La Conductora Loca: 18 November 2007

At the Llao Llao on Sunday, we were collected in a van driven by Erma or Irma, not sure which, who was well dressed in a black suit and a bright pink blouse. But when I gave her our street name in Bariloche, she gave me a blank stare. So, using my phone, we called our host mother, Gisela, who gave Erma pretty detailed directions. There was one other woman in the car, Spanish speaking, though I am not sure from where, headed to the airport.

I am not sure why Erma did not just take the woman to the airport first, since she had a flight and we had, well, nothing pressing,but looking at the map, I guess the city is on the way, if one knows where one is going.

Well, Erma proceeded to scare me to death as there were no seatbelts and she was quite the tailgater. I have never seen a van leave so little room behind a car. For about 10 miles she was less than 2 ft from the tail of a Renault. Paco passed out with Steve and I both bracing him in his seat, as the slightly twisty road was exaggerated by Erma's driving. Then, she made a turn off the main road and started to look for our house. After about 5 more minutes, she clearly did not know where she was going and told me to call the house again (why she did not write down the directions in the first place, I don't know). So I called again and got Alex, Gisela's 19-year old son who gave more direction. The road had turned to gravel (not unusual here) and the van lumbered uphill. Then Erma's phone rang. And she answered it and started to chat as we were looking for the house! Then, we found the house and she pulled over. The house has a driveway that heads down at about a 30% angle, and has a stone retaining wall. When Erma pulled over, and I opened the door, it was a 2 ft drop. I stupidly asked her to go backwards, but in doing so, she put the front tires on the retaining wall and almost dropped the van. At that point, I ripped Paco out of the car. Our hostess Gisela came out, called the other woman a cab and she and the other woman talked in Spanish (I think) about what a horrible driver Erma is and Gisela could not believe she really worked for Llao Llao. We put our things in the house, and by the time we came out, the taxi had taken the woman and all her golf clubs to the airport. We left Erma there, waiting for a tow truck, while we joined Gisela at the supermercardo. The truck was already on the gravel road when we passed it. Gisela pulled over to tell it not to ruin her wall. I just love this woman. I'll let Steve make edits when he gets a chance.