We arrived in Santiago this morning to start our vacation and the first culture shock came with the money. We each changed US$200 and got 128,600 pesos! 1,000 pesos are equal to about C$2!
We went out to lunch and when the 20,600 bill came we both burst out laughing. We have to find an easy way to convert these huge amounts in our heads or we won’t have a clue how much we are spending. Hilarious!
Tomorrow we’ll take the hop on hop off bus and get a good look at the city. I’ll take photos.
If you know me well, you know cooking is not my favourite activity. I like eating, but cooking not so much.
To make matters worse, my temporary apartment has a gas stove, and I’m used to electricity. Truth be told, I’m a little nervous of it. I’ve made peace with the top burners, but haven’t used the oven one single time this year, last year or the year before! That severely limits my options.
In thinking about moving into 2019, that’s one of the things I’d like to change. I have to cook to eat, but I’m going to stop saying I hate it and see if I can learn to enjoy it.
Well, this year my brother and sister-in-law gave me money for Christmas, suggesting I use it to buy something for my new apartment when I get it. While I was in a department store downtown looking for a Christmas gift for someone else, I saw the answer — an electric skillet! I brought it home last week, and last night I finally used it for the first time — I couldn’t wait for the new place. Here’s the result.
Roast beef so tender I could have cut it with a fork, with yummy roast potatoes and onions. And no gas oven!
I’ve been Googling electric skillet recipes and it’s opened up a whole new world! This might even be fun.
Thanks Bruce and Elise!
OK, somebody asked me about the coca leaves we chewed to fight altitude sickness up in the mountains, so here’s the straight goods.
First, you don’t chew them. You just roll up a few and stick the lot in your cheek, much the same as some people do with tobacco. I took the instructions literally and chewed it the first time, and I had a helluva time getting it out of my teeth! Lesson learned.
Anyway, for those of you worried I was picking up an addiction, let me clear it all up. Cocaine is a manufactured product, and coca leaves are just the base ingredient. It’s all the chemicals that are added, and the process itself, that make it narcotic. The leaves are described as a mild stimulant, similar to strong coffee or tea. They definitely help with the altitude sickness.
So to sum up, coca leaves do NOT make you high. They do, however, make you pee a lot!
Many years ago I wrote this article for the newsletter I published at that time. It was so popular that I’ve reproduced it in many places over the years at this time of year. It has nothing to do with Argentina, but this is the best place I have to share it with you, so I hope you enjoy it. I call it “Gifts of the Heart”.
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The stores are gearing up, shoppers are shopping, there’s music in the air and the
cash registers are making their own music. Despite the pleasure of buying and
giving gifts, sometimes the process gets out of hand and the January credit card
bills bring us back to reality with a crash. But there are gifts we can give over
and over throughout the year, gifts that cost no money at all.
The gift of understanding
The basis of good communication is understanding, both at work and in our personal lives. When someone is explaining a problem or a difficult situation, sometimes a simple “I understand” is the gift that helps that person begin to find the answer.
The gift of respect
Often we give total strangers more respect than we offer our nearest and dearest. When you truly listen to another point of view and realize that the other person’s opinion is just as valid as yours, you offer a gift that helps build his or her self-esteem.
The gift of humour
Sometimes we take ourselves much too seriously, particularly at work. By all means take your work seriously, but when it comes to human interaction, lighten up! When you take a moment to share a joke or a laugh with a co-worker or a friend, you give a gift that lifts the spirits.
The gift of conversation
In this age of mass entertainment, television and video games are increasingly usurping the place of good old fashioned conversation. By entering into meaningful discussions with people, you give a gift that honours their humanity.
The gift of time
We live in times of frenetic activity, in which quality time with family and friends often becomes a casualty of misplaced priorities. By making time to be with people, you offer a gift that lets them know they are important to you.
The gift of friendship
There’s an old saying that you can’t choose your relatives but you can choose your friends. By choosing to be a friend, you give a gift that lasts a lifetime — and there’s no law that says you can’t be a friend to your family too.
