Here, we get off of school for two days for easter, and then Monday and Tuesday are national holidays because it is the anniversary of the Malvina's (Falklands War). I expect that to be an interesting day in Argentina and will report back if anything happens. So far, Holy Thursday and Good Friday just means that everything useful is closed. Most kids on our program travelled out to Salta (up in the far north-west, near Bolivia), Mendoza (north but not as north, wine country), Patagonia (super south) or Uruguay (to the west, fairly close) but a small group of us stayed in the city. My intention was to go out to a bunch of musuems, the botanic gardens, etc etc without really thinking this plan through...Mostly everything is closed for the holiday! #jewproblems. On Friday we ventured all the way out to Palermo to go to the gardens only to find them closed. It has still been nice and peaceful to be here albeit lazy.
Yesterday we went to Tigre. Tigre is a town about 45 minutes outside of Buenos Aires by train (think Metro North). The train cost 3 pesos (like 45 cents) and stops along the way at all these neighborhoods and then towns north of the city. Tigre is located on the Delta, so there is a system of canals and water ways and most people go boating or kayaking. The water is pretty gross but there are tons of trees so it's pretty beautiful. It's a popular weekend destination for people from the city because it's so close and easy. We didn't go on a boat because none of us had looked up the price (kinda of a lot) but we did walk around quite a bit, lie in the grass with the hundreds of other people doing the same (sans maté, unfortunately) and even go into a posh "rowing club". It was a nice day trip, and so easy to get there! Unfortunately, coming home wasn't quite so smooth...the train cables lit on fire so we had to revert to plan B which was riding the subte for the entire D line before transfering to the C. We met a nice guy from Canada who was lost and couldn't speak spanish so we helped him get to his hotel (right near our residence, actually). We were lucky that the train broke down in Belgrano (a northern neighborhood in the Capital Federal) and that David knew where we were cause the rest of us didn't (he has lived in the residence hall for a couple years now I think).
Today is Easter but I don't think there is anything public for it...We'll see what happens tomorrow for the Malvina's anniversary.
PS Mom if you want to freeze some of the little cadberry candy coated chocolate eggs for me I wouldn't complain <3
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Passover and Pasta
On Sunday I ventured to Palermo for the YOK Passover festival. I had literally no idea what to expect and had only a vague idea of where I was going, but I figured it would be interesting no matter what it was. I walked down to 9 de Julio to cross it and get the 39 on Salta (I swear, each street here is like a new world) and saw the beginning of the manifestación for the anniversary of the dictatorship. The streets were clogged with buses that had come in from outside the city and more of them kept arriving literally by the minute. Huge crowds of people in various sets of matching t shirts poured out of them - young, old, babies, everyone. It was cool to see the groups setting up, hoisting up the huge signs and putting their drums on. I met a backpacker from Brazil who was really confused but in the right place at the right time! I never made it to Plaza de Mayo as I intended to see the actual culmination of this, but a friend from the res hall did and said it was incredible. Thousands of people, thousands of signs, everyone yelling "nunca mas" and tons and tons of photos of the desaparecidos. Check out these links for more very basic introductory information of the significance of this day in Argentine history.
In Palermo, I walked down Armenia until I got to Costa Rica and saw the festival. It took up around 2.5 blocks. It's kind of hard to explain what was going on but it took me a while to comprehend what I was seeing, mainly because I can't really imagine seeing anything like this back at home IN THE STREET and not in a community center or school. In addition to having a DJ playing spanish and israeli music, there were vendors selling pesach foods, israeli food, jewish products (like sedar plates and kedem grape juice and pillows that said "laila tov"). The main part of the festival was that the entire thing was structured like a sedar. It was based off the idea of "puertas abiertas" - open doors. On Passover, you are supposed to celebrate your freedom by opening your doors and having discussions because you can and are obligated to by your freedom. So this festival (and the organization) is dedicated to creating a "modern judaism" by way of open doors - open conversation. So, there were stations for each part of the sedar ceremonies and little activities for each one. They ranged from silly (at the matzah station you could draw on matzah for some reason) to reflective (at the "plagas" station, there was a globe set up and styrofoam spheres on sticks. you were supposed to think of a modern day plague, write it on the stick and stick it on the globe) to really cool - at the final station when the main conversation and door opening is supposed to take place, there was a series of speakers. I sat in on Rabbi Guido Cohen (what a clash of Argentine immigrants, eh? Italian and Jewish) and Anthropologist Alejandro Grimson. Cohen spoke a lot on Argentine Jewish identity and how the Jewish historical experience informs how the community can relate to and empathize with the Argentine historical trauma. He also spoke on how significant it was that the celebration fell on the same day as the Día de la Memoría and how it was a time for reflection, etc, etc. Grimson spoke less about jewish identity and more on Argentine identity in particular, a subject he recently published a book on. He spoke pretty bluntly about the lack of Indigenous and Black people in Argentina ("porque todo fue mataron") but how people are quick to blame social ills on those populations. It is important to note that of course there are indigenous populations in Argentina, but they are much less visible in Buenos Aires than in most other Latin American capitols. As for the Afro-Latin population here, it is quite small and, to my knowledge, mainly comprised of afro-uruguyuans. He also spoke about Argentina's latina identity with a Euro population and how people want to be European because it is idealized. It was pretty fascinating and the audiences reaction (laughing in recognition) was also pretty interesting.
The best part of this festival was how many people were there. TONS! It was crazy! I tried to talk to one of the young girls working for the organization about what other work the organization does but she didn't understand me...It seems to do some cool work for Channukah and Rosh Hashanah though. There were families, tourists, young kids, a group of teenagers playing guitar to raise money for their trip to Israel, etc.
