Madrid is very familiar!

It feels like coming home! Arriving in Madrid and I feel as though I know this place! The architecture, the busy streets, the clothing the people are wearing, all feel very familiar. I even know where to look on the sides of the buildings at the corners about 10 feet up from the street to find the street sign to be able to identify the streets and know where I am! Madrid feels exactly like Buenos Aires! The sound of Spanish fills the air and mi Espanol es vuelve!

Walking the streets yesterday with Dianne had the same feel as walking the streets in Buenos Aires. Except, cleaner! No dog poop on the sidewalks! We have seen fewer dogs being walked than in Argentina, although one group did bring a HUGE Harlequin Great Dane (beautiful dog) into the restaurant last night as they sat at a corner table and had their drinks and tapas. The dog was amazingly well behaved and after it settled down in the corner you barely knew it was there.

It really should not have surprised me that Madrid would feel so much like Buenos Aires. After all, BA was founded and settled and created by people from Spain! It is that old colonial attitude still lurking in my brain that whatever we have in the New World (the Americas) is truly new and unique, forgetting that our ancestors arrived from Europe (most of them) and it was their culture which they brought with them. The connections are clearly here in Spain to see and it is one of those reasons I like to travel: to be reminded of our connections with the people of the past and our relationships at a DNA level with people all over the world.

I am posting a few pictures to illustrate what Madrid feels and looks like. In a future post I will add a link to more pictures. Buen dia!

The Difficulty of Learning the Sabbath Tango

Here it is July 22, 2009, and I am making my first post for the month! Last year, even with six days in the wilderness of Northern Minnesota, I already had several posts by this time. In fact, by the 22nd of July, 2008, I was on my way back to Miami after the first three weeks of my Sabbatical feeling very refreshed, relaxed and ready for my South American adventure! This July 22 I am finishing up my one-week vacation, enjoying a final full day in Chicago, and wondering where the vacation time went to so fast?!? One-week of vacation is not nearly enough time off to accomplish what a vacation needs to do in terms of restoring the body, mind and soul. For example, I am just now getting over a cold that is trying to become bronchitis. This hit me two days ago, about half-way through the vacation. It took my body 4 days to realize it was on vacation before it could consider whether it wanted to get sick for vacation or not! It took my mind a good three days to realize it was on vacation before it began to shift into relaxation mode. It has taken my spirit about six days to realize it was on vacation to where I was ready to begin engaging in spirit-renewing activities, such as writing in my journal, or my blog, and reading a book just for fun! Of course, I return to Miami tomorrow and back to work on Friday, so body will have had about 4 days of vacation, 2-3 of them fighting illness; my mind will have had about 5 days of vacation, also 2-3 days of that clouded by my body's illness; and my spirit will have had about 2 days of vacation.

And that is how most of my time off this year is shaping up. We had this week in Chicago to celebrate my wife Dianne's birthday (and we had a wonderful time with our family in Chicago, Jim, Erika, and granddaughters, Madeleine & Shelby.) I will next take a 4.5 days early in August to drive with my daughter,Rebekah, to Pennsylvania to help her get settled in her apartment for Law School which begins later that month. Then, after returning to Miami, a week later I will fly with my son, Paul, out to Salt Lake City, Utah, to help him get settled in Westminster College for his freshman year. I will take about 8 days to make that trip, and the last two days will probably be alone time for me as it appears that the orientation schedule does not include parents on Monday or Tuesday. (That is fine with me, at least I will get a little bit of solo vacation out of the trip!) Then Dianne and I are planning to take a 10 day trip this September, probably to California. Perhaps that will be a long enough experience to bring full refreshment and renewal to my body, mind & soul?!

I am not really complaining, as much as I am bemoaning several realities. First, the fact that we expect too much out of too little far too often in our society. We expect a one or two week vacation to make up for the other 50 highly stressful, highly taxing, highly exhausting weeks we spend at work, at volunteer activities, at household chores, etc. We expect one-hour a week on Sunday mornings to renew our relationship with God and to restore our spiritual health to a balanced place to take us through the week. Our bodies, minds and spirits need regular renewal time and periodic intense, extended renewal time, for good health. It is the way we were created. Besides all the medical studies highlighting this truth, God's plan as detailed in the Bible also teaches us the same thing. God established the Sabbath at the very beginning creating the world: after six days of work, God rested. God knew when to take a break and God taught us that we need to do the same thing. Yet how infrequently do we really take a weekly Sabbath? If we are lucky enough any more to not work on Saturday or Sunday we almost always fill both days with chores and other high levels of activity. How often do we stop to ask ourselves if something we are planning to do will be renewing to our body, mind, spirit, or family relationships?

The other reality I find very sad is that there is so little acknowledgement of the importance of family and family relationships in the structure of our employment practices. I remember when the Family Leave Act was passed by Congress back in the '90's that mandated employers to allow mothers and fathers time off work for the birth or adoption of a baby. It was a major battle to get this law passed! Most employers do not allow for separate sick-leave days for caring for a family member: an employee must use their sick leave, which in most cases is pretty minimal for the year, especially when it must be divided between the employee and one or more dependents. Most employers do not allow for time off for attending to other family care situations: like attending graduations, taking children off to college, etc. To do such a parent must use vacation time. Now I realize there might always be people who would abuse some benefit, but I also realize that we as a society are extremely driven to succeed at all costs, especially when it comes to turning a profit. We have very little humane and compassionate practices in our economic, business, and social relationships. And the church gets sucked right into the same attitudes and practices. This is very sad.

But I am thankful for a caring and understanding congregation of people who, while they expect a lot out of their pastor and like for him to be available 24/7/365, still realize he is a human being who needs time away for renewal and refreshment. They are fairly flexible and as long as I am there at the critical moments, for the most part they allow me space and encourage me to find Sabbath Time so that I can be healthy, whole, and a better person and pastor. Finding such is part of the difficult dance known as Sabbath Tango. As I learned in Argentina one does not pick-up the Tango, and definitely not master it, in just a few lessons. It takes years of practice. Even so with the Sabbath Tango.

