Questions I've had, recently -
How come the chinese immigrants in Argentina own all the grocery stores?
How come the fruit and vegetable sellers are a separate part of the grocery store?
Where do the fruit and vegetable venders get their fruits and vegetables from?
If UNESCO world heritage sites must be protected by law and upheld by the government, who takes care of the Tibetan sites? Watch this video (thanks Emily!)
How much money do people owe the Argentine government in the form of negative charges on their sube cards?
How come I can't find the spanish word for "underrepresented"? (haha this is a silly one)
How is it possible that Argentina will recognize trans identity and even pay for sex changes/ hormone therapy but won't legalize gay marriage or abortion?
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Sunday, May 26, 2013
These Days, Cont.
Saturday was 25 of May, which is a huge national holiday in Argentina. It is the anniversary of the revolution. Read more here in english or here in spanish. Many manifestacions here look the same, it just depends if people are fighting against Cristina or showing support for Cristina. Since that day was a nationalistic holiday the majority were showing support. There were huge crowds of people EVERYWHERE, all the buses where down because there were people and charter buses in all the streets, there were fire crackers, drummers, people selling flags (or choripan, or pastries or cake). All the political groups wore matching t shirts and carried gigantic signs. I like these kinds of holidays and events because
a) I think the nationalistic rhetoric is really interesting
b) I think its hilarious how people seem to hate Cristina but then again everyone seems to love Cristina?
c) even though its politically confusing and not a reality, I like the propoganda about united Latin America because it is a very romantic ideal. People here really know how to talk.
d) I love seeing everyone come in from all the provinces and towns. There was one political group that had representatives from as far away as Salta and Tucúman.
I walked up to Plaza de Mayo, the culmination of the march. I saw alot of interesting signs along the way - such as one with all the South American flags on it that said "Paises Libres" (Free Countries) and flags from the Tupac Amaru foundation of Buenos Aires (Amaru was a liberation fighter in colonial Peru). There were giant screens showing the action along Avenida de Mayo, cameras broadcasting the events, and huge signs all over the church and bank in the plaza. In front of Casa Rosada was a giant stage where there were speeches, performances, etc. I missed Cristina speaking but I saw the performers from Bolivia and Venezuela. Before the different groups came out and between events, there were sound bites that were projected. There were clips from Cristina's speeches (my favorite being "con una garganta, con una corazon, gritamos por la patria argentina" - with one throat (voice), with one heart, we yell for our motherland Argentina) and sound bites from other South American presidents. Before the different performance groups came out, there would be a little speech about the unity between those two countries.
But alas, there was homework to be done so I went into Vita, a health food cafe off the Plaza to do some reading. It was quite a funny situation, to be in this really Park Slope-y girly looking cafe, reading about the Shining Path and drinking a pina colada smoothie while they played Argentine rock over the speakers and a mix of ladies lunching, business men doing work and quasi- revolutionaries traipsed through and huge processions and drummers walked by the windows outside. Argentina.
That night, I met some girls from the dorm/program at this GORGEOUS restaurant on Caseros - within walking distance from the dorm. I walked alone and about halfway there a middle aged woman on the street got concerned for me because I was about to walk on a block with some boys loitering on it so she walked with me. The restaurant was so beautiful - both the design and placement reminded me of a nice place in ditmas park or flatbush in midwood. Very funny. Afterwards we went to Puerta Roja but it was a weird vibe so we just came back and crashed. Turns out the internet can load a few webpages in my room at 2 30 am - probably because everyone in the building is out or sleeping!
Sunday, today, was the day of the trip to Feria de Mataderos, a neighborhood on the western outskirt of the city. While Recoleta is more of a crafts fair, this is more of a craft food fair, with a giant stage set up, gaucho- esque dancing and tons of stands selling everything from candied strawberries, salamis, liquier of every flavor imaginable, mates, empanadas, donuts, artisanal chocolate, silver rings, leather wallets - everything. I also laid eyes on who is probably the most attractive man in Argentina no joke and also a guy holding a german shephard puppy (but like, not a tiny one) in his arms like a child. My favorite part was the part in the back. If you walked past the stage and museum, there was a whole other fair in the back - full of manufactured crap (my favorite, aside from the stand selling every kind of body ring possible was a stand selling "palestinos" - keffiyahs), old women selling slices of the most decadent looking cakes I've ever seen, and families selling what looked like old clothes and books. There were families hanging out, and a skate park full of teenage boys skate boarding and little girls roller blading. It looked like a lot of immigrant families - I'm wondering if this is an immigrant neighborhood. Mataderos (means slaughterhouse) was where the famous and most important slaughterhouses were once Britain decided to turn Argentina into their personal butcher shop. It is nicknamed "Nueva Chicago" because of this (I didn't know that about Chicago!). Anyway, I thought it was really interesting to see such a clear and distinct difference between the touristic market and the locals market and how they felt so markedly different.
Now, back to the weekly grind.
a) I think the nationalistic rhetoric is really interesting
b) I think its hilarious how people seem to hate Cristina but then again everyone seems to love Cristina?
c) even though its politically confusing and not a reality, I like the propoganda about united Latin America because it is a very romantic ideal. People here really know how to talk.
d) I love seeing everyone come in from all the provinces and towns. There was one political group that had representatives from as far away as Salta and Tucúman.
I walked up to Plaza de Mayo, the culmination of the march. I saw alot of interesting signs along the way - such as one with all the South American flags on it that said "Paises Libres" (Free Countries) and flags from the Tupac Amaru foundation of Buenos Aires (Amaru was a liberation fighter in colonial Peru). There were giant screens showing the action along Avenida de Mayo, cameras broadcasting the events, and huge signs all over the church and bank in the plaza. In front of Casa Rosada was a giant stage where there were speeches, performances, etc. I missed Cristina speaking but I saw the performers from Bolivia and Venezuela. Before the different groups came out and between events, there were sound bites that were projected. There were clips from Cristina's speeches (my favorite being "con una garganta, con una corazon, gritamos por la patria argentina" - with one throat (voice), with one heart, we yell for our motherland Argentina) and sound bites from other South American presidents. Before the different performance groups came out, there would be a little speech about the unity between those two countries.
