For our last 11 nights in Misiones, we stayed in a duplex (Cabañas Aguapantus) in the Barrio del Lago neighborhood of Candelaria. Barrio del Lago is a new and developing development that is a distance from the center of Candelaria. It has a lot of what seem to be vacation or weekend homes, some of which are quite nice. The neighborhood is about a 20 minute drive to Posadas. I thought it was a good option because 1) the cabin was notably less expensive than staying in Posadas; and 2) staying outside of the city would give the kids more room to explore and more things to do. Well, I was wrong. I learned that you get what you pay for and there wasn't too much for the boys to do.
Cabañas Aguapantus had some very nice aspects - a clean swimming pool and a nice quincho (covered outdoor area) with a fan and table and chairs. It also had some major drawbacks: the electricity (and thus, the air conditioning) frequently stopped working; there was only air-conditioning on the 2nd floor (where the bedrooms were located) and not on the first floor (where the kitchen and main living quarters were located); water constantly dripped from the air-conditioning in Gramps's room into a puddle in the middle of the kitchen floor; the knob on the toilet only worked 1/2 the time; rain leaked into the boys and my room during the first rainstorm; and the worst of all was the pile of little poop (a rat???) that we discovered in the corner of Gramps's room on the last day.
While Cabañas Aguapantus is located in a fairly rural location (no restaurants, supermarkets, or stores; only a small store with basics within walking distance), the kids didn't leave our gated compound much. Furthermore, there didn't seem to be many kids given that it was a community that was still developing and many of the houses were weekend/vacation homes. Any kids tended to stay in their own compounds. The boys made friends and explored their environment more when we stayed in Posadas at ApartHotel Desiderata than when we stayed at Aguapantus.
While I was away at work, the boys spent most of their day in the swimming pool, playing games inside, working in the journals, some creative play, and watching television.
Cabañas Aguapantus had some very nice aspects - a clean swimming pool and a nice quincho (covered outdoor area) with a fan and table and chairs. It also had some major drawbacks: the electricity (and thus, the air conditioning) frequently stopped working; there was only air-conditioning on the 2nd floor (where the bedrooms were located) and not on the first floor (where the kitchen and main living quarters were located); water constantly dripped from the air-conditioning in Gramps's room into a puddle in the middle of the kitchen floor; the knob on the toilet only worked 1/2 the time; rain leaked into the boys and my room during the first rainstorm; and the worst of all was the pile of little poop (a rat???) that we discovered in the corner of Gramps's room on the last day.
While Cabañas Aguapantus is located in a fairly rural location (no restaurants, supermarkets, or stores; only a small store with basics within walking distance), the kids didn't leave our gated compound much. Furthermore, there didn't seem to be many kids given that it was a community that was still developing and many of the houses were weekend/vacation homes. Any kids tended to stay in their own compounds. The boys made friends and explored their environment more when we stayed in Posadas at ApartHotel Desiderata than when we stayed at Aguapantus.
While I was away at work, the boys spent most of their day in the swimming pool, playing games inside, working in the journals, some creative play, and watching television.
The day after we arrived in Candelaria, I started feeling achy and cold. I developed a low fever. I got worried. These were signs of dengue. I was especially worried about the kids and Gramps. What would they do if I had dengue? We had counted on me going to Posadas every day for work, and there I could buy groceries and supplies. If I were sick, I wouldn't be able to drive to Posadas to go grocery shopping. While there was a kiosk within walking distance, it didn't stock very much stuff. My dad wasn't authorized to drive the rental car and he didn't know his way around Posadas. To make matters worse, we didn't have Wifi at the cabin and even cell phone coverage was limited. I texted John in the United States for information about dengue and I wrote emergency phone numbers and basic information on a pad of paper for my dad. I made an emergency plan. If I got really sick, we would call one of my contacts in Candelaria to ask her to help get me to the doctor and we would relocate to Posadas.
I read the information that John sent me. I wasn't too worried because my fever was low. I went to bed early and waited to see what would happen. My fever broke over the night. I still felt really achy but without a fever, it didn't seem like I had dengue and my situation wasn't serious. Even so, I called my contact in Candelaria to get her opinion. She was a grandmother who was probably in her 70s. I had met her during our fist week in Posadas, and after having a long conversation with her husband who is a yerba producer, she gave me her phone number and insisted that I should call her if I ever needed anything. She knew what it was like to live in a foreign country without family or close friends and how important it was to have someone to contact in case of an emergency. In high school, she had been an exchange student in Seattle, WA. She said it was a great experience but that it was difficult because she found the people to be colder than in Argentina or Switzerland (her family was from Switzerland). She wanted me to know that I should contact her if I ever needed anything. So I called her to get her opinion. She confirmed that without a high fever my sickness didn't sound like dengue. She said that she had had the same symptoms for about a week. She gave me information about a good medical clinic, in case my symptoms worsened.
Fortunately, I was only sick for a little over two days. I was disappointed because I had to cancel an important meeting and had to delay my visit to an archive, but I was very glad that I didn't have dengue.
