We moved to Argentina in July of 2004. I'm still in the process of learning how to post pictures, articles, and everything else. Hopefully, I'll have something worthwhile to look at soon.

Of course the blog is backwards... I'd prefer that it started at the beginning... but the latest is at the top... so you have to scroll all the way to the bottom to see how we ended up in Argentina.

The earlier posts show what the house looked like at the beginning... and (if we ever finish working on it) I'll post pictures of the finished product.

I"ve been looking at houses for Mark & Maria who live in Vancouver… but are thinking about eventually retiring in Argentina as we did. Maria is originally from BA, so she’s a native Argentine like Irma.

On Sunday, March 11, 2007, Natalia took us on a spine jarring, bone-crunching ride over some of the worst roads in La Falda. The theoretical purpose of the trip was to show us some real estate that we weren’t aware of, but I wonder is the true purpose was to kill me so that my vast fortune would trickle down to my heirs.
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It was truly a mind opening (but jaw clenching) experience. The real estate agent had told me that the house in the center of town was a great deal. Since it was located in an alley, I didn’t even want to take a look at it… how wrong I was!

Natalia turned onto the alley… and once past the street, it opened up into a well-paved boulevard into another world. There were four houses hidden from public view that were spacious, in excellent condition, with a backyard almost as big as ours. This shows the house that is for sale for US $70,000.
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The realtor and several others have been telling me that the Santa Rosa, Estela, Dominador, and other barrios were “low class”… or in a translation of the local expression, “medium length hair.” Don’t ask me to explain it, I can’t.

For my tastes, I thought that the neighborhoods were great… but I think that margarine tastes as good as the high priced spread. If someone is looking for a quality house and is not seeking a place with great status, these neighborhoods are the better value. At least in my not so humble opinion.

Previously, without knowing the name of the area I was in, I have been in Santa Rosa and have seen some lovely houses. We visited that barrio again, and saw several houses for sale… some good, and some needing repair, but almost all of them worthy of further investigation.
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But the area that impressed me the most was El Dominador. There were many beautiful houses… but I was struck with one in particular. It was located a bit closer to the edge of the city… and had a spectacular view of the surrounding hills that give La Falda its name. (La Falda literally translates as “The Skirt,” but it also means “the side of a hill.”) The first photo is a series of photos that I took as I stood across the street and spun around… (it was my imitation of a panoramic camera.)

This composite shows the house that I like. It’s higher than the other houses in the area, so has an unobstructed view. If you pay close attention to detail, you’ll see that it has a paved street in front, but the grass grows into the gravel road on the side of the house. It’s only a minor inconvenience, because you would only have to travel a few meters on the gravel road to reach the driveway,

As I noted on the photo, I’d build a higher wall between this house and the one next door… partly because I believe that good fences make good neighbors… but also because Lucky thinks that a four foot jump is only a warm up for his leaps over six foot gates!

In the background of the pic of the two houses, you can just barely see the cuincho (or Argentine barbeque.) It’s not fully enclosed like Nelida’s, but it’s much nicer than the one we have.

Natalie believes that this house is priced well below US $50,000.
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High in the hills, overlooking the local lake is an area that everybody warned me about. It’s so remote, and the roads are so rough that police and fire department vehicles would be unlikely to respond… and so houses in the area are likely to be robbed.

However, this composite shows a possible exception to this caveat. The houses in this mini-neighborhood have private security that is watching the property all of the time.

I wouldn’t live there… ever! But if a young woman wanted to get rid of her husband, she could tell him that she wanted this house… then send him on five or six errands a day; to buy milk, bread, the newspaper, a chocolate candy bar, etc… she would be a widow in less than four months, and could afford to replace the car that was destroyed along with her husband.
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Sunday was also the International Day of the Woman. Is this a big deal in your area? It is in La Falda.

I decided to skip the festivities in favor of staying home and dog sitting. There was going to be a raffle… only for females in attendance. It was supposed to start at 7pm. Nelida said that it would be a good idea to bring our collapsible camping chairs, because seating might be a problem.

At 6:30 I took Irma to Nelida’s house. Nelly was waiting outside, so we picked her up and drove the 2 blocks to the Eden Hotel… there was a stream of people walking to the hotel, and we heard that people had been headed that direction for over three hours.

Cars were in every available parking place, on every side street for at least a dozen blocks in every direction. Due to Nelida’s press credentials, the two of them were able to enter a better location… but still needed the chairs.

Over 12,000 people (99.9% women) crammed into the hotel grounds. (And the official population figure for La Falda is about 14,000)

All of the entertainers were female, and Irma said that they were great. The raffle took place around midnight. And Irma came back home around 1 in the morning.

What kind of prize would draw that many women? A new car! The rumor is that Chevy donated 50 cars to be given away at different locations in Argentina. A woman from Cordoba won the car… and the grumbling from La Falda residents is still being heard. Next year I may shave my legs, put on a dress, and join the throng. I refuse to shave my mustache, so that might be a give-away feature.
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And that’s about it from south of the Equator,

Ron

We were living in sunny California... and July was quite warm. Irma took the photo of me, then I ran and took her photo before the camera lens shut... either that or I did a little photo "processing" after the fact... I don't remember which.

This is Irma at her computer. Here is where she does all of her translation work and the table is handy for interviews and classes. You can tell that Ron doesn't use this room very much, because it's neat. 

Ron in his studio. notice the brushes and cigar boxes full of paint in the background. These are are less than a fourth of his art supplies. 