But alas, there was homework to be done so I went into Vita, a health food cafe off the Plaza to do some reading. It was quite a funny situation, to be in this really Park Slope-y girly looking cafe, reading about the Shining Path and drinking a pina colada smoothie while they played Argentine rock over the speakers and a mix of ladies lunching, business men doing work and quasi- revolutionaries traipsed through and huge processions and drummers walked by the windows outside. Argentina.
That night, I met some girls from the dorm/program at this GORGEOUS restaurant on Caseros - within walking distance from the dorm. I walked alone and about halfway there a middle aged woman on the street got concerned for me because I was about to walk on a block with some boys loitering on it so she walked with me. The restaurant was so beautiful - both the design and placement reminded me of a nice place in ditmas park or flatbush in midwood. Very funny. Afterwards we went to Puerta Roja but it was a weird vibe so we just came back and crashed. Turns out the internet can load a few webpages in my room at 2 30 am - probably because everyone in the building is out or sleeping!
Sunday, today, was the day of the trip to Feria de Mataderos, a neighborhood on the western outskirt of the city. While Recoleta is more of a crafts fair, this is more of a craft food fair, with a giant stage set up, gaucho- esque dancing and tons of stands selling everything from candied strawberries, salamis, liquier of every flavor imaginable, mates, empanadas, donuts, artisanal chocolate, silver rings, leather wallets - everything. I also laid eyes on who is probably the most attractive man in Argentina no joke and also a guy holding a german shephard puppy (but like, not a tiny one) in his arms like a child. My favorite part was the part in the back. If you walked past the stage and museum, there was a whole other fair in the back - full of manufactured crap (my favorite, aside from the stand selling every kind of body ring possible was a stand selling "palestinos" - keffiyahs), old women selling slices of the most decadent looking cakes I've ever seen, and families selling what looked like old clothes and books. There were families hanging out, and a skate park full of teenage boys skate boarding and little girls roller blading. It looked like a lot of immigrant families - I'm wondering if this is an immigrant neighborhood. Mataderos (means slaughterhouse) was where the famous and most important slaughterhouses were once Britain decided to turn Argentina into their personal butcher shop. It is nicknamed "Nueva Chicago" because of this (I didn't know that about Chicago!). Anyway, I thought it was really interesting to see such a clear and distinct difference between the touristic market and the locals market and how they felt so markedly different.
Now, back to the weekly grind.
These Days
These days I've been focusing on pulling myself out of this rut by doing things. It started on Thursday when Art class was cancelled, but we still had an assignment to complete - visiting two of the oldest churches in Buenos Aires. Me and Aileen set off for Recoleta to start the tour. Church of our lady Pilar was beautiful and filled with the most intricate carved and painted alters. It was filled with natural light and paintings and was right next to the cemetery. You can also tour the Cloisters there. Next we moved on to San Ignacio , much closer to San Telmo. I liked this one less - it was lots of dark woods and much more morbid sculptures but it was still beautiful. Then we walked home along Bolivar, which is an especially charming street. Thursday night was Hip Hop Culture Club which was awesome as usual. It's an interesting event because it attracts a scene of kids I haven't seen anywhere else in Buenos Aires. They play a mix of old school hip hop, new hip hop and starts to move more into dancehall around 4 30 am or so. These aren't the Euro-upper-crust argentines you find crawling in Palermo on the weekends and it's way more fun (to me). This week they also had a "live art" section which was basically an artist painting in a corner of the club for some reason, but like I can dig it, it was a cool painting I guess. There were tons of kids from our program there cause another from the dorm blew it up on our group Facebook haha and some friends from IFSA as well. I made friends with a British backpacker passing through Argentina on his post graduate South America trip, so that was really fun. I ended up losing everyone and taking a cab home by myself at a terribly late hour, but my cab driver was not a day over 18 I swear to god and really nice, we had a nice little chat driving through San Telmo at 5 30 am.
Friday after class I walked home along a lot of new and different streets which were quite charming and attempted to go to some museums close to the dorm but then one was closed and I decided the other one was good for a day after school and went home to watch Mad Men and sleep instead. Ooops. That night I went to dinner with Roma and Emily, my first roommate. Since moving out she has gone to Peru and then returned to a group house in Recoleta to start working a voluntary job in a center for the education of street children. I think. We went to Habibi, which was beautiful and the falafel was actually really good, much better than Banco Rojo, but I still love that other place (re brooklyn). Afterwards we went to a bar in Plaza Dorrego which was upstairs and very cute. I returned home to change my clothes into something warmer for the full moon party, which everyone promptly flaked out on but whatever, Michelle woke up as I was getting dressed and she's a trooper and decided to come with me and Emily. La fiesta de la luna llena is a party that happens monthly at the Planeterium - a huge, glittering building in Palermo. An argentine girl we were talking with there was suprised to see foreigners there and asked how we found out about it (blogs, for the record). I was telling her it was really difficult to find information about the event online and she said that was because it was technically illegal. The Planeterium is owned by the city and this party was basically a huge mess of dirty hippies, bonfires, fire dancers, drum circles and people selling pot brownies and drinking wine. Needless to say it was awesome. It was so easy to spot out the exchange student's - of which there were a suprising amount - but I was so glad to go and see something completely unlike any other event I've seen in Bs As. We spoke a lot of spanish with these knucklehead kids sitting next to me and Michelle. They were pretty self aware about being "chamuyeros" (sweet talkers) and made fun of themselves a lot. They told me they liked my "distinct" accent in Spanish haha aka my non accent. Also I was overwhelmed as always by how beautiful people are here. It's crazy what kinds of places draw the Euro Argentines and which draw everyone else. This was an everyone else situation.
