My New Home in Bariloche

I have moved! On Friday during break the Headmistress of the school needed to talk to me. She informed me it was necessary for me to move. Senora Valentina’s niece was arriving unexpectedly this weekend and needed a place to stay. So, the school had arranged a new home for me. She assured me it was a very nice place in a good location with a very nice woman, and she was right! I moved on Sunday morning to an apartment on the sixth floor of a building located two blocks from the lake and four blocks from the very heart of downtown. I have a magnificent view looking west up the lake with the town cathedral squarely center in the view. The apartment is owned by a very nice woman who is taking care of her 95 year old grandmother. I can still walk to school if the weather is nice (it is only one kilometer further and the road along the lake is actually better for walking, wider shoulders.) I don’t have to deal with the killer hill going back up to the house from downtown, which is very good since I have to visit the bank each day to draw out enough money for my apartment rental in Buenos Aires on Sunday. (You can only withdraw up to 600 pesos per transaction in Argentina. This is a federal law passed a few years ago to prevent a run on the banks. I have not tried to make more than one withdrawal per day, partly because I worry about triggering a security hold on my Visa debit card. Which probably wouldn’t happen, but I don’t want to have any problems this far from home.) This will also be a very good place for me to spend more time in quiet reflection and in study. The view helps me with this, and the fact that I cannot get on-line in this apartment. There are only secure networks sending signals in this area which means I will need to do my Internet work on battery power in some local café/restaurant which has WI-FI availability. I can work with the situation.

One of the lessons this experience of living in a foreign land and culture for 5 weeks and with four different families has taught me is the importance of flexibility and adaptability for life. I have always prided myself on being very flexible and adaptable, not requiring a lot of creature comforts to be comfortable; willing to eat almost anything; able to make most any space I inhabit feel like home. I think my experiences camping in Boy Scouts helped me develop this attitude and skill. I am sure my leaving home for college in distant Salt Lake City, Utah, far from St. Louis, Missouri helped with this ability. I became very independent pretty early in life. I know my other travel experiences have shaped this as well.

But as I have aged I worry that I will become more rigid in my needs, likes and dislikes, so that I will be less flexible and adaptable. Either this trip has proven that fear baseless, or it has been a good booster shot to restore this ability. This is an important attitude and skill, not only for traveling, but for life in general. We like to think we can control our lives, but my experience is that we really control very little. Life always throws us a curve when we least expect it and how we react and deal with those bumps along the way can seriously affect our general enjoyment of life. When we are more rigid, we are less able to go with the flow. As a result, life becomes more of a burden and less enjoyable. When we can adapt with some flexibility to whatever situations arise in our lives, then we can find the good, even in the bad, and we can continue to see the beauty and blessings in life all around us. This is not why I came on this trip, but it is a lesson I am glad to have reinforced. It is a lesson I hope I have passed on to my children.

If you wish to see more pictures of the view from my new home, follow this link to the Kodak Gallery Album: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.6rsukd7u&x=0&y=8ee63o&localeid=en_US

Amazing Views from Cerro Otto

On Friday I left the house early to walk an extra kilometer past my school (4 in total, which is about 2.5 miles) so I could ride the Teleferico to the top of Cerro Otto Meiling. (Cerro in Spanish means "hill", but this "hill" was 700 meters higher than the city of Bariloche, which is about 2,100 feet.) It offers spectacular panoramic views of the area, from the entire Lago Nahuel Huapi spread out on one side with it surrounding mountains, to the mountains even higher where ski resorts are and where tons of snow was sitting on the other. The snow on top of the "hill" was about 3-4 feet deep. There is a revolving restaurant, along with small souvenir stands, snack stands, and several places to take in the view. There is even a most unique art gallery, dedicated to Michelangelo. It houses replicas of three of his most famous statues: David, the Pieta, and Moses, in full-size replication! In a very small room in which it is most difficult to get a picture of David! It also contains about 25 pictures of other works of art by Michelangelo, such as photos of the Sistine chapel, etc. Why this art museum is housed at the top of this hill I have no idea. But it was interesting.