The gift of a smile
A smile doesn’t exist until you give it away. By smiling at people throughout your days, you offer a gift that lifts your heart as well as theirs.
My December holiday is Christmas, and I will be offering again the age old prayer for Peace on Earth, one that is especially poignant given the current state of our world. Whatever holiday you will be celebrating, may you give and receive all these gifts of the heart, both now and throughout the coming year.
My best wishes to you and yours!
We found a lovely hotel just around the corner from the main plaza, and soon found Cachi to be a delightful little place. Although it does get a lot of visitors, it doesn’t feel crowded at all and in fact it has a sleepy air that probably comes from its altitude.
Cecilia went for an exploratory wander while I sat at a
table outside a little cafe on the plaza and did this sketch. At that point I decided I wouldn’t even try to sketch these mountains any more, because their magnificence was way beyond my meagre skills. But it’s enough to bring back the memory for me any time I look at it. That’s what my sketching is, by the way. Although I do share them in my blog and in my book, these images are really just for me. Taking the half hour or so to sketch a scene makes me really look at it, taking in details I would miss with a quick iPhone snap.
It’s a small world after all
We both needed cash, and we found that the “bank” was just a little room with two bank machines — and it seemed the entire population was lined up to get at them! Cecilia fell into conversation with an elderly man, Orlando, who told us he was holding a spot in line for his daughter, who would be along in a moment. He told us they were from Buenos Aires and were building a retirement home up here in Cachi. While doing so, they are living in a container. All I could think about was how on earth they got it up here, and Orlando told us quite casually that of course they brought it by truck up that winding road. I have no words.
Orlando’s daughter, Marisa, arrived and we were soon chatting to her. She told us she was a professor of history at the University of Buenos Aires, at the campus quite near where Cecilia lives in Olivos. Cecilia said she had a young woman staying with her at present, the daughter of a friend from Peru, who was in Buenos Aires to study at the university. Marisa said, “I have several Peruvian students in my class. What is her name?” Cecilia told her and — you guessed it — she was in Marisa’s class! What are the chances of that? We were a thousand miles away, high up in the mountains, standing in line for the bank machine and we met someone who knew Cecilia’s guest. I took a photo of Cecilia and Marisa and we sent it to Nicole, who was totally gobsmacked! How’s that for a small world story?
They invited us to come to their container that afternoon and drink mate (pronounced matay) with them. Mate is a very popular drink in Argentina, made from a herb that is a mild stimulant. It’s a very sociable activity, as there is only one cup (also called a mate) with a silver straw called a bombilla (bombeesha). It’s passed around from person to person while the conversation is going on. Took me a few tries to get used to it, but now I love the mate ritual. Here’s a photo of us enjoying mate outside their red container.
Dinner
We found this lovely, cozy little local restaurant called Viracocha in time for dinner. The food was good and the service relaxed and charming. While we were there we met Mika, a delightful, friendly German woman traveling by herself, and arranged to have dinner together the following night in the same place.
Day 6
Another bright, clear, sunny, HOT day in Cachi. It’s one of those places you could wander around in for days, just breathing in the healthy air and giving your body and mind a break from the busy-ness of everyday living.
Cecilia’s friend, whom we had met in Salta, had a connection with the Automobile Club of Argentina, which had a beautiful club and restaurant on a hill looking down on Cachi, and she invited us to have lunch there. It gave us quite a different perspective on the town, and the only sounds around us were birds singing.
The previous day, Marisa had told us a strange story about Cachi. Apparently there is a long history of people reporting UFOs in the skies over Cachi and in the mountains surrounding it, so much so that they built a runway for them to land! No planes or helicopters land here, and as far as anybody knows neither has a UFO, but the strip is there anyway. No kidding, here’s a picture of Mika and me right on it. It’s a weird sensation walking on this deserted airstrip, built for who-knows-what to land who-knows-when!
