Treasure Found

I was asking Uncle Tito where I could buy food stuff which isn't Argentinean when he said he had some English Mustard of Colman. I thought surely not the same thing. He brought round the below, it came it a war time tin similar to the tate & lyle golden syrup and there is not made date still visible. There is only one thing left to do to make sure. If I blog tomorrow it didn't kill me. Wish me luck!

Pipo´s Birthday

Yesterday was the birthday of Florencia´s sister´s husband Gustavo or Pipo for short. He can normally be seen in my photo´s cooking the BBQ. Tonight´s buffet however was a welcome break from beef. We had a mountain of empanadas and pizza. For some reason it was a bit chilly out so I had taken my swimming shorts for nothing but then who wants to swim at 2am anyway?

Breaking News

On Sunday sometime late morning we were kidnapped and taken by force from our beds to a mystery location and threatened with name calling and ducking in the pool unless we took part in more torturous waist and manboob expanding BBQ activity. Just look at the way we are pretending to enjoy ourselves whilst we planned our escape. Luckily our captors fell asleep and we just about managed to flee the 20 metres or so to a waiting car.

Merry Christmas

Hey Everyone,

We hope you all had a good Christmas day! We hired a house with a big garden and pool for the 40 or so people we had to dinner. The Hispanic world celebrate Christmas different to English and they start on Christmas eve with a big get together so that's where my entry starts.

We were preparing most of the day fruit salads and cold meat in a half arsed manner because that's all we could manage. The last few days have been draining to say the least. We have a wonderful son who is well behaved but the late nights and early starts are starting to blacken the bags around my eyes.

Anyway once the food was done and we were showered and dressed we set off in the car for the 15 minute drive to the house. The garden was big with tables set and there was a pool at the back, the house comprised of a big salon with kitchen area, bathroom and two small bedrooms. For Christmas dinner each family brings a cold platter and it is shared out between everyone.

We also had bought a 50 litre barrel of beer that was positioned nicely next to the barbecue. For the next five hours we ate lots, drunk more and danced a bit. Florencia even videoed me dancing with her auntie. At 12 o'clock we lit some Chinese lanterns which for me was worth a thousand fireworks. With my experience of pulling pints I took charge of making sure the beer was flowing and by the end of the night I had transferred most of the beer in the barrel to my belly and was out for the count.






08:30 I was awake and shortly up and watching cartoons with Landon. Today was going to be tough so I drank a gallon of water and tried to come round a bit. Before long everyone was up and ready to go again so once more we jumped in the car and I drove to the venue. People were in the pool when we got there and I dived straight in only to find out it wasn't deep at all.

Before long the BBQ was lit and the chilled draught beer was refreshing me once more. Landon joined me in the pool twice during the afternoon and then we sat down for the lovely juicy succulent slices of cow mmmmmmm.

More swimming followed and even more beer and then it was time to keep out the sun. I had thoroughly enjoyed every part of the celebration and now I feel knackered.

What are you laughing at?

Saturday Night

4am to 9am isn’t enough sleep time for me anymore and after moping around for an hour or so I had the pleasure of watching my team get stuffed by Fulham 3-0 on the internet. My day couldn’t get much worse at that point. Luckily the rest of the day past without a hitch and I managed to grab a shower before we went out to the next party. Mauricio is Florencia´s cousin and it was his birthday. Landon spent about an hour awake at the party before we put him to bed. We ate pizza, empanadas and sandwiches and I washed them down with a few glasses of beer before moving onto fernet. I managed to keep talking most of the night with Uncle´s Oscar and Edgardo. 

Friday Night

We had an invite from a friend that his birthday party was being held at a winery out of town and that there would be music and dancing so after an afternoon of feeling super tired and shopping for an outfit we found ourselves ready and waiting to go at about 12.15 am.

The girls arrived to pick us up and after a crazy 5 minutes we were in the car and double checking the directions. We drove out of town towards the mountains and soon discovered that actually everyone was too busy talking at the same time to absorb the double checked directions and we was on a lonely dark motorway road to nowhere.

The phones were out and again there was a lot of talking at the same time however this time Florencia was talking to Yamilla who magically to know exactly where you are and how to get there. Now I have heard Florencia´s directions before and they go something like this: You go up the hill and at the tree you turn left and you know that house at the end of the road? Yeah its not that way. However by a miracle we were directed onto the right road and a few minutes later we had found the entrance to the winery. We said hello to the security guard on the gate as he waved us through, there were several other cars arriving at the same time and it looked to be a good sign.

We wasn’t the first people there but nearly and it took another hour and a half for the party to get going. By this time I had a few drinks inside me and felt ok but still out of place and 20 years older than some of the other people. Nice.