After that, I walked around Palermo for a bit and took photos. The neighborhood is beautiful with tons of the world's cutest restaurants, many with totally open fronts, terraces and roofs. Of course I got lost on my way home to San Telmo butttt let's not talk about that.
Continuing my trend of finding myself in strange and awesome situations:
Last night on my way home from school I got a text from Gonzalo saying "estoy en un reunion, salgo y nos vemos!" so I met him at his friends restaurant a few blocks from the dorms. Unfortunately it was the end of the day and I was exhuasted with a ton of all spanish reading (a novel and articles on contemporary art theory...) ahead of me so I felt kind of brain dead and could barely speak or understand spanish but everyone was nice to me. His friend gave us coffee, wine and homemade alfajores and then invited me to dinner with them! I was saying how I had to go home cause I have a meal plan and homework and they were like well, we're closing the restaurant and having dinner just us, so stay anyway. I mean, when in Rome, right? So they closed the restaurant and turned up the music and his friend started cooking and a few more people came and we had dinner! His friend Nick (is that a nickname or a real name, who knows) cooked us pasta - with cheese sauce and basil for me the vegetarian and chicken and broccoli for everyone else. I wish I could have held up a conversation better but I did teach them the word for "eggplant" which was funny because it's such an ugly word. I mean, yeah I ate pasta on the first night of Passover, but I also went to a freaking jew festival so I think I can get off the hook.
In Palermo, I walked down Armenia until I got to Costa Rica and saw the festival. It took up around 2.5 blocks. It's kind of hard to explain what was going on but it took me a while to comprehend what I was seeing, mainly because I can't really imagine seeing anything like this back at home IN THE STREET and not in a community center or school. In addition to having a DJ playing spanish and israeli music, there were vendors selling pesach foods, israeli food, jewish products (like sedar plates and kedem grape juice and pillows that said "laila tov"). The main part of the festival was that the entire thing was structured like a sedar. It was based off the idea of "puertas abiertas" - open doors. On Passover, you are supposed to celebrate your freedom by opening your doors and having discussions because you can and are obligated to by your freedom. So this festival (and the organization) is dedicated to creating a "modern judaism" by way of open doors - open conversation. So, there were stations for each part of the sedar ceremonies and little activities for each one. They ranged from silly (at the matzah station you could draw on matzah for some reason) to reflective (at the "plagas" station, there was a globe set up and styrofoam spheres on sticks. you were supposed to think of a modern day plague, write it on the stick and stick it on the globe) to really cool - at the final station when the main conversation and door opening is supposed to take place, there was a series of speakers. I sat in on Rabbi Guido Cohen (what a clash of Argentine immigrants, eh? Italian and Jewish) and Anthropologist Alejandro Grimson. Cohen spoke a lot on Argentine Jewish identity and how the Jewish historical experience informs how the community can relate to and empathize with the Argentine historical trauma. He also spoke on how significant it was that the celebration fell on the same day as the Día de la Memoría and how it was a time for reflection, etc, etc. Grimson spoke less about jewish identity and more on Argentine identity in particular, a subject he recently published a book on. He spoke pretty bluntly about the lack of Indigenous and Black people in Argentina ("porque todo fue mataron") but how people are quick to blame social ills on those populations. It is important to note that of course there are indigenous populations in Argentina, but they are much less visible in Buenos Aires than in most other Latin American capitols. As for the Afro-Latin population here, it is quite small and, to my knowledge, mainly comprised of afro-uruguyuans. He also spoke about Argentina's latina identity with a Euro population and how people want to be European because it is idealized. It was pretty fascinating and the audiences reaction (laughing in recognition) was also pretty interesting.
The best part of this festival was how many people were there. TONS! It was crazy! I tried to talk to one of the young girls working for the organization about what other work the organization does but she didn't understand me...It seems to do some cool work for Channukah and Rosh Hashanah though. There were families, tourists, young kids, a group of teenagers playing guitar to raise money for their trip to Israel, etc.
After that, I walked around Palermo for a bit and took photos. The neighborhood is beautiful with tons of the world's cutest restaurants, many with totally open fronts, terraces and roofs. Of course I got lost on my way home to San Telmo butttt let's not talk about that.
Continuing my trend of finding myself in strange and awesome situations:
Last night on my way home from school I got a text from Gonzalo saying "estoy en un reunion, salgo y nos vemos!" so I met him at his friends restaurant a few blocks from the dorms. Unfortunately it was the end of the day and I was exhuasted with a ton of all spanish reading (a novel and articles on contemporary art theory...) ahead of me so I felt kind of brain dead and could barely speak or understand spanish but everyone was nice to me. His friend gave us coffee, wine and homemade alfajores and then invited me to dinner with them! I was saying how I had to go home cause I have a meal plan and homework and they were like well, we're closing the restaurant and having dinner just us, so stay anyway. I mean, when in Rome, right? So they closed the restaurant and turned up the music and his friend started cooking and a few more people came and we had dinner! His friend Nick (is that a nickname or a real name, who knows) cooked us pasta - with cheese sauce and basil for me the vegetarian and chicken and broccoli for everyone else. I wish I could have held up a conversation better but I did teach them the word for "eggplant" which was funny because it's such an ugly word. I mean, yeah I ate pasta on the first night of Passover, but I also went to a freaking jew festival so I think I can get off the hook.
Monday, March 25, 2013
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Is this real life?
I feel like study abroad is just one giant extended "what is happening is this really my life moment". This whole weekend was absolutely like that...