(The pictures include: A brown bear cooling himself at the Brookfield Zoo, he definitely seems to have a better handle on the Sabbath Tango than I do; Dianne & I with our children preparing to go out to celebrate her birthday with a fabulous dinner; a view of the Chicago River from the boat tour we enjoyed; a photo of me & Dianne and taking a photo of ourselves and the Chicago skyline in the Cloud Gate in Millenium Park; and a photo of Dianne, Rebekah & Paul at the sign for Millenium Park.)

The Final Day of Sabbatical

Sitting in my home in Miami, on the last day of my Sabbatical, I am drinking the espresso I made (which does not even begin to approach the marvelous quality of the coffee I enjoyed in Argentina.) I have been home for six days and South America has begun to feel like a hazy dream. It truly was a dream life I enjoyed for 12 weeks. I never would have imagined I would fall so deeply in love with that continent and those countries, Argentina and Peru. I can begin to understand, I think, why British and European travelers fell in love with places like Africa and Asia. It is related to the exotic, yet familiar, nature of new lands. It is related to the level of hospitality one encounters from the local people (always a surprise, for we have this inbred idea that other people, especially foreign people, are never as warm, welcoming and hospitable as we are ourselves.) It is related to one's willingness to invest oneself in a locale and truly embrace it as a home. It is related to the good experiences one has and whether they outweigh the bad. It is related to one's ability to fit in to the culture, to embrace the language, to understand the thinking of the local people. When all of these factors come together in a positive manner, then one will find oneself in a new home, where one feels quite welcome and an integral part of the community, not just an outsider. You discover the place becoming a part of you and you a part of it. That certainly happened for me with Argentina.

It is perhaps the most amazing event of this sabbatical. Although, actually learning to understand and speak the Spanish language in just 12 weeks time is certainly an amazing feat for me, considering my struggle with learning other languages in more traditional educational settings in the United States. Before this sabbatical, I had never really thought much about South America. I was aware of it. I knew people from various countries in the region. I had enjoyed many different movies set in South America and I had a vague sense of the history of the region. But I never had a strong attraction or desire to visit. There were always so many other more exotic, more interesting places on my list. So it was actually quite serendipitous that I chose Argentina as the location for my sabbatical and now I am so glad that I did. In 10 weeks time it became a second home, a second country, for me and it will always have a very special place in my heart.

Now I am engaged in the task of reconnecting with my life in Miami. It is clear to me that I am in a stage of withdrawal and mourning from my life in Argentina. I cooked parilla for my wife and daughter one night, grilling vegetables and a piece of vacio (an Argentine cut of steak I actually found in Publix) and it felt familiar and almost as good as the Argentine grills. I have been eating Argentine and Peruvian chocolate I brought home and looking for ways to order more or find it here in Miami! I have been trying different roasts of coffee beans to find the rich, espresso roast I enjoyed in Argentina. I have been buying various Malbec wines from various Argentine wineries, looking for the quality I enjoyed in country.

Even as I try to hold on to my experiences in Argentina, I have begun to reconnect with my life in Miami. I have played golf at least once and it was good. The four-month lay-off does not seem to have hurt my swing. I have spent most of my time with my family and I have been catching up on chores around the house which needed attention. Today is the official last day of the sabbatical and tomorrow I officially return to work. Sunday I return to leading worship and I understand a Bienvenido a Tu Casa luncheon has been planned for after worship. It will be a joy to see the folks of the church and to begin reconnecting with them. In truth, I have the feeling the sabbatical will continue to unfold and even though today is the official end, the impact and affects of the sabbatical will continue for months to come.

Final Thoughts from Cusco

Thankfully El Balcon, the hotel where Dianne and I have stayed in Cusco, is very comfortable and quaint. Thus it was a very nice place to spend our last day in Cusco, just hanging out in the room. Dianne became quite ill last night after dinner (actually she said her stomach had been upset most of the day) resulting in a night of nausea and vomiting, with little sleep, and great discomfort. She has spent all day in bed trying to feel better, drinking a little tea and trying to slowly eat some food to keep it down. Several of the Cusco residents seem to think she is suffering from the altitude which can affect your digestive system in bad ways.

Having visited Cusco at the start of the week, seen most of the sights, and then gone on to Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu, a day of rest was very welcome and we really don't feel we are missing all that much. We did visit two museums yesterday which had nice collections of pre-Columbian art and artifacts, including quite a few Inca pieces. They were a nice completion of our tour of Incan lands and history.

We are both ready to leave Cusco. It is a beautiful little city, very quaint and antique-looking. A lot of the architecture is still a strong mixture of Incan and Spanish colonial which is quite striking, interesting, and beautiful. The main plaza and the several little plazoletas that we visited were quite lovely. But what detracts from the beauty of the city is the poverty. We have learned from several Peruvians that work is very difficult to find in Peru. That is quite evident from what you encounter on the street as a tourist. Evidently we stand out like sore thumbs and thus are constantly accosted. You literally cannot walk half a block without being asked if you want your shoes shined, do you want to buy a painting from my portfolio, would you like some of these finger puppets, or other handcraft items, do you want some coca leaves candy, postcards, etc. Anything you can imagine they try to sell to you and it is a constant gauntlet you must pass through on the street. It is worst around the plazas, and if you dare to eat at an outside table enjoying the sun and the beautiful plaza views, they walk the sidewalk and accost you at your table! It is quite annoying. It becomes very difficult to maintain an attitude of compassion for people in such dire straits that they must resort to this type of begging to survive. And it does seem to be only a small step up from outright begging, especially by those who are very aggressive and persistent in their approach.

