Moving to the "Obra"

This is the last entry on this particular blog, on the particular subject of the 'before we named the hotel' period, the winter time, a rather solitary time in La Pedrera and a challenge to learn and understand all that was and is to come.

That time is over now and it has given away to a warmer, thousand of flowers springing about and radical changing and dramatic weather in these parts. I was away in Brazil for over a month in an attempt to get away and gain perspective... only to find out that returning was the most pleasant aspect of the trip.

So, if you are interested then check out the other blogs which will continue to be the deposit for events, happenings around the hotel project and the odd thought that might creep into the mix, even in Spanish.

-- Brisas del Este - The Project
-- Mientras Tanto

Laura J.

Change is the only Everlasting Drug

It is time for a change. A change of pace, a change of attitude, a change of perspective.

Today I am expecting two guests for a project meeting and lunch. The day has started cold as usual, I time my morning by throwing on layers of all available clothes before I exit from under the warm bed covers, including a hat, then promptly run out of the room and into to the bathroom where I envy men and their ability to pee fully clothed, and from there straight to the fireplace to build a fire, it will put a dent on the wet coldness that has settled overnight upon the house. Lately I have gotten into sicking pine cones in the oven until glossy brown, this step really dries them up and makes fire starting a breeze.

It is specially cold this morning, I open the window curtains in the living area and take a look outside, there I see the ocean at large in the immediate distance, as usual it is a surprise. Here on the Uruguayan Coast the Atlantic is always in flux, never the same colour, one day brings huge rolling waves, next "chicha" calm, strong winds can raise full cover white caps and bring cotton candy foam on shore, when severe Southern Antarctic storms break being on land does not feel safe enough to avoid the ocean's rage, a real treat; looking at the Atlantic every morning has become a key event by which my day starts.

Having assesed the weather and seeing the fire is burning away I get the coffee started. There are two objects that follow me around the world, one is a proper Italian coffee brewer and the other is a small wooden device to squeeze lemons or limes; however, this morning coffee making shall be improvised as I have run out of gas for the cooking stove. So far I have gotten more gas by driving myself to La Paloma, 17km away to fetch a new carafe but someone told me I could call for home delivery so I try.

In La Pedrera houses have names but the streets don't. I recently moved from the "Green House" to the "Yellow House", interestingly enough, if you are into the lives of the rich and famous note that "Green" was famous latinamerican cartoonist Maitena's first house in La Pedrera (she now lives in a much grander fair on the beach), "Yellow", the house I moved into a couple of weeks back belongs to Oscar-winner Norma Aleandro, these two women are fine examples of the low-profile-seeking celebrities who have chosen this town as their home or preferred summer destination in the area.

I call the 'bring me gas' service, I provide directions by reference to the house's owners, I tell the gas carafe man, "Doble en la OSE, de ahi sigue derecho a la Casa Amarilla sobre la calle de atras del Hotel La Pedrera, la de Norma Aleandro sabe?"

We work it out, the carafe arrives and I have just enough time to cook up the garbanzo beans, cut up all the additional veggies and make a nice Mediterranean Garbanzo salad while I steam the cauliflower, then blend it with homemade stock and coconut cream into a steamy soup. It is now time to transform myself from the I just got out of bed look into a tad less wild appearance, I even get to send a couple of emails and have a cup of tea before my first visitor arrives, Martin the architect.

"I don't think the walls can handle the weight of a second floor" Martin the architect says before his butt hits the the chair by the now roaring fire. The structure is over 100 years old, he has come straight to the meeting from the hotel where he has been surveying the walls in question with one of his crew, Martin concludes we might need to do more full wall replacement than anticipated if we are planning to build a structure that will stand without crumbling down. I nod, this makes sense, then ask "the hotel's foundation, how is it?"

This is when Martin tells me that the hotel is sitting on numerous anthills.

