Bulletins From BA #40

Bulletins From BA #40

27 marzo 2015

¡Hola! there… Rodger French here.

If you’re part of the Foreign Service, transition is a particular constant. You start off as a tourist in a foreign land and segue into being an actual, if temporary resident. Then, just when you’ve gotten fairly comfortable and know your way around, it’s time for the next assignment. One day you’re just going about your bidness, the next you look up and realize that in less than three months, you will be gone. And that’s where A.J. and I are now.

We will leave Buenos Aires sometime in June for the States, spend several weeks TCB, both official and familial, and then ship out. Incidentally, we don’t have the “official” word yet, so I’m not at liberty to “officially” say where we’re off to next. (Burma).

But until then, we’re still in Argentina and currently hosting our final visitors, A & T (or T & A, if you prefer), two mejores amigas from the ATL by way of Florida, “Gateway to Havana.” They’re here for almost three weeks and, in addition to seeing the sights of BsAs, are taking a couple of side trips. Last week, the four of us made the journey to Mendoza, the epicenter of Argentina’s wine industry.

I feel obliged to confess that I am somewhat philistine on the subject of wines. I do enjoy a glass from time to time and genuinely appreciate the combination of horticulture, technology, and art necessary for its production. But I’m OK with pretty much anything decent that comes with a cork and costs ten bucks or less. And wine snobs simply put me off. Call me a lowbrow, if you like. I can take it.

However, if one goes touristing to Mendoza, the whole idea is to cruise from one vineyard to the next, taking tours and participating in tastings, which we did. And, it was very interesting. We visited vineries ranging from small family-owned operations to huge corporate affairs. We beheld holding tanks both concrete and stainless steel. We marveled at acres of oak barrels from both France and the U.S. And we sampled A. Lot. Of. Wine. All in all, a perfectly pleasant experience.

[Wine Snob Sidebar - My personal favourite was a very nice blend: 60% Malbec, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. Hey, I was paying attention.]

After Mendoza, T & A (sorry) took a bus north to La Rioja (long story), while Anne and I returned home to work and get ready for a House Concert I’ll be presenting this Sunday. Sadly, in my rush to collect our luggage, I left my daypack - including my camera - in the back seat of the taxi. Nothing that can’t be replaced, but that is why I have no photoz to accompany this posting. My apologies for being such a dumbass, but these things happen. And at least I did not violate the Prime Directive of International Travel: DO NOT LOSE YOUR PASSPORT. Good thing; I’m going to need it pretty soon. (Burma).

¡Adelante!

Rodger

Bulletins From BA #39

Bulletins From BA #39

05 enero 2015

¡Hola! there… Rodger French here.

As I recall, beginning in 1954 (age 6) and continuing until 1965 (age 17), I was fortunate to have regular accordion lessons with three successive teachers in Louisville, KY: Miss Dennison, who became Mrs. Someone Else and quit teaching; William Harp, a conducting graduate from Indiana U., who emigrated to Germany; and the late Walter “Cot” Haynes, widely regarded as one of the best.

But for the past 50 years, although I’ve had excellent instructors in any number of esoteric disciplines including percussion, juggling, equilibristics, and Vaudeville, I have been on my own with the accordion.

When we were posted to Buenos Aires, I determined that I needed to up my game and, after a couple of false starts, succeeded in finding someone who would be willing to teach an old Gringo with decades of experience some new things. And thus did my brush with musical greatness come about.

Thanks to my dear friend Elise, whom I have known forever, I had the opportunity to play with Jeff, a cool guy and really good bassist. Jeff had come to Buenos Aires to study tango with Sergio Rivas, an outstanding musician and bassist for the great Rodolfo Mederos, the legendary bandoneonista.

[Musical Sidebar - The bandoneon is a member of the accordion family. A fiendishly difficult instrument to master, it is - this bears repeating - the undisputed heart and soul of the tango instrumental sound.]

Thanks to Jeff, I arrange to take a coffee with Sergio, who is muy amable (very nice). Despite my patético español and his nearly non-existent English, I manage to convey that I am looking for a teacher to help me better understand and communicate the feeling and sound of the bandoneon on my instrument; something that I have been trying, with very modest success, to do on my own for years. Sergio says, no problema. He will ask Mederos if he’s willing to interview me.

He is.

So now I’m going to meet Rodolfo Mederos, a musician who, in addition to leading his own trio and orquesta tipica, has toured the world, and collaborated with the likes of Osvaldo Pugliese, Astor Piazzolla, Mercedes Sosa, and Daniel Barenboim. Holy shit.

