Barney in BA

2010-01-03T16:55:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. Happy New Year!

I have decided to start a new blog - We have started a new adventure in a new country and it deserves its own blog.

So join us on our new adventure in Trinidad by making the following link one of your favorites:

http://ibelimin.blogspot.com/

Barney in BA was a great ride - I had fun writing it and sharing it. It will always be a great record of our time in Argentina.

B.

New adventure......

2009-12-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

A little detour before we start our latest adventure....
After leaving Buenos Aires - we headed back to Calgary for a few weeks.
I went up to Lake Louise to see how the World Cup preparations were coming along. On the day of the second training run, it snowed ~ 30 cm resulting in the day being scrubbed. It was fun to get caught up with old ski friends although I was looking forward to see some racing.

On the day I flew to Port of Spain, I had this view for four hours out the plane window as they investigated a 'blinky' engine light. I figured - take your time. Let's make sure it's the light and not the engine that is 'blinky'

Last view of a chilly winter for awhile.....

Next stop - Port of Spain Trinidad....sort of.

I will fast forward a bit here as the 4 hour delay resulted in missing my connection in Dallas and having to then overnight in Miami in a hotel room which was so small that I could change the channel on the TV with my big toe.

I ended up in 6 hotel rooms in 3 hotels in 4 days for a variety of reasons - flight delays, a flooded bathroom, a room with no running water, hotel construction, no internet.

It had nothing to do with being here in Trinidad - it just happened. What made it a challenge was that I was hauling several suitcases of stuff (too much stuff).

BUT we have now moved to the island of Trindad.

New job, new country, new stories!

We did our walkthrough of our 11th floor apartment. We signed off on the view from the terrace as....very acceptable! Our apartment is located at the mouth of the Diego Martin River which runs into the Gulf of Paria.

Across the gulf is Venezuela, which at it's closest point is ~ 7 km from Trinidad.

As we continued the walkthrough, we asked that the property manager to remove all of the plastic plants and flowers. We figured if there was a place where you should have real tropical plants, it was in the tropics! When we gathered them all together, they covered the dining room table.

As part of the inventory process, we went through all of the cupboards and look what I stumbled upon.....

We took it as a good sign.

Yesterday was the first time I have driven to work in almost two years. It was on the wrong side of the road but because traffic is so crowded you cant really get hurt at 10 km/hr.

The 'Lasts'

2009-11-17T12:21:00.000-08:00

I looked through the photos I took in our last couple of days in Buenos Aires. These were some of the keepers....

The last look out of my office window (the purple jacarandas were in bloom)...
The last look at the store we never went into (Ralph Lauren!)

The last time we listened to Ciento Dos Punto Tres (102.3) in Gustavo's car.

The last brunch we had at La Mansion....

The last panqueque de dulce de leche and last glass of champagne...

The last visit with Marcos, our favorite server at the lounge at the Alvear Palace....

Mimi's last hug from Daniel, who delivered our paper every morning....

And.....Barney's last beer in BA....

We were blessed to meet such terrific friends in a beautiful city at this time in our lives.

We will have great memories (and about 9000 photographs to remember it all by!).

The 'Barney in BA' adventure was awesome and we look forward to sharing our Trinidad adventure with everyone as well.

What a ride!

2009-10-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

Barney in BA has taken a back seat for quite some time now. Someone observed that it goes quiet when there is some uncertainty going on. Well, lately there has been much uncertainty (and a lot of work) but the dust is starting to clear and I have much to report on.

Things have moved very quickly recently but it looks like tomorrow will be my last day working in Argentina. We expect that the sale of the Argentine assets of our company will go through tomorrow. Following that we will re-surface as a new organization early next week. We will have assets in Colombia and Trinidad. With that, Mimi and I are planning to move to Port of Spain, Trinidad, with the new company. We will spend some time in Calgary in November before heading to Trinidad.

I have continued to take lots of photos over the last couple of months and when I have some down time, I will post a few of the good ones and get everyone caught up. We have loved our time here in Argentina.

We will always fondly remember the dog walkers of Buenos Aires. This was on my walk to work this morning.

I think I might have to rename 'Barney in BA' for this next adventure.

Stay tuned,

Drive through shopping

2009-08-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

At stop lights, many intersections become locations of commerce.

Vendors sell anything and everything - religious articles, newspapers, flowers, ice cream bars, chocolate, colored marker sets, kites, fishing rods.

Things for kids are popular....especially if they are in the car with you.

Ar rush hour, it gets even busier - with 6 to 8 vendors offering different items at the same red light.

The vendors leave their products out on display as well - although I still havent figured out the appeal of the oversized tennis ball.

Fernet & Coke (or Fernet y Coca)

2009-08-22T13:28:00.001-07:00

On the weekends, Mimi & I like to go for walks. This time we headed toward Paseo Alcorta, a mall that has a grocery store. We just wanted to pick up a few things. On the walk, we went by the Plaza de la Flor, where the 'big flower' is, there was also a 'big' advertising campaign on as well.

Meet Coca Sarli - a whole lot of Coca Sarli. 1882 of her in fact.... ...all numbered.The promotion was for 1882 Fernet. The park was filled with 1882 images of Coca Sarli.

Fernet is an Argentine drink (that tastes like Absorbine Jr but is quite popular mixed with Coke or as it is known here, Coca).

Coca Sarli, a famous Argentine actress is now 74.

She was Miss Argentina back in 1955.

Quick trip back to Calgary

2009-08-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

I travelled back to Canada for a quick visit. It was great to see Mimi, the kids and Cooper. Mimi had been back for a few weeks while I 'slaved' away at the office here.

When the kids were here back at Christmas they became fans of Esperanza's empanadas. While I couldnt bring them back I did return with the hot sauce we enjoy here. I also brought back containers of dulce de leche which was enjoyed with ice cream. Thank goodness for ziplock bags.

The weather was lousy while I was there but I did manage to get out golfing with some buddies - in the rain. We had some fun.

I did drop into our office in Calgary to catch up with a few folks. It was a busy place with everything going on so I kept the visit short.

The main purpose for my trip was so that the kids could host my 50th birthday party. The timing of my trip changed because of work commitments, so there was a scramble to pull it together. They did a great job. They borrowed a house (thanks Cindy & Peter), arranged catering, got out invitations and the sun actually came out. It was nice to see friends and get caught up and have birthday cake.

So whether you are 5 or 50, you still get to wear the crown on your birthday!

Watch the world go by

2009-08-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

Along 'the stroll' near the Recoleta cemetary is a strip of restaurants & cafes. They have redone the area where all their patios are set up.

I had gone for a walkabout one afternoon and sat down at La Biela (a well known cafe right on the corner) to watch the world go by - and it does. There are locals and tourists and buskers and entertainers. You can sit down on the patio of a cafe like La Biela and order a coffee. The staff are professional.... and they are quite happy to let you sit there all afternoon. All that world-watching does generate quite a thirst. La Biela has pretty nice mugs too (and that isnt a coffee mug).

Pisco Sours...

2009-08-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

Played golf on Saturday and then afterwards went to friends for chicken wings & Pisco Sours (yes, the night before the 10 K race).

Pisco would be one of those national drinks that you have to be careful with (alcohol content aside). You know how with champagne, you can't call it 'champagne' if it isnt from the Champagne region of France - well two countries (Peru & Chile) are in a dispute over who has the right to claim the name (or origin or home) of pisco which is an aclcohol distilled from grapes.
Whoever claims it, it makes for a good mixed drink (which will sneak up on you and hurt you) called a Pisco Sour. The variation we enjoyed consisted of: one part (a really big part) pisco, one part fresh squeezed lemon juice - from lemons picked from their tree in the back yard...one part water, 8 teaspoons sugar and one egg white. Throw it all in a blender with ice and spin it all up.
Dangerous - tequila dangerous.

Down here the champagne (I mean, sparkling wine) is also very good.
B.

Family

2009-08-02T15:54:00.000-07:00

Family is culturally very important here in Argentina.

There are the usual celebrations for Father's Day and Mother's Day (there is the unique one here that I like - Friend's Day) BUT there is another special one.

It is called Children's Day.
The brunch at the Alvear to celebrate it sounds like it will be a blast.

Paying 240 pesos (about 70 bucks) for your 3 year old to have brunch sounds like a bit much..........but hey, the wine is included.

B.

Just for the t-shirt (not really)

2009-07-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

I did it.

I have started to fight off the accumulation of extra weight that has come with moving to Argentina. The lomo and Malbec does take it's toll. I ran in the Reebok 10 Km race this morning.

My extra 5 kg put me in the Clydesdale division. So with 5448 of my closest friends... I ran the 10 km loop in the middle of BA..... I haven't run 10 km in at least 10 years. Doing triathalons seems forever ago.

I finished in 1 hour and 4 minutes (finishing 4183rd out of 5449).
Not a record, but I didnt stop and walk, I got the shirt, got the (participation) medal and got really sore. I celebrated with a plate of empanadas when I got home.

B.

Friday Night Lights

2009-07-25T00:33:00.001-07:00

Mimi is back in Canada visiting with the kids. It was Friday night so I went for a walkabout in the neighborhood to take some pictures. The weather has cooled off this week - it is refreshing.

This is our apartment building....

Here is the Alvear Palace....someone important is staying there this weekend because there was lots of security and an ambulance parked out front the whole time. They must have been old, sick or important...or all three.One of the local flower vendors.....

The Palacio Duhau (the Hyatt hotel)......

Here is the Santa Sede - the Vatican Embassy in BA....

This is the Disco - our local grocery store - which is the home to the 45 minute plums.

The Basilica del Pilar next to the Recoleta Cemetary - built in 1715 (lights installed later).

And right on the corner next to the apartment is Vitto (Pizza Resto Cafe) - I think I have had at least 50 Napolitana pizzas here.

B.

First it was the Dengue Fever....

2009-07-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

Then it was the Swine Flu (now affectionately called H1N1)....but I think there will be reasons to consider Avian (Bird) Flu next.

A fresh 5 degrees over the last few days will keep the germs at bay...but not the pigeons.

2009-07-23T05:51:00.000-07:00

It was 2.2 degrees on the apartment terrace this morning. I got to wear my Descente Coach's coat for the walk to work this morning. The heat has been turned off in the apartment because of some gas pipe problems. It is down to 19 degrees in the apartment.

And it snow here yesterday.

I have a tee time for Saturday.

It feels like Calgary in July.

City Update

2009-07-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, I have been able to maintain my running (it has been at least a week now). And yes, I still take my camera. Sunday was a gray day but good for running.

From the apartment, I ran up Avenida 9 de Julio past the Teatro Colon, which is still closed for renovations. It was to re-open in May, 2008 on it's 100th anniversary but things have been 'delayed'. It will re-open sometime in 2010. In time for the country's 200th anniversary.

I ran by El Obolisco

on the way to the Casa Rosada (the Pink Palace),which is the office of the country's president. Cristina has had a rocky time lately....and pretty much deserves it. They keep the gates locked up all the time now and she commutes from home in a helicopter.

I continued on to Puerto Madero, where there is the distinctive Puente de la Mujer (Women's Bridge). It was designed by Santiago Calatrava - who has designed several world renowned bridges. He has also designed the footbridge that will be (probably, maybe, might be) built at 10th Street, crossing the Bow River in Calgary.

And another thing....

Felice Dia del Amigo! (July 20th)

It is a great little day of celebration - not a holiday, no cards - just a recognition of friends. So enjoy the day & remember your friends!

Plaza Holanda

2009-07-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

I have taken up running (again).

The cooler 'winter' weather is definitely more suited to being able to survive a run. I have a loop from the apartment to the Plaza Holanda. It is a park where the road is closed to traffic - other than joggers, bikes and rollerblades on the weekend. The loop surrounds a lake (ok, 2 ponds and a big rose garden).The paddleboat fleet doesnt get too much business at this time of year but they are colorful. I take my camera when I run (that's how serious a runner I am - any excuse to stop to take a picture!)

I will report back in a couple of weeks to let you know whether I have kept up with the running.

MJ Tribute

2009-07-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

I walk by this store every day on the way to and from work. The store window is always full of very colorful clothes so it took 3 days of walking by it to even notice the change.

I think it might be every piece of Michael Jackson memorabilia in the city.

B.

Now it is starting to impact my life!

2009-07-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

H1N1 or the Swine Flu is now affecting my social life. Friends invited me to brunch this Sunday at the Four Seasons Hotel. I confirmed with them and they tried to make reservations. At the Four Seasons, brunch is cancelled until further notice. The reason: Swine Flu (or Gripe Porcina or H1N1).

The public service pronouncements are everywhere. There are even bigger signs than this in the city.

We have also posted notices in our office. The papers are also 'full of it'.

And:

All schools are closed. The kids get an extra 2 weeks of winter holidays.
We have gone to flextime in the office so staff can travel in less crowded buses and subways.
Live theatre and concerts have been cancelled.
Restaurants are reducing their capacities (less tables and spacing them further apart).

We did find a great restaurant in Palermo that was open for brunch though and then we went to the Mataderos Fair afterwards. It is a market/entertainment event that goes every weekend in the winter. The place was packed. Temporary booths are set up for blocks. No flu fears here.

Besides the market selling local wears, restaurants cooking traditional food and the cultural music played be a number of bands through the day - you can get a ride on a wagon pulled by a pony. It might be difficult to see but there is a dog on top of the pony 'announcing' their arrival. Down one of the sidestreets, they spread sand in a narrow strip on the road and out come the gauchos to put on a demonstration of riding skills. They hang a ring (the size of a wedding band) from a bar and then race full speed towards it and try to catch the ring on a stick the size of a pencil. We have seen it before at an estancia but here they 'bring it to the cityfolk'. These guys are quite good.
It is winter here and the weather has been like great autumn days. Cool, fresh & sunny.

