Holiday Work Week

Working after vacation can be a struggle, but it hasn't been as bad as I feared. I volunteered to work a few hours today also as the schedule was fairly full already.

Yesterday, I walked out of a room, and several asked me if I had seen the flowers on my desk. HUH? I peeked over, and there sat a lovely bouquet of half a dozen pinky-purple roses from one of my patients. How sweet! Sure made my return to work much easier.

Poor Troy has been experiencing the joys of housework this week. We brought home loads of laundry so he's been keeping busy.

We're looking forward to ringing in the new year with Ken, Lorena, Kelly and Christian. Looking at their blog, seems like some yummy tamales are in our future!

Birds in Argentina

This might look like a boring robin to you, but to a birder traveling through South America the first time it's another exciting bird to check off the list! It's actually an Austral Thrush.

Nearly every bird I saw in Argentina was a life bird for me. However, I had a lot of trouble trying to identify many of them. For one thing, most of our time was on the bus, which allowed only fleeting glances as we drove by. Also, since I had finals right before the trip, I didn't have much time to research which birds to expect in the areas where we travelled. Regardless, watching for birds kept me busy on the bus rides!

Here's the list of birds I saw:
(*Pictured below)

Andean Condor*
Magellanic Woodpecker*
Black Faced Ibis*
Austral Negrito*
Lesser Rhea
Rufous Collared Sparrow*
Rufous Hornero
Long Tailed Meadowlark*
White Browed Blackbird
Southern Lapwing
Upland Goose
Ashy Headed Goose
Black Necked Swan
Kelp Gull
Forktail Flycatcher
Crested Caracara
Chimango Caracara*
Red Crested Cardinal
Hooded Siskin*
Great Kiskadee
Burrowing Owl
Field (Campo) Flicker
Guira Cuckoo*
Maguari Stork
Chalk Browed Mockingbird*
Speckled Teal
Brown Pintail
Crested Duck*
Chilean Flamingo
Austral Thrush
White Crested Eliania
Red Backed Hawk
Spectacled Tyrant
Cattle Tyrant*
Patagonian Sierra-Finch
Southern Martin
South American Snipe*

South American Snipe with Austral Negrito in background - El Calafate

Rufous Collared Sparrow feeding young - Perito Moreno Glacier

Rufous Collared Sparrow - Perito Moreno Glacier

Rufous Collared Sparrow - Perito Moreno Glacier

Monk Parakeet - Buenos Aires

Long Tailed Meadowlark - El Chalten

Hooded Siskin - Buenos Aires

Black Faced Ibis - Bariloche

Guira Cuckoo - Buenos Aires

Flying Steamer Duck - Bariloche

Crested Duck - El Calafate

Chimango Caracara - Neuquen

Chalk Browed Mockingbird - Buenos Aires

Cattle Tyrant - Buenos Aires

Magellanic Woodpecker - Llao Llao

Brown Hooded Gulls - El Calafate

Andean Condor - El Calafate

More on Webshots...

I just finished the captions on Webshots if anyone wants to take a look.


by gilmort

tg

Foodie World

I've enhanced my gustatory experience these past couple of weeks, but perhaps the most enlightening one occurred tonight! Troy made us dessert, a delectable mixture of salt and sweet, crunchy and smooth. It was fabulous vanilla ice cream with wavy potato chips. No, I've never had that combo before, much to Troy's dismay. He also was appalled that I've never had french fries dipped in frosty. So, I started surfing the web and found lots of websites lauding the virtures of the aforementioned Wendy's dining secret. Guess you're not a true foodie unless you've slathered potato in chocolate.

I was AMAZED to discover the huge Italian and Swiss influence in the culinary diversity of Argentina. Nearly every restaurant had "pastas caseras" which are awesome homemade pastas, many of them being ravioli-type pastas filled with interesting things, like "trucha" or trout. Every single pasta dish I inhaled was soooo tasty. Bariloche especially is a town with an entire street (Mitre Calle) full of artesanal chocolatiers. Absolutely delicious. The town also has a specialty cheese house, complete with moldy sausage. Our webshots site should have pictures.

