Plans

(Once again there is a condor in the city. Just saw it flying by. I'm still amazed with the fact, that they come to the city at all.)

Made further plans. Booked flights to

• Buenos Aires for Easter
• Santiago de Chile in early May; will rent a car to go to Valparaíso

I might just go to Patagonia as well. It is only Fall and it should not be too cold. I definitely want to have a look at Los Glaciares and pay Bariloche a visit.

Cerro Fitz Roy

Lakes Moreno and Nahual Huapi

And in the vicinity of Córdoba, I would like to return to the Sierras and the Pampa de Achala and go for

• Cerro Champaquí
• Cerro Colorado
• and maybe Ongamira.

Of course I will always be on the lookout for the occasional puma or condor.

Cerro Champaquí

Cave Paintings in Reserva natural y cultural Cerro Colorado

Eeeeoeeee, Salchichas con Puré!

An evil Argentine virus (very very bad!) has gotten hold of me (it is a light cold). That is why during the last couple of days I only carried out my minimum duties and skipped the blogging (and the sports of course)... :)

Went to the UNC Facultad de Lenguas office daily, but Fernanda never showed up. I have to admit, that I am a little disappointed. She was kinda nice in her emails...

Yesterday there was a magnitude 5.5 earthquake SW of Vinchina, La Rioja. Paula told me, that she could feel the earth tremble and building shake here in Córdoba as well. I am known as being a little insensitive and felt dizzy anyway. So I did not feel anything trembling beside my stomach.

The John Travolta of Cumbia

It was Saturday and we went out with the regular crowd of about 10 people. We went to Cruz Espacio. Generally speaking a nice place: mainstream disco with a good mix of local and international dance music. Getting inside is always a drag, but that is what Sergio usually takes care of.

They call me the 'John Travolta of Cumbia', but after doing a 6km run in the morning I was barely able to move. My hip swinging and grinding was basically non-existent. My overall dance moves were not very (or rather not at all) creative. I was stiff like a beer drinking German. I was really really tired. I just could not live up to my fab dance reputation. So I went for the European House music parts. At least that went well and I could sustain with very limited movement until 0500 in the morning. Had fun with Fernet c/ Coca inbetween. All in all a very nice evening...

My back hurts though...

Women of Argentina...

Women of Argentina,

I have to address you directly as I think this is a matter of utmost importance:

You women of Argentina are - as is widely known - most attractive and stunningly beautiful. And I am talking about a vast majority of the female Argentine population - so basically all of you Argentine women. Some of you have such incredibly good looks, that the average male heart is about to fail at the very instant they are only having the quickest and shortest glance at you. So why - for heaven's sake - are you wearing these platform shoes?! They are so utterly ugly. And they are spoiling the whole good looks. I cannot - for the life of me - understand why you ever bought these. Even more I cannot understand why you actually wear them. Particularly unbearable are those plateau'd flip-flops, that you are wearing in the streets...

Food, Arts and Armed Forces

Despite missing teeth, we went out yesterday. Had a very nice dinner at aforementioned Mercado Central. I had the ultimately perfect Churrasquitos c/ various Cazuelas and liked the Chimichurri best. As I went for a 14km run in the morning (i.e. ran 6km, walked the rest... :) ...) I certainly had to catch up with my protein. Had a perfect Bavaroise for a desert and a Cynar Julep to adequately finalize our dinner.

While we were having our dinner Gabriela Beltramino Borré's very own Gabriela Beltramino Swing Trio played. Perfect evening. Went for a little chat with her afterwards. Gifted singer and very nice person as well. Gorgeous... (the video is not exactly her with the Swing Trio, but at least you get a first impression of her singing voice)

Went to meet Jorge, Sergio and the other guys at Los Infernales for a Peña afterwards. As Mercado Central is actually a more posh place for - I'd say - grown-ups, we were appropriately dressed up for the dinner: proper shoes, shirt, suit jacket (... and yes, you have to leave the first three of your shirt buttons unbuttoned to be properly dressed as a man in Argentina, even if your chest is hairless like mine...). Los Infernales on the other hand is more a student type of bar. Lots of very young people there; tables and chairs all over the place. And us in our slightly overdressed evening outfit. Felt slightly misplaced. But what do you do, if you are overdressed? Get rid of the suit jacket, roll up the sleeves, put your elbows on the table and order a beer...

