IN THE ESTANCIA KITHCEN WITH JOSE GONZALES learning more about THE TREASURE

After we agreed to spend the next day together with Jose, 

we were reluctant to leave the kitchen. We were curious about the evening dinner Jose would prepare..We asked if we could watch and hand him..like uh..stuff. He seemed glad for the company. This is a special stew:


er.


The ingredients were on the counter: dried apricots, sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, squash, tomatoes, corn and chunks of beef. Because the beef is so tender the cooking time is only an hour...and then it sits till supper for the ingredients to mesh. It smelled heavenly.

Jose reached into a drawer in the kichen and pulled out a postcard.   On one side was Pepe Gonzales, his address,etc. and the other side was totally blank.  Mario was the ONLY ONE who called him Pepe. All his mail always went to Jose Gonzales. Jose told us only a little about the dirty war; he said he will tell us more tomorrow.  He believed Mario sent that card to let Jose know he was alive.

We went to bed early...tired and anxious about tomorrow.
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When morning came,  Jose invited us to his small room to show us a framed 8X10  picture of Mario. It was the only picture hanging in his room.

 "Mario gave this to me. Only one copy." he said proudly.  

We were amazed  seeing him standing on the horse like that...so handsome, so brave.

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The tourists left early for an all day outing and Juan and his wife left on errands.

Jose, Carmine, Beanie and I walked for awhile enjoying the landscape and talking and getting acquainted.  
We mostly enjoyed the porch.In every direction you can litis gorgeous!v
   Carmine told Pepe what Mario was like when we were all nineteen and good friends. She said that although her late husband was the love of her life, she had begun to feel so old lately. She remembered the young sweetheart of her youth and felt she should find him, and if he was still alive have a little visit or even just a cup of coffee..and slip back into her youth a little while. "Annie and Beanie don't understand. But they have been steadfast in helping me search for this treasure."

"I guess that sounds silly to you, Pepe."

"Of course not, Senora Carmine. I understand completely," Jose said kindly.

"Tell us more about the last time you saw Mario," I said.

He responded, "I'm almost sorry you asked. It was a nightmare. Argentina was a scary place during some of the 70s and 80s. The government and militia brutally arrested anyone they wanted to. One day police came to our estancia and arrested two of Mario's friends and were trying to take them away, when Mario tried to fight them off unsuccessfully. I saw this with my own eyes and was there a week later when they came for Mario and took him away blindfolded. I never saw or heard from my idol again...unless that postcard really was from Mario."

Trying to change the subject to something less heartbreaking I asked Jose to tell us about Mario's happy life on the estancia. 

Relieved to move to something lighter Jose said, "Everyone loved and admired him... SO handsome, so friendly. He could rope cattle, ride horseback, do any ranch hand work needed better than anyone else."

We wondered why he never came back to the states.

 "His parents in Buenos Aires were in bad health and needed him near. After they died, he once said he would like to visit the states again, but he had heard his sweetheart there had gotten married.(carmine looked down)..and also, LAS PAMPAS and the gaucho life get in your blood. I had also wanted to be a gaucho, but didn't have the physical stamina.. But this land is in my blood just as it was with Mario."

 At lunch time we persuaded him to have leftover stew for the four of us. It was even better than the night before.The only thing added was a green crisp salad.


v  vv
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Everyone returned in time for dinner. Afterwards we pitched in with the dishes; then we all ate homemade (Pepemade) cookies. 

w
We asked Juan if we could use his computer a little while. "Of course," he answered. 

 We know so little about Argentine  history in general and nothing about the "dirty war" Pepe had told us about.

             DURING a dictatorship, thousands of people
      like Mario disappeared. 

      There were 300 places where people were 

      detained...and 

           ROSARIO was one of them!!!



ROSARIO WAS ONE OF THOSE PLACES!!  Was that post
card a hint as  Jose supposed?
So last night we were wondering if we should go to Rosario. How would we get there? Where would we look when we did get there?

When we KNOW more, we'll tell YOU more. 
IT IS FRIDAY...AND A NEW DAY...

Love, Carmine, Beanie, annie, and Pepe too!!

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TREASURE HUNT: PART TWO, EPISODE ONE..Entering another world ESTANCIA PERES!

SO WE MOVE INTO A DIFFERENT WORLD!!
                                 
Our Memphis Personal Assistant (Ben) was faxed a copy of the post card the Mendoza family had of the Peres Estancia, the last place the treasure was known to have worked.
                    bigger than it looks!


 Ben had a nice conversation by phone with Juan Peres, owner of Estancia Peres.  Ben learned it is no longer exclusively a cattle ranch the way it was when Mario worked there; now it also is a dude ranch and can accommodate up to ten people. Ben registered us and paid everything in advance (of course!) Ben also arranged with the hotel Avear that their shuttle would take us the 80 miles over there. Our MPA is the best!!
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Before we left we called the Mendozas to say goodbye and to remind them we would love to pay all their expenses if they can ever come to Memphis. We said goodbye to the hotel staff and tipped extravagantly...and why  not? As you know, I've GOT the money!!

