Meet the "developers"

Ted. Six days ago, Judy and I flew from Buenos Aires to Bariloche, Argentina which is in the lake district of northern Patagonia. I have spent much of this week working on the post I just published and I have to say that it has been the toughest one I ever wrote. 

Four hours after I published the post, in which I wondered aloud how Argentina was going to ever develop, Judy and I met two young people who are actually busy doing the developing! As Judy says, "There are no coincidences."

We had decided to see a bit of the countryside today so we hopped on a local bus, bound for an area of the surrounding national park called Llao-Llao which, in Argentina is pronounced “Show-show.” It is known for hiking, boating, golfing and skiing as well as beautiful views of the Andes and Lake Nahuel Huapi. 

On the road to Llao-Llao, Lake Nahuel Huapi

Our bus was absolutely packed with about 40 people seated and 50 standing. I was nose to nose with the young Argentinian man next to me in the aisle and, after banging together for a few minutes, he decided to ask me, in English if I was from Denver. Impressed that he recognized the Broncos logo on my ball cap, we struck up a conversation. After stopping at the Hotel Llao-Llao, we offered to buy him and his wife a drink in the hotel bar if they would share a bit about their lives with us.

Hotel Llao-Llao (yes Ralph - that's a fairway)

What a delightful couple they turned out to be! After about one minute in Spanish, we quickly switched to English, which they both spoke fluently. Santiago is an engineer from Buenos Aires who has started his own business (IT services of some kind). His beautiful and seven months pregnant wife Eugenia comes from the famous wine region of Mendoza and works for a winery. They have both traveled extensively and can live anywhere in the world they want. In fact, Santiago has worked in the US and Germany. But – they choose to remain in Buenos Aires. Yes, the business environment is tough. Yes, the government is hard on small business. Yes, the peso has lost a lot of buying power. But they are willing to work through all of the crap because Argentina is home. This is where their traditions, culture and family have deep, deep roots. We really loved hearing a bit about their lives and quickly came to admire them.

As we rode the bus back to Bariloche, I thought of how wonderful it would be to return to Buenos Aires in 17 years to see the changes.  This young couple, and others like them, have the energy, the skills, and the desire to create an economic miracle in their country. May God grant them courage and patience.

Santiago & Eugenia - the future of Argentina!