Have been back in the deep freeze since last Wednesday so had better make a final report on Argentina before the experience fades too much.
I have to say that the country does grow on you after a while despite its flaws. They are very proud of their Pope Francisco (I wonder why we call him Frances) and of course Eva Peron. The Catholic churches of all sizes are amazingly beautiful. The Tango show we went to was awesome. They do have street people but I would much rather be a street person in Buenos Aires than Calgary. The population of Argentina is overwhelmingly of European origin for those that care about that sort of thing. And they don't cater to aboriginals which I think is good. Their property rights extend right to the street and their buildings often touch the sidewalks. Post secondary education is free in BA, voting age is 16 and mandatory at 18. The president is wife of the late president and has an uncanny resemblance to the octo-mom. Her program of the week when we were there was a plan to assist impoverished 18-24 year old students. Apparently employment opportunities would ruin their lifestyle. Food and booze are reasonably priced. The wealthy people look after themselves as all wealthy people do. The young fellows who were managing the Angus ranches we visited were flying to Vail to go skiing after. They also said that they regularly provided gas and food to the local police. There is a 35% export tax on agriculture products IF one can obtain a permit. The government is considering a grain agency to force the soybean growers to sell their crop quicker. I guess they want their take sooner. There is no municipal road building or maintenance or rural electrification programs. The land owners we met lived in the city and commuted to the farm.
Argentina has millions of acres of rich deep soils with 40" of rain or more and 250 frost free days. Apparently they were among the world's wealthiest nations in the '20s. Most people we talked to said they haven't realized their potential. We only saw a small part of the Pampas on this trip. No doubt there is much more to see as the settled area of Argentina exceeds that of Canada. We did consume quite a few Quilmes cervesas Ado and in that heat didn't make many trips to the facilities. Maybe the funniest comment came from the young Argentine farmer and agrologist who accompanied our tour. Someone asked if some of the sunflower harvest went for bird seed. He said that in Argentina we don't feed the birds, they just eat on their own. Oh and a cold day in BA is 5 celcius. Maybe that is why they don't take things quite so serious as us. Regards, HT
I have to say that the country does grow on you after a while despite its flaws. They are very proud of their Pope Francisco (I wonder why we call him Frances) and of course Eva Peron. The Catholic churches of all sizes are amazingly beautiful. The Tango show we went to was awesome. They do have street people but I would much rather be a street person in Buenos Aires than Calgary. The population of Argentina is overwhelmingly of European origin for those that care about that sort of thing. And they don't cater to aboriginals which I think is good. Their property rights extend right to the street and their buildings often touch the sidewalks. Post secondary education is free in BA, voting age is 16 and mandatory at 18. The president is wife of the late president and has an uncanny resemblance to the octo-mom. Her program of the week when we were there was a plan to assist impoverished 18-24 year old students. Apparently employment opportunities would ruin their lifestyle. Food and booze are reasonably priced. The wealthy people look after themselves as all wealthy people do. The young fellows who were managing the Angus ranches we visited were flying to Vail to go skiing after. They also said that they regularly provided gas and food to the local police. There is a 35% export tax on agriculture products IF one can obtain a permit. The government is considering a grain agency to force the soybean growers to sell their crop quicker. I guess they want their take sooner. There is no municipal road building or maintenance or rural electrification programs. The land owners we met lived in the city and commuted to the farm.
Argentina has millions of acres of rich deep soils with 40" of rain or more and 250 frost free days. Apparently they were among the world's wealthiest nations in the '20s. Most people we talked to said they haven't realized their potential. We only saw a small part of the Pampas on this trip. No doubt there is much more to see as the settled area of Argentina exceeds that of Canada. We did consume quite a few Quilmes cervesas Ado and in that heat didn't make many trips to the facilities. Maybe the funniest comment came from the young Argentine farmer and agrologist who accompanied our tour. Someone asked if some of the sunflower harvest went for bird seed. He said that in Argentina we don't feed the birds, they just eat on their own. Oh and a cold day in BA is 5 celcius. Maybe that is why they don't take things quite so serious as us. Regards, HT