Day 99: November 21, 2007 In Salta

  Salta, Argentina
Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Day 99: November 21, 2007 In Salta

A locust in a tree outside of our room joined the chorus of thousands of others in the valley at about 6:30. It's amazing how much noise one of those things can make. I suspect that one of the local birds had a good breakfast because it went quiet all of a sudden and didn't return.

It was a hot, hazy day, the kind that spawned the big rainstorm on Monday. Thunderheads gathered on the east side of the mountain throughout the day but they stayed on the east side, allowing the Valle de Lerma to bake in the heat.

In the morning, Cristina Moya and Ricardo Alonso both came to the office to meet with Tuity. I met Alonso in 1985, on my first visit to Salta, when he was a grad student at UNSa. After teaching at the university for quite a few years, he became the Secretary of Mining and Hydrocarbon Resources for the Province of Salta. Cristina was in my Fulbright course in 1989. She is now an Associate Dean at UNSa. They were surprised to see me at the office. It was good to see both of them.

Around noon, I received a USGS earthquake notification that there had been a 5.9 quake in the western part of Salta province, along the Chilean border. It was about 100 km down. No one here felt it although Jorge said he was having strange sensations at the time.

Salta in the Afternoon

It cleared off nicely in the afternoon, showing the valley in crystal clear detail. I went up to the roof to take a picture.

I'm having problems getting some fundamental data for my proposal submission. The Petroleum Research Fund wants to know what kind of institution it gives its money, a viable concern. I requested, two months ago, information about the number of graduates our Division has had for the last seven years. I also need to know how many of those graduates went on to grad school and where. This is basic data that every place I have worked recorded meticulously. Brevard College is apparently still stuck in the junior college mentality. It's now looking like I may not be able to submit the proposal for lack of this information. I sent Jeff Llewellyn a copy of the form in the afternoon. He is very student-oriented and I'll bet he has all of that information stashed away in his files.

Late in the afternoon, the clouds finally started to cross the mountains and shroud the valley. Elena and I planned to eat next door. She was not feeling well when she arrived so I opted to make a choripan and watch the storm come in from the balcony. As threatening as the sky was at sunset and into the twilight, the rain never came. Lots of lightning to the north and east suggested that heavy rains were falling elsewhere.
Elena went to bed after taking a couple of Tums. I stayed up with Bernardo and Jorge, drinking wine and talking about lots of different topics. Toyo came up afterward and he and I hung out on the balcony, enjoying the evening until 1:00.