I take a cab to his home in barrio Constitución, one of the oldest and funkiest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. Rodolfo is a very distinguished hombre, seven years older than I, and a porteño through and through. We spend an hour talking (with the aid of Señor Google) and occasionally playing. At the end of our first session, he allows that I am “a very good accordion player.” Also, that I need to start basically from nada with this tango business, but, sí, he will take me on as a student.

Ecstasy, tempered with no little trepidation.

We settle on a schedule of bi-monthly lessons, since I need time to practice and still work at the Embassy. In addition to being a virtuoso instrumentalist, Rodolfo is also a composer and skilled arranger, so the music he gives me consists of his own arrangements for bandoneon; arrangements we have to necessarily adapt to fit the piano accordion. It’s slow going at first, but Argentine Tango has many stylistic conventions, so once we’ve figured out how something may be acceptably modified, I readily incorporate these changes into my practicing.

I won’t bore you by getting too deep into the weeds here. Suffice to say, I am making considerable progress, both technically and artistically, especially when it comes to playing with más pasión. And, once in awhile, I am actually able to surprise the maestro, and he jokes that I am becoming a real tanguero. I live for these moments.

Regrettably, it has been some time since our last session, since Rodolfo has been recovering from surgery. The good news is that he is back in business, we are scheduled to begin again, and I plan to see him as often as possible before our departure from post in June. Having the opportunity to study with such a talented and passionate artist is a gift. Rodolfo has changed the way I approach not just tango, but the accordion as well. I am utterly humbled and grateful.

Gracias a usted, Maestro Mederos. La música es vida.

¡Adelante!

Rodger

Bulletins From BA #37

Bulletins From BA #37

04 diciembre 2014

¡Hola! there… Rodger French here.

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  “Ushuaia/Tierra del Fuego”

Among the places in Argentina that we’ve most wanted to visit are the city of Ushuaia and Tierra del Fuego, popularly known as “Fin del Mundo” (End of the World). Technically, Cape Horn is as far south as one can go before bumping into Antarctica; but since that requires (1) a ship and (2) a boatload of money, A.J. and I opted for a more modest excursion.

Ushuaia - The port city of Ushuaia is the capital of Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur and is separated from the Argentine mainland by the Strait of Magellan. It has a relatively short, but colourful résumé including slaughter of the natives, gold fever, a penal colony, invasive beavers, sheep ranching, shipwrecks, a military debacle, and a flourishing tourist trade. Ushuaia is a prime point of embarkation for Antarctica and still has the haphazardly zoned feel of an outpost.

Our residence for the week was the Tango ByB, where we were hosted by Raúl, who happens to be an excellent accordion player. We calculated that between us we have roughly 120 years musical experience, so we had much to discuss, especially concerning Tango. It was a great pleasure to visit with him.

But we came to see the sights. Here are some of them.

Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego - Getting in and out of the Parque was easy; we simply went to the “bus stop” and made arrangements with one of the tour operators. They dropped us off at various scenic locations, with a promise to pick us up at a prearranged time, which they did. We had no problem getting in some hiking, taking muchas fotos, and still arriving back in town before we got too cold and wet.

[Turista Tip - Fin del Mundo weather changes continuously; layers, including fleece, and a rainproof jacket with a hood are essential.]

I find it surprisingly tricky to describe Tierra del Fuego. It’s desolate, but not barren, with a real richness of flora. And one really does get the feeling of being at the end of… something. We enjoyed it thoroughly.

Canal Beagle - The Beagle Channel is 240 km long and navigable between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. We arranged for a boat trip to see some of the islands near Ushuaia, an excursion that was delayed several times due to high winds. But we finally made it out of port and into the cold and exhilarating sea spray.

In addition to checking out the cormorants, sea lions, and Faro Les Éclaireurs (lighthouse), we had the opportunity to go hiking on “Island H,” a beautifully rugged place once frequented by the Yámana people. Theirs was a hardy tribe, living on a diet of mussels, birds, and the occasional sea lion. And, they wore no clothes.

Lagos Escondito y Fagnano - Thousands of years ago, most of Tierra del Fuego was covered in glaciers. In fact, you can measure their depth by looking at the tree lines on the mountains; which is totally cool. When the ice receded, Lago Escondito and the much larger Lago Fagnano remained. We decided to head north with a small tour group and have a look at the lakes, mountains, and immense peat bogs. And to lunch on possibly the best lamb asado (slow grilled over an open fire) ever.

Our leader was a woman named Isabella, who is one of the finest guides I have encountered in all my travels. She was well versed on all facets of the area (including plate tectonics, one of my faves) and managed to be appropriately informative at all times. Just outstanding.

