Argentina in Film, Installment Three

Here is part three of the film pictures I was able to take in Argentina. When I last left you, we had just arrived into Salta and spent our first night. The following morning was nothing we could ever expect.

Pepe was very adamant about keeping our itineraries as secret as possible. All we knew was that our group of 10 had to be split in two 4x4's on a long drive through the mountains. Exactly how long was never told to us, but hey, this is what we were expecting, right?

Wrong.

What was first rocky, uneven roads turned into unpaved, narrow dirt roads harrowing over cliffs.

What was first three hours turned into six, six into seven, and- well, you get the picture.

Our first stop on our way to Tolar Grande was a small town called San Antonio de los Cobres. At this point I believe it had just been a bit over three hours, and Pepe still wouldn't tell us how long the rest of the way was. To get a picture of how remote this place was, I read somewhere that back in the 19th century, anyone born in the area could claim Bolivian, Chilean or Argentinean citizenship, according to his preferences.

Is that remote enough for you? What's crazy is that it wasn't even our final destination. But we'll get to there in a minute.

It's here where the people start looking more indigenous than their relatives in Buenos Aires.


Courtneypoo trying to shake off the stiffness. Our truck had to fit four in the back, with only room for three. Needless to say we were that much closer to permanent scoliosis.


Even after hours of torture, Rach manages to put on a smile. Precious.


OK I hate having to include this because it isn't film, but just to hammer the point home here was a stop about an hour and a half outside of Tolar Grande (and about another two and a half hours from the stop in San Antonio de los Nowhere).


Hours later, we finally get there. None of us are really sure how long it actually took because we were all asleep at one point or another on the drive. I don't think we wanted to know.

Surprisingly, the flag flies in the middle of nowhere just as well as it does in Buenos Aires. Astonishing.


Tolar Grande was originally just a temporary town, but as you can see it ended up staying awhile.


Check out this video and you'll catch a glimpse of where we were.


Back at the school we fit the children with their new TOMS, and played a game of Duck, Duck, Goose.


After it was all said and done, it was time for the grueling trek back to San Antonio de los Cobres where we were spending the next two nights. Normally this plate would cheer me up, but by then I was so drained I couldn't even laugh that we were served a carrot salad, garnished with tomatoes.


I think our looks sell the story.


If these TOMS look exhausted to you, you're right. They are.


My beloved leather bag was plenty exhausted, too. It also got ravaged with Mars dirt on the drive over. Actually, everyone's bags did.


The next day was brutal for me. The altitude had dehydrated me and gave me the worst headache I've ever had. After a handful of Tylenol and a few cups of Coca Leaf tea, it was off to drop shoes.



First stop- biggest group yet.





Pepe getting interviewed.


Mate = Thank God.




Next stop was at a school that also had room and board for kids who were from out of town (at least that's what I remember hearing, it could have been some sort of foster school or orphanage).



Whatever it was, they had their Christmastime decorations up.


It was also here where we were served the ultimate meat dish. Most of the girls couldn't finish it, so Big Kev ended up on garbage disposal duty. The dessert following was served in a giant cauldron with contents very closely resembling gruel.

After lunch, it was TOMS Shoes time!




My buddy Gustavo posing with my travel gnome Rupert.


As we were pulling up to the school, we all wanted to slide down the giant red slide- until we saw that it was mangled at the bottom with broken pieces of wood and nail spewing all over.


Obviously our fear means nothing to these beautiful kids. No matter what, they'll find a positive out of anything.


After the drops, it was back to the hotel where I was tricked to climb a mountain with a few members of the team. The others wisely slept. [warning: not film! sorry!]






I couldn't help it. Sorry.


Later that night we had dinner which was home to some of the largest Coke's in glass bottles I've ever seen. (Actually, they're all over Argentina.)


Then, to appease Dolly's wishes, we went shopping for a bit. Stuffed armadillos, anyone? Anyone?


I know it's a longshot, but listen up. Peace still works. Period.


Part Four, coming soon.

[editors note: i'm in vegas until tuesday, so the continuation of this post will most likely be on wednesday. after all, we're in town for this, and there is serious work to be done- aka convince tony reagins to re-sign mark teixeira. ps, i added a twitter sidebar (it's to the right of the blog) so you can follow our minute-by-minute stalking of angels brass, looming over their every move, pressuring them to sign free agents we most desperately need.]

[editors note in response to above editors note: i know. i sound crazy. but i've been baseball-less for months now. i need sustenance. this video isn't cutting it anymore.]