Beef, of course, is the most well-known aspect of Argentine dining. Even someone like me who isn't too crazy about beef, was impressed with the tender flavor. You can get a very nice steak dinner for 10-15 US dollars. Our first meal in Buenos Aires was at La Estancia, a restaurant where you can see them grilling the meat behind the windows as you enter the door. Organ meats (kidneys, intestine, udder), sausage, beef, goat, chicken, and lamb were all part of that meal. Our last feast in Buenos Aires was at fun steakhouse "parrilla" called Siga La Vaca, aka "Follow the cow". http://www.sigalavaca.com/ It was a large buffet with a vast spread of salads, and the meat was served hot off the grill. You just had to tell the men behind the counter which meat you wanted and "whack," you got a chunk. Drink and dessert were included. YUMMY!

Another common food is the empanada. It's a half-crescent dough, filled with either beef, chicken, or some other combo. The best ones we tasted were at the get-together with some friends.

One thing that surprised me was how much sweet stuff the Argentines like to eat. Dora especially likes the "alfajores" a cookie which often has a middle layer of dulce de leche, another common food item.

In fact, alfajores was the breakfast served on one of our bus trips. Wonder if the sweet is to counter all the beef that's consumed late at night. The dinner meal is usually 8-10 pm. Of course, in the Patagonia region, the sun was out until 11 pm, so it didn't seem late.

The other delightful find is homemade ice cream. El Calafate in particular is known for their scrumptious, smooth, creamy ice cream.

It's a wonder the Argentinians aren't large but they are not. Might be interesting to know more about their cholesterol and glucose levels, but it was rare to see an obese person.

Journeys across the globe help us realize that we are alike and different in so many ways, and of course our diet is a hallmark of our societies. What a joy to experience different cuisine!

Buen provecho! And many happy food crumbs!

Photos on Webshots...

I haven't had a chance to edit captions or anything, but you should find photos here:


by gilmort

USA

We're back! Hope to post soon. We have 1100 photos to sort out, though.

"This is my office"

We´ve had some VERY full days this week, travelling south from Bariloche to Perito Moreno to El Chalten and finally to El Calafate. All of this took about 29 hours by bus over 2 and half days. Looking out the window, we saw some breath-taking views of mountains, lakes, guanacos, condors, etc. There´s no way to describe or photograph the beauty but hopefully we can record some of it in our mental album. Of course, people watching is the best part of any trip. We can tell you detailed stories in person... don´t forget to ask us. Staying in small villages (Perito Moreno) has been interesting, but a great way to feel the local flavor and standard of living. Life here is simple and complex at the same time.

Yesterday, the bus pulled into El Calafate terminal and a lovely young lady, Paola, met us with a van and driver, took us to this hotel (luxury!) and guided us through the National Park where the glacier is. She was a fantastic guide, obviously enjoying her job showing us the native flora, birds and history. At one point, standing on the walkway overlooking the glacier, she turned to me and said with a smile "This is my office!" And the glaciers..... WOW! Well worth the trip down. The glaciers are huge, awesome, beautiful, etc, etc, etc. We took the boat tour also and saw them close. WOW!

This town is where the president of Argentina lives (on weekends, of course) and is very nice. Seems like a high-end tourist type town. We wandered into a glass figurine store on the main street and found a half inch penguin made of a local, pink stone that sold for $400. Two large birds were going for $10,000. And, Paola told us that several Koreans own some hotels here... go figure. :) There were several Korean tourists also running around the glacier national park.

We are headed for Buenos Aires today by plane. We will make a stop in Ushuiaia which is the southern most town on the globe. Hopefully reach BsAs by 10 pm..... but the Argentina airlines are notoriously late so.... we´ll see. Tomorrow we have a city tour of BsAs, hopefully meet one of the brother workers, and then head for los Estados Unidos at midnight.

See you soon! y

More pictures

Photo above is classic Buenos Aires with old and modern mixed. Below are Fred and Ben (two brother workers) who took us to the bus station in Buenos Aires...

Our bus from Buenos Aires to Bahia Blanca. We stopped at a small town and a couple ladies from the town met our bus for the 5 minutes.

Two young ladies who went with us: Valeria on the left is studying to be an English teacher, and Stefani on the right is a 14 year old high school student.

