Community Service: Argentina 2011

Our group had the unique opportunity to spend three days in the Iguazú Falls, undoubtedly one of the most imposing natural attractions in all of South America. Iguazú is a sub-tropical rainforest spread across southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and the northeast of Argentina. The ecosystem here is truly unique: the subtropical weather, the abundant rain, and the type of soil result in an ecosystem of giant trees, tiny insects, and animals of all shapes and sizes.

View of the Iguazú Falls. We are actually looking at Brazil right now, those falls are on the Brazilian side of the park!

The Iguazú Falls are the most impressive natural attraction of the park. The falls are formed by two rivers, the Iguazú and the Paraná River. The Iguazú River is a natural boundary between Brazil and Argentina. It snakes through smooth geography on a plateau before hitting a series of faults and dropping up to 80 meters, and the waterfalls divide the river into Upper and Lower Iguazú . The Iguazú River later drains into the Paraná River. The biggest waterfall in the park, called the Devil’s Throat, is formed where the Iguazú  River forms a tributary and cascades into the Paraná River. It’s pretty darn cool.

Close-up views of the Iguazú Falls

We spent a total of three days in the park, and we had a wonderful guide named Alejandro who accompanied us during our entire stay in Iguazú. We arrived in the afternoon on Tuesday, and our first activity was a night excursion through the park. In addition to seeing giant months and an array of insects of all shapes and sizes, the highlight of the walk was a large lagoon. Thousands of frogs and toads live in the lagoon and they were singing an orchestra of different sounds for us to enjoy. At the lagoon, we turned off the lights and had two minutes of silence. The sounds coming from the frogs and toads were INTENSE. This was a cool walk, and we knew we were in for an amazing few days.

The falls are incredible. In the local Guarani language, the term “Iguazú” means “great waters” and this is exactly what we experienced. There are more than 270 falls in the park, the most famous being the falls created by the Devil’s Throat canyon. The water produces a thundering sound and we got soaked from the mist. We walked along the
upper circuit as well as the lower circut. On our second day, we followed a small waterfall that emptied into a pool. It was perfect for an afternoon dip!

Charlotte, Susannah, Samara, Maeve, and Sarah at the Devil's Throat.

The highlight of the park was a boat ride that literally brought us right under the falls. We were prepared to get soaked! It’s amazing to see the falls from a distance, but it’s a completely different experience to go right up to them. We spent two whole days in the
park, walking along different trails and learning about different plants and animals. Some of the animals were really friendly and walked right next to us!

We're getting soaked! We went right up to the waterfalls in a boat. Good thing for rainjackets and a change of dry clothes

We did many other fun things in Iguazú, too. We learned a lot about yerba mate, the ubiquitous herb used for tea that all Argentines drink. Yerba mate grows naturally in the Iguazú forest and we took advantage to buy a lot of natural tea produced in the region. We also went to a cool area called “The Three Borders”. At the confluence of where the Iguazú  and Paraná rivers meet, the borders of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina fall on a single point. We were in Argentina and looking at both Paraguay and Brazil. Pretty cool!

During these few days, we were truly immersed in nature. A lot of students had no idea what to expect from Iguazú and were blown away by how beautiful this place was. Our next stop will be cosmopolitan Buenos Aires. So long to the jungle!!

This fuzzy animal is called a coati. They are super friendly. We had to be careful that one wouldn't snatch a camera!

We saw a lot of animals including tucans, jay birds, coatis, and monkeys.

At The Three Borders, standing on the Argentinian side. Looking out you see Brazil on the left and Paraguay on the right!

A tasty cheesy bread called Cabure, baked on a stick. A perfect snack for a stroll through the town!

The Three Borders and flags of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil

Our group just finished a fantastic weekend in Salta and there was only one thing on everyone’s mind: rest! Enough of the bus rides, the hikes, and the early wake ups. Our students wanted to rest, relax, and really get a feel for Argentina’s famous colonial city, so this is exactly what we did.

There wasn’t much on our agenda in Salta this time around, and this is exactly how we liked it. Jorge and Stephanie let everyone sleep in and during the day we found activities designed to help us explore the city and learn about our surroundings. The MAAM musuem was a huge hit: the museum has an interactive exhibition about Inca culture and heritage, including the dress, eating habits, and rituals of the Inca people that once lived in the area. The main attraction of the museum is three perfectly preserved, mummified bodies of Inca children who were offered as a sacrifice to the Inca dieties. This museum was a huge hit with everyone and it really tied together our understanding of the region.