On friday night, I spur of the moment went out with my roomate, a Czech girl named Marie who also lives with us in the dorms and goes to school with Emily and Emily's friend Alejandra. Alejandra was born in Argentina but raised in Mexico and moved back here a while ago for school and such. We went to Plaza Serrano, which is a large square in Palermo full of bars, clubs, coffee shops and the like. Ton's of people eating dinner on the tables outside, huge trees - it's really pretty and very busy. After spending some time in a few places there, we then migrated to a boliche called L'arc. It was a really beautiful venue and there were actually people our age in there! which was a nice change. The several other places I had been to had been very young Argentine girls, American girls around my age, and a mix of young and slightly older creepy argentinian and expat men. Cree-eepy. But almost everyone here was our age and everyone was stunningly gorgeous. It kind of felt like a movie because there is no way that so many attractive people would naturally exist in one place at one time. It was super swanky! Anyway, a guy from Bangalore told me I looked "very, very indian." Basically, the FBI should hire me because apparently I can fit in everywhere but probably China, Japan, Korea and most sub-saharan African nations. The music was the same as in any club in any city in any country - techno-ish, etc etc but the light's were pretty amazing, I have never seen anything like it before. They were strobes but they looked three dimensional - like the lights were beaming out cubes of lights that expanded, contracted, flattened out and consumed the smoke from the smoke machines. It was really amazing and really confusing to watch. We somehow got into the V.I.P section, I have no idea how or why or who know who, but whatever, that's where we ended up. I think VIP sections are kind of overratted, I mean it's less crowded but that mean's you meet less people. Also people are older cause no one else can afford that. Anyway, they were a lot of Brazilians and apparently Brazilians like to kiss people's hands. The south american - european cheek kiss I can handle, but the hand thing is a bit out there for me...yeah so that happened. Once again, as we were leaving, people were arriving. But Friday is a day of school, and we had been out till three the night before...
Saturday morning I got my ass up early to do some hw and then Kira and I went to the Argentine Independent's Underground Market. It was basically the America convention. It was the most williamsburg thing that ever happened to me - it was all home bakers who were selling chai tea flavored cookies and homemade truffles for obscene prices that were watered down into "Indey Bucks". But the venue was incredible and it was really cool to see local cooks, bakers and artists selling their work. I also ran into Sonam, a girl from NY who I met on the plane. Afterwards, Kira and I bought a huge box of juice and went to a park nearby. It had a pond, lots of grungy kids playing in guitar circles, people hanging out, a carousel, lots of mate and a whole damn circus troup doing tricks in different parts of the park. It wasn't a performance, just people practicing acrobatics and hoola hooping and airial dancing. We dropped by her cousins house for conversation and cookies...they are like her great aunt/uncle, but cousins. That branch of her immigrated to Argentina to escape the Holocaust.
Then the real craziness started...I hopped on a bus to Palermo to meet Danielle, Salima and Aileen to go to a milonga they had gone to the night before. Danielle had told me they had met porteño friends, but hadn't told me they were senior citizens! This place was a tango club located in the basement of the Armenian Cultural Center and was full of people for the various dance classes they offered. There was a huge dance floor, divided by level, surrounded by tables that people can reserve (they were all reserved, actually...). There was a "rock" (kinda like swing) lesson and tango lessons, and then open dancing. It was pretty wild experience...there were a number of tourists there for the lessons, but not many stayed for the rest of the night and the "friends" that Danielle and Salima had made were these two crazy old men who are regulars (as in almost every night) at this event. They knew everyone, were expert dancers, and had several friends with birthdays. They introduced us to everyone, which was hilarious as the cake came out and then this huge group of middle aged-senior citizen age Argentines were dancing, salsa-ing and tango-ing the night away. I really have no way of explaining the situation but it was really crazy and felt totally unreal. It also felt super authentic, whatever that word means. Like these people really just love to tango, and they come to this place to tango all the time, and they were just chilling and having a good time. We also got some birthday cake (with dulce de leche, of course), lots of dance tips, etc etc. It turns out that even in an organized dance setting my ass can't get asked to dance, but it was probably for the best cause I kind of suck at the organized stuff...at one point in the lesson when I actually had a partner that wasn't Salima (but you're a great lead girl) I had this guy who was worse than me and it was not a pretty sight.
Anyway, so at like 2:30 I'm falling asleep on my feet and everyones exhuasted so we are trying to go but Sergio was concerned about us taking the bus...so he got this boy Christian who Danielle had been dancing the night away with to bring Salima home on the back of his moto (no biggie, super casual) and then drove the rest of us home. He kept saying "What if it was my daughter? If you need anything ever, ask! Call me! I have kids, I understand! San Telmo is dangerous at night." He told us about his kids in law school, and that he is a vet!
So, two successful and very different nights both involving lots of spanish, lots of dancing, and lots of staying awake.