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Buenos Aires is considered to be the Paris of South America...now we are in an entirely different looking world...
reminds me of New Mexico.

              

.
v

We were almost there.

As Carmine looked out the shuttle window at gauchos tending cattle,

 she sighed.
                             

 "I can see this was the perfect

life for Mario .....to be out in the open spaces." 

Beanie added, "Yes, and he was just a few hours away from his family in

BUENOS AIRES."

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.

We arrived!!  It started raining and the lights were on.

             

Only 4 tourists were there; they were eating lunch, when

we entered. It was like a home. No reception desk. The owner

and his wife were at the table with the tourists. We were invited to join

them for lunch; but we had already had a deluxe  brunch at the hotel 

before we left.

                            

Juan Peres came over and introduced himself and greeted us in beautiful

 English, saying he had been looking fwd to our arrival. 

He said our MPA told him we have an interesting reason for being 

here...?"something about someone who once worked here."

We said, "Yes, we are looking for information about Mario z Mendoza."



"Was he a gaucho?" he asked. "I don't recognize the name.  He must

have worked for my late father. We have a scrap book on the coffee table

with many pictures of gauchos who have worked here, but no names 

unfortunately. The tourists just enjoy seeing the pictures"

We started flipping through the pages...late 70's and early 80's.

  

c               v The MENDOZAS H    
 

When we last saw Mario we all were so young..nineteen.

It is only natural he would have changed a lot.

Juan Peres left his other guests for a moment and returned 

to us, seeing our disappointment. 

'I have an idea...

I am thinking our wonderful cook, Jose Gonzales just might 

have known him...Jose has lived on this ranch all his life. Go

 on back to the kitchen and talk with him. He speaks 

English."  

so we did go back into  the kitchen and found a 

handsome man in his early sixties standing at the sink.

                                 

We introduced ourselves and hopefully asked if he had ever 

heard of Mario z. Mendoza. He smiled warmly.


"Of course I remember Mario. He was one of my heroes, my

idol.  He was about 20 years older than me. He treated me 

like a son...taught me English...He told me about Memphis,

Korea and other far away places, I would never see.


 I must start the dinner meal now.

Tomorrow the tourists will be out on an excursion and my

work will be light....if you 

like we can spend the day together and I will tell you all

I can remember. "



We asked if we could just hang around the 

kitchen and watch him cook...but will tell you about that 

tomorrow.



Now  we will stop....and tell you more tomorrow.   Can't EXPRESS how thrilled 

we are to spend time with this man who actually knew Mario.   The 

relatives at the picnic mostly knew ABOUT him from stories they had 

head.  to bed...to bed....fac simile


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love from, a very tired carmine, beanie and annie.   

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

vv

RECALLING EPISODE 6 OF WHY PHILIPPI?

THIS IS NOT THE ORIGINAL EPISODE 6 OF WHY PHILIPPI!!
I am recalling the pretend trip the same way I would an in the flesh trip.

What a day we had yesterday. I think you will understand three old ladies being in shock. We lay on our beds with eyes wide open; we didn't even change into our bedclothes...just kicked off our shoes..would morning ever come????
 We dragged ourselves out of bed, showered, put on fresh clothes and decided NOW WE WERE HUNGRY.

A police detective was also in the restaurant getting a much needed cup of coffee. 
                                  likeness

He approached us. "καλημέρα!!" good morning!!  He and Dorothea had a brief conversation in GREEK.

 He said there were many possibilities about the victim. He was not registered at the hotel. 

There was no identification on the body. Seeing the suite of rooms was empty, someone randomly just chose our extra bathroom to dump the body.

 He could be part of a gang war or even someone in espionage or something like that. He said it might take months to find out.

He suggested that we go home as soon as possible; otherwise, we might get stuck there for a long time needlessly.

Hey! That sounded like a great idea to us!! We had only planned to stay another day anyway...we just called and had our tickets changed to today.

We talked with the lady at the desk when we were making arrangements to check out and get back our passports.

 Beanie told her about Paul and the hidden letter.  We were told it is illegal to to hide things at the ruins;  everything found like that is sent to the museum to be stored in boxes or just thrown away....and pray tell, where is that museum? Beanie and I were thinking...30 years in a box among many. Dorothea's hopes will be dashed!!

We went by cab to the museum...

went in hurriedly...in just 5 hours our plane would depart...!!!!...

 The museum was built in 1961 and includes four major collections of findings from the prehistoric settlement of Dikili-Tash and from the Hellenistic, Roman and Early Christian city of Philippi.

The architectural remains of the Hellenistic city of Philippi have not been excavated because they are covered by the ruins of the Roman city but a great number of Hellenistic grave stelae have been found on the site.


