Ciao to La Rioja............very mixed emotions

Dr. Vega and the children of the barrio San Vincente are amazing. Dr. Vega works tirelessly against all odds to provide the best healthcare possible for the people of San Vincente. His warm smile usually accompanied by a funny saying or story are charming. His creativity is challenged by days without supplies such as needles for injections (it took three days to get them) and only one blood pressure cuff for the entire clinic. He does it all with a smile. When you walk with him down the streets of La Rioja the children especially run up to say "hola" to Dr. Vega and usually manage a quick touch of his sleeve. He responds with warmth to them all. The children of San Vincente have bleak futures. Lack of nutrition, support and encouragement for education and the day to day hardships of growing up with less than the basics of life make a bright future almost impossible. Their smiles, however, are captivating and it is hard not to hug each one. They deal with disease, death and getting out of their beds each morning (one they usually share with several other people) the same way....acceptance. I met a mother who neglected to refill her four year old daughter's seizure medication....life got in the way. The girl had multiple seizures through the night. The best the social worker could do was to go back to the clinic and order the medication, which might arrive as early as the next day....acceptance. The same mother was letting a dog starve because she didn't like dogs....acceptance. All quite difficult for us to understand or accept. Oh, and for those of you wanting to know what happened to Marta.....she moved. We went to her home in the barrio and "A Vende" was spray painted on a wall. There are no titles that pass in the barrio and no one knew where or exactly when she left. Dr. Vega thinks she moved to a different barrio in La Rioja, but no one knew for sure. I was disappointed. I have learned a lot and hope to be able to work from home to be of some small assistance to Dr. Vega and the people of the barrio San Vincente.

Our last full day in La Rioja was spent touring Valley of the Moon and Talampaya. Valley of the Moon is named appropriately. It is quite barren and bleak, but fascinating and interesting at the same time. Talampaya on the other hand is spectacular. The sharp rise of the immense red orange cliffs hide many secrets of past inhabitants. Pictogliffs are exposed on the sandstone rocks that have crumbled and lay near the dry wide riverbed. Animals and birds that I have never seen before roam and soar. We see condors and parrots that we can at least recognize. We took at dirt road through the mountains home. The road curved sharply left and right with each curve giving a breathtaking view. The ride too was breathtaking. In fact when we got to the paved road in what seemed like many hours I had a great urge to hop out and kiss the pavement!  Argentina has great natural beauty.

We have met many warm, generous and supportive people in La Rioja. I hope soon to add an artist from La Rioja to the web site. We have been made to feel welcome by almost everyone. Our Spanish has improved a bit. We hoped for more but we know for sure learning another language is not easy. Today we travel to Buenos Aires to begin our journey home. It will be another world. We are ready. We are meeting some Argentine medical students in Buenos Aires that have just returned from the medical school in Fort Lauderdale. We are eager to share stories. They have promised us a great time in Buenos Aires. I am confident they will make sure of it. I look forward to sharing our time in Buenos Aires with you. Thanks to all of you who have emailed your thoughts and encouragement. From Buenos Aires I plan to post some info on what is happening with the artist's on the web site. Many are working on some exciting new projects. Ciao!