Mission Stay Alive, MALBA and Madres

A spur of the moment trip this week, I went with Gustavo to one of his factories after work (they work at night only). We were speeding past neighborhood stop signs and ignoring red lights. I was gripping my seat bracing myself for Mr. Toad’s wild ride, refusing not to die by car accident. Gustavo explained that this was a very, very bad part of town and we couldn’t stop or we would get attacked/robbed. When we got close to the factory, he called for one of his minions to have the door ready for us….it was like a 007 mission. We skidded into a parking spot and Gustavo yelled “DALE!”. We jumped out, stumbled across the broken sidewalk obstacle course (me in heels) and we ducked into the midget door entrance. What an adrenaline rush…followed by an equally exciting exit.

Wednesday we went to the MALBA museum (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires). It had some strange pieces, was smaller than I had expected and a shocking nude body-torture theme on the third floor back corner. We ended up walking a few miles to Alto Palermo (maybe we got lost on the way and kept having to ask people for directions, bad idea in Argentina- they don’t know where there are going). We let half the group check out the huge mall that had a TGIFridays and Starbucks while the other half of us scoped out a place to eat dinner.

I love how the best cultural foods come from spontaneous hole in the wall places away from tourists! Some of the kids started to really complain to their adult chaperone about being hungry so I secretly told them to keep their eyes peeled for anything that said “panaderia or confiteria” for a 25 cent tasty pastry snack. Score! One of the girls found a “postre” place and it is the BEST place in Buenos Aires for empanadas! I ended up being the translator for the kids as they each ordered (carne-meat, choclo-corn, jamon- ham, caprese- tomato and cheese). At first, the little place was annoyed by all the commotion….but once we devoured our divine empanada and heavenly angels started singing, our group of 10 ended up buying the whole store….empanadas for dinner with various dulce de leche desserts…everyone left beyond full and it was less than US $4 a person.

I finally saw the Madres this week! They march around Plaza de Mayo in front of the Presidential Palace (Casa Rosada) every Thursday at 3:30pm. They come rain or shine, hot or cold…and boy was it still cold! 40s with a gusty wind! The old grandmas were quite cute pulling up in their logo van and wearing matching handkerchiefs over their heads. The white scarves represent the old fashioned diapers of the missing children. As a permanent reminder, there are painted signs on the brick walkway of the plaza. There is the large white scarf symbol and underneath a phrase that says “terrorists victims of the state”. During the “Dirty War” 30,000 people disappeared…there wasn’t any typical profile of those taken. Even kids were abducted on their way home from school; at least they were not killed but rather taken to another family. Today, if you are an “adopted” person in your family and around 30 years old, you can get a DNA test to see if matches the Madres’ DNA bank.

These “Madres de los Desaparecidos “ shuffled around Plaza de Mayo three times carrying their huge blue banner (boldly stating they are fighting against the oligarchy of the rich). They still carry signs and photos of their missing children with tag lines “donde estan?” One lady read the R names from an alphabetical list of still missing children….our part of the ritual was to respond “presente” after each name, in faith that they would turn up to their families. They also have their own chant-like song that they sing and everyone in the plaza joined along. The President of the Madres gave a speech at the end…and from what I understood there will be another demonstration on Monday right here in the plaza for all the women’s rights and to support President Kirshner’s new law protecting violated women. Everything seemed to happen so fast…I’m definitely going to have to come back to see it on repeat.

La Mimosa Estancia

Cold. COLD. And more C-O-L-D. I remember going to Ohio just this past January to play in snow…I was much warmer there in 5 degree weather than I am here in Buenos Aires! The humidity here in winter just bites your bones like a frosty 30 degree morning in Daytona Beach, Florida. We set a few records this week…coldest day of the year (in the twenties without windchill), one day it was warmer in Antarctica than in Buenos Aires and it snowed for the 3^rd time in 100 years!

Sunday, in the cold and rain, we took a bus to the inner region of Argentina known as Las Pampas. Bundled up in practically everything I packed (equaling 4 layers of clothing), I was prepared for the “Estancia” experience. Think Texas cowboy or Wild West. I was told typical activities include riding horses, walking the camp trails, playing old fashioned games (like darts and skipping in circles) and, of course, eating a variety of meats from the “parilla” ALL outside. I cringed at this description; my bones already aching from the thought of getting frost bite by being outside five hours in 30-degree weather. I even at one point thought if there was a good excuse I could use to skip this day of “work”. Nevertheless, I sucked it up and went. I can’t pass on a cultural experience that is listed in the Top 10 of Buenos Aires.