I breathe in and begin to imagine the anthills underneath the hotel walls. In my mind's eye I see pictures from childhood with anthill cross-sections, I see ants going up and down paths carrying leaves on their backs, a couple of ants fight with each other, their little head antlers locking in. I am lost in my ant universe as I watch Martin the architect gesture on, I remember this anthill art piece I once saw in a London TATE exhibition, the installation had placed piles of dirt with large live ants in square acrylic boxes positioned horizontally against the wall, the boxes were connected with one another through clear tubes, the ants moved around and carried dirt, from this box to the other, there was a map of the US or maybe a map of the world behind it, it had some significant socio-political-environmental meaning I cannot remember.

I snap out of my ant visualization and ask, "Is this going to impact our construction budget? We are not trying to do perfect but safe enough to turn around a profit" I add professionally. I love being this practical, so black and white at times. "There is a little German in you" someone told me once in Goa, it is true and it is a role I don't mind playing. We discuss the walls some more, it turns out that the solutions are feasible, perhaps less complex than reinforcing the old structure, the impact on the budget is not significant but the anthills will have to go.

My second guest arrives, Curro is my Italian-Uruguayan friend I consider a hero, he has been doing 'things' in Uruguay for about 4 years and understands all about profit-making land-based projects in far away lands, soon enough Curro is telling Martin about his father, "he was the 'true' genious when it came to visualizing architectural concepts and ideas, his watercolours were so good that his clients wanted the house to look exactly as he had painted it". It runs in the family, I have visited Curro's chacra "project" near Jose Ignacio, I love it, there he has a room he calls his "laboratory" dedicated to design, he has impeccable taste and most important, he can communicate sensibly and timely, I have come to realize (again) that listening to appropriate counsel and advise is what is going to make a difference towards our success, stay in touch with those who have the experience and can communicate it.

Which brings me to the core of this post. Change of mind, change of attitude, update the perspective.

I hate to admit it but I have been resisting getting into the project, I have been keeping one foot outside, back in Goa no doubt, keeping a safe distance. Suddenly, the first of many realizations to come, I acknowledge to myself that I am in the coninuing process of fabricating a life, not just a summer season, moving on from a life style I had been enjoying (namely Goa) and that I can build further upon.

My attitude has gone from desolate to alive, my health has gotten better, the winter spirit of the town no longer projecting shadows on my mind. I hit a low while in Montevideo this last weekend, due to unexpected events Sunday I had to return to La Pedrera without making a quick trip to Buenos Aires, where I was hoping to cheer up. When I got back I spent that first day sulking around, then decided to go to Karina's (another great addition to the project team). At her house over tea we had a brain storming session working out how to prioritize and organize the apparently endless amount of things to be calculated, measured and budgeted. As we talked I felt my energy begin to make itself present and project itself onto the room, it suddenly boomerang and hit me straight on and I realized I had just gotten my juice back.

Back to today, things are being discussed between Martin the architect and Curro the project hero, as I handled calls and emails with the Solicitor and the Accountant I am coming to terms with the project at hand, with the place where I am living, with the things that are within my reach and those which perhaps are not necessary after all. I smile again and watch sun which has made a grand appearance over the blue ocean and shines on me with its winter warmth. I have returned to the present as I bring all of my experiences to life, side by side, providing me with the perfect balance of knowledge and opportunity to make the best of this particular time in life.

I have everything to be thankful for! In particular to all those people who here and there have provided me with the mirror, with the bouncing factor I've required to understand my inner workings, how to get over silly banal complaints, who have more than once have provided me with knowledge and inspiration to make every day the best and enjoy it to the max. Thanks are in order.

All I had to do was to visualize myself on top of the hotel's roof watching the full moon rise above the Atlantic and accept: It could not be any different or any better than now.

