Brass-ination

I do like the shine of the brass here.

Besides adding a distinctive flair to some parts of the city, it is a sign of pride for those that work to maintain the entrances and lobbies of the office buildings, hotels and apartment buildings of BA.

The brass is an integral part of the buildings that were built during a grander time in Buenos Aires including our apartment building.

No, we dont live in the Alvear Palace but we do live about 100 metres from it.

I am even struck by the shine of the brass fixtures on the garage doors!

Barney

Quiet on the set!

In Buenos Aires, that can be difficult.

I went into the office today to get a bit of work done. I usually carry my camera on weekends and take pictures of the things that I notice on the mid-week walks to & from work.

Today, I wasnt the only one out with a camera. In the 15 blocks that I walked from the apartment to the office, there were three locations where either some show, movie or commercial was being filmed.

One location was in front of the Brazilian Embassy, the next one inside a restaurant and the third, by the Plaza San Martin in front of my office. The weekends are the only time such 'quiet' activities in the city can occur. In the middle of the week, the sheer volume of traffic - buses, motorcycles, cars & noisy dogs, having it 'quiet on the set' would be impossible.

The smoke drifted back into the city today with another wind shift. Hopefully it didnt 'cloud' the shot at each of the locations.

B.

Teambuilding - Latin Style

Today was quite an experience.
With the rapid growth of the organization, a formal effort at teambuilding was necessary. The plan was in place before I got here but today we held the first meeting, an offsite with 35 staff. Managers, supervisors & professionals with a number of the field guys coming in as well.
What I witnessed here in the first hour, in Canada, would have taken 3 days of meetings, sharing & bonding and plenty of alcohol. In groups of 8, we were up singing and dancing together. It was quite the 'icebreaker' exercise and a refreshing sight for me. We hadnt even had our morning coffee break yet.
We talked about staff/team issues and worked through the results of the Myers Briggs surveys completed by everyone. MBTI looks at styles and how people interact.

It was the first session of a number planned through the year. It was a very good start for the program and admittedly accelerated my getting to know the staff.

My first impression of the day was 'why is such a big PA system set up in here?' The room wasn't so big that you couldn't hear if someone was speaking in a normal voice. What I wasn't prepared for, was the energy of the coaches, the animated interaction amongst those in the room, the singing, laughing and the need just to be able to be heard. Hence the PA. The session was done in Spanish (with English subtitles). One of the coaches sat near the three Canadians and quietly translated for us.
For the most part, you easily got the gist of what was being said and the ideas being expressed. The energy contained in the presentations needed no translation and everyone walked away from the day very upbeat.
I took a couple of the field guys out for dinner and talked shop for a couple of hours. Oil production is up, unions are threatening, oil prices suck (we don't get the world oil price here), lots of projects going on - a fun time in the Argentine oilpatch!


And......I finally ran into someone I knew from Canada. I was wondering how long that would take. This guy & I used to work together. He was originally from Buenos Aires and he has now retired back here. He came into the restaurant and sat one table away from us. I went over and said hello. He introduced me to his family and we exchanged cards.

Today in BA - I met an old business acquaintance & I work for a company that is full of energy. It was a good day.

B.

Empanadas - It's all in the crimping!

Have you ever looked at perogies and wondered what was in them - cheese, potato?
How can you tell?


You could say the same thing about empanadas. They are very popular here and are served as an appetizer (or as a meal). They are made by folding a thin circular-shaped pastry over the stuffing, creating the semicircular shape.
Research has found that the Argentine empanada is a little bigger than the empanadilla of Spain and smaller than that consumed in Chile. There are many kinds of fillings - meat (carne), chicken (pollo), ham and cheese etc.


So when choosing one, say at a group lunch here in the office, how can you tell the difference between meat and chicken? And not leave one on your plate with one bite out of it because it wasnt to your liking?


Well, it's all in the crimping of the edge of the empanada. Each filling has a unique crimp design associated with it. I enjoyed 4 carne empanadas for lunch today...with their distinctive rolled braid-looking crimped edge.