Not complaining about getting up early the 7^th day in a row for work, we traveled almost 2 hours to get to “La Mimosa: Estancia”. A surprise adventure- mud sliding on a non-road in a big grey gound. Would have been more fun if seatbelts existed. Arriving at the Estancia, they directed us towards the outhouses….yes away from the main building like back in the old days. Trying to tip toe through the mud, I never thought I would be praying for at least Chinese style toilets, when I expected Roman holes in the ground. I survived the bathroom experience and was glad to find out we would be spending all day INSIDE a barn, that nevertheless still lacked heating.

Today was a traditional Sunday afternoon, Argentina style, that started off with bread appetizers while watching folkloric dancing accompanied by a live band. One style of dancing had a couple dancing about 5 feet away from each other and waving around a handkerchief…must have been the old ways of seduction since they were clothed head to toe in 3 layers! By the time the Tango show started Malbec wine from Mendoza was being passed around. Then came the ‘meat with a side of meat’ meal….a vocabulary lesson for you all: vacio- steak, asado-ribs, chorrizo-sausage, morcillo-blood sausage and pollo-chicken (see pic). I tried everything, but I am definitely still signing up for the vegetarian diet when I return to the United States. After an hour of eating meat came more dancing! We had a lesson in “zapatilla” style…kind of like partners’ line dancing with a snap-your-fingers- gypsy-twist as your circle partner. Then a guy performed a “gaucho” (cowboy) show where he furiously flung his legs in every direction to spank the ground as hard as he could. We ended the day with an hour of merengue and cumbia dancing….i am sure we will end up on youtube somewhere. We met people from all over the world who wanted to video Americans (both white and black in our group) dancing next to them.

Some other noteworthy highlights of the city....I’m not sure if I ever mentioned that I read the newspaper every morning on the way to work. It’s a sure way to help with blending in.... except that I can’t help but laugh when I read about the Chinese Mafia here in Buenos Aires (it really exists). On a more serious note, the front page reminded us city folk that buses have the right of way- even if they spontaneously turn off route to avoid traffic and end up killing your 6 year old son, putting you in the hospital with a broken leg and you lose your pregnancy. Gay marriage was also approved this week by the President and Congress. No violent stories there. Argentina has a strict peaceful demonstration policy and the government will not physically retaliate and harm you. The downside to that is protesting all the time….flights, buses to nieghboring cities and main subte transportation (this definitely brings out their Italian ancestry as I remember the frequent train protests during my Europe trip).

A jumbled week of… funnies

What a rough week! I thought I have traveled enough to be immune to any kind of culture shock. Guess I was wrong… I find it comical that at 24 years old I’m explaining to 18 year olds the various side effects of culture shock as I realized I was experiencing some of the hidden signs that made my week difficult….the following are some “special moments” you can laugh at….

By mid week I had had enough. My brain shut down…I’m not sure which language I speak worse- English or Spanish. (so please excuse my grammar) Argentineans do not speak Spanish…they speak 80% slang and 20% “shhhh” sounds. They speak with their mouth closed, have created their own vos/tu form that does not exist in Spanish textbooks and they speak only in a shouting manner. (And after traveling the world I thought Americans were loud!) A normal conversation might go something like this…”SHHH igweh SHHHH sghish SHHHH”. Yeah, I don’t know what that means either. And Argentineans will tell you it is NOT Spanish they speak, rather Castellano, replace that “ll” with “SHHH” sound too. The office likes to tease me because I speak “perfect Spanish”, like someone who is typing a document in Word using the proper language. Apparently using the “tu form” is like saying “thou art”, which I find hilarious.