On friday night, I spur of the moment went out with my roomate, a Czech girl named Marie who also lives with us in the dorms and goes to school with Emily and Emily's friend Alejandra. Alejandra was born in Argentina but raised in Mexico and moved back here a while ago for school and such. We went to Plaza Serrano, which is a large square in Palermo full of bars, clubs, coffee shops and the like. Ton's of people eating dinner on the tables outside, huge trees - it's really pretty and very busy. After spending some time in a few places there, we then migrated to a boliche called L'arc. It was a really beautiful venue and there were actually people our age in there! which was a nice change. The several other places I had been to had been very young Argentine girls, American girls around my age, and a mix of young and slightly older creepy argentinian and expat men. Cree-eepy. But almost everyone here was our age and everyone was stunningly gorgeous. It kind of felt like a movie because there is no way that so many attractive people would naturally exist in one place at one time. It was super swanky! Anyway, a guy from Bangalore told me I looked "very, very indian." Basically, the FBI should hire me because apparently I can fit in everywhere but probably China, Japan, Korea and most sub-saharan African nations. The music was the same as in any club in any city in any country - techno-ish, etc etc but the light's were pretty amazing, I have never seen anything like it before. They were strobes but they looked three dimensional - like the lights were beaming out cubes of lights that expanded, contracted, flattened out and consumed the smoke from the smoke machines. It was really amazing and really confusing to watch. We somehow got into the V.I.P section, I have no idea how or why or who know who, but whatever, that's where we ended up. I think VIP sections are kind of overratted, I mean it's less crowded but that mean's you meet less people. Also people are older cause no one else can afford that. Anyway, they were a lot of Brazilians and apparently Brazilians like to kiss people's hands. The south american - european cheek kiss I can handle, but the hand thing is a bit out there for me...yeah so that happened. Once again, as we were leaving, people were arriving. But Friday is a day of school, and we had been out till three the night before...
Saturday morning I got my ass up early to do some hw and then Kira and I went to the Argentine Independent's Underground Market. It was basically the America convention. It was the most williamsburg thing that ever happened to me - it was all home bakers who were selling chai tea flavored cookies and homemade truffles for obscene prices that were watered down into "Indey Bucks". But the venue was incredible and it was really cool to see local cooks, bakers and artists selling their work. I also ran into Sonam, a girl from NY who I met on the plane. Afterwards, Kira and I bought a huge box of juice and went to a park nearby. It had a pond, lots of grungy kids playing in guitar circles, people hanging out, a carousel, lots of mate and a whole damn circus troup doing tricks in different parts of the park. It wasn't a performance, just people practicing acrobatics and hoola hooping and airial dancing. We dropped by her cousins house for conversation and cookies...they are like her great aunt/uncle, but cousins. That branch of her immigrated to Argentina to escape the Holocaust.
Then the real craziness started...I hopped on a bus to Palermo to meet Danielle, Salima and Aileen to go to a milonga they had gone to the night before. Danielle had told me they had met porteño friends, but hadn't told me they were senior citizens! This place was a tango club located in the basement of the Armenian Cultural Center and was full of people for the various dance classes they offered. There was a huge dance floor, divided by level, surrounded by tables that people can reserve (they were all reserved, actually...). There was a "rock" (kinda like swing) lesson and tango lessons, and then open dancing. It was pretty wild experience...there were a number of tourists there for the lessons, but not many stayed for the rest of the night and the "friends" that Danielle and Salima had made were these two crazy old men who are regulars (as in almost every night) at this event. They knew everyone, were expert dancers, and had several friends with birthdays. They introduced us to everyone, which was hilarious as the cake came out and then this huge group of middle aged-senior citizen age Argentines were dancing, salsa-ing and tango-ing the night away. I really have no way of explaining the situation but it was really crazy and felt totally unreal. It also felt super authentic, whatever that word means. Like these people really just love to tango, and they come to this place to tango all the time, and they were just chilling and having a good time. We also got some birthday cake (with dulce de leche, of course), lots of dance tips, etc etc. It turns out that even in an organized dance setting my ass can't get asked to dance, but it was probably for the best cause I kind of suck at the organized stuff...at one point in the lesson when I actually had a partner that wasn't Salima (but you're a great lead girl) I had this guy who was worse than me and it was not a pretty sight.
Anyway, so at like 2:30 I'm falling asleep on my feet and everyones exhuasted so we are trying to go but Sergio was concerned about us taking the bus...so he got this boy Christian who Danielle had been dancing the night away with to bring Salima home on the back of his moto (no biggie, super casual) and then drove the rest of us home. He kept saying "What if it was my daughter? If you need anything ever, ask! Call me! I have kids, I understand! San Telmo is dangerous at night." He told us about his kids in law school, and that he is a vet!
So, two successful and very different nights both involving lots of spanish, lots of dancing, and lots of staying awake.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Puertas Cerradas
Last night my roomate Emily and I went to a Puerto Cerrada - a "closed door". These are small resteraunt type things that people run from their homes. In Buenos Aires, these originated after the 2001 economic crisis when chefs were out of work and had no where to cook but their own houses. Now, it is a hip new thing that is coming back into fashion, and there was one conveniently located about a ten minutes walk from our downs. Jueves a la Mesa is run by two women - one American and one Argentine and it is totally vegetarian food that they cook using spices (!) and locally found vegetables, etc. The idea is that you and 12-13 strangers sit at one dinner table and talk to each other.
If you know me, you know I am apprehensive about meeting new people, a terribly picky eater and all around weird person to get a meal with but it actually turned out quite well! The other people at the event were very interesting and the food was "west african" (aka we had peanut and banana curry that was actually spicy -which is not normal in Argentina - nothing here is spicy except foreign food!). We shared the table with an older couple from Switzerland who were moving on from BsAs to go to Lima to visit the womans family there, a couple from Canada who has spent the past two months in Chile and Argentina, a Puerto Rican man living in Virginia in BsAs studying Tango, a young girl from Finland (she was exactly what my stereotypic view of a finnish girl would be, very blonde and very smiley and was very friendly and enthusiastic), and a young newly wed couple with the most amazing story ever (he is a journalist, she is a pediatrician who does international aid work, they met in afghanistan and did long distance for 2 years, meeting up every six weeks in various exotic locations before getting engaged in india and marrying in california and moving to DC what is that even real life?) Then there were four kids who walked in a few minutes late and as soon as I saw them I said to Emily "those kids go to NYU, watch" and guess who was right? I swear to god, my NYU-dar is better than my gay-dar. It's intense.
