Fourteen days and counting.

100 Days, 100 Photos continues with Day 81, 82, 83, 84, 85 and 86

Day 81, February 16, 2012
The Slingshot
A boy from the neighborhood behind Centro Juvenil, Los del Fondo in Bancalari, stands atop an abandoned car with his slingshot. I was out with the group of teens from the center for a mini field trip through the barrio in search of photographs.

Day 82, February 17, 2012
ExEsma
The ex-ESMA or escuela militar. This parking lot was where desaparecidos were unloaded, head covered, and marched into the building that would become their prison, some for many years, before they were killed. Over 5,000 desaparecidos walked across this same parking lot and into that building. Only 200 survived.

Day 83, February 18, 2012
Julian
I met Julian at the Comedor Los Pibes in La Boca when I first arrived in Buenos Aires. Turns out our birthdays are only a few days apart. For the past three years he’s invited me to his house for a birthday celebration with his daughter – who also has a birthday within a few days of ours. Julian turned 77 this year.

Day 84, February 19, 2012
Night Light
A normally busy chori-stand in the park is quiet and shuttered at night.

Day 85, February 20, 2012
Young Murgoero
One of the most barrio-specific things you can do is catch a corso during carnival. This one, the Rechifle de Palermo, was performing in Villa Crespo. They start them young and these kids know how to move. I am jealous.

Day 86, February 21, 2012
Real estate
Who is buying all of this new real estate? Is there really a market for the number of apartment buildings being built in my neighborhood. In the four blocks around me there are at least five buildings under construction.

I know, two posts in one day. But the rose seller needed his own post. Daily life in Buenos Aires.

100 Days, 100 Photos continues with Day 80, The Rose Seller.

Day 80, February 15, 2012
The Rose Seller
Two for 10 pesos. Killer price for roses – fresh, red, plump. I bought two ofcourse. Just for me. The rose seller sits and watches people pass by, most in a hurry. Too bad. They missed out on his beautiful roses. Avenida Federico Lacroze in Chacaritas.

The clock keeps ticking, the furniture is leaving now and I am wondering how the hell I am going to fit all this crap into two bags, and that doesn’t include the camera gear – that extra expense at the airport is a given. I have my kitchen on my living room floor, dishes, irons, mugs, etc… I like change. I also like a bit of organization. Moving across town you throw it into a box and bribe your friends with pizza and beer. Moving across hemispheres you evaluate each piece for its value, personal or otherwise. I live a fairly uncluttered life, but I certainly make a bad minimalist.

100 Days, 100 Photos continues with Day 75, 76, 77, 78, and 79!

Day 75, February 10, 2012
Banana Man
The banana man sells his wares near the zoo, blowing bubbles and calling out as parents pass with their children.

Day 76, February 11, 2012
Vivir es Luchar
Siempre? Always?

Day 77, February 12, 2012
Exercise Time
Sunday morning exercise in the Rosedal. It is always sponsored by one company or another. A yogurt company had today’s market. But regardless, it gets people out and moving and with some overly peppy exercise guru in the lead. If I was in the states I’d call this vintage americana, but here? argentiniana?

Day 78, February 13, 2012
Sidewalk Cleaning
The hazards of getting up early in Capital and going for a run revolve around avoiding the sidewalk cleaning. Each encargado gets out early with their hose, broom and ‘implements of destruction’ to clean off the trash, dog poop and whatever sidewalks seem to accumulate. It all happily ends up in the street however, just not on their square meter of turf. It is a true Buenos Aires ritual.

Day 79, February 14, 2012
Birthday Martini
39 years today. Celebrated with friends and a dirty martini.

100 Days, 100 Photos continues with Day 71, 72, 73 and 74.

Day 71, February 6, 2012
Queso
A little cremoso or sardo perhaps? No, they’re not selling elk down at the bottom of the sign… but queso por el kilo… by the kilo.

Day 72, February 7, 2012
Painting
It’s the season for touch ups to the store fronts. As the city clears out on vacation, home improvement projects take off.