Aunt Dora and co-worker Yolanda in front of the Sierra de la Ventana...

As you can see, the signs are just suggestions, not necessarily mandates....

The very narrow entryway into Aunt Dora´s batch. Youngin barely fit.

A picture of the bedroom of Aunt Dora´s batch...

This is a "monkey tail" tree seen commonly around this Bariloche area.

This is the famous "Arrayanes" tree found in the Llao-llao region..

We stopped at Bellevue Tea Salon and it really was ¨belle vue¨

An awesome view on our drive around the lakes in Bariloche...

A beautiful door of a Chocolatier in the ¨swiss colony¨area of Bariloche -- the front door wood is the Arrayane tree and the rest is cedar.

This is a panoramic view from our lovely Sunday scenic drive around the lakes in Bariloche...

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Buenos Aires to Bariloche...

We made it to Bariloche today. Here are some highlights: Our first experience with Argentine buses was excellent! We left Buenos Aires on a semi-cama, which means we were in a stiff version of a La-Z-Boy.

It was an eight hour trip`to Bahia Blanca, where we were met by several of our friends. We stayed with Ruben and Esther after the potluck at their home. Youngin told about her parents´ spiritual experience there and Dora interpreted. Here´s a photo of Yolanda, Dora´s co-worker, listening to Youngin.

At 7 AM Friday we left on a Combi, which is a twelve seat van, and headed to Sierra De La Ventana with a group of friends. We stopped to see "the window in the mountain" along the way. It was a beautiful trip through the countryside and mountains (similar to the foothills of the Appalachians). Two of the young ladies came with us: Stefani is 14, and Valeria is 20 and studying to be an English teacher at the univeristy. Fifteen of us had a wonderful lunch before we arrived back in Bahia at 2:30 PM.
At 3:30 we boarded the bus for Rio Colorado, which is where Aunt Dora has been living. When we arrived at Rio Colorado (6:30 PM) we toured the center of town on foot, seeing Aunt Dora´s living space and many shopkeepers, etc. The town was about the cleanest we have seen, felt very safe and had beautiful flowers and foliage.
We also checked into a hotel for a couple hours of sleep before our bus ride to Bariloche. Our most exciting taxi ride (other than the Buenos Aires driver threatening another driver with "I will break your mouth" and the Rio Colorado drivers bickering over who would take us) was when five of us plus the driver piled into a taxi the size of a Ford Fiesta at midnight. Our bus was late so we left Rio at 2 AM.
Through the night and day, we continued to have delays and finally hit San Carlos Bariloche at nearly 3PM. Today´s ride, however, consisted of the most spectacular scenery we have seen! From desert scrub to incredible blue lakes in mountain valleys. Much of the scenery was reminiscent of New Mexico and Colorado. Bariloche feels very much like a resort town. We will be here for three nights and look forward to rest, meeting a couple more friends, and exploring the area. Buenos Aires was at least 90F but here it is windy, rainy, and cold (40?F). Tuesday we head for Perito Moreno...

(check back at this post because we´ll try to add more pictures in the next couple days)

BUE EZE

We made it! We´re settled in to our hotel. Today we had a HUGE barbecue lunch, including goat, beef, chicken,& various organs and entrails. Lunch was with another American couple from Washington and three ministers including Ben McM (KY).

I walked to the ecological reserve near city center with Youngin in the afternoon and later with Daddy. There are TONS of birds down here that I´ve never seen before. I have some photos of some birds I have yet to positively ID.

The Virtues of a White Board

We've been studying in the dining room. There is no way to fully state the benefits of a good white board and smelly markers. Just the privilege of using The Board can give one that extra boost to work through JUST ONE MORE problem.

Dejected student using normal study procedure:














Elated student using The Board:















There can be problems with aggression at times, however, which may be linked to marker fumes.















Long live the White Board.

Baby news!

Minah Grace Choi arrived safely into our family around 2 pm, weighing in at 9# 5oz. Apparently she has more hair than her sister did. Everyone's doing well. When I called after work, Minzie was just getting to the hospital and was going to meet her new baby sis for the first time. She will be a great big sister, since she's learned how to boss her grandparents around so well. CONGRATS to Younguk, Hyesoo, Minzie, Hal-a-buh-jee, and Hal-mun-ee! We are so excited for you! Can't wait to meet Minah. Only three more to make a roller derby team.... :) Check out the Carolina Rollergirls or click here to learn more about this tough girl sport.

