Home - Thoughts on Travelling

The world is bigger, the world is different. I am standing in Raley's, staring, tired. Where am I? What country am I in? Who are these people? Are they happy? What music do I hear? What is life like here?  Where did they come from? What is their history?






In a daze after 20 hours of travel, I stare at my living room. Who lives here?

 So many places full of people living out their lives...working, loving, eating, dying.

Why am I here and not there, or over there? My belly is full, my house is warm. Clean water comes out of my faucets. I take these things for granted.

To travel is to die a little. I give up my daily routines, the little things that build my day minute by minute. The newspaper, the e-mail, the movie, the coffee, the pillow, the politics. I think this is good for me; I see differently, if only for a while. My thoughts are less black & white, less us and them. My world is bigger.

Iguazú II

 From Lonely Planet: "There are waterfalls and there are waterfalls. And then there is Iguazú. Nothing can prepare you for the sight and sound of so much water falling so hard from so many jungle-clad cliffs."

 Courtney gets wet!

 The zip line team

 Maureen & Courtney blissed out in the waterfall

 Big rattlesnake in the jungle! We stayed on the path after this!!

The swimmers

In the Air

Over Texas. Approaching 20 hours of travel time. Be home this afternoon.

Iguazu Falls

 We are in the tropics. Jungle, Butterflies, Snakes, water water everyhere. Waterfalls so big and wide that a picture will never capture them. A boat ride into the  mouth of the devil's throat.
A baptism in the falls. A once in a lifetime experience.

Subte - Always an Adventure

Las Madres d Plaza de Mayo

Las Madres march every Thursday in the Plaza de Mayo directly in front of the "Casa Rosada" to remember "the disappeared" during the military dictatorship of 1976-82.

They are still keeping the memory of their missing children alive, and looking for justice.

There is an excavation near our hotel where once stood a building used for incarceration and torture. They are finding bones that were buried beneath the building.

Cementario de la Recoleta

A small city on its own, Recoleta is a maze of narrow walkways, filled with history, including the tomb of Evita.

República Cromañón (Spanish for "Cro-Magnon Republic")

Driven to tears, driven to tears...

Today we went to the site of this club (in a neighborhood where tourists do not go), where 194 young people died 6 years ago. the whole corner of the block is a memorial to what happened that night. I could only cry, looking at their faces, seeing their burned shoes....it seems they are still waiting for justice.

From Wikipedia:

 República Cromañónwas a nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

On 30 December 2004, a fire broke out in the club, killing 194 people and injuring 714 others.

The venue was playing host to rock group Callejeros and around 3,000 people were in attendance. The blaze was started when a pyrotechnic flare (a popular device in New Year's Eve celebrations) was set off and ignited foam in the ceiling. The materials used in the building for decoration were flammable: mostly wood, styrofoam, acoustic panels and a plastic net (a so-called media sombra). This plastic net was hung from the ceiling and caught fire first, melting into a rain of fire. In some parts of the building, teddy bear stuffing was used as a cheap alternative to wool fiber. The owner and the band's lead singer had told the patrons not to use flares inside the building.

Four of the six doors, some of which were fire exits, were chained shut so that "people would not enter without paying", according to Mayor Aníbal Ibarra. Most of the victims died from inhaling poisonous gases, smoke and carbon monoxide, unlike most accidents of this kind, where most die from crushing or burning.

Following the disaster, an Argentine judge issued a national and international arrest order against Omar Chabán, local businessman and owner of República Cromañón and other nightclubs, including one called Cemento that had been closed by court orders many times before. Chabán was located at one of his houses in the neighbourhood of Montserrat and was arrested. Police are now seeking those responsible for setting off the flare. If they are found (some reports say they have already been identified and that they are children), then they could face eight to twenty years in prison.

President Néstor Kirchner decreed three days of national mourning, and city authorities forbade concerts and closed all nightclubs in Buenos Aires during the mourning period.

Colonia del Sacramento

Yesterday was a trip to Uruguay, to the old Portuguese settlement of Colonia del Sacramento.
Dating back to to the 1600's,  it is a beautiful example of colonial architecture and also a tourist mecca.

We traveled by boat for an hour across the wide Rio de la Plata. (There's a short video below.)

 The town has about 22,000 people, and lots of nice beaches. There are beautiful walls, doors and windows in the historic district. We had a guide so we actually learned something about what we were seeing.

We met a woman and her mother sitting out in front of their house. We once again had that great experience of connecting with strangers and laughing with them. Juan, Maureen and Zak photographed them.

Wine and food pairing

 At a restaurant called Cilantro. Yum!

