Still Smokin´

For our first couple of weeks in Argentina, we were faced with road closures due to a strike by the farmers. Although that political/economic problem has not gone away, it is on hold for 30 days while the government and farmers try to resolve things. I never dreamed that we would face more road closures so soon. This time, it is smoke closing roads in many places in the province of Buenos Aires. We also heard today that the smoke has affected Uraguay as well. It is amazingly bad, but we are in no danger. As of this morning there were 292 fires burning on 70,000 hectars, which is a heck of a lot of land. It could be more by now.

I am glad Eecole took a stab at describing the politics and economics of the fires/smoke. This country has amazingly wonderful people, and is very rich in natural resources and culture. But economically and politically, Argentina is not in a good place. I have always loved my own country, but after a month here, I have gained love and more respect than ever for the good old US of A. Our government and our legal system, despite their problems, are incredibly sophisticated, rationally based, and high-performing. Really, folks, we are very fortunate.

The roads were closed again today, but we made the best of it. The original plan was to spend the day in Zarate and then go to Campana for a Rotary meeting this evening. However, it was too risky to be out after dark, when the smoke is worse and the roads often close down. We didn´t want to chance getting stuck in Campana or on the road. So, instead, we went to Plan B, which meant we would visit Campana, but skip the evening meeting there and be home before dark.

We took a circuitous route to Zarate (twice as long as normal so the ride took an hour and a half) to avoid the smoke. When we got to Zarate and were about a mile from our lunch destination, we came upon a gigantic traffic jam where the highway was closed. Cars and trucks were dead stopped for as far as the eye could see. Rather than accept the situation, the Argentine drivers were honking their horns continuously in frustration. It was just crazy since there was nothing they could do about it. We abandoned our vehicle on the side of the highway and walked to our luncheon at a golf club. After lunching with the Zarate Rotarians, the smoky conditions were so severe that we went to Plan C--we were sent directly back to Baradero in two taxis. The situation was so bad that we could not even travel the 15 minutes to Campana for the afternoon, and the Campana Rotarians didn´t want to chance driving us home and being unable to return. As it turned out, it is a good thing we came back when we did, because all the roads, from the capital city of Buenas Aires (Capital Federal) to where we were (which is a considerable distance) were shut down shortly after we returned to Baradero.

The partially free afternoon and evening gave us the opportunity to work on our district conference presentation, and to go out for a wonderful empanada and pizza libre dinner (they keep bringing all different kinds of pizza till you just can´t eat any more) with Lili, Alfio, Hector and his lady friend, Trinidad. We had a wonderful time laughing and talking like old friends. We have known our Baradero hosts just since Sunday, but they are close friends already. It will be very difficult to leave them. Todd and Andy wore their gaucho hats to dinner, and I alternately thought them stylish and silly. I contributed funny faces at the restaurant which were photographed, and blackmail was threatened. When we got home, we were treated to a fruit tart dessert courtesy of Eecole, and a belly dance demo by Kelly. It was a lot more fun than attending yet another Rotary meeting (am I being too brutally honest?) I am not glad for the fires and smoke, but Plan C was thoroughly enjoyed by all.