More notes on Bariloche

Steve thought Bariloche was very pleasant. Though the lack of traffic signals he found bothersome. I think they were there, just hard to see. And, like anywhere in Argentina, pedestrians are an afterthought. I find the stroller to be the great communicator and many cars stopped when they saw the wheels. Steve also just commented on all the dogs. Huge dogs, full-bred, mutts, but all huge. Gisela’s house had a total of 7, 5 puppies, less than a week old, their mother, and Guara, Paco’s friend.

One thing I really liked about Bariloche was that I thought the customer service was quite good. We went to a restaurant a couple of times and then the Havanna in town (Havanna is kind of like the Starbucks of Argentina, they are famous for their alfajores, their dulce de leche filled shortbread sandwich cookies); and the staff treated us very kindly. I think they really appreciated the desire and effort to learn Spanish. The Havanna came to know us and I felt attached when we said good-bye!

A couple of funny Spanish things…in the Patagonia they seem to say 2 things that I had not heard as much in BA or Mendoza. The first is: “míravos” meaning, you (the argentine informal “vos”) and “look.” It reality, especially in Bariloche, they seem to use to mean anything confirming, “look at that!” “really?” or “wow” could all be translations. Steve just mentioned that it is the Patagonian version of Che, but I heard plenty o Che in Bariloche as well! The other is “dale” (I think I spelled that correctly” meaning, “c’mon” or “ok then” or any kind of effort to move things ahead.

Also, Friday night in El Calafate, while at La Cocina, pobre Panchito was just exhausted. He ate a ton of broccoli, carne and bread with gusto, but also while falling asleep. We transferred him to the stroller and the little bug passed out cold while we sat at the table. Steve and I then enjoyed dessert with a sleeping Pancho next to the table.