Anyway, basically the way it works is that you all sit around a big table and then the woman who runs it explains what she cooks, etc. And then you eat and chat. The people there were really fascinating and everyone talked to everyone except the kids at the end who only really spoke to themselves but whatever. It was really interesting to hear about everyones lives and how and why they got to Buenos Aires.
The host is friends with a bartender at a bar down the road and had received coupons for free drinks there. Emily, the NYUCrew and I headed there. The bartender only wanted to give us beer for the coupons so I gave mine to the other girl but then the bartender felt bad for me and gave me a vodka-lemonade for free. The other kids left shortly but Emily and I sat there for a long time talking about everything, really. It was really interesting to hear about her life and friends back in Norway, and what she was taught and how everything works over there. We talked about how being in another place forces you to not think of your own culture as neutral (aka destroys ethnocentrism if you are a critical thinker) and makes you think of aspects of your home life as strange. It must be interesting for her to come from a very white affluent and stable nation to Buenos Aires where things are so so so different.
Anyway then it was 3 am so we came home because we both had class in the morning.
On another food note - I went earlier this week to the only Bagel shop in all of Buenos Aires! It's a small hole in the wall and all the bagels are sandwhiches all named after different parts of New York. The menu has a historical explanation of the bagel, the yiddish word for bagel, and tells you that you can buy them en todos las esquinas en Nueva York =] The bagel guy was beautiful so of course we chatted him up and he thought it was funny that we eat them with just cream cheese for breakfast. Also, for anyone interested, the bagels were pretty horrible but it was funny nonetheless.
If you know me, you know I am apprehensive about meeting new people, a terribly picky eater and all around weird person to get a meal with but it actually turned out quite well! The other people at the event were very interesting and the food was "west african" (aka we had peanut and banana curry that was actually spicy -which is not normal in Argentina - nothing here is spicy except foreign food!). We shared the table with an older couple from Switzerland who were moving on from BsAs to go to Lima to visit the womans family there, a couple from Canada who has spent the past two months in Chile and Argentina, a Puerto Rican man living in Virginia in BsAs studying Tango, a young girl from Finland (she was exactly what my stereotypic view of a finnish girl would be, very blonde and very smiley and was very friendly and enthusiastic), and a young newly wed couple with the most amazing story ever (he is a journalist, she is a pediatrician who does international aid work, they met in afghanistan and did long distance for 2 years, meeting up every six weeks in various exotic locations before getting engaged in india and marrying in california and moving to DC what is that even real life?) Then there were four kids who walked in a few minutes late and as soon as I saw them I said to Emily "those kids go to NYU, watch" and guess who was right? I swear to god, my NYU-dar is better than my gay-dar. It's intense.
Anyway, basically the way it works is that you all sit around a big table and then the woman who runs it explains what she cooks, etc. And then you eat and chat. The people there were really fascinating and everyone talked to everyone except the kids at the end who only really spoke to themselves but whatever. It was really interesting to hear about everyones lives and how and why they got to Buenos Aires.
The host is friends with a bartender at a bar down the road and had received coupons for free drinks there. Emily, the NYUCrew and I headed there. The bartender only wanted to give us beer for the coupons so I gave mine to the other girl but then the bartender felt bad for me and gave me a vodka-lemonade for free. The other kids left shortly but Emily and I sat there for a long time talking about everything, really. It was really interesting to hear about her life and friends back in Norway, and what she was taught and how everything works over there. We talked about how being in another place forces you to not think of your own culture as neutral (aka destroys ethnocentrism if you are a critical thinker) and makes you think of aspects of your home life as strange. It must be interesting for her to come from a very white affluent and stable nation to Buenos Aires where things are so so so different.
Anyway then it was 3 am so we came home because we both had class in the morning.
On another food note - I went earlier this week to the only Bagel shop in all of Buenos Aires! It's a small hole in the wall and all the bagels are sandwhiches all named after different parts of New York. The menu has a historical explanation of the bagel, the yiddish word for bagel, and tells you that you can buy them en todos las esquinas en Nueva York =] The bagel guy was beautiful so of course we chatted him up and he thought it was funny that we eat them with just cream cheese for breakfast. Also, for anyone interested, the bagels were pretty horrible but it was funny nonetheless.
Monday, March 18, 2013
This Weekend
Last weekend before classes starting. On Friday night we had the "Argentine Experience" dinner where they make us wear ridiculous hats while teaching us how to make empenadas, prepare mate and alfajores, and also gave us some illustrative examples of the colorful hand-language vocabulary of Buenos Aires. Expressive hand movements is just one of the legacies of the Italian heritage of many porteños and it's pretty hilarious I guess. Also since we were making our own dinner I could just make it with cheese and no one bothered me. Before the dinner, we walked around Salima's part of Palermo and it was so cute and adorable. After the dinner, we ended up at some random persons rooftop party in god knows where and I won't tell ya how I got there cause it was dumb but I'm alive and I even managed to talk to some Argentines so it was ok. I guess my spanish is actually really bad cause people keep tryna talk to me in English - like, ok, I'm not good but I can understand you almost perfectly and I can talk back jesus. Anway this party was more fun than any of the clubs we had been to, so there's that.
On Saturday a bunch of us from the dorm went to the Recoleta fair which is right outside the Recoleta Cemetario. It was nice, much more relaxed than the San Telmo Fair and there were tons of families, friends and musicians in the grass in the park. That night I went with a group of girls to a cute taco place in Palermo where we sat at communal tables on the street. The Vegetarian Taco (on the menu described as "para nuestro amigos que comen pasto" "for our friends who eat grazing grass") was literally a taco shell and peppers.