Friday after class I walked home along a lot of new and different streets which were quite charming and attempted to go to some museums close to the dorm but then one was closed and I decided the other one was good for a day after school and went home to watch Mad Men and sleep instead. Ooops. That night I went to dinner with Roma and Emily, my first roommate. Since moving out she has gone to Peru and then returned to a group house in Recoleta to start working a voluntary job in a center for the education of street children. I think. We went to Habibi, which was beautiful and the falafel was actually really good, much better than Banco Rojo, but I still love that other place (re brooklyn). Afterwards we went to a bar in Plaza Dorrego which was upstairs and very cute. I returned home to change my clothes into something warmer for the full moon party, which everyone promptly flaked out on but whatever, Michelle woke up as I was getting dressed and she's a trooper and decided to come with me and Emily. La fiesta de la luna llena is a party that happens monthly at the Planeterium - a huge, glittering building in Palermo. An argentine girl we were talking with there was suprised to see foreigners there and asked how we found out about it (blogs, for the record). I was telling her it was really difficult to find information about the event online and she said that was because it was technically illegal. The Planeterium is owned by the city and this party was basically a huge mess of dirty hippies, bonfires, fire dancers, drum circles and people selling pot brownies and drinking wine. Needless to say it was awesome. It was so easy to spot out the exchange student's - of which there were a suprising amount - but I was so glad to go and see something completely unlike any other event I've seen in Bs As. We spoke a lot of spanish with these knucklehead kids sitting next to me and Michelle. They were pretty self aware about being "chamuyeros" (sweet talkers) and made fun of themselves a lot. They told me they liked my "distinct" accent in Spanish haha aka my non accent. Also I was overwhelmed as always by how beautiful people are here. It's crazy what kinds of places draw the Euro Argentines and which draw everyone else. This was an everyone else situation.
Monday, May 20, 2013
nostalgia
I love watching this video, but it seems to crazy to me now. I remember that day crystal clear - the second day we were all home for thanksgiving break freshman year, doing the same stuff we did every weekend in high school. We look so young and happy here, before we declared majors, got real jobs, dropped out, travelled the world, fell out of touch, stopped talking, lost important people, tripped over our own two feet, forgot the usual burrito order (but I think it was green sauce on the side). Luckily, I still have contact with almost all the people in this video -steady or sporadic as it may be- but I miss having you all in one room, even though we barely fit and always made a mess. I miss all of you, and hope the world is treating you right, wherever you are, and that we see each other soon. <3
The Dip
In which I whine.
I'm definitely in the dip of study abroad. At school during orientation, they explain all the different phases people go through and I must say, for me the honeymoon phase lasted a really long time. I was enamored with this city and with being here that I let my daily annoyances slide, even though it was socially a rough time. But now that I've returned from the fantasy land of weather, mountains and politics that is Rio and returned to an increasingly frozen Buenos Aires, and realizing the clock ticking on my time here, I'm getting more frustrated. I still don't know what I want from my time here, but I think it was to blend in and have a real life. In those terms, mission accomplished. I know what buses to take where, I go to school and work and to meet friends and people never try to talk to me in English. On the other hand, I don't speak nearly enough spanish, I haven't seen enough places, and I haven't gotten involved in community politics like I meant to. I guess it's a bitter pill to swallow to realize that you are the same all over the world. Your personality might change in small and superficial ways, but on the whole you are who you are whether you are in New York or Minnesota or Argentina or India or Bali (although I'd love to test out if this is true, particularly in India. Or Bali. Just saying). And I am learning that I am really not an outgoing person and that small victories are big ones for me. I have sent many emails to many organizations but this is Argentina, and I have received no replies. It took me two weeks and three emails to secure my volunteer job, for crying out loud. There is always more to be done, but at some point what more can you do?
Additionally, it's harder than I thought to live in a such a large and anonymous city. Of course this is the same at home but home is home and this is a foreign country. The city seems impermeable to me sometimes, with too much going on and no way to get the information, not enough time to become a regular anywhere (I have a list of cafe's I want to go to - almost all closed on sundays) and so many people rushing about their daily lives. I really have been doing the best I can, going to events ranging from festivals to markets to lectures- but it's crazy to think about all the things happening all the time. And Time Out Buenos Aires still pops up articles from 2010.
I don't think Buenos Aires is a winter city. I hate winter, so I don't think anywhere is truly a GOOD place to be in the winter, but New York is definitely a winter city. Paris too, probably. I don't know where else. Other cities are spring cities or summer cities. I think Buenos Aires is one of those. New York is amazing in the winter cause of the holidays and the lights, but here it's just dark and cold and windy and depressing.
This week is decidedly better than last - which was just one thing on top of the other on top of the next on top of the other of bad things happening, but it ended really great with Mohamed volunteering to help me salvage mine and Bailey's earthly belongings from the Selby House (THANK YOU!) even in the midst of putting on his own damn show! If you're in MN, go see Bi'dah!, going to a weird underground house party in Palermo with Gonza on friday night, and eating a falafel sandwhich on sunday. This week I'm determined to do things - like go to a lecture from this conference my professor is hosting on cities and going to see something from ArteBA. Also, Cayla is coming June 8 and I just signed up for two days trips with JStreetU in Israel for when I am there over the summer, and today I confirmed hours with one of my internships and started talking about part time possibilities with the other (I really, really want to make it work). My anthro class is finally moving into more modern case studies and I've decided to skip service learning because I simply cannot do it this week (last week when class ended, the kid next to me literally gave me a congratulatory high five. the struggle is wayyy tooo reallll). Also, I've been talking a lot with frannds from home, mainly David and Dan which is making me really excited for both my day in NY and summer in TLAV. It's all about perspective when your trying to pull yourself out of something, and at the end of the day I'm still in Argentine, far down below the border, where I have wanted to be for so so long. Even though things about this city drive me absolutely OUT OF MY MIND, isn't that the point?