It’s been frustrating, too, not understanding what my boss or family says. Out of an entire conversation between two people in the office I understand the word “bufanda” (scarf) and then they look at me…. Oh, were they asking my opinion or a question? Even if they repeat everything slower, it’s nothing I have ever heard before. I have to resort to charades and sometimes full on drama skits with props to get my point across. One day, my boss asked me just to tell her in English. Problem was I think in Spanish, since I have already lived in Mexico before. There is no translation in my head or pause to think about what I want to say in Spanish, I ALREADY SPEAK SPANISH! So, I gave it a shot and tried telling my boss in English…to which I couldn’t even think of a word to say much less form a sentence. I might as well have been back in China with a communication barrier.

It’s cool that the Argentineans love their meat, but my stomach can’t handle it any longer. Hamburger with a topping of ham (see pic)? Bread stuffed with meat then put on a steak? Pizza covered in ham slices? Ribs with a side of sausage? Even Ravioli topped with pork? Literally, meat with a side of meat makes a meal….and not just once but twice a day 7 days a week! I’m waiting for someone’s birthday in the office where we celebrate with a cake made of meat that is topped with ham. You would think this is some sort of Atkin’s Diet, but there are no vegetables! I even asked once about making salad as a side dish to dinner one night….cultural faux pau- we ended up eating a “salad” of potatoes & hard boiled eggs, which is a new combination for me. It still lacked anything green with vitamins & antioxidants, but at least there is an abundance of mandarins, bananas and apples in Buenos Aires. The office also laughs that I eat a piece of fruit one hour before our late lunch. Custom is to eat fruit AFTER the meal……meat then fruit….NOPE I don’t think those two would mix well in my stomach!

Some other Argentinean customs that are unusual to an American….eating huge dinner at 10:30pm, insisting on setting a meeting time and then not caring later, saying hello & goodbye with the kiss on cheek to Everyone in the office or house every single time you come and go, working without any planner, insisting that a nap rather than a walk is the best way to aid digestion after a huge meal, headaches are caused by using the heater at night, skipping breakfast, putting off Friday work until Monday, eating at least one banana a day to keep the doctor away

Ironic that the night I absolutely must do laundry it’s below freezing. Here in Buenos Aires you dry your clothes outside on a clothes line, which seems like a mean joke reminding me of those girl sleepover nights when someone would steal & freeze your bra. Bianca insisted I leave my clothes outside over night, which I got up earlier than usual the next morning to bring everything inside to thaw. And the story gets better….when I got home from work the only person in the house to show me how to use this non-digital, non-technology washing machine was the 22 year son. In his mumbled “SHHH” Castellano language I thought he said to put my clothes in first. Apparently I was wrong….he grabbed everything out before I got a chance to say no because it was all undergarments from Victoria Secret. That wasn’t near as embarrassing as Gustavo going into the courtyard for an after dinner smoke break and seeing an entire clothes line filled with lacey panties and bras!

And never tell an Argentinean that their “dulce de leche” home made product is delicious (it is similar to nutella). You will then be prepared everymorning for breakfast two pieces of toast topped with dulce de leche. The office will surprise you with little gifts of dulce de leche filled cookies, muffins, scones and sweet breads. Your host family will randomly buy you an entire dulce de leche cake! Or bring home fresh stuffed churros dipped in chocolate. If I don’t die of a heart attack from the meat, or cancer from the lack of vegetables, I will surely die by overdose of dulce de leche!

Aside from the “culture shock” moments….i was out of the office most of the week with my third group of students, who are studying photography- which means it's difficult to herd them around when they are trying to capture the perfect angle for a picture. I have been everywhere this week…From the north in Belgrano all the way to the South in La Boca…circles in el Micro around Plaza de Mayo and little shopping streets like Calle Peru…even coffee at the famous La Havanna (see pic). Saturday ended the work week with a trip to El Tigre….yet another cultural food indulgence of “hamburguesas completas” (see pic), mate (bitter herbal tea) (see pic), alfajores (chocolate cookies filled with dulce de leche), and churros. Yep, sacrificing 10 years of my lifespan and eventually gaining 10 pounds is well worth this Argentinean Life Experience!

Dia de la Independencia….A Day of Indulgence

Friday was Independence Day here. We took complete advantage of enjoying every single moment!

We slept in until 10am and then drove to vacation home just outside of the Buenos Aires Federal District. I had a few adventures that included going to the local neighborhood carniceria (meat store), panaderia (bread store) and verduria (vegetable store). I have never seen so much raw meat before! It was literally every single piece of the cow, thankfully in the refrigerated glass case where sanitation regulations are respected (unlike China).