Studio 54

2009-07-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

After a long day at the office, you gotta love coming in to a home cooked meal (or 12 of them!).

Esperanza spent a couple of hours preparing empanadas de pollo (chicken) ALL FOR ME!

I will attempt to put some variety in my diet but I can see empanadas on the menu for a couple of weeks at least!

They are so good! I actually think they are getting better each time she makes a batch.

The count (after one dinner) is down to 54.

Stampeding in BA

2009-07-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

Last year at this time, I hosted a Stampede Breakfast in our office. Since this is not a nation of breakfast eaters, there was lots of leftovers.
This year we tried something different. We went for the Stampede Lunch. Liliana did some quick organizing - and modified the lunch to work well in the office. This time, there wasnt (or werent?) any leftovers.
The 'beef on a bun' was 'lomo on a bun'. Which was really good. There was lots of fixin's and there was helado (ice cream) for dessert.

There was a bit of beer consumed but with luncheon selection there was some leftovers.

Not a runaway, just a fun Friday lunch in the office with a Stampede flair.

B.

H1N1

2009-07-01T04:17:00.000-07:00

Now that the midterm federal election is over and the Kirchner's were informed by the electorate they are not happy with their performance, the country turns to other issues.

One in particular is the H1N1 (or the gripe porcine). There are now many schools shut down in the city and at those that are open, you will see the children wearing masks. When I returned to BA from Toronto, everyone on the plane was given (more) paperwork to fill out, you had to pass a thermal scan (looking for a fever) and we had to wear a mask when coming off the plane. It made it very difficult to talk to the immigration officer (or for him to even match my passport photo with my face).

H1N1 is an issue here. For as much as there is a health care system, it is two tier and in a large city of ~ 12 million people - problems can spread. The debate rages over whether the fact that 25 people have died of a flu (during the flu season) is a major health issue or not but the government has to 'appear' to be reacting so the kids gather in the playground instead of the classroom.

This falls on the heels of the end of the mosquito season, which was responsible for a nasty season of Dengue Fever (something you dont want to catch more than once).

on a more positive note:

Happy Canada Day everyone!

I have ordered facturas for the office (that morning treat that is a less sweet equivalent to 3 dozen Tim Horton's donuts - and very much appreciated).

Truth be told, I have ordered in facturas for many reasons this past 18 months. For reasons such as: it's a Tuesday, it's raining, Boca Jr's lost, my birthday. I have requested these facturas be 'red and white'.

On Friday, the Calgary Stampede starts - hmmm, what to do, what to do?

Bermud-aaaahhhhh!

2009-06-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

After the wedding in Toronto, we travelled to Bermuda for a break.

Why Bermuda? Have you been there? That is all the reason you need.

It was our first true downtime in about 2 years (probably since we were in Bermuda last). The biggest decision of the day was - pool or beach?

It is a beautiful group of islands out in the middle of the Atlantic oceanwith some great beaches, nice people and it is...quiet (as I sit here back in BA, the one thing I didnt miss was the constant traffic noise).

On the day we arrived it was the last day of the Tall Ships Festival - and they were leaving the port. They were magnificent. Our shuttle driver was equally interested in them and he took us a more circuitous route to the hotel so we could catch a glimpse of them sailing off to Charleston, South Carolina.

For a week, we walked along the beach,read by the pool,had a mix of weather (which allowed my sunburn to heal), played some golf, ate great food and drank (yes) Argentine wine. We also discussed what possibilities were in store for us as a result of the unsolicited offer for all the shares in our company that happened while we were away.

In Bermuda, you drive on the left hand side of the road and there are no cars to rent. Every household is only allowed to have one car so there are scooters everywhere. The speed limit is 40 km but who is in a rush anyways?

At the Dockyards, you can rent Segways and go on a guided tour.

We travelled back to Toronto and this is where Mimi and I parted company. She stayed in Toronto for a few days to visit her sisters and will travel to Calgary for a few weeks and I travelled back to BA.

The golf courses are great but you have to share them with the local fauna.

But what the heck...'Grip it and ribbitt'

After a restful week, we flew back to Toronto where I headed back to BA and Mimi will spend some time in Aurora with her sisters and then make here way back to Calgary for a few weeks.

Family time

2009-06-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

We travelled to Toronto for a family wedding.

My sister, Joanne's son Kyle was marrying his fiancee, Danielle.

The pre-wedding events were great. The rehearsal dinner was the same night as Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. There were several visits to the TV room to check on Pittsburgh's progress. The scrambling to and fro was as expected but it was great to see Kyle take the next step in his life and to see my family.

They chose the McMichael Gallery in Kleinberg as the venue and it was great. It was an outdoor ceremony and the reception was inside the gallery.

Mom looked great, here she is with granddaughters - Bryden, Stephanie and Theresa...

The band was excellent. Rumors have it that they are already booked for Kyle's sister, Bryden's wedding next May.

Kyle (middle) and groomsmen will perform their interpretation of the Blues Brothers at that event.

And....we had some fun too!
B.

Making an impression

2009-06-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Mimi has travelled back to Calgary. She will spend some time with the kids (and I get to do lots more work in BA!).

We have developed a bit of a ritual here. On Friday evenings, we would go next door for a drink. Next door is the Alvear Palace, the grande dame of hotels here in BA.

Anyways, in our time here, the staff of the Palace lobby lounge have taken a shine to Mimi. When they found out she was leaving for several weeks, they presented her with a gift and a rose.

The chocolates did not last long.

Road trip to Colombia

2009-06-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

I travelled to Colombia on business. Mimi joined me. I was attending the SPE Latin American/Caribbean Conference in Cartagena. We have recently opened a new office in Bogota so we stopped there for a couple of days. Yes, security is something taken seriously there. Nelson, our driver picked us up at the airport. He was driving an armored Toyota SUV. If nothing else, the armor muffles the road traffic noise!

Bogota is a pretty city, situated at 2700 metres, the elevation moderates the temperature. Most business people are wearing suits, more formal than BA. I went into our office and Mimi went on a bit of a city tour. Nelson was gracious enough to drive Mimi around. She chose to sit in the front seat - you are little less obvious when you do that.

She said that the Museo del Oro (Museum of Gold) was amazing. I was afraid of what damage she could do in the gift shop!

The security was obvious at hotels and office buildings. Every vehicle that entered the building parkade was greeted by a big friendly dog. The dog hops into the car (front seat, trunk) and has a big sniff!

Speaking of security, if you want to steal a motorcycle - you have to steal the bike, the helmet AND the rider's vest because they all bear the licence plate number.

We then travelled to Cartagena which is on the Caribbean near Panama. The city has an old fort that had been attacked a couple of times but that hasnt been for at least 150 years. It is a very colorful city. Inside the old town there are lots of horse drawn carriages for rent. There were also lots of vendors who will approach you to sell you just about anything. Not pushy, just relentless - 'No gracias' was well practiced by both of us. The temperatures were a constant 32 degrees and 90% humidity every day.

We met a couple from Argentina who moved to Calgary about the same time we moved to BA. We met them for dinner and on the first night there, they wanted to go to a parilla, a typical Argentine type restaurant because they hadnt had a good empanada in months! It was fun.

We went for a walk one day and 'stumbled' into a local wedding. Dancers and musicians were waiting for the bride and groom to come out of the church and then they 'danced them down the street' to where the reception took place. It was really cool to watch.

While our time in Colombia was very nice, there is a strong military presence and we did see examples of torture - specifically cruelty to textiles.......

Back in BA

2009-06-25T15:25:00.001-07:00

I/we have been busy.......so lets get caught up!

We still are doing lots of walking. This trip with the Unashopper was to Puerto Madero.

You do have to share the sidewalk with the dog walkers. You see them everywhere in the city.The small fruit markets are quite inviting. Speaking of walking, we just couldnt figure out what you were even allowed to do in this one park (plaza). This sign was at the entrance.

Last month, we celebrated the wedding of my assistant, Juana and her husband, Pablo. A beautiful service and then a party at the Argentina Yacht Club.

Several of us from the office were there. The ceremony wasnt until after 9 pm and the party went on nice and late! The Yacht Club has a great view of BA's downtown.

A number of friends celebrated the anniversary of D-Day (June 6th) at Les Ancienes Combatantes, a French soldiers' club, now restaurant. Lots of fun, good stories and a fair share of wine. The french chef was very proud of his menu and it was easier to speak to him in French than Spanish or English - Mimi did well.

And we did consume our allotment of champagne as well.

This city has a gazillion restaurants. You would never know many of them even exist. We have one friend, Kathy who takes advantage of many internet sites. She finds reviews of obscure restaurants and then pulls together friends to try it. We have been to some great dining experiences as a result. Truly - a nothing ventured, nothing gained attitude. Les Anciens Combatantes was one of those experiences.

Speaking of obscure dining experiences (Ok, this one isnt)....La Mansion is (an old mansion) that is 'connected to the Four Seasons Hotel. Recent guests to book the entire la Mansion includes Madonna when she was here on her concert tour last year.

On Sunday's they have a brunch.....and we are not talking just any brunch. This one goes on allllllll afternoon. We stumbled out of there at around 5 pm after consuming probably more wine than eggs benedict!

Good thing it is just down the block.

You cant always believe what you read....

2009-05-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

We get the Buenos Aires Herald delivered to the apartment each morning. It is an english paper. It contains local news and a lot of wire service international news. The paper isnt very big and the readership limited but we enjoy reading the paper in the morning.

Often times we will find scathing letters to the editor stating that the grammar is wrong, or a point of view of the reporters is poor or a translation is lousy but we do get a sense for what is going on in the country regardless.

Once in awhile, you do have to chuckle at some of the contents. In this one brief article in Sunday's paper, they touched on tennis (header), hockey (NHL)and football (NFL). Impressive!

Comparing notes...

2009-05-01T06:31:00.000-07:00

What do a microwave oven and a bidet have in common?

We had friends over to the apartment last night.

They got there before I got home from from work so they were (at least) one glass of wine ahead of me.

Mimi asked me - 'So did anything interesting happen at work today?'

I said, 'Well as a matter of fact, yes'.

Here was my tale......

We have several drilling & service rig companies working for us. We keep them running steady working on our wells. This week, on one of them, the rig crew went on strike for 24 hours because the microwave oven was broken. They shut the rig down and walked off the job.

My friend who works for another oil company, says 'Ha! I have you beat'.

He has contractor crews who have to travel some distance to get to the oilfield. They have to stay at a motel at some point on the route. They went on strike this week because the accommodation they were provided did not have bidets in the bathrooms.

He wins.

Both of these issues have been documented in 'actas' which is a legal document here used to declare/negotiate/settle serious situations like this (really, I am not making this stuff up just to increase my blog readership!)

It is Workers (Labor) Day today in Argentina.

Here is to ensuring that bidets and microwaves are functioning all over the country! The economy of an entire nation is counting on it!

Yes, I am still living the dream, baby!

Chilly day in BA - a first!

2009-04-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

We attended the finals of the Nations Cup. This was a tournament for 28 handicap teams. The final had Argentina playing Brazil. It was quite a good match with some long runs and good 'stickhandling'. Argentina prevailed (10-6). There was a bit of a breeze and we have gotten spoiled with the months of warm days and nights here. It actually got cold.We usually dont leave the apartment with an extra jacket (like we would do in Calgary) but it did give me an opportunity to wear a 2010 Dale sweater (complete with Vanoc Olympic logo). Every year, I have been getting a Dale sweater for volunteering at Lake Louise. This time (another first), I bought one. Mimi brought it back with her on her last trip home.

After the match, we met friends at Kansas, a restaurant across the road from the polo fields and had dinner......under deck heaters! After that, yes, we did end up at the Alvear Palace for a cleansing ale! Actually, a cleansing malbec but you get my point.

B.

Noventa pesos!

2009-04-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

We went out for dinner last night to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We chose La Bourgogne, a French restaurant in the Alvear Palace Hotel. We started with a drink in the hotel lobby lounge and watched a bit of the world go by.

Afterwards, we went downstairs to the restaurant. We had a 9 o'clock reservation - which was on the early side for La Bourgogne. It is a grand restaurant. All the staff wear white tuxedo-like uniforms. Mimi's menu did not have the prices in it. We have not been to a restaurant like that in a long time.

They wheeled a cart up to the table that had a large silver bowl on it. The bowl was full of different kinds of champagne. They offered us a glass. Sounds great. Hmmm..... French restaurant, French champagne.

Long story short. The meal was awesome, the service perfect. Flambe steak - fired up at our table. Crepes Suzette - fired up at the table. There was also a special anniversary treat (more dessert) - which they fired up at the table. It had a large rocket sparkler on it.

To finish the evening, we had another glass of champagne.

We got the bill....did you know that French champagne in a French restaurant in Argentina is quite expensive? Four glasses of champagne, at $90 pesos each, cost more than our entire dinner!!

It was a memorable evening, we will return.......but we will drink Argentine bubbles next time!

B.

Quick currency converter ($1 CDN = $3.058 pesos).

One glass of imported French champagne was $29.43 CDN.

Meet the 45 Minute plums

2009-04-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

Grocery shopping here is never boring. It is never exciting either.

There is the lottery of whether they actually have the items you are looking for. The lottery as to whether they will have change for you at the check out. The opportunity to have one too many items and get tossed out of the line.

Meet the '45 Minute' plums.

That's how long it took from the time you enter the grocery store, to find them, to get in line to get them weighed, to get in line to buy them, to wait for change.

I have given up on fruit as a result.

We are not in Kansas anymore...

2009-04-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

Or Michigan.

I went for a traditional North American breakfast on the weekend. Eggs Benedict. There is a place 10 minutes from the apartment called Amaranta. It serves a great Eggs Benny. You will also find a number of ex-pats have breakfast there as well. Breakfast is not a big meal for Argentines. In fact, it doesnt really exist. Just coffee.