This was after an afternoon at an amazing museum,  El Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

Palermo

Yes, we get tired, we walk a lot. We walk into neighborhoods without any idea of what we are going to see. Plaermo is full of young people, college  students, dogs, drunks, elderly women with red or silver hair. It feels very European. It is full of trees. It is part funky shops and part high-end botiques. We just wandered around, heading for a plaza or a park.


We talk to strangers, we make friends and meet entire families.we engage residents in political discussions, we admire their dogs and their children and we tell them about California. We ask what life is like in Buenos Aires.  We explore and discover; it is truly an adventure. We poke our cameras into doors and windows. We look just like tourists with our packs and our bags and our maps. We can't help it.

Critique

We had our first critique on Sunday evening. A required part of this traveling class, we each had printed 3 to 5 images and put up our favorite 3.  We all talk about the images and take turns discussing each person's work. It is amazing how  a group like this can all go to the same place and see such different things, and that one of the main benefits of having a critique, along with feedback on technical issues that appear.

For example, we are dealing with some harsh, high contrast lighting situations due to the bright sun on most days. Getting a good exposure with bright highlights and dark shadows requires some rapid decision making and knowledge of camera controls.

We also discover great images and new ideas from our fellow travelers, get feedback about our own vision and the direction we are going photographically, with help from Zak along the way.

San Telmo Street Fair

We stayed in our own neighborhood for the Sunday antique fair. One of the main streets in the district was close along with some side streets. The little plaza filled with antique vendors and the streets with arts and crafts and some junk. Lots of people. Street Artists.  Camera in hand, I couldn't pass up a classic.

Tango Shoes

Last night was the best dance party ever! Zak went way out of his way to find us a real Tango scene, and it was the best! We left in a bus and traveled across town to the district of Palermo, to the north. We stopped in front of this darkened office building, went in and down to the basement into what was a neighborhood dance hall. We were, of course, early, nothing really gets going until 10 or 11 or later, but the place soon filled with people, young and old, and ready to dance! The music was 50's American R&R, and these dancers were experts, straight off of Dancing with the Stars, or at least the best of American Bandstand. Then the lessons began. The floor was divided into 3 sections, with the beginners at one end and the experts at the other.  Lessons were had. I was a drop-out as soon as it got complicated, but it was great to watch and capture the experts on film.

Dinner was served. Wine was served. Mojitos were served! Great Mojitos!

 At 11 PM, The tango instructors were introduced with a sort of progressive dance that was incredible. What an art form! Beautiful men and women, really dressed up; dramatic, haunting music. A real local scene, not a tourist tango show, except for us tourists shooting 100's of pictures.

We sang Auld Lang Syne on the way home because we had failed to do so at 5 AM when it was New Year's in California.

Next up, a San Telmo street fair and our first critique. Then a train ride to Tigre in the delta of the Río de la Plata. A little nature.

Summer!

Cherries, Peaches, Fresh Tomatoes, Watermelon, etc.! Yum!

I Almost Forgot!

We found a beautiful old coffin-cart in the cemetery. I needed a rest!

New Year's Day

Thinking about photography with a group....as we travel together, we spend time as a group and gradually dissolve daily into smaller groups wandering around Buenos Aires.  Today was beautiful again, sunny warm and we wandered along the waterfront through parks beginning to fill with families on their day off.

Issues can arise, issues of safety, issues of personal space, interactions with the residents who call themselves "porteños". So when we photograph people, I think it is almost always better to interact with them first. Zak taught me that. Even if you don't know Spanish, just a gesture with the camera along with an "OK?" will do.  If someone says No that respect their wishes.  Today I talked to a man who said "no" after several shots were taken of him in a park. I talked to him for awhile and a simple "Feliz Año" and a short explanation of our group suddenly made us best friends, with a little help from his wife pulling on his shirt and asking him to calm down. There was liquor involved; almost everyone today was hung over ("crudo") in Spanish. He had me photograph his tattoo, then his V sign. I gave him a few pesos ( 1 peso is about a quarter). We saw him later; he wanted to be photographed again. He called us friends. It all works out.

Later, we found a footrace going on, especially designed for hung-over runners, complete with awards. I admired this man's car, he had just run the race and was then polishing his car. He loves his car, and he is 70 years old and in great shape. Agustin.

Then we walked into the city center, hungry, and everything is closed today! No markets, no restaurants. So, back to the park where the waterfront was lined with street vendors with grills ( parillas).

Dinner and Tango show tonight! Tomorrow, a parade and street fair in our neighborhood. Then our first critique in the evening. We each print 3 or 4 images, and we talk about them.