Day 73, February 8, 2012
Humidity
Sun, water, heat, humidity. Buenos Aires in the summer. Boulder, Colorado just received two feet of snow.

Day 74, February 9, 2012
Manzanas
Fruit stand in Bancalari. I’ll miss the freshness of in season fruits and veggies the most when I leave Buenos Aires.

I am a short-timer now. 30 days to go and so much furniture to sell. Actually that is well underway and looking good. Life continues as normal as I can make it, even if I am anticipating the move at the end of this all.

100 Days, 100 Photos continues with Day 67, 68, 69, and 70.

Day 67, February 2, 2012
Summer Days
Hanging and playing a game of cards at Centro Juvenil, Los del Fondo in Bancalari. These are summer days.

Day 68, February 3, 2012
Calle Florida
New, old and hippie, Calle Florida has a pulse all of its own.

Day 69, February 4, 2012
Bag Lady
I don’t really know what this graffiti is about. Bag lady with frame?? I suppose that is why I chose it for today. Found on Pasaje Russell near Plaza Cortazar/Serrano.

Day 70, February 5, 2012
Palermo Wetlands
With all the rain we’ve had, I believe the Palermo Bosques should be rechristened the Palermo Wetlands for the foreseeable future.

100 Days, 100 Photos continues with Day 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, and 66.

Day 61, January 27, 2012
Blue and Yellow
Was I on the magic bus? Just a function of the lights combined with the brilliant yellow of the rails. Colectivo 152 somewhere in Nuñez.

Day 62, January 28, 2012
Waiting
Not so late night waiting for the 39 in Colegiales. I think I was in bed by 1 am. Most folks are just going out.

Day 63, January 29, 2012
Downhill
Downhill longboarder on a small patch of road called Libano in Recoleta and just behind the British Embassy. With few hills in Capital, you have to take them where you find them and avoid the cars.

Day 64, January 30, 2012
Estación Once de Septiembre
The old train station in the barrio of Once is a beautiful building. There is not much reason that someone would need to go inside, a few offices and the Bolivian Consulate perhaps. If you get the chance though…

Day 65, January 31, 2012
A Face in the Crowd
Like the rings on a trunk of a tree will tell you how old the tree was, the layers of publicity on a barrier will tell you how long the building has been under construction. Villa del Parque, Capital.

Day 66, February 1, 2012
Inundación
Rain, rain, rain… and with all this rain, guess what? The Subte comes to a screaching halt because it is all flooded underground. As always, with the downpours the transit in Capital gets a little, lets say ‘challenged,’ and you’re left jocking for elbow room on the packed bus. Well, if you’re not one of the lucky ones that snagged a cab.

Vacations are for relaxing. Except when you decide to backpack through transportation-challenged countries. Ok, Bolivia isn’t transportation challenged – there are plenty of options – just finding out how, where, when, are you sure, bathrooms, what do you mean they don’t work, does the bus have brakes, do they work?? and lest I forget the challenges of being a tall person when squeezing myself into small bus spaces for hours on end over dirt, semi-paved and generally bad roads. Sound relaxing? Awesome country though and you have to overlook the details, or enjoy the details, because it is only when stuff goes wrong, does your vacation story become worth telling.

My $.02 on Bolivia (and Jujuy, Argentina):
La Paz: visit it definitely. Drink lots of coca tea. Enjoy the chaos in the streets. That is what La Paz is all about.

Lake Titicaca: Yes and no. Isla del Sol hike would have been better had I not had a migraine. North side = hippie, South Side = better hostels.

Cochabamba: don’t bother unless you’re passing through enroute to…

Villa Tunari: the beginning of the jungle in Bolivia. A definite visit. Get out to Parque Carrasco and take the tour. Worth the money and the time and the rain. Beautiful, beautiful place full of life, greenery and the occasional nasty little ant that lives in the Palo Santo tree. Be careful of these, the little suckers hurt.