Drunken Sailors in the Myst

Tonight is a night when sailors loose their way about the dense fog and ships run aground in the midst of white darkness. I slide the door open to let air in and the smoke out, the fire has been dying out, my eyes are burning. As cold air gets in a lonely flame comes alive, outside the waves crush in the distance, otherwise there is no sound. The thickness of the fog about absorbs all life, it is foreboding and eerie, I better close up again before a lost ghost finds its way inside. I look for music to play, Cohen sampled by Antony seems appropriate for the weather's mood, why disrupt it? Might as well play along.

I have been asked: is this place, this town as lonely as I make it sound? As the pictures show, not a single person about? I have only experienced this beach town's winter, the lowest of seasons, the days are terribly short and yes, there is hardly anyone about. The town streets and houses are empty, the shops are closed, the few people that are left in town are hiding indoors, no one is noticed during the day and at night desolation and solitude walk hand in hand.

Before now I don't remember meeting individuals who could truly cope with such emptiness, for obvious reasons we have not crossed paths before, and now that I have met some, the lack of chemistry is at times tangible. During my days here I am online, on the phone or thinking, all activities related to the hotel project and its immediate needs, plus some traveling between La Pedrera and Montevideo (200+ km distance), I have also been harboring, thanks to the cold and humid weather some nasty respiratory problems my body has found it difficult to overcome.

Yet thus far I've had to be about, it has made sense and it has been fruitful. There are meetings to be had, things to do that are local in nature. Nevertheless, soon the pressing aspects of that need will go away and with it so shall I, to more populated places, to Buenos Aires most likely; I only need to be here about 10 days out of the month to follow construction, etc., the rest of the work I can do from nearby Argentina which is only a ferry ride apart, it is not necessary for hotel business for me to spend the winter in La Pedrera, when Spring comes and Summer begins to insinuate itself I shall move back.

People tell the town is incredibly busy during the summer, they insist the hotel will be packed and sold out through the entire season even if we choose to put Indian tigers in the rooms, no matter what we sell it will be bought, when summer draws a shocking sea of eager humanity shall come and holiday with a vengeance. Rumors abound that in summer time it takes 2 hours to cover by car a 7 block distance between the entrance of town and the sea, down the main drag, a stretch of road I drive today in less than 5 minutes, a couple of dogs if I am lucky, chasing the car tires and giving me a reason to talk back.

The solitude has had its effect on me, I am over the initial contact withdrawal and subsequent light depression, now I watch the experience more carefully, I might even appreciate it in the long run, maybe. Still, life is for living and I am all about at least having the choice of shallow and crazy human interaction.

The Promise of Sex Vs. Guaranteed Alcohol

Choices, we face them every day, and every day we make some great, some not so good, some large, some unimportant, some dreadfully irrevocable. How to make a choice that will not only work today, in one's head but also, say, 6 months from now, a year from now?

What DOES it take to make a long lasting choice?

How about stop the process of choosing and pick one alternative, believe this is the final choice and live with it for some time, socialize this choice (to the best of my abilities today limited in this forsaken penguin infested ghost town), and find its limitations, live with the potential of all possible consequences as if the choice had been made for real.

I perceive a fundamental difference, chemically speaking, between "staying in the process of choosing" (comparing, running scenarios, stressing out all the possible choices at once) and "finally making a choice" (breathing again, going down a chosen path). Therefore I have learned to fool my brain into believing that I have actually made a choice, then sit back and see where it leads. It is a test run of sorts, I ran the choice and then watch it play.

During this repetitive process (detach from one choice, attach to the next) I am only practicing having made a choice so I allow myself to be emotional and extreme, I wake up and go to bed with this temporary choice for a couple of days. It is a process of discovery about that which I can live with and that which I cannot live without. (Atit would say there is no choice but we shall put that thought on hold for the time being).

Betting on Sex or on Alcohol? Or both?