Among other activities, we shopped and had the most amazing artisan ice cream in all of Argentina. After two weeks in Valle Grande, we felt for the first time as if we were actually taking a break. It was exactly the transition our group needed before hitting Iguazú and Buenos Aires later this week.

Do you recognize this photo? Check out the header of our blog, it should look familiar

A group photo in front of the San Francisco Church in Salta

A typical street view of Salta

For our last day in Salta, we planned a special treat for everyone: we headed out on a half-day horseback riding excursion in the countryside and spent the night on a farm. This was the perfect way to end our time in the Andean Northwest!

The scenery on the farm

The guys learning a new game from our gaucho host

Getting ready to ride some horses

The farm was only a 30-minute drive from Salta, but we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. We stayed in a huge, cool, mud-brick home that had a real country feel to it. We were surrounded by mountains, tall cacti and a lot of animals, including a friendly goat that the students named Greg. The horseback riding was a new experience for some students and we had was a great time. In addition to the beautiful mountain scenery, we rode our horses to the former fortress of a popular military leader, Martin Miguel de Güemes. Güemes was born in Salta and is famous for his role in defending northwestern Argentina from the Spanish during the Argentine War of Independence. It was interesting to visit such a monumental building out in the middle of nowhere!

Erin leading the pack on her Oreo speckled horse

Kuku, Charlotte, and Greg the goat

After the horseback riding we were treated to the most amazing asado grill we’ve had so far. Our gaucho hosts were extremely friendly and knew everything about the art of meat. No complaints here: the weather was perfect, the asado was beyond delicious, and we were with real gauchos on a big farm in the middle of Argentina. This was the real deal!

In the evening some of the girls helped to make tortillas. They prepared and rolled the dough and it will be baked fresh for tomorrow’s breakfast. The night ended with a campfire and real American s’mores. The leaders had been carrying those marshmallows for weeks waiting for just this occasion! Our next stop in Iguazú. We’re saying goodbye to the Andean Northwest!

David, our host at the farm, cooking up the asado. Mmm!

Kuku, Jocelyn, Erin, and Charlotte with one of our hosts, Estefano. Do you have any idea what time it is? We're making midnight tortillas, that's how we do it here in Argentina

After wrapping up the final details of our tree nursery project back in Valle Grande this week, the group arrived in Salta late Friday night. It is with mixed emotions that we end our experience in Valle Grande: on the one hand, we are sad to say goodbye to so many new friends (Mercedes, our cook and caretaker will be especially missed!), yet we are thrilled at the prospect of immersing ourselves deeper into Argentina’s dynamic regional culture. In any event, we leave with the satisfaction of knowing that we took an active part in the local community and contributed toward the development of the school’s agricultural program. It was a job well done!

On Saturday, the group got a real taste of the Salteño tradition at one of the best parrilladas in town. Despite not recognizing several cuts of meat, the students attacked their plates…and loved it! For many, it was the first time they had tried the less popular side of beef: intestines, sweetbreads, blood sausage. There was plenty of salad and ice cream throughout the day to celebrate the occasion!

Today the group will visit the Museo de Arqueología de Alta Montaña (MAAM), a museum dedicated to Salta’s indigenous history. It should be an early night, as everyone is exhausted and we have a full day of gaucho horseback riding to look forward to tomorrow. On Tuesday, we’ll be off to Iguazú for two nights, and then we head back to Buenos Aires!

We’ll leave you with a feast for the eyes: photos, a video clip from Las Salinas (salt flats), Maeve’s “Super Sweet Sixteen”, and our adventurous dinner.

Buen Provecho!
Jorge and Stephanie

We hope you  enjoy this short (and funny!) video clip featuring Shanth, Brian, Nico and Jorge as they play a light game of frisbee at Las Salinas, an expanse of salt flats in northern Argentina.