So how can differentiate the crimps and hence the fillings? Well - it's a Latin secret.......but I found all the patterns described on a fridge magnet in our office kitchen!



Barney

So what are we doing here?

I have joined a company called Petro Andina Resources (PAR).

Currently we operate ~ 20,000 barrels/day of oil production in an area called the Neuquen Basin. It is a 2 hour flight from Buenos Aires (plus a 3 hour drive to the field).

The wells are only 700 metres deep and with 5 drilling rigs and 5 completion/well servicing rigs operating in the field, we are looking forward to a lot of activity.

So why am I here?
We have grown so quickly that we have a number of new positions in the company. I have one of those new positions. I head up the Operations Groups (Drilling, Facilities Construction, Production Engineering & Operations). Similar to past roles for me but in such a different and very interesting environment.

The search firm called in late November before I left for Lake Louise for the World Cup to see if I (I mean, we) were interested in a position in Argentina. There were a number of interviews and by January, we were preparing for a visit to BA to see if we could 'handle' it.

The first interview with my new boss was quite interesting because he kept stepping out to answer his cell phone. He was expecting his first grandchild and updates kept interrupting our meeting. She didnt arrive on that day (false alarm) but all things eventually turned out well for Grandpa.

Other than the distance from family & friends (and selling cars, renting the house, packing up and storing our belongings, numerous trips to the dump, furniture distributed between the kids' houses, address changes, parting with the dog, the three to 5 hour time difference - depending on the time of year), we thought it would be a great idea....note that most of those things in brackets were accomplished by Mimi AFTER I got down here!




























My first trip to the field was a good one. I shared the trip with our Board of Directors. It was great to have a Board who make regular trips from Calgary to get a better understanding of what is being accomplished here. Let's just say that we avoided that three hour drive because we were able to land at an airstrip that was much closer than the Neuquen airport.
Notice the local firetruck came out to meet us (and to make sure we arrived and departed safely).

It will be an exciting time for us. I am looking forward to the challenges of a new language, learning different ways to accomplish things in the oilpatch, living in an apartment for the first time in 25 years and helping PAR get to the next level.


B.

Twelve

This morning on the walk in to work.

12 - This would be the highest number of dogs out on a walk with one walker that I have seen.
There might be a law or a union that maxes you out at 12.

Barney

I think a guy just got his watch ripped off...

I'm sitting here having breakfast.

A guy who just sat down at a table nearby is getting medical attention (alcohol swabs on his wrist for cuts) from the restaurant manager.

He just finished speaking to a policeman.
He looks OK.....he's having a stein of beer.

I think it was a grab and run. Hell, it could have been a grab and walk, this guy is big and slow.
If I spoke spanish well enough, I would go ask him what time it is - one must keep their sense of humor about these things.
Its probably best if l stay here on the patio and drink beer for the rest of the day until its safe to go home - that walk could be longest 300 metres of my life!

Its sunny and festive here in BA.

I can't seem to get anyone to take my money from breakfast. A nice, sunny, unrushed kind of patio. I will bring a book tomorrow and establish beachhead early. The sun doesn't hit the terrace in the apartment until later in the day.

Barney

Argentina: Home of the shortest regatta on record!

Saturday's regatta was questionable anyways because of the smoke. The city has been covered in it for days.

The Prefectura (Coast Guard) didn't want any boats on the water because of the collision risk but allowed us to get to the race area and they stayed nearby.
We left the dock at 9:30. We drank mate (an herbal tea) and ate biscuits on the way out to the race area. The mate cup gets passed around like a peace pipe and you keep adding hot water from a thermos onto the leaves/herbs and sip it from a silver straw.

There were 5 of us on the boat. It was a little cozy....especially when we got racing.

There were 16 boats all together and the race started at 11:15. The Prefectura announced over Channel 72 that they wanted us off the water as soon as possible but we could race (I didn't know this until after the race - a 'lost in translation thing'). They shortened up the course and off we went. We were in first place for the first 200 m and then the faster boats quickly overtook us.
Our biggest problem is that we sucked at putting up the spinnaker. Only one guy knew how to do it and there was that spanish/english communication problem as well. I ended up being ballast for most of the race. But the rest of the crew was very gracious about the whole thing.