The long term vision for the hotel is to remodel, reconfigure the existing premises to have a total of 16 rooms, 2 ample 'multi-use' common spaces, pull together a coherent view of its simple colonial exterior, enhance its generous interior garden plus an additional if modest space for spa treatments (Got to get all those massage expert friends over here to share the fun!). It will most likely take 12 non-contiguous construction months over 2 calendar years to reach this goal.

I say non-contiguous because we plan to open and start running the place during this coming South American summer, January/February 2009. The idea is to open with a small amount of rooms, 4-5 max, and in addition one of the 'common' spaces ready for business.

The main reason behind opening and therefore interrupting construction during the high season is to have an opportunity to gain experience running the place at a smaller scale. Gaining that early window of perspective at a hopefully slower pace should provide us with the understanding to make better choices in the long haul. It is and ideal situation, a left over mind habit from my software days, a Beta version to smooth out the edges and really understand what the user wants and how to best get it done.

Realistically construction would start August 08, giving us 5 months until Jan 09 to build and condition the place (Construction phase I): What can possibly be accomplished during this period and how to interrupt construction without the place looking a total mess?

That's enough for today, I will tell you more about sex and alcohol next time I blog. Oh yes, I forgot to mention the Architect was chosen, I went with the better looking of the bunch of course.

Project Choices: Architect

The process of choosing an architect is an interesting one to say the least. I've always like the hiring process, whether I am hiring or I am being hired. It is an opportunity to specifically get to know someone, or let oneself be known with a concise idea as to why this is taking place: to hire or be hired, no mysteries about it. I like it.

Doing so, picking the right architect to remodel the hotel requires criteria, what kind of architect will best serve the purpose? Therefore, the issue of defining 'purpose' is first at hand, this is also a creative and entertaining process, just like hiring: Where are we going with this hotel? What should it be? What shouldn't it be? Answering these questions brings about ingredients of a journey of discovery and yet, it is a limited physical space, not an endless software project or a path of personal growth (equally endless); figuring out the requirements for a small boutique hotel might just be the perfect scale for a new venture, so far.

This I have learned so far:

Criteria: Keep it old, keep it simple. In the hotel's case "architectural criteria" requires the ability to work with what is already there, this is not a new construction project, it is a remodeling of an 100 year-old structure that has seen, through the years and its owners a number of not always coherent influences change its look and demeanor. Consequently, first at hand is to organize and homogenize its lines and structure into a single idea or style.

Criteria: Pick local, stay local. Must pick an architect with significant experience building in the area. While Punta del Este and Maldonado, both about a 100+ km away are packed with professional services in the construction industry (Punta is a high end, populated beach side resort in Uruguay), La Pedrera in Rocha (the Uruguayan department where La Pedrera is located) are at the relative start of the building boom and therefore talent is rare, plus understanding and negotiating with the local government requires further expertise, only acquired thru experience in the area.

Criteria: Live the "vision." Sitting by the fire an intense winter storm shakes the walls and windows of my rented home in La Pedrera as I prepare myself to make the choice of Architect this w-end. After being presented with six different approaches from 7 different architects, including floor plans and details of their vision I have learned a great deal about my own personal vision for this hotel in this remote but amazingly sought after beach town, a vision that must make business sense while still venturing into the creative process of realizing something different and unique.

A great experience, a complement to the uniqueness of the area, the outcome shall hopefully meet the hotel client expectations as well as be welcomed by the town's folk and this way, become a success for everyone involved. And make us some money too.

Not small peanuts but fun peanuts indeed.

Why? Why Post?

Why write to a public forum? It gives the sense of being part of a larger world from a small window in a far away place. It is anonymous in spite of being extremely public. It provides an outlet to what is taking place here and now, upon reading it later it might provide clues of what is in reality taking place.

Without the mirror there might not be anything taking place.

Note: All references to Penguins or Pinguinos in this blog are arbitrary and should not be taken too literally. If you wonder, the poor bugger in the embedded picture is a likely victim of a violent southern storm, or, he could be taking a long a well deserved nap on his way to Brazil.