Yesterday, I went to see Cuidanza with Camisia - I met Camisia when we PF-ed at Macalester but she ended up at Brown. Anyway she is here! She is technically here with IES but is doing independent housing and almost all her classes at the UBA. Anyhow's Cuidanza was a four day urban dance festival with dancers from all over South America I believe and yesterday was the final day. It was rather short but had three dancers of all different styles, a lot of people and was in the same plaza as the St Pattys day festival. There were bagpipes involved. (in spanish, Gaitas)
Classes start today and it seems surreal. Last night we were all doing homework. What. I mean, Macalester is on spring break right now. Model UN is kicking it in NYC. So weird...but I am excited to have a schedule and be more busy. It is hard to insert yourself into life in a huge anonymous city like BA - there are tons of events and things happening but the buses are still a struggle for me and it's hard to plan things when you are first making friends and figuring out what everyone- and everything-is like. Such is the nature of the beast, I suppose. I'm excited to have some semblance of normalcy and start taking more pictures. I am still confused about many things happening with IES and scheduling but whatever...I'm letting it go.
On Saturday a bunch of us from the dorm went to the Recoleta fair which is right outside the Recoleta Cemetario. It was nice, much more relaxed than the San Telmo Fair and there were tons of families, friends and musicians in the grass in the park. That night I went with a group of girls to a cute taco place in Palermo where we sat at communal tables on the street. The Vegetarian Taco (on the menu described as "para nuestro amigos que comen pasto" "for our friends who eat grazing grass") was literally a taco shell and peppers.
Yesterday, I went to see Cuidanza with Camisia - I met Camisia when we PF-ed at Macalester but she ended up at Brown. Anyway she is here! She is technically here with IES but is doing independent housing and almost all her classes at the UBA. Anyhow's Cuidanza was a four day urban dance festival with dancers from all over South America I believe and yesterday was the final day. It was rather short but had three dancers of all different styles, a lot of people and was in the same plaza as the St Pattys day festival. There were bagpipes involved. (in spanish, Gaitas)
Classes start today and it seems surreal. Last night we were all doing homework. What. I mean, Macalester is on spring break right now. Model UN is kicking it in NYC. So weird...but I am excited to have a schedule and be more busy. It is hard to insert yourself into life in a huge anonymous city like BA - there are tons of events and things happening but the buses are still a struggle for me and it's hard to plan things when you are first making friends and figuring out what everyone- and everything-is like. Such is the nature of the beast, I suppose. I'm excited to have some semblance of normalcy and start taking more pictures. I am still confused about many things happening with IES and scheduling but whatever...I'm letting it go.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Ups and Downs
Downs:
This week has been a scheduling week in preparation for classes starting tomorrow. I know this is very American of me, but I get supremely bothered by inefficiency and so many things about this week just did not make sense. Why did spanish classes start as everyone is still having internship interviews, criminal record appointments, class registration, and orientation events? This resulted in me being quadruple booked and having to show up obscenely early for course registration (a blessing in disguise as I got everything I wanted) and having to go get my Criminal Record papers alone. My first brush with Argentine bureaucracy and it wasn't so hot. I could not understand the man who gave me my form so after him repeating the same damn thing to me about ten times I pulled out my dumb American card for the first time and said "I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU" while pointing to my USA passport. Those who know me know how physically and spiritually painful this must have been (only half kidding). Anyway, then he finally got it and pointed to the places I needed to go to get finger printed and pay the fee. Anyway, so now in a week I can get a form online that says I'm not a criminal and apply for my visa. Which I won't get until April. At which point, there is no point because it will be too late to capitalize on the perks (mainly being discounted plane tickets on the Argentine airline). South America. I am fine, a fan of in fact, the laid back attitude of South America and the value placed on enjoying and taking your time. But when it comes to scheduling, my education, and my legal standing in this country I must say I am a bit less lenient. Anyway.
Ups:
We saw a huge protest today and it was pretty cool. It was a large number of groups - a socialist organization, Aymara demonstrators, workers unions. Lots of flags with Che's face. There were tons of people!
I also got myself from IES, to my internship interview, detoured around with a girl from my program, got myself to the Criminal Records office, to the Plaza de Mayo and then walked home - barely getting lost along the way! There were lots of news vans, cameras and crews outside the Church in the Plaza de Mayo, because yesterday people were celebrating the announcement of the first non-European Pope-an Argentine! When it was announced, I got a bunch of messages from people back home asking what was happening here - nothing in the dorms. The Venezuelans and Brazillians were rolling their eyes, saying that this will only swell the already quite large Argentine ego and no one else really cared all that much. Apparently a lot of people went to the big, main cathedral which was probably pretty cool.
Spanish class is starting and it's quite easy to understand my professor which is good. My comprehension is getting a lot better pretty quickly, but I still find it hard to unstick my tongue and actually speak, although I can in my head quite fine! Last night Gonzalo and I spoke essentially only in Spanish and it was fine, and tonight at dinner Aileen and I sat with a girl from Spain and another from Venezuela and I followed the conversation fine and chatted a bit too. Between us Americans we speak too much English, but I'm trying to make an effort...