So, how has our trek of Northwest Argentina fared so far? Well, it’s been fantastic! We’ve been accompanied by two guides from Buenos Aries, Esteban and Juan, who met us in Valle Grande and will stay with our group until we return to Valle Grande on Tuesday. Our trek began on Friday, when we hiked 11 kilometers to a neighboring village, Valle Colorado. The hike to Valle Colorado was easy; it took about 2 1/2 hours and was on mostly flat ground. When we arrived in Valle Colorado, the students themselves had to figure out dinner plans. They were divided into three groups and each group had a map. They had to use their Spanish to find places on the map to ask locals about food options and prices. When the group reunited, we discussed the different options together and decided on the best place for dinner. We ended up eating at a local woman’s home who cooked what was probably the best dinner we have had thus far. It was a local stew called guiso which she prepared over a wooden stove. We had breakfast at her home the following morning and she prepared jams and preserves from local fruits, including a watermelon-type fruit called chayote that was a new and fun experience for everyone!

Day 2 was the big day of our trek. We woke up early and were on the trail by 10:00 AM. Three mules accompanied us to carry our bags. We began in Valle Colorado at 1,800 meters and our final destination, 21 kilometers later, was the remote village Santa Ana, at 3,000 meters elevation. The trek was a long one–it took about eight hours–but it was our most rewarding day of the trip! We moved at a slow, steady pace, walking 50 minutes and resting for 10 minutes. The scenery was incredible: at times, we were so high in the air that we actually were above the clouds.  In the beginning of the trek, we could see clouds in distance around the mountain peaks. As we moved closer to the clouds, they  actually resembled a waterfall spilling between distant mountain peaks. At the highest point of the hike, 3,200 meters, we were well above the clouds and the view below us was an endless sea of clouds. Most students agreed the vista was the the most beautiful thing they have ever seen. It was truly amazing!

We are so proud of our group for how well everyone did on this trek. We climbed over one kilometer up into the air! In Santa Ana, a small village of 170 inhabitants, the group was in good spirits. We watched the Argentina vs. Uruguay soccer game (oops. . . Argentina lost) and got a good night’s sleep.

On Sunday morning, a vechicle picked us up from Santa Ana and took us to Quebrada de Humahuaca, a colorful, long valley east of the Andean Altiplano. There was a lot of beautiful scenery on the drive to Humahuaca, including frozen lakes, wild horses, and guanacos (friends of the llama).  The landscape here is a big change from Valle Grande, which is cloud forest and very lush and green. Humahuaca is arid desert, and when the sun hits the mountains, the different layers of sediment change color in the sunlight. Quebrada translates into ravine or rugged valley, and Quebrada de Humahuaca is the full name of the town Humahuaca. One of the mountains here is called “the hill of seven colors,” so you can imagine how beautiful our surroundings are right now!

Here in Humahuaca we are enjoying our first time with internet, phone service, and hot showers since July 6th. Yep, we’ve really been out there! The students are happy to be in place where they feel more connected to the outside world.  Upon our arrival, we were greeted with empanadas and sandwiches and enjoyed some well deserved rest and relaxation. Last night, we headed out to explore the town of Humahuaca and to do some shopping. This region is known for its wool, alpaca, and llama products. We visited one of the best regarded artisan shops in the regions, where different artists from the Northwest work and sell their unique products. The director of the shop, Oscar, guided us around the shop and told us how different handicraft products are made and priced. No one left empty handed!

We about to start Day 4 of our trek. Right now we are packing our bags and shortly we will leave for Las Salinas, an expanse of salt flats in the surrounding area.  All is well and we are having a blast!

Hello followers of the Community Service Argentina blog! As leaders of this project, we apologize for the lack of updates during the past days. We were without internet and phone service in our village, so updating has been tough. But lo and behold, the director of our project, Elber, stealthily found a place where we can use internet in secret! From here on out, blog updates and posts should be more frequent

Our group of students is fantastic and we cannot express this enough. We have been in our village for nine days and already consider Valle Grande our home. A lot of progress has been made on our project: the tree nursery is really coming along and we are starting to have a good picture of what the final construction will look like. Our main tools are shovels, pick axes, and machetes, and students have really come to enjoy the physical work and the reward of progress.

