Meaty Madness

The question of the beginning of last week was “Comiste Asado?” (Have you had an Asado) and everytime I shamefully had to answer “No”. By Sunday evening I had eaten 3 Asados!!
Asado is the Argentine equivalent of our BBQ but like hell do they put poncy little sausages, burgers and marinated skewered scraps of meat called kebabs on the grill! They put slabs of real meat on the coals- bones, fat inner organs and all! The bigger, the chunkier and the more life-like the better! Traditionally it’s eaten every Sunday, like us Brits eat our roast but they also prepare the Asado “cuando no tienen ganas de cocinar” when they can’t be bothered to cook, which to me makes no sense! It takes a good 3 hours to prepare and cook a good Asado. It’s usually left to the men so maybe what the women really mean to say is that they are tired of cooking, the man can lift his finger for a change!
I shared my first Asado with a family in Machagai, a neighbouring town after visiting some of the local schools with an English teacher. It was delicious and I couldn’t believe the amount of meat we got through- I was struggling and they didn’t even batter and eye-lid! It’s traditionally eaten with a potato, boiled egg and tomato salad unlike our filling bread bap accompaniment! Very clever!
My second Asado w as for lunch on the following Sunday with Claudia, Sergio and Family (Claudia being a fellow English teacher and having practically adopted me here in Saenz Pena helping me with all sorts of situations, preparations and entertainment). This time the Asado was accompanied by a tomato and onion salad which is apparently the true accompaniment!
My third Asado of the week soon followed! That evening I was invited to eat an Asado by some other English teachers. There I saw the whole process and waited patiently for the full 3 and a half hours but it was definitely worth it! We passed the wait chatting and joking and they taught me a whole load of new phrases!
This is when I realised that most of the cultural rituals here evolve around socialising- Mate is drank and passed around friends and people gather and wait together to eat an Asado, there’s no wonder that the Argentines are such warm and welcoming race!

Mate Mania

This week whilst writing an e-mail to mum and dad I realised that they wouldn’t have a clue about what I was on about- I was babbling on about Mate and weird and wonderful crafts and horse-carts and who knows so I decided it’s time to fill you all in on all these quirky little things that are filling my world with joy at the moment!

This entry being the first after this great realisation must be dedicated to Mate the Argentinean’s closest, most reliable and entertaining companion! No Argentine would be complete without his Mate.
So here are the components that complete one’s traditional mate experience:
Mate- the cup, traditionally made from a nut shell but varies from region to region depending on local, natural materials.
Bombilla- a metal straw with a type of mesh at the bottom to prevent the herbs from clogging up the pipe
Yerba- the herb (dried and shredded) bought in 500g bags of suave (weak) or fuerte (strong). Some come mixed with other herbs such as mint and others which are unknown to us Europeans.
Thermo- The water for the mate must be boiling hot so they pour it straight from the kettle to their thermo flask to keep it piping hot.

Procedure
Fill the mate with yerba (leave a good centimetre at the top for when the yerba absorbs the water and expands). Slide the bombilla down the inner edge of the mate. Pour a tiny bit of cold water into the mate, suck it up through the bombilla and spit it into the sink (this is meant to clean the yerba and is optional). Yerba is very strong, bitter and can really hurt you stomach if you’re not used to it. Next pour in some hot water from your thermo and sip it up through the straw. You must take small, fast sips as it’s seriously hot. When you are done and are satisfied with the taste pour a little more hot water into the mate and offer it to your friend. They should ALWAYS accept your offer! (Some people pour in a little bit of sugar with every pour of the thermo to take away the bitterness. This is apparently a habit of the city folk).

Tededé
Tededé is a Paraguayan tradition of drinking the yerba. In a jug prepare some squash with lots of ice. Plop a hefty piece of ice in a glass, pour in some yerba until the glass is about half full and slide in the bombilla. Pour in a little squash so that the yerba are just about covered, sip and enjoy. Top up and pass on to a friend.

Mate Pomelo
Slice a grapefruit in half and carve out some pulp from the middle of the grapefruit so that you have a hole with 1inch radius. Pour in a little sugar to take away from he sourness of the grapefruit, on to of the sugar pour in some yerba, stick in your bombilla and top up the whole with hot or cold water and sip. You can also squeeze out the juice of the other half of the grapefruit and add it to the water for a tastier treat. The same can be done with oranges! Lovely and refreshing drink although a little messier!

