Southern Exposure

Saturday, April 11

We woke up around 9:30 am looking forward to a nice breakfast. We were told that one of the brothers, Vicente, during his youth worked as a cook at an American diner and learned to make mean eggs. This was the subject of numerous witty jokes at last night’s dinner, and we were eager to try these famous and highly advertised “Vicente’s eggs.” Well, it wasn’t Vicente’s shift in the kitchen, and instead Adelita directed the kitchen staff and put her special touch on a scramble of freshly collected eggs for each of us. Fernando had read about our grievances towards Argentinean skimpy breakfasts and was determined to make sure we get our eggs, cheese, bread, juice and coffee every day.

After breakfast we went for a tour of the monturero (saddle) house. The room was filled with all kinds of horse paraphernalia: saddles, bridles, old-fashioned carriages, racing hats, albums with press clipping featuring the family’s participation in the harness racing dating back to 1950’s. In fact, Adela’s grandfather brought harness racing to Argentina from US in the first part of the 20th century. To this day the family continues to race (Adelita retired not long ago, but Ignacio, the youngest brother, still races), and breed horses. It was a fascinating place and inspired us to get in a saddle ourselves as soon as possible.

The estancia’s horse handy man German assigned us each a horse for the ride. Neither of us had much experience riding horses. Matt did some riding in his childhood. I had been on a horse twice before, once at a Moscow zoo when I was a kid and another time in Costa Rica a couple years ago as part of a very slow jungle horse tour. Fernando agreed to accompany us for a while in order to show us around the territory and point out the road to the fields.

First, I was a bit terrified of the horse thinking that it probably felt my inexperience and at any moment could charge ahead throwing me overboard.

But we had quickly learned the correct – Argentinean, not English – way to hold the reins with one hand and how to signal the horse to do what you want it to do, the rest came naturally. Soon enough we were galloping out into the fields in absolute joy, laughing all the way like kids with their new toys.

The horses were getting sweaty and a bit unruly, and it was obvious they wanted to get back to the stables. When we reached the end of the road we let them chow on some grass and as soon as we turned them around to head back, they got a sudden burst of energy, started up their motors and were unstoppable. Galloping so fast, I felt like my organs were being rearranged. I could barely hold on, squeezing the horse between my legs, the same technique I use when riding the bike on rocky dirt roads. The experience was unforgettable, immensely fun and freeing.

We reached the stables in minutes, got off the horses and felt extreme muscle straining in our thighs. Some unknown muscles we hardly ever use got significant work out. We were determined to ride the horses at least once more before leaving the estancia.

It was lunch time and all adults gathered around the dining room table for another delicious meal prepared by the hard working kitchen staff. As always, it was jokes and wise-cracking all through the meal, but conversation eventually steered towards the current state of the investment banking system in US. Two of the brothers, Pablo and Sebastian are executives at a top Argentine bank, and had an interesting outlook on the executive compensation issue. While Matthew was partaking in the conversation, I thanked Adelita for a special present she gave me, a traditional gaucho faja belt and took a lesson from her on how to wear it properly.

After lunch, while kids and some adults were splashing in the pond, we rested for an hour in our room before heading to the main house where Adelita showed us the map of the estancia. She told us about the division of the property (11,000 acres!), the crops they grow (mainly soy and corn for export), the process for harvesting, and the various matters of running the estanica and being an estanciero (rancher/estate owner) in the current political and economic climate in Argentina.

Adelita then invited us to take a ride in a horse carriage around the estancia. Adelita driving the horses with Fernando in the front, and with Matt and me, Pepa’s husband Sebastian and their son Juanito, and Ignacio’s daughter in the back we set off on the estancia tour.

We passed through fields of different crops in various degrees of preparation stretching as far as the eye could see,

stopped to say hello to the group of pregnant brown and identical looking cows, who nevertheless had very distinctive and captivating face expressions ranging from irritability to curiosity to amusement.

We saw a number of owls and other birds,

tried to “moo-talk” to a group of fierce looking bulls, passed a couple of beautiful white horses and an unbelievably handsome but lonely stallion. Continuing on we saw other wonderful inhabitants and parts of the estancia, finally arriving back to the main quarters just in time to see the huge brightly-lit orange disk of sun setting on the horizon.

Fernando then took us in a car to see the soy and corn crops being harvested. The family hires a special company to come and collect the crops, because the machines are too expensive for individual farmers to own. We rode right into the fields, with huge machine roaming in the fields outside the car windows. It was a cool sight.

While everyone was having fun in the afternoon, German was hard at work preparing the asado (grilled meat) of lamb and chorizo for tonight’s dinner in the special parrilla (grill), the biggest one we have seen so far.

This time, the dinner tables for kids and adults were set in the galpon (storage room/garage) where the ping pong match took place last night, and the room was soon roaring with voices, noises and commotion of over 30 people. I have to say, this was probably the best lamb and chorizo I had ever had in my life.

The slightly fatty piece of lomo of lamb was melting in my mouth and chorizo had an exceptionally palatable flavor. The side dishes of potato and mixed green salads almost sent my taste buds to food heaven, and I was elevated completely when the dessert of dulce de leche flan and a fruit salad was served. This was definitely one of the most memorable food experiences on this trip for us.

After dinner, there was an awards ceremony where prizes were given to winners of various family weekend competitions: kids and adult golf, ping pong match, and others. What a great tradition I thought, and before I knew it, everyone was cheering for me to go upfront and say a few words in Russian. My Russian, particularly in a spontaneous moment like this doesn’t come out smooth and easy, but, even though no one could understand me, I spilled out a touchy little speech. I gave my translation in English afterwards. Matthew and I were incredibly humbled and grateful for such a warm welcome by the Gutierrez family, and for giving us the opportunity to experience the life of the Argentinean family first hand. Personally, not having a big family myself, in fact feeling a bit like an orphan in America, it was incredibly inspirational to see the great amount of fun, love and joy one family creates and shares together. I pointed out how lucky they were to have each other and that there really is nothing more important in life than a loving and caring family. I almost teared up at the end of the speech.

The final entertainment of the night were games of musical chairs, sardines (one person hides and everyone goes out looking for them – once found they hide together and the person who finds all the sardines together is a loser), and hide and seek.

It was an amazing day filled with so many great activities, one that will stay in my memory for a long time, and a definite highlight of our trip. When we were finally back in our nice room, I think I fell asleep before I hit the bed.