I'm definitely in the dip of study abroad. At school during orientation, they explain all the different phases people go through and I must say, for me the honeymoon phase lasted a really long time. I was enamored with this city and with being here that I let my daily annoyances slide, even though it was socially a rough time. But now that I've returned from the fantasy land of weather, mountains and politics that is Rio and returned to an increasingly frozen Buenos Aires, and realizing the clock ticking on my time here, I'm getting more frustrated. I still don't know what I want from my time here, but I think it was to blend in and have a real life. In those terms, mission accomplished. I know what buses to take where, I go to school and work and to meet friends and people never try to talk to me in English. On the other hand, I don't speak nearly enough spanish, I haven't seen enough places, and I haven't gotten involved in community politics like I meant to. I guess it's a bitter pill to swallow to realize that you are the same all over the world. Your personality might change in small and superficial ways, but on the whole you are who you are whether you are in New York or Minnesota or Argentina or India or Bali (although I'd love to test out if this is true, particularly in India. Or Bali. Just saying). And I am learning that I am really not an outgoing person and that small victories are big ones for me. I have sent many emails to many organizations but this is Argentina, and I have received no replies. It took me two weeks and three emails to secure my volunteer job, for crying out loud. There is always more to be done, but at some point what more can you do?
Additionally, it's harder than I thought to live in a such a large and anonymous city. Of course this is the same at home but home is home and this is a foreign country. The city seems impermeable to me sometimes, with too much going on and no way to get the information, not enough time to become a regular anywhere (I have a list of cafe's I want to go to - almost all closed on sundays) and so many people rushing about their daily lives. I really have been doing the best I can, going to events ranging from festivals to markets to lectures- but it's crazy to think about all the things happening all the time. And Time Out Buenos Aires still pops up articles from 2010.
I don't think Buenos Aires is a winter city. I hate winter, so I don't think anywhere is truly a GOOD place to be in the winter, but New York is definitely a winter city. Paris too, probably. I don't know where else. Other cities are spring cities or summer cities. I think Buenos Aires is one of those. New York is amazing in the winter cause of the holidays and the lights, but here it's just dark and cold and windy and depressing.
This week is decidedly better than last - which was just one thing on top of the other on top of the next on top of the other of bad things happening, but it ended really great with Mohamed volunteering to help me salvage mine and Bailey's earthly belongings from the Selby House (THANK YOU!) even in the midst of putting on his own damn show! If you're in MN, go see Bi'dah!, going to a weird underground house party in Palermo with Gonza on friday night, and eating a falafel sandwhich on sunday. This week I'm determined to do things - like go to a lecture from this conference my professor is hosting on cities and going to see something from ArteBA. Also, Cayla is coming June 8 and I just signed up for two days trips with JStreetU in Israel for when I am there over the summer, and today I confirmed hours with one of my internships and started talking about part time possibilities with the other (I really, really want to make it work). My anthro class is finally moving into more modern case studies and I've decided to skip service learning because I simply cannot do it this week (last week when class ended, the kid next to me literally gave me a congratulatory high five. the struggle is wayyy tooo reallll). Also, I've been talking a lot with frannds from home, mainly David and Dan which is making me really excited for both my day in NY and summer in TLAV. It's all about perspective when your trying to pull yourself out of something, and at the end of the day I'm still in Argentine, far down below the border, where I have wanted to be for so so long. Even though things about this city drive me absolutely OUT OF MY MIND, isn't that the point?
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Rio de Janeiro, May 2- May 6
On Thursday morning, Daniele left to return to Buenos Aires. I was a little bit at a loss of what to do, but I packed up, left my hostel and adventured off to meet Kate SG in Ipanema. After struggling to ask the bus driver where to get off the bus, a woman asked me if I spoke spanish so we could communicate. Although I still have a lot of work and a long way to go with spanish, the relief I felt when I found that woman was awesome because it showed my belief in my own ability to effectively communicate in spanish. Anyway, I got to Ipanema and found Kate with no trouble, where we drank juice and talked about our lives and her current project - assisting a friend named Beck with a documentary film about the favelas. Beck was leaving that day to return to Canada to screen the film on May 7, so they were in crunch time. We waited for Beck to arrive and walked a few blocks to her apartment. I dropped my bags off and headed to explore the neighborhood and sit on the beach while they worked. When I returned at 5 pm, they were still working and packing. I got to sit in on Kate editing the film with her friend Dara, who lives in Brasaires (spelling?), a favela above Santa Teresa and was consulting on the film. It was cool because I could understand the majority of what Kate was saying, and of course it is interesting to see a major artistic project like that come together. When it was time for Beck to leave to the airport, she got into a cab and Kate and I headed to the house of her "second mom". Julie has been living in Rio for 5 years with her husband Chris, and their sons go to college back in the states. Kate lived with them while doing her undergrad thesis research in Rio. Their house was so beautiful, with an incredible view of the lake and filled with African art from various countries they acquired while living in Nigeria (I think it was Nigeria). We ate pasta and talked about politics. I learned a lot about Brazil from this one dinner and conversation. Kate and Julie both teach english courses (Julie teaches in a favela), and Kate is involved in meetings and committees that deal with how favela communities are organizing and responding to many issues that are arising due to development for the World Cup and Olympics including but not limited to FILL IN HERE. More on this later in the post. Then of course we ended up talking about Israel and Palestine because really, when does one ever talk about politics and ignore that subject. Then we got on a bus back to Kate's apartment in Vidigal, located on that beautiful mountain you see from Ipanama and Leblon beach. She lives super high up, so you have to take a motorcyle taxi up the mountain. Mom, don't freak out it's safe! As soon as you get off the bus, people in business suits, parents, kids coming home from school, teenagers coming home from the beach, everyone gets off the bus and goes to wait for a moto taxi. I was kind of scared so it was good that one came right away and Kate was like "ok, get on, see ya up there" and up we went! I felt bad for the guy cause I was holding onto his shirt really tightly but after a few minutes it was just kind of nice. The view up the mountain was incredible and it was an interesting way to see the favela for the first time. Kate lives in a two room apartment she rents from a family. We watched some netflix and went to sleep.