The custom
Argentine’s love drinking mate. It keeps hunger at rest, helps to pass time and is very sociable and a great way to approach people or break the ice. They drink it sitting out on the pavement in their neighbourhoods, during long car journeys, during meetings, in class, at school, strolling down the high street, at the supermarkets, in the plaza…practically everywhere!
Bags have even been designed to facilitate the transportation of ones mate and vital components!

It’s a strange concept for us Europeans to grasp- before landing in Argentina I thought it was a custom that the lonely planet raved about and over exaggerated BUT I have been totally blown away by the Argentine’s commitment to mate!

New Humble Abode

Having missed Saenz Peña and the Chaqueños (the people of Chaco, the province) during my time in Mendoza it really upset me when my housemate Analia told me that she was finding it hard to live with somebody!

She has always lived alone and living in such a small space with someone from a different culture, background and 15 years her senior was proving difficult. I had done everything to try and ease the change- agreeing to her orders; not inviting people to the house; participating in all the household chores (the necessary and un-necessary); splitting supermarket costs; maid costs and tending to the spoilt, over-demanding cat but still she was finding it hard to adapt!
At first the news hit me like a tonne of bricks and although she didn’t expect me to take action I decided that looking for a place of my own would be the best option!
The following morning Claudia accompanied me on a walk around the neighbourhood looking for an apartment. By some miraculous miracle the first apartment we got to was going to be vacated in 4 days! I had a look around, like it very much, got a little thrill of excitement and that was it- it was fate, I had found a new home, the fact that it was un-furnished wasn’t a problem- I had found a place where I could live at my own pace, have my own social life and not be driven up the wall by an ugly black and wining cat!
I moved in 4 days later and co-teachers did everything they could to make me feel at home! Claudia leant me a bed a wardrobe and all sorts of kitchen utensils, her husband talked a friend into lending me a water dispenser with hot and cold water on demand, Araceli leant me a gas oven, the landlady leant me a table and her mother leant me chairs and Noelia, another teacher added to my kitchen utensil collection!
I bought some little bits to make the place a little more comfortable and the essential cockroach and mosquito killer spray and I was ready to rock and roll!
Since living independently my confidence, social life and productivity at work, Spanish and daily activities have hit sky high! I’m glad I shared the period of easing into Saenz Pena with someone but now life, experience and enjoyment have hit another level and there’s no stopping me now!

Mendoza

During the lead-up to Easer weekend the other English assistants who are dotted across Argentina decided to “gate-crash” Mendoza. Mendoza is a city and a province bordering Chile and a long 24hr bus journey south of Saenz Pena. I got in touch with Emilie-Jane who has been my housemate in Bath for the last 2 years, and is currently teaching English in Chile and we decided we could meet in Mendoza!!
I left Saenz Pena at 10:00 on the Wednesday morning and arrived in Mendoza at 10:00 the following morning! The journey flew by considering that I had down-graded from the previous “executive” 13 hour journey from Buenos Aires to Corrientes! I watched some films- Madagasga being the most memorable, we played Bingo over the microphone and I ate so many Alfajores’ that I thought my teeth were going to drop out. I had a great seat on the top deck right in the front with a fantastic view of the ever-changing scenery and landscape.
My first impression of Mendoza was that it actually lived up to its title of a city, contrary to Saenz Pena. There were big roads with road markings, lots of traffic, not many horse and carts and the people had a certain elegant city style, as did all the boutiques, restaurants and squares. I soon realised that this was all due to tourism being one of the key industries, Wine being the principal one.
When I met the others assistants at their hostel I suddenly felt like I was back in Ibiza! The hostel was chic with a nice little garden at the back with a lagoon shaped pool and sun loungers. It was a nice surprise but all a bit naff and un-necessary- I felt like I was on a package holiday when I had come expecting an adventure weekend in the Andes and had packed for an adventure too- walking boots, woolly jumper and all!
Ej arrived the following day and it was great to see her and hear about her experiences and she totally inspired me with the level of her Spanish and her confidence in using it! I learnt a lot from what EJ shared with me about her experiences in the continent and it made me eager to get stuck in to my work, my community and my new temporary life in Saenz Pen!
Ej and I spent a lot of time strolling around parks and walking up and down the same streets. As it was Easter weekend the shops weren’t only closed for siesta they were closed for the whole holiday (holiday being Thursday-Sunday)!
We had some great experiences in restaurants with superb wine, ice-cream and service but also pulled the short straw with one place- not one of us got what we had ordered- avocado had been replaced with chicken, mushrooms were missing and when we finally got the they were horrible sliced and tinned button mushrooms bread and ice never arrived and to top it all off the waitress gave me a hefty glass full of Vodka instead of the mocha that Ej had asked for! The waitress even managed to drag the disastrous ordeal out to a good 2 hours! We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry!

