El Primer Día de Classes: 19 November 2007

This morning, we woke up at 6:30 with a goal to leave by 7:30. Ha! At 7:55, we were finally out the door. It is a hilarious walk down to the city center. Gisela's road is gravel and for about 1/4 of a mile it is a bumpy path. Then we hit the paved road, but the sidewalks are no good for a stroller. Gisela had generously spent time and driving to show us the way to the school, and then the way to our school. It is not the 2 blocks that it was in Mendoza. However, after about 30 minutes and few incorrect turns, we arrived at Jardín Panda, where Paco will spend the week's mornings. The daycare/preschool is fine, but the building is a crazy house with small curving halls with stairs and bathrooms that are not the cleanest in the world. Paco cried when we left him, but by the time we had finished with the director and given our info, a sweet little girl came downstairs (where we were) to tell us he had stopped crying and was playing.

Steve and I were late, so we grabbed a taxi from Paco's school to ours. It only about 10 blocks, but we were already barely going to make the start time. Unlike Buenos Aires, Bariloche is refreshing because it is considered safe to hail a taxi and there are taxi stands throughout the city center. We arrived at La Montaña, our Spanish school after the taxi dropped us off and we climbed two more staircases. The building has the feel of a cabin, like much of the architecture of Bariloche.

Steve and I have separate, private lessons. Steve is with Laura, whom he can write about later, and I am with Nadina. Nadina is fine, but I find I don't have the rapport with her that I had with the teachers in Mendoza. At break time, they had delicious media lunas and I drank a lot of tea. One thing about Gisela's coffee is not her forte! La Montaña offers activities, though not the level as Intercultural in Mendoza. Steve signed up for a walking tour of the city.

We walked the 10 blocks (need to check this on the map, it feels longer) to collect Paco and found them eating spaghetti. Paco was happily eating and had even asked for a 2nd serving. He seemed very excited that he had been given snacks at his school (ugh, so much like his parents, scary). I had packed him a lunch, just in case, but it remained untouched. The kids in his class asked us, in Spanish, upon our arrival, why do you speak English? It was pretty funny.

I don't get a great feeling from Panda, but it is only for a week and Paco is 3.5, not 1.5. Steve kept pointing out that despite my intuition (don't we moms know everything?), Paco's face was illuminated with his adventure. Also, at lunch, after 2 years of poo-pooing Milanesa, suddenly he stole a third of Steve's sandwich. We ate lunch at La Esquina, The Corner, which is located off of one of the squares in the city center. Gisela had recommended it and wow, it was just yummy. Paco insisted on pizza, so we shared a ham and onion pizza (his with the onions taken off), and Steve ate a sandwich with Milanesa, pounded and breaded veal fried. Well, he ate the part of the sandwich that Paco did not steal. The pizza was full of olive oil and the crust was crispy and light. It was one of the best pizzas I ever have eaten.

Paco knew I wanted to go shopping and he had opted to take his nap in the stroller rather than go back to the house. So we walked to Avenida Mitre, where all the shops are located. I had read in Frommer's that there was a chocolatier on every corner, keeping with the Swiss tradition that influenced the town. Wow, was that understating it. The chocolatiers take up half a block, on every block, with huge counters of different type of chocolates. When Paco finally fell asleep, Steve snuck off one of the more famous ones, Mamushka, to get us a secret stash about which Paco never needs to have knowledge.

Steve and I were both tired, so we went to the Havanna Café in town for espresso and to rest our feet. (I am getting a cold). Paco woke up in the process and immediately said, "Can I have a cookie?" Is this bad that he knows if we have coffee there is something in it for him? After first eating a cucumber, then a cookie, Paco seems satisfied. Steve helped us into a cab and then took off to school for the walking tour. I, being a lazy parent, was exhausted and put on Clifford in Spanish, so I could rest my eyes for a minute. After an episode of that, we headed outside to the garden/yard here to enjoy the sun (it's unusually warm for Bariloche this time of year) and fresh air. Paco was inventing some kind of animal rescue game, a la Diego, but his love of animals stopped at the puppy (about 3 mos) chasing him around the backyard. Guara, is an adorable German Shepard puppy who likes to jump and scares Paco to death. In this middle of the chaos, there was Eva, who was peacefully doing her yoga during the chaos, enjoying the sun.





Steve arrived and I prepped some of the Ravioli that Gisela had for the evening. And Paco, who never eats filled pasta Paco ate a decent portion. Yea! It was a bit of a battle (not too bad) to get Paco to sleep, but sleep he did. And once again we had a lovely adult dinner prepped by Gisela. I failed to do my homework, a very dry article on Pinochet, but the day was a good one. And we slept to the winds coming off of the the lake, shaking the house.

-Erin