Had a very interesting discussion with Jorge, who is a high ranking officer in the Argentine UNFICYP regiment (as I never joined armed forces in Germany, I do not have the slightest clue of military ranks, so I can not tell you about this). The interesting thing about the UNFICYP is, that the majority of the troops are British (!) and Argentine (the difference between both regiments is only very few soldiers as of now). That is quite a strange situation if you think about Las Islas Malvinas and ongoing problems between Argentina and UK. But he took it all very professionally. And apparently there are no problems between Argentine and British forces in Cyprus whatsoever. Malvinas were a job and Cyprus is a job. I was actually very impressed even though I am a pacifist at heart and never touched a gun. All in all he is a very nice chap, who was traveling a lot due to his being with the Argentine forces. Spoke a perfect English and a really good German as well.

Look Ma, No Teeth

I have a longer track record of collapsing body parts (C4, L5, 25, 35; luckily the most important parts did not collapse yet). Yesterday a tooth broke. Split right in the middle. It did not hurt at all, but it is not very pragmatic if you want to go for a proper asado... or even for some Argentine afternoon snack with chipacitos and mate...

Anyway, I think I'll have the rest of the tooth extracted some time tomorrow or on Friday. Will go for an implant later this year. Did not budget for that though. Doh!

But now I am really really worried: I got into my daily sports routine. So I am burning a lot of additional calories per day. How am I supposed to catch up with this? Like, without teeth? I will starve to death, that's what's gonna happen!

...

Went to the UNC today and guess who was not there? Fernanda... But Florencia, who was really nice, helped me to enroll for the course. Beginning next Tuesday (Monday is a public holiday) I am going to learn Spanish (i.e. if I am able to speak at all with all the missing teeth...) and I am really looking forward to that. Anyway, I have to wait for Fernanda, because she really is in control of the whole language course thingy here. So I am still looking forward to meeting Fernanda... without teeth...

Tell Fernanda, I was here...

 

Today (i.e. Tuesday, March 18) I went to the UNC to register for my Spanish course (curso intensivo de español para extranjeros to be clear). They provide individual intensive Spanish courses of 60 hours over the course of 4 weeks for ca. 6700 ARS. Depending on the exchange rate it is reasonably priced (approx. 500 EUR). That is about a fourth of what I budgeted for my Spanish learning.

Prior to leaving Europe I requested a few informations from the Facultad de Lenguas. And Fernanda told me: 'The classes are in Spanish. The teachers can translate to English if necessary, but there's a method to learn and to teach spanish in an immersion situation.'... Meaning, they will teach me Spanish in Spanish! Damn! I do not have the slightest clue how that is going to work. The only Spanish phrase I am capable of saying is along the lines of 'El pinguino come fruta'... and that is even wrong. Or I can go for: ¡una cerveza, por favor!... ¡una más!... ¡una más!... ¿algo más?... ¡nada más!... Anyway, we will see. It is a surprise.

But today I got at least a first idea of how these courses will be carried out. Went to the office of the Facultad de Lenguas and asked the guy (in English) regarding the course. And he consistently answered in Spanish. Problem: Fernanda is responsible for the Spanish for Foreigners courses. And apparently she is the only one, who knows about those. And Fernanda was not around. So I have to get there again tomorrow to meet Fernanda.

Festival Mundial del Choripán

On Saturday we went to the first 'Festival Mundial del Choripán' in Parque Sarmiento.

A choripán is a sandwich (pan) with a chorizo (chori; Argentine-style chorizo, not Spanish chorizo; it is a coarse meat grill sausage made from pork or sometimes beef, quite similar to German Rostbratwurst).