Beyond this atmosphere in the tourist areas, the few times we have driven beyond the main tourist areas what we have seen indicates a country in extreme poverty and extreme economic difficulty. All the housing seems very poor, even the "new" construction (still mostly of adobe bricks dug from the ground.) We have not seen any area that appears "middle" class let alone an upper class neighborhood. That may change in Lima, but in the highlands around Cusco, that is our experience. Even so, the people are lovely, (with the exceptions of the street vendors, and even the few of them we have actually dealt with in purchasing anything [I did buy a work of art for my office] turned out to be quite personable) and they seem to maintain a spirit of hope and joy in life. They offer quite a testimony to those of us, like myself, who have so much more and for whom life truly is so much easier, and yet find myself many times complaining, whining, and taking so much of my life for granted. Somehow it seems they find the joy in the very fact of being alive and find blessings to count and hope to which to cling. There is a lesson here for me in my life when I return to Miami.

Tomorrow we board a plane for Lima. We have reservations at a lovely little Bed & Breakfast in the Miraflores neighborhood, two blocks from the Pacific Ocean. We plan to mostly spend our time there, relaxing, do a little touring and shopping, but mostly rest up and prepare to return to life and work in Miami. We fly home on Saturday. Dianne returns to work on Monday and I have one more week of Sabbatical before it is over and I return to work November 1. I can hardly believe that this time has arrived.

From the "magical" Ollantaytambo

Sitting at a balcony window overlooking the Plaza de Armas (the main plaza) of Ollantaytambo with a huge mountain overlooking the town from the other side filling most of the window, I bring you another post from Peru! Dianne and I have truly been transported into another world, and it even feels, another time. This little town is at the juncture of two river, three valleys, would be extremely hard to approach in secret, and fairly easy to defend. It is completely sensible that this place has been settled by human beings for tens of thousands of years and still today. The mountains surround the town, almost embracing it in their arms, providing a true sense of divine protection.

We spent the morning climbing up and down more than 200 stone steps to visit the palace/fortress/religious sanctuary of Ollantaytambo. There is evidence of at least three different construction techniques, indicating most likely at least two other civilizations or cultures pre-dating the Incas in constructing this place. There are also marvelous examples of Inca construction, with the uncompleted Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon. We had a wonderfully informative impromptu history and archaeological lesson from Eugenio, one of the docents, or guards, at the ruins. The knowledge of the stars, the movement of the sun and moon, of geometry, algebra and other sciences involved in the construction is amazing. And so much of what they knew appears to have been lost! How sad for the rest of us.

After the morning climb and tour we had a disappointing lunch before visiting the local market with the people selling their handmade jewelry, woven crafts, etc. Much of the work is beautiful. Dianne purchased a few souvenirs and I practiced my Spanish. We then hung out in the main plaza waiting for the electricity to return so we could visit the Internet cafe and check email and I could post to the blog. Again, I am really sorry there are not pictures, but promise by late Sunday or early Monday there will be some added. So keep checking back for them.

Last night we had a truly gourmet dinner at the little Bed & Breakfast where we are staying. Dianne had a chicken dish that had a sauce which included the muña herb of which I wrote yesterday (the one that also is good for headaches!) I had an Alpaca Tenderloin in an elderberry sauce. It was pretty good (though not as good as Argentine beef, of course!) The meal was delicious and we plan to eat there again tonight.

The Bed & Breakfast is, literally, right on the train platform so when we leave at 7:00 a.m. for Machu Picchu tomorrow we do not have far to walk! Again, we have no idea what our Internet access will be in Aquas Calientes. Supposedly the town is very small and very primitive, although we did make hotel reservations on-line. But if there is no post until Sunday night or Monday, you will know it had been a difficult thing to do in that town. (Either that, or we were too physically tired after visiting Machu Picchu!)

Here are two Kodak Gallery Album links. The first takes you to pictures of the town of Ollantaytambo and the little Bed & Breakfast where we stayed: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.2avaio92&x=0&y=3ehek9&localeid=en_US

The second takes you to pictures of the ruins at Ollantaytambo: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.7i5a09ra&x=0&y=2ytn8q&localeid=en_US

Finally, word from Peru!

Ollantaytambo is the name of the pueblo from where I am finally writing a post. We left Buenos Aires 3 days ago (was it really only 3 days), landed in Lima, made it through immigration and customs and connected with our flight to Cusco, landed in Cusco and made it to our beautiful hotel, El Balcon, on the slope overlooking Plaza de Armas and Cusco. It was a long, tiring travel day (made longer by Alberto, a very nice tour organizer who met us at our hotel, greeted us as though he was the host of the place, and proceeded to talk to us about how long we were staying, what were we planning to do, offering us several tour options, catching us with his "used car salesman pitch" while we were still reeling from the flight!) We did book a half-day city tour with him for the next day, and arranged transfer back from Ollantaytambo train station by car upon our return on Sunday from Machu Picchu. Anyway, we finally made it to our room and collapsed! I took some beautiful night photos of the city from our balcony, including of the brightly lit white statue of Jesus high on a hill overlooking Cusco with his arms raised in blessing! (Talk about a neon cross!)

The next day we went to the Perurail Train Station to trade our Internet voucher for our tickets on the train to Machu Picchu, found a bank to change some dollars into nuevo soles, walked around some lovely squares visiting some shops for Dianne to browse and shop. We picked up lunch to take back to the hotel, ate and got ready for our tour. While we are not fans of group tours (yes, it is amazing that we took this tour!) the tour guide Puma (yes, that is his first name, he is Quechua, which is the proper term for the native people we know as Inca) was excellent and made the tour extremely worthwhile. Cusco lays claim to being the longest settled and populated city in the hemisphere, with its roots dating back possibly 7,000 years. The Inca Empire was only about 100 years long, though it was probably the high point of construction and settlement. Of course, most of what the Inca built was destroyed by the Spanish conquerors, beginning with Francisco Pizarro.