Anyways, to make the restaurant even more realistic...even more North American, they put American cars on the street in front of the restaurant. What's more American than a Jeep? And what's more American than that?...a Jeep from Michigan!Either that or it was a very long way to travel for Eggs Benedict!

Facturas, fruit and Friday's

2009-03-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

In a small company, nice gestures become traditions and as you grow in size - they become expectations.

Here in our office, when an employee returns from vacation, it is now the expectation to bring in chocolates, cake or pastries (or facturas as they are called here) on the day you come back to the office.

Traditionally in Argentina, summer holidays are taken in 2 week windows. They also line up as the first two weeks and the second two weeks of the months of January and February. We would have several staff off during the same 2 week window.

We are now over 60 staff in the BA office, so on the Monday that the vacationers return to the office, the facturas supply is overwhelming. There is always an email that is sent out to everyone to let everyone know who brought in facturas (and why).
This is what the kitchen looked like on a recent Monday morning!

But we also provide some healthier options in our kitchen - little of which I recognize.

Although, I can detect a dulce de leche filled medialuna from 70 meters!

Friday afternoons provide an opportunity for teambuilding in the office. My language skills are improving but the following note from our receptionist got everyone into the kitchen.

De: Paula

Enviado el: Viernes, 27 de Marzo de 2009 04:54 p.m.

Para: BA

Asunto: Brian nos invita a festejar el viernes con helado...

It is amazing how ordering in 5 kilograms of ice cream can help the staff 'celebrate Friday'. Even on Friday's, most staff are there until after 6 pm.

Dia del Memoria por la Verdad y la Justicia

2009-03-24T05:29:00.000-07:00

Today, the Day of Memory for Truth and Justice is a public holiday.
The city is very quiet. The holiday commemorates the victims of the military dictatorship known as the National Reorganization Process. March 24th is the anniversary of the 1976 coup that brought the military junta to power.

It is estimated that 30,000 people were killed in what was known as the Dirty War. The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo can be seen every Thursday walking in the plaza (wearing their distinctive white scarves) as they have been for the last 30 years to demand justice for their children (and now grandchildren).

Several months after we arrived here, a friend lent us a copy of the movie, Imagining Argentina. It was a story set in that time in 1976 when the Ford Falcon's would arrive at someone's home or office and just whisk someone way, never to be heard from again. Those taken are referred to as The Disappeared Ones. the movie was quite disturbing.

Today is a reminder of what was lost here and that it should never happen again.

Another first!

2009-03-20T04:41:00.000-07:00

We got in our first (and hopefully only) car accident last night.

Mimi had finished a meeting with her volunteer group, SACS (Send a Child to School).

I met her on the walk back to the apartment from my office. We grabbed a taxi to go for dinner. It was rush hour. We thought it would be a slow drive as a result. No, we happened to get the Mario Andretti of BA for a taxi driver.
I had just commented how fast he was driving when he slammed on the brakes.....but not fast enough. The VW in front of us had stopped for traffic. We tapped his bumper.

The driver of the VW hopped out, took a look at his bumper and 'then the fight started'. He and the taxi driver start yelling at each other. The taxi driver never got out of the car. They just kept yelling at each other.
The taxi driver thought for a bit to drive away but he was boxed in by traffic and then the VW driver pulled out his camera phone and started taking pictures. Finally, our taxi driver provided his licence details and we finished the drive to the restaurant. The rest of the drive was a rant (in spanish) how he never touched him!

The whole time they were yelling at each other, the meter was running.

Our first car accident experience in Argentina cost us an extra 2 pesos - less than a buck.

Lately, we have been reading about some big vehicle wrecks here in Argentina, mostly on the highways.

I would say we were lucky.

Footnote: After we had finished dinner, two friends walked into the restaurant - we asked them to join us. They sat down and proudly showed us their new ARG driver's licences. After this ride, we wont be getting our licences any time soon!
B.

Pizza by candlelight

2009-03-13T03:48:00.000-07:00

I came home from work late and we made the joint decision that San Felicien Malbec and pizza para llevar (take away) was the way to go for dinner.
I opened the wine, had a half glass then went to the corner restaurant to order the pizza. Going to the restaurant, ordering it and then waiting for the pizza has its advantages - it comes with a cold beer......and I can click away on my Blackberry.

Just as I was ordering, the lights went out in the restaurant. It was a power failure. One minute later, my cell phone goes off, "Are you in the elevator?". "No, I am trying to order pizza."

I was 2 minutes from being stuck in the 80 yr old elevator in our apartment building.......

The ovens in the restaurant seemed to work. One beer later, the pizzas were ready to go.
I took the back stairs up 6 floors to the apartment.

It turned out to be a great night, we enjoyed dinner by candlelight on our terrace. You could see the stars (which is rare in such a brightly lit city). Margarita and Fuggazetta pizzas.....with leftovers.

I woke up at 3 am with the lights back on (6 hours later) and the TV making noise.
It sure beats waking up in an elevator!

B.

I need to learn enough spanish to find out of there is a power failure, does the elevator in our apartment lower itself to the main floor or am I stuck there until the lights come back on?

United Buddy Bears in BA

2009-03-04T07:56:00.000-08:00

This week, large trucks rolled up to the Plaza San Martin next to my office and forklifts started unloading wooden crates. They say there are 140 crates....but I know there are only 139.

Slowly the display took shape. It was the United Buddy Bears. The bears are part of a UNICEF program that have been displayed in several cities around the world ( www.buddy-bear.com ).

The bears are here with the following message: 'The Buddy Bears stand together hand in hand in a peaceful circle, promoting tolerance and understanding among different nations, cultures and religions.'

Mounted on concrete bases, the bears are arranged alphabetically in a circle in the Plaza San Martin.....

outside my office building here in BA....

It starts with a Buddy Bear from Afganistan.... and goes all the way around to Buddy from Zimbabwe......In between, there are interesting bears from Cuba....and from places like Maldova.....Maldova? - on the Maldova bear, there is a Maldovian that is pointing to where Maldova actually is on the globe - so we all know).
There is also the Bhutan Bear.

There is a problem though - one that has got me a little chuffed. While there are bears from those big bear nations like the Bahamas and the United Arab Emirates. There is NO bear from Canada.
He should be there standing in between the Camaroon Bear and the Central African Republic Bear.
I contacted a friend at the Canadian Embassy to inquire about the whereabouts of the Canada Bear and 'they are looking into it'.

I know he exists because I found him on some website. He looks pale compared to many of the others. He would be the 140th bear in the display and perhaps based on the weather in Canada, he is hibernating these days.

Should I get an update on the Canada bear, I will let you know.

United Buddy Bear Butts....

Meet my neighbors

2009-03-03T11:16:00.000-08:00

These two guys regularly park themselves on the railing outside my office window. They are quite happy to sit there, preening and chirping away.

Occasionally, they get riled up and start flying into my office window. They see their reflection in the mirrored glass and start 'fighting'. They then sit back down on the railing - looking like they have just been smacked upside the head and wonder why the bird they are fighting is so damn tough.

Calgary

2009-03-01T09:45:00.001-08:00

Calgary in the wintertime.....

Just got my first taste of winter since February of 2008. It started out as refreshing and then it got to be different (Ok, a bit of a pain). I can just imagine how Calgarians feel this year - it has been quite a winter.

It was short trip for meetings at work so if I didnt contact you, it was because I ran out of time.

I did get to see Cooper for his 5th birthday. He sort of remembered me but the kids are taking such good care of him - I completely understand. Mimi stays in touch with him by skype - it does drive him a bit nuts when he can hear her but not see her. I took the kids out for dinner a couple of times. We did drink Argentine wine in one restaurant . Since the kids had enjoyed it down here, it was fun to order it in Calgary. The next place (Bonterra's) didnt carry Argentine wines so Jake was able to share his wine knowledge, having travelled in Italy, and ordered a SuperTuscan wine - it was quite good.

I bought a smaller camera while in Calgary - it means more pictures and less lugging around of my SLR. Now I need to buy an external hard drive to store all the photos I am taking. They take up quite a bit of space but are worth it.

Road trips

2009-03-01T08:05:00.000-08:00

Hi there - I havent been on-line lately. I have been busy at work, doing some travelling and my Picasa 3 is on the blink (so I am having trouble with my photo files). Regardless....

Mimi & I recently travelled to Mendoza, which is the centre of the Argentine wine universe and for good reason. I was there for business meetings with our Environment team. While we were there, we did some touring around. You know - check out the environment!

We only visited 3 bodegas (wineries), enjoyed some very nice restaurants and took a trip to the border with Chile. The tours were interesting not only for the bodega 'stories' and wine sampling but because we were on english-speaking tours. It was fun to share stories with folks on a seniors' tour from Florida, we talked Blackberry addictions with a guy from RIM in Waterloo and ran into the same couple from Chicago 5 times on the weekend.

Mendoza itself is a cool city. It has a population larger than Calgary and is located in the middle of a desert. It survives only because of the extensive irrigation system that the city has. The runoff from the snowpack melt in the Andes is the source of their water. On EVERY street between the sidewalk and the street is a canal (or ditch) that accepts water on a regular schedule. Every tree in the city (and there are a lot of them) was planted and is irrigated by this system. Fields & parks are 'watered' by overflowing the ditches and the water seeps across the field....so you have to choose the right time to have a picnic!

We went to an interesting restaurant in the basement of the former residence of the Governor of the Province of Mendoza called Cava de Cano. What you see in the photo is the first course of a 4 course meal. I dont think I have seen that much food for 5 people....especially just for the appetizer!

From what I am learning, successful vineyards exist where they can control the water the vines get and there is lots of sunshine. It only rains 5 days a year in Mendoza so the climate and the local irrigation expertise make for a robust wine industry. I guess so....there are 1200 wineries in the area. We visited three of them. We did sample more than 3 wines though. Lots of reasons to return to Mendoza.

We also made a road trip to the Andes. The drive was on a major highway and we found out first hand why there are so many vehicles accidents in Argentina. Overloaded trucks that are underpowered that get passed by crazy bus drivers....yikes. The existence of double yellow lines and the non-existence of shoulders makes for an interesting trip.Three hours from Mendoza and up a 9 km switchback to an elevation of 4000 metres...took us to a spot called Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemor) de los Andes. It is a large statue built in 1904 acknowledging peace between Chile and Argentina. The statue straddles the border.That peace got tested when Chile sided with the Brits during the Malvinas/Falklands war.

On the day we visited, it was a little breezy. I think it is 'breezy' everyday.

The little guy is Augusto, the son of our Environment Manager, who joined us on the trip.There is a small restaurant at this spot. It reminded us of the Lake Louise Tea House. They were serving locra - a stew made with goat. It was OK.

On the drive back to Mendoza we stopped at Aconcagua Provincial Park, where the highest peak outside of Asia is located.

We also stopped at an interesting spot where a spa used to operate. It has since shut down and the sulphur laden springs have overun the facility. They closed the bridge because they are afraid it will collapse under its own weight. The brand new church (top right) is no longer accessible as a result.

We had the luxury of a local (our Environment Manager) taking us on this day tour. His wife and son joined us. I am sure they had other things to do but they were most gracious in their hospitality.

We will return soon.

The Trixie Diner

2009-02-07T10:13:00.000-08:00

We went out to hit a bucket of rocks at the range today and afterwards, we hit the Trixie Diner for a burger (ok, hamberguesa) and a beer. Between the two of us, we throw 8 clubs into one of those mini-bag/quiver things. The range is a 13 peso taxi ride away, right on the water and right under Runway Uno of the Jorge Newbery domestic airport - something like McCall Lake in Calgary BUT A LOT NOISIER!!!

The golf balls at the Salguero range are very unforgiving, as I had said once before - in Argentina, range balls are rocks with dimples on them. But no mind, it was great to hit a bucket of balls, practice some putting.............and then head to the Diner for lunch.

Trixie's is right out of the movies - stainless steel, neon, great burgers, shakes and awesome onion rings.

We witnessed the construction of a ginormous chocolate sundae that would require us to bring at least 4 friends to finish it.

We have put this on the 'if we ever get into a routine around here, this would be good Saturday afternoon activity' list.

Now it's time for the post-burger nap.

P.S. We were sitting in the Diner and I looked at my Blackberry, we received a note from our son, Jake - it said 'Call me on my cell'. That didnt sound good. So we called right away - it was to tell us that John Kucera, a Calgarian had just won the Downhill at the World Championships at Val d'Isere today - a good thing.

We have friends who are there as Olympic observers in advance of Whistler 2010, when it will be their turn. A great day to be a Canadian in Val d'Isere!

I am going to be an Abuelo!

2009-02-05T05:36:00.000-08:00

And Mimi is going to be an Abuela!

When Jake & Kelli arrived here at Christmas (at 5 am after 12 hours of flight delays), they sleepily handed us a small package to unwrap.

Here is what was in the package....

We couldnt be happier.

The little one is due in August. That will be right in the middle of 'winter' around here. A good time to visit Calgary.

Mimi is already booking flights.

Argentine aristocracy

2009-01-25T04:58:00.000-08:00

It's a Saturday evening, we didnt have plans so we decided to go across the street to the Alvear Palace hotel to have an early dinner in the lobby lounge and 'people watch'.
The Alvear Palace is a grand old hotel. The lobby lounge is marble columns, chandeliers and the largest bouquet of fresh flowers we have ever seen.
True, the beer is expensive relative to many other places in town but they do a healthy pour of wine and the people watching is 'o so interesting.

Last night was one of the best - things were slow until 8 pm (that's when the crowd of folks staying in the hotel agree to meet for a pre-dinner drink and then an hour later, the place is practically empty as they all leave to make their 9 o'clock dinner reservations).

