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!

Eternally "developing" countries

Ted. Judy has just published a post about our visit to Buenos Aires where we found a city filled with beautiful monuments, theatres, boulevards, parks and lovely people.

After only four days, though, some things are pretty obvious to me. The glory of 100 years ago has crumbled. Once the 7th wealthiest country in the world, Argentina is now categorized as a “developing” country. We have visited many developing countries over the years and I began to wonder whether any of these places ever finally become “developed.” Apparently, the last time that happened was with South Korea, 20 years ago. There are many reasons why so many countries remain “developing” but two common ones are an over dependence on commodity exports and a failure to establish and maintain the rule of law. One sad symptom of a developing country is the emigration of educated young people seeking a better life elsewhere. 

We saw several visible signs of economic instability while exploring Buenos Aires. Armed police and security guards patrol the streets everywhere. Lines form outside of those ATM’s that still have cash. Strolling the streets in shopping districts, one hears the constant chirping of “Cambio, cambio;” the call of the black market moneychangers. The big retail chain Carrefour launched an ad campaign freezing prices on key items for 3 months.

A "sign" of rampant inflation  

When we first visited Poland in 2001, the infrastructure was pretty dismal and it was obviously a developing country. Some young Poles were anxious to leave their homeland for greener pastures to the west but many people we met were excited about their future at home. The rule of law seemed to be in place and the prospect of joining the EU brought the promise of capital investment. On our return, 17 years later, we saw that the dreams of those who stayed are coming true. According to many economists, Poland is about to be relabeled as a “developed” economy and an IMF “advanced” nation. 

This past October, we saw dozens of construction cranes on the Warsaw skyline. Last week in Buenos Aires, we only saw two. Big buildings are no measure of a country’s success but they can be indicative of the opportunity for good jobs.  I pray that the leaders of Argentina can figure out how to stabilize and retool their country for a 21^st century economy so that their best and brightest young people can thrive in their beautiful land.  

Don't Cry for Me, Argentina

Judy. You’ll think this crazy, coming from an actor whose favorite Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is EVITA, but I never thought about Eva Peron till we arrived in Buenos Aires and I saw her mural on the side of the Ministry of Health. Wow! Evita is alive and well and remembered in Argentina. Turns out that this year is the one hundredth anniversary of her birth. Well, according to her baptismal certificate—she had her birth certificate changed to make her younger. She was, after all, Eva Duarte Peron. Newspaper kiosks sell posters of her, and in Recoleta Cemetery, the map at the front has her grave marked boldly in red ink. And there’s a crowd and tributes on the grave itself. That woman—for good or for ill—is still a star here.

Can't miss her!

Eva's mausoleum

Argentina, as you may have heard, is going through some difficult times. Our hotel in

Ted and Rodolfo

Buenos Aires was a good metaphor for the country: beautiful lobby, fresh flowers, a marvelous gentleman named Rodolfo who welcomed us and took our luggage  At first glance it was the perfect room. But the desk chair was worn, and the sparkling clean towels were ragged, and the fresh sheets had tiny tears. None of it was awful, especially considering the state of the economy. And it was clean and quiet. 

Old with the new

We wandered parts of this huge city, and took a free walking tour.  Buenos Aires is a beautiful mix of old and new buildings, sometimes an old one connected to a new. A great example is the El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a monumental bookstore in a former opera house. Dozens of theatres line the streets, and, even though it's summer, several seemed to be open.

Teatro Colombo

A beautiful bookstore

There are sculptures everywhere, and monuments. The one that touched me most was the monument to the Mothers of the Disappeared by the Casa Rosada. Murals around the city spoke to the social unrest here. 

Simple monument to the Mothers

Casa Rosada

Political mural in San Telmo neighborhood

Our favorite area was Palermo, where we visited B.Lit bags, owned by designer George Visir. I wanted to buy a good leather purse while there, and internet research led me to www.blitbags.com and to George. Maybe I could have spent less in some of the leather shops, or not. I don’t know. I like the idea of buying from small business. George spent an hour with us in his showroom, asking questions and chatting with Ted while I browsed and settled on what I wanted. We learned quite a bit from him, enjoyed the conversation, and I got a beautiful purse for $85. Not bad at all. I love the name of his purses: B.Lit. It’s his shorthand for Be aware and happy--the person you want to be.

