Week Two

We have not been near the internet since Monday, so here is a quick catchup of our last few days.

We left Vicente Lopez on Tuesday morning for Escobar. Escobar is 50 km north of BA, and we are all loving being further away from the capital in a place with more open space, and much less noise and bustle. As Eecole just reported, our host family is really great. Alberto is a past District governor, and his wife, Marta is also a Rotarian. I am really pleased that I am getting most of Alberto's jokes (spoken completely in Spanish), and even joking some myself in his language.

Tuesday, we spent a morning at the Ford Motor plant near here, and had a tour of the assembly line. It was amazing. Besides that, it was a sort of professional day for me with respect to my personal injury practice. I learned a bit about auto construction, and now understand a lot more about frame damage that occurs in client vehicles. The most amazing thing about the factory was how incredibly automated it is. There are humongous robots and machines that form the top, sides and undercarriage of the vehicle, make all the holes in the metal, and cut giant parts, without a human in sight. Too bad they would not allow us to take any photos. Security was very strict.

We had lunch at the plant, and that was culturally interesting. As usual, we each were served a giant, tender hunk of beef. Thankfully, we also were served asparagus, which was covered with cheese. At the end of that course, I looked at the plates of everyone at the table (we were about 18 folks in total). Most of the Americans had eaten some beef and all of the asparagus (some of us left the cheese). The Argentines, to a man, ate all the beef, most of the cheese, and none of the asparagus. I don't understand how these people can survive without eating greens.

Our next stop on Tuesday afternoon was a nursery that grows houseplants. We saw some amazing varieties that I wish would be sold in the States. Finally, on Tuesday night, we did our presentation at a Rotary Club, which I believe was North Pilar. We shortened the skit, worked on pronunciation, and hammed it up a bit, and our work really showed. For the first time, we got an enthusiastic ovation. People really liked our humor, and that was evident during the presentation as I watched their faces. Broadway, here we come.

Wednesday was one of those days that could have been condensed into two hours. We were told we would be picked up at 11, so we were able to sleep in and eat breakfast late. The first stop, however, was a parrilla (a bbq restaurant). After touring an area with some pretty exotic birds and walking through the adjacent park, we consumed a huge meal. Can't wait to show photos of the pigs and other animals hanging outside over open fires.

Then our Rotarian hosts for the day took us to their town, which they are obviously very proud of. What did we do there? Go to a restaurant, of course, to meet a couple of other members of their club. We asked if we could walk around town while we talked, rather than eat or drink, but apparently that would have been an insult to the local restaurant owner, who was expecting us. After tea or ice cream or coffee, we got in the car, and went to another town, Capilla Senor. Now this was a cool place. We visited the Rotary Club (which has its own office), and were greeted by Rotarians from ages 30 to 80 and their kids. One of the Rotarians is a tv reporter, so he interviewed us with a cameraman. Todd was our spokesperson, although we all said our names and professions. This club is celebrating its 50th anniversary in January, and they were very proud of their club and their pretty town. I met a Rotarian named Gloria who was the host mom for Erin Thomas for three months a few years ago, and she had wonderful things to say about Erin. After a short walk through the central plaza and their local church, we again went to a restaurant! Too much food, too much sitting, too much everything!! We ate so much all day that I actually didn't eat dinner that night and woke up feeling hungry. What a welcome feeling.

Eecole has already reported on today, so I will sign off for now. Buenas noches!