We often end up in conversations with several of them because many speak english and are travelling from all over the world. We share with them that we live here, they tell us stories of where they have been and where they are going.

Last night, and older couple came in for a glass of champagne. They were speaking English. We figured them for being on a cruise and were spending a couple of days in BA. He had struck up a conversation with two ladies at another table (should have been my first clue). Mimi was on her way to the washroom and mentioned something to them and within 30 seconds, they were engaged in a full conversation. I get waved over and before you know it, the four of us are having champagne together and sharing stories....and theirs was quite a story.

Turns out, he is 92 and she is 86. They are dating. They have 26 grandchildren between the two of them. They were both born here, as were their parents. They are of British descent. The British had come to Argentina to build the country's infrastructure (railroads etc). They both have substantial landholdings (I think substantial would be an understatement) including estancias (ranches). Her farm produces wheat, soy and corn. I am betting its a realllly big farm!
He still plays tennis. They are off to Punta del Este today for summer holidays with their children and they wanted us to join them for a few days. I said I had to work (damn!).

What I didnt learn until later was that old Ricardo (but you can call me Dick) was hitting on Mimi the whole time. I was chatting with Helen and he is saying 'I could kiss you all over' to Mimi.

She lives just up the street from us and his home is in San Isidro.
What a great couple. We hope that our paths cross again.

I will sit BETWEEN Ricardo and Mimi next time.

B.

Technology sure shrinks distances!

2009-01-24T10:33:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I was in the office a bit early and up pops a skype text message on my computer from a friend in Australia.

It says 'Do you want to listen in on the timing shack at Kitzbuhel?' Now, Kitzbuhel is the site of the world famous Hahnenkamm downhill in Austria. The race going on at the moment was the World Cup SuperG. Five Canadians were in the event. Another friend, a Canadian is the head of the timing crew at Kitzbuhel.

I look around the office - things are pretty quiet - my first meeting isnt for about 40 minutes, so I pop on my headphones, Eric skypes me into a conference call and poof - I am listening in on the timing hut conversations as the timing crew go about their work doing the timing and data for the event.
I then log on to the FIS Live Timing website to track the racers through the event....and voila, I can hear the race announcer screaming outside, I can hear the conversations inside the the timing hut and and following the Live Timing tracking of results. I also did some spreadsheet work on field oil storage that we are using.

While this is going on, I send a text message to Eric asking if he is at Kitzbuhel in an official capacity or 'slumming at the event as a celebrity'? He sends back - 'Hell no, I am home in Australia in my PJ's listening to the event on skype.' I was in a skype conference call linking a guy in Austria with a guy in Australia with a guy in Argentina....pretty cool (geeky but cool). It was also fun to re-connect with ski racing and follow a world class event.

I have visions of ham radio operators decades ago linking the world in a similar way.

It's great that technolgy works to keep friends connected - we dont feel so far away!
B.

More things that make you laugh...

2009-01-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

I was on my way to work today and saw a dog walker with about 8 dogs and I had to chuckle. It reminded of situation we had when the kids were here over Christmas.

We were all out for a walk and I mentioned to them that I didnt think many dogs get neutered down here. In fact, all the dogs 'have their balls'. Katie thought this was pretty funny and then after that, all anyone saw was dogs 'with their balls'.

Then later in the week, Katie says - 'Hey, that dog's been neutered!'. I said, 'No Katie, that's a female dog'.

I guess you had to be there....

I miss having the kids around to laugh at my jokes.
B.

Air conditioning - it will change your life

2009-01-17T04:31:00.000-08:00

It is certainly changing our sleeping patterns.
Being from Calgary - we are not big 'air conditioner' folk. We have a separate air conditioner in each room. We dont keep them on all the time. They can be a bit noisy. For the one in the bedroom, we typically turn it on for a bit, knock down the heat in the room and then turn it off. The heat builds up, you wake up because it gets uncomfortable and then you turn it back on again. A bit of a cycle - except Mimi and I are different temperature cycles - so there are overlapping on's & off's.

When I started working here, I was always curious as to why people kept their lights off - in their office, in their houses, their apartments. You very quickly come to realize that anything that generates unwanted heat is avoided. So if the glow of your computer screen is sufficient, then that's all the light some people have in their offices.
I am finding myself doing the same thing.

B.

Summer time!

2009-01-17T04:10:00.001-08:00

Slowing down even further....

Yesterday was one of those days where you reassess your plans. It meant walking even slower to work and avoiding direct sunlight and seeking out the shade.

I knew right away that it was going to be a warm one. By the time I got to the office I had to stand in front of my office air conditioner and dry off.
In Calgary, we would rejoice at the opportunity to sit outside to enjoy dinner (and not have deck heaters making it tolerable!). There just arent that many days/nights where it stays warm enough to do so....here in BA it is a completely different story.
Mimi and I went out for a late lunch yesterday and took the opportunity to sit on the patio of the restaurant. Halfway through my first beer, we were looking for a spot INSIDE the restaurant. I was just sitting there and my shirt started to change color. It went from a light blue to a sweat stained darker blue. I wasnt even moving, we were sitting in the shade and I was still dripping in my salad! I know I am going to miss these warm, HUMID days!
The city really is quieter in the summer. Many shops close for weeks at a time in Jan & Feb and it is the time when many locals head to the beach for their annual holiday.

Speaking of holidays - we got an email out of the blue from a friend at Bearspaw. Turns out a bunch of couples from Calgary are here on a golf holiday. We are having them to our apartment this afternoon.
They were probably expecting golf carts at all the courses in BA but there are only 2 courses in the city that have them. Having a caddy is great but a 4 hour walk in 37 degree heat is a whole different game! I am looking forward to hearing their stories.

B.

Out of Africa...and into Argentina!

2009-01-06T13:32:00.000-08:00

After being chased 'out of Africa' because of terrorist threats, the Dakar Rally is being run in Argentina & Chile this year. It is a 14 stage rally that starts and finishes in Buenos Aires (Jan 3-17) and covers almost 10,000 km of road (and a whole lot of off-road).

It happens that Stage 5 runs right through our operating concession in the province of Mendoza.

There is some secrecy to the route , so as not give an advantage to any of the competitors...but the vagueness of the route could also put them right on top of a wellhead at the speeds they are travelling.

They had a symbolic start last Saturday and the competitors toured a loop in the city.

Lots of folks were out to watch and the riders got into the spirit of the event......

- driving slowly, high-fiving little kids...and revving their engines. I was out watching for three hours and it continued on for another two.

In some cases, they took their time winding their way through the crowds that developed in the middle of the road.

We were quite confident about their navigation abilities going through/near our operating area......until one of our managers was asked by a competititor for directions to get to the starting line here in BA - I kid you not.

These guys do carry a few spare parts with them...hopefully, that includes a spare GPS.

A couple of Dakar Rally fans out for a walk....

Parades always bring out all kinds of folks......

Unfortunately, the lone Canadian (Don Hatton from Duncan, BC) withdrew after today's Stage 4 due to an injury. I did, however, catch a glimpse of him during the pre-race day ride - but I only caught a picture of his backside - he got by me before I realized it was him. He's looking pretty good riding down Avenida Callao....I dont think he looks so shiny today.

It was up to this poor policeman to keep the folks safely back from the vehicles.

Even I have lived here long enough to know that it was a waste 'o time.

I have decided that after watching some of the event footage, travelling 10,000 km on a quad or a motorcycle on the terrain near our operating area - is something I will leave to these guys

....and girls.

And Rider 93, Annie Seel (yes, from Sweden) is still in the race.

http://www.dakar.com/

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-03T05:06:00.001-08:00

We have just sent the kids back to cooler climes (ok, much cooler) and we will get back to a bit of a routine here - although I know Mimi loved the routine of having everyone here!

It seems like forever ago that they arrived. Jake & Kelli had 2 flights delayed and missed one and arrived 14 hours late flying through Toronto and Katie & Devin did OK going through Houston. It made us feel lucky as we watched the weather in Canada mixed with holiday travel really spoil the plans of many others.

When they all finally did arrive and had a good nap, we are were all set to go to share everything we had learned in our own 10 months here!

It could read like the Twelve Days of Christmas.

So here goes.........

One Boca futbol match. The Apertura Championship was not decided in league play because of a three-way tie for first place. As a result, a round robin final was played and because it dragged out an extra week, I was able to take Jake to a game. It was between Tigre and the Boca Juniors. It was played in a neutral stadium (Racing) and for security reasons they only sold so many tickets (mostly to Boca fans). The place was bouncing - literally. When a concrete stadium flexes under your feet, you just hold on!

Boca lost the game but won the championship on goal differential - partying went on late into the night!

Two countries in one quick trip to Bueos Aires. We sent the kids to Uruguay for one day. It is a one hour Buequbus Fast Ferry ride away. They did a tour of the old fort of Colonia including a trip to the top of the lighthouse.

Three hours of tango show at Cafe Tortoni (the oldest cafe in BA - 150 years old).
Devin is such a good sport when it comes to audience participation!

Four hours of Christmas Day brunch at the Alvear Palace. It was more like 'grazing' than 'brunch'... especially when we found the helado & panqueque bar in the back room! Dee-lish! It is a good thing the Alvear Palace is 40 metres from the apartment. We could all waddle home.

Five parties and get-togethers to meet our BA friends....

This included new pooch pals (Lolly and Sheila) as well. None that can replace Cooper, of course.... although the pearls are a nice touch!

Six trips to Volta & Freddo for helado (ice cream) including the one kilo of vanilla, chocolate and dulce de leche that we brought home for New Year's Eve...

Seven reminders of home including a personalized photo album of of Alberta, a copy of Katie & Devin's wedding photo album, Tim Horton's coffee, western wear Christmas ornaments, Bernard Callebaut's chocolate covered pretzels..... and a Pook Toque!

Eight different kinds of cervezas were tried & tested including these....we have determined that buying it by the litre is the way to go!

Nine churches and cathedrals visited...

Ten shopping trips - to various directions in the city including the Recoleta Hippy Market- just 300 metres from the apartment.

Twelve matches of Wizard (and even a couple of attempts of Mah Jong)

Sixteen naps enjoyed during the week (or was that sixty?)....

Eighteen Holes of Golf at the Pilar Golf Club

Which included playing the Par 6, 614 yd hole, on which we all did not impress!

Twenty Choripans sampled and 3 kilos of lomo (tenderloin) prepared on the parilla on New Year's Eve.

Thirty Seven rockets fired off the 18th floor balcony of Paul & Tracey's apartment. Our friend, Tom was pretty excited about the evening too!

Fifty peso rum & cokes at the Park Hyatt which were only matched by the 50 peso photograph of Jake & Devin with Tango dancers in La Boca - you can still see the burn on Jake's face when you remind him of it!

Seventy hugs including these....

And by the latest count, Eighty Four Empanadas were consumed (both carne & pollo). Being on vacation and being an efficient person, Jake just slid a chair up to the kitchen counter to enjoy some of them....

By far the best - the thousand laughs, stories and memories that the trip had for all of us! This was only to be exceeded by the Sixteen Hundred and Forty Seven photographs taken to record the adventure!

There were other life experiences including shopping at the Disco (the local grocery store) - notice the plethora of cervezas in the cart.

And the opportunity that Katie and Devin got to get their picture taken with the president of Argentina in front of the Casa Rosada....

There is a story with each photo - touring the Recoleta Cemetary, seeing the market in San Telmo, walking along Puerto Madero, cleansing ales at the Alvear Palace...

We were blessed that the trip worked out. The kids now know (for sure, for sure!) that we are safely enjoying our adventure here in Argentina, surrounded by great new friends, a new language, a strong company and that we are just a skype away.

Happy New Year everyone!

Feliz Navidad

2008-12-21T14:10:00.000-08:00

The furthest thing from your mind here is a white Christmas. But it is Christmas time here, just with different traditions.

We do have a Christmas tree. It is a snappy number that fills our living room quite nicely.

I'm just messing with you. We just have a little, live tree that we have decorated. Perfect for the apartment.

The big one is the tree of our next door neighbor, in the the lobby of the Alvear Palace.

We have stockings hanging in the living room and we have a nativity scene - a simple one we bought in Salta.

The big event here for Christmas is Christmas Eve. Familes & friends gather together for a very late evening with dinner, champagne, wine & presents and FIREWORKS! I like the 'mixing alcohol & fireworks' part!

Now, this is a city of ~ 12 million people and most live in apartment buildings. So, use your imagination on just how the fireworks portion of the evening is handled. We are looking around from our own 7th floor terrace (top floor of our building) and EVERY building around us is at least 5 stories higher. I am glad we wont be home that night. Instead we will be with friends who's apartment is on the 18th floor overlooking the Hipodromo (horse race track) and the Palermo Polo Fields. Lot's of wide open space if our aim is off.

This afternoon, we went to Jupiter - the Fuegos Artificiales store and we bought 750 pesos worth of fireworks with our party hosts. No sparklers, just rockets (yes, rockets!) - 35 of them in fact. Our hosts, Paul & Tracey are moving back to Houston in January, so they are going out with a bang!

It is going to be a spectacular Christmas Eve! It will be made even more special by the fact that our children (and spouses) will be joining us for Christmas. Jake & Kelli and Katie & Devin arrive tomorrow from Calgary.

To all of our friends who have been following our adventure on the blog, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and all the excitement you can handle in 2009. Although, this really low oil price is just too exciting for me at the moment!

Humahuaca Hound update - well folks, we got crushed in the voting in the Living In Argentina photo contest. Some woman from Germany's picture of a dock (yes, a dock) near Neuquen garnered 629 votes, 570 more than my pooch did. It was clear that her campaign for votes was far more extensive than mine!

For those of you who voted for me, gracias!

Polo anyone?