Museos - There are several very fine museums in Ushuaia, perfect for down time between excursions, and I’m pretty sure we managed to visit all of them. Of particular note are the Museo Maritimo y del Presidio de Ushuaia (Maritime Museum located in the former prison) and the Museo Yámana, that features dioramas of the aforementioned hardy native people who inhabited Tierra del Fuego (naked) for 6000 years before the Europeans arrived. (Alas, 30 years later, they were extinct.)

And, on that cheery note, we wrap up yet another marvelous Argentine journey. Thanks for your kind attention. In case you’re wondering, we’ll be in Buenos Aires for the Christmas holidays, eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new ambassador, thanks to the U.S. Senate finally doing its damned job.

¡Adelante!

Rodger

Bulletins From BA #36

Bulletins From BA #36

06 octubre 2014

¡Hola! there… Rodger French here.

Living in a city of 12 million people is not without cultural advantages. Although we don’t go out as often as we could (there being, after all, the day job thing), we do venture forth to events of particular significance. For example, we had the opportunity to attend, in the space of one week, concerts by two of the greatest accordionists on the planet. How could we not.

Raúl Barboza - Barboza is the undisputed master of Chamamé, a type of folk music from the Argentine northeastern provinces. Born in 1938 in Buenos Aires, he began playing at the age of seven, made his first recording at twelve, and formed his own group at fifteen. He has lived and performed all over the world, made dozens of recordings, and accompanied vocalists as varied as José Carrera, Mercedes Sosa, and - my favorite - Cesaria Evora. Raúl Barboza is a musical virtuoso of the highest order.

Barboza performed with a guitarist (Nardo González) and bassist (Roy Valenzuela), both excellent players. I recognized most of the selections as having their origins in Chamamé, but he took the music in so many different, interesting, and unexpected directions that it hardly mattered. The audience was composed of fans and, as is always the case in Buenos Aires, they were not the least reticent about shouting out requests. Barboza is also a real showman, so of course he obliged. And, after four or five encores, he ended the show by bringing his chair to the front of the stage and playing, without amplification, a very quiet and haunting selection. Perfección.

[Sidebar - As a child in Buenos Aires, Barboza naturally wanted to play the bandoneon. But since they are made only in adult sizes, he settled instead on the chromatic button accordion.]

Chango Spasiuk - Born in 1968 in La Provincia de Misiones, Spasiuk grew up playing polkas (Ukrainian grandparents) as well as Chamamé. He plays a standard piano accordion and is just terrific. He is also a wonderful composer and the concert, an album release event, consisted in the main of his original work, both for his sextet and the equally outstanding 11-piece Ensamble Estación Buenos Aires, conducted by Popi Spatocco, who also did the excellent arrangements.

[Sonic Sidebar - When will sound mixers ever learn that it is entirely inappropriate to amplify bass and percussion to Rock & Roll levels for an acoustic ensemble? Seriously, that shit is disrespectful, distracting and totally uncalled for.]

The music itself was alternately high-energy and quietly emotional, usually within the same composition. It was also great fun and the audience was exuberant and fully engaged. For me, the high point of the performance was reached during a hushed duet between Spasiuk and guest violín solista Rafael Gintoni, a thrilling instrumentalist. There came a moment of aching beauty when the two musicians seemed to be holding each other’s breathes in their hands. Delicadeza sublime.

Seeing artists of this caliber in person just reinforces for me an unavoidable truth: After 60 years, más o menos, I still have so much to learn if I’m going to up my game as an accordionist. Fortunately, living in Buenos Aires doesn’t hurt.

¡Adelante!

Rodger

Bulletins From BA #35

Bulletins From BA #35

09 septiembre 2014

¡Hola! there… Rodger French here.

Photo Update Alert:

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  “Iguazu”  “Bariloche”

Another pair of visiting female friends, another opportunity to visit exotic locales on “La Lista.” Making the most of a short time, and with the assistance of our ever-reliable travel agent, we intrepidly sallied forth.

Parque Nacional Iguazú - Iguazú Falls is located on the Argentine border with Brazil, where the Iguazú River tumbles over the edge of the Paraná Plateau, resulting in a profusion of cataracts that altogether create one of the world’s más magnífico espectáculos de agua. We spent one day touring, led by an excellent local guide and in the company of a dozen members of a Syrian family. The late winter weather was perfect (zero bugz) and the parque relatively uncrowded.

[Turista Sidebar - If one has an extra day to linger in the area, it is common practice to cross the frontier to the Brazilian side, where a more panoramic view awaits. Another time, perhaps.]

Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi - San Carlos de Bariloche is a small city located on Lago Nahuel Huapi, in the foothills of the Andes near the Chilean border. The city itself is uninspiring, but the surrounding area is beautiful and a huge tourist mecca. Because we rented a cabin and a car, we were largely able to avoid the busloads of teenagers dressed in hideous parkas looking for ever-decreasing skiing/snowboarding opportunities. Highlights of our days there included:

- Llao Llao, located in the parque, is one of the world’s great hotels. Very posh, very picturesque, very ruling class. We breezed in for an excellent buffet lunch and the concurrent informal fashion show, featuring expensively upholstered ladies and their shlubby husbands.

- Villa La Angostura is a lovely small town roughly 100 km on the other side of the lake from our cabin. The drive is splendid (once you clear the endless speed bumps in Bariloche) and the views spectacular.

- Trucha, that is, trout. Smoked to perfection. (The Bariloche area is also very popular with fishermen.) We provisioned at a local shoppe and, on our last evening, dined on trout ravioli in almond sauce at a lakeside eatery. Rest assured, these fish did not die in vain.

From Bariloche, our friends continued on to El Calafate and Perito Moreno Glacier (“Bulletins From BA #13”) while A.J. and I flew home. Upon their return to Buenos Aires, they had just two more nights in BA, so we decided to kick it out, pony up the big bucks, and go to a Tango Show.

- La Ventana was recommended to us by an expat friend from Los Angeles who is an accomplished tango dancer. The tango industry is huge, raking in mucho dinero and supporting hundreds of musicians, dancers, and others. We decided on dinner and a show and it was pretty much what we expected: Expensive, but nice atmosphere, decent food, and a production that featured talented performers and a not unreasonable quantity of cheesiness. In short, un espectáculo para turistas. The musicians and dancers (one couple in particular) were very skilled and occasionally looked like they were actually enjoying themselves.

And then our friends were off, one to England and the other to the U.S., with promises to visit us at our next foreign posting. Meanwhile “La Lista” is down to two places (for me, anyway): Chile and Ushuaia, Argentina, aka “Fin del Mundo.” The end of the world.

¡Adelante!

Rodger

Bulletins From BA #34

Bulletins From BA #34

21 agosto 2014

¡Hola! there… Rodger French here.

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  “El Ombú”

Incredibly, A.J. and I are two-thirds through our Argentine posting. Which, of course, means that we need to get cracking if we’re going to complete “The List.” Which, of course, we won’t. But we’re giving it our best shot.

Having invitados (houseguests) helps, since they are less fascinated with where you shop, except for ice cream, and more inclined toward adventurous pursuits. Last week, Anne’s niece and a friend, both students at Tulane University, came to visit. We took to calling them “Las Chicas Guapas” and they were terrific. Once we had set them up with pesos (at an excellent exchange rate), a local cell phone (just in case), bus passes, and a house key, they were off and running, often literally. And we used their visit as an opportunity to at last visit one of the local estancias.

El Ombú de Areco is near San Antonio de Areco, a lovely town and “birthplace of the gaucho tradition.” This estancia is very popular with overnight guests as well as day trippers who come to ride horses and enjoy the al fresco lunchtime asado (Argentine barbeque). We had perfect spring weather for our stay: Fine and dry with highs around 24 C (75 F). Unsettlingly warm for the dead of winter, but absolutely delightful.

[Sidebar - El sitio web de estancia (www.estanciaelombu.com) es muy informativo.]

Horseback riding figures prominently at El Ombú, which is tricky for me, as I am supremely uncomfortable in the saddle. Fortunately, I drew a large, muy tranquilo beast who knew exactly where to go and was wholly indifferent to my attempts to exercise any semblance of authority. An understanding thus reached, we enjoyed a long and perfectly picturesque amble across the pampas, with gauchos leading the way.

[Gaucho Sidebar - Two hombres of particular note: Oscar is 73 and has been a working gaucho all his life. He also plays the guitar and sings traditional songs for the tourists at lunch. (And I have a CD to prove it.) His nephew José, in addition to being a wrangler, is a “susurraba a los caballos” (horse whisperer) whom A.J. asserts looks like what Bruce Springsteen would be if only he were a gaucho. Muy guapo.]

This proved to be sufficient equine activity to tide me over for the foreseeable future, so I spent most of my non-eating time either taking photoz or lying on a couch on the veranda, luxuriating in the breeze and listening to approximately a million parakeets yack it up in the trees. Bliss.

Along with fresh air, free-range beef, and impressive quantities of easily avoidable horse poop, El Ombú offers an opportunity to contemplate the night sky away from the lights of Buenos Aires. We had glorious views of the Milky Way and the southern constellations, including the Southern Cross. It is humbling to contemplate such immensity and grandeur and regrettable to realize that we have become so apart from it.