Our first big task was collecting lumber from the forest and preparing wood to be used as posts from the nursery. This involved cutting the lumber to the appropriate length, stripping off the bark, and painting about 60cm of the lumber with many coats of oil-based paint (to prevent the wood from decomposing). We also needed to dig holes in the ground to support the posts. First, we used pick axes to loosen the soil and make the initial hole, and then we used shovels to finish the job. Once the posts were ready and in place in the holes, we helped to mix and pour cement to secure the posts in place, which we then covered with soil. Students take turns doing each of the jobs and everyone works really well together. Some prefer digging, others painting. The students are really good at dividing different tasks and using time and tools efficiently. There are no lazy Moes in this group!

We hope you enjoy these photos of the group working on the tree nursery.  That’s all for now.

Saludos!
Stephanie and Jorge

Blog written on July 12th

Our group leader, Jorge, celebrated his 24th birthday today.  We all went out to make this day absolutely wonderful for him! From toilet paper streamers, to a surprise breakfast, to a cake made from scratch, we thought of it all. The day started off on the right foot. We decided as a group to “sleep in” today when in fact it was just the boys who slept in. The girls got up early to labor in the kitchen to make scrambled eggs and French toast  for breakfast. It was really fun and we taught our cook, Mercedes, some new breakfast recipes.

Work was great today. We finished today’s project in the nursery where we dug the last of the holes and poured in cement to secure the posts. Once the cement is in, it needs time to dry.

In the afternoon we decided to finally conquer our front yard..  Each morning when we wake up and every night before we go to sleep, we see a huge mountain in front of our house. Our group has always wanted to climb it and today was the day. According to our project leader, Elber, the trek takes 45 minutes to reach the summit. Hmmm… half-way into the hike we realized Elber probably meant 45 minutes running up the hill for someone who is super in shape and accostumed to the altitude (we are at 1,800 meters)!  This hike was challenging. It was steep, the ground was loose and rocky, and the sun was beaming. It took us about 2 ½ hours to reach the summit. We took frequent breaks and were really supportive of one another, but at the end of day we conquered this mountain.  It was the hightlight of the day for many people. The view at the top was truly amazing; we saw mountains, meadows, cows, and enjoyed cracking open fresh walnuts for snacks. The rest and relaxation in our beautiful surroundings was truly rewarding. After the hike, a few of the girls went off to teach an “English lesson” to the local students. This was really a code for “baking Jorge’s birthday cake”! Neither of the leaders were present, so our students found the ingredients, arranged time with the cooks, and prepared the cake. Later, we ate dinner as usual, then the lights went out and a cake with candles was brought to the table. It was so delicious! After dinner we made a bonfire and had a late night of s’mores and stories. What a great day!!

Blog written on July 15th

Tomorrow we are leaving in a few hours for a four-day trek. We will make a two hour hike to a neighboring village, Valle Colorado, where we will spend Independence Day on July 9th. Tomorrow, Saturday, we are doing a big trek along the former Inca Trail, climbing to 3,000 meters to the village of Santa Ana. On Sunday, we will head to the beautiful Humahuaca and on Monday we will make an excursion to the salt flats, which should be beautiful! We are back in Valle Grande on Tuesday.  Until then, we will be without internet, so please be patient with us!

Cheers from the Andean Northwest!

Making French Toast

Taking a break during the hike up our front yard

Jorge and his birthday cake!

The long hike and our beautiful surroundings

After an early morning trip to Ledesma, a speedy visit to the grocery store, and a long bus ride through the cloud forests of the Jujuy province, the Community Service Argentina crew finally arrived in Valle Grande on Wednesday afternoon. Despite our rustic accommodations, our chicos have embraced their new surroundings splendidly—they are loving the simple life! We are three days into our work creating a local plant nursery–much of the plant life here was destroyed during the summer floods). Thus far, it has been an excellent opportunity to not only roll up our sleeves and make a difference, but also to interact with the local students and learn from a truly unique and inviting culture.

When they’re not busy digging holes, stripping bark, or installing fences, the group has found pleasure in sports (frisbee, off-road running, fútbol...), meditation, and even chores.  The kitchen has become quite a popular place to be!

We’ll be here in Valle Grande until this Friday when we are off on a two-day hike through Valle Colorado and then head back to Salta for some exciting ranch adventures. Stay tuned!

We hope you enjoy the photos below– please note that there are a few students who don’t appear in the photos.  Please rest assured that all is well!  We hope to send more photos soon.