On Friday we woke up and went to the community ecological site. It was really beautiful and really cool to see how the creators use recycled materials like plastic bottles and bicycles to create the space. For example, bottles were cut in half and taped back together and then painted to make vases, and bike wheels were melded together to make all kinds of tables. Paths were marked with glass bottles embedded in the soil. Obviously, it was really beautiful with an incredible view of the ocean. After that, we walked down halfway, ate a pizza, and continued walking down to the beach. When Kate went to work tutoring in Leblon, I walked down the beach and met her friend Dara at her office in Ipanema. I read and played with the cat. Afterwards, Kate and Dara's twin Maira came and we ran some errands before going to the beach. We played racketball, they went swimming, I tried to not freeze my ass off.
Saturday morning we waited for Kiah who never ended up making it to Vidigal, but the time was well spent watching Bride and Prejudice. We left to hike up the mountain and ended up running into a boy from Germany who also lives in Vidigal and who was taking a group up the mountain. We all climbed up together. The hike wasn't intense, but since I am in no form of physical shape I was sweatin' by the top. It was a narrow path all the way up with several stopping points, each one more breathtaking than the last. It was unreal how beautiful the view is - to see an almost 360 view of both coast lines, Rocinha and Vidigal, Christo, Sugarloaf - everything. It was beautiful.
That night, we went to a BBQ at the German boy, Martin's, house with the people who we hiked with. His place also has a a beautiful view of the mountain and the beach. It was really nice and fun and people were playing instruments and we talked with a British couple who recently began their year long adventure in South America. We went on a bit of an adventure with them and then all got on a bus to another neighborhood where their hostel was and where we were meeting Dara and Maira to go to this party we knew nothing about but had bought tickets too. Luckily, once we got off the bus, we found them right away. The Brits went to their hostel and we went to Subway. Classic. When we got to the party, I don't think anything could have prepared me for what was going on...it was a gothic convention or something I really can't even explain it. There were several levels and rooms, each stranger to the next. Apparently there was a hobbit themed room - unfortunately (or fortunately) I did not make it that far. It was a bit scary but overall I was pretty amused. People were wearing corsets and insane headgear - it was pretty ridiculous. There were also small groups of people, older people and party girls, who looked quite out of place. Kate took a series of photos of us with our facial reactions to the music. We called it quits after a while of toughing it out and got back to Vidigal, where we waited like 45 minutes for a moto taxi - since its a self regulated program at some point the drivers just go home and go to sleep, which means that there can be like 2 people driving and about 20 waiting to go up the mountain.
Sunday Kate had to work on the subtitles for the documentary. She worked on it till like 2 at home and then we went down the mountain. She went to Julie's house to work and I went to try and find Kiah on the beach. That was a fail so I just hung out by myself and ate lunch, went to the ATM, walked around, etc etc. When I got to Julie's, the doorman gave me a note that said that the internet was down so Kate went home. So, I turned around and went back to Vidigal to find that the power was out there but the internet was on. So, I packed my bags and we headed back down the mountain to Lena's house. Lena is a brazilian woman who runs an english tutoring school business where Dara works. Kate and Julie also tutor for her. So we went there and worked on subtitles, by which I mean Kate and Lena worked on subtitles and I fed them cookies and played with Fred the cat. It was interesting to see the process occur because translation is a really delicate and subjective art, really and it was interesting to see them choose which words to use and which to avoid. Since I do not speak Portuguese I could not be of much help but I did help a little with the english phrasing. Then we ate pizza and sushi (guess who had what) and went to Julie's and went to sleep with glorious air conditioning.
The next morning was like a damn hurricane up in Rio - my first bad weather day so Julie said she would send me in a cab to the airport instead of on the bus (a hundred thank yous!) So, I got in a cab, went to the airport and got on the plane. Back to Buenos Aires.
I can't say thank you enough to Kate for letting me stay in her house, introducing me to her friends, feeding me breakfast, and for the many ~intellectual conversations about universities, the favelas, Rio, the documentary, etc.
I had such an amazing time in Rio de Janeiro, learned so much and feel so lucky to have been able to experience it in such an enormous time of change. The energy in the city is palpable - from the people smiling at you from every corner to the way people across the city are organizing to protect themselves from impending development. Now is a crucial time for the city as it prepares to host not only the Confederations and World Cup but also the Olympic Games - the first South American city to do so. At this point of preparation, London and Beijing had 60% of infrastructure completed, and Rio - 20%. Brasil is taking on more Fullbright fellows than ever to expand their english language education. Favela communities are fighting full force to gain formal recognition and therefore increased political power in order to protect their communities from developmental projects that seek to destroy them - or develop them in unsustainable and unorganic ways. Truly multicultural, naturally gorgeous and cultural diverse, Rio is a gem of a city and it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few years. And thank gawd I have a ten year visa.
On Friday we woke up and went to the community ecological site. It was really beautiful and really cool to see how the creators use recycled materials like plastic bottles and bicycles to create the space. For example, bottles were cut in half and taped back together and then painted to make vases, and bike wheels were melded together to make all kinds of tables. Paths were marked with glass bottles embedded in the soil. Obviously, it was really beautiful with an incredible view of the ocean. After that, we walked down halfway, ate a pizza, and continued walking down to the beach. When Kate went to work tutoring in Leblon, I walked down the beach and met her friend Dara at her office in Ipanema. I read and played with the cat. Afterwards, Kate and Dara's twin Maira came and we ran some errands before going to the beach. We played racketball, they went swimming, I tried to not freeze my ass off.
Saturday morning we waited for Kiah who never ended up making it to Vidigal, but the time was well spent watching Bride and Prejudice. We left to hike up the mountain and ended up running into a boy from Germany who also lives in Vidigal and who was taking a group up the mountain. We all climbed up together. The hike wasn't intense, but since I am in no form of physical shape I was sweatin' by the top. It was a narrow path all the way up with several stopping points, each one more breathtaking than the last. It was unreal how beautiful the view is - to see an almost 360 view of both coast lines, Rocinha and Vidigal, Christo, Sugarloaf - everything. It was beautiful.