While Gustavo was cooking 3 types of meat for the holiday meal (vasio, asado, chorrizo) on the grand parilla (grill), the women stuffed ourselves with some french style appetizers. With a variety of rich cheeses we made mini sandwiches of chimichurri salsa, tomatos, grilled bell peppers and fresh crispy baguettes. We never forget the wine…this time a malbec from Mendoza (western Argentina) along with the meal. The grilled meats were a completely different taste than I am accustomed to. I have no idea which part of what animal they belong to, which is probably a good thing!

We were soooo stuffed that we decided to go on a family walk around the neighborhood- not for exercise but for spying on the neighbors (which is done frequently here in Argentina). When we returned Gustavo had set up the fireplace for the first time in this house! It was so cozy! We all ended up laying on our stomachs like gossiping middle schoolers so we could feel the heat of the tiles from head to toe. We passed around the traditional mate (a type of strong herbal tea, tastes like grass) discussing all the regions of Argentina that I should visit- wild west in las Pampas, Bariloche and the 7 lakes, Iguazu falls, Mar de Plata beach, mountains at the Chile border, penguins and whales at Valdez Peninsula, Incan empire in Salta, vineyards in Mendoza, colonial architecture in Cordoba and glaciers in Ushuaia, the end of the world!

To continue the indulgence we ate a variety of Argentine chocolates and had a toast of champagne. We called it a night at 3am. While the Argentineans work hard during the week, they sure do know how to relax and bring the family together on weekends. This is always something I have admired about the Latin culture.

Saturday we dressed up and went to Palermo Viejo and Soho (resembles NYC). We shopped around the plazas and checked out all the designers. One thing I noticed, Americans touch everything they see to feel the material, while Argentineans look with their eyes only! We stopped by Peter’s Panchos and had some amazing hotdogs too! No joke, there were 20 options as toppings and then they put papas fritas on top. We passed by some Americans speaking English and decided to eavesdrop so we stayed for coffee at a popular overpriced café on the corner laughing at foreigners passing by.

Sunday we prepared gnocchi from scratch…Bianca’s Italian family recipe! To die for! Rolling out the ricotta dough, cutting it into squares and then rolling it across the striped design board….it was time consuming. We went for a 2 mile run after and then made lemon scones from scratch. It was a delightful lunch, of course accompanied by great red wine. We finished off our holiday weekend with a chocolate vanilla espresso fondue for early 10pm dinner….dipped with cinnamon churros, vanilla wafers, naranja cake, lemon scones, merengue cookies, kiwi, mandarin, strawberries, pear, apple and banana. It was heavenly! And we drank the night away with champagne, dancing all of us between the living room and kitchen. And yes, we did sing & dance to a techno version of “We are family…”

12 Things I Learned This Week....

You will be judged at work, and by the public, according to how well you dress (see picture)…

Don’t give a begging girl your granola bar, she will throw it back at your face and call you a “puta” (b***h) because she asked for money not food.

Men don’t glance, they flat out stare at your body and then nudge their friend to stare too.

At the dinner table the family talks about “la gorda” (the fatty) that lives nextdoor….everynight!

Women always wear heels even though the sidewalks are in desperate need of repair.

No one is in a rush. Time is not absolute.

Argentineans are too good to pick up their dog poop, so always watch your step!

Black coffee is the #1 food group.

Argentineans are horrible drivers! Staying within your lane and obeying stop signs/red lights are optional, and they do not slow down for pedestrians!

It is perfectly acceptable to take 5 breaks in your workday for coffee, tea, mate, lunch, coffee again.

All Argentineans are on a diet. But they eat a huge dinner at 10pm before bed and still eat dessert.

Hard-boiled eggs are a forbidden breakfast food, they are best for dinner mixed with potatoes or on top of a hamburger.

Another day at work….El Tigre Trip

El Tigre flows from the Rio de la Plata and first began as a hunting ground for fish and jaguars, not tigers despite the deceiving Spanish name. This town is located in the greater northern area of Buenos Aires and basically lines El Tigre river.
There are 5 reasons to come here: (1) casino, because technically it is not in the city where gambling is prohibited, (2) weekend theme park with small roller coasters, (3) Puerto de Frutas with great artisan crafts too, (4) take the catamaran 1.5 hour relaxing ride to check out the vacation homes, (5) to go camping/fishing/rowing.