Sucre: I loved it, but I am happy wandering aimlessly through twisty streets and people watching.

Potosí: Mine tour is worth the money. Make sure you pay attention though. This isn’t a ride at Disneyland. These miners are making a living doing this and what for you it is an e-ticket ride, for them is a way of life and a potentially dangerous one. Come out of it with more empathy and more education.

Uyuni: Ugly enough to be one of the best places to photograph. A border town with no apologies. The salt flats are immense and again worth the visit. You’ll be one of the plethora of tourists buzzing about.

Villazon, Bolivia/La Quiaca, Argentina: You just pass through going to and from, but I was enthralled by the change from one side to the other. Similarities abound, but differences too and all that separates them is a line in the sand (ok, with border agents and all).

San Salvador de Jujuy: Almost a pueblo still, but it is the capital of Jujuy. Cute town, beautiful countryside. I found the hike around the Termas de las Reyes more fun than the termas. Too much like a country club pool. Locro was amazing!

100 Days, 100 Photos continues with Day 56, 57, 58, 59 and 60, or something like that. I’m no longer sure I am counting correctly. Sixty is way over the number of fingers I have and I may have phoned in one or two photos in this batch. Sorry for the lack of effort (ie, ‘Beautify…’ I shot 5 photos that day and all of them crap. I think my relaxing vacation caught up with me.) I’ll admit too, I’ve broken rule #4.

Day 56, January 22, 2012
Beautify
Inside the Casa de Gobierno in San Salvador de Jujuy, a new paint job and beautifying project is underway.

Day 57, January 23, 2012
Hauling Rocks
A group of two with a various mules, drop down into the river bottom. As we watched for awhile, they loaded bags onto the mules – I believe filled with rocks – and hauled them back up the steep incline. The peaceful green setting is along the Termas de las Reyes and the valley outside of San Salvador de Jujuy.

Day 58, January 24, 2012
Rainy Day
Traveling in January in these parts of South America is all about the rain. Planning your day around the storm or getting caught in it. But the warm rain is welcomed most of the time. Pedestrian zone in San Salvador de Jujuy.

Day 59, January 25, 2012
The Long Haul
The passing scenery of Jujuy, Salta, Santiago de Estero blends together as a passenger looks out the window. The trip from San Salvador de Jujuy to Capital, Buenos Aires is just over 20 hours. A long time to be on a bus. Thankfully in Argentina the buses are equipped with bathrooms and if you pay a little more you get a seat that lays flat and is actually just long enough for tall people to stretch out.

Day 60, January 26, 2012
Coffee
Give me coffee and no one gets hurt. Retiro bus station, Buenos Aires, Argentina after 20 hours on a bus from Jujuy. And watch out for the sticker shock. The coffee costs 21pesos… a legal form of robbery, no doubt.

From Coke country (capital C) to hanging in the jungle and back again. This group of photos is a hodgepodge of ideas and days and places and things and feelings and well, whatever.

FYI: It all began here with Day 1.

100 Days, 100 Photos continues with Day 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47

Day 41, January 7, 2012
Coke Country
Bolivia is Coke country. Fitting right? Coke began by using the real coca leaf in its formula and Bolivia is one of the major producers. Uses range from anethesia to illegal drugs, ie cocaine. The leaves are great in tea, seeped in hot water, add a little bit of sugar and mmmmm…. but Coke – capital C and the beverage – and not to be confused with coke – no capital and not a beverage – has not used the leaves as a main ingredient in a long while. Still, it is harder to find a Pepsi in this country and nevermind a Pepsi light. Photo taken in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Day 42, January 8, 2012
Shadow and Light
Two young children play with their wares – rubber balls that glow as you bounce them in your hands – as they work the weekend market in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The central square near the Prado is filled with booths as well as many more merchants setting up shop where they find a patch of pavement to spread out.

Day 43, January 9, 2012
Sweet
I may not be inclined to stop and ask for a cool and refreshing peach beverage from this stand in Cochabamba, Bolivia, but at least I know they serve some sweet stuff.