That night, we went to a BBQ at the German boy, Martin's, house with the people who we hiked with. His place also has a a beautiful view of the mountain and the beach. It was really nice and fun and people were playing instruments and we talked with a British couple who recently began their year long adventure in South America. We went on a bit of an adventure with them and then all got on a bus to another neighborhood where their hostel was and where we were meeting Dara and Maira to go to this party we knew nothing about but had bought tickets too. Luckily, once we got off the bus, we found them right away. The Brits went to their hostel and we went to Subway. Classic. When we got to the party, I don't think anything could have prepared me for what was going on...it was a gothic convention or something I really can't even explain it. There were several levels and rooms, each stranger to the next. Apparently there was a hobbit themed room - unfortunately (or fortunately) I did not make it that far. It was a bit scary but overall I was pretty amused. People were wearing corsets and insane headgear - it was pretty ridiculous. There were also small groups of people, older people and party girls, who looked quite out of place. Kate took a series of photos of us with our facial reactions to the music. We called it quits after a while of toughing it out and got back to Vidigal, where we waited like 45 minutes for a moto taxi - since its a self regulated program at some point the drivers just go home and go to sleep, which means that there can be like 2 people driving and about 20 waiting to go up the mountain.
Sunday Kate had to work on the subtitles for the documentary. She worked on it till like 2 at home and then we went down the mountain. She went to Julie's house to work and I went to try and find Kiah on the beach. That was a fail so I just hung out by myself and ate lunch, went to the ATM, walked around, etc etc. When I got to Julie's, the doorman gave me a note that said that the internet was down so Kate went home. So, I turned around and went back to Vidigal to find that the power was out there but the internet was on. So, I packed my bags and we headed back down the mountain to Lena's house. Lena is a brazilian woman who runs an english tutoring school business where Dara works. Kate and Julie also tutor for her. So we went there and worked on subtitles, by which I mean Kate and Lena worked on subtitles and I fed them cookies and played with Fred the cat. It was interesting to see the process occur because translation is a really delicate and subjective art, really and it was interesting to see them choose which words to use and which to avoid. Since I do not speak Portuguese I could not be of much help but I did help a little with the english phrasing. Then we ate pizza and sushi (guess who had what) and went to Julie's and went to sleep with glorious air conditioning.
The next morning was like a damn hurricane up in Rio - my first bad weather day so Julie said she would send me in a cab to the airport instead of on the bus (a hundred thank yous!) So, I got in a cab, went to the airport and got on the plane. Back to Buenos Aires.
I can't say thank you enough to Kate for letting me stay in her house, introducing me to her friends, feeding me breakfast, and for the many ~intellectual conversations about universities, the favelas, Rio, the documentary, etc.
I had such an amazing time in Rio de Janeiro, learned so much and feel so lucky to have been able to experience it in such an enormous time of change. The energy in the city is palpable - from the people smiling at you from every corner to the way people across the city are organizing to protect themselves from impending development. Now is a crucial time for the city as it prepares to host not only the Confederations and World Cup but also the Olympic Games - the first South American city to do so. At this point of preparation, London and Beijing had 60% of infrastructure completed, and Rio - 20%. Brasil is taking on more Fullbright fellows than ever to expand their english language education. Favela communities are fighting full force to gain formal recognition and therefore increased political power in order to protect their communities from developmental projects that seek to destroy them - or develop them in unsustainable and unorganic ways. Truly multicultural, naturally gorgeous and cultural diverse, Rio is a gem of a city and it'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few years. And thank gawd I have a ten year visa.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Rio de Janeiro, April 26-May 2
It's so strange to feel as though I am back to reality, and reality is Buenos Aires. These past ten days have at once felt extremely long and extremely short.
On Friday, April 26 Daniele and I took our final early and hopped on the number 8 bus to Ezeiza. It took a long time but was really fascinating to see the city go from the city, to more suburby, to towns without paved roads, to villas, to fancy suburbs, to horse farms and finally the airport. We were there absolutely ridiculously early but we ate lunch and walked around, it's actually a really nice airport when your not racked with guilt about the upcoming four months in a foreign country. Steph, Emily and Kate were on our flight so we hung out with them...slept till Rio and then befriended an Argentine woman in Brasil who we took the bus with. We bussed to Copacabana and began our adventures in portuguese. We asked a doorman for directions to the hostel and in the middle of him speaking I just turned to Daniele and said "This sounds like Arabic." To all the Brazilians I met in Bs As who said it would be ok: MENTIRAS! Nonetheless, we found the hostel, where we made our beds in the tiny cramped windowless basement room...
On our first full day we met Kiah and her roomate Zel in the metro and continued on to this antiques market. It was so sooo soo nice to see Kiah and kind of unreal! We went into an exhibit at the emperial palace, went to Copacabana beach and sat there for a bit. That night, Daniele and I went out to the Lapa block party, which is tons of food vendors, drummers, open resteraunts, and people crowding around the Lapa arches. We befriended a boy from Porto Allegre, a small city in the south of Brazil who spoke spanish and walked around with him. It was a really interesting situation there with tons of people in the street and music stands set up on the street. People just sit at a table on the street with 40s and just sit and talk. There were lots of hookers but also a lot of bohemian types, rastas, a huge mix it was really interesting. My favorite was the full samba bands and people (old, young, kids) dancing in the corner store bodega type things on all the corners.
On Sunday, we left Copacabana thank god and moved to Hercus Hostel, a few blocks away from the Lapa arches. This hostel was much cheaper and essentially empty to Daniele and I got a room to ourselves, a huge room with two huge windows! It was beautiful. Also the neighborhood was perfect - on a hill, covered in beautiful houses and grafitti and little corner juice stands. The subway stop was right by the teatro municipal and other gorgeous buildings. Then we met Kiah and her two roommates in the subway and went to Ipanema beach. It was so amazing- so beautiful and surrounded by mountains, tons of people (when people say people in Rio are beautiful they are talking about Ipanema and they are NOT lying), vendors selling everything from sarongs to acai to coconuts to matte ice tea (pronounded matcheee). The water is blue and perfect with surfers everywhere...Daniele and I were plotting to get hit by one "on accident" and then milk it for a lesson, but eventually decided that the risk of losing brain function wasn't worth it. The boardwalk is so picturesque, with the surfers and skate boarders and gorgeous couples and the palm trees framing the mountains.
