Last Locations
In Junin, we met with both the Junin Centro and Junin Sur Rotary Clubs. After the Junin Sur meeting, which ended about midnight, we headed to La Cique, a café off the central plaza for a night of tango (which went until 3am). We went with two members of the GSE team that will be coming to northern California in the spring, which was a treat. It was beautiful and amazing to see tango as part of the everyday life of everyday people, just enjoying the recorded music and dance. There was a range of ages of the dancers and some very good dancing. Luckily, no one asked us to dance!
As we were now accustomed to, we visited with the mayor. We learned that agriculture and administration are the most important functions for the city but they are trying to attract companies in order to be an employment and commercial center for people living in the surrounding villages and districts. The city is also developing its tourism sector, hoping to become a regional attraction for its community events, museums, the nearby lakes and for good food.
We also met with the Secretaria de Obras y Servicios Publicas, including people from the Planning and Development office, and talked about the housing programs taking place in Junin. There are federal, provincial and local housing programs and the city is in the process of building about 900 housing units for low-income families. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see these developments because the day we arrived, there was a storm with wind that blew off the roofs of many of these new houses!
We visited a number of other important projects occurring in the city. Trains used to be repaired at a railyard in Junin. The train station still exists and is used but there is a fair amount of adjacent property that is no longer in use and the city wants to redevelop. This site is in the geographic center of the city, dividing the southern half, where the central plaza and most activity is located, and the northern, more poor, neighborhoods. The city would like to restore the historic brick buildings (similar to Puerto Madera in Buenos Aires) and create a vibrant area with housing, shops, offices, as well as retain a small area for train repairs. The size of this project (50 hectares) provides an amazing opportunity, but in a city the size of Junin, will be a challenge to be able to support a project of this size. The Public Works and Services Department is working hard on this project, using GIS software to map and analyze the site, and thinking in terms of creating an identity for the area based on its past use. For example, there is a very tall brick chimney in the center of the site, which is where the powerhouse was located. The idea is to use this structure as the focal point for the new community, and create an identity around this very visual landmark.
Another project happening in the center of town is along the main commercial street, which runs from near the central plaza to an inner ring road (which was another interesting project that created a number of linear parks along previous railroad tracks). The process to agree on what to do with the commercial street has been a bit contentious, with varying ideas on how to make the street more accessible and friendly to shoppers. There was discussion about whether to close the street to cars and make a pedestrian street; however, the result is to narrow the street in places in order to slow traffic and to create wider sidewalks, creating the opportunity for outdoor cafe seating. The goal is to finish the project in time for the Christmas shopping season, but when we were there, a work truck drove on the setting concrete, which ruined it, resulting in the need to re-pour a section of the street.
The most important project for the residents of Junin is a large flood-control project occurring along miles of the Rio Salado. This project has been in the works for 25 years, and is close to completion. The work includes canals, bridges, levees, etc., and all the concrete used is made in Junin. The river flows over 500 miles, starting at only 800 feet in elevation, resulting in a pretty flat grade all the way to the Rio Plate in Buenos Aires. This makes flooding a fairly common event. The project should help keep the river within its (created) banks and the architects and engineers we met were very proud of this project.
Another enjoyable visit was to Estancia Don Alejandro, which is about 90,000 square miles in size. We figured this is about the same area as the San Francisco peninsula. Owned by one family. We were told the family was French, and then came to understand that the family originally came from France, about two or three generations ago! The estancia is about one-quarter for cows and the rest is planted in soy, wheat and other crops. We ate another fabulous, extravagant asado and wandered around the beautiful homestead, enjoying the warm breeze.
We had a work-related talk with architects in Junin as well as an interview with the local newspaper La Verdad. Pictures of both events made it into the next edition of the paper!
After a few enjoyable meals with local architects, the Public Works and Services director, and with our host families, we packed up and went to the Rotary District conference at La Mariapolis, a convent in the countryside about 20 miles from Junin.
We stayed in the basic hotel of Mariapolis, surrounded by fields, trees and a lot of Rotarians. We spent our first day just relaxing and preparing our Sunday morning presentation. We looked over all our pictures (thanks to the digital age) and created a presentation of our month in Argentina. Each of us gave a brief overview of one of the five places we visited, and included many pictures of our generous hosts, which was a hit! We spent some quality time talking with and hanging out with the five GSE team members coming soon to California – and planning some grand birthday parties in CA!
Finally, we went back to a hotel in Junin for our last night and morning and had a few hours to finish shopping, taking pictures, drinking café cortados with facturas (pastries) until we were picked up by Rotarians for a quick lunch at the Junin Sur clubhouse and then onto the airport about three hours away.