Monday was hectic in the office but was good. The guys studied at our house all day. It's been great getting to know these two young fellows a little. I'm happy to know that there are bright, NICE, studious, decent young folks out there. There's hope for this country, yet.

The packing seems to be an unending chore because I wake up in the middle of the night thinking of more things to bring. Glad we started on Saturday otherwise I'd be totally stressed out, instead of kinda stressed out!

"You have a 15 pound niece!"

My cell phone rang about 2:30 this afternoon, and that's what Hyesoo said. "WHAT?!" I screamed back. She started laughing and laughing! Good one... she totally got me. Then, she explained that there's no room in the hospital and so she's supposed to wait until tomorrow to be induced. The only who might be happy about that is Troy, who is rooting for the 16th (wonder why?!)

Really, this is just a sign that Hyesoo needs to find a horse stable, and definitely name this child "jesu cristo" like I've been teasing her. In fact, I think she should go all out and change her own name to "Ma-rhee-ah" as Koreans would say.

In lieu of baby pictures, I'm posting the cardigan and dress set.

Best wishes, sis! y

NEWSFLASH: Ian Makes Super Soap!

A special thanks to Ian for the awesome Lemon Raptor Soap he sent!

Front:

Back:

Argentina Itinerary

Bags are packed! We're excited that we managed to pack fairly light. My pack (including camera, binoculars, bird books...) weighs in at 24.8 lbs, while Youngin's is under 14 lbs! Youngin will also be carrying a handbag. We were a little concerned about weight, since our flight from southern Argentina to Buenos Aires has some weight limits, but it looks like we'll even have room for souvenirs. Plus, by the time we eat all the trail mix Youngin made we'll have transferred about 8 pounds out of our bags and onto ourselves. (Her mother should be proud!)

One comical thing is how color coordinated I am. I bought the fanny pack a couple years ago, the jacket a month or so ago, and the bag today. Somehow I gravitated to the same color!

Here's a rough outline of our upcoming trip.

If I've made mistakes about the itinerary or the features of Argentina, I'll try to correct as we go along... I am a little fuzzy on the details as one of our friends down there VERY GRACIOUSLY helped us make the plans through an agent. Otherwise, I don't know how I could have found the time to put this together.

Here's the basic outline:

First, the flights down:
Dec 16,
Depart Raleigh (RDU), 2:43 PM
Arrive Houston, (IAH) 4:52 PM
(my parents are coming in from Columbus and will meet us here)

Same day
Depart Houston, (IAH) 9:00 PM
Arrive Dec 17,
Buenos Aries (EZE) 11:20 AM

Dec 17
Meet Aunt Dora & spend night in Buenos Aires.

Dec 18-19
Bus to Bahia Blanca/Rio Colorado Area, stay with friends, rent van in the area and tour with friends.
This area is somewhat central and on the east side of Arg, where Aunt Dora has been working this year.

Dec 19-20
Night bus to Bariloche, further south and on the West side. At this point we'll be in the Patagonia region.

Dec 20-23
Bariloche, rental car, touring

Dec 23-26
Work our way south to Perito Moreno, El Chalten, then El Calafate
This is the area with the glaciers.

We'll fly out of the this area, fly to the very southern tip of Arg (the "southernmost city in the world") which is the Tierra del Fuego region, then catch a plane there to Buenos Aires.

We'll catch the planes to the US in Buenos Aires on the 27th.

Most of these bus rides I mention are at least 4 and as much as 10 hours each, so we are covering a LOT of miles!

Temperatures in Buenos Aires should be around 100, the Patagonia region should range around 40 - 70 degrees.

Before planning this trip I had no idea how huge Argentina was nor how FAR SOUTH Argentina extends.

Return Flights:
Sat, Dec 27
Depart 11:50 PM to Houston
Arrive 6:20 AM Dec 28
Depart 7:20 AM Dec 28
Arrive 10:47 AM in Raleigh
(Parents to Columbus)

tg