Back home - last post!

Flew home Sunday. Left my glasses on the airplane. Glad to be in a place where I don't have to hoard coins or watch for broken pavement. Back to my old life, my "real" life. So far, the jet lag hasn't been too bad, and neither has work, as this is a slow week and I am mostly just getting caught up (only 1200 emails). Plus, I am still benefiting from the holiday "afterglow." Nothing bothers me these days.

Since my vacation is over, this is my last post. I guess this is where I am supposed to profoundly talk about how the sabbatical changed my life. Well, it didn't. But it was everything I expected and needed. I slowed down and enjoyed life. It's amazing how much you can see, smell and hear when you are not preoccupied with the daily grind. I experienced living in a big, dynamic city, in a different culture, which required patience, perseverance and an open mind, and gave me some perspective about living in Portland and the US. Along the way I made some new friends too. When I came back, I was certainly more positive and patient about everything, especially work. Needless to say, I was thrilled to be home with Marc and Pia, our 14+ year old dog. I also realized how lucky I am, to have not only an employer who offers leaves of absence, but a job to come back to.

I am still unpacking. There is a huge stack of unread New Yorkers next to my bed. I forgot my parent's anniversary (sorry Mom and Dad, I will call you!). And, ITS WINTER HERE. But, it will all be all right, no?

Thanks for joining me on this holiday - doing the blog has been a blast.

As they say in Argentina,

Un beso grande

Sarajane

Polo!

One really can't fully experience Argentina without something horse-related, as Argentina loves its horses. There are two kinds of horse traditions here: the gaucho and his trusty horse, herding cattle through the Pampas, and the civilized, British horse sports of horse-racing and polo. Watching and learning to play polo has been high on my list of things to do while in Argentina. My interest in playing polo waned considerably, however, when I learned that the polo mallet is swung only with the right hand. That's pretty intimidating for a lefty! I mean, its really hard to learn to play polo so why start out with a major handicap. So, I scrapped plans for lessons and spent the money on new riding boots instead.

So, that leaves me as a spectator. But that's still OK, as I saw an amazing polo match yesterday in BA. The match was part of the uber prestigious Argentine Open, one of three tournaments played in Argentina and known collectively as "the triple crown" of polo. The best polo ponies and players in the world come from Argentina, so I got to see some first class polo.

Polo has a reputation as a snooty sport, but I sat in the cheap seats, and the crowd was a mix of preppy and bleacher bum. The sport is fast and furious, as there are only four players on each team, no goalie and a large field, the biggest of any organized sport. The horses do most of the work and so a player usually has to change ponies after every 7-minute chukker. That means that each player has many horses, and some pretty deep-pocketed sponsors to pay for them.

It is an extremely complicated sport, with two athletes, the horse and rider, with the rider hitting the ball with a stick down the field without injuring themselves or their horses. The ponies are stunningly beautiful, a cross between Thoroughbred and native Argentinian horses. They are smaller than Thoroughbreds, but the most fit and healthy horses I have ever seen.

McDonald's Auto Mac

There are many McDonald's in BA (of course). The burgers cost about what they do in the US, which means they are not a bargain, unlike other restaurant meals in BA. However, they always seem to be busy all day long. The menu is pretty similar, but the are some signature items created by some "chef", whose name and picture appear on adverts in the windows. Not sure what those are because I haven't paid a lot of attention. However, I was tempted to eat at McDonald's in Montevideo, Uruguay while waiting for the bus to Punta del Este, because I was curious how the meat tasted. Does it taste better than in the States, as has been true of all the beef I have eaten so far in Argentina? In the end, I decided to eat local and bought some empanadas.

A few weeks ago, I was walking on a major shopping street near my house, Avenida Colonal Diaz, when I was shocked to see a McDonald's drive in, called the "Auto Mac". It made some sense since Diaz is a one-way street, as most in BA are, and carries a lot of traffic. However, the restaurant was busy at about 8 pm but no one was using the drive through. Here are some snaps.

I am in Uruguay

My consolation for not going to Brazil on this trip (onerous and expensive visa requirements) was to go to Uruguay. My Polish friend Justyna went to Punta del Este and loved it. So, here I am, in Punta del Este for three days. Basically, Punta is a glitzy beach town on the Atlantic Ocean overrun with Argentinians during the summer. There isn´t much to do but walk, sit or snooze on the beach. Hence, there are three bookstores here. I love to sunbathe on the beach, but Marc can´t stand it. So, I waited until Marc left for home before coming here.