One fascinating fact we learned was that while most Inca structures have been destroyed or damaged, it was all by human hands, not a bit by earthquakes. The Inca, or their predecessors, figured out a way to construct stone structures that would move with the earth and not topple or crumble. So, for instance, in 1650, when there was a massive earthquake in the region of Cusco, all the Spanish buildings constructed on top of the Inca buildings crumbled, but the bottom portions of the buildings, which were the original Inca construction, all remained standing! To this day engineers from Japan, San Francisco, and other earthquake prone areas, have visited and studied the Inca construction but have not figured out how to duplicate it.

While it is only a small portion of the vast gold and silver wealth of the Incas, we were amazed at the opulence in the Cathedral. The vast usage of gold and silver plating on altars and various structures was stunning. Just the wealth exhibited in this one, huge, structure (actually it is three churches joined together, with the Cathedral in the center and two "smaller" churches on either side) is mind-blowing! Plus we saw the blackened Christ on the cross known as ¨Lord of the Tremblors" which was the crucifix they finally, in desperation, paraded around town in 1650 when the earth was shaking and the earth stopped! Finally, we saw the Peruvian version of Davinci's "Last Supper" which depicts Jesus and his disciples about to dine on cuy, guinea pig!

After the Cathedral we rode the bus up 1,500 more feet, to the impressive stone ritual site known as Sacsayhuaman. It is huge! With huge stones in the walls that are still standing. One Inca historian who wrote shortly after the conquest by the Spanish wrote how he got lost in Sacsayhuaman it was so huge and labyrinth-like. We also visited several other interesting Inca ruins before returning to the main plaza about 7 p.m. Growing tired, Dianne and I went looking for a "simple" dinner. We went to a restaurant recommended to us by the Hotel manager, La Retrama. Located on the second floor overlooking Plaza de Armas, it was a lovely, elegant restaurant. We were the only patrons for about 30 minutes before two tour groups (they sounded German) joined us. But the food was delicious, the staff extremely attentive. One waiter named Emilio, not our main waiter but very friendly, discovered I had a headache and brought me some sort of green herb in a small container to crush and deeply inhale the aroma. (Dianne just found the name on the web, muña.) And it worked! Not immediately, but within a half-hour or so my headache was gone! Dianne even shared and we both testify to this natural healing wonder!

It was not a "simple" or short dinner, though. The food was delicious, but more than I was looking for (actually Dianne was ravenous) and then about the time we finished a Peruvian musical group, with flutes, drums, a guitar and mandolin set up in tradition garb and began playing. They were then joined by four dancers in very colorful costumes, who were very energetic and performed 4 different dances. It was at least an hour-long floor show, and the musicians were still playing when we finally left! It was a much later night than we had planned, but extremely enjoyable.

This morning after breakfast I walked to the Instituto Nacional de Cultura to buy our entrance tickets to Machu Picchu before we were picked-up by Edwin who drove us through the Sacred Valley to Ollantaytambo. The drive was amazing. The panoramas, the vistas, the scenery, both fascinating, stunning, awesome, breathtaking, I could pile up the superlatives and not do it justice. I am sorry I do not have pictures posted (I took many of the last 3 days) but it turns out there is not WIFI at our hotel in Ollantaytambo so I won't be able to add pictures for several days. Maybe this weekend in Aquas Calientes, where we are spending Saturday night during our visit to Machu Picchu. Otherwise, I will definitely add pictures to whatever posts I share, beginning with this one, by Monday. Sorry! Know we are safe and having an amazing visit in Peru!

Here are the Kodak Gallery Album links with more pictures of Cusco. This first link will take you to pictures of some of the ruins in and around Cusco: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.ayd2yio6&x=0&y=n5wvig&localeid=en_US

This second link will take you to pictures of the Folklore Show we enjoyed at dinner: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.57sw3pfq&x=0&y=ky1jw8&localeid=en_US

A Quiet Final Weekend in Buenos Aires

Since returning to Buenos Aires from Iguazu Falls we have been spending a very low-key weekend in our apartment in Palermo. It feels rather strange to have become homebodies while we are half a world away from home in Miami, in a fabulous city, which we may or may not every return to visit. But Dianne returned from the jungle with a developing sinus infection and I am trying to nurse her back to health in preparation for the next leg of our adventure in Peru. So, she has been taking the antibiotic her doctor sent along for such an occasion; getting plenty of rest, drinking lots of liquids, and taking it easy. We have seen a lot in Buenos Aires so this respite will not really result in her missing too much. And, we have not been totally couch potatoes, going out each evening for a delicious dinner.

On Thursday night, after returning from Iguazu Falls, we went to this little "resto-bar" in the neighborhood which has music every night, most of it Argentine Folk music. This night at La Peña del Colorado there was a very gifted singer and professor of music performing, Silvia Zabala. She had a wonderfully rich, strong voice and lots of energy. She was accompanied by two gifted guitar players and throughout the night she invited them to take the lead at times, invited a friend in the audience to share some songs (and she, too, had a marvelous voice), and invited two other musicians who play with one of the guitar players in a separate group, to do a few numbers. The bar was fairly intimate, the food was delicious. It was traditional Argentine food: Dianne had a pumpkin squash casserole, Steve had a tamal and a beef & tomato stew (which, interestingly he did not order, the waiter just brought to the table. We thought it was a gift from him, or maybe his sister who was seated at the table next to us, but then he charged us for it! Oh well, it was delicious and it worked out fine! I probably say that because the bottle of Malbec was so wonderful that I could go with the flow.) We interacted some with the waiter's father, sister and her boyfriend and we truly had an evening where we felt as though we were regular resident of the neighborhood.

The next night we went to La Nazarenas, a very classy Parrilla-Asador Restaurant downtown. The service was impeccable; the wine, another Malbec (the fourth bottle for the fourth dinner in a row, all marvelous, each one different in taste, body, aroma, etc.), was superb; the steaks, tender and juicy; the grilled vegetables, delicious; the fine crystal wine glasses, a very classy touch. It was a very special dinner. Unfortunately, we did not get to continue our evening at a Tango Milonga because Dianne was not feeling well, but dinner was a treat.