The nearby airport was closed because of the smoke so the really noisy jets were not bugging us but the nearby military firing range was busy with Saturday morning practice. It sounded the firecrackers going off for two hours. I honestly don't know what they were shooting at. With the smoke, you couldn't see more than 75 m.

The regatta/race was all done in 28 minutes.
Here I'm thinking we would have 3 or 4 races (of that length) but no. That was it - we were done. The Prefectura had called it a day for us. Of course everyone on the boat knew this (because they all understood the announcement made earlier).
We then headed back to the dock. Our timing was perfect as we hit the low tide that was complicated by the winds (over a number of days) which had 'pushed' the water out to sea. We all had to lean out to one side of the boat to create enough clearance with the keel to not run aground. We looked pretty funny all hiking out one side of the boat while motoring into the marina.

Then we drove over to another yacht club for the awards and asado.
We ended up 8th out of 16 boats. Cups given out to 1 to 3. Food & wine for the rest of us!

At the asado, we had (another) great meal and I ended up with a GE vest to add to my growing schwag collection.

I took lots of pictures - my contribution to Team Don Vito and I met 4 new friends today.

Note: the last picture is one sent to me by my boss while we were on the water – the view out his back door at home in Calgary. As I told him, you don’t have to shovel smoke.

Cheers
Barney

Holy smokes!

There were grass fires 200 km north of BA that got out of control. The winds blew the smoke into Buenos Aires. This was something that no one in the city had ever experienced before. It closed highways, the domestic airport, the port, bronchial airways....

This is the usual view out my window at work........




This was the view that morning........



I think that bright spot is the sun.....







If you have asthma in this town, you could be in really big trouble. It lasted for several days. Once the wind shifted, it dissapated but lingered in buildings where the air circulation is poor.

Barney

The walk to work

Hola,
Most mornings when I leave the apartment, the portera is outside the front door of the building having a cigarette - it a bonus because it means I don't have to unlock 2 doors to get out of the building because she leaves them open to have her morning smoke.
The apartment elevator is one with the grate type inside door that you have to close yourself. Room for 3 people max.
We are situated in a beautiful part of Buenos Aires. In Recoleta.

