Peculiarities of the Good Airs

The romantic and sophisticated Buenos Aires is what draws the crowds of tourists, yet I find myself (in a somewhat cynical state of mind) passing up the luxurious european architecture and countless offers of tango shows. Given the precarious state of dial up connection at my uncles apartment I will not add any photos and instead will share a few comments on what I find strange aspects of life here.

BUS CHANGE:
Every single time I have walked by the Retiro train station there is a line up of several hundred people infront of a government kisok named MONEDAS (coins). Buses here only accept coins and I have learned from experience that yes it is that difficult to find change. I have found myself taking taxis not because there are no buses but because I have lots of bills, no coins and ´nobody has change´.

GUIA ´T´ DE BOLSILLO:
Having for the most part failed at figuring out the Santiago bus system, I decided to purchase the bus route guide for Buenos Aires: Guia T pocket edition. Its organization of information is quite peculiar. It does not contain (neither does the whole city as far as I know) a single route map. It has maps of the city divided into 36 zones each with 24 sub quadrents and it lists the corresponding bus numbers that pass through each quadrent. To find a bus you determine your start zone (lets say Map 10 A-6) and your desired destination (Map 17 C-5) and then compare the two lists of bus numbers and hope there is a match. If not, good luck!

FUERA BOTNIA, SI A LA VIDA:
On the way back from the Gualeguaychú carnaval (a couple hundred km north of B.A.) we visited a bridge with a view of a Uruguayan cellulose plant that has become very famous. This international border crossing between Argentina and Uruguay has been road blocked for 2 years. Local citizen groups and environmental activists have closed the highway demanding that the huge foreign owned factory on the bank of the Rio Uruguay be closed down. All international traffic and trade must use the next crossing several hundred km upstream.

I also wanted to send a big thanks to all my incredibly generous family and friends that have made sure that I have not had to open my wallet for a hotel room since December 5th!

El Sur

The past few weeks have been spent relaxing and eating with family at the beach, the farm or in the mountains. Always thinking ahead, I swung by Chile´s version of Canadian Tire to pick up an $18 tent before heading up into the Cordillera to spend New Years with the family in Valle Rio Puelo.

Cancura, Grandmother´s farm.

El Salto, Llanada Grande, Valle Puelo

When the whole family left, I hired a guide, Juan ´Mentira´ Martinez for a cabalgata (horse trek) through some beautiful mountain valleys. What I didn´t expect was such a cultural experience. Juan used to live in this valley so every farm we passed (about 2 per day) we would stop in for a couple rounds of mate amargo. At one friend´s house we were given a sack with a dead goat inside. Menu for the next 4 days: Asado al palo de chivo con pan.

Lago Vidal Gormaz

Juan left me in the magnificent Junta del Rio Cochamo (one of South America´s up and coming rock climbing spots) where I camped out with some chilean backpackers for 5 days.

Cerro Arcoiris with Martin. Yes I´m wearing 2 pairs of glasses.

Santiago

View from Cerro Santa Lucia

I will not attempt to summarize, just share a few experiences. Many family and friends of very different professional and political backgrounds showed me around the city, offering contrasting opinions on why things are the way they are.

Monasterio Benedictino, Martin Correa & Gabriel Guarda, 1950´s

Edificio Posgrado, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Peñalolen

The Santiago transit system is slowly putting itselft back together after a catastrophic failure due to a poorly planned and politically motivated modernization scheme called Transantiago. I´ll only add that it is a very popular conversation topic. On a metro I saw this ad:

It sums up well one of the many tensions that exist in this city. La Dehesa (pictured below) looks like most American suburbs, except the fences are twice as high and electric. As a good friend of my father put it: Santiago se esta comiendo los cerros. Now I must admit that I write these words just a few weeks after having enjoyed multiple asados at my uncle´s house in los altos de Lo Curro, zipping to a from downtown on la Costanera Norte (the new private highway buried beside Santiago´s defining Rio Mapocho).


There is much more to say of course and while Santiago has its negatives, its downtown is wonderfully vibrant, the parks are beautiful and mountains are so close.