Our education begins.

This morning I woke to Mirta, our hostess, asking Ila how many sugars she would like in her coffee.

We've arrived in Bariloche and it's clear that we're going to be learning a lot about regular life in Argentina - like it or not! The house is beautiful. Mirta is wonderful. She's friendly, gracious and speaks slowly so we can keep up. She loves to garden and has a beautiful, landscaped yard overlooking the lake and snowcapped mountains. Unfortunately we're also far from the center of town where we have to go every day. Mirta doesn't have a car, she carpools or takes the bus into town and we'll probably take a taxi every morning (with three of us, it's basically more economical than the bus, and much more reliable). Also, we have very little privacy. We are staying in Mirta's two bedrooms while she sleeps on the couch! Our bedroom "door" - doesn't slide closed and we have to close our windows at night so stray cats don't come in. All that plus the whole toilet paper in the basket instead of the bowl thing makes for some serious getting used to. But all in all, we're planning on making the most of it. Mirta is kind and is doing everything to make us feel at home. We've been speaking Spanish since we arrived and I think we're all surprised how much we are able to communicate. Ila likes Mirta very much and thinks the house is just great. A playground and a few shops are close by so we're not terribly isolated or anything, just far from town.

Here's a list of a few key things we've learned thus far:

neighborhood dogs enjoy barking contents with roaming packs of strays. preferably at dawn.
dulce de leche (caramel cream on toast) isn't really that different from jelly.
a carseat isn't necessary since most taxis don't have seatbelts.
when liz said there's wireless everywhere, she must have meant nothing's wired.
big mountains are really pretty
slides and swings can be made of wood
the pope and buddha can live together in harmony, at least at Mirta's house
nescafe is a far cry from peet's.
one week can feel like a month.
the southern cross can help you find your way if you become lost in an island forest while hunting deer.

This afternoon we went into Bariloche proper for the first time. Mirta lives in Malipel, a small town about 5K outside of the city. The city proper is really intense. Lots of traffic, tons of shopping and plenty of tourists - mostly from Argentina and Chile it seems. We stopped by our school to check in and discovered that it's being run by a couple of Dutch folks. Figures. We start classes Monday and there are many "after-school activities" like bowling, hiking and dance classes to enjoy. They also do some volunteer work with children where Ila could participate.

We also went by Jardin Panda where Ila will spend the mornings while we're in class. It's a far cry from any schools we saw in the US. For one thing, the contract is a single piece of paper. It costs $240 Pesos per month, or about $90 US, for 25 hours a week, plus a whopping $50 pesos if you want to have them serve your child a hot meal. After visiting we understand the low overhead. The teacher/child ration is about 1/20. Ila of course jumped right in during our visit but the whole thing left us a bit uneasy. We're not concerned about Ila's safety, the Directora and her husband are both pediatricians and Mirta recommends them. But imagine your three year old surrounded by kids running wild, without a bit of the language. All we can do is try. If it doesn't work out, one of us will do private lessons in the afternoons and we'll split child care. We keep reminding ourselves that one intent of this trip was to learn a different way of doing things. And we are doing just that.

And Ila says - don't forget I love you.

Photos next time.