Farmer's Protest

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.

B.

Things that make you laugh...

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!

B.

Guitar and SACS

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.

B.

Canada Day in BA

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!

Cirque du Soleil in BA

The evening with Cirque du Soleil was highlighted by a few things....

First of all - the show was great. Having seen several Cirque shows (in Calgary & in Vegas), they translate well anywhere in the world - and there was a bit of pride that Cirque originated in Canada!
Another thing...the one act that seemed quite average was the juggler. He thought he was pretty swell, looking for applause after every 15 seconds of juggling. The thing he probably didn't realize was that at many intersections here in BA, there are people who juggle for drivers waiting at the red lights. These jugglers are very good...and a few of them could have given this guy a run for his money.

And finally....we had gone out for dinner before the show. My dinner had it's encore at exactly 1:49 am...and 90 minutes later....and then 90 minutes after that. I got food poisoning from that hamberguesa from the Alvear Palace. It made for a long 24 hours BUT it was a quick way to lose 3 kilos.....and I should be able to fit into my tux for Katie's wedding! Note: I do not recommend it as a weight loss program.

B.

Even more golf....and (oh ya) networking

I belong to the Club del Petroleo de Buenos Aires. They organize speaker meetings, golf tournaments, tennis tournaments and sailing regattas. It's the local oilmen's club. It helps with a bit of industry networking.

A couple of weeks ago, it was Petro Andina's turn to sponsor a golf tournament. The pictures just got posted on their website.

Our foursome included our country manager, Jose, the head of our partner's (YPF-Repsol) Joint Operations group, Pedro and one of our field advisors, Alberto - who's brother happens to be a golf pro : ) .

Needless to say, we did well (as a team). I perhaps, shot the worst round of my life). I think some folks might have been chuffed that we won our own tournament....but what the heck.

THEN, they drew my name for the big door prize, a Big Bertha driver. I don't think that my name was taped to the bottom of the draw bin but this is Argentina (and these guys are oilmen!).

This brings my Argentine golf earnings to $300 pesos, a new putter and a new driver.

B.

Baby Jake from Dubai

Mimi went to a BAIN (Buenos Aires International Newcomers) luncheon last week and met a couple who were visiting from Dubai for 8 weeks. They have a newborn, Jake with them. They wanted to get away from the heat of Dubai and spend time together as a new family.

What brought them to Buenos Aires was a link through polo. Yes, well the only polo I am familiar with is water polo. These folks are the real meal deal. He has a string of ponies and was down here looking at buying enough tack (saddles etc) to fill a 20 ft container and ship it back to Dubai. Based on the shopping spree they had, a third of that container might contain baby clothes for little Jake.

Anyways, they invited us out for dinner and we spent 4 hours in the corner of a local restaurant talking about everything. They are both British and were consulting in IT (him) and in Public Relations (her) for companies with business in Dubai. Of course, I am an oil company executive ; ) and Mimi used to run her own agency. We have our own Jake (and a Katie and a Cooper!). Our stories were just as good as theirs!



The best part was to watch Mimi holding Baby Jake while we visited. She enjoyed that!

On the walk home from the restaurant at midnight, we noticed a number of police vehicles with lights flashing. Driving past us were 4 police motorcycles and 3 police cars 'escorting' a red Ferrari. In it, was former Argentine president, Carlos Menem - out for a drive with his security detail. He cruised by us with his cell phone to his ear.
Never a dull moment in this town!

B.