Breakfast is a couple of granola bars that I eat along the way. I pass the Alvear Palace Hotel (a grand place by any standard). The magazine stand next to it on the sidewalk has a TV hanging from the wall with the morning news on. Next is the flower stand but it isn't open until later in the day. Flowers are so inexpensive here, no one has an excuse not to bring some home regularly.
There are two activities that are done religiously every morning at buildings that have a maintenance person or security guard or portera (doorperson). That is, to polish the brass and wash down the sidewalks.
Most door hardware - handles, locks, hinges, kick plates are brass as are stair railings and the apartment buzzer panels...and.they are always shiny. The guys are out with polish and a rag every morning.
The sidewalks are made of a composite tile or stone of some kind - little concrete. The composite tile is becoming more prevalent with each repair. They first sweep away leaves and garbage, then they hose it down and then with a squeegee, wipe away the water. The stone tiles are very slippery when wet (even when dry) and I had to get the leather soles of all of my shoes replaced with rubber because I was going to blow a knee. We have enough bad knees in the family already.
Then there are the people out with their dogs. Big dogs, small dogs with the owner or with the maid. All on leashes. There is a small park on the way. There will always be a bunch of dogs goofing around there.
There are three schools on the way to work. Most kids are escorted to the school by their owner or the maid (no leashes). They either have a backpack on or are pulling a suitcase which makes a distinctive clacking sound on the tile sidewalks as the children scurry to school. The children also wear uniforms. I am partial to the school where the kids wear lab coats. Imagine - an entire elementary school dedicated to developing Jr. Chemical Engineers!
I walk past 4 embassies on the way as well. This includes Santa Sede (representing the Vatican). Awesome buildings (but sadly, many used to be homes for wealthy Argentine families). Times have changed from 80 years ago. Each typically have a policeman standing in front. But always with a high iron gate surrounding the entire building.
There is also the Jockey Club, which is a social club downtown with an associated Hippodrome (track) a few km from downtown.
On the way to work, there is a polo gear/leather goods store that has a security guard who sits in the doorway on a folding chair all night to protect the store. It has an all glass front. This guy enjoys mate (pronounced mat-ay), a tea that locals drink. It is made in an ornate/silver cup and you use a silver straw to sip it.
I have to be awake by the time I get to Avenida 9 de Julio (that would be the 'widest street in the world' as mentioned in all guide books). It is 16 lanes wide where I cross it.
There is always one spot along the route where the sidewalk is under construction. It can be tricky. You either have to step out into traffic or step out into traffic. They don't make it easy. Building owners are responsible for their 'own' sidewalks. So, some are pristine, others OK and a few are covered in dog sh*t.
There is the Israeli Memorial. It is the former site of their embassy which was bombed in 1992 and 29 people were killed. It is directly across the street from a school. Many of those killed were children. They tore what was left of the building down and turned the lot into a garden/memorial. What is interesting is that the wall that connected it to the adjacent building is still there (and is all that is left of the structure). You can see the outlines of the carved relief and designs still on the walls that were part of the embassy rooms. You can imagine the rooms as they were.
I go in early (for here) before 8. It gives me about an hour before most staff arrive to get a few things done.
Our office is on the 4th floor of the American Express building. I have a great view of the Plaza San Martin (always an interesting place).
It is a 15 minute walk door to door. I had envisioned it before I came here - it isn't the 'jostling for a spot on the sidewalk' kind of thing - in a city of 13 million people. Two reasons, I am on the road 'early' (for this city) and we live in THE neighborhood. Based on 'location, location, location', Recoletta is it. Others would beg to differ, I'm sure. I probably have the shortest commute of anyone in the office.
But there is a constant din - it is always noisy here in the city. Buses, cars - car horns, car alarms, loud planes overhead. Every building goes up at least 6 - 8 stories so the noise rattles around the streets. I can see why locals enjoy just getting out of the city and many have a place in the country (as in 45 - 60 minutes out of town). Some are gated communities that people spend the weekend at. The commute is a real pain, so few travel do it daily.
Someone asked me what I missed (so far). Tim Horton's coffee (XL with one cream) and water pressure in the shower - we have gravity feed from a tank on the roof and we are on the top floor, so not a lot of pressure.
I have taken to listening to Calgary radio stations on the internet early in the morning and late in the day. It is an easy reconnect with 'home'.
S
o far - no regrets. NONE. I speak for myself. Mimi's list will be different when she gets here. But I hope there will be no regrets on her side (that's where the flowers come into play!).
Interestingly - the walk home from work is quite a different experience. I will have to share that with you some time.

Adios amigos,
Barney

Farewell asado

Hola!

Yesterday was the farewell asado for the guy I am replacing down here. He is leaving to return to Canada and I am joining the company to take his place here in our Buenos Aires office. The farewell event occurred on a beautiful summer day here in Argentina. Not too hot, not too humid. Our host, Hugo is with one of the law firms we use down here. Nice place he has too - on a quarter section, big house, socccer field, trampoline, pool, foosball, pool table, seating for 150 outside and all forms of traditional Argentine asado (BBQ-ing) gear. It was a 90 minute drive from the city. Most of our BA staff & spouses did show up, many with their kids.
Many locals hadnt seen a cow "BBQ'd" this way either. So there were a few out taking pictures. Not just this Gringo from Calgary.
The cow is basically cut down the middle and laid flat above the coals with ears, hide & tail intact. They create an oven by adding corrugated sheet metal on top of it and adding coals on top of that. Watching the meat cook is a bit of a spectator sport. Warsteiner was the beer of choice and a fine local Malbec was available as well while we watched.
Sampling a rib while waiting for the meat to finish cooking is all part of the event. Then it was a full sit down dinner for everyone.
After just having a 5 day Easter holiday weekend, there is another stat holiday this Wednesday. I will get some work done eventually. I will move into our apartment on that day.

Take care all,
Barney