Today’s agenda at work included taking a group of 30 high school students through various means of transportation to see the beauty of non-bustling Buenos Aires, with the ultimate attraction being the day cruise. I was informed this morning that one student was attached by a red headed midget last night at a Tango Show at 2am in the morning and had his camera stolen. I’m glad he found humor in the whole situation, especially since he was 16 and not supposed to be out past midnight.

Ever seen the commercial for air vacuumed storage bags? That is the metaphor I’m going to use instead of “packed like sardines” for how the metro system is here during rush hour, 8-11am and 5-8pm. When the doors open at a metro stop, 5 people fall out….but magically those 5 tuck themselves and their briefcase back into the metro car and 5 more people suck their way in. It is a miracle I got thirty 15-17 yr olds across town to the train station that took us to El Tigre!

After walking through this historic town and seeing the Italian, French, Swiss and English Rowing Club headquarters (I would say Belguim-esque feel), we ate lunch right on the water at a place called Amarras! Something else that is amazingly delicious is a “hamburguesa completa”: the meat patty topped with ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato and, yes, a hard-boiled egg. This ham and egg combination is definitely an Argentine twist to make any meal.

On the boat ride we saw your typical summer vacation homes, even past presidents’ homes, including one that is encased in glass today and restored into a museum. Cool thing is that you don’t need to leave your house to go grocery shopping. Just leave a plastic bag tied to the dock post and the traveling supplies boat stops by!

On the train ride back to the city the tour guide, Martín, shared with us some “pan dulce y frita”, that is fried sweet bread. It was good, similar to soft nan bread with some sugar on it. Then he described to us the process of making it….mixing bleached white flour with animal fat and then frying it. Is there anything unhealthier than that? With all the meat this country eats they have to do something with the unused animal parts so as not to be wasteful. Can we donate it to China? I’m sure it is better than the Chinese meat scrapplings they fried and served to us at those 2-hour banquet -style lunches on my last MBA study abroad in March!

La Vida Dulce

Vacation? Again? I am pretty sure I have taken around 10 vacations this year already. People have been asking me if I am ever NOT on vacation. I haven’t even been here a week and my Argentine family asked me to come with them to the countryside to their second home, what they consider their real home, to relax a little.

To set the tone, remember there was an economic meltdown in 2001, similar to severity of our Great Depression. Bank accounts were frozen, a max of $200 could be withdrawn each week, the president fled the country and 5 government officials denied presidential assignment. The peso was devalued by 1/3. Imagine that? 2/3 of your money is gone. Not money invested that grew over the years in stocks, I’m referring to the money from your weekly salary. Inflation is settling in too.

8 years later the country is beginning to see growth through the help of government programs. They have subsidized transportation systems. It is US$ .30 for a metro ride. They pay “carteros” to collect recyclable trash, well they dig through your trash wearing a uniform finding salvageable items to create sellable art. The government set an entrance fee for those citizens whose countries require a VISA for Argentineans to enter (I paid USD $140 to enter). Now that only seems fair.

What did my Argentine family do? They frolicked in Europe for 2 months and then returned to buy a house. A brand new one in a gated & guarded community. All new appliances, and yeah it is more impressive than new houses in my Florida hometown. We left Friday night for the 45 minute drive and stopped at a fancy restaurant for some amazing steak & salad with some great red wine and chocolate volcano dessert. I have to say, once again, the best of those items I have eaten here in Argentina! No wonder they call this the land where “food is from the gods”. Mind you, we ate at midnight and the entire town was out!

We went to bed after 3am and slept until noon. My host dad brought me breakfast in bed and told me the score of the Argentina-Germany futbol game. My host mom gave me a tour of her large backyard, complete with orange tree, lavender plants and spices of all kinds lining both sides of the yard. I guess they learned to be self-sufficient. Of course I had a divine lunch followed by a 3 hour siesta. I read some Pablo Neruda on the patio, danced to some Spanish music with my host dad, helped my host mom with her counseling master’s exam and then showed the host family how to use their new dishwasher that has been sitting there for a year!