There are also several winter activity options at the top of the hill, such as sliding down a packed down area sort of like a luge. They rent you these little plastic sled seats that look like they were made by Tyco (I think that is the huge plastic toy manufacturer in the States) and you sit on this and slide! There were two tour buses of older teens visiting and that was their main focus.

Anyway, the views were spectacular. I spent about two hours just drinking them in. There are amazing places all over the world and whenever I visit them I continue to stand in awe of the creative power of God in fashioning this marvelous world. It is a shame more people are not able to travel and witness the amazing glory of the earth. I am totally baffled that so many of those people who hold power and who actually make the decisions that are affecting our world in terms of energy policy, conservation policy, recycling policy, etc., are people of means who do travel widely. This earth is such a treasure, such a precious jewel, and we continue to be so arrogant, or so petulant, to think that the lifestyles of 6 billion people are not affecting the climate, the ecology, the environment that is necessary not only for our own survival, but for the survival of all the other living creatures with which we share the planet. I know the earth is an amazingly resilient ecosystem, and I am convinced that until the sun explodes or dies that the earth will survive, but we may not survive and the majority of the species that have evolved to date may not survive, unless we change our practices and lifestyles.

Enough preaching, if you wish to see more of the stunning views from Cerro Otto, follow this link to the Kodak Gallery albums: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.2yr3x4yy&x=0&y=7jwxdv&localeid=en_US

My Walk to School in Bariloche

When the weather is nice, as it has been the past three days, I can walk back and forth to school. Today was the first day I actually walked to the school, but I have walked home from school each of the past three days. It is 3 kilometers from the house where I am staying to the school, which is about 2 miles. On the way to school it is a nice easy walk, since most of it is on a downhill grade. The walk back is a bit more strenuous, not real steep, but definitely most of it going uphill enough that I notice it. All in all, it good exercise, the sort I would rather do than work out in some gymnasium. The reason I did not walk to school the first two days was I went to the city center first for lunch and that is a bit more strenuous. It is only a kilometer from the house, but all down hill (which is not bad going into town, but coming back, it is a killer and to add that to the walk to school seemed a bit much, so I took the bus.) Riding the bus in early afternoon with people going back to work after their long lunch and with teens going home from school is a bit like riding the subway in Buenos Aires at rush hour: packed in like sardines! So it is actually more enjoyable to walk. Especially when the sun is shining in a bright blue sky with no colds, little wind, and the gorgeous views I have posted above and in the Kodak Gallery link below.

Also pictured above are the school, and the people with whom I am studying. The tall woman in the center is Antonia Morris, the other student this week, from Australia, who is on her "gap" year (a practice in English commonwealth countries evidently where most students after finishing secondary school take a year off before heading off to university.) The woman on her right is her teacher, Carina Falappa, and the woman on her left is my teacher, Ani Kanter. Both teachers are very good, very patient, and very gentle as they assist us in our learning and our practice.

One reason I walked to school today is that I had identified an Italian Restaurant near the school that seemed to have very good prices and I went there to eat lunch today instead of in the city center. The prices were much better, although I ended paying as much, because I went for a special, Ravioli de ciervo con salsa de tomate. This is venison stuffed ravioli, a specialty of the region, as we are in the mountains and deer are plentiful. It was good, although stuffed in the pasta, covered in tomato sauce, there wasn't much of a distinctive taste to the meat. But it was good and I enjoyed lunch very much. Another evidence of the quaintness of the town was the horse tied up outside the restaurant, which is on a rather busy main road and not really out in the sticks at all. It was the owner of the restaurant's horse, and evidently he rode in to work from somewhere. I wanted to ask him had he used the horse to go shoot the deer in the mountains, but that was way beyond my Spanish ability to converse. I was able to ask him what the animal was called, which he explained it was a caballo (a male horse) not a yegua (a female horse) and I was able to ask if it was his.