Monday we started doing touristy things. First, we went to class with Kiah because they were having a guest speaker - a samba musician who taught us about the stages of samba and the different instruments used. Then we left to go see some of the famous buildings (such as the teatro) and things (like the arches). We walked around our neighborhood (the whole walk we kept saying "this is it! this is rio, this is brazil!" it was kind of unbelieveable, and it all looks to undeniably brazilian) and saw the Lapa Steps. The Lapa Steps are a huge, red staircase decorated with tiles from all over the world. There were like 3 minnesota ones, hilariously enough. They were made by a Chilean artist who was recently found dead on them! Creeeepy, right?
Then we walked to see the Sambadrome (where they have Carnaval) and the Maracana stadium.
Maracana is one of the most famous soccer stadiums in the world, if not the most famous. It is where the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics will be, and will obviously be the stadium for the World Cup. There is recently a lot of controversy surround the stadium. It is extremely important not only to soccer history, but to Brazilian history and sense of national pride and identity. It is undergoing MILLIONS of dollars worth of renovations and is being privatized and expanded. The expansions will destroy a public school and a museum of indigenous history. Clearly, Brasilians are not super pleased with this situation. While I was there, there was a huge manifestation outside the stadium while there was a "practice" invite only game happening inside. During this protest, the shock police came out full force and starting shooting pepper spray into the crowd which included children. Kate told me that the head of the Spanish shock police came to Rio to teach the shock police here, and people think that they then used this event as a "practice" run of their new skills for the upcoming international events to make sure that they could disperse a large crowd without seriously harming people. Crazy, right? Sadly, most probably true. It makes sense in a sick way. Here are some links and a video about recent events.
Monday night we went to Samba del lei. We attempted to walk and made it the majority of the way when we started to get a little sketched out so we took a cab. To a small, semi deserted square with one restaurant. I was a bit confused when the cab driver said to go around the corner. So we did and found a millliooon people all crowded into this small square listening to live Samba, eating, drinking, sitting on this giant rock. It was amazing! We ran into a group of people from our first hostel and stayed with them for a bit. Then, of course, in true Daniele fashion we befriended a group of old people - tourists from Sao Paulo who we had an animated and semi confused conversation with in Portenol/Pinglish.
Tuesday we walked all the way up Santa Teresa to Parque de las Ruinas, a cultural center high up in the mountain. Along the way, which was a gorgeous walk in itself, we stopped to have juice and cake for breakfast at a corner store in front of the most incredible mountain view. It was unreal, it looked fake, it's insane that some people get to see a view like that everyday! The center itself was really beautiful, with four different layers where you could see the whole city below you, gardens, a musuem, etc. It was gorgeous and the houses on the walk up were equally beautiful. After we climbed down, we went to see the Lagrima's exhibit (a room filled with suspended, water filled lightbulbs) and the national Cathedral (a huge, conic structure that looked kinda Aztec-y...). Then we met Kiah to go see the Botanical Gardens, which were beautiful and peaceful, and the art school which is GORGEOUS and where Pharrell and Snoop shot a music video. It was beautiful. We went to Kiah's house, which is an old house in Flamengo which is protected by the state. It's beautiful - with a couryard in the center and a spiral staircase. After having dinner there (eggs!) we went on a bus adventure to Leblon to this Brazilian kids apartment to meet the kids in her program which was a riot. After that, we adventured back to Lapa which was an insane bus ride, walked around, ran into our spanish speaking friends again and went to sleeeep.
Wednesday was a beach day. We went to Ipanema and laid there. It was perfect. That afternoon we went to Sugarloaf which was very dramatic because we were late, and Kiah was late, and the sun was setting and we couldn't find them, so we just went up and left a note with the security guard and I was stresssing out and I hate cable cars, but then we were up there and it was beautiful and we RAN INTO EACH OTHER and chilled at the top of this gorgeous mountain on top of this beautiful city and it was perfect.
So, the first half of my Rio adventure was perfect. Rio was very much what I expected - overwhelmingly beautiful people and landscapes, pretty buildings and breathtaking views. We saw a lot and did a lot but never felt rushed, we took public transit everywhere and never got lost, we successfully read maps, we drank a lot of weird juice and ate a lot of really good donuts. We stayed at two totally different hostels in two totally different neighborhoods and ate cheese sandwiches every day. We successfully communicated with people, managed to find a bunch of spanish speakers, and saw Kiah more than we expected to. All in all, success.
On Friday, April 26 Daniele and I took our final early and hopped on the number 8 bus to Ezeiza. It took a long time but was really fascinating to see the city go from the city, to more suburby, to towns without paved roads, to villas, to fancy suburbs, to horse farms and finally the airport. We were there absolutely ridiculously early but we ate lunch and walked around, it's actually a really nice airport when your not racked with guilt about the upcoming four months in a foreign country. Steph, Emily and Kate were on our flight so we hung out with them...slept till Rio and then befriended an Argentine woman in Brasil who we took the bus with. We bussed to Copacabana and began our adventures in portuguese. We asked a doorman for directions to the hostel and in the middle of him speaking I just turned to Daniele and said "This sounds like Arabic." To all the Brazilians I met in Bs As who said it would be ok: MENTIRAS! Nonetheless, we found the hostel, where we made our beds in the tiny cramped windowless basement room...
