Love and Extra Passport Pages

Amid the whirlwind of goings on, I found a moment of peace last weekend. Romi, a friend who radiates all kinds of beauty, decided to celebrate her birthday in Baradero. Why Baradero, you ask? And what is Baradero, anyway? Well, it's a city where you'll find Comunidad German Frers, a center for at-risk and impoverished children situated on a piece of land that is farmed sustainably to help support the kids and their families. Truly an amazing undertaking...and one in dire need of volunteers. Entonces. Romi invited one and all to volunteer there. Read more about CGF on their facebook page (website in progress)...and by all means go and volunteer there!

How very satisfying to start the weekend looking at a piece of untilled earth covered in grass and weeds, and to finish it looking at neat rows of tomillo (thyme) and habichuela (kidney beans, I think?).

In progress

Planting

One huertita down...

After breaking for lunch, I went to visit the animals. And that's when I sat on the grass and hugged a sheep. And that's when I exhaled.

I have been thinking about this post since I popped an Ambien on my flight from DC to Buenos Aires last Tuesday. I started writing this post on Friday. I intended to post on Saturday. On Sunday I realized the blogger’s dilemma. And now, a week has past and FINALLY I am ready.

I like blogging. However, since I started Blocho’s Tacos almost 13 months ago I have realized that “to blog” is very different from “blogging”. For me, it is a hobby. Something I do on occasion and by no means regularly. And there are times when I just don’t want to blog. For example, the night before I left for Buenos Aires I had a delicious lobster taco at Toloache in NYC. It was an appetizer to my meal and although I took a picture and noted the layering of flavors, I didn’t blog about it. Sometimes to blog takes away from the pure enjoyment.

So here I am, in Argentina, enjoying life. Although I want to share the experience (and I know that many www.JuliaBloch.com followers want to know more about what we’re doing and why Argentina is so awesome), part of me wants to just enjoy and not think about how to put it into words. Hence the blogger’s dilemma. Maybe I’m not cut out for blogging because I’d rather spend the time living than recalling what I have lived. Yet there comes a point when we all need to share. So here it is.

I’ll start with what I wrote on Friday and continue from there. Enjoy!

Two Blochs to Buenos Aires

It has yet to be 72 hours and I have already been in New York, Washington D.C., Buenos Aires, and San Martin de los Andes. With a combined travel time of approximately 36 hours. Wow! It’s hard to believe that so much has already happened in this short amount of time. After a warm welcome at EZE (the Buenos Aires airport) by Julia and Nati, we jumped right into the porteno lifestyle. I was introduced to and quickly became fond of the 3 cats – Ralphy, La Negrita, and Ralphy’s lookalike; got a warm and hardy welcome from the dog, Arturo; tasted real Dulce de Leche; drank real mate, had an all-you-can-eat experience at a Parilla, visited Jumbo, the Argentinian version of Marshall’s or Costco, but better, and slept at a 180 degree angle on a bus.

We have just arrived at our CouchSurfing house in San Martin de los Andes where Manchi, the adorable terrier that lives here, reminds us a lot of Lucky and how much love a little animal can give.

It’s raining, which is not good news for the ski slopes, but we’ll make do.

Now it is Tuesday and we have put in 3 full days of skiing, one relaxing day in the city of San Martin de los Andes and tomorrow we will tour 5 of the 7 “Siete Lagos” before heading back to Buenos Aires.

Patagonian skiing is different than my experiences in Vermont, Colorado, and Utah. The day begins with a 40 minute bus ride to the mountain and a look at the trail map. The mountain has 21 trails more or less. Muy chiquitito. After one day we’ve been all over, but still find each run fun and completely satisfying. Patagonian skiing is relaxed. We stop mid-morning for a cup of coffee and enjoy the gorgeous views. Lunch lasts 1 hour, minimum, and if we want to stop for a hot chocolate after lunch it’s totally acceptable. Sometimes it seems like there are more people hanging out in the lodges than on the slopes. Perhaps that’s the Argentinian ski philosophy or perhaps it’s because the snow has been good, not great – a little icy in the morning and by the time we finish at 4:30 the bottom of the mountain has turned to slush. Whatever it is, it’s a nice change.

Our CouchSurfing family has been a pleasure! We cooked dinner for 10 on Saturday and have enjoyed their regional dishes – pastel de papas y guillon. The food is truly amazing and I am far from hungry.

When Julia left for her trip I told her to take lots of pictures, more pictures than she thought she would ever want to have. There is always so much a person can say but as we all know “a picture is worth 1,000 words”. So for now I’ll blog the way I can blog best….through pictures.

Minutes after my arrival

Arturo! (Nati's Dog)

Upon arriving home from skiing we found that Arturo had opened a drawer of food, consumed two chocolate alfajores, and ate most of a packet of powdered mash potatoes. Bad Arturo.