2008-12-08T05:44:00.000-08:00

We finally went to our first polo match here in Argentina.
We have been cancelled out 5 times in the last two months due to rain but this Sunday we got to a match. It was a beautiful day to watch the semi-final of the 115th Argentine Open Championship.

This event is quite a celebration with the 'painted polo ponies' displayed around the city during the three week event...including this one that is on the sidewalk in front of our apartment.

The match we got to see was between Black Watch and Ellerstina. We were hosted by an oil marketing firm (sorry, a global energy solutions firm) and it was good event.

Our hosts had a two story VIP building adjacent to Field 2 and they had the VIP seats in the main stadium.

Being polo rookies, we watched the consolation match before the semi final - to ask our questions and see how the sport is played. We were surprised that there was no fanfare, no announcements - they just started to play. It was like a pick up game.

There were two referees on the field.......and goal judges who were decked out like baseball catchers. We think this goal judge had his vest on backwards.

They were being protected more from getting run over by a horse, not necessarily being hit by the ball.

While we watched this match we sipped champagne and were offered a steady stream of appetizers. Every 5-6 minutes the players would get a fresh horse....using 7 or 8 horses in match. Very good, very expensive horses.

It is interesting because with each horse, the player gets a different mallet. The reason being that each horse is a different height so the length of the mallet must match the height of the horse - made sense.

The reality of the sport did set in with one horse coming up lame in the match. They brought the trailer onto the field and took the horse off. It reminded us of the Calgary Stampede.

This semi final match, known as the Mercuria Cup was (by reports in the paper the next day) boring. We couldnt tell the difference. Ellerstina was by far the class of the match and once they ran up a 5 goal lead, they pretty much coasted, saving their better horses for the final next weekend.

We still enjoyed it.

Ellerstina, the winners of the match were awarded the Mercuria Cup on the general grounds and then they...

...came into the Mercuria VIP area booth and accepted more gifts from the executive of Mercuria who were here from the head office in Geneva.

Now for the rest of the story....the event. Different event stuff than we are used to related to a sporting event. An a cappella group performed for the Mercuria guests before the match.

Sun hats and sunscreen was distributed to all guests of Mercuria. Much appreciated.

We met their Communications guy from London, David Ensor. He joined them in 2006. He used to be a CNN correspondent in Washington. I googled him - he is the first guy I have ever met with his own Wikipedia entry.
The booth next door was the Mercedes spot with pretty much all the new 2009 cars on display.

At the conclusion of the event, a group of (excellent) opera singers performed excerpts from several operas.

Part way through the performance, they handed out masks to the guests. The Mercuria executives were good sports, modelling their masks, singing with the opera and posing for their own corporate cameras.

These are the masks we ended up with. We will have to wait for a costume ball before they get worn....or we might play dress up.

This is a high end sport and (with no bragging intended), the best players in the world are from Argentina - by a long shot! These guys are good! The masks, hand made in Rosario, were pretty impressive as well.

Polo matches might be fancy but I miss the 'cold and the cow bells' of Lake Louise. While we were sipping champagne here in Buenos Aires, the volunteers at Lake Louise fought and won a snowy battle to complete the Women's World Cup Super G at the same time - way to go gang!!

Unashamed promotion

2008-12-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

OK - now I want to win!
There are a couple of entries that over a lot more votes but this pooch has it all!
Tell your friends to log on to www.livinginargentina.com and vote for the Humahuaca Hound...photo below!

I entered a photo contest down here. Not looking to win another contest but hey, the glaciers are on the list of our travel destinations.

Here are my entries:

Artisans working at Salinas Grandes (the salt flats in the Alto Plano).

These guys are out in the middle of a huge flatting carving things out of salt. They stay covered up to keep protected from the strong sun (at altitude) even in the hottest months of the year.

This is a roadside vendor near San Antonio de Los Cobres - this lady was one of the first vendors we came upon on our trek to the north east part of Argentina. We bought several things from her.

And this was a guard dog at a shop in Humahuaca. This was the furthest north in Argentina that we have been. It is close to the Bolivian border. This little guy made us think of Cooper.

Log onto www.livinginargentina.com and have a look at the entries.

You can only vote once. I am partial to the guard puppy!

There are many great photos on the site. Some of the places in the photos we have visited and some are places we are looking forward to seeing in the future.

B.

This place is crawling with them....

2008-11-30T06:45:00.001-08:00

I am becoming more common every day....

This time, I was in Neuquen for the PAR field operations family picnic and look who showed up! And no, that is not me in the suit!

Learning to slow down

2008-11-26T15:08:00.001-08:00

Today I learned why locals walk so slowly.

Up until now I have often been frustrated by the slow pace of people on the sidewalks. They walk two or three abreast and you are forced to wait and go around them. No one is in a hurry.

I now know why.

When it is 36 degrees and the humidity is above 85%, any effort above a saunter will have you in a dripping sweat in no time.
We have also needed to learn to avoid the 'drip' of the air conditioners above the sidewalk. When the air conditioners are on, they generate condensation. Some units have tubes which drain the condensation down the wall but many just drip away....leaving a distinctive puddle in the middle of the sidewalks. With some apartment buildings having 20 air conditioners sticking out of the walls...that is a lot of dripping.

So, in the summer on the sidewalks, we have to stickhandle around the locals, avoid stepping in dog sh*t, not trip into potholes, avoid major sweats from developing and dodge dripping air conditioners! Its only November, January & February are the hot months!

Still enjoying our time in BA.

B.

What a difference a year makes!

2008-11-26T05:26:00.001-08:00

It was exactly a year ago this week, I was standing on the top of Lake Louise preparing for the World Cup Downhills.

A year later - you can find us living and working in Argentina. Today in Buenos Aires, it is 36 degrees...above zero. You cant hide from the heat. Our apartment has air conditioners in most rooms. You fire those babies up and they rattle & hum. Being from Calgary, we are not 'air conditioner' people. It will take some getting used to.

Last night was one of those evenings where it stays warm all night. You might get one or two of those nights a year in Calgary. Here, I think we will get 5 months of them! It was 27 degrees when we woke up this morning.

We have noticed that the sun is different here. It is way more intense. My little bald head took a beating before I finally put a hat on.

We were out sailing in the Rio de la Plata last weekend and my hat (not a toque) came in handy.

Anyways, I have been monitoring the progress of the race prep at Lake Louise. The webcam at the mountain provides a great view of the last 400 metres of the course and the finish corral.

In fact, I just caught this morning's Jury meeting in the finish area......

Work has been progressing nicely - the Men's first training run is scheduled for today. I am sure all will go well but just to be sure, I will keep an eye on the FIS Live Timing website later today.

Salta - continued

2008-11-21T02:36:00.000-08:00

Our Salta trip (continued)

This is the Franciscan Church, which while colorful during the day was pretty spectacular at night.....
We werent able to take pictures inside most churches in the country but some are truly remarkable structures. The art work and gold decorations areamazing. I actually bought post cards as a reminder.

Following the trek to the Alto Plano (Purmamarca & Humahuaca), we returned to Salta for a bit of down time and spending time touring in Salta. The city is layed in around a central square which has a park and numerous outdoor patios to sit in to watch the world.

We made sure we sat in this patio, it reminded us of being in Valley Ridge at our local pizza joint.

We toured a couple of museums in Salta. One is famous for the three children that were found mummified on the top of a nearby dormant volcano. It appears that the children were left there as part of a sacrifice. They only have the remains of one child on display at any one time. The preservation of the body is remarkable due to the altitude and lack of moisture where they had been left.

This museum, on the other hand, had an interesting weathervane on the roof.

The Goblin Irish Pub is down a side street from the plaza. A much quieter spot, out of the way of the rush of the plaza but the beer was just as cold!

Monuments are an interesting thing if you take the time to examine all elements of them. There is a monument to General Guemes in Salta that looks out over a portion of the city. We were with a guide who spent 30 minutes describing this monument alone. What was pretty cool was this little perro (dog) who was part of the story as well. Despite his size, he didnt escape the grafitti which is prevalent everywhere.

They also have moving advertising in Salta. This guy has speakers on the front of his trike and he just drives around town with his little billboard. The noise from the speakers just adds to the noise of the street.

We took a city tour and went out to San Lorenzo which is a suburb of acreages (and castles) outside of town. we stopped here for lunch.

Beginner's Luck or Best in Show?

2008-11-13T12:54:00.001-08:00

We were invited to a special party hosted by Mary Pat & Tom.

It celebrates Halloween, the Great Pumpkin and/or the competitive spirit in many of us.

A pumpkin is delivered to your home 3 days before the party. You can carve, decorate, exploit the pumpkin in any way you want as part of the competition. We had heard stories about previous years' winners and knew that simply carving the pumpkin would get you in the door but that was about it.

Picking up a photography, paparazzi, camera theme and utilizing my brother's mechanical skills, we designed and built the Pumpkam used by the Pumparazzi. Simply genius.

The design tested our understanding of 'is there such thing as a Canadian Tire' in Buenos Aires? After several trips to various stores, the Pumpkam became a reality.... We tested it and in 2 boxes, transported it to the party for assembly and use.

The Pumpkam was not the only component of our entry, Mimi was responsible for displaying and describing some of the published photos by this Pumparazzi including work involving our hosts. Here is Tom...
....and Mary Pat:

They have a beautiful home with stables attached for their race horses. The house, yard and horses were all decorated for the evening.

The Pumpkam worked well - in fact here is a sample. I especially like the orange halo cast by the pumpkin itself.

To our surprise, we won the 'Most Creative' Award....The prize was a beautiful engraved silver ice bucket.

I am already working on next year's idea.

North to Salta and beyond

2008-11-13T10:39:00.000-08:00

After the trip to Iguazu Falls, we came back to BA for a few days (and some work) and then flew to Salta - which is also in the northern part of the country. It is 2 hours by air from BA.

We planned 5 days in the area which started with a 2 day excursion in something called a Movitrack. The trip was called the 'Safari to the Clouds' - not to be confused with the 'Train to the Clouds'. It is a BIG Mercedes. The roof panels pop open and you stand on your seats and you watch the world go by, looking out the roof.

No, we did not break down but after pounding along on dirt roads for two hours, the driver has to check out all the hydraulic hose connections.There was 12 of us in the rig with a driver and a guide. The four of us got the back part of truck and the rest of them took the lower front end. This would be our guide, Rami showing the way(s) back to Buenos Aires.We arent entirely sure why the other people paid for being part of this trip as they rarely opened the roof to look out. We Canadians, on the other hand, were up there like Cooper sticking his head out the window on a roadtrip!

We stopped in one small town and these two guys drove by. They had 'Alaska to Argentina' stickers on their bikes. You know the 'travel from one end of the Americas to the other' kind of trip.

Now these two guys were a completely different story. We were literally in the middle of nowhere when these two guys pedalled by.

They were smiling while I took their picture and then I think they were swearing and spitting when we drove by and left them in a huge dust trail.

We travelled about 500 km on the first day. We peaked out at 4200 metres elevation (and coca leaves eased any discomfort). A 7 peso bag goes a long way.

The area is known for the different colors of the rock. In one area near Purmamarca, it is known as Siete Colores (or Seven Colors).

On the Gran Salares or Great Salt Flats, we find artisans carving items out of salt. Despite it being 30 degrees C, they were covered up to protect them from the sun.

The salt flats were pretty cool. In the rainy season, they flood and 'refresh' themselves.

Along the way, we would stop and find locals selling wares. This lady sold us a few items to keep us warm as we went to altitude later in the trip.

The shawl came in handy as Cathy was able to apply what she learned in Egypt on her recent trip there.

I did surrender the camera (only briefly) to Mimi to take a couple of photos.....of me!

Next segment - the rest of the trip to Salta.

B.

Where do I begin?

2008-11-12T12:27:00.000-08:00

At the beginning, I guess.

We have started to travel here in Argentina.

Our first big trip was to fly north 1600 km to Iguazu to see the falls there. It is on the border with Brazil, in a rain forest, with monkeys in the trees,racoon-like things sniffing around the garbage cans (surprise),toucans flying around,cool flowers.....and butterflies EVERYWHERE!It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site (just like Lake Louise).

This is the view from our hotel - the only hotel located in this national park and worth staying at.

We travelled there with my brother and his wife. Who came to visit from Montreal.

Like every national park, they dont want you to feed the local wildlife. We did the full Iguazu Green Passport of adventures - rafting above the falls, zodiac below (and INTO) the fallstruck through the jungle,and a guided tour of the falls themselves.

One thing we did learn was how to 'Travel Safely in Argentina' !

It was just a matter of time...

2008-11-09T12:03:00.000-08:00

Within three days in two cities in Argentina, I have found two 'other' Barney's.

Once in Salta, in northern Argentina. The image is poor (similar to pictures of the elusive Sasquatch in Canada) but I was able to catch a quick glimpse of it using a camera phone.And once on a Sunday afternoon, I was able to get a great shot of another Barney here in BA - standing in front of the Botanical Gardens.

I am not sure if there is room in this country for three of us.

Alice's Restaurant

2008-10-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

When guests come to visit, it is an opportunity to become a tourist yourself.

In late October, we joined a group of about 14 ex-pats and went to an estancia - Don Silvano's Estancia Turistica. Many said it was quite touristy (I dont know how you would come that conclusion). A friend, Alice organized the trip for all of us.Things started off slowly and then just got more fun, more interesting and very entertaining by the time we left at the end of the day.

My brother and his wife were here for three weeks from Montreal. It is great to see them and to start taking the trips we have looked forward to while we are here.

An estancia is like a ranch. Ok, it is a ranch complete with horseback riding, an asado, the traditional Argentine BBQ and entertainment. Something like going to a sugaring off event in Quebec.

As part of the entertainment, there was traditional dancing from many regions of Argentina...this couple would change outfits and would perform dances from across Argentina...