Choripán Argentino

The festival has been organized by the municipality and apparently they were a little overwhelmed with their unforeseen success. Usually there are a few choripán carros in Parque Sarmiento anyway. For the festival they set up a stage in the middle of the park half way down Av Deodora Roca. And they gathered a few choripán carros on aforementioned Roca. There were really only about 10 carritos, definitely not more than that. I saw them build the stage and I saw some of the carros gathering, when I did my daily run through the park around 1100. Was a little confused, because all of the guys were like super calm and relaxed. Nobody was in a hurry. Actually it seemed like any other day in the park, only that they were building the stage.

When the four of us got to the actual Festival Mundial del Choripán at proper Argentine dinner time (i.e. 2300) the park was full of people and cars. I would have guessed there were easily 10000 people there. And ... no food!... The queues in front of the 10 carros (Cronica says, there should have been 60!) where about 100 meters long (each, that is). Loads of people wanted to buy their choripán and waited for literally hours. So we wandered around to have a look at the whole festival and then went to one of the restaurants (there are I think 4 restaurants down Roca). We sat down and wanted to have a look at the menu, but the waiter told us, that they were out of food as well. Apparently the Festival Mundial del Choripán was so successful with the fellow Cordobese, that the few Choripán carros were completely overrun by hungry masses, then the restaurants in the park and then the restaurants further down the street (El Club de la Milanesa, McDonalds and a lot more, all with long queues outside).

We decided to walk a few blocks and went to Betos to get us some lomitos. It was late (i.e. 0030; at least for my German stomach that is late) and by this time we were really hungry. And even at Betos we had to wait a while, because others had the same idea...

And here is, what the local press says about the success of the Festival Mundial del Choripán: Dia a Dia - Córdoba ...

Parque Sarmiento

Parque Sarmiento is my daily running ground. It is surprisingly beautiful in summer. When I was here with Nicole in July and August it was dry, dusty, brown; not a nice place to be. But now it is super welcoming, green and cool in the summer heat (as we are nearing fall, the weather is not always to the best though). There are lots of sculptures all over the place. And the park is actually huge. It includes the Super Park, which is kind of a theme park, and the Zoological Garden. University grounds are part of the park. On Sundays there are free (?) arts classes for children.

View from the bridge to the island in Parque Sarmiento

Yet another view from the same bridge

Fountain and Alegorias Griegas (background)

Parque Sarmiento in the vicinity of Teatro Ciudad de las Artes

Sundays in Argentina

It is not exactly Frisco and I am rather watching the condors fly by than the ships rolls in (plus I roamed about 7000 miles instead of 2000...), but that is how my Sunday feels in Argentina...

Going out for a walk... :)

Observations

My sports routine starts to be effective. Now I am in a state where I can start to watch people instead of my own racing heart during a running session in Parque Sarmiento:
There is this one guy I see every day. He is always wearing the same baseball cap. And apparently the base cap is a little front-heavy. So the longer he runs the more the visor falls into his face. Due to these circumstances he is not really able to see what is in front of him, so he tilts his head back. And then he is running with his head in the most awkward position and it looks as if his neck is going to break any second.

I had been using a mobile with a business account provided by my company for a long time. The funny thing is, that this business account does not include a proper data plan. I can tell you from my own experience, that a smartphone without a data plan is basically an old-skool monoblock. You are able to call people and to send and receive texts, but that is it. And actually old monoblock designs are way more suitable to do that. I loved my old Nokia 3109c. But it was stolen or I lost it, I do not actually know. Either way, it is gone for good. So for my time in Argentina I got myself a second-hand mobile to be used with the business account (thanks to Matthias and Eugen... I actually got myself a selection of second-hand mobiles... :) ...) and I got myself a new smartphone with an Argentine SIM with a data plan. Rock'n'Roll! Of course I joined The Enlightened at once. I am now aiming to capture Resistant Portals every time I am roaming the streets of Córdoba and you can observe me running through Parque Sarmiento occasionally hacking a portal.