Punta is a pretty town, with high rise condos and little beachy bungalows with red tiled roofs. There is a unique smell in the air, but not a strong sea smell. Since it is still spring the crowds haven´t arrived yet, so its quiet. The weather is sunny and warm but breezy. Uruguyans are tremendously friendly and laid back. Drivers stop to let peds cross the street, which never happens in BA. The sun is strong here, however, and with my skin, I can´t stay out for too long. Managed to burn my knees because I forgot to slather them with lotion. Today I took a bus to a village about 10 km from here, called La Barra, where I sat on the beach and watched surfers. Hard to believe that I will be back at work next week. I am trying not to think about it.

Planning in BA

Part of the reason for my extended stay away from the US was to take a break from work. However, you can't be a professional planner for almost 20 years and not think about things planning, development and design related. I intentionally did not try to contact anyone in my profession down here, as I have done while visiting other places. However, I did meet a planner from Australia who has pursued work as a planner in Buenos Aires. Basically, she found out there isn't such a creature, or at least not one that functions with the kind of independent authority she is seeking.

From what I understand, Buenos Aires does have a general plan, which someone with some professional training must develop (?), but decisions regarding development location, type, etc are largely political. That's because there is not really a professional civil service in Argentina. Those who work in government are largely political appointees and they are not independent of those in power. They also may or may not stay in their positions for a long time, so their interest is largely short term and they may not be qualified for their job. The history of political favoritism in this county is legendary (i.e. there is a history of¨"ghost" employees, who are on the payroll, but rarely or never show up to work). Apparently there are not any private sector planners either. That kind of role is played by architects or developers.

The lack of a professional civil service is really interesting to me, and one I would research were I to have more time down here. Not only does this affect things like urban planning and development approval, but in my opinion it affects the ability of the city to meet its basic infrastructure needs. One of my pet peeves here is the poor condition of the sidewalks and parks. While streets seem to get repaved and repaired, sidewalks and parks are neglected. It is really frustrating to have to always look where you are walking to avoid twisting an ankle from a hole in the sidewalk or a forgotten pile of rubble. When "fixes" are made to sidewalks, work is often done in a shoddy manner, as though it is only temporary. For example, if they patch a missing sidewalk tile with concrete, they don't really smooth it out and they don't keep it barricaded sufficiently, so there are always footprints in it. I believe that professional civic employees are more likely to take a long view and have a sense of ownership than political appointees, thereby resulting in better running of government services. You could argue that political appointees might have a vested interest to be sure that consituents are happy, and carry out the vision of the elected officials. Some city officials in the US, such as Mayor Daley and Mayor Gulliani have made planning and infrastructure improvements a priority for the city. However, if it is not a priority of an elected official or officials, then political appointees are not going to care.

Good ideas

While strolling about Buenos Aires, I have come across a few ideas that would be great to bring back to Portland. They both involved art and are subsidized by the City of Buenos Aires.

First, there is a practice here of treating public open space as exhibition space. On more than one occasion, I have seen art exhibits in public parks or plazas. Enclosed are pictures of the little park next to the national library. Some exhibits are permanent while some are temporary. This is a great way to bring art to the public, free and outside of an institution. The City of Buenos Aires has also used plazas to display its long-range plans. Something Portland could easily do if the Parks Bureau will allow it. In my observation, the exhibits are popular.

Second, there was a great event a few nights ago, The Night of the Museums (La Noche de los Museos). This is an annual event that occurs in several cities throughout the world. On this night, 120 museums around the city are open between 7 pm and 2 am and provide FREE special exhibitions, tours and/or live events - music, dance, theater, etc. Many buses are free and a shuttle is provided between venues in the same part of town. Marc and I joined a few friends and went to tour the house of tango legend Carlos Gardel. There were also tango concerts in the street in front of the house. Then, we went to some other small museum, where we watched tango shows until 2. We got our tango fix. The crowd in both places was very diverse in age. I couldn't believe that senior citizens could stay up that late. Only in Buenos Aires!

Bariloche

There aren't many things I would do differently on this Argentina trip. However, I regret not spending more time in the lake district of Patagonia. We spent three nights in Bariloche and they were great. However, I wish we had more time to explore the area. There is something about the alpine landscape that just grabs me. I guess that is why I have lived near mountains for most of the past 25 years. I told Marc that I was ready to move if we could just figure out how to make a living. Hello Oregon lottery.

Buenos Aires was hot and sticky when we left. We took a cushy bus ride and 20 hours (!) later disembarked into cool, crisp, sunny Bariloche. The sky was blue, sunny and almost cloudless the whole time we were there. Mornings were brisk and afternoons warm. Bariloche has a somewhat alpine architecture flavor that reminds me of northern Italy and only sometimes crossed over to goofy. There was an abundance of blooming trees and flowers: lilacs, tulips, lupin and columbines in Bariloche and the villages we hiked through. Oh, and there were mutts lying about everywhere, of course.

