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February 08, 2005
Greetings from Argentina
Hola Lyceum bloggers! I am now in central Argentina, staying with a friend I met is Peru last year while doing shamanic work. He is the director of an addiction program and wants to include the use of the sacred shamanic plants such as ayahuasca and san pedro in his work. It is very interesting staying with an Argentine family in a small town. My Spanish is non-existent and English is rare, so I muddle by and am confused and open, like a child, to lots of help. And the people are generally very kind, friendly and patient. Buenos Aires was a surprise - a very modern, cosmopolitan city with reams of bookstores. It is definitely the cultural hub of South America. Uruguay (Montevideo) contrasted starkly to this, being poorer, more traditional and more intimate. An interesting custom is the drinking of mate (a yerba tea - not the mate de coca of Peru) out of traditional cups with silver straws as strainers that everyone seems to pull out at about 5:00. Ando of course the notorious custom in Buenos Aires of beginning to think about dinner about 11:00 and having the meal at midnight and then dancing Tango 'til 3 or 4. (not me) But I did see some fine tango and heard wonderful guitar music. Tonight I take a 16 hour bus ride across the Andes for my last week in Santiago de Chile. See yall soon, David O
Posted by lyceum at February 8, 2005 02:49 PM