Video for mum and dad

Here is a short compilation for my mum and dad. More will follow

If you thought UK Banks had an image problem

If you thought UK Banks had an image problem it’s nothing compared to those in Argentina. Have a look at the photo below; what do you notice?

This bank comes with a literal iron clad guarantee, that is, it’s completely covered in steel cladding!

At the moment, banks in the UK are copping a caning for dishing out dodgy home loans people couldn’t afford to pay back. But its nothing compared to the woes of the financial system in Argentina. During the economic crash of late 2001, hazy Argentines woke up one morning without any savings. Argentina defaulted on a World Bank loan, and the government decided the easiest way to make payment was eradicating the hard earned investments of normal people.

Of course, the natural reaction to this crazy decision was trashing anything bank or government related. The solution to this sudden increase of bank bashing was cladding their now shattered windows with enormous 10 millimetre steel plates to reduce vandalism costs. However, there was still a legacy of pounded metal from plentiful projectiles such as bricks, steel and probably bank managers.

Graffiti had the remarkable groundhog day-like ability to reappear on every bank in the central business district of Buenos Aires, as if it was incorporated into the Porteño way of life. Graffiti was sprayed in both Spanish and English, such as ‘DEATH TO THE BANKS’, ‘MUERTE DEL SISTEMA FINANCIERO’ (Death of the Financial System), and other positive feedback bypassing the respective bank’s websites. An example of this fantastic feedback is shown below.

However, one positive effect of the economic crash was the sudden surge of careers available in graffiti removal. During this turmoil, Argentina also held the dubious world record of appointing and firing five Presidentes in two weeks at the height of this tumultuous period.

Puts things into perspective I guess about the Global Financial Crisis

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Las Vegas here we come!

We were up at 9am and getting the baby ready because we were off again in search of a church and venue for Landon´s baptism. Last week we found a party venue close by but the church wasn’t available so we were back to square one.

Earlier this year I had been to Potrerillo in the Andes Mountains and I loved it there so we decided to go and have a look around. We had already spoken to the priest on the phone and he told us to come and have a look. On the way we drove past the vast plantations of many vineyards that are positioned between Mendoza and the pass to Chile.

The views of the Andes never fail to amaze, they are the biggest mountains I have ever seen and they just keep on going as far as the eye can see and hundreds more miles like a massive curtain they stand in the distance, you drive towards them for an hour then when you are at the foot and look up you realize just how tall they really are. At Potrerillo there is a lake with shocking blue water it really stands out from the dusty mountains that surround it.

We drove up the mountain road zigzagging between the ridges until we reached Las Vegas. It appears to be a small village but once you adventure down all the roads you realize how many houses there are.

Our first stop was the church; it was a big square building with ´refuge´ written outside. Inside was just a plain room with a simple stage but the service we witnessed was just what we was looking for. The priest explained that maybe his new church will be ready by the time we want so we drove to the hilltop church that was being constructed and had a nose around. The views were great from up there to so with the priest and the church found we were doing quite well so it was time for lunch and get out of the midday sun.

We found a roadside tree big enough for the car, the table, four chairs and the pram and we plotted up and tucked into some delicious empanadas and pizza and washed them down with a nice cold beer.

With one more thing to find we set off in search for a house with a nice garden with plenty of shade to hire for our 40 guests to join us celebrating the baptism. We searched high and low for about an hour before I spotted just the right place. We took the number and headed off for more shade further down the mountain.

We parked up under some trees by the dry river bed that hugs the road for most of the pass and chilled out for another hour before getting back out in the hot sun for the ride home.

Don’t Cry For Meat; Argentina

WARNING: Vegetarians, please stop reading now!

If you’re a carnivore, then Argentina is the place for you.
Argentines eat truckloads of meat, resembling an evolutionary throwback to some sort of caveman diet. They eat on average 60 kilograms of beef a year per capita, working out at 165 grams of beef every single day. Remember, this figure DOES NOT include chicken or lamb!

Remarkably, meat ingestion has decreased over the years from some astronomical level. Meat is always cooked the Argentine way – the Argentine barbecue, or the Asador. Salads are an optional extra, always served first before the main meal and eaten on their own, so they do not spoil the immaculate presentation of char-grilled protein on a plate that can barely contain it.

The sizes of the steaks are enormous and I reckon it takes me at least a week to crap out each steak. To satisfy my rabid curiosity, I asked a waiter in a parilla steak house just how much steak his restaurant went through a day.
‘¿Cuantos kilos carnes en un dia?’ I asked
His answer was ‘trescientos’ – Three Hundred!
Judging by the serious look on his face, he wasn’t joking. If he spoke English, I’m sure he would have said ‘And how would you like your entire cow cooked, Señor Gringo?’