Abrazos!
Jorge and Stephanie

Monday, 4th July

Our group traveled in a combination of buses, planes, and more buses to get to our destinaton in Salta. We are finally here! It´s chilly in the Andean Northwest, and it was funny to see all the Putney students in the airport with flipflops while everyone around us is layered in scarves, hats, and furry winter gear. These Argentines overdo it a little with their “South American winter”, but it´s definitely a change coming from summer. Everyone noticed very quickly that we´re not in Kansas anymore! Props to students and parents for a packing job well done.

Every student in our group is absolutely fantastic and we are going to have a wonderful few weeks. After eating some delicious empanadas that were delivered to our hostel and covering those bare feet with wooly llamasocks, we headed out into the town to see what this place is all about. Salta is in the far Northwest of Argentina and the city is surrounded by mountains. For our first activity, we took a gondola to the top of the San Bernardo hill that overlooks the city. The view was amazing!

We´ve done a lot of traveling, and our priority for the evening is food in our bellies and catching up on some much needed sleep. We had dinner in a fantastic Argentine restaurant where students feasted on typical regional cuisine. From pumpkin-lentil soup to goat stew to steamed corn and chese wrapped in corn-husks, we tried it all. This group LOVES Argentine food! With our bellies happy and satisfied, we headed back early so everyone could catch up on those zzzz´s. Tomorrow is a big day!

Tuesday, 5th July

Today started off bright and early with an 8:30AM pick-up from our hostel. The surprise: white water rafting and zip-lining on South America´s tallest canopy line! A lot of students had doubts about the rafting, leaders included! Surprisingly, when we got to the valley of the Juramento River it was pleasant and sunny. We also had neoprene wetsuits, booties, sweaters, raincoats, life-jackets, helmets. . . the works.  Our guides were amazing, and the students were really happy to undertake this adventure with such a hip group of Argentine guys and gals.

We were given the 411 on class III rapids and how to work together as a team to command our rafts. For many students it was their first time ever rafting. Any and all fears were quickly conquered!  We spent about two hours total to raft the 15 kilometers.  The first 30 minutes were calm waters and we practiced our commands (Adelante! Atras! Alto!), and then we tackled 10 big rapids and a succession of smallers rapids. Forget all thoughts of being cold: when the rapids were finished a few brave souls JUMPED into the river to swim the last stretch. Their smiles were contagious and soon most of the crew was in the water swimming. What a group!

Yeah!! Vamos, Vamos!! Rafting, rafting, and more rafting on the Juramento River!

The guys!

After rafting, we were all happy to change into warm clothes, and we had our first Argentine parrillada experience. This isn´t your typical BBQ, oh no. This is one of the principal reasons many people come to Argentina: to try their world-renowned Pampas fed beef. Tender, juicy, savory, unimaginably flavorful, copious, and unlimited amounts of meat.  (There was also a fantastic salad bar and vegetarian options!)  Lunch was definitely a highlight for everyone.

Our first real Argentine parrillada

Our final activity of the day was zip-lining across the canopy, supposedly South America´s highest! Let´s just say we had some really memorable moments! The view was amazing, the line was zippy, and every student has a story to tell about his or her experience.

The zip-line

Back in Salta, the students had a chance to really use their Spanish for the first time. For dinner and an evening stroll, we visited the main market – El Mercado Central - for more wooly socks, souvenirs, and some local food. Tomorrow starts our big day, we are traveling to our village!!

We’ve received word from the leaders that the group has arrived in Salta.

We know that parents love to keep up to date on their kids’ activities during our programs.  While we expect that most of our participants will take the time to be in touch occasionally, we have found that it is helpful to parents for our leaders to post periodic updates on this blog.  Obviously, blog posts will not provide detailed information about your child, but they will let you know about some of the group’s activities, projects, and excursions.

The frequency of blog posts varies from program to program depending on internet access (which can be limited), and each group’s itinerary and busy schedule of activities.  Please rest assured that we can reach leaders at any time and that we will discuss any important issues concerning your child directly them and with you.  As you know, you can reach us by phone at our office during business hours, and on our emergency line 24/7 if necessary.

We suggest that you subscribe to the blog during your first visit so that you will receive e-mail notifications at the end of the day if a new update has been posted that day.  To subscribe, enter your email address under ‘Subscribe to this blog!’ form on the right-hand column of the blog.

Have a fantastic summer!