Top 10 reasons why Bariloche is like the American West of the 60s

• 10. A trip to the gas pump comes with a complimentary window cleaning.
  
• 9. Playgrounds have seesaws. How refreshing to live in a world where liability laws don’t govern everything. I’ve yet to see a sign stating the recommended age for using the equipment, nor warning me that my children might get hurt if they “use the equipment in a way it wasn’t intended”
  
• 8. Two lane roads are the rule. Ok so this is not one of those things I wax nostalgic about—it might be fun if we didn’t have a car that feels like it has 3 cylinders and crash test stats that keep you awake at night.
  
• 7. Only the main roads are paved. The roads in the barrios are strictly hard packed dirt.
  
• 6. The police are quite helpful. Since there are no lights or traffic signs at school dismissal, their on-hand daily to regulate crazy chaos of pick-up. I have yet to see anything resembling a speed trap.
  
• 5. Even tiny local grocery stores have full service butcher sections and bakeries with fresh baked baguettes.
  
• 4. The available produce is what’s in season. In general, it looks terrible and tastes great. There are only 2 kinds of apples and a single color of grapes-- with seeds of course.
  
• 3. Owner-operated bookstores where they really know the inventory. While looking for a text book in a store with thousands if not tens of thousands of books, the owner knew (without consulting a computer) that he had grade 1 but not grade 3.
  
• 2. Public transportation is reliable, thus well-used and cheap. Public bus routes even run through neighborhoods with dirt roads.
  
• 1. It’s a cash society: mortgages and car loans are few and far between. If you can’t pay for it you don’t buy it. . Many partially built houses are in evidence because owners add on as they can afford to.
  

More Bariloche

The Catholic Cathedral, hopefully Naomi and Zoe will make it to mass one Sunday!

Ack! If you ever thought careful zoning of things like cell phone towers was rubish, you should see what happens when there are no restrictions. They are everywhere and there is zero effort to make the blend in.

Bariloche looks a lot like a mini-San Francisco by the Lake. The other day it was foggy and it really is amazingly similar. It even has a couple of Lombard streets. Alas no flowers this time of year.

Berliners and linzer tarts!

Villa Angostura

We took a drive up the north side of Nahuel Huapi to Villa Angostura. It's a pretty little tourist town with a recently contructed or renovated commercial center. If you've ever wished Tahoe had a real coastline with bays and islands, this part of Nahuel Huapi is like the Tahoe of your dreams. A cool cross of upstate finger lakes and Tahoe.

Waterfall just below Cerro Bayo ski area. We didn't have the guts to zip line across the gorge much to J.T.s disappointment!

Looking South West from lookout part the way up to Cerro Bayo.

Looking South East from same point.

Life out of school

We’re in the midst of a string of near perfect fall days: sunny. shorts- weather with no wind. A kayak rental place is a stone’s throw from the house and the rental is $4 US for a half hour, so we’ve taken the kids out a couple times. Today Zoë tried her own single and handled it quite confidently.

Friday morning started with a dense fog blanketing the area. By afternoon it remained settled on the water so we stopped at a local beach access to snap photos before it burned off. On the path we discovered a thick patch of blackberry brambles loaded with shiny berries. Having no containers we picked until our hands were full and splotched with deep purple with juice. Later we toured the local trout farm from small fry to the 10 kilo. The children loved feeding them –they were so close.

Our life here is slower, quieter and simpler. The kids try to press the buttons on the key to unlock the car door. (the locks are all manual) The grapes (one variety) have “crushy” things inside (seeds). Watermelon has seeds. The produce is filled with blemishes, but tastes amazing. We can “mostly” buy what we want, but it requires stops at multiple stores. For the most part businesses are owned by locals and few chains are in evidence. Rumour is that Walmart is building outside of town which would be horrible for the downtown.

Downtown Bariloche. Amazingly, I managed to get a picture with no people on the street. Bariloche seems to be the only 'city' for many miles around, so the downtown is very very busy most days.

Inside the Turista chocolate shop. One of the biggest. This shows about 1/4 of the total shop. It's a huge spread of great chocolate.

Zoe kayaking

Papa and JT. A rare calm day. Most days it's been blowing from the North or from the East.

Week 1: School daze

Adventure (n): a bold, usually risky undertaking of uncertain outcome.


It wouldn’t be much of adventure if we didn’t hit some bumps along the way. After speaking with the staff we decided to start the kids in the afternoon (English speaking portion) so they could get to know the other children in a more familiar environment. Because of the difference in the school year and their cut-off dates, they recommended placing Zoe in 3rd and JT in 1st grade. From what the kids describe of the lessons, I think this has been a good choice.



Immersion here is different from the model we know and love. The lessons during the English portion are taught in English in the 3rd grade, but focus on teaching English. On the first day Zoë sang and filled in blanks for the song “wheels on the bus”. She laughed about the experience because the kids pronounced the “u” in bus like the Spanish, the teacher used a funny hybrid and Zoë did it correctly.



Zoë is our little rock star. She seems to have befriended some of the girls in her class and I see her chatting with them in the playground. She was a little nervous about starting with the Castellano portion, but after an afternoon guest teacher taught a lesson in Castellano, she felt ready to handle the challenge.


JT has had a much tougher time of it. First, the kids can’t say his name. Then they don’t have enough vocabulary to confidently initiate all but the most basic of conversations, and frankly, neither does he. The other kids are fascinated by him, but confuse him. He didn’t understand why the little girls would come up and say Chi Chi then run away. We explained they couldn’t day his name and they’re playing tag—apparently second in popularity only to “futbol” at recess.


Day one – Zoë had to come in because he was a little sad. Day 2: he complained that the teacher talked in Spanish the whole time even though it was supposed to be English. He had a bit of a meltdown and felt really sad about the whole experience. Day 3 seemed OK after we smoothed some things over with the director and by day 4 he decided (Ok so admittedly some bribery was involved) he’d attend the Castellano portion. We stopped by mid-morning and he wanted to stay. Still he was clearly fried after 4 hours and losing it consistently by the end of the day. I don’t see full days in his future... which puts a little kink into my plans.


I remember how sometimes the second week can be harder—wish us luck



Okay, when's the last time you saw this? You pretty rarely seen the Police around town. Except at 8:30 and 4:30 when the many schools (there must be a dozen in the two square miles that is the suburbs of Bariloche) start and finish. At this time, the police (who look fit enough to excel in other than the 10 yard dash to the Dunkin' Donuts) turn up on their dirty bike (makes sense, right!) They then...(wait for it)...direct traffic for the 10 minutes it takes school to let out, then leave. No stop light required that screws up traffic all day for 20 minutes required effort. Pretty cool!