Now I know I’m pretty obsessed about this, but I couldn’t help thinking that if we had caught even a glimpse of a UFO on that road it would have sent us right over the edge — literally as well as figuratively!
When we went back to Viracocha for dinner, we found Mika already ensconced with more new friends, this time a couple from Holland. Marisa, her husband Leandro and her father were also there, but elected to sit upstairs because the men wanted to watch “futbol” on television!
It was a lovely ending to our visit to Cachi, and I hope to stay in touch with Mika and perhaps meet up with her again one day.
Back down the mountain
Having learned our lesson the hard way, we began our return trip very early in the morning. Sure enough, the weather was completely different, high blue skies and warm sunshine and not a sign of low hanging clouds. Now we could really appreciate the splendour of the mountain scenery, complete with llamas, mountain goats and other wildlife — including this lone bull standing right on the edge!
Being able to see the road like this, though, made us shudder to think how we had driven up it a couple of days before with visibility limited to the hood of the car!
We were happy to get back to Salta, check into a nice hotel near the plaza and have a relaxing evening before our flight back to Buenos Aires next day. It was an unforgettable trip into an incomparable landscape. I feel immensely privileged to have experienced the High Andes, despite the white knuckle mountain roads!
Now I’m back in Buenos Aires, which has its own beauty and allure, and I’m happily getting back into the social swing of the city.
I’m like the kids, counting sleeps before I leave for Argentina! It has been pretty busy for me in recent days, as I have rented my apartment for the time I’m away. I’ve never done this before, although people have been suggesting it for some time.
I’m happy it’s done, but it has caused me a lot of extra work because all my cupboards and drawers have to be emptied so that the tenants can put their things away. I’ve been trudging up and down to my locker with boxes — many boxes! I’ve taken the chance to purge as well, so I’ve been wearing a path to the Salvation Army — with more boxes and bags!
A funny thing happened yesterday. I had emptied a small wooden file cabinet, one of the ones with one deep file drawer and two shallow drawers above. I was taking it down to put it outside behind the building for whoever wanted it. When I got into the elevator there was a young woman there, coat and hat on and obviously going out. Conversation:
Me: Want a filing cabinet?
Her: That one?
Me: Yes
Her: Sure, I’ll take it! There was a white one outside the other day but by the time I got down to get it, it was gone.
Me: That was mine too, but it had no wheels. This one’s better as it has wheels. Want it now?
Her: Sure. I was going out, but I’ll take it upstairs first.
Win-win!
I look forward to getting back to blogging regularly when I get to Argentina. I’m also going to put a sign-up form for those who want to be advised when I put a post up. I’ll try to get that done before I leave — if I can get some time away from all these boxes!
This weekend starts October, so it will be less than 2 months till I’m back in Amazing Argentina! My friend Susan started numbering my Argentine adventures by the A a couple of years back when it was coming up to A3, so I’m now gearing up for A5. So excited!
And the other exciting news is that my memoir of Argentina, Rare Steak, Red Wine, Hot Tango!, is about to make its debut! Launch date is October 10 and it will be available in both digital and print formats on Amazon and all the other major online platforms. Here’s a shot of the cover.
Is that hot or what?? I will post again here on October 10 to remind everyone — the ebook will be on sale for 99 cents for a couple of days and there will be 2 lovely bonuses for people who buy in launch week. So stay tuned!
I started this post last night, but for some reason I couldn’t get my photos to load. I left it to finish today — and they still won’t load! So I decided to post it anyway with just the story. Let’s hope it sorts itself out before my next post.
My first Christmas Day in Buenos Aires! Quite a different experience from Canada, Scotland or even from last year in Ecuador. They are all lovely in their own way, and all different.
Funnily enough, Christmas doesn’t seem to be as BIG in Buenos Aires as in other places. The decorations are there, but low-key. Preparations don’t seem to happen until the day or two before Christmas, and there isn’t that over-the-top hype I’m used to. I kind of like it.
