noticias

El Bolson

El Bolson means big bag... it is a small town in the valley of the Andes, south of Bariloche.... and now that is also the nickname for my suitcases... 2 of the biggest bags that we have on our trip... what can I say.. i have to carry about 80 lbs of work items and need to have a balance of my own stuff as well!! Hey I am a girl, who is working with a bunch of guys... one man who I think has worn the same outfit the ENTIRE week. The real El Bolson is a place of hippies, peace, love, art, & music. We took a break for lunch and there is a Feria (artisan´s fair) in town... we found homemade jams, flowers, leather, wooden carving, etc. There is a jazz festival currently happening, but we were not able to go to any of the concerts. A man in the hotel is famous Luthier, ie musical instrument maker. One of my co'workers plays guitar so they got to talking and the man invited us to the exhibition of the handmade instruments. My coworker got to play the guitars and had a little jam session. Then the next day, we took a drive to Lake Puelo, and visited a Pediatrican in his home, who brought us some of his patients. More guitars, an accordian, and churango appeared and more music and singing happened over tea, mate and cookies. Also we visited the in'laws of the Pediatrician who is driving us in his white van.... his in'laws grow lavendar on their farm. It was beautiful! I recieved a small satchel of lavendar from the farm...( the men didn´t get any :) not even for their wifes. They deserve it... Alex went to get us empanadas ( a small pastry filled with meat, ham and cheese, or vegetables, chicken etc). I requested the one with spinach and cheese, becuase I have eaten a whole cow here.... Alex came back with all beef empanadas. He said it was a machismo restuarant and he couldn´t even bring himself to ask for the vegetable empanada.....

posted by carla @ 11:03 PM 0 comments

The White Van Diaries

I think i´m offically in the middle of nowhere... It really does seem like Che expedition in the Motorcycle Diaries. We move to a different place every night. Our van has broken down about 5 times, it was pretty funny at first, and thankfully it started back up every time. We are in the state of Chubut... and there is no one and nothing around but mountains and the land is very arid and has very low vegetation. We were moving on to the next town, after just having tea in a small Welsh community.... I thought if we never made it to the next place, there aren´t any bushes to squat behind! But we made it finally to a dusty little town El Maiten around 10 pm. this afternoon we left there, and drove 200 Km to Ingeniero Jacobacci on another dusty road. We, the cars, and all of our luggage was covered in a layer of dust. My hair is matted and so dirty right now... and we have to see more patients. Right now it is about 8: 45 pm & we are still at the hospital... it is bright as day. It hasn´t really gone completely dark until after 10 PM. I have to go now because i got the 5 min. warning. Our last group of subjects has arrived and hopefully we will be done here by 10 PM!!!
check back and hopefully I can write some more about the white van diaries...
un beso!

posted by carla @ 6:36 PM 0 comments