A Million Minutes in Africa

Rode on the Old Patagonian Express train, a small-gauge railroad.

We just rolled into El Bolson, a former hippie enclave, so we hit the internet cafe. Not a detectably larger level of peace and love around here, at least no more than the ample quantity in other places.  Actually, it is peaceful and the people are loverly, so here are some flowers, man.

 Thank you to everyone for congratulations on my (Dan) job. I hope this employer is better than the one I had two jobs ago. Two of my ´bosses,´ who are brothers, who are both over forty years old, got into a knock-down, drag out fight that actually left a hole in the meeting room wall where they bashed into it. We´ll see how the new situation goes. Can it be worse?  Peace out.

This is the view from a mountain we climbed.  We cheated because the first few miles were in our truck. The last 50 fifty feet was all us, baby. Actually, it was more than 50 feet. It took a couple of hours to climb to the top.

Just a note- In case you can’t tell, this is a love letter to Argentina.  Sorry it may not translate well, but that is our intention.  Please see our responses to comments at the end.

More stunning beauty. Big lake, big mountains.

So, I finally found something not to like about Argentina. First, the people here have a very sketchy idea of the connection between tobacco products and cells growing out of control in their lungs and other useful body parts. So, they smoke like crazy. It is like the U.S. used to be before, before, I don´t know what was the tipping point causing smokers to become pariahs, but not being one myself- I am all for it. Apologies to my smoking friends, but there are not a lot checkmarks to place in the positive column for smoking. I will try to think of something.

The second unpleasant aspect of Argentina has to be the music on the radio. In general, it is quite unlistenable, or at least I am not going to go out and buy the cd. I won´t even steal the cd off the internet- not that I would do that for something I like. I am excluding tango music, Piazzola, Manuel De Falla, and probably a few other good listens. No, I am talking about the Argentine version of el rock y roll. In general, it is warmed over Eye of the Tiger (think Rocky 2, or 3, or whatever). There you have it; things not to like about Argentina. Everything else is fab. The only downside is that it is more of a vacation than an adventure, but considering the lockdown my vacation life is facing pending new responsibilities with the Uncle, it is probably a great thing to relax now.

By the way, camera memory card number 2! has just bitten the dust so there will be a gap in our photo chronicles. We just lost about 300 photos. That means there was probably one good one in there somewhere.

That was Dan speaking at the start of this post. I (Giselle) have 2 things to add. One, most of the radio selections stink, but I do enjoy the unusually high number of early-80’s new wave songs they play. Last night we heard Thomas Dolby’s She Blinded Me with Science! Two, they put ham in the lasagna. What is up with that? Why ruin a perfectly good lasagna with pig products? But hey, at least there are other things on the menu that we can eat and that taste good. And the ice cream here rocks.

Be careful what you wish for.  Or, being someone who used to teach grammar to international students, perhaps I should say, ¨Be careful for what you wish.¨  Maybe you have heard me whine about certain aspects of being an ESL teacher.  (NB: such complaints were not leveled at  any entity, corporation, person (real or fictional, capable of retaining legal counsel).  Actually, I enjoyed my last work situation at Kaplan, but every few years I find it helps my career to completely change fields and start from scratch.  

It turns out that the government has determined that I am capable of ´being the face of the nation.  According to an email, which I am still skeptical is authentic, I am to begin training on May 1.  This works out well since Giselle has promised to be back at work then and I was starting to talk about extending our trip.   

I can´t believe I have to wear a tie. This will be the absolute worst part of the job for me. Dengue fever? Pish tosh.  Screaming lunatics looking for a convenient target? Foofey. Rabid visa applicants? Bring it on.  However, are you going to tell Madam Secretary that closed collars chafe your neck and cramp your wrinkled t-shirt style?

Another spot full of scenic, breathtaking beauty. Ho hum.

We discovered that some of our photos from previous posts mysteriously disappeared, so we’ve put them back.  Take a look at the posts from Arequipa, Chivay, and everything from Puno onwards.  It’s raining today, so the internet place is getting a lot of our business.

National park. Noice.

Hey, there might be a theme here with town names.  As promised, it is located in the foothills of the Andes.  It is a heck of a lot like Jackson Hole, WY here, except in Spanish, and fewer antler-arches; actually none (Jackson Hole has a nasty arch on the main square which is made from antlers).

We are starting to go through the Lake District after spending a few incredible days of looking at stunning desert and enjoying stunning desserts afterwards.  The amazing thing about Argentina is that it is not all crudded up with chains like McD, Booger King, Pizza Hut, etc.  We did see one Walmart and shed a tear for their future.  Don´t let it happen, chicos!

I love the U.S., but it is really depressing to drive cross-country and see the same exact cluster of Applebee´s, KFC, Blockbuster, Cracker Barrell, etc. in every town from coast to coast.

The only down side about Argentina is that it has none of that in-your-face-possibility-of-being-up-a-creek-without-a-prayer-of-a-paddle excitement of other countries. When we stop to look at our map here, people stop and ask us if we need help!  There was some serious stress in other countries about whether we would be pushing the truck for 30 days to the nearest gas station as vultures circled, or trading cigarettes in prison, or, whatever.   We have returned the kindness of Argentines by pulling a motorcycle out of mud pit (actually, I just got a kick out of tying a rope around a motorcycle and dragging it with the truck), giving a ride to a guy stuck on the side of the road with an immobile vehicle filled with his wife and young children, and other kind deeds.

We continue tomorrow to soak in the beauty. Hopefully, it will rub off on us. 

The drive to this place was filled with so much scenic beauty that we are glad this town is just a little on the ugly side.

Funny thing about Argentina, and Chile for that matter, is that these folks have some strange ideas about when to eat dinner.  If you go to a restaurant at 7:30 you are going to be sorely disappointed; the door is likely to be locked. Go at 8:30 and you usually have the place to yourself.  Apparently there is some confusion about when to eat and when to go to sleep.  We met up with an Argentine friend in Tucuman and we went to dinner at 10:30.  Yup, the place was packed.  We didn´t leave until 12:30 and people were still coming in.

The way this works is that many towns have a serious lunch break from noon until about 4 pm.  The supermarkets open back up around 5, or maybe 6 pm. I am not sure when people sleep.