My Spanish is improving daily. I am becoming much more adept (still far from expert) at using past tense verbs and I am actually beginning to comprehend the use of adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns for direct and indirect objects. I still struggle to create sentences, but I did tell a small chapter of a story which the teacher began and asked me to finish. And I am becoming more adept at understanding conversations to which I listen. I find I do best at reading. Probably because I can take more time, I am able to recognize the words and verb tenses easier by sight than by ear. I would not say I am able to translate very expertly, but I certainly can pick up the primary sense of what I am reading. I took a tourist newspaper to lunch with me today to look over while I waited for my food order and I actually surprised myself in my ability to read it and comprehend what I was reading. I must say, I truly believe I am learning this language and will be able, with practice, to communicate with others and understand others in Spanish. I am amazed!

Enjoy the pictures of my walk to school by following this link: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.50t05coq&x=0&y=-frqww&localeid=en_US

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

The Snow Has Stopped & Bariloche es muy lindo!

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.

The 22 Hour Bus Ride!

I am still snowed in here in Bariloche. Actually, I did get out in the snow again today for several hours and soaked my feet in all the slush. I has snowed for 3 days and there is about a foot or more of snow on the ground, yet today even while snowing, it began melting and the streets were a mess! I remember well why I prefer warm and sunny Miami, even with the heat and humidity and hurricane season of summer. I went out because I needed to get my own lunch, (it is not part of my board package) and I was supposed to go to school at 2:30 p.m. So I went downtown for lunch, which was good, treated myself to 4 little pieces of chocolate from Mamuschka's the finest chocolate store in Bariloche (which is saying a lot because the town is known for, and prides itself on, having the best chocolate in the country.) It was divine! Unfortunately they do not ship! Then I tried to find a taxi which was not easy today with all the messy streets. I finally flagged one down and he took me the 5 kilometers to the school, which was closed. I just figured they were not open yet and so I waited. About 45 minutes later, about the time I was supposed to arrive, someone opened the door and told me the school was suspended. He then called the headmistress who explained they were closed because they had no electricity and they had tried to call me, but for various reasons I did not get the call. So, I had basically spent the day exploring where the school was located and how to best get there. (Which I learned is the bus, which I can get very near my house and get to school in very short time. And it is much, much cheaper than a taxi ride.)

Anyway, this post was supposed to be about the bus ride from Cordoba to Bariloche. It was a fascinating trip, very comfortable and peaceful. What was so fascinating was that the landscape all looked so familiar. The first 8 hours or so were through the flat Pampas grasslands of central Argentina. When I say flat, I mean FLAT! There is lots of space and not much there except cows and the gauchos who herd them. It looked just like the flat prairies of the Texas panhandle and western Oklahoma. The stars in that flat, empty land were glorious, filling the night sky. I could not recognize any constellations, which I believe was to be expected since I am in a different hemisphere.

I awoke before dawn and was able to watch the sunrise and take lots of photos. When the daylight exposed the terrain, it had changed dramatically, but was still very familiar. It was high desert and looked just like southern Utah, Nevada, northern Arizona & New Mexico along with southwest Colorado. I have driven through those areas many times, and this felt just like that. This too changed as we climbed higher into the mountains. The weather began to deteriorate, turning into rain and then snow. It was interesting that are first the landscape was still desert like, but it soon changed to more trees of all sorts. There were beautiful mountain lakes, a mountain stream that had become a small river, overflowing from the snow melt and rain. The rest of the trip into Bariloche looked ghostly, with a heavy fog, or cloud, or heavy snow blanketing the region. It was fascinating to me to be half a world away and again to feel so at home. It was just as though I were riding through areas in the Western US I have visited many times before, most recently last summer. I realize even with all the variety in the world, there are still certain similarities in climate zones and geological zones. Still, we tend to fantasize about the rest of the world as being more exotic than our home region (at least I do) and when we get there and discover it is more familiar than we imagined, it is just surprising. That was my primary emotion on the 22 hour ride from Cordoba to Bariloche.

If you want to see more photos of this landscape, follow this link to the Kodak Gallery album:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.6ensj3ai&x=0&y=-seie2r&localeid=en_US