Then last night we went to a very nice restaurant in the neighborhood, Don Justo's. Again the setting was very first class. The food was excellent: Dianne enjoyed Pollo Don Justo, which was a chicken breast marinated in Portuguese sauce, covered with peppers and mozzarella; Steve had Salmon stuffed ravioli with mushroom sauce. Instead of Malbec, we enjoyed a bottle of La Rural Trumpeter Chardonnay, one of the best chardonnays we have ever tasted! We topped this dinner with a crepe filled and covered with dulce de leche and wonderful Argentine coffee. Would that American coffee was as rich, full-bodied, and smooth as Argentine coffee!!!

Yesterday the weather began shifting to the rain that had been forecast for several days and it continues today. So, we are resting and working in the apartment. I have organized all the photos from Iquazu Falls (all 700!) and have added links to the previous post about our visit to the Falls to Kodak Gallery Albums. If you have read that post previously but did not see the links to the photos, I encourage you to return to it now and enjoy the photos. You will be amazed and not be disappointed, I guarantee it! I plan to cook spaghetti for lunch (lots of restaurants are closed on Sundays until dinner time) to use up the food because we have to leave this comfortable apartment tomorrow. We will go to Caseron Porteño, the hostel where I began my stay in Buenos Aires 10 weeks ago. We will stay one night there before boarding a flight for Peru on Tuesday. We have two more nights to enjoy the delicious Argentine cooking and then we are off to a new world, a new culture, a new country.

Tango Night in Buenos Aires

In the heart of one of the traditional barrios of Buenos Aires, Balvanera, old place of poets and compadritos, near the home barrio and stomping grounds of the most famous Tango singer from Buenos Aires history, Carlos Gardel, Dianne and I immersed ourselves in Tango, the dance of passion and the music of nostalgia. The evening began with a group Tango lesson at Complejo Tango. The L-shaped room was packed with about 40 people, almost all novices, taking the lesson which made for very tight confines, especially when couples started moving and practicing their dancing. But, it gave us a good taste of what a crowded "milonga," public dance hall, will be like if we venture into that environment. The teacher was very good, the class very enjoyable and helpful and we are getting better, growing more confident, in our ability to dance Tango together.

We received our certificate of completion, which meant we were allowed to stay and enjoy dinner and the show (the teacher's joke that if you did not learn well enough, you did not get your certificate, and thus could not stay!) The maitre d' escorted us to a front row table, right next to the stage on the corner, one of the best seats in the house! The dinner was delicious, with a nice bottle of house red wine (a blend of Cabernet & Malbec), very fresh greens and tomatoes in the salad, a tasty and tender steak, followed by a wonderful dessert. (Dianne had wine soaked poached pear with vanilla ice cream and Steve had a white chocolate mousse with red raspberry and currant sauce!)

During dessert the show began, with three energetic young couples dancing Tango and three smooth voiced singers crooning nostalgic songs. Dianne was sung to two or three times during the show, winked at by one at least once, and the show proceeded on the stage and all around us with action periodically taking place in the midst of the audience. Actually, the show began with the three male dancers performing some solo and group numbers, illustrating the beginnings of the dance as an all male dance performed while men waited for their turn in the local bordellos in Buenos Aires. (Tango has a very checkered past!)

The evening was wonderfully fun. The restaurant and show were set on the third floor of this building in what felt like a converted loft. It was designed with wrought iron balconies overlooking the stage. On one balcony the Tango orchestra of four musicians played the live music and on the facing balcony were more tables and chairs (which were not filled this night). It was an excellent introduction to Buenos Aires culture and history, share in more enjoyable fashion.

Today we will probably enjoy more Tango as we are headed to La Boca, one of the oldest barrios in the city, near the mouth of the Riachuelo River. La Boca was settled by Italian immigrants and is one of the barrios that claims to be the birthplace for Tango. It is also home to the famous La Boca Juniors soccer club, which made Diego Maradona famous. The "Caminito" is a kitschy-tourist oriented location, with brightly colored buildings and Tango dancers performing in the streets for the tourist. It will be a nice, relaxing day. We have been keeping a pretty busy schedule since Dianne arrived and have begun to realize the need to slow down a bit and absorb more deeply what we experience.

A Day of Reflection

Today was another low-key day of reflection and meditation here in Palermo. I left the apartment mid-morning since the maid came to clean, and I walked back to where I had spent a large part of yesterday, down by the French Embassy. Yesterday the Embassy opened its doors to the public from 12 noon - 6:00 p.m. and I joined the long lines of people who waited to enter and view this Belle Epoque style building constructed in the early 1900's. Originally it was the home of the Ortiz Basualdo family, it became the French Embassy in 1939. The French saved the building from destruction by refusing to give it up when the Military Regime in power wanted to demolish it as part of the their plan to create the grand boulevard of 9 de Julio. Much of the building has been preserved as it was originally constructed and the main living areas on the second floor were the parts opened to the public. These included the library, the billiards or smoking room, the dance hall, the corner sitting parlor, and the dining room. Several of the rooms had a Versailles feel to them while the dining room was patterned more on an English design. It was a most interesting visit, unfortunately they did not allow pictures.

That is why I returned today. Also, because I wanted to visit nearby Plazoleto Carlos Pellegrini which one of the guidebooks described as one of the best places to capture a sense of the former glory of late 19th, early 20th, century Buenos Aires. It most definitely is true. This small, very well-kept plaza, is surrounded on three sides by well-preserved buildings that present a small vista of what Buenos Aires must have looked like in the early 1900's. One building is now the Brazilian Embassy. There is also the French Embassy, the Jockey Club, and the BNP (Nacional Bank of Paris). You can see part of the view in the photo above.

