Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

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.

B.

It is winter here.....really

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.

B.

Meet my peeps...

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,

B.

How do you 'cough' in spanish?

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

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!!

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!

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.