Days 123-125 - On hospitality OR Cordoba++

Wikipedia defines hospitality as "the relationship between a guest and a host, or the act or practice of being hospitable. Specifically, this includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers..." The word hospitality derives from the Latin hospes, which is formed from hostis, which originally meant "to have power". The meaning of "host" can be literally read as "lord of strangers."

I met Ana Maria and Rodolfo - an Argentinian couple in their late 50's - through Renata's parents who I stayed with in Brazil. Our paths crossed only for one (very full and fun though) day - my birthday - in Rio, when they invited me to visit them in Cordoba during my travels in Argentina. "Out of politeness", I thought, and decided that, obviously, I would never inconvenience like this somebody I barely know. Then, for the next several weeks that I was exploring Brazil, Ana Maria and Rodolfo were in email contact with Isabel and Elisio, and they mentioned the invite again. Several times, in fact. "Why not then", I thought, and decided to go North of Buenos Aires.

We set the dates for my visit. I got a little present for them in Brazil, not to come empty-handed. I felt fine. Until yesterday, when all of a sudden I started panicking. Why am I going to visit total strangers? Yes, we had a wonderful day together in Rio on my birthday! But seriously, what the hell am I doing? Inconveniencing people! Making a total fool out of myself for accepting the invitation made out of sheer politeness! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!

But the tickets were already purchased, everything was already set, and there was no way of getting out of this arrangement. And so I went to Cordoba...

A friend always tells me that I like to create seemingly uncomfortable situations to prove that I can feel comfortable in them. Maybe. Whatever the reason - THANK GOD I WENT! THANK GOD I DID NOT CHICKEN OUT!

The Leones is the largest family I have ever met (of course, my take on the "large" is skewed - me being the only child and all). They are 14 all together: Ana Maria and Rodolfo have four sons; three are married with five children. Pretty much all the adults (except for one son and one wife) work for a family business. The office is located in the backyard of their house.

Every morning at 8AM the whole family (sans kids) gathers at their parents' for an hour of breakfast. At 9AM they all go to the office to work together. At 1PM they all have lunch together. At 5PM the office is closed, and everybody disperses to their respective homes. Every Sunday the whole family (with kids) gathers at their parents' quincho - a special construction (house) in the backyard to cook asado - Argentinian BBQ.

This whole set-up is fascinating to me! They see each other almost 24/7, yet every morning at the breakfast table there is some genuinely heated discussion going, and every Sunday during asado there is a lot of sarcastic jokes exchanged, the kind that can only flourish in a soil of generous love.

For three full days, I was made part of this family, part of this love energy exchange, part of the jokes (which with my broken Spanish I provided plenty - for example, wanted to say "there are many moreno eels in the Caribbean", but somehow it came out as "there are many huge black dicks in the Caribbean" - who would have thought that one silly vowel at the end can change the word meaning so drastically - morena / moreno - of course, the effect was magnified by my usual habit of accompanying everything I say with descriptive gestures). I'm sure they have issues at times, but one thing is clear: this is not an enmeshed family, they are so close because they choose to be together and not because they fear being apart, they have clear boudaries at work and at home, their respect toward each other is commendable, their collective love is immense. In our world of dysfunctional families, it is so rare and truly beautiful to witness genuine functionality.

Highlights of my stay in Cordoba:

eReader Fixed

The Leones family business deals with building machinery AC's. So, when I mentioned that my eBook stopped working, it turned out that they have all the equipment for testing electronics in their office, and they took it upon themselves (the sons that is) to try fixing it. It looked like it was a fun project for them, I must admit. And in the end - THEY FIXED IT!

Asado

On my first night in Cordoba, the whole family gathered for a non-Sunday asado in my honor. Argentinian meat is considered to be the world's best, maybe that's why when you eat a cow in Argentina, you actually eat the whole cow - intestines, brain, kidneys, stomach, sides, etc. in addition to regular filet mignon cuts. I adore meat, so I decided to try it all - to the amusement and respect of my Argentinian hosts, who claim that usually foreigners don't want to even come close to "sub-products". I was placed at the head of the table, and every time the asador Rodolfo was putting some new delicacy on my plate, the whole table (14 people) would chain-whisper, "Now she is trying brain, she is trying brain", and go quiet for a second while I put the new piece in my mouth, and after I would admit its absolute deliciousness with mucho gusto, there would be a sigh of relief followed by an almost standing ovation. This gourmet night was very fun.

P.S. Meat for 15 people + salad greens + bread cost 200 Argentinian pesos (about $50)...

La Cumbrecita

Ana Maria and Rodolfo took days off work to drive me around Cordoba (!!!). Our first day trip was to La Cumbrecita - a small picturesque pedestrian village in the Sierra mountains a couple of hours outside Cordoba. It was founded in 1933 as a commune by a German immigrant family and focuses on eco-tourism, providing gorgeous hikes through the town to waterfalls, mountains, and forest.

Of course, spectacular German cuisine is not forgotten here either, and in addition to unbelievable views the Cumbrecita restaurants offer a huge variety of home-brewed beer matched by the same number of trout dishes.

Colonia Caroya

Colonia Caroya is a little non-touristy town about an hour outside Cordoba. It is home to an Italian community, hence the best salami in the area. And I mean - wow, Argentinian meat salamied (is this a word?) by real Italians!

We enjoyed our picada and red Lambrusco at a cosy tiny cafe "Estancia Caroya", while the talkative hostess shared some town stories with us.

Conclusion

After staying in Brazil with the Joffes and in Argentina with the Leones, I want to submit a correction to the wikipedia article on "hospitality", so that it reads as follows: Hospitality is the art of becoming your guest's family.