After visiting this pleasant little square, I proceeded a few blocks further on to find the memorial to the former Israeli Embassy. In 1992 a car bomb destroyed the embassy and killed 29 persons. The space has been turned into a memorial with a raised area that identifies the former outline of the building and the 29 victims remembered by 22 trees and 7 benches. It is a stark space that certainly highlights the continuing, senseless violence in our world. I had intended to spend some time in this plaza writing in my journal and reflecting on life, but it was too stark a place for that kind of reflection. I did spend a bit of time on one of the benches and reflect on our inability to find peace and a way to live together in the world. People and cultures are far more alike than different, yet most people do not believe that to be true and instead focus on our differences. As a result our divisions grow deeper, lead to growing tensions, and eventually senseless violence. In fact, it was certainly an appropriate day for me to visit this memorial: the night before the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan was car bombed, killing more than 50 people and today there was a driver in Jerusalem who seemed intent on doing harm to pedestrians with his automobile and the Egyptian government announced the kidnapping of about 20 tourists in southern Egypt. I have to wonder how it is that we think we are "winning" this war on terror?

In the following link to another Kodak Gallery Album you will see more photos of the French Embassy and Plazoleto Carlos Pellegrini and the Israeli Embassy Memorial. There are also some photos from one of my walks this past week of the Plaza de Chili and some of the buildings surrounding that plaza. Here is the link to the photos: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.1uascjk6&x=0&y=-3gl7rr&localeid=en_US

The Food in Argentina

One of my readers asked for some more information about the food in Argentina. I have included some comments in other posts and if you want to see those, hit the label "food" at the bottom of this post and it will call up all posts with that label. As I reviewed them I realized I had not been extremely descriptive, so I will give a capsule here and try to include more info about food as I go along from this point. In a nutshell, Argentine food is heavy on meat, especially beef, but also chicken, pork and lamb, as well as venison here in Bariloche, in the mountains. (I had some venison stuffed ravioli last week in a little Italian restaurant where the owner's horse was tied up outside. I wanted to ask him if he rode the horse up into the hills to shoot the deer, but it was beyond my Spanish language skills! Anyway, the venison in such small chopped up quantity in each ravioli and covered with tomato sauce, was not really very unique, but still, very tasty.) Most of the food is very tasty!

Argentines do lousy breakfasts. They are heavy on coffee or tea and medialunas (crescent pastries) or toast. You can get yogurt or fruit or cereal, but eggs and bacon are extremely difficult to find in a restaurant (at least for breakfast, more about that later.) Also, OJ in restaurants is extremely expensive! Muy carro! The pastries are very good, and the coffee is excellent. I have yet to really have a bad cup of coffee. They do their own form of espresso, called cafe chico, or mediano, or grande (all indicate the size) and they also do cordito, capucino, americano, submarino (which is coffee with a spoonful of chocolate to stir into), and other varieties I cannot remember. (I have not seen a Starbucks here yet, though!) They don't need one, as their coffee is great.

They do a variety of things for lunch. Some eat a large meal, some eat small. They have sandwiches that look terrible: extremely thin slices of white bread in triple and quadruple layers with micro-thin slices of ham or ham crudo (sort of like prosciutto, but not really), and cheese. They are not very tasty, I had one on the bus. They do other ham and cheese sandwiches on pan de francais and other sorts of bread as well. They also do lomo sandwiches, which are either a beef or chicken tenderloin. If you get these completo they come with tomato, lettuce, ham or bacon, a fried egg, cheese, and mayonnaise. (Ketchup you have to ask for and they seem to ration it. I have never received more than 2 -3 small packets at a time when I have asked for it. Mayonnaise, however, they seem to love and I have seen them dip papas fritas, french fries, in it.) Lomo sandwiches, as you can tell, are usually HUGE and delicious. I have yet to be disappointed in one and have learned that if I order it, it will be a large meal for me. Most of their portions are really big.

For lunch or dinner, the entree is usually some sort of beef, (of course their steaks are delicious) or chicken. A common form of preparation, beyond just grilling, is milanese, which is a breaded and fried tenderloin hammered very thin. This also can come with a variety of sauces. Along with the entree they rely very heavily on potatoes, or pasta, and to some extent rice. In addition to papas fritas (french fries) they do papas puree (mashed potatoes) and other forms of potatoes that I have not tried. They also do mashed calabazzas squash which is very good. They do salads, too, but they are pretty basic, lettuce, tomato, onion for the most part with oil and vinegar to put on it. They do not have the myriad variety of dressings as the US.

Besides the original Spanish immigrants, the next largest group was Italian, and that is evident in their prolific use of pasta. Almost every restaurant has some sort of pasta dishes on the menu, usually spaghetti, ravioli, gnocchi, lasagna, and cannelloni. However, their cannelloni is usually made with a crepe more than an actual pasta noodle. They do a variety of sauces, tomato, cream, 4 cheeses, with or without meat. Sometimes the meat is chunks of roast beef, not hamburger. (Oh, you can also get hamburgers and hot dogs, but my thought is "why?").

This has become a rather long post, so I will end it for now and later in the week tell you about the pride of their menu, Asado and Parilla, which are Argentine barbecue, but nothing at all like US barbecue. I will also share a little about their postres, desserts, which I have not partaken of very much, as well as the chocolate in Bariloche! (I am still taste-testing that!)

The pictures above are of my favorite lunch cafe/bar in Buenos Aires, and you can see a bit of the food served. Then the bar in San Telmo (a barrio in Buenos Aires) where I had my first HUGE chicken lomo sandwich. Finally, the Italian Restaurant in Bariloche with the horse out front where I had my venison stuffed ravioli.

Beautiful Bariloche

Yes, that is really me posing with St. Bernards! I know people back home don't think I like animals (I love animals, just don't want to live with them and prefer to let them have their own space in the world, preferable in the wilderness or on a farm.) And I know some people will be shocked I did something so touristy as to pay someone to use my own camera and take my picture (it was actually three pictures for 10 pesos [about $3 US]) while I held her dogs, but that was the only way to do it and they were her dogs, after all. Evidently this is one of the known touristy things to do in Bariloche, sort of like having a picture in Miami while parrots perch on your arms and head!