They celebrate Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day here, in the European style. I was invited to my friend Cecilia’s home to share their family Christmas. We were 6 people and 3 dogs! The meal was a delightful collection of dishes, but the main event was roast suckling pig. I had never had that before, and I must say it was delicious.
Pan Dulce — a variation on Panettoni — is very popular here, and we had some that was made by a friend of Cecilia’s. Very dense and moist, and I’m sure much better than the ones available in the supermarkets.
An interesting component of the whole experience was the weather. Christmas Eve dawned bright and clear, and the temperature soared to the low thirties, as it has been for the past couple of weeks. The doors and windows were wide open and the dogs ran happily in and out to the courtyard. At the end of the evening, after everyone else had left, Cecilia, her daughter Maracena and I took the dogs out for a walk — at 3 am! It was a lovely, balmy night, with soft warm air wafting over us as we walked along the river bank. Perfect ending to the day.
And then…
During what was left of the overnight hours, the weather changed and we had the loudest, wettest thunderstorm you could imagine! The open windows banged, the shutters banged, the inside doors of the house banged — my bedroom door even flew open and banged against the wall! The dogs were hiding under the furniture! What a change from yesterday!
And although the thunder has gone, it has rained steadily all day long. Weird. Anyway, it’s still Christmas and I still enjoyed it. Tomorrow I’m meeting some visiting Canadian friends for morning coffee, whether the weather is back to normal or not, and I’m looking forward to hearing how they spent their first Argentine Christmas.
I hope you had a lovely Christmas, wherever and however you spent it. Now we have that sort of strange week between Christmas and New Year when we’re kind of in limbo. Kind of working, but not full out.
I find it a good time to reflect on this year and look forward to the next. Undoubtedly for me, the most exciting thing about 2016 is that I spent the first three months and the last six weeks here in my beautiful Buenos Aires. It’s a new dimension to my life that I never would have envisioned before, and it’s a blessing I give thanks for every night.
That’s it for Christmas Day. I’ll keep you posted on the events of the coming week, and of New Year.
Today I had funny experience. I went to the supermarket to pick up a few things, and when I went to pay I had to have Pesos $2.50 in change. But the cashier didn’t have change, and neither did I. So she asked someone to get some, but when he brought back the coins, there still wasn’t the right change for me.
So instead of the 50 centavos, I was presented with 2 pesos and these three candies! I just laughed and took them.
But even funnier — I went to the BA Expats coffee chat (a group I used to be part of last time) and when I told them this story they told me it was quite common. In fact, they used to keep candies in the till just in case they didn’t have enough change. Apparently it’s illegal now, but people still do it and nobody minds.
Only in Argentina!
Well, my vacation is officially over and today was my first day back at work. It’s challenging, as there is so much to do out there in Buenos Aires, but I am committed to working on my projects and my client work, so needs must.
Tuesday is usually the day I post to my blog, Communi-keys for Accountants, and I’ve been thinking for quite a while about trying some videos on the blog to see what my readers think. So I have an idea to tie in my Argentina experience with some advice for accountants, so I think I’ll venture out to the park tomorrow morning and see how a selfie video works. I’ll post the link here so you can have a look at it, even if you’re not an accountant.
Tonight I had my first full blown home cooked dinner — pork chop with fried onion and a boiled potato. All washed down with a nice glass of Malbec of course! I’m not used to gas cooking, and personally I always find it tricky cooking in someone else’s kitchen anyway (those who know me well are probably thinking I find it tricky cooking even in my own kitchen!), so I’m glad to have this first one under my belt.
I don’t have any photos for this post, as I haven’t been very diligent in moving them over from my iPhone. I guess I’ll have to make that a mini project and set some time aside to do it. Maybe tomorrow.
Tomorrow late afternoon I’m going to the BA Expats coffee chat, which I used to attend weekly last time I was here. I’ll be interested to see how many familiar faces are still there. I’ve also just signed up for a couple of InterNations events, so I’ll soon be in the swing of it again. Can’t wait!