Excursion to Alta Gracia

It’s time for an excursion – a day trip to the ranch at Alta Gracia. Okay, it’s called an estancia, and the history is confusing to me. The way I understand it is that the estancia was a very profitable endeavor run by Jesuits starting in 1643 to finance one of Argentina’s first universities. Those damn Jesuit ranchers were so successful at building furniture, metal-work and raising mules (much more profitable than horses) that the Spanish crown expelled them. I guess the king didn’t like the competition.

I try to imagine what it was like to walk through the remote country side in the late 17^th century and discover a church in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of miles away from the port in Buenos Aires.  “How the hell did that get here?”

The owners of the estancia lived a life of luxury with imported French furniture and tapestries depicting babies making out with each other.

 Like I said, life on the ranch is a bit confusing to a city boy like me.

 Next stop on the half-day excursion - Che’s adolescent home.

Yes, the “Che” as in Che Guevara, the legendary Cuban revolutionary. Well, actually his name was Ernesto. “Che” is something that Argentines call each other, and rumor has it that they do so throughout Argentina, but I only heard it in Cordoba. The best way to translate “che”? Well, it would be like calling someone “dude” in California. “Che - como te pasa?” which of course sounds something like “Dude – what’s up?” But in Spanish, with an Italian accent of course.