I was due to catch the bus home at 9:30pm on the Sunday so after Ej left some assistants and I planned a tranquil day in the park! We bought a Frisbee and were set for a day of bliss when a stray dog decided to befriend us and just wouldn’t leave us alone! We tried all sorts of escape routs and methods but he just wasn’t having any of it! After 3 hours of failed liberation attempts we swallowed our pride and decided the only way to get out of the sticky situation was to go back to the hostel- and hence that was the end of the great adventure!

24 hours later, after tossing and turning and talking to a home-birth midwife about all sorts I arrived back in Saenz Pena and realised that although I had only been away for 4 days I had missed the place and all the people that completed my life in Chaco. Up here it’s friendlier, it’s rural, undeveloped and authentic; it has a quaint charm and next time I’ll think twice before abandoning it for a weekend.

ohhhhh chorizo

Everyone knows that Argentina is the boss when it comes to meat and after the famous asado that I had on the weekend it was time to dive back into industrial Argentina, this time Sergio and Claudia led me to the Cooperativa Agropecuaria to see how the delicious chorizo sausage that I raved about on Friday night was made.

Cooperativa Agropecuaria “La Union” LTDA is a small scale production line where animals (sheep, pigs, cows and goats) are treated after they have been slaughtered and skinned. Due to current laws and policies the produce can not be sold or consumed outside of Chaco (the province) but the scale isn’t as small as it seems- 200,000kg of sausages, salami’s and cuttings are made and handled daily in the factory and Sáenz Peña, a town with a population of only 90,000 consumes 80% of it!!

Although immigrants were drawn to Sáenz Peña by the cotton industry they soon created cooperatives and got involved in other things and the Yugoslavians lead the way when it came to sausages. Unwilling to sacrifice the Eastern European diet for sausages/frankfurters they carried their traditions to Chaco with them and made their sausages (for family consumption only). It wasn’t long before they realised that it would be far more efficient to appoint a place for the Yugoslavian community to make their sausages together- this was how the Cooperativa Agropecuaria “La Union” LTDA was formed and today the whole production line still continues under the same roof- a 47 year old basic building and has no more than 8 workers on the factory floor at any one time! Luis Hopian was kind enough to show us around and lead us through the process.

The animals arrive in the factory skinned, de-headed and halved and at the factory they find a use for every single ounce that arrives. They are then cut into different pieces according to the cut of meat. The bones are then separated and after being dried and crushed are sold on as animal feed, being a great source of calcium. The soft fat is separated from the outer, tougher layer and goes on to be one of the main ingredients in the making.
The remaining meat is minced and mixed according to different recipes- the same recipe that the Yugoslavian’s used more than 40 years ago is still used today! They are then sorted to the appropriate controlled storage/oven until they mature to the final product.

The Chorizo Espanola (known to Europeans as Chorizo) is left to hang in a humid storage room where the controlled temperature and air movement helps the chorizo harden and toughen over a period of 30 days.
Krakovia is heated in a controlled wood burning oven for 45 minutes to create a salami-style final product. Chorizo ahumado (smoked sausage) is heated in the same oven for 2 hours and Mortadela for up to 6 hours.

These were just a few of the 47 variety of sausages and meat cuttings that Cooperativa Agropecuaria “La Union” LTDA are renowned for, it has a good reputation in Sáenz Peña and does business with a great portion of the city’s butchers and restaurants. As for the secret recipe; who knows what it is but from the bag full of sausage variety that Luis gave us it definitely works!

Sáenz Peña was built around the cotton industry and the name of the neighbourhood where I am currently living is called Oro Blanco (White Gold) referring to the cotton flower so when Claudia and Sergio (the landlords) offered to take me to the cotton fields how could I resist!

Now is the time that they harvest the cotton crops and although most harvesters have turned to machinery Sergio knew a place where they still harvest by hand so that the cotton is cleaner, a smaller percentage is missed and unfortunately for the workers it’s cheaper. From harvest the first step of the process were the fields-


The workers are bundled into lorries and travel 80km every day to pick cotton in the scorching heat. They work from dusk until dawn and earn their money by the kilogram (AR$0.40p/kg) most manage to make AR$10 (£/€2) a day apparently if they were really fast at picking cotton they’d make up to double!