In the spare bedroom we have a full size futon. It's covered with a sheet to keep it clean, so this picture doesn't do it justice. 

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care. Lacey was Ron's father, Gladys was his grandmother. They may be gone, but they're not forgotten. 

Karioki machine (wrapped in plastic) and fireplace 

Lettuce, peas, and beans 

Apricots just starting to ripen in December 

Peaches just starting to ripen in December 

This is the "shamrock" that was planted last year. The trees were planted at an angle on purpose... there is empty space between them, but they are growing straight up from this point on. 

Ron's painting of a garden 

Another of Ron's paintings... 

Ron's painting in the entry 

Ron's paintings in the hall 

The lemon tree 

This is the neighbor's plum tree. From just these few branches last year, Ron made 20 jars of jelly. 

These are the peach trees that are planted in the "shamrock." They look completely different than they did last year. 

Lucky is laughing because he didn't get caught digging in the garden... this time! 

The south side of backyard 

The front yard is full of color 

Roses in mid December... 

If a bow would stick to a package as well as it stuck to a forehead, you'd never get it off! 

While Ron opened presents, some were still working on dessert. 

This tells who was who at the Thanksgiving/ Birthday/ Hannukah/ pre-Christmas party 

This is the south side of the backyard. The steps lead up to the terrace. Notice the two sides of the quincho (barbecue.) A wood fire is built on the left side and hot coals are moved to the right side for cooking. The brick oven is just to the right of the quincho. 

This is the north side of the backyard. Two peach trees and one apricot tree are inside the "shamrock." A lemon tree is in the background. The green box is a planter. 

This is "My Mountain" as seen from our front porch. A huge tree had completely blocked the view and took several days to remove. 

This is the front of the house...before all of the landscaping was complete. Jose, our handyman is in the yard. 

Thanksgiving 2005

The past couple of days have been most unusual.  In the states, I assume, everybody is getting ready for the big feast tomorrow.  Here no one remembers that it is Thanksgiving, and I haven’t bothered to remind them.  
Both of Irma’s sisters, her niece, and both nephews took off last week for a holiday trip to celebrate Andre’s birthday.  They were supposed to return on Monday, but they were having such a good time that they extended it until Tuesday… and then they were too tired to return, so they didn’t arrive back in La Falda until today… and you can’t buy and prepare everything traditional for Thanksgiving in the afternoon before the big day, even if they had remembered.
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I have a dentist appointment this evening… the next in a series.  I was supposed to have my crown installed last Friday, and the dentist said that she had everything ready.  But when we arrived she fiddled with Irma’s teeth for a very short time, and then announced that we should come back on Tuesday.
Then on Monday she called and said that she needed to make new impressions!  So obviously, not everything was ready.  She only needed to make new impressions for Irma… and blamed the lab.  We would be called when everything was ready.
She called today and said that I should come at 7 tonight and she would install my crown, but not Irma’s.  This is so typical.
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The weather has been very unstable.  It was quite hot, and somewhat humid for a couple of days.  The forecast for the next ten days was sunny with no hint of rain.
But just after midnight last night it started to pour, with lightning threatening to knock out the power.  I ran around the house and disconnected the computers.  Then as suddenly as it started, it stopped.
At 3 in the morning, the wind gusted so hard that it blew open the windows in my studio and sent rain gusting across the room and causing doors to slam throughout the house.  I got the window closed just before the hail started to fall.
In less than three minutes the “awning” over the driveway was covered with about an inch of hail.
I barely had time to wonder at this phenomenon when it was over.  Irma roused from her slumbers long enough to inform me that summer storms were common and usually quite brief.
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Update on the second section… We had just gotten into the car and were headed to the dentist when she called… the lab had let her down again, so I need to go back tomorrow.  Why had I expected anything different?
But we were already in the car, so we ran a few errands.
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And… we were met on the street by some of Irma’s clan.  They announced that they had some meat and were coming to our place for a barbeque tonight.  So Irma went with them and I finished running errands then returned home.
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The lightning didn’t knock out the computers, but they went down this afternoon.  I was connected to the ISP, but it wouldn’t connect to the Internet.  After waiting for a couple of hours, we gave them a call.  They said that there was nothing wrong with the system; it had to be in my computers… so they were sending a technician.
I had no sooner hung up the phone then I looked at my computer and it was connected to the Internet.  Irma said that I should call the ISP again and tell them that it was working.
As I picked up the phone, it rang.  It was the ISP to inform us that they wanted to make sure that we really needed a technician… and they weren’t especially surprised to learn that the Internet had mysteriously started working again.  
I was speechless at the coincidence….
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We have a new maid.  Her name is Gisela (pronounced Gee sell uh).  She came to us highly recommended.  Here’s what I have learned about her thus far.

• She is 17 years old.


• She is in the equivalent of her sophomore year in high school and attends school in the afternoons, which means she’ll be 20 when she graduates.


• She has a two year old son… that means… um… that means… that implies… um… that she started “he-ing and she-ing” at the age of fourteen…

But she is a hard worker and is a likable girl, so I won’t comment on past indiscretions and just hope that she turns out to be more reliable than some of the maids we’ve had in the past who had lengthy work histories and impeccable moral records.
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I’d better bring this to a close and get it sent off while the Internet is still working.  To all of my friends and family in the states, we wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving.  To my friends who are scattered throughout the world, you can join me in celebrating just another day.  And to those of you fortunate enough to live south of the equator, you can join me in saying, “Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah… I don’t have to put a coat on for another six months!!!!!!”
Ron & Irma

We moved to Argentina in July 2005
Here's to you!