At one point, I was called up because I took a photograph. The leader of the group performing did not appreciate it.He was upset......because he wanted the entire group to pose for the photo I had taken! It also included performing the tango which originated here in Buenos Aires...After the meal, we watched a demonstration of horseback riding skills by the gauchos.. which included the gauchos holding a stick the size of a pencil....race towards a ring suspended from a string and try to capture the ring on the stick in a full gallop.

They then traded the ring for a kiss from a woman in the crowd.
These guys were good.

Springtime in Argentina........

50 is fun!

2008-10-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

This birthday party started out as 'jeans and a Mexican potluck' and evolved into a grand event in a beautiful apartment here in BA. We were there to celebrate Sheridan's 50th birthday.

I was asked to take pictures. Mimi was asked to cook. I took about 200 pictures, I think Mimi cooked about that much asparagus! It was a black & white affair but there was no mourning for this birthday girl....
Our party hosts, Jamie & Jane did an amazing job of decorating the apartment, organizing the potluck and cutting Ian loose with his mastery of trivia for an event like this.

Yes, there was some Mexican elements to the evening including Corona beer!

Mimi and I also made ribs. Damn good ribs.

I have to admit, it was the 'shiniest' potluck supper I have ever been to.

And it was a lot of fun.

Gifts were kept to making a donation to SACS (Send a Child to School) but Gary did give Sheridan a trip Antarctica to see the pinguinos!

Ok...here is the secret to 'our' ribs. Take the remis to the Kansas restaurant, head into the lounge, have a beer and then order 8 dinners of 'Houston' ribs with sauce 'para llevar' (to go). We skipped the salad and fries.....just the ribs 'por favor'. We sat there, enjoyed the beer and then out came with bags of ribs, containers of BBQ sauce and off we went to the party.

Election Night In Canada....in Argentina

2008-10-15T04:44:00.001-07:00

We were invited to the Canadian Embassy as guests of the Canadian Ambassador, Tim Martin to watch the results of the federal election.

It was a fun night.

The Ambassador is a pretty laid back guy and his wife, Fatima & Mimi got along really well....go figure. I think they make great representatives of Canada here...but then I think we do too!

It was a buffet dinner and free beer - a bit different than the last time we got to the 'Canada Club'.

We watched the results via streaming CBC video on the internet on a ~ 90" BIG screen TV. We left the party at close to midnight when the Conservatives were 'leading or elected' in 144 ridings. It was a school night after all.

A majority sounds like it slipped away from Harper although most of Alberta voted his way.

There were a few Argentine Members of the Senate in attendance - I think they were there to watch democracy in action.

Harper may have a minority government, but not like the minority Cristina finds herself in down here these days.

More golf....yesssss!

2008-10-14T15:54:00.001-07:00

I got to enjoy another round of golf. This one was at the Ituzaingo Golf Club. A beautiful clubhouse and not a bad course overall. We had expected to enjoy a beer after the first 9 but this course is built like some courses in Saskatchewan (so I am told) where the Front 9 is actually 10 holes and the Back 9 is 8 holes. Nevertheless, the size of the beer made up for it. One litre bottle of Stella for 10 pesos (about 3 bucks).

I was thinking I was looking a bit chunky in the photo until I saw the next photo......

Note to self...if you want to look thin, stand next to the big guy! Meet Buddy here.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

2008-10-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a great Thanksgiving evening this weekend. It was more than just a dinner - it was an event. Our hosts - Gary & Sheridan searched the city (three grocery stores) to find a turkey...
One guest, Jamie jumped right in to tear the bird apart (yes, after it was cooked). I think she learned this in New Orleans. No one can ever accuse Jamie of not getting her hands dirty....

Mimi was responsible for preparing the potatoes and asparagus.
My responsibility was to carry it all to our friends' apartment. So there I was, carrying a box with cooked asparagus (ready for serving) and a casserole of Elsie's Potatoes and wearing a backpack filled with two bottles of wine, camera, butter, a lemon and my jacket. This allowed Mimi to have two hands free to safely navigate the sidewalks of BA.

Dinner was for 7 of us - This included 2 Brits, whose son won the silver medal in the rowing 8's in Beijing and who are on their 23rd posting in their ex-pat career. Ian was showing us that moving 23 times requires balance in your life (ha ha ha ha!).
Jane just smiled. I am sure that her response might be a bit different...There were also 4 Canadians (we were two of them) and one stray American whose husband was back in the US on business. We had a great time.
We concluded that Elsie's Potatoes are a hit in any country (but please ensure you have a potato masher before attempting to make them!)
After dinner, we played Mexican Train Dominoes (we certainly got on this train with Go Cups!!!).....
There was no joy this night. Nope, none at all as Jamie & Sheridan can attest. I have no idea why Gary was trying to keep score..... because we all know who won!

The next morning, we had to check the photos to see what made our heads hurt. Mimi was convinced she had bumped her head. I assured her that it was something else that "bumped" our heads from the inside.

Thank goodness it was a long weekend here.

Our first Canadian guest

2008-10-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

We have hosted our first Canadian visitor!

Darcy has been touring Brazil and Argentina for a couple of weeks and stopped into Buenos Aires twice. We know Darcy from the Lake Louise World Cup events where she volunteers as well.

She came to the apartment for dinner on one evening. On her second time in BA, we met her for an early dinner before her airport shuttle picked her up at 2 am for her long flights to Bhutan to join an Operation Smile medical team. It was fun to get caught up on things back home and share experiences about Argentina.

After her return from Mendoza (wine country), I said we would meet at the corner of Maipu and Marcelo T. Alvear to go out for dinner. While I was waiting for her to arrive, I took this (poor) camera phone photo of the sign in the window.

Notice the bottom right hand corner of the photo.....small world.

The 'Small' pooch patrol

2008-09-30T05:55:00.001-07:00

Usually dog walkers have a mix of dogs (big and small) in thier pack. This morning, I noticed a gang of only small pooches out for a walk.

Dog is 'perro' in spanish. These guys would be perritos.

B.

Now it's the microwave...

2008-09-24T06:44:00.000-07:00

I was warming up some milk for cafe con leche this morning when I heard some sizzling coming from the microwave. It wasnt the milk boiling and it sure wasnt the smell of milk boiling. I shut the microwave off and the sizzling continued. It was coming from the back of the microwave.

Now we are without a microwave and Mimi is hosting 13 ladies today for Mah Jong.

The new refrigerator gets delivered on Friday.

The toaster still works.

B.

Manifestacion - It's a rally, it's a gathering, it's a protest, it's a Tuesday!

2008-09-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

Email recieved by all of our BA staff this morning, as a warning :

Avisaron de la recepción de abajo que a las 14/14:30hs va a haber una manifestación frente al edificio y van a vallar la calle (para que los que tienen autos estacionados en frente en la calle).

The WorldLingo translation :

They warned of the reception of down that to 14/14: 30hs is going to have a manifestation in front of the building and are going to fence the street (so that those that have cars parked opposite in the street).

We had barriers up in front of our building this morning and then the protesters came just after the lunch hour with drums and noisemaker firecrackers and speeches and pamphlets (which were just thrown up in the air to scatter in the breeze and litter the parking lot and nearby park).

They came to protest against ARCOR - a food processing company which is located on the second and third floor of our building. The crowd was about a hundred paid protesters.

They banged away at the drums for over 2 hours, shouted things with a megaphone, fired off a pile of fireworks and generally made noise. No injuries or damage to the building but there were eggs tossed at the windows. After that, they just rolled up thier banners and walk away and left their mess....literally.

A city cleaning crew then came in behind them and picked up the mess, washed down the spray painted sidewalks, cleaned the windows, used leaf blowers to gather up the pamphlets. Things were all cleaned up in a couple of hours. Other than a few loose pamphlets, you wouldnt know they were here. These protests happen every day somewhere in Argentina.

With the warning, the protest, the clean up and the resumption of normalcy - the circle of life exists within an Argentine protest.

They havent been around for awhile. It has been at least 2 months since they were out front.

There you go, 'Protest in a Bag'....

Ahhh....it feels good to be alive in BA!

B.

We left town for the weekend

2008-09-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

We went to the beach. Mind you it is late 'winter' here but it was a great opportunity to get away from the city, enjoy time with new friends and to see another part of Argentina.

We were invited to stay with friends who have a summer house in Carilo, an oceanside community that apparently is overwhelmed by porteno's (people from Buenos Aires) in the summer months. I knew I would like this place because, if this sign was lit above the fireplace, it meant the bar was open (and Lothar never turned it off the entire weekend!).

We had hoped to play some golf but it rained all day Saturday, so we hung around and watched the Ryder Cup. Late in the day it did stop raining so we went for a walk on the beach which was about a half mile from where we were staying.

Ok, it was a bit breezy and cool on the beach.

There are some pretty nice shacks on the beach. In the winter, you can rent quads and jeeps and drive up and down the beach as well. In the summer, it is wall to wall people vying for a spot on this huge beach.

Carilo is known for the forest that it is set in, the size of homes and a pretty spectacular beach that goes for miles and miles. The trees are full of parrot's nests and you can hear them squawking all day.

Lili, our host prepared a traditional assado for us. They have the perrilla inside their home. It is a large charcoal BBQ and you cook various cuts of meat and they are each served as a different course. Since Lily's husband, Lothar is from Germany - he and I enjoyed a few beers (Ok a lot of beers).

So, you mix this:

With this :

And this:

To get an amazing meal - so amazing even the chicken was exhausted!

Lothar pulled out his guitar and sang a few songs for us. It was a real treat to be part of it!

We did a bit of touring of Carilo and Pinamar on Sunday - this is how they deliver bread in Carilo......

The drive to Carilo (3 1/2 hours south of Buenos Aires) was just like driving in rural Alberta. Plains (or pampas), crops, cattle, horses grazing and except for the parrillas that you would find along the way, you could be driving Calgary to Red Deer.

Yes, those are cow parts grilling above charcoal on the side of the road.

You can find everything on the Internet - including 'Moose Milk'

2008-09-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

I did a quick search and here is one recipe for Moose Milk......

Moose Milk

1.14 litre dark rum
1.14 litre Kahlua
1.14 litre vodka
4 litres of vanilla soft scoop ice cream
4 litres of partly skimmed milk (have to be health conscience)

Mix gently until frothy with still a few ice cream lumps.

Liberally sprinkle nutmeg over top.

Enjoy and give vehicle keys to a designated driver.

There are other versions including ones with rye ("Canadian" Whisky) but it also had a dozen egg yokes in it......and that wouldnt be so pretty in the morning.

Nothing says Canada like Moose Milk. Moose Milk?

2008-09-16T07:52:00.000-07:00

We have been invited back to the Canada Club Happy Hour!

What was sent to us (in English, Spanish & French) :

You and one guest are cordially invited to the Canada Club Happy Hour! Thursday, September 18 2008 from 7:00PM - 10:00 PM (doors close at 9:00 PM).
The Canadian Embassy, Buenos Aires Tagle 2828 (between Av. Figueroa Alcorta y Juez Tedín -- Palermo Chico).

Come out and meet our new Canadians and enjoy some Moose Milk!

Phone: 4808-1000
FAILURE TO RSVP IN ADVANCE, MAY RESULT IN NO ADMITTANCE.
To gain entry to the event you must RSVP, so please respond to this message before noon, September 18 with your name, phone number, ID type and number (and that of your guest, if applicable) via email.

Please bring picture ID as all guests are required to sign in.

See you there!

Anyone know what we Canadians are calling 'Moose Milk' these days? We havent been away that long!

But really? All that security just to get a beer?

Instead, we will be at Granda Bistro for dinner with friends.
It will be Canadians having dinner with Kiwis in a French restaurant in Argentina.

We are averaging 1.5 restaurants per day

2008-09-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, it's true. It has been a great run.
The refrigerator failed and had to be taken away for servicing. A rental fridge was located and was brought to the apartment and the broken one sits in the back stairwell waiting to be picked up.

Eating out every day is not because we have a rental fridge but because we have many friends.....who dont cook either!!!

Thursday night was an industry reception at the Emperador Hotel Polo Club Room - new work friends.
Friday's dinner was at Bice with the two Superintendents who are on a 30 day rotation and Friday was crossover day - old work friends.
Saturday morning was at Amaranta for as good an Eggs Benedict as I have ever had. Mimi had waffles.
Saturday night was at Kebaytina, a restaurant owned by a Haitian Canadian from Quebec - dinner with new BA friends.
Sunday lunch was at the restaurant in the Malba Museum of Latin American Modern Art - where we met two Canadians who moved here from Edmonton and bought a vineyard in San Rafael.
Sunday dinner was at El Manto, an Armenian restaurant with 2 other couples. It was our latest reservation yet - 9:30 pm and it was on a school night. Mimi and I had Spanish lessons at 8 am the next morning.

Tonight we are staying home for home-made empanadas. Ok, we are having empanadas that Esperanza made (we dont cook, remember?).

I am now in the club

2008-09-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

After 7 months of processing including translations of birth certificate, marriage licence, passport, proof of residence here, 4 visits to the Immigration office here with 'advisors', a trip to Toronto to visit the Argentine consulate, 5 sets of finger prints...and tremendous assistance from several staff here in our office - I now have my DNI.
The DNI is the Documento Nacional de Identidad. It comes in the form of a little booklet with a burgundy cover. It has my picture, thumb print, address, birthplace, signature and yes, it has a number. My number. It is an 8 digit number (just like phone numbers here).

It is used for everything. Voting, moving, organ donoring, car rentals, getting the 'locals' price on airfares, paying your dinner bill (they ask for a document number when you pay with a credit card), getting stopped on the street by a cop, having a bank account, transferring money to Canada, you name it.

The photo is one of those - 'quarter turn, no smile, no glasses' pictures....and I noticed that I am starting to look old.