We had coffee every afternoon, ate some nice dinners and sampled what is arguably Argentina's best ice cream parlor. But the best part was hiking in the mountains of the Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi. We are not hard core backpackers, but we found plenty of day hikes that wore us out and took us through beautiful places. Best, most trailheads can be reached by public transportation. It's a popular place to ski and must be stunning there in the winter. The area is also good for fly-fishing, which Marc wanted to try. But renting gear and hiring a guide would have set him back over $300US a day, so he passed.

Seriously, I want to move here.

Last Day in Bariloche

Today Marc and I board the bus back to BA. We are taking ¨Super Cama¨on this trip - the most luxurious class available on the bus. Its pretty nice and half the price of flying. The down side is that it is a 20 hour bus ride. But they ply you with wine and movies, so its OK. Plus the scenery around northern Patagonia is incredible.

Its hard to blog at the hostel, so we will blog tomorrow about Bariloche and include snaps. It is incredibly beautiful here and I am ready to move.

More Random Observations

So, we are kicking back in Bariloche this week. Doing some hiking tomorrow. Thought we would share some more random observations of Argentina, especially since Marc is seeing this surreal place with fresh eyes.

1. Laid back dogs. Like the people here, dogs are incredibly mellow. They sit around for hours, sleeping in front of shops, on street corners, in parks. They are in no hurry. Most sleep on their sides, the way dogs sleep when they are most relaxed, or very hot. No owners in site, but the dogs don´t go anywhere. They just hang out. They are friendly if you go up to them, but don´t go out of their way to beg for attention.

2. Pregnant women. Wow, we have observed a lot of pregnant women in Buenos Aires. Very pregnant women. Marc wondered if there was some event of national celebration that occured last February? General end of summer activity? Who knows, but big bellies are everywhere. Interestingly, the word for pregnant in Spanish is embarazada.

3. Banking inconvenience. Because of years of political and economic unstability in Argentina, there is a lot of insecurity surrounding the availability of money. Banking is just not as convenient as it is in the US. For example, there is a limit to the amount of money you can take out of an ATM each day and that amount can fluctuate within a bank and between banks. It generally ranges from between $300-600A (about $100-200US), and there is a lively exchange on expat blogs about which ATMs allow the largest withdrawls. Then, there are just plain weird occurances. Last week, I went to an ATM and no money was available until 4 pm that afternoon. Turns out this was true of all the ATMs in my neighborhood. Don´t know what that was about since my Spanish isn´t good enough to ask anyone, but it delayed my day trip out of town by two hours as I couldn´t get any funds. It is also not uncommon to stand in a very long line at the bank. Yesterday Marc and I stood in line at a bank for 35 minutes to exchange dollars. Some things really make me miss the US and banking is one of them.

Recoleta Cemetary

Sara: There is no where like it on earth. The Recoleta Cemetary, where Eva Peron is buried, is arguably the world's grandest resting place. The wealthy and powerful were/are buried here and the mausoleums are incredible. We wandered in this little city for over an hour, just gawking. And it is just like a little city, albeit a quiet one. It is laid out in a diagonal grid and has main boulevards, side streets, even dead ends (ha ha), with trees and lampposts along the streets. The mausoleums are like little houses, different sizes and styles. Some elaborate, some restrained, depending on the era or how a family wants express itself to the world. Some cared for, but many cobwebbed and crumbling. Many have side windows and skylights. Even inside, some are like houses, with chairs, curtains on the doors and alters festooned with candles, flowers, pictures. Adding to the domestic nature of the place are all the wild cats that live there.

Marc: The cemetery of Recoleta is a curious sort of village, inhabited by the dead, and visited by the living. As grand as any place I have ever been, in it's diminutive sort of way. It is full of marble, granite, and elaborate sculptures. But it is also terribly tragic, and occasionally resembles an abandoned and ruined city as much as anything else. The typical mausoleum is perhaps eight or ten feet square. Some smaller, some bigger. Most of the structures are designed to be visited; with skylights, an alter, and windowed gates. It is as these meeting places that they are most poignant. Many are still active and well maintained, but when a family loses it's connection to the deceased the structures gradually fall into disrepair. The ceilings collapse, the windows are broken, the gates hang open, caskets are left exposed to the weather. We are left with ruins adjascent to pallaces. What were once a proud monuments, determined to keep the memory of loved ones alive become some of the most compelling embodiments of human transience and the enevitability of decay you will ever see.

Crime is alive and well in BA

You read a lot about the pick pocketing occurring in BA. Its a big city and there is a lot of economic disparity since the crash of 2001. So, we watch where we put our wallets and keep credit cards and excess cash in the safe in our apartment. We just didn't think about cameras and Marc had his stolen out of its case during rush hour on the subway yesterday. He is a bit surprised since he kept it in front of his chest the whole time, and we had been on the subway several times during the day. Since everyone is pressed together like sardines, you would think you would feel someone stealing your camera. But I guess not. So, you have been warned.

