It’s only Day 3 in Santa Rosa, Argentina and I keep asking myself if I’ve died and gone to heaven. My head is so full of ideas, Spanish, knowledge, and amazement at the generosity and beauty of the Argentine people we have met.

Today I had the opportunity to meet with a woman named Dora Battison who is a professor of literature and is also working on a novel. We ate lunch and talked about marriage, Obama, the distinct literature of La Pampa, and music.

If that experience wasn’t amazing enough, I also got to visit a library called a Cooperativo. I met the head librarian, her boss, and a professor who is writing a book about the women of La Pampa.

I’m filled with so much gratefulness to Rotary for this tremendous learning opportunity.

More to come. Chao!

Photo 1: Dora at our delicious luncheon

Photo 2: The group of women at lunch

Photo 3: The upstairs of the library (Cooperativo)

Photo 4: Lillian, the head librarian, had a unique system of organization. She organizes by theme only. No Dewey system and not in alphabetic order. Her strategy is to allow library patrons to explore more freely and she wants to allow them to browse find books that meet their interests.

Photo 5: Lillian, the librarian (on the left)

Photo 6: The outside of the library

Photo 7: The head of the library (on the left) and the professor writing about the women of La Pampa (second from the right)