The last time I was in Córdoba, I observed, that the Lonely Planet effect is actually sort of blocking people's susceptibility to really good places along their touristy ways. Lonely Planet recommends an okay place called La Nieta as the top choice restaurant in Córdoba. La Nieta is situated at Belgrano 783. Usually lots of people there, expensive, full of tourists, food is okay. On Tuesday we went to Don't Worry Güemes (Belgrano 695; only one block away from La Nieta), a very nice place, young folks, good food; not mentioned by Lonely Planet, so no tourists, perfect prices. Same applies to Mercado Central (Belgrano 840; only one block away from La Nieta in the opposite direction): super nice place, a bit more expensive, but worth the money; not mentioned by Lonely Planet, no tourists.

Yesterday I went for an evening with friends. My main observations:

1. I have to improve my Spanish to understand what is going on (gonna apply for the language course at the UNC next week for sure)
2. Have to improve my cooking skills...

Oh and my final observation tonight goes out to Nicole: Parque Sarmiento is actually quite nice during the Argentine summer. As it was raining a lot, it is really green. And there are big flocks of rose-ringed parakeets in the trees. Did not yet have the opportunity to take a proper picture of the park (due to all the running and portal hacking). I promise to provide a picture as part of my next posting... :)

Pain

I started my core strength routine yesterday after I had a forced break of about 3 months (just didn't have the time due to project work). The reason why I do core strength is basically to strengthen my back to avoid further problems with spinal discs. But now I am in hellish PAIN. My muscles are so sore, that I can't really move. Pure pain from literally head (in particular neck) to toe (calves). Think I'm gonna spend the afternoon reading. Would someone please hold the book for me?

Sabbatical - A New Experience

The first couple of days I basically caught up on sleep. Now I'm fine with my sleeping routine and I even got used to the general Argentine schedule:
Argentina is GMT-3 (ART). Germany is GMT+1 right now (CET not CEST). Thus being in Argentina makes everything feel like it was 4 hours too late. Furthermore the Argentine schedule is basically even later than the German one. Meaning, that in Germany I get up at 0700, in Argentina I get up at 0900. In Germany I have lunch at around 1200 to 1300. In Argentina I have lunch at 1400 to 1500. In Germany I have dinner at 1900 to 2000. In Argentina I have dinner at 2200 earliest.

Still being jet-lagged I started my sports routine. And boy I am so unfit. Even while I was really slowly jogging my heart was racing like there was no tomorrow. Within minutes my pulse frequency was above 170 beats per minute and it actually staid there. Second lap I only went for a nice little walk, but the pulse still staid at above 130. At half of my third lap while jogging again I reached the maximum heart frequency. That is so bad. Am currently trying my best to stay with a daily sports routine and slowly increasing the strain from a way lower starting point. I just do not want to collapse in Parque Sarmiento right in the first week of my sabbatical. That would be more than stupid... :)

first training in what seems like an eternity (red: pulse; grey: 'speed')

Generally speaking, I find it hard to get accustomed to the non-working state I am in. Did my best to not use the computer, but instead read, nap, eat, take it easy, have a drink, do some sports. But at last I actually did some more project work. Hit me, please! I know it's stupid, but I just felt as if I had to do it. Did it for myself and the colleagues rather than my company. Hope, that counts as an excuse...

Interesting things, that I came across during the last few days:

• Mobile development with IBM WorkLight; installed the Developer Edition right away and am now trying out things (just out of personal interest; nothing to do with work... :) ...)

• Evobis - an organization supporting start-ups and entrepreneurs in Bavaria, Germany (thanks for the hint, Nadine)

Arrival

This time I was quite lucky with my flights. Went for the (unexpectedly inexpensive) Lufthansa flight, which took me from FRA directly to EZE and further on to COR. Usually getting here takes three legs and you are leaving Europe from London, Amsterdam, Madrid or Rome. And usually you arrive in BsAs Ezeiza (the international airport), have to pick up your luggage, go on a ride through the city to continue your journey from BsAs Aeroparque (the domestic airport). So the last time it took me about 46hrs to get here. This time it took me only about 20hrs.

