Last photos from 2015

Here are some photos I intended to past late last year and never got around tuit! Our final visit to the town of Chos Malal in the north of Neuquen province, where one of our friends is an English teacher.  I was lucky enough to happen upon some goatherds bringing their flocks from where they winter over, droving them up into the mountains to their summer pastures.  It was a real neat sight!

The herd of goats coming down the river-bed.

There must have been around 300-400 goats.

They were putting them in this corral for the night, ready to start the journey again in the morning.

This is Graciela Luck and her husband Fernando and children.  Graciela was brought up going to meetings with her parents, but never wanted it for herself.  Almost two years ago, she suddenly felt a strong need to be in the meetings, and in December told us she would like to make her choice known publicly.  She is one of 10 siblings, and has just three brothers serving God. Both her parents are still alive (father turned 90 recently), so has been real nice for them to see!

To farewell the year, some got together for a picnic by the river (NB a "picnic" in Argentina usually involves meat and fire, not sammies!!)

Pix from around Esquel

These photos are all from when I was in the Esquel field during August.  The above photo was taken walking to Sunday am mtg.

Sara Mereles and I - Sara was in the work for a few years and we worked together in the north of Argentina 2006 and 2007.

The painting we did on Sara's kitchen wall.  Top right is the one she saw on internet that she liked, I sketched it in chalk and she painted over it with acrylic!  Not bad for a pair of amateurs. (non-artists at that)

The little town of Trevelin.  Originally a Welsh settlement, Trevelin has retained a lot of it's Welsh roots, including the high tea that they offer in tea shops in town.  Typical surnames are: Hopkins, Williams, Jones, and a whole lot of other British names.  Kind of incongruous in a latin country.

Some of the exhibits in a local museum.  Note the museum sign written in Welsh as well.  Also a page from the Welsh Bible, different saddles including a side-saddle, spurs.

Predecesor to the JD? An old combine harvester behind Sara.

Playing ladies...taking high tea.

The absolute best cake is the cream cake on the right side of the plate...closely followed by the raspberry tart!

View out the bus window travelling to Sun am mtg (note, it's not that early, about 8.30am, but the sun rises really late in winter on the west side of the country.  Should be an hour's difference to the east, but too difficult to do that!!)

Buying "choripan" one cold, wet night.  (Spicy sausage grilled over the coals, wrapped in bread).

Drinking rose-hip tea at Haidee's.  The rose-hips are in the basket to the left of the photo.  Apple fritters and cream to go with!

This is a typical way they build the fire...stick a big log in and push it in as it burns.

Two cute little fellas added to the family!

A wet, gloomy scene.  Behind those clouds is a magnificent mountain view.  The farm at Trevelin, belonging to Luis and Haidee Estuardo.

Haidee's son's partner Evelyn came to teach Ronda and I how to make the Welsh cream tart.  Delish! (she is of Welsh descent and worked in a tea-house, baking).

Esquel on a snowy, wet morning.

Putting together "Arab empanadas" at Rosa Sanchez' house.  Silvana her daughter-in-law and Ronda helping, son Alex watching on.  These little pies are filled with a mince mixture that has been marinaded in lemon and then given a quick burst in the oven.

Going out for a drive to a lake with the Sanchez one afternoon.  Beautiful scenery.

With Rosa Sanchez

Rosa's husband Benio

The car broke down about HERE.... i.e. miles from nowhere, not much cellphone coverage...

Standing freezing in a patch of cell coverage waiting for tow-truck man to ring back....

On way home drove through this part of the forest where there were huge fires earlier this year.  Looks eerie now, just black skeletons for trees.

Sara treated me to this that evening! Very typical Argentinean fare.

Pulling out of Esquel on the bus, bound for my field of Neuquen to the north.  The wide open spaces never fail to fascinate as do the long, long roads stretching on forever...

Mountain hiking in El Maiten

Ronda and I went to visit Eliana in El Maiten the other day.  The day was quite nice, so we decided to take advantage of the weather and hike up to the top of the hills behind her house.  As it happens, there is a "Via Crucis" there.  For those ignorant of Catholic doctrine, the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) consists of 12 stations of the cross, each station representing some supposed significant happening between when Jesus was sentenced to death to when he died.  Normally you see it in the cathedrals, each station is a painting, and there's only about 10 metres between each one.  The faithful go from station to station and say their Ave Marias etc, especially around Easter time.  Some bright spark has put a Via Crucis up this mountain, with each station going up the hill till you reach the twelfth right at the top.  Quite a handy indicator as to how much further you have to go!!  Ronda and I used them to mark whose turn it was to take the backpack...each turn was two stations of the cross then we changed over :-).

There is a look-out point about a quarter of the way up, that was the second station of the cross.

 

Forgot to mention the most important fourth member of the climbing party - Rocco the 6-month old poodle!  Up till a month ago, he was banished to the boiler room of the house where he lived, as his previous owner bought him, but then realised they didn't really have the room or time for dogs, so there he stayed, always dying to rush out and run into the house!  His owner's cousin Eliana bought him and now he has a new life.  Here he valiantly went in the lead on the way up and all the way back, seems to have boundless energy!

The wind was so bitter up here, poor Eliana was underdressed, so we stayed about 30 seconds!

This is the view of where we went from Eliana's kitchen window.  Just above the roof of the two-story house you can make out a tree on the hill-side, that's the first look-out we stopped at.  

Then we continued up the gully and to the top.