Anyway, the sun has come out, as I said yesterday, and it is much more enjoyable in this mountain hamlet. As you can tell from the pictures, the views are incredible. Bariloche (formally San Carlos de Bariloche) is located in Argentina's Lake District on Lake Nahuel Huapi. Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi is one of Argentina's most visited national parks and occupies 750,000 hectares in mountainous southwestern Neuquen and western Rio Negro provinces. Lago Nahuel Huapi, a glacial remnant over 100 km long that covers more than 500 square km is the park's centerpiece. To the west of the lake a ridge of high peaks separates Argentina from Chile. The tallest is Monte Tronador, an extinct volcano that still lives up to its name (meaning "Thunderer") when blocks of ice tumble form its glaciers.

Bariloche is the main urban area in this region and nearest the park, so it is the main destination spot for tourists. It has a thriving ski industry with several resorts very nearby and is becoming known for other sorts of eco-adventure travel, such as whitewater rafting (not in the winter, of course), fishing, mountain biking, horseback riding, paragliding, mountaineering and hiking (which the rest of the world seems to call "trekking.")

Other than the vistas of lake and mountains, the other set of photos attached to this post are of the Centro Civico. It has beautiful log-and-stone buildings designed by architect Ezequiel Bustillo surrounding a central plaza. The buildings house the municipal tourist office, one of the country's best museums, the Museo de la Patagonia, the city library, and other city offices. It is also the location the St. Bernards hang out.

Bariloche was officially founded in 1902, but did not really grow much until the southern branch of the railroad arrived in 1934 and, evidently, brought with it architect Bustillo. Bariloche is now known for its alpine architecture, which is given a Patagonian twist through the use of local hardwoods and unique stone construction. While it is a very quaint town. (It is so quaint and wild that the other day while I was walking in downtown, where all the shops and tourists are, I encountered some sort of hawk on the sidewalk. I don't know what type it was exactly, but it was brown and it was definitely a raptor!) At the same time it is becoming very commercialized, I assume in response to the tourists. Prices reflect that, and the type of shops and available goods reflect it as well. Even so, it is a pleasure to visit, a much more tranquil place than either Buenos Aires or Cordoba, and it is refreshing to my spirit.

To see more pictures of the lakes and mountains and of the Centro Civico, follow these links to the Kodak Gallery Albums. This link takes you to pictures of the lakes and mountains: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.9twp8xi2&x=0&y=-24b27v&localeid=en_US

This link takes you to pictures of the Centro Civico: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.cmszvhp6&x=0&y=-dihu24&localeid=en_US

The Churches in Cordoba

While in Cordoba I visited many churches. It is a city filled with history. Cordoba is one of the oldest cities in Argentina, founded by the Spanish extending the reach of their territory from Peru, in 1573. With the arrival of the Jesuit missionaries 23 years later in 1596, Cordoba quickly became an important educational center in the new Spanish territory and colonies in South America. I will say more about this and the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba in a future post. Now I want to share with you about the churches.

The oldest church in town, at least in terms of the beginning of its construction, is the Iglesia Catedral, the Cathedral. Construction began in 1577, but dragged on for over two centuries under several architects, including Jesuits and Franciscans. As a result it lacks architectural unity, but it is still a beautiful structure. Crowned by a Romanesque dome, it overlooks Plaza San Martin, the main Plaza de Armas of the city. Its lavish interior was painted by renowned cordobes (Cordoban) painter Emilio Caraffa. As in many Catholic Churches, I found the interior very gaudy, overly decorated, and filled with all sorts of statuary, dioramas, and other religious art work.

The second oldest church in town is the Iglesia de la Compania de Jesus. Its construction began in 1645 but was not completed until 1671. It was designed by the Flemish Padre Philippe Lemaire, who was once a boat builder. This fact is important because it helps explain the most interesting ceiling construction of the church, which is designed like an inverted hull of a ship. There are not apparent supports, other than the walls, and to achieve this effect, Lemaire constructed the entire ceiling out of Paraquayan cedar, a very light wood, from Misiones province, in northeast Argentina. The entire design is new world baroque, and the baroque altarpiece is also constructed from Paraquayan cedar, which is overlayed in gold. It is also interesting that the structure was built in segments in Misiones province, to exact dimensions taken by Lemaire, and then transported to Cordoba to be assembled in the Church.

The other extremely interesting church I visited was the Parroquia Sagrado Corazon de Jesus de los Capuchinos. This was probably the most fascinating of the Churches. It is built in the neo-gothic style and was constructed between 1928 and 1934. Its glaring oddity is a missing steeple (omitted on purpose to symbolize human imperfection.) It is gorgeous inside and out. Outside the facade is covered with statues, beginning with the lowest statues a series of Atlases symbolically straining to bear the spiritual weight of the religious figures above them, which include the 12 apostles, Jesus, numerous female characters, or angels, etc. Be sure to check out the pictures in the Kodak Gallery link.

Cordoba will go down, probably, as my most religious week in Argentina. I began the week by attending worship in a local Evangelical Church. I learned that they worship primarily in the evening, probably because Argentinos stay up late, sleep late, and are more geared to night-time activities, but my hostess really didn't know the reason. I visited six Catholic churches, two of them twice, and three of them on Sunday when mass was being held (I did not stay for any of the masses, but I did look in and noticed that they were fairly well attended.) My impression is that contrary to what I have been told by many of the local people, the religious life, even the life of the churches, is alive and well, even vibrant. Undoubtedly it could be stronger, but then again, the religious life in the United States could be stronger as well.

If you are interested in viewing more pictures of these churches, follow these links to the Kodak Gallery albums I have created. You do not have to join anything to view the albums, just click the "view album" option. If you want to save the photos to your own account, then you have to open an account, which is free.

