MANUAL FOR SPEED’S STREET MEAT LOMO SANDWICH HIGHLIGHTS:

“Yo, I gotta para llevar.” — Tom Danielson “Have you ever seen a lomo this big?” — Joe Dombroski “Local knowledge man, this is my third time around.” — Ted King Watching a moped go past with a woman sitting on the back breast feeding a baby. Just to be clear, including the operator/driver that means a total of 3 people were riding on the back of a single moped, one of which was providing a vital service to one of the others. Watching Ted King sweat onto his lomo. Side note, it was 85 degrees today but with windchill, humidity, el sol, and whatnot, it feels more like 101. We determined that in San Luis, tires and rims are basic unit of trade like gold and walrus tusks. Ted king offered to pay us 10 US dollars for the Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Colombia we hand delivered to him from America.

Post-lomo we had an appointment with Nate Brown to do a photoshooting called either The Other Tour of San Luis or Nate Brown: Meat N’ Greet. In preparation we consulted the Vista Suite Concierge Desk for glossy brochures and local tips. The guy told us that San Luis has this one Plaza, and this other Plaza, and that if you’re willing to drive 15 minutes out of town, there is a Hotel Casino & Horse Track. We took Nate to one of the plazas, bought him some juice, a green apple flavored lollipop, and a double-scoop cup of vanilla ice cream. First we went to the Fountain, then we met a cop who told us about the Statue of Liberty and how the driver’s right-of-way works in Argentina, which we need to know because 67% of intersections here don’t have traffic control of any kind—here’s the deal, the car on the right has the right of way, orrrrrr, whoever is más macho. Side note: After photographing Nate with the cop and the cop’s partner, after we talked about motor vehicle laws and etiquette and all that, after he told us about the Statue of Liberty, basically after we were done you know, interacting, the cop continued to follow us around town from a respectful but slightly awkward distance for the rest of the photoshoot because A.) he was curious! or B.) he liked us and wanted to protect us? Then we photographed Nate inside a tree. That’s when Emiliano said, “Nate, can you move your hand a little bit so I can see the whole lollipop?” Then photographed Nate in front of a church. Then on the way back to the car we asked him to take off his top and pose in front of a mural. Then we brought him home to the VS where we needed to have Koffee With the Kings and attend a mandatory Drivers Education Course.

It’s actually not a Drivers Education Course, at least not exactly, it’s more of a Technical Meeting Media Thing where the Race Organizers talk about the laws, rules, codes, ethics, mores, obligations, expectations and whatever associated with being media at this tournament. It’s a requirement if you want to get on a moto and/or get a Prensa sticker for your vehicle—speaking of our vehicle, Alamo Rental Cars in Argentina is significantly different than Alamo Rental Cars in America. First of all it’s just a guy with a handwritten sign, there is no counter or computers or “space.” Second of all the guy lets you “rent” his cousin’s car for as long as you like. His cousin’s car is a 1986 Fiat Palio. In silver. Second gear doesn’t work and it requires manual, or “artisanal”, locking of each door one at a time—in order to do a complete round of locking or unlocking of three doors, an elaborate and well-choreographed baton-like key shuffle is required. On the upside the faceplate radio has an AUX hole. Oh and later we went to the team presentation, more on that here.