What an experience! It was an amazing time, full of much to learn and enjoy. I think we were highly successful in reaching the goal of cultural exchange and now have some wonderful new friends.
As we were now accustomed to, we visited with the mayor. We learned that agriculture and administration are the most important functions for the city but they are trying to attract companies in order to be an employment and commercial center for people living in the surrounding villages and districts. The city is also developing its tourism sector, hoping to become a regional attraction for its community events, museums, the nearby lakes and for good food.
We also met with the Secretaria de Obras y Servicios Publicas, including people from the Planning and Development office, and talked about the housing programs taking place in Junin. There are federal, provincial and local housing programs and the city is in the process of building about 900 housing units for low-income families. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see these developments because the day we arrived, there was a storm with wind that blew off the roofs of many of these new houses!
We visited a number of other important projects occurring in the city. Trains used to be repaired at a railyard in Junin. The train station still exists and is used but there is a fair amount of adjacent property that is no longer in use and the city wants to redevelop. This site is in the geographic center of the city, dividing the southern half, where the central plaza and most activity is located, and the northern, more poor, neighborhoods. The city would like to restore the historic brick buildings (similar to Puerto Madera in Buenos Aires) and create a vibrant area with housing, shops, offices, as well as retain a small area for train repairs. The size of this project (50 hectares) provides an amazing opportunity, but in a city the size of Junin, will be a challenge to be able to support a project of this size. The Public Works and Services Department is working hard on this project, using GIS software to map and analyze the site, and thinking in terms of creating an identity for the area based on its past use. For example, there is a very tall brick chimney in the center of the site, which is where the powerhouse was located. The idea is to use this structure as the focal point for the new community, and create an identity around this very visual landmark.
Another project happening in the center of town is along the main commercial street, which runs from near the central plaza to an inner ring road (which was another interesting project that created a number of linear parks along previous railroad tracks). The process to agree on what to do with the commercial street has been a bit contentious, with varying ideas on how to make the street more accessible and friendly to shoppers. There was discussion about whether to close the street to cars and make a pedestrian street; however, the result is to narrow the street in places in order to slow traffic and to create wider sidewalks, creating the opportunity for outdoor cafe seating. The goal is to finish the project in time for the Christmas shopping season, but when we were there, a work truck drove on the setting concrete, which ruined it, resulting in the need to re-pour a section of the street.
The most important project for the residents of Junin is a large flood-control project occurring along miles of the Rio Salado. This project has been in the works for 25 years, and is close to completion. The work includes canals, bridges, levees, etc., and all the concrete used is made in Junin. The river flows over 500 miles, starting at only 800 feet in elevation, resulting in a pretty flat grade all the way to the Rio Plate in Buenos Aires. This makes flooding a fairly common event. The project should help keep the river within its (created) banks and the architects and engineers we met were very proud of this project.
Another enjoyable visit was to Estancia Don Alejandro, which is about 90,000 square miles in size. We figured this is about the same area as the San Francisco peninsula. Owned by one family. We were told the family was French, and then came to understand that the family originally came from France, about two or three generations ago! The estancia is about one-quarter for cows and the rest is planted in soy, wheat and other crops. We ate another fabulous, extravagant asado and wandered around the beautiful homestead, enjoying the warm breeze.
We had a work-related talk with architects in Junin as well as an interview with the local newspaper La Verdad. Pictures of both events made it into the next edition of the paper!
After a few enjoyable meals with local architects, the Public Works and Services director, and with our host families, we packed up and went to the Rotary District conference at La Mariapolis, a convent in the countryside about 20 miles from Junin.
We stayed in the basic hotel of Mariapolis, surrounded by fields, trees and a lot of Rotarians. We spent our first day just relaxing and preparing our Sunday morning presentation. We looked over all our pictures (thanks to the digital age) and created a presentation of our month in Argentina. Each of us gave a brief overview of one of the five places we visited, and included many pictures of our generous hosts, which was a hit! We spent some quality time talking with and hanging out with the five GSE team members coming soon to California – and planning some grand birthday parties in CA!
Finally, we went back to a hotel in Junin for our last night and morning and had a few hours to finish shopping, taking pictures, drinking café cortados with facturas (pastries) until we were picked up by Rotarians for a quick lunch at the Junin Sur clubhouse and then onto the airport about three hours away.
What an experience! It was an amazing time, full of much to learn and enjoy. I think we were highly successful in reaching the goal of cultural exchange and now have some wonderful new friends.
posted by Sara P at 10:09 AM
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