Chaco-Jujuy-Pumamarca

Last weekend was another “feriado” (holiday) and on the Wednesday it suddenly struck me that I should make the most of it so when a colleague told me she was going to go to Jujuy with her husband for the weekend and I was welcome to join I jumped at the opportunity! Never did I imagine that such short planning could lead to such an amazing experience. We took advantage of everything Jujuy had to throw at us!

We left at 6:30am on the Saturday and after 9 hours of landscape variations that never failed to leave me gob smacked we arrived in Jujuy- a province in the Andean north west of Argentina, bordering Bolivia and Chile. The land was a total transformation- there were mountains, green, successful sugar cane crops, rivers and big wide roads compared to the dry, dusty Chaco full of failed soya crops and potholes!

There wasn’t much to see in Jujuy capital where we were staying but it was a good access point to everywhere. Stayed in an excellent hostel and after an evening stroll and nibble with Vilma and Jose I returned to the hostel to chat, chill and chew coca leaves with the owner and friends. In the north people chew coca leaves with bicarbonate of soda to fight hunger and the nausea of altitude.

After 3 hours sleep I was “up up and at them”. We jumped in the car and off we went- first stop Purmamarca home to the Cerro de los Siete Colores (Hill of Seven Colours), 510 habitants and at a whopping elevation of 2,192m! It was beautiful- the landscape, the colours, the people and their “artesania” (crafts) and the simplicity of life in general. We strolled around the village totally overwhelmed and lost for words apart from “woahhh” “ahhhhh” “ohhhhh my god” and so forth but I was soon awaken from my blissful daze! As I stood on a hill top posing for a photo I heard some barking, turned around and to my absolute HORROR there were 2 massive vicious looking Alsatians running heading straight for me! I screamed, waved my arms in the air and pegged it which was an idiot idea! My scarf streamed behind me in the air and the dogs snapped and had a nice taste of it as I slid down the try dusty mound to safety!
Yikes!

Corrientes the 2nd time around

Corrientes is a neighbouring province of Chaco, it lies East of Chaco and the two provinces are separated by the Parana River. I spent a week in Corrientes capital before coming to Saenz Pena and I failed to see the beautiful quaint city that everyone raved about so this time when I arrived in Corrientes I was surprisingly taken by the place! Compared to Saenz Pena it was like a real city, with colonial buildings and café’s and chic bars and designer shops- it had everything and a really pleasant ambiance!
Phil (another British Council English assistant who is based in Corrientes) and I spent our time dining in nice restaurants, having nice coffees and browsing in book shops! Whilst Phil taught I browsed the craft market, bought some amazing soft leather Alpargatas (Shoes) and a Mate and sat in under a tree in the Plaza reading my book! It was just what I needed! Although Saenz Pena is small it has a certain hustle and bustle that loves to sweep me off my feet so I was glad to have a breath of fresh air!
Phil and some of his new friends also introduced me to “Costanera del sur” which is a promenade FULL of night clubs. I described it as a “Mini Miami” although I’ve never been to Miami and I was totally blown away. Phil wasn’t so impressed, but he’s a little stubborn princess! Saenz Pena has nothing to compare with Corrientes development wise but the people are friendlier, it’s more inviting and living there has taught me a lot about appreciating what people at home would consider common things!
Just when I thought that Corrientes couldn’t surprise me more in one weekend Phil, his friend Nadia and I were invited to a quinta (country house) 30km East of the Capital. Nadia told us that it was a beautiful house with a private beach on a fresh water lake but nothing could prepare us for the little paradise that we were to encounter! When the Taxi driver went off road, the road got narrower, the dirt turned to the whitest sand and the vegetation got wilder we knew we were approaching our little country retreat!
Sergio, the owner was there to greet us. The dogs and children were running bare footed under the mango trees, along the beach and occasionally stopping to rest in the hammocks and have a tinkle on the guitar! We took a big deep breath of fresh air. It felt soooooo good! It was so good that when we were invited to come back the following day we decided that we’d ditch the ideas we had of going to Reseva Provincial Esteros del Ibera and come back to the 100% pure honey, Senor Pompas (the new puppy) and tranquillity.

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!