The cotton was stuffed into sacks; each sack full weighed approximately 20kg and was poured into a lorry. Whilst we were in the field a storm suddenly picked up and started headed our way, Sergio and Claudia were disappointed but I thought it was fantastic, it really showed the extreme conditions that the workers had to work in.

At the factory the cotton buds were sucked into a machine where the cotton seed and cotton were separated.

The cotton was then compressed and came out of the machine in blocks that weighed 200kg called fardos (imagine how many cotton wool buds that is!!)!!!!

Meanwhile the waste was loaded into lorries and was to be sold to farmers as cattle feed and the seed was sacked and sold to oil producing industries.

It was so impressive to see it all at work; how there was a use for every part of the cotton plant and how something so natural and delicate was treated in such a huge, mechanic industry!

So much has happened in the last two weeks that I don’t know where to begin, but the result of all the activity is that I left Corrientes behind and I am now living in a little house in (Presidencia Roque) Sáenz Peña, Chaco with a girl called Analia who is a Spanish teacher and her cat Chinchulín (which apparently means intestine). I’ve met loads of people from the neighbour hood and my Spanish is rapidly improving as none of them speak English.

My first encounter of Chaco province and the Chaqueños was on the 24th of March when I went to Resistencia, the capital of the province for the “Fiesta Nacional”. It was a day to educate the children and remind the people of the suffering and pain the nation went through during the last dictatorship which ended in 1976. People are still suffering the effects of the dictatorship today as more than 30,000 people were tortured and killed for opposing the politics of the dictatorship, here they are known as the desaparecidos (the disappeared ones).
The day was filled with exhibitions, dramas, art, projections and music in the street and it really brought the whole city together. I even met some Chaqueños and we all went for pizza together and they gave me my first taste of “cascarudo” (half beer, half coke) which is definitely going to be re-lived on a regular basis! I know it doesn’t sound too appetising but it’s amazing, try it!

The following day it was time to hit the road to Sáenz Peña. It was a 2 hour drive on the straightest road across the most monotonous, dry agricultural landscape and the topic of the journey seemed to be “the negative things that Saenz Pena has to offer” and believe you me, they seemed to be in abundance – mosquitoes, dengue fever, strikes, a narrow minded society and very limited attractions to name just a few!
Unfortunately the first few days seemed to confirm the majority of the criticisms!
My mentor- Araceli’s mum was ill with dengue fever, I was a surprise to most of the teachers (it was the first day of the year), there was no where booked for me and the first few places we went to were FULL and the first thing I noticed when I walked in to the room of my nice and basic choice of hotel was a great big COCKROACH hanging on to the curtain above the bed! But on the up side, I had air conditioning which is a godsend in this heat (35-40C and they call it autumn!)
So I turned on the news for a bit of wind down time and it was infested with dengue fever warnings in Chaco, to date approximately 30,000 of the 70,000 inhabitants of Charratas, a small town 100km of Saenz Pena have gone down with dengue fever! The hospitals are full, there are adverts everywhere, mosquito spray is selling fast and there are disinfecting trucks driving around spraying the whole town! It’s the worst epidemic they’ve seen and the mosquitoes are hard at work diffusing it across the province! So yes, the arrival did live up to the anti-climax that the British Council had promised us, but…it soon changed!

After two nights in the “Cockroach Hotel” Claudia one of the English teachers from the Mantovani institute (where I will be working) had found a place for me to live- in a small house in her front yard that she was renting to Analia! After meeting one of the classes that I will be teaching at Mantovani I met Analia and we went for an asado (an Argentinean meat feast) with some of the other English teachers. We got on well, although she wasn’t on her best performance as she was recovering from dengue, I saw the house and that was it!

The following day I moved in I arranged my little bedroom took advantage of all the most basic luxuries of finally being settled and living from a wardrobe instead of a rucksack and it wasn’t long before I got to know lots of people on the block, was taken to all sorts of places- bars, clubs, ice-cream parlours, the thermal spa, cotton fields. The people around me are great and so eager to show me and educate me about their country and habits- the children next door collect all sorts of animals from the country, put them in jars and bring them over for me to see. The good times suddenly excelled, my only fear now is dengue!!