Photos From Argentina

Rio Hondo Saved Me From a Cavity Search

I flew in last night from Buenos Aires into LAX. I was tired and had not smoked a cigarette for over 24 hours. I was angry because the flight attendants had not given me a custom form and the guy at immigration kept telling me that I need one. There were no forms to be found in the arrival lounge. Finally he realized what I was saying and gave me a form but he sent me to the back of the line. After I got through immigration with my custom form, I picked up my bag (I only had one bag) and headed toward custom. The custom agents asked me where did I go? Where was I born? What is my nationality? How much money do I have on me? The next thing I know they want to search my one bag. I agreed but I could sense they were nervous about me.
They kept asking me: "Sir did you visit Iran?" and "When was the last time you visited the middle east?" I answered that I am coming from Argentina and I have not been in the middle east since 1978.
The next question was "So when did you go to Iran?" I was really pissed off and they could sense it. I replied as politely as I could "I am coming from Argentina. I had a stop in Panama for an hour. I have not been to the middle east nor Iran since I immigrated to America."
As they searched my bag they asked "so what is your occupation?"
I replied "teacher."
He came over and asked if he can check my pockets and asked "where do you teach?"
I replied "Rio Hondo College"
With that response the custom agents attitude changed. As I emptied out my pockets he asked "I went there to get my Associate degree. Also we go there to qualify on our firearms."
He asked a little about the school as he looked through the pesos and the lints from my pockets and smiled at me. "Thank you for your patience."
I think if I was not a teacher at Rio I would have gotten the full cavity search for being born in Iran.

Taking a Bus Back to Buenos Aires

Today I will ride a bus for 20 hours from Bariloche to Buenos Aires. I will try to take a picture of the bus seat which turns into a bed. So far this trip has been very good for me. I had forgotten how to relax and this trip made me realize how I had become so wound up. I hope I can keep this new relaxed attitude that I have picked up in Argentina.

They Hate Him and Maybe Her

It is unanimous! I have been on a few trips and I have noticed a pattern. The tour guides when they run out of something to say, they complain about Ted Turner and one complained about Jane too.

The French Wal.Mart and Your Best Friend

Yesterday I got tired of washing my socks and I did not want to pay $2 a sock to have them washed. I asked the hotel ¨Donde esta supermercado?¨ The gentleman asked if I want Wal-Mart or CarreFour (the French Wal Mart).
This small city has two Wal Marts and a CarreFour. I went to the French Wal-Mart because it was closer to my hotel and bought 3 pairs of socks. Also I bought some Dental floss. As I was searching for my socks, I noticed a difference between Wal-Mart in the United States and Argentina. Here the middle class and upward moving classes shop at these mega stores and the poor shop on the streets from small shops and other poor people on the street.
Speaking of poverty: Yesterday I took a wine tour around Mendoza. As we were driving back we drove by a shanty town. There were two things that jumped out at me and made an impression: 1) Most (if not all) of the people in this shanty town had indigenous features. Argentinians for most part have European features and the indigenous population is not visible. 2) I noticed a woman walking into the shanty town and a dog with its tail wagging running up to greet her. The dog was happy to see her and after greeting her started following her into the shanty town. It made me think about the importance of friendships and loyalty. One´s surrounding does not matter. It is not how much we have (the dog was malnourished) but ....
Well I am getting sappy so I will stop!

Mendoza and Reading About Toys and Thinking Hybrid

I am in Mendoza now. I rode a bus for 14 hours but it was OK because the seats would turn into beds. I paid $30 extra for these seats. The hotel´s Internet is not very reliable so I am at an Internet cafe. On the road I was reading Newsweek.
There seems to be some doll that comes with a code for the little kiddies to log onto a personalized website. I left the magazine on the bus so I can not remember the name of the toy. Looking at the Newsweek site, I found the following article on toddlers and the Internet. Most of these toys use the same principle as our Hybrid classes. Will students of the future be hybrid crazy?

Leaving For Mendoza

I will leave for Mendoza mañana (that is tomorrow) (I can not spell in English let alone in Spanish). My plan was to go to Bariloche but it is the high season now. All of Buenos Aires is out on vacation in the Pampas. They either go to the beaches south or to the mountains.
I will spend a few days in Mendoza and head down to Bariloche once the crowds go back to Beunos Aires.
Today I rode the train to Tigre. This is where all of the fruits from South America come into Argentina and get sent to Buenos Aires. It is a tourist trap these days and there are no fruits.
I took a picture of a McDonald for my classes to illustrate the Big Mac Index.
I will post again later if I am not hung over and if I can find an internet access.

¿Habla Espanol? Poquito? maybe--

I am in Buenos Aires and my feet are killing me. This is my first trip out of good old USA in over 6 years. I decided to try and learn some Spanish but that upside down question mark has convinced me that I don´t want to study.
Instead I am drinking lots of Cerveza and begining to understand all of the Hablaing around me. Slowly I am begining to habla too.