So when they say 'ver are zee papers?' (in Spanish, of course) - I flash my little burgundy book!

B.

BA burned while we went to the Philharmonic

2008-09-06T04:30:00.000-07:00

Wasn't there something similar said about Rome?

It was an interesting day yesterday.

First thing every morning, I read the BA Herald. It is the local English paper and it gets delivered to the apartment.

The headlines show 7 cars of a Greater Buenos Aires commuter train burned to bits. The reason(s) given are commuters got tired of sitting on a relic of a train that had been stalled on the tracks for 2 hours and they were all very late for work....or it was left wing militants who did it. They trashed the local Castelar train station as well.

Either way, it seemed like.......just another day in BA.

The fact that the other headlines described the possibility that the government would have to eat a nearly $1 B debt for nationalizing the Aerolineas airline and that Black Thursday had hit the stock market. I was afraid to turn the page to see what other problems had happened overnight!

Anyways, it was a quiet day in the office. We met with partners, we produced some oil - no mention of trains being burned up - although we do fly LAN not Aerolineas when flying in country.

We did end the evening by attending a free (with a donation) concert performed by the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional who were accompanied by the Coro Polifonico Nacional. The concert was held at the Facultad de Derecho to enjoy Hayden's 'La Creacion'. Translated: National Symphony Orchestra with the National Choir performing Hayden's 'The Creation' at the Faculty of Law building.

It was a delightful 2 hour concert in a beautiful hall that seated about 800 people. La Creacion is sung in German so we could follow along equally as well as everyone else!

There was one stick swinging incident. The lady sitting in front of Mimi had put her hair up with a chopstick and she kept moving back and forth in her seat. I thought Mimi was going to pull out the chopstick and stick it somewhere else.
The concert was part of a Friday night series put on by the National Symphony Orchestra. I think we will go back....we don't have to take a commuter train to get there.

Then we came home from the concert and found that our freezer is on the blink. Esperanza had spent the day cooking for us. I could be eating 30 empanadas and 2 containers of pollo and rice today.

In the Saturday Herald - the president, Cristina says "Arson is useless." A hell of a response.

B.

Now where did I put those M & M's?

One of those days...

2008-09-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

It happens once in awhile...call it :

the post-wedding celebration blues;
or you just got the bill for the wedding;
or your brand new white golf shirt just got washed with Brian's new red maple leaf boxers;
or the unions just wont give you a break and then they want to get paid for the days they were on strike;
or you just stepped in BA sidewalk dogsh*t.

"Alexander" days dont happen very often but when they do, we have a stash of Fruit & Nut bars and M & M's in the apartment.

We can also get Freddo's ice cream delivered to the apartment. We have the number on speed dial.

Dont just send them a ticket or an invoice......

2008-09-03T13:57:00.000-07:00

....climb to the top of the building and slap stickers all over their billboards.

On the day we returned to Buenos Aires, we noticed big 'stickers' on many of the large billboards in the city. In the Buenos Aires Herald the next day, we read that these billboards are breaking the law.

If I understand it correctly, the family of the elected official known as the 'Minister of Public Information' (or equivalent) OWNS the company that is responsible for ALL billboard advertising in the city. This company has annual revenues of $100 MM pesos (~ 30 million bucks). That is a whole lot of billboards (big and small), banners, signs and sides of buses & buildings.

His department slaps stickers on your billboard and you then write his family a cheque to get the stickers removed. That is one smokin' hot deal.

I plan to run for office in the next election.

B.

Culture Time

2008-08-31T08:09:00.000-07:00

This week, some friends here were expecting a couple to visit them from California but due to an expired passport, they didn't make the trip. Our friends had lined up a number of local activities for them. Instead of cancelling them, we have been invited to partake in some of the events. It was a great opportunity for us and it will also help us organize visits from our own friends and family.

Last night's event was dinner and a show at restaurante 'La Pena del Colorado' on Guemes. We took a radiotaxi there. The driver practiced his English and we destroyed Spanish in our attempt to give him directions to the restaurant!

The restaurant profiles cuisine from all parts of Argentina and on most nights, there is entertainment. We arrived for the 9 pm reservation and the place was virtually empty. Dinner is enjoyed late here and even later on weekends.

Following our dinner, they had a great band with a lead singer who ended the show with two encores. It was a lot of fun.

The rest of the story.....

The evening began with me unwittingly starting a fire in the restaurant. I was reading the program of performers for the month and when I finished, I put it down on the table. Unfortunately, I had dropped it on top of a votive candle and it caught fire. Mimi came to the rescue and ended my embarrassment (and the fire).

I noticed that I was not the first person to do this as most of the vinyl covered menu's had melt marks on them from the candles!

We very much enjoyed the meal and have probably found the best place to enjoy one of our favorite wines - a St Felicien Malbec. I say the best place to enjoy it, as it was only $60 pesos/bottle.

THE wedding.....

2008-08-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

I am just getting caught up at work back here in Argentina so I havent been able to put much time into the blog but Katie & Devin's wedding weekend was an awesome event for all of us. The pictures are in somewhat of a random order but there was no randomness to Katie and Devin's plans for the weekend.

Here is Katie and some of her pals....this was part of the dinner at the Calgary Zoo. I think there was some thought behind choices of outfits....

We were fortunate to have all of my siblings and Mom here for the wedding. Our new in-laws Peter & Cindy hosted two events for us on Thursday and Friday night and it was great for everyone to get (re)acquainted.

Meet two generations of Lynams.....

Nana with the next generation - grandaughters Bryden & Theresa....

And yes, Nana with grandchildren (Luke & Bryden) on the dance floor! Not bad for 86!
The dinner plate chargers had multiple uses....angelic Joanne & Loc displaying their halos.

And here is Trouble - which I am already related to. Mimi and her two sisters, Anne & Dede (no, they did not wear pyjamas to the wedding).

Our new in-laws, Peter, Melissa, Devin & Cindy...

Our new son-in-law, Devin.....

What a celebration and a beautiful bride, our Katie!

This would be the mother-of-the-groom and the mother-of-the-bride with Katie.

Here's Katie with two of her bridesmaids - Mary & Charlene.....

Yes, there was some clinking of glasses and some kissing....

One regret - that the reception wasnt in Argentina. If it had been, it would still be going well into the next day....but there was a bit of western line dancing!

One casualty - I did lose my Blackberry and my prescription sunglasses. If that was the only downside of the wedding, we were truly blessed with a great event for our families and friends.

We continue to recieve photos from many who took pictures at the wedding. Digital pics are awesome and easily shared. Katie & Devin will have hundreds to enjoy.

Here is the new family: Devin & Katie Findlay & Cooper

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

2008-08-03T11:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I went to the local Temaiken Bioparque just outside of Buenos Aires. Katie & Devin's rehearsal dinner will be at the Calgary Zoo, so I was looking for inspiration at Temaiken.

They start off the tour with a bang. Bright orange Pelicano Caribeno are squawking near the entrance. They get their colour from eating shrimp.

and these would be Pelicano Africano......The big cats were out having a good day.OK...perhaps a lazy day....Buenos Aires is a city of 10 million people. Many of them probably have never been to a farm, So there were some domesticated animals in the zoo as well. They also had a garden, I guess some people may not know where carrots and lettuce come from.

These would be African Bongos with a Secretario hanging around.

These little guys are Suricatas from Africa. I think they were huddling together to stay warm. It was a little chilly.This is the globe at the zoo entrance that floats/spins on water. Someone pointed out that if you look closely, Argentina is 'under water'......maybe its a 'crystal' ball?

We all agreed that it was a well designed, world class zoo and would recommend it to anyone to visit if they came to BA.

It is winter here.....really

2008-08-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

I am in my office in BA looking out the window to another beautiful sunny day. It is about 10 degrees out.

I was in the field for most of the week. I got there on time on Monday and returned on time on Friday. This really was a big deal.
Travel in Argentina (flying) has been very problematic with the lack of reliability with the Aerolineas Argentinas airline which consistently has delayed (by hours, not minutes) or just cancels flights. We have some staff who take the bus to the field instead - it takes 12 hours but you get there.

The Aerolineas airline was just purchased by the Argentine government from a group from Spain. This transfer has made the situation even worse.
When I got to the airport on Monday, virtually every Aerolineas flight was delayed and this is the start of the winter holiday/travelling season. If your flight was delayed, you weren't allowed through security, so there were thousands of people out in the public areas - sitting and lying around. There were camera crews filming and interviewing these delayed passengers. When you got through security, the place was empty.

LAN Chile Airlines just started flying to Neuquen a month ago....and guess who I was booked with - LAN. Sweet!
They have new A 320 planes and TV monitors every 5 rows. The one thing that had many people laughing on the plane was the showing of a couple of episodes of 'Just for Laughs'. It's the show from Montreal where they play gags on unsuspecting people on streets or in malls. It was perfect for the 80 minute flight. A cup of coffee and a little snackbox that had crackers and Aflajores (the Wagon Wheel equivalent filled with dulce de leche) and we were there.
It is still a 3 hour drive to the field - but I got there....and back on time.

While I was there, the temperature did dip below zero on a couple of nights. But warmed up nicely during the day. Here is a photo at the camp. Nice to see a Canadian flag flying.
The day after I flew back from Neuquen, I received this picture with the daily reports.

They received 15 cm of snow. Missed it by a day. Anyone working in Canada oilpatch would recognize a day like this. Here in Argentina, it gets a bit sporty. This is our new Export Pipeline Control Room......

It was followed by rain which washed at all away. But that is winter here in the Neuquen Basin.

Meet my peeps...

2008-07-23T15:58:00.001-07:00

At work, we went on a two day leadership offsite that included one hour of discussion in English each day. The rest was in Spanish. I did have one of the facilitators describing things in English along the way. I didn't miss much.
We talked a lot about Myers Briggs style stuff and how a team needs to work together. There were exercises, role playing and debates. There was some disagreements but they were diffused later. Standard team building stuff but with a Latin influence.
For me, it was one more time to develop relationships with the managers and other leaders in the company. There was a dinner on the first night and the 14 of us were split into two tables of 7 and given a pile of supplies - one team got red & yellow materials. The other team, green and blue items.
It was a long evening but sufficed it to say what started out as the development of the red/yellow team and it's attributes and the development of the blue/green team and it's attributes.....ultimately resulted in the formation of one stronger team.

So, meet the REDBLUEYELLOWGREEN Team.

It is a pretty good group.

The same night that we were having this team building event another historic event was taking place. The Argentine Senate was debating the President Cristina-imposed grain export duty. This imposed 45% duty has resulted in months of strikes, roadblocks, food shortages and pot banging protests. After two tied votes, Julio Cobos, the Vice President of the country cast the deciding vote at 4:30 in the morning. He voted against the bill and it was defeated. The country went nuts!

Cobos will either become the next president or he will disappear.

Ciao,

How do you 'cough' in spanish?

2008-07-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

I went for my "Welltest" today. It is the physical exam for working here.

It was an interesting process.....
I was told to not eat before the tests or go to the bathroom (that is an interesting trick).
I took a taxi and arrived at the clinic at 9 am for the tests. After verifying who I was (with passport), I was directed to the First stop - the locker room to drop off my coat, jacket and briefcase. I noticed that there were guys who got to wear matching red & white t-shirts (it was the Suisse Clinique) and grey sweats. I guess I wasn't on that testing program.
Next stop: blood work. Here, I had some blood taken and was handed an empty specimen cup with the distinctive red lid (more on that later).
Next stop - the 'kitchen' for juice, coffee and medialunas (like croissants). I guess that was to get my system 'going'. This lovely old lady offered me the newspaper, a choice of juices, coffee (con leche or not) and she placed that red-lidded cup on the chair next to me.....like it had its own place at breakfast or something. It is also amazing how someone will just go on talking to you in a foreign language like you understand every word.
Next stop - Vision test. Conclusion: I can read with my glasses on. He did do a glaucoma eye pressure test but it wasn't with the 'puff'. He numbed my eyes with drops and then used some thing-a-ma-jig to touch my eyes. First time I have had that. Target range 10 to 24, I came in at an 11 and a 12. I think that is good.
Next: Hearing test. Now, this was funny - getting a hearing test in probably one of the loudest cities in the world. While doing the test, I could hear phones, car horns, buses and yes, (some of the) quiet tones in the headset. Less scientific, but just as accurate - Mimi says I am hard of hearing (I think I am just hard of 'listening' - a big difference). I carried my red-lidded specimen cup to that one too.
Next: Then there was the 'look in your mouth, ears and listen to your lungs while your breathe' followed by the 80 item questionnaire. It was all in Spanish. It was a 'Si' or 'No' test. Based on my answers, I could be a 48 year old smoking pregnant man with a family history of flat feet.
Next (and yes, in yet another room): Blood pressure, heart rate, height, weight, waist measurement (probably a BMI calculation in there somewhere).
Next: There was the ECG - I felt like the guy in the '40 Yr Old Virgin' movie when she tore those 8 'stickers' off my chest hair.
Next: Then there was the chest X-Ray complete with Kodak film (no digital work here)....no lead aprons either. By the way - I'm still carrying my little red-lidded cup with me at this point.

Finally, someone directs me back to the locker room to get my coat & briefcase and says something in Spanish (probably about my red-lidded cup).She said something about '2 hours', I said something about '5 hours' and I figured, what the hell - I filled it and gave it to her. It didn't have any stickers on it, so it might be tested as mine or as someone else's.

I am expecting a meeting with the company doctor to review the results next week. I think I am in good shape......for a 48 year old smoking pregnant guy with a family history of flat feet.

B.

Restaurant de Puertas Cerradas

2008-07-20T11:01:00.001-07:00

Last night, I was introduced to a new dining experience here in BA. It is the concept of 'dining behind closed doors'.