George and B.Lit Bags

From there we walked a few blocks to Caldén del soho, a family-friendly steakhouse.  Oh, my goodness. Beautiful steaks, cooked to our preference, French fries, salad (tossed at the table, thank you very much), wine, water, and coffee; and a friendly but professional waiter. One of my most memorable meals, and, with tip, cost us $38. 

YUM!

We were not so fortunate in other restaurants, but, as they say, “That’s Argentina.” We chose not to attend a Tango show; we enjoy seeing that sort of thing in a bar or restaurant, and just never went there. The people we met--mostly in restaurants-- were polite, and seemed to follow our Spanish, even though words and sounds are different here.

I hear other travelers tell me how much they love Buenos Aires. I liked it, but can’t say it’s one of my favorites. Maybe if we’d done more of the rich stuff, or really gotten into the poorer areas, or even if we’d had a friend there, I’d feel differently. It’s definitely an exciting city, and I’m glad I went. Still, I was ready to leave for northern Patagonia and the skiing town of Bariloche.

Christmas 2018

Judy. As we were leaving Nassau, the captain of Rhapsody of the Seas announced that a storm had formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico, and the waves were topping 25 feet, so instead of docking in Tampa, we were rerouted to Port Canaveral, on the other side of Florida. Buses were brought to take us back to the port in Tampa. There were some grumbles on the ship, but, considering the whitecaps we encountered on our way to Port Canaveral, we were pretty happy to avoid worse.

We docked early in the morning, and by 7:45 were safely ensconced on a bus, arriving in Tampa at about the same time we would have if the ship had docked there. As with other delays or changes in our travel, it was really no big deal.

Once we got our rental car we headed to Venice, FL, to visit Francesca, whom we met in Oaxaca where she was vacationing with her sister Kitty. It was great to hug her and meet her husband David, and once she showed us the damage the storm did to her

Francesca

beautiful garden, we were happier than ever that we were detoured. The two of them plied us with questions about our lifestyle over a lunch of soup and veggies—seems like they’re thinking of doing the same thing! It was great to reconnect.

Being with Francesca and David was fun, but we were anxious to get to Ft. Myers, where we met our family to buy groceries for the coming week on Captiva Island. Traveling is wonderful, and I love our way of life, but hugging my kids and grandkids is absolutely priceless. We loaded up and headed to our rental home, a five-bedroom place one minute from the beach and one minute from the bay. AND, it had a swimming pool. Big splurge, but the best money we could spend. It’s the longest time we’ve been able to spend with everyone.

There was no Christmas tree, but we managed a beautiful Christmas day, with gifts and a fantastic Stone Crab claws and Porter House steak meal provided by Leslie and Daniel, topped with tons of love and time on the beach.

Caed takes on the waves

Parker and Ollie nap

The three boys

Over the next week we kayaked, swam, baked on the beach, walked, played games, laughed, talked, hugged each other, and ATE!  People took turns cooking, so Ted and I never lifted a finger. 

George

Ted and Leslie took a day and drove to Ft. Lauderdale to visit a college buddy of Ted's who's been fighting three forms of cancer. George appears to be winning the battle, and his positive spirit inspires all of us.

So much good food and so much love. Captiva is our favorite place in Florida, and Stefan and Sarah had visited it on their honeymoon and loved it.  We were so happy to share it with the whole family. We had a family portrait taken by photographer Milissa to capture the week. It was hard to say goodbye.

They whole gang

We headed to Vero Beach, to the home of our dear friends Anne and Bill. We seem to have made it a regular December/January visit—Anne says one more year and it’ll be a tradition! This year, though, three of our friends from high school joined us: Linda, Kathy, and Anne T. We spent some time all together, and sent Ted and Bill off sometimes while we caught up. 

High school buddies

One last meal with Anne & Bill

A visit to the Vero Beach chiropractor, breakfast with Anne and Bill, and we were off to Tampa for the flight to Buenos Aires. And that’s another post.