Posted by Andrew
Week 3 of our stay here in BA has been somewhat different. On Monday 20th went to the Atlantic coast city of Vina del Mar for a recovery break which was a most welcome interlude from the rush of BA. At around 500,000 inhabitants it isn´t that large but the summer holiday makers and weekenders change all of that.
We finished up on our return to BA on Wednesday at an estancia (crop and cattle farm) where the local vet come part time cook did a great job of doing a traditional asado (bbq) where the whole animal is cooked over coals. Despite a 4 hour cook time the wait was worth waiting for and lamb never tasted quite so good. Thankfully the whole team are meat lovers. Willie the Scottish / Italian chef was a rugby fan so took easily to a bit of Aussie rules with a Sherrin I have brought to BA as a prop for our final presentation. A great day was had by all!
Thursday saw us with 2 presentations (08.15 and 20.30 hrs) with a great lunch of empanadas (like a small pasty with lots of filling options) and Joey searching for a couple of meters of 40mm poly piping which he has turned into a didgeridoo, again for our final night presentation this coming Thursday. His performance should be outstanding but the taxi driver was a but ambivalent to a short performance on the way home.
Friday saw us with another 2 churches behind us. Both interesting in their own right.
Yesterday we had a really lazy day on a 45´motor cruiser sailing around the Rio del Plata region. This is an area of the river where silt has built up a widespread delta system which is inhabited by both permanent resident as well as weekenders. Channels in the delta are as wide as 300 – 400meters wide down to as narrow as around 20 – 30 meters and as shallow as 1.5 meters . Dodging jet skies, power boats, rowers, the local delta water taxi and the occasional canoeist made for some interesting maneuvering by such a large boat. A relaxed mid afternoon lunch and siesta, followed by refreshments and cake at dusk saw a great day come to an end.
The team had a night without me last night as they “did the town” with a number of Rotaractors we met in week 2 and a Peace Scholar coming to Brisbane who had seen our presentation at the District 4890 Conference. Being in the same house as Carolyn this week gave me inside knowledge of her return time but there the information for you back in Melbourne stops.
Tomorrow sees us with our last vocational day, Tuesday is covered by a visit the famous Boca Juniors stadium and on Wednesday we go to the world heritage listed town of Colonia del Sacremento in Urugauy. This is potentially a real highlight and we all look forward in anticipation to our time there. That brings us to the eve of our final presentation on Thursday which by direction from DG Rene Bollag is to be a light hearted affair. An Aussie football, didgeridoo, some Vegemite and a bit of round singing of the “kookaburra sits in the old gum tree” should see us out in style.
While it is too early to sign of in a absolute sense I can say that the team has had a most wonderful time and many tears will be shed on our departure. We look forward to a short presentation at the final Presidents meeting on the 29th May and then to your invitations to visit clubs to give you all some more precise details of our time here in Buenos Aires.
Saludos Cordiale
Andrew