So let me work this out. If one restaurant in Argentina char-grills over two tonnes (2.1, to be precise) of steak per week, this accumulates to 110 tonnes of steak a year. Just one steak restaurant in Argentina, of which there must be millions. I was flabbergasted when I contemplated how many dead cows that translated to. Once the bovine beasts reach cow heaven, their presence is not lost on this earth, as the enormous steak diet translates into a colossal range of leather goods for sale. I concluded from this large collection of evidence there must be some rough-looking colons in Argentina and stomach surgeons were in short supply.

I understood the steak addiction though, as the beef is outstanding – it is the best steak I’d ever devour. Every single time. It is the way meat is cooked that contributes to the flavour. Steak is cooked over hot burning wood coals, creating an appetizing taste. When served, plates are devoid of any other food material, creating a contrast of flame-roasted tenderloin against barely-visible edge of white serving plate. This creates a challenge – you against the steak. If there is any resemblance of meat left on the plate, the meat won. It never wins with me, but it is a close call some days.

However, the parilla isn't solely devoted to bife de chorizo (sirloin) and bife de lomo (tenderloin) steak. Whole lamb and chicken is split into flat lamb and flat chicken, roasted on open fires burning with a gentle wood flame. Parilla chefs left the roasting carcass on the slow cooking fire from mid-afternoon, ready for carnivores that night. For some astounding reason, chefs also cook meat at the shite end of the protein spectrum – that offal crap, including morcilla (black pudding), chinchulines (intestines) and riñones (kidneys).

Regardless, if you spend lunch or dinner at a parilla, you definitely need a siesta to digest the 900 gram monster you have just devoured. Sometimes, you might need a siesta worthy of hibernation.
Salud!

San Martin

Today was a national holiday however the weather hasn’t been great in the last few days so our trip to the mountain was off. After lunch we jumped in the cars and headed off for a ride. We went to a viewing point which overlooks Mendoza city. The views were great from the top of the hill. We sat and drank some mate and climbed the 35 steps to the impressive monument for San Martin at the top.

Brief history of Jose de San Martin, liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru.

Right where do I start? Oh yes there was this guy San Martin was born in Yapeyu, I guess his name was just Martin then, in the Argentine province of Corrientes, beside the mighty Uruguay river, on February 25th 1778.

His father, was the governor of the department; his mother, was the niece of a conqueror of the Chaco´s wild forests

In 1786 he moved to Spain with his family, and in 1789, he initiates his military career in the regiment of Murcia. He serves in the army of Spain during the wars against the French and in 1808 he fights in the battle of Baylen against Napoleon´s army that had invaded the Peninsula.

In the city of Cadiz he met other South American officers and he joins the lodges that promoted the independence. In 1811 he resigns his military career in Spain and embarks in the sail ship George Canning from England to Buenos Aires, where he arrives the 9 of March of 1812 accompanied by his new friends.

The independent government of Buenos Aires accepts the services of San Martin, recognizes his degree of lieutenant colonel and orders him to create a cavalry corps that soon would be the glorious regiment of Mounted Grenadiers. In that same year he married Maria Remedies de Escalada, that belonged to a distinguished family of the country. He creates the Lautaro lodge, whose objective was to liberate South America of the Spanish yoke.

On February 3rd, 1813, the Mounted Grenadiers fought and won their first combat, near the ravines of San Lorenzo, against the Spanish disembarkation army that arrived with several ships from the port of Montevideo.

In January of 1814, San Martin takes control of the North Army, from the hands of its former general, Belgrano, that had returned defeated from the Alto Peru -today the republic of Bolivia-, and since then, they establish a long friendship.

Soon after being San Martin in Tucuman, he realized that it was impossible to conquer Lima city, the capital of Peru, that was the center of the Spanish power, by the terrestrial way of the highs of the Andes. He conceived the idea of crossing the mountain range to Chile and to attack the city of Lima by sea way.

He leaves Tucuman for Mendoza (where I live), capital of Cuyo, a city that stands at the foot of the mountain range of the Andes. There he recovers from the lurgy and begins to prepare an army to cross the Andes.

In the year 1816 he sends, representing the province of Cuyo, a delegation to the congress that met in Tucuman, with express orders to insist on the declaration of independence. Because of his insistence, the declaration of the independence from the rule of Spain of the Provincias Unidas del Rio de la Plata -that was the primitive name of what now is the Argentine Republic- was acclaimed in that congress the 9 of July of that year.

From Mendoza he prepares with little means an army. All the people contributes with their work and goods to make the dangerous expedition. He insists before the government of Buenos Aires to permit to his army the crossing of the Andes to Chile.

In January of 1817 the crossing of the army begins. They were around 4000 men of infantry, cavalry and artillery and carried provisions for a month. They crossed divided into two columns by the passage of Los Patos and the one of Uspallata, and the two columns met in Santa Rosa of the Andes.