I read the information that John sent me. I wasn't too worried because my fever was low. I went to bed early and waited to see what would happen. My fever broke over the night. I still felt really achy but without a fever, it didn't seem like I had dengue and my situation wasn't serious. Even so, I called my contact in Candelaria to get her opinion. She was a grandmother who was probably in her 70s. I had met her during our fist week in Posadas, and after having a long conversation with her husband who is a yerba producer, she gave me her phone number and insisted that I should call her if I ever needed anything. She knew what it was like to live in a foreign country without family or close friends and how important it was to have someone to contact in case of an emergency. In high school, she had been an exchange student in Seattle, WA. She said it was a great experience but that it was difficult because she found the people to be colder than in Argentina or Switzerland (her family was from Switzerland). She wanted me to know that I should contact her if I ever needed anything. So I called her to get her opinion. She confirmed that without a high fever my sickness didn't sound like dengue. She said that she had had the same symptoms for about a week. She gave me information about a good medical clinic, in case my symptoms worsened.
Fortunately, I was only sick for a little over two days. I was disappointed because I had to cancel an important meeting and had to delay my visit to an archive, but I was very glad that I didn't have dengue.
Why did I post a picture of a bag of groceries? I want to acknowledge the extreme honesty and goodwill that I experienced at Supermarket California in Posadas. Soon after arriving in Candelaria, we went to Posadas to stock up on groceries. One of the branches of Supermarket California made the most sense to visit. It is a largish supermarket in the center of Posadas with several parking lots to facilitate parking. We bought a lot of things for the week ahead and some take-out food for a late lunch and leftovers. We had a number of bags of groceries.
After the cashier rang up our bill, I prepared to pay with a credit card. Ever since the dollar blue ended and we've been able to get roughly the same exchange rate using dollar bills, a credit card, or the ATM, I've tried to use a credit card whenever possible. It's a pain, not to mention a bit dangerous, for John to bring lots of $100 bills from the United States to Argentina. So the more I use a credit card, the less dollar bills he has to bring to Argentina. Since our credit card is from the United States, our cashier couldn't process the transaction. It had to be done at the front desk. I went to the front desk to take care of the paperwork while Gramps and the boys put the bags of groceries in our cart. I paid and we left.
The next morning, I looked for the cereal that we had bought at Supermarket California the day before. I couldn't find it anywhere in our cabin. Then I noticed that I couldn't find some other items that we had bought at Supermarket California and I realized that we must have left a bag of groceries at the store. I was bummed. These were big ticket items. The boys and I found something else to eat for breakfast (Gramps doesn't eat cereal; he makes his own breakfast of raw oatmeal, a banana, honey, seeds, and some other stuff). Gramps and I discussed what might have happened. I said that I would go back to the grocery store after I finished at the archive to see if I could possibly still get the bag of groceries. I did have the receipt. Gramps thought it wasn't worth the effort. The bag wouldn't be there and I wouldn't be able to do anything.
After the archive closed, I went back to Supermarket California. I asked the woman at the front desk if a bag of groceries had been left behind. She said that there no longer was a bag of groceries at the front desk but she took out a book that listed a bunch of items and asked if these things were what was in the bag that I was missing. They were the same items! The bag had been taken to the front desk and all of the items in in were written in a book. The woman took my receipt, highlighted the items, and told me that I could go into the store and collect all of the items. I got everything that had been in the missing grocery bag.
Gramps was super impressed. He didn't expect such honesty and great customer service. I'll repeat this story whenever people tell me that Argentina has bad customer service and that Argentines are dishonest!
After the cashier rang up our bill, I prepared to pay with a credit card. Ever since the dollar blue ended and we've been able to get roughly the same exchange rate using dollar bills, a credit card, or the ATM, I've tried to use a credit card whenever possible. It's a pain, not to mention a bit dangerous, for John to bring lots of $100 bills from the United States to Argentina. So the more I use a credit card, the less dollar bills he has to bring to Argentina. Since our credit card is from the United States, our cashier couldn't process the transaction. It had to be done at the front desk. I went to the front desk to take care of the paperwork while Gramps and the boys put the bags of groceries in our cart. I paid and we left.
The next morning, I looked for the cereal that we had bought at Supermarket California the day before. I couldn't find it anywhere in our cabin. Then I noticed that I couldn't find some other items that we had bought at Supermarket California and I realized that we must have left a bag of groceries at the store. I was bummed. These were big ticket items. The boys and I found something else to eat for breakfast (Gramps doesn't eat cereal; he makes his own breakfast of raw oatmeal, a banana, honey, seeds, and some other stuff). Gramps and I discussed what might have happened. I said that I would go back to the grocery store after I finished at the archive to see if I could possibly still get the bag of groceries. I did have the receipt. Gramps thought it wasn't worth the effort. The bag wouldn't be there and I wouldn't be able to do anything.
After the archive closed, I went back to Supermarket California. I asked the woman at the front desk if a bag of groceries had been left behind. She said that there no longer was a bag of groceries at the front desk but she took out a book that listed a bunch of items and asked if these things were what was in the bag that I was missing. They were the same items! The bag had been taken to the front desk and all of the items in in were written in a book. The woman took my receipt, highlighted the items, and told me that I could go into the store and collect all of the items. I got everything that had been in the missing grocery bag.
Gramps was super impressed. He didn't expect such honesty and great customer service. I'll repeat this story whenever people tell me that Argentina has bad customer service and that Argentines are dishonest!