This week has been a scheduling week in preparation for classes starting tomorrow. I know this is very American of me, but I get supremely bothered by inefficiency and so many things about this week just did not make sense. Why did spanish classes start as everyone is still having internship interviews, criminal record appointments, class registration, and orientation events? This resulted in me being quadruple booked and having to show up obscenely early for course registration (a blessing in disguise as I got everything I wanted) and having to go get my Criminal Record papers alone. My first brush with Argentine bureaucracy and it wasn't so hot. I could not understand the man who gave me my form so after him repeating the same damn thing to me about ten times I pulled out my dumb American card for the first time and said "I CAN'T UNDERSTAND YOU" while pointing to my USA passport. Those who know me know how physically and spiritually painful this must have been (only half kidding). Anyway, then he finally got it and pointed to the places I needed to go to get finger printed and pay the fee. Anyway, so now in a week I can get a form online that says I'm not a criminal and apply for my visa. Which I won't get until April. At which point, there is no point because it will be too late to capitalize on the perks (mainly being discounted plane tickets on the Argentine airline). South America. I am fine, a fan of in fact, the laid back attitude of South America and the value placed on enjoying and taking your time. But when it comes to scheduling, my education, and my legal standing in this country I must say I am a bit less lenient. Anyway.
Ups:
We saw a huge protest today and it was pretty cool. It was a large number of groups - a socialist organization, Aymara demonstrators, workers unions. Lots of flags with Che's face. There were tons of people!
I also got myself from IES, to my internship interview, detoured around with a girl from my program, got myself to the Criminal Records office, to the Plaza de Mayo and then walked home - barely getting lost along the way! There were lots of news vans, cameras and crews outside the Church in the Plaza de Mayo, because yesterday people were celebrating the announcement of the first non-European Pope-an Argentine! When it was announced, I got a bunch of messages from people back home asking what was happening here - nothing in the dorms. The Venezuelans and Brazillians were rolling their eyes, saying that this will only swell the already quite large Argentine ego and no one else really cared all that much. Apparently a lot of people went to the big, main cathedral which was probably pretty cool.
Spanish class is starting and it's quite easy to understand my professor which is good. My comprehension is getting a lot better pretty quickly, but I still find it hard to unstick my tongue and actually speak, although I can in my head quite fine! Last night Gonzalo and I spoke essentially only in Spanish and it was fine, and tonight at dinner Aileen and I sat with a girl from Spain and another from Venezuela and I followed the conversation fine and chatted a bit too. Between us Americans we speak too much English, but I'm trying to make an effort...
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
More Random Observations
- Homelessness seems to be a pretty bad problem in Buenos Aires. Homeless people here have mattresses they bring around with them, and it is not uncommon, at least in San Telmo to see families out on the street, usually under overpasses.
- The Subte cars here are covered in grafitti - like New York in the 80s! They also keep the windows open which is necessary to breathe during rush hour when there are three thousand people around you, random men are asking you for directions, everyone is sweating and you are trying to hold onto your bag.
- You can charge your Sube card (metro transit pass) in the station or at kioskos - little kiosks that sell soda, candy, newspapers, etc on the street. There are usually at least one per block. You can also either buy phone cards here or charge up your phone with minutes!
- Newsstands actually only sell newspapers. And magazines. And porn. But no food or soda like at home.
- In El Centro, there are as many flower stands on the street as newsstands! Very beautiful. On International Women's Day, last week, there were men lining up at these stands to buy flowers to bring home (there were also a lot of free samples on the street that day - I got some leave in conditioner!).
- Easter Break is coming up and everyone is planning, planning, planning. I think I will go to Mar Del Plata for a few days with a couple friends - it is a beach town about 5 hours away from Buenos Aires. It is the cheapest option other than staying here and I want to see more of Argentina - Buenos Aires is very different from the rest of this country.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Random Things
- Everyplace here delivers. Like you can order in ice cream. And McDonalds. We haven't done it...but it's possible.
- These people never sleep - A and I left this ridiculous club on the water last night at 5 am and people were ARRIVING.
- Argentine girls wear the craziest shoes. Huge platforms, at all hours of the day. Platform Birkenstocks are a common day time footwear.
- "Study Abroad Programs" can also be called "flashback to high school" on occasion.
- It's a lot harder to be nice than it probably should be.
- The weather here is deceptively perfect - you can't feel the humidity but then all of a sudden you are really sweaty with really bad hair.
- The status quo is the same all over the world. I knew this, but it's still annoying.
- I think my mission to blend in is working - today at a restaraunt the waitress asked the kid I was with if they wanted english or spanish menus but just gave me a spanish one! And people in stores keep asking if I am from here (or Italy)!
- There is a hilarious crazy old man who works here in the dorm and no one can understand him when he talks - not even native speakers.
- Everyday, a little more spanish. I can't wait to start class to learn more!
- Today I went into the Casa Rosada (Argentina's White House). You can essentially just saunter in for free - the lobby has portraits of famous south american politicians and freedom fighters throughout history. Only two women among them - but a woman in office now! I mean, no one really likes her but whatever.
- There is pro-Chavez grafitti all over the city now that he has died. I wonder if that's a dominant opinion or not.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Photos, pt 1
Here are a few snapshots of my first week in Buenos Aires - La Casa Rosada, late night/early morning elevator selfies, San Telmo hipsters, industrial buildings in Puerto Madero, beautiful buildings in San Telmo, newspaper headlines announcing the death of Hugo Chavéz and Kira at the cafe near our residence hall. I have been spending time wandering this neighborhood to try and figure it out - it is a grid, but an unmarked one. I'll get there. I'm excited to see every part of this city - last night we went to Palermo and it was beautiful, I want to see it during the day! Tomorrow the whole program is going to a ranch in the countryside, I'm excited for that. Trees here are so big, it's hard to explain how it makes everything look different.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Quilts,San Telmo, Puerto Madero.