We ate dinner at midnight, which happened to be, of course, the world’s best pizza- yeah definitely better than Italy. And we had champagne, of all drinks! We then shared European travel stories and pictures over some chocolate dessert….their goal is to convince me that Brugges does NOT have the world’s finest chocolate.

Sunday we got up early at 11am (yes, this is early in Buenos Aires) and went for a hike. For the USA Independence Day Gustavo surprised me with a variety of Argentinean grilled meats. We then dressed up to go to a fancy overpriced cafe for the traditional "cafe cortado" and cheesecake topped with dulce de leche...hmmmm! We then spent the evening over a bottle of white wine discussing how to import dulce de leche products to the USA so we can be millionaires and travel the world for the rest of our lives hehe.

I think I have arrived in Heaven :P

Recoleta neighborhood...culture explosion!

This neighborhood received its name from a group of monks in the 18^th century called the Recollect. They built a church with a huge, remarkable cemetery attached. It became a popular place for the affluent to move to during the yellow fever outbreak in the south side of town (ie La Boca area). Families created these expensive mausoleums for the deceased with the goal to outdo eachother. Each one is impressive on its own! This is the cemetery where Eva Peron was placed to rest in the 70s.

Today, Recoleta is the cultural center of Buenos Aires. With high class shopping of many Italian and French designers, Plazas named after France/Uraguay/Chile, grand parks filled with sculptures and luxury buildings of French royalty architecture, it is no wonder this neighborhood gave Buenos Aires the nickname “Paris of South America.”

The best place to be in all of Recoleta is standing on this pedestrian bridge over Figueroa Alcorta highway. In front you can see the business district of Retiro and behind you the wealthy neighborhood of Palermo. To the right, is the Buenos Aires Law School, a German looking building with columns. The breathtaking Floralis Generico, engineered with sensors to open during the day and close at night, was presented by famous architect Eduardo Catalano as thank you to Argentina for his education.

To the left, is Plaza de Francia with a beautiful, green park filled with statues and sculptures. Behind the park is the grand yellow Buenos Aires Design Center with a red castle building, which is the Cultural Center of Recoleta. In the near distance you can even see the highest point of the Pilar church with the peaks of mausoleum angelic sculptures.

It is also home to the National Library of Argentina, National Museum of Fine Arts, most influential Argentine write Jorge Luis Borges, and Pope Pius XII. A very upscale area, you can enjoy the world’s best over priced café and mediaslunas (croissant) at La Biela, a ‘café notable’ across from the cemetery in the Plaza de Francia.

This is definitely a neighborhood NOT to be missed!

La Boca.... Birthplace of Tango

While Buenos Aires boasts that it is multi- cultural, accepts all backgrounds and is not divided into 'little towns' like Nueva York, this little part of town developed as a distinct Italian area.

"Boca" means mouth and it sits on a port that runs into Rio de la Plata. It's also considered the birth place of the Tango. Crime used to be high here, from the mafia they say as a joke. Legend says the first immigrants used leftover paint from their boat to paint their houses, and thus bright colors are continued even today. There are three main, very short, touristy streets of vividly colored metal houses lining the cobblestone streets. Walk around back to the railroad tracks and you can even explore one of the ancient, creeking houses that probably provided shelter to 5 families.

It reminded me of walking through Little Italy in New York with one restaurant right after the other and the waiters shouting at you and shoving daily menu specials in your hands. Prices are higher here of course, but it is a great place to see outdoor mini tango shows for free. (the other option is $US 25-100 for a "Milonga" (Tango show) near 9 de Julio street which includes a dinner, but is a major tourist trap.) After these mini shows, you are welcome to talk to the dancers and even take pictures with them (they love it!), capturing the seductive look of the Argentinean Tango. The streets also have amazing artwork of tango scenes to browse while roaming through the area.

Half of Argentina's population lives in Buenos Aires; about 40% from Italy and the next largest percentile from Spain. Thus, Argentinean Spanish is called "castellano", not espanol, and many italian words (and food!) have been blended into the language. Buenos Aires has its own dialect called "rioplatense", a slang called "lunfardo" from the once considered low class tango verses and heavy immigration from the Galician area of northweast Spain/Portugal, which makes Spanish in Argentina quite a bit different than textbook spanish.