On our first full day we met Kiah and her roomate Zel in the metro and continued on to this antiques market. It was so sooo soo nice to see Kiah and kind of unreal! We went into an exhibit at the emperial palace, went to Copacabana beach and sat there for a bit. That night, Daniele and I went out to the Lapa block party, which is tons of food vendors, drummers, open resteraunts, and people crowding around the Lapa arches. We befriended a boy from Porto Allegre, a small city in the south of Brazil who spoke spanish and walked around with him. It was a really interesting situation there with tons of people in the street and music stands set up on the street. People just sit at a table on the street with 40s and just sit and talk. There were lots of hookers but also a lot of bohemian types, rastas, a huge mix it was really interesting. My favorite was the full samba bands and people (old, young, kids) dancing in the corner store bodega type things on all the corners.
On Sunday, we left Copacabana thank god and moved to Hercus Hostel, a few blocks away from the Lapa arches. This hostel was much cheaper and essentially empty to Daniele and I got a room to ourselves, a huge room with two huge windows! It was beautiful. Also the neighborhood was perfect - on a hill, covered in beautiful houses and grafitti and little corner juice stands. The subway stop was right by the teatro municipal and other gorgeous buildings. Then we met Kiah and her two roommates in the subway and went to Ipanema beach. It was so amazing- so beautiful and surrounded by mountains, tons of people (when people say people in Rio are beautiful they are talking about Ipanema and they are NOT lying), vendors selling everything from sarongs to acai to coconuts to matte ice tea (pronounded matcheee). The water is blue and perfect with surfers everywhere...Daniele and I were plotting to get hit by one "on accident" and then milk it for a lesson, but eventually decided that the risk of losing brain function wasn't worth it. The boardwalk is so picturesque, with the surfers and skate boarders and gorgeous couples and the palm trees framing the mountains.
Monday we started doing touristy things. First, we went to class with Kiah because they were having a guest speaker - a samba musician who taught us about the stages of samba and the different instruments used. Then we left to go see some of the famous buildings (such as the teatro) and things (like the arches). We walked around our neighborhood (the whole walk we kept saying "this is it! this is rio, this is brazil!" it was kind of unbelieveable, and it all looks to undeniably brazilian) and saw the Lapa Steps. The Lapa Steps are a huge, red staircase decorated with tiles from all over the world. There were like 3 minnesota ones, hilariously enough. They were made by a Chilean artist who was recently found dead on them! Creeeepy, right?
Then we walked to see the Sambadrome (where they have Carnaval) and the Maracana stadium.
Maracana is one of the most famous soccer stadiums in the world, if not the most famous. It is where the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics will be, and will obviously be the stadium for the World Cup. There is recently a lot of controversy surround the stadium. It is extremely important not only to soccer history, but to Brazilian history and sense of national pride and identity. It is undergoing MILLIONS of dollars worth of renovations and is being privatized and expanded. The expansions will destroy a public school and a museum of indigenous history. Clearly, Brasilians are not super pleased with this situation. While I was there, there was a huge manifestation outside the stadium while there was a "practice" invite only game happening inside. During this protest, the shock police came out full force and starting shooting pepper spray into the crowd which included children. Kate told me that the head of the Spanish shock police came to Rio to teach the shock police here, and people think that they then used this event as a "practice" run of their new skills for the upcoming international events to make sure that they could disperse a large crowd without seriously harming people. Crazy, right? Sadly, most probably true. It makes sense in a sick way. Here are some links and a video about recent events.
Monday night we went to Samba del lei. We attempted to walk and made it the majority of the way when we started to get a little sketched out so we took a cab. To a small, semi deserted square with one restaurant. I was a bit confused when the cab driver said to go around the corner. So we did and found a millliooon people all crowded into this small square listening to live Samba, eating, drinking, sitting on this giant rock. It was amazing! We ran into a group of people from our first hostel and stayed with them for a bit. Then, of course, in true Daniele fashion we befriended a group of old people - tourists from Sao Paulo who we had an animated and semi confused conversation with in Portenol/Pinglish.
Tuesday we walked all the way up Santa Teresa to Parque de las Ruinas, a cultural center high up in the mountain. Along the way, which was a gorgeous walk in itself, we stopped to have juice and cake for breakfast at a corner store in front of the most incredible mountain view. It was unreal, it looked fake, it's insane that some people get to see a view like that everyday! The center itself was really beautiful, with four different layers where you could see the whole city below you, gardens, a musuem, etc. It was gorgeous and the houses on the walk up were equally beautiful. After we climbed down, we went to see the Lagrima's exhibit (a room filled with suspended, water filled lightbulbs) and the national Cathedral (a huge, conic structure that looked kinda Aztec-y...). Then we met Kiah to go see the Botanical Gardens, which were beautiful and peaceful, and the art school which is GORGEOUS and where Pharrell and Snoop shot a music video. It was beautiful. We went to Kiah's house, which is an old house in Flamengo which is protected by the state. It's beautiful - with a couryard in the center and a spiral staircase. After having dinner there (eggs!) we went on a bus adventure to Leblon to this Brazilian kids apartment to meet the kids in her program which was a riot. After that, we adventured back to Lapa which was an insane bus ride, walked around, ran into our spanish speaking friends again and went to sleeeep.
Wednesday was a beach day. We went to Ipanema and laid there. It was perfect. That afternoon we went to Sugarloaf which was very dramatic because we were late, and Kiah was late, and the sun was setting and we couldn't find them, so we just went up and left a note with the security guard and I was stresssing out and I hate cable cars, but then we were up there and it was beautiful and we RAN INTO EACH OTHER and chilled at the top of this gorgeous mountain on top of this beautiful city and it was perfect.
So, the first half of my Rio adventure was perfect. Rio was very much what I expected - overwhelmingly beautiful people and landscapes, pretty buildings and breathtaking views. We saw a lot and did a lot but never felt rushed, we took public transit everywhere and never got lost, we successfully read maps, we drank a lot of weird juice and ate a lot of really good donuts. We stayed at two totally different hostels in two totally different neighborhoods and ate cheese sandwiches every day. We successfully communicated with people, managed to find a bunch of spanish speakers, and saw Kiah more than we expected to. All in all, success.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)