Buenos Aires is a quilted city, a city of cities – every
part of it reminds me of somewhere else.
The neighborhoods are very distinct from one another, each with a
different feel and aesthetic. I have only been to a few, and even then not for
long at all, but they definitely feel very very different. The more commercial
part of the city looks a bit like fulton street but less dirty, and reminds me
of the downtown commercial area of Medellín. The tall apartment buildings, all
with balconies (every building here has beautiful balconies) reminds me of the
neighborhood with our hostel in north Tel Aviv. Other parts remind me very
mucho of Bogota. I love how the trees here are so big – lining the streets like
back home but significantly taller, larger, with more leaves that drape over
the streets. San Telmo, at least the parts around the dorms, does not have many
trees, it has very small and narrow streets with tiny and crumbling
sidewalks. Something different from
Colombia is that I have not seen as many public squares, but there are many
parks. There is a small square near our hostel, where tango dancers dance for
tourists and there is often live music. Speaking of live music, 2 days ago, as
I was walking from el centro de la cuidad a San Telmo with a friend from the
program, we came across two different drum circles along La Feria – a famous,
huge Sunday market here in San Telmo. One of them was at the Afro-Cultural
center – there have a courtyard in the front and there were many people there.
I walked on my own yesterday to Orientation. The whole day
of programming was taking place in San Telmo, but they still wanted us to meet
everyone else at the center, in the center of the city. I felt really sick that
morning so I stayed behind and then met up at the museum later on – it was only
8 blocks away. They took us on a tour of the neighborhood and told us about
classes and gave us the standard “don’t be dumb, don’t get robbed” talk. I know that robbery is a common crime here, but it does not feel unsafe. Many other people were getting so worried but I don't see a huge need. Don't be dumb and there should not be a problem... There
are so many people in this program, it’s a bit overwhelming. Everyone is very
friendly, and it’s funny to see everyone all dressed to impress the first few
days. Afterwards (it went until 5…so long) Macarena met me at the dorms and we
waited for Gonzalo before going to Puerto Madero, a neighborhood in the water
between the three of our neighborhoods. They say they go there all the time.
Gonzalo says everyone there looks like a movie extra and I have to say that’s a
very apt description. There are businessmen, skaters, tons of people on roller
skates, tons of people in workout gear. We saw a lot of kids covered in eggs
and flower – here when you graduate you get egged. In public. Gross….
It was nice to be by the water in a quiet part of the city.
We ate lays (they are much saltier here) and talked about mental health care in
US vs Argentina and how it’s unreasonable for me to think that someone could
get murdered in a telo because there are not serial killers in Argentina. What
can I say, I think it’s a valid concern!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Los dos días primeras!
Estoy aqui. No puedo crearlo, pero es realidad! Buenos Aires
esta linda, hermosa, bellisima! Even the way argentines say the words “Buenos
Aires” is beautiful. Americans (myself included) say Buenos Ahhh-ris, but the
correct way is Buenos Ayyy-ris.
The plane ride was a plane ride, essentially. We had a three
hour lay over in Sao Paulo which was fine. Two other girls, one on my program
and another on a Middlebury program had
the same layover. Landing at Ezeiza was quite the experience as the summer is
ending, so many argentines are coming home after their summer vacations. There
was a big group coming home from Disney World, and many families returning from
Brazil. So customs took absolutely forever. Gonzalo met me at the airport which
was incredibly sweet – he kept saying “you are real! 3d!” We shared a cab with
the other girl from the plane to our respective houses.
The first day I unpacked and slept a bit before heading out
into San Telmo with Kira, a girl from my program who goes to Michigan who also
lives in the dorm. The dorms are
beautiful – the internet is terrible and the rooms are tiny, but each room has
it’s own bathroom, it’s very sunny and there is a beautiful garden outside. It
operates kind of like a long term hostel – there are kids from all over the
world doing all kinds of programs. My roommate is from Norway and is doing a
gap year here before going to med school. She is just here for one more month
and then I am not sure what will happen. Kira’s roommate is Swiss, and I met a
Venezuelan girl in the elevator. Her Spanish was a relief after the rapid fire
Argentine accent! I have heard there are kids here from Israel, Brazil, other
parts of Argentina – it is amazing. I want to meet more people but it is
difficult because many people have been here a long time.
Gonzalo picked me up around 9 and we walked around the
neighborhood. He started to test me at street corners, stopping and saying “ok,
what direction do we need to go?” to teach me how to get myself around – a task
that is going to take quite some time! We went to a bar called “Puerto Rojo”
(it did indeed have one of those) where we had a delicious dinner of white wine
and French fries. So the eating problem is under control, obviously. I also met
Macarena – we had spoken on skype and have been facebook friends for a while.
She is great (later on in the night a bunch of biddies walked into the house we
were in and she turns to me and goes “I hate these kinds of girls” totally
deadpan).
We went to his friends house who had just gotten back from Europe and so was having friends over. Turns out G and M didn't know a lot of people either, so it was fine. When I told people I was from Brooklyn they would say "Oh! Rap! Grafitti! We love Brooklyn!" so it was hard to explain Park Slope...
I got home probably wayyy too late given that I had not slept practically since New York...c'est la vie. (Or, "ya fue" which is Argentine slang for "it is what it is, what can you do?")
This morning Kira and I had an adorable breakfast at a beautiful cafe around the corner from the dorms before going to the IES center via Subte (subway) for our bus tour, which was what it was. Nice to meet people and see where everyone is from.
Tomorrow is a loonnnngg day and then Maca and I are walking along Puerto Madero - a funny new money part of the city, on the water.
Hasta mañana,
E
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