The intercontinental flight was quite nice. I even had about 8hrs of sleep. When we landed I figured out, that it was a bad idea to be seated somewhere in the back of the plane though. It took me a long while to get out of the plane, pick up my luggage and when I came to customs there was a queue, which was about a mile long. Lots of people everywhere. Generally not a problem, but as I had to check in for my connecting flight to COR from Terminal C (arrival from FRA was at Terminal A) waiting for half an hour in the customs queue was kinda nerve wrecking. In the end I made it just in time to my flight.

Buenos Aires

<smart alec mode>advice to young parents: your babies and toddlers are not able to control middle ear pressure normalization. You are able to yawn, to swallow or to deliberately force pressure equalization with the help of your pharynx and soft palate. You can even do a valsalva maneuver. Your kid cannot. And as your kid is not able to do that, its Eustachian tubes might be closed, its middle ears blocked. Hence your baby will be in pain during the descend of the plane due to the change in air pressure. Sometimes it is even painful during the ascend of the plane. You can take care of that by letting your baby drink something (swallow). If the baby has a cold, apply decongestant nasal spray suitable for babies or rather do not fly at all.</smart alec mode>

On my way from EZE to COR there was a young family sitting in the row behind me. They had a baby boy with them, who apparently had a cold. He started to cry during ascend of the plane. It was quite alright during cruise flight, but during the descend he cried even harder. He apparently was in constant pain. Parents did not do anything about it, although I tried to tell them, that it might help him to drink something. Long and slow torture. In the end it was a mere whimpering. Not very nice. Poor baby...

As I was arriving in Córdoba it rained cats and dogs. Never experienced such a strong rainfall there.

Slept like a baby all afternoon, went for a little stroll in the evening and had proper Argentine dinner before going to bed again.

Proper Argentine Dinner #1

Proper Argentine Dinner #2

The Leaving Do

Seems like the leaving do this time is a lot more stressful than the last time. But this time I managed to meet most of the people I wanted to meet. On the other hand my plane is leaving in about 26hrs and I'm not yet packed... and there is still stuff I would have to do for work, ha! ...

it's gonna be a stressful night... :)

Goals

Leaving for a sabbatical can not be done aimlessly and without any goals. You do not want to stay away from your job for 12 months just to realize, that you have been procrastinating posting on Facebook the whole time. So I started to make very strict plans in November... and then realized, that it just would not work this way. The things I planned to finish before leaving could not be done in such a short time with the high job pressure. The plans I had for the sabbatical itself were just too ambitious. That is why I changed the general approach.

These are the things that I might do while being away (or rather the things I generally thought about doing, but do not necessarily have to do):

• learning Spanish (always wanted to do that, never really had the opportunity, will be in an immersion situation anyway)
• do sports on a daily basis
• certification as an IT Architect (this one goes out to Rebecca... ;) ...)
• transalpine hike along the E1 (i.e. the Swiss part of the E1 from Konstanz to Porto Ceresio) in the European summer
• write a business plan
• travel Argentina's more Southern parts, maybe Chile, Peru
• start a travel blog (no not regarding sightseeing hotspots or my actual travels, but regarding the act of transportation itself) 
• learn how to tango (I'm a little afraid of that, but I'm a big boy now, I will manage...)

... and of course I will read lots of books, sit in the sun, have a glass of wine, eat home-made tiramisu, watch people in the park, talk and write to friends, go party and dance... something along these lines...

I was thinking in really ambitious dimensions in the beginning. I always wanted to do the Appalachian Trail. It would have taken me 4 to 6 months. It would have been necessary to really prepare myself. I basically would have had to shit in the woods (pardon my French) without a shower for half a year, fighting off bears on a regular basis. I don't think so, Tim. I am a Jon Krakauer fan, but I want my sabbatical to be relaxing as well. I will do the Appalachian Trail some time in the future... :)

So the bottom line and the main goal of my sabbatical is to not obsess with anything!

End of story...