On February 12, 1817 few days after the passage of the Andes, the army, that was given the name "Army of the Andes", wins the battle of Chacabuco and some days after, the Liberator enters the city of Santiago de Chile. The Town hall met the day 18th and designated San Martin Supreme Director, but he resigned that honor and then general Bernardo OHiggins (must have been Írish dont you think)was elect for the position.

In the first days of 1818, a disembarked realistic army from Peru, advanced on the capital of Chile. The 19 of March, in a sneeky night attack, the Spanish army defeats the independents in the battle of Cancharrayada and general OHiggins was wounded.

The United Argentine-Chilean army recovers and on April 5th they defeat completely the Spanish army in the battle of Maipu. That battle ended the Spanish efforts to dominate Chile.

The way to Lima by sea was then opened, but it was necessary to create a fleet that did not exist. With some boats captured to the enemy and others bought to the United States and England, the Chilean navy was created.

On August 20, 1820 the expeditionary Argentine-Chilean army sails from the port of Valparaiso to Peru.

In the month of July, 1821, San Martin enters triumphant to the city of Lima, proclaims independence, is designated Protective of Peru and exerts the government.

On July 26, 1822 San Martin interviews with Simon Bolivar in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. There they meet both liberators of South America, the one of the north and the one of the south.

On August 3, 1823 his wife dies in Buenos Aires. The 10 of February of 1824, displeased by the civil wars in the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata, he embarked for France with his little daughter, Mercedes. There he lived until he snuffed it, on August 17, 1850.

The waiting room

Today we were up early as the rain woke us as it hit the roof above. We were up before the alarm and getting ready for a long day. We were going into the city to apply for Landon´s Argentinean ID, with this he can apply for a passport or stay for longer here without all the hassle I have of extending his visa.

The car journey took about 30 minutes and we pulled up outside the civil registry office. We arrived at 8am and still the queue was out the door. The baby pass got me inside while Florencia stood in the queue. Inside was mayhem, nothing that resembled any order.

There were 4 rows with about 20 chairs leaving over 50 more standing and the office was roughly the size of a toilet and it even came with an annoying fly. We tried asking the information lady if we were in the right place and queue but she refused to tell us until we waited our turn to ask. With this I plotted up for a long duration without a lot of optimism.

After 2 more hours it was our turn and it was not too long before we was sent away to get a 45 degree convict style photo for Landon and a birth certificate certified. This is one thing I do not understand, how can your birth certificate run out? Unless there is a death certificate it should still be valid. Anyway it wasn’t too much of a problem because our experience in the Spanish system taught us you never ever have everything you need. However all the places we needed were within a short walk and more importantly open for business with people who want to help you. No wonder Spanish people hate South Americans they have so much more intelligence and don’t begrudge helping anyone.

So back in the office we had another wait for our name to be called. We had our family finger printing done for the forms and we were out of there in 4 hours. Despite the wait, the numb bum with the fly and BO all the people except the info lady were very polite and loved Landon but then who doesn’t. 

Searching for a venue

Today we went out looking for a church to hold Landon´s baptism. The intended church was big with a lovely garden but unfortunately they don’t do it there.

So we were off again in search of a new venue, on the way we saw a water wheel.

Then it was back home for BBQ!

Last night in Mendoza

Last night we went to Mendoza centre to meet up with Bianca, Erwin and Marlon for the last time. It was sad to say goodbye but you know with some friends it will not be too long before you see each other again. Bianca has been a good friend to Florencia since I have known her and before that they lived together in Fuengirola. Although I have not had any in depth conversations with Bianca I consider her a true friend who will always be there for Florencia. Erwin has been a great counter part for me because we share a lot of interests and he has a great sense of humor, something that I regard highly.

In Spain we would meet up at the weekends and share good times and it is something I will miss, especially little Marlon who has grown so much in the last year. To get a final chance to spend some time in Argentina was most precious.

After hitting the motorway for about 20 minutes we entered the city, driving in the city isn’t one of my favorite things because I am still not sure of how everything works. Anyway with a few wrong turns under our belt and a bit of back doubling we were at the plaza Italia.

The restaurant is a converted house with a glass door entry. We were welcomed and shown to the back room which had been pre-booked for one party. The decoration was pleasant and reminded you that it was a large dining room which you would normally find in a house. The chairs were wooden without cushions but the table looked really nice. Before long I had drunk my beer allowance and was on the water. The choice on the menu was strained but it wasn’t too difficult to make a decision.

The food came and it was disappointing for me, I am no food critic but a plate of rosemary with a hint of dinner is what I got. The night however went very well with everyone talking and laughing into the early hours of the morning which made up for any minor setbacks.