This link goes to pictures of the Main Cathedral: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.8ei6fytm&x=0&y=uzfbz3&localeid=en_US

This link goes to pictures of the Church of the Jesuits: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.9o8kje16&x=0&y=clvf24&localeid=en_US

This link goes to the Church of the Capuchinos: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.3q1l2bgq&x=0&y=n9im85&localeid=en_US

Church Worship in Cordoba

One of the first things I did upon arrival in Cordoba was attend a service of worship on Sunday evening. It was at the church which my hostess attends. She was so excited when she learned a pastor was staying in her home. She also has a young woman studying and preparing to become a missionary from this church to Mozambique, once she learned English, French, and raises the funds for her mission. Anyway, it was an excellent opportunity to experience worship in Argentina since I would have someone to go with and would not have to walk in alone, as a total stranger. As it turned out Luli, my hostess, had to visit a friend in the hospital and did not make it to church (which started at 5:30 p.m., the first service for Sunday, the second started at 8:00 p.m.) but Fanny, the young woman preparing for a mission and the Japanese student studying Spanish at the University and staying here, accompanied me to their church.

The Church is called Iglesia de Centro Christian and was founded 16 years ago by an Assembly of God missionary from the United States. Since that time this church, which is not huge (but did appear to have more attendance than Christ Congregational) has sent out 40 missionaries into the world. This night had a mission focus. It was led by their Director of Missions and the preacher was a guest missionary who is Argentinian but has a mission to Italy. He shared photos on his experience the past 8 years and he preached a message which I think (it was all in Spanish) was on the gospel story of the young man challenged by Jesus to give up all and follow him. The message seemed to be about the difficulty of following Jesus, especially in mission work, but that the ultimate reward was worth it. Again, I am not sure of the finer points.

The worship was very much like Assembly of God worship in the US. They had a Praise Team that led a lot of singing, several songs I recognized, though of course they were in Spanish. There were several pauses for prayer, for personal testimonies, and for special mission appeals. The entire worship lasted 2 hours and I was tired after, primarily because it was very hard work to follow in Spanish and try to stay focused. Again, I have a deeper appreciation for those who have limited English capacity and try to follow our worship, even for only one hour. If you want to see some pictures of the worship leadership team, follow this link to the Kodak Gallery album I have created: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.29ljy8sa&x=0&y=-dmmvjb&localeid=en_US

The places I stayed and worked

Now that I am in Cordoba, I want to try to catch you up on some things from Buenos Aires. Tomorrow or the next day I will share with you more of my impressions of Cordoba. The pictures I have posted are of the places I lived and worked in Buenos Aires. As you can tell, they are not real exciting, but they do, at the end of my time in those places (lo siento, sorry) let you know where I went home to every night, where I went to learn Espanol (although I have been corrected by my hostess and her amiga in Cordoba that I am learning Castellano, not Espanol, lo siento, again. They seem very big on their historical connection with Castelon, or is it Castillo, in Spain, from which the language originated here in Cordoba. This was the original location of education, culture, and the monied elite in Argentina long before Buenos Aires became a center of government and the country.) But I digress to Cordoba, let me get back to the past three weeks in Buenos Aires. The first picture is of Senora Vivi Restelli, my hostess for my three weeks in Buenos Aires at the language school. The apartment of Senora Restelli is in the second photo. It was on a busy avenue, Avenida Cordoba about 10 blocks from the school, on another busy street Calle Callao, just around the corner from one of the primary avenues, Avenida Corrientes, which in this area is the heart of the theater district. (It is the Buenos Aires equivalent to Broadway.) Her apartment is the balcony immediately above the door to the street. (I posted pictures of the inside of her apartment in an earlier post the beginning of August. ) [So you get a true feel for my life here, I do not have Internet access for my laptop, no WI-FI in the home where I am staying, so I am writing this while sitting outside at a cafe where I have internet access, but no power access, and so I am doing this while eating. I am enjoying a marvelous steak Milanese Neapolitan with mashed calbasas squash and I just got my sleeve in the squash while typing! Such is the life of a traveling pastor on sabbatical! By the way, you did catch that I am sitting outside. It is a glorious 70+ degrees out today. Feels like Miami!!!]

Anyway this post has become far longer than I intended. There is also a picture of the building the school is in (at least the one I attended, it is supposed to move to a new location the first of September). The school is located behind the third set of windows above the Libreria Santa Fe. Finally, there is a picture of the building which houses the dance studio where I took Tango lessons, again, not real exciting, but it is located on the fourth floor up from the ground. It turned out to be a wonderful stay and experience, my first three weeks in Buenos Aires. Senora Restelli is a fascinating woman who reads a lot, thinks deeply, has some off-beat ideas, but was a marvelous hostess. It was a pleasure and joy to stay with her and I got a very good idea what many, many Buenos Aires residents are like.

Signs of US influence

Burger King and McDonald's are certainly trying to take over the Buenos Aires meat market! You cannot walk more than about 3-4 city blocks on the main streets without encountering one or the other. That is sad to me. It is another sign of globalization, which is not totally bad, yet it is also a sign of the homogenization of world culture. And the Burger King's and McDonald's seem to be doing as much business as in the United States. One of my fellow students thought it was because it was cheap food, but I went inside to check the prices and they are about the same prices as in the U.S. and they are not much cheaper than what you pay for a much nicer lunch in a cafe, restaurant or bar.

One positive sign was how the Buenos Aires culture has influenced McDonald's. Here most of them have McCafe's. These are separate sections in the restaurant where you can buy a variety of coffee drinks, hot tea, and little pastry and dessert type snacks. It is evidence of the importance for portenos of their afternoon snack time, and of their consumption of coffee. At the regular counter the coffee you can purchase is regular McDonald's coffee, but at the McCafe you can find espresso, cortados, cafe con leche, etc. At least McDonald's has had to adjust somewhat.

There are other signs of North American influence around town. The bank where I have been using the ATM is a CITIbank. For some activities it is nice to see a familiar name. There is a greater level of trust and feeling that everything will go right. I saw a familiar real estate sign, plus there are establishments clearly run by North Americans, like the Alamo Bar and the Amerikan Restaurant, to name a couple. I even saw a California Burrito the other day, but it did not appear to be all that successful.