We were handed a pamphlet as we entered. 
Philippi was established by the king of Macedon, Philip II, on the site of the Thasian colony of Krinides or Crenides (Κρηνἱδες, "Fountains"), near the head of the Aegean Sea at the foot of Mt. Orbelos about 8 miles north-west of Kavalla, on the northern border of the marsh that in Antiquity covered the entire plain separating it from the Pangaion hills to the south of Greece.

The objective of founding the town was to take control of the neighbouring gold mines and to establish a garrison at a strategic passage: the site controlled the route between Amphipolis and Neapolis, part of the great royal route which crosses Macedonia from the east to the west and which was reconstructed later by the Roman Empire as the Via Egnatia. Philip II endowed the new city with important fortifications,

No one was on duty at the desk for a few minutes. Then we explained our situation to the employee.

Speaking English she said, "Sorry, we can't help you.

 True there are many boxes stored here;

 but so much junk  has been just thrown away. 

doubt if anything is here from 30 years ago.

Dorothea began to cry ....

Beanie said, " Please let us just look, PLEASE!"

Exasperated the employee took us back to a room full of boxes

 and said to feel free to look but not to get our hopes up.

So we started  going through boxes as quickly as we could. 

Mostly trash. We were gradually running out of time...

Suddenly Beanie found a dirty looking sandwich bag.

               "OH, MY DOROTHEA, LOOK!"

Lo and behold there was a letter in that bag,

and you could see a red heart through it

                 and the word DOROTHEA.

I am sure our sounds of joy and delight

 could be heard all the way back to Memphis.

we even sang a few measures of this (scaring people!!)

Dorothy was given permission to take the letter  with us.  

No way to put into words how excited we were.

When we get back to Memphis we will rehash the trip in my 

kitchen.  You, Blog & Facebook friends... are welcome to be

 with us.

Beanie and I never read that letter...

but understand it is private and precious. 

Tomorrow there will be just one more post. #7 

WHY PHILIPPI?? EPISODES 5 & 6 GONE, GONE, GONE...WHY?HOW?

Well, I surely admit to feeling frustrated...I was preparing to post the 5th episode of my WHY PHILIPPI trip...and found, alas,
 both it and episode 6 have disappeared from memphisannie.blogspot.com.

I will test my theory --that is, that a pretend trip can be remembered as well as an in the flesh one...so here goes.

The next morning we woke up before the sun woke up!! ...so excited over the day before us. The evening before we had read about Paul in the book of ACTS...and then his letter to the PHILIPPIANS.
We were anxious to see where Paul had been and of course, to find that love letter Dorothea's husband, Paul,  had written to her thirty years ago. He was on a Paul's Missionary Journeys trip with a group of men from his GREEK ORTHODOX church in Memphis. When at Philippi he had hidden a letter to her that they would retrieve one day together. He died there.....

After eating breakfast at the hotel we took a cab to the site of the ruins. We were so surprised to see a bus loaded with people also arriving...then other buses...it didn't seem so holy...but more like a tourist kind of thing???!! There was a small fee to enter, which seemed reasonable..because stones have to be cared for!!

We became part of a group which led by a guide moved from point to point:
Here was the ancient market place.
  Paul had mailed her a postcard of Philippi with a red x marked by a tall stone where he had hidden the letter. 

We didn't see ANYTHING like the post card because EVERYTHING looked like the post card. Beanie and I looked at each other..in disbelief!!



don't know how that lady got in the snapshot above??!             v




STONES, STONES, EVERYWHERE STONES!! Although DOROTHEA understood the guide and tried to translate for us, the guide never paused...so it was hard for us to know what was being said. 


I think we were shown ruins of the jail where Paul and Silas were held...and where they sang hymns and songs...but it is doubtful what we saw was actually it!!  


As our cab drove away we looked back at the ruins one last time from a distance.

We were there all day only resting now and then. We decided we would study the history of this place on our own some day at home.
actually I did and found it so interesting....
but finding Paul ?...perhaps we were the only ones there who didn't find him.
In the cab back to the hotel we expressed disappointment. For us we could see Paul so clearly in THE WORD, but not clearly at these ruins. Also we were disappointed that it seemed impossible that we would ever find that love letter!! what were we thinking???

We weren't even hungry when we arrived at the hotel;

but since we hadn't eaten all day...stopped by the hotel restaurant to eat a bite.      

When we got back to our rooms, the maid met us and asked permission to clean the rooms before she left work...
                          

she cleaned our room and bath and then went to the extra room.                 We heard her scream...and we ran in to see what was wrong. We did not scream as we looked down at a dead man on the bathroom floor...



Our mouths were frozen...we couldn't even speak much less scream...I am a little unclear about when police arrived.

Our rooms became a crime scene and we were moved upstairs to different rooms...

I am longing for Memphis about now...will tell you more tomorrow when we are calmer
just sayin' with love....Beanie, Dorothea, and annie....
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