Day 44, January 10, 2012
The Floor
This girl, about 10 or 11 years old as far as I can guess, sleeps on the floor of the bus between Cochabamba and Villa Tunari, Bolivia. In order to save money, her father bought one seat, for him, and she is supposed to sit on his lap, so they don’t have to buy more than one seat. About 5 hours into the trip enough people had departed that she could sit in an empty seat and stop sleeping cramped up on the bus floor.

Day 45, January 11, 2012
Natural Candy Dots
Do you remember the candy dots popular in the early 80′s? They came on a strip of paper and you’d just chew them off with lime, lemon and strawberry flavors. I loved them. Well, these are not them. These dots are spores of a plant that detach and float away to create new plants in the Parque Nacional de Carrasco in the sub-tropical jungle in Villa Tunari, Bolivia, which was full of all kinds of cool things, like mushrooms that glow in the dark, bats, orchids, green ferns, tall trees and these little nasty ants that come out and bit the crap out of you if you touch their tree, the Palo Santo. Don’t touch the tree, trust me. Oh, and don’t eat the dots.

Day 46, January 12, 2012
Cleansing Rain
A drop of water falls from a very large leaf of a plant that probably could eat you for dinner if it felt like it as we visit Villa Tunari and the sub-tropical jungle in Bolivia. Day 2 of our visit was all about the rain. The pouring rain. Not unwelcomed because it as warm. The kind of rain you could enjoy and still get into the pool. We just had to worry about mudslides on the route back to Cochabamba however.

Day 47, January 13, 2012
Three Wise Men
I want to be a fly on the bench so I can know what they talk about. I envy and seek this type of relationship with my friends. To sit and talk and watch the world walk by. Plaza 25 de Mayo, Sucre, Bolivia

I own a T-shirt that says ‘Sea level is for sissies’. I bought it during the 2010 BolderBoulder 10K in Boulder, Colorado. I’m not sure I’m worthy to wear it anymore. You see, it began when we opted to fly in to La Paz and I realized how close I was to my physical limitations at altitude. No running around the city and as I found out, no hiking at about 13,000ft 3 days after landing.

I also found out that getting around Bolivia is an exercise in patience and something of a scavenger hunt. Oh, and if the bus company says the full-cama bus has a bathroom make sure you ask if it is functioning. Details, details, details.

100 Days, 100 Photos continues with day 38, 39 and 40.

Day 38, January 4, 2012
Daily Grind
This woman was on the side of the road as we headed to Copacabana, Bolivia. She was one of many women working, some sitting under plastic blue tarps in the shade. Each women passed the tourist buses, local buses and cars, with baskets or arms full of snacks, water, Coke, selling to whomever would buy as we all came to a stop at a police check point in the route. (Please pardon me for photographing out of a bus window. I feel something of a sniper doing that and have some moral-photo issues with it, which I won’t bore you with. However, transportation in Bolivia being what it is, there is no getting out of the bus unless the driver needs to also pee or grab a drink. And I thought this woman’s daily life was worth calling attention to.)

Day 39, January 5, 2012
Laundry Day
Two of the traditional skirts worn by many indigenous women in Bolivia, sit along a railing to dry.
Most laundry, as we’ve been able to ascertain at this point, is washed by hand in the rivers or Lake Titicaca itself and then set out to dry on a rock, bush, or for this more upscale owner, the railing of their home on the southern part of the Isla del Sol in Bolivia.

Day 40, January 6, 2012
Tranqui
After a day from hell hiking at about 13,000 ft, which triggered a migraine (about a quarter of the way into the hike and yet we finished it, albiet in twice the advertised time) and created all sorts of grumpiness, we awoke less beaten, less stinky and generally in a good mood. It helped quite a bit that this was our view during breakfast- looking out over Lake Titicaca and the Isla de La Luna and the snow capped mountains beyond. Amazing how simple moments, a second of tranquility, can erase a full day of cursing the altitude gods.