I think the rural homestay was the best part of the program yet!  We left for Rosario eaaaaarly on Monday and got there in time for lunch.  Unfortunately instead of getting to explore the city, we had to have classes all afternoon on local history an economy until almost dark.  It was actually fairly interesting — the main economic activity of the area is soy farming followed closely by the cattle industry.  It turns out that Argentina has ALL of the same social and environmental problems associated with industrial monoculture farming that we do in the US.  Luckily, we managed to get an hour or so in at the hotel’s rooftop pool and had a little time after dark to explore town.  For dinner we found a parrilla where I think I had the biggest steak of my life.  It was about the size of my face and it came with roasted pepper, onion, fries, two fried eggs, and a slab of bacon.  After dinner, we tried to explore the river shore (there’s supposed to be beaches and everything!) but we found that after dark it’s poorly lit and the city’s homeless tend to congregate there.

We woke up pretty early the next moring for a couple hours in the bus to Wheelwright.  I thought all along that we’d actually be in the town of Wheelwright, but John and I got placed with a family about 15 minutes away int a tiny 6 x 3 block town called Juncal.  We were with a pair of parents Juan and Analia.  Juan is one of the few veterinarians in the town.  After an extended Argentine lunch and a two hour siesta, he showed us around the area and we spent a lot of the first afternoon riding a horse that belonged to his nephew, Marco.  Tons of fun!  It’s been a long time since I’ve been on horseback.  The next day, we got up at around 6:30 and headed out a little after 7 to see what Juan’s work as a vet is like.  We went to a little farm way out in the middle of nowhere and vaccinated around 150 cows for foot and mouth disease and took blood for brucellosis testing from the older cows.  That morning only resulted in one cow that managed to do a back flip in the chute and needed extraction by tractor… We spent the afternoon and the next morning doing more of the same at other farms.  We got to ride some more and John even got to try herding cows a bit.  Wednesday night, the family invited some neighbors over and we all waited up till midnight for cake and birthday toasts.  Thursday afternoon, Marco drove us around the area showing us some more of what there is around.  He took us to a place where they raise cattle for the big exhibitions.  Apparently that place has some of the best cows in the world.  Marco used to work there and he said that the bigger bulls weigh around 1000kg (2200 lbs!) and that last year they had one that was almost 2900 lbs.  They were HUGE.  They had hundreds there and each one gets its own special care every day — cold baths in the summer, pedicures, a customized diet.  I’ve never heard of someone caring so closely for a cow before!  On the way back home, we stopped by a place where one of Marco’s friends was harvesting soy in a combine, so he showed us how it worked then let us each drive for a couple rows.  That night, Analia brought their three kids home from university in Rosario for dinner.  It was the first time I’ve really been able to hang out with kids our age here.  The three were Agustin, Laura, and Carolina spread from 19-23 years old.  All of them study some sort of medicine.  They cooked a mountain of pizzas and we ate more cake then stayed up for Juan’s birthday at midnight that night.   The next day was our last day in the country — we woke up for a big breakfast  (very rare in Argentina!) and headed back to Wheelwright for asado with all the families and students together for a goodbye lunch.

Overall, I loved the week.  Being out in the quiet country where you could actually see the stars and hear birds instead of just traffic was a great break from the normal.  I think the people in the country seemed completely different too in a good way. They were much more talkative, more open and curious about who we were and what we’re doing, and they always seemed to be laughing.  They also kiss a lot more.  It’s the tradition to kiss people on the cheek when you greet them, but normally only guys and girls or very close guy friends.  There everyone did it.  All the time — when you got home from working, when you wake up in the morning, when you’re going to sleep in the evening.  If I can, I’d love to get back to visit them before I leave.

We headed back to Buenos Aires in the afternoon and had another birthday dinner with my family here — a mountain of food, ice cream cake, champagne, and the entire extended family.

Unfortunately, the rest of the weekend looks like it will be full of homework.  We have to do a write up of the rural homestay plus a bunch of reading and a response for spanish class.

I took a TON of photos on this trip.  It’s going to take me a while to sort through the best ones, but I’ll do that soon and get them posted.