep walking, I may just reach my ideal weight, which I have not seen for many, many years. Between eating more simply, which they tend to do here, and all the walking which I am doing, compared to at home, I am definitely losing weight and improving my health. My doctor will be very happy.)
The Spanish is definitely coming along. In my first class with my new teacher, Anna, we spent the entire three hours in conversation and I think I did pretty well. She is very patient in allowing me time to search for the words and the conjugations. She corrects my grammar gently and affirms me when I actually use the correct tense of a verb, which I am actually starting to understand, remember, and use. I did some work Monday and Tuesday morning on perfect and imperfect past tense verbs and I am starting to remember them. I really believe I have enough foundation now to move on and what I primarily need is more practice – much more practice, which I will continue to get for the next two months as I live here in South America. And, I know, all my Spanish-speaking amigos y amigas in Miami plan to keep me in practice when I return.
I am sorry I have no pictures to provide with this post, but the weather has been too lousy to risk taking the camera out and about. It is supposed to be nice the rest of the week, so first chance I get I will walk around town shooting some pictures to give you a taste of this beautiful, idyllic, mountain village.
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