Marc is bummed, not because the camera was a very good one, because it wasn't, but because he feels taken advantage of. We should have put it in my bag, but neither thought of it. Downer.

Marc is here!!!

Marc arrived in BA late this morning. We had a great pizza lunch and strolled around the neighborhood some. Now he is taking a nap. On our way back from lunch, we passed this building, painted an audacious magenta. Marc says "Wow. I don't think it was originally like that."

Incredible!

Its 3:30 am and I just got in - exhausted, sweaty, famished and hoarse. Several friends and I were at a bar for 6 hours watching CNN election results on the big screen, and we stayed until after Obama addressed us. Its pretty amazing to see history being made right before your eyes, no? Its surreal to be witnessing it from another country, surrounded by friends from around the world, who are just as astonished and elated as we Americans are. It was an emotional night and very meaningful to have these friends watching with us, and hugging and kissing all in congratulations. It seemed one giant group hug (and kiss, as this is Latin America). I forget just how big an influence the United States has on the world - for better or worse - until I get out of the country. This election had the attention of everyone, not just Americans, because everyone has a stake in the outcome.

By the way, Jeremy here with the flag, is from Cape Town, South Africa. He is a friend of a friend. He was so excited about this election, he bought several of us beers.

Palermo Parks

There is so much to say about the parks in this city, more than I can put in one post. So, there will probably be several. For a city of 3 million people, most living in apartments or other attached housing, open and green space is necessary. And well-used. I am amazed at how popular BA's parks are, every day of the week, but especially on the weekends. They look well-loved, too. Many could use a whopping dose of maintenance, but I imagine with a metro area of 14 million using these parks, it can be pretty tough to keep up everything.

BA has its own Central Park (or Washington Park/Forest Park), a VERY large expanse of green near the center of the city that provides a host of activities for Portenos of all ages and interest. It is in the Palermo neighborhood and is within walking distance of my flat. Actually, it is a series of several parks and public venues all linked, including a rose garden, a Japanese garden, a zoo, a botanical garden, a horse race track, a polo field, a soccer complex, a planetarium, a small art museum (with outdoor cafe), several plazas and a park with a lake and lagoon. There are roads and paths choked with walkers, runners, cyclers, rollerbladers and skateboarders. Also, you can rent paddle boats in which to putter around the lagoon. Vendors sell grilled meat (of course) and people picnic. I even saw someone fishing in one of the lakes. On a sunny spring day like last Sunday, everybody was out: young, old, families, lovers, groups of friends. Apparently at night a part of the park becomes the transvestite red light district. The only thing I didn't see was a frisbee (or a transvestite).

In addition to this big complex, Palermo has several smaller parks, plazas, monuments and plazoletos (small plazas) scattered about. Many are ringed with cafes and ice cream parlors. Interestingly, you don't find many plazas in front of churches or cathedrals, like you do in Italy. Actually, you don't see many cathedrals or churches as you might expect in a largely Catholic country. One very popular park is Plaza Palermo Viejo, which was packed with families on Friday night. While some of BA's plazas contain contemplative green spaces (usually with some monument or statue), this one is jam packed with areas for kids: a merry go round and two fenced play areas.

If I have nothing to do on a Friday or Saturday night, I just go stroll to a local park or plaza with my book and read for a while or buy an ice cream and people watch. It is one of my favorite things to do here in BA in the evening.

Tigre

Still a bit of this bug in me so I have been staying close to home these last few days. Last weekend, however, I went on a day trip to Tigre and the Parana river delta. The trip was organized by the South American Explorer's BA office. About 15 of us went on the trip. If you are traveling in and around South America, it might be worth it to join this organization. They are a good resource for the traveler in terms of providing assistance or information and they organize trips and events.

The Parana river delta and the city of Tigre remind me of bits of Amsterdam, Venice and the Everglades at the same time. Basically there are hundreds of lush channels on which summer houses are built on stilts. Some people do live here full time, and during the military dictatorship it was a refuge for those with different political views. Apparently there is also a strong gay population in the delta.

The houses are only accessible by boat. Vaporetto-type boats or private watercraft provide transport. Also some people motor their yachts up the channels for the day or weekend. Tigre is the only city in this area and is where the boats start and end. We traveled into the delta for 1.5 hours before stopping at a property owned by a club. There we hung out for the afternoon and ate a barbecue lunch. Very relaxing. The girls in the picture are my friends Justyna from Poland and Celine from France. While there, I strolled the property and noticed all the different plants and birds. So exciting to come across new flora and fauna. Since it is spring, some plants are blooming and smelling wonderful.