We are so small.

But now we are back in BA, Las Chicas are home safe and/or sound, and we are preparing for our next guests, two women friends who also came to visit us when we lived in Ghana. No problema: “The List” awaits.

¡Adelante!

Rodger

Bulletins From BA #33

Bulletins From BA #33

10 julio 2014

¡Hola! there… Rodger French here.

World Cup Report #6 - The Final

Germany

As I watched the Germans unimaginably annihilate Brazil 7-1 in the Semi-Finals, I felt a profound sense of sadness. It is a fact that A Seleção helped bring this catastrophe upon themselves as a result of their Phyrric win over Colombia. But no team, no nation, deserves this level of humiliation, not in the World Cup. When it comes to fútbol, I have neither particular regard for nor animus toward Brazil, and I did pick Die Mannschaft to win. But this was astonishingly painful.

[Sidebar - The tragedy is so epic that this particular match has been given its own moniker: “Mineiraço,” from the name of the stadium where it took place, the Mineirão. It translates, más o menos, as “The bad thing from Mineirão.” In Brazil, Mineiraço has seemingly precipitated a national crisis, the repercussions of which could be of actual consequence.]

When the beat down was complete, I heard scattered cheering on the street below our Buenos Aires apartment. Understandable, since Brazil is Argentina’s historically despised South American fútbol rival. But such schadenfreude is seriously shortsighted. (Sorry.) Brazil was always going to be vulnerable in this World Cup and, in my opinion, no one in their right mind would rather play against an awesome German team in the Final.

Argentina

Yet another night of high drama. After 120+ scoreless minutes in which two comparably talented teams played strong defense and elected to spend a significant quantity of their time on offense chewing up the middle of the field (with an occasional flurry of activity somewhere in the vicinity of a net), it all came down to penalty kicks. Now, I loathe the whole idea of penalty kicks being the final determinant at this stage of competition, but them’s the rules. So, Argentina prevailed over The Netherlands and is headed to their first Final in 24 years.

Naturally, the whole country is going bonkers, with noisy celebrations in the streets. (Some of us even have vuvuzelas.) And Buenos Aires is currently the best city in which to live in the whole wide world. At least until Sunday.

Preference: ¿Tienes que preguntar? ¡Viva Argentina!

Prediction: We had the good fortune to live in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup and when it concluded, I predicted that Germany would win in 2014. Really. It will be difficult, though not impossible, for La Albiceleste to win this thing, but they have to play to their utmost if they are to stand a chance. If, however, the Germans are anything like as sharp against Argentina as they were against Brazil, they should hoist the Cup for the 4^th time.

2014 World Cup Champion: Germany

But I could be wrong, and that would be just dandy.

[Sidebar - Brazil will take on The Netherlands in the Consolation Match and I hope they win. This is a decent shot at a measure of redemption and an opportunity to salvage something from the wreckage of Mineiraço.]

¡Adelante!

Rodger

Bulletins From BA #32

Bulletins From BA #32

06 julio 2014

¡Hola! there… Rodger French here.

World Cup Report #5 - Más Conjetura: Semi-Finals Edition

- Brazil vs. Germany

Preference: The Brazil-Colombia match devolved into a horror show (54 fouls) thanks to an apparent Brazilian decision to abandon any pretense of “O Jogo Bonito” (“The Beautiful Game”) in favor of a hyper-aggressive game plan. This, predictably, resulted in an escalation of violence, exacerbated in no small measure by the referee’s unbelievable lack of control of the match. Germany is tough, but they generally avoid viciousness. I prefer their game.

Prediction: The Brazil side, “A Seleção” (”The Selection”), face the Semi-Finals without their captain (two yellow cards) and their star striker (broken vertebra; the result of a challenge that bordered on assault). Home team or not, the odds that they will prevail are now pretty long. Germany should move on to the Finals.

- Argentina vs. The Netherlands

Preference: Lionel Messi was double-teamed and mortal, but Argentina did manage one goal (although they should have had two) against Belgium. So, La Albiceleste continue to underachieve their way through the tournament, with high drama being the order of the day, as seems congruous with the Argentine temperament. Buenos Aires is a great place to be a sports fan these days.

Prediction: Having failed to score a goal in 120 minutes against prohibitive underdog Costa Rica (despite being on offense most of the game), the Netherlands needed penalty kicks for the win. “Clockwork Orange” is definitely beatable, and if Argentina brings it’s A game, we can reach the Finals. Sí se puede.

Predicted Finals Matchup

Germany vs. Argentina

¡Adelante!

Rodger