It is eating a meal in a private residence, in this case, Casa Saltshaker (http://www.casasaltshaker.com) . We ate in the dining room of the chef's apartment. There were 9 of us at the table - I came with a couple we know. The rest were a mix of travellers and a couple of people who live here in BA. All spoke English.

It was a 5 course meal with a wine tasting as part of it. The chef chooses a theme. In the case, it was to celebrate the 100th birthday of Lupe Velez, a Mexican-born Hollywood & Broadway actress (she didn't make it past 36, but it gave the chef a reason to prepare a meal from that part of Mexico where she was born - San Luis Potosi). She was married to Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) at one point.

Anyways - back to the evening: The food was quite good, each course was described...and enjoyed. There was a different wine with each of the 5 courses.
We enjoyed Cecina de Res, Sopa Verde de Elote, Heuvos en Rabo de Mestiza and Pollo en Ajo-Comino and a Tarta de Frutas con Cajeta (cajeta is a Mexican version of dulce de leche). What was all that? You will either have to go to San Luis Potosi, Mexico to try it or you come here and we can make reservations again at Casa Saltshaker!

The conversation was very mixed - basically starting with 'where are you from?' The answers ranged from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Brooklyn, NY, California, Australia, England & yes, Calgary and 'why are you here in BA? Answered with : a two week vacation in S. America, a graphic designer working here, one guy developing a culinary tour through Argentina but all were looking for a unique dining experience.

The conversation did stray into politics - which is always interesting when mixed with alcohol! Especially listening to expats/visitors explain Argentine politics....which are really inexplicable!

All in - 5 courses, 5 wines, tip, great conversation, an experience worth sharing on the blog and worth returning again for - $150 pesos. Worth every centavo!

B.

Feliz Dia del Amigo!!

2008-07-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Friend Day!
It is another beautiful winter's day here in BA. I have spent the morning rearranging furniture in the apartment and watching the British Open - go Greg Norman!!

Día del Amigo is a celebration of friendship, held annually on July 20th, mainly in Argentina & Uruguay.

You know how certain 'events' have been created by the greeting card companies? Well, the idea for Friend Day goes back to an Argentine teacher who lobbied to turn the anniversary of the first lunar landing into an international day of friendship. He argued that on this particular day, the whole world were friends of the three astronauts. I think that is pretty cool.

I haven't seen any of you in several months (some much longer) so it is a great excuse to say hi.

We have met new friends here and I have already received several calls today. In recent years, it has resulted in a breakdown in the Argentine cell phone networks because of the high number of calls that are made.

So....to friends in other parts of the world - Happy Friend Day!

B.

A damn big flower!

2008-07-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

The big flower is located about a kilometer from our apartment.

On a sunny day, it gleams!

It is nice to see public companies donating to a city - given that this was from Lockheed Martin Aircraft - this actually could be a functioning radar dish and the whole city could be thinking it is just a damn big flower!
At night, the petals close up like a real flower would.

It is a pretty cool structure....for an engineered flower!
B.

Recoleta Cemetery - the big parking lot in the neighborhood

2008-07-14T15:32:00.001-07:00

There is always a crowd of folks walking through the cemetery. Many with maps heading towards the famous mausoleums or tombs, others wandering the quieter parts and many photographers taking pictures from every angle.

For a midwinter day that was sunny and 20 degrees C, it was a beautiful day to be out anywhere in BA including this old cemetery.

In the Recoleta Cemetary, some tombs/crypts/mausoleums bear the names (and remains, I guess) of famous Argentines. We live on Avenida Alvear.

The Buenos Aires International Airport bears the Ezeiza name....

Some are in disrepair......

Others are under repair...........

Others are just plain grand.....either you planned it yourself or you were in the ground for awhile before you got your 'monument'!

Some are a very public but personal look into the family whose history lies here.....

Some look like they could be the local Irish pub on the corner and that the doors will open for business at noon!

Recoleta does have its living residents....

The sun catches some great stained glass pieces....

The most famous and most visited spot is where Eva Peron is buried. It is along one of the more narrow paths in the cemetary and there are usually 10 - 12 people standing near it. I happened to come upon for a brief moment when there was only one other person there.

And yes, it is still a functioning cemetery.....

Stampede Breakfast - Argentine Style

2008-07-11T16:15:00.000-07:00

We had the country & western music, we had the juice, we had the coffee and we had the pancakes, we had the cowboy hats and we had some laughs.

This morning I had arranged for a Stampede Breakfast.

Our good friend, Roc arranged to get me some of this year's Calgary Stampede posters.

I did delegate the organization of the morning to two very capable women in the office. My assistant, Juana and the Country Manager's assistant, Liliana. They took care of the rest.

Here, you don't just get a pancake - you get a panqueque!

A panqueque is a crepe and we served two kinds - one was filled with Ham & Cheese and the other filled with Dulce de Leche.

It was a good morning in the office. Breakfast isn't a significant meal here in Argentina - so to have a full blown - Stampede Breakfast was over the top.

We did have champagne available to mix with the OJ but we kept that on ice. I wanted to have a brindis (or a toast) with it but I was missing a couple of staff who were instrumental in recent work achievements, so we will wait until next week when they are back.

I take no credit for the cowboy hats in the pictures - but I do appreciate the effort by the ladies in the office (who have never been to a Stampede) to get pretty close.

Next year - we will schedule cowboy hat stomping or bar stool racing as has been suggested by my learned Stampede colleagues. I have already put in my order for the 2009 Stampede poster!

A few staff did make the trip to Calgary for the Stampede two years ago and one of them made a video of the trip. She was able to show it,for the first time, in the office, since she made it. It was very well done (and there was a pang of homesickness while I watched it).

Yahoo!

The 9th of July

2008-07-09T13:54:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many places in the world you can walk on 9th of July Avenue on the 9th of July.

Neuve de Julio (or 9th of July) is Independence Day here in Argentina. It relates to freedom from the King of Spain - who was having his own problems getting his butt kicked by Napoleon (ah, yes....timing is everything). And it is a public holiday!

This morning, I went into the office (surprise, surprise) and these two guys rode by the building. I hadn't seen mounted police here before. I think they only patrol when the traffic is light - holidays and weekends. No, they were not the beginning, middle and the end of the Independence Day parade!!

On the way back to the apartment, I took the long way home - I went for a walk along Avenida 9 de Julio. It took me towards the Obelisk which is about 2 km up the road from our place.
For having 22 lanes, traffic was very light because of the holiday. It was also sunny and 16. A lovely 'winter' day with a number of folks just hanging out at the plaza at the base of the Obelisk.

Along the way is the Teatro Colon, which is 100 years old this year. A major renovation was planned so that the grand re-opening would be timed with the 100th anniversary of the building (May, 2008). With just a month before it was to re-open, they announced it wouldn't re-open for another 18 months.
Apparently, the materials they used for seats and tapestries changed the acoustics so badly, they had to start over again. I think they ran out of money and didn't want to tell anyone. I have come to learn (painfully) that this kind of delay happens frequently (and the reasons aren't always that clear).

Hopefully, it will be open before we leave and we can enjoy a performance there.

B.

The neighborhood (or the barrio)

2008-07-06T17:43:00.001-07:00

We really do live in an awesome part of Buenos Aires.

Our apartment is marked by the yellow pin on this Google Earth map (thanks Uncle Stephen).

Someone remarked 'what is that big parking lot near you?' Well, it is a parking lot...sort of. It is the famous Recoleta cemetary, where Eva Peron is buried. The green space between us and the cemetary, is where the 'Hippy Market' sets up every weekend. There are a couple of hundred stalls selling everything you can imagine (jewelry, art, clothing, carvings, food, footwear).....

If you go out the front door of our apartment and turn left, you would hit the Valentino store...the 1925 address marker is actually the address for our 'backdoor' - where deliveries are made to our apartment building.......

Next to Valentino's is Louis Vuitton. A store that I have never seen anyone in, except for the 5 or 6 staff that work there. I guess you only have to make one big sale and you are good for another month of standing around......
If you go out the door and turn right - viola - it's the Hermes store......

Across the street is the Alvear Palace - a classic hotel (but I am shying away from ordering the Hamberguesa Alvear for awhile).....

Down the street is the Santa Sede, the Vatican's 'embassy'....

Next to it is the the Park Hyatt, a good place to go for tapas (and English) when we need a fix of it....

And next door to the Park Hyatt is where the Munsters go for a vacation. This place looks like an abandoned mansion. Apparently the owners do 'winter' there because it is too hot to live there in the summer because they havent added air conditioning. The place looks pretty creepy but has such possibilities!! And yes, those are palm trees.....

Around the corner is the French Embassy...The flower seller....and right behind her is the Carlos Pellegrini memorial (Argentine president 1890-92)...no, the water is Pellegrino. Carlos was also the founder of the Jockey Club, a posh club across the road from his statue.

And here is Louisa, our portera - she (and Antonio) look after the building, the sidewalk and if she is at the door when we come home, she helps get us on the elevator!

Workin' for a livin'....

2008-07-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

I do work here....really and I dont say much about it on the blog (you know, disclosure laws and all).

Our staff count in BA has grown very quickly, filling the office space we have. Most staff have cubicles (or 'boxes' as they are called here). I dont mind the open office concept - it makes it easier for me to step outside MY office to look across the office to find someone!

I didnt bring many momentos with me to put in my office. I figured I would collect them along the way while I am here. I do have a couple of things from home though.....a 2008 Alberta Alpine calendar and this year's Calgary Stampede poster (thanks Roc!). This is the view out of my office window looking towards the San Martin Memorial. This photo was of the shooting of a car commercial back in May. What made me think of it was that I saw the full commercial on TV just last week. It was for a Ford Fiesta.

El Obelisco

2008-07-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

The Buenos Aires Obelisk was built in 1936 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first founding of the city. It is located in the center of the Plaza de la Republica and is at the intersection of Nueve de Julio (9th of July) and Corrientes avenues. It stands 67 metres tall.

I am impressed that it only took 4 weeks to construct (we could use that crew in the field!)

As I walk to and from work, I cross Nueve de Julio avenue and look up the street and see the obelisk. In late afternoon, the sun illuminates it and at night, spotlights do.

Marketing geniuses have figured out the Obelisk is frequented by tourists and locals alike. Many of the jumbo billboards are angled so that photographs catch the Obelisk AND the billboards.

It has become the focal point of celebrations and protests. They have had to fence off the base area as it has seen its share of graffiti but it doesnt stop the eggs.

B.

Farmer's Protest

2008-07-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago on a Sunday night, the balconies along our street were alive with pot banging in support of the farmers. The protest grew into a march along our street, Alvear. I believe there we a number of these marches that night through the city.

I took a couple of pictures out the window of the apartment and because we are on the 6th floor, the flash wasn't effective but I was able to edit the photos to brighten them up a bit. These photos are of the tail end of the march......

The farmers leaders and the government continue to negotiate but they are far from an agreement. Strikes and roadblocks are culturally commonplace here. Each union...and there many here, seem to pick their own time and place for a strike.

We occasionally have roadblocks that impact our own operations. They typically last only for a few hours and while frustrating, don't impact production too much.

Things that make you laugh...

2008-07-06T08:12:00.000-07:00

The naming of products (in English or Spanish) can be a literal translation or some made up marketing name. The name 'Zucaritas' will always make me chuckle.

One thing that Mimi is drawn to is 'Salsa Golf'. It could be MacDonald's Big Mac special sauce or just mayo and ketchup.......but one thing I know is that it has nothing to do with golf!

Guitar and SACS

2008-07-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

Mimi flew back to Calgary on July 1 but had arranged for me to attend a Classical Guitar concert.

Who would have thought I would be sitting in on a classical guitar concert with a 100 expats and BA locals in downtown Buenos Aires! The artist, Omar Cyrulink did a fine job....until his last piece, when someone in the kitchen dropped a full tray of glasses and the unexpected crescendo added some spice to the finale.

The event was a fundraiser for SACS. SACS - Send A Child to School is an organization started in 1999 by BAIN (Buenos Aires International Newcomers). They raise funds that go towards filling backpacks full of school supplies including, yes, a lab coat. As a chemical engineer, they won me over with that!

The aim is to help kids start the new school year off with new supplies (and confidence). Last year, BAIN supplied 998 backpacks full of supplies. Mimi has jumped right in to help. We have met many interesting people from all over the world through BAIN.

What I find interesting and something I need to keep in mind - as difficult (or frustrating) as some things are here in Argentina, ex-pats can always go home (or go somewhere else). Conversations with them may touch on the negative but never dwells there. I like that.

Canada Day in BA

2008-07-06T07:08:00.000-07:00

Canada Day was business as usual for us here in Buenos Aires.

Except it was the day Mimi flew back to Calgary to take on 'mother of the bride' duties and that I had ordered medialunas (pastries) to be delivered to the office to celebrate Canada Day.
I had requested some that were red & white. Well, the closest they got was frambroise (raspberry jam) and dulce de leche (which is brown).
No one noticed - any pastries in the morning are devoured quite quickly - no matter what the event.
Providing facturas (treats) when someone returns from vacation, has a baby, gets a visa to stay here or celebrating one month or one year with the company has become a tradition in the office. So the office is good for treats at least twice a week.

I am impressed with the variety of snacks we maintain in the office. Juice, bottled water (sin gas & con gas), pop, coffee, 8 kinds of tea including mate (pronounced ma-tay - a traditional herbal tea), cookies and fruit.

The cookies do seem to go the quickest. One other popular item is Zucaritas. Tony the Tiger is a dead giveaway for the 'frosted flakes' in the box. Azucar is spanish for 'sugar' - so the the literal translation is 'Sugar-things!' - which is pretty accurate. The young engineers in the office seem to enjoy them.

B.

P.S. How the Zucaritas made it into our apartment pantry, I have no idea!