Cambios, murgas, y tango

Hola gente linda,

The last few weeks have been excitement-packed for me! I had two big setbacks. Work was very exhausting, and they kept adding more and more for me to do. I calculated my hourly wage, and it came out to only U$S 3/hr, whereas I considered the work to be worth about U$S 10/hr. When they added a complicated sales component to my job, I decided to quit. After I quit, though, they took the sales component away and told me that they really hoped I'd stay. I decided that since the work is so exhausting, not enjoyable at all, and irrelevant to my career plans, I would do it for no less than U$S 6/hr. They couldn't pay that much, so after considering my own wishes and others' advice, I stuck with my decision to quit. Now I am keeping on with my editing and continuing to look for more work.

A different crappy situation sprung up the same week: the lady renting me a room in her apartment, Maria, told me on February 14th (the middle of the month) that the costs in Buenos Aires are rising, so she would like to raise the rent U$S 100 extra/month. I told her I'd have to think about it, and she seemed very surprised. When I first moved in, I told her that I don't have more than U$S 250/month to spend, and she'd agreed that since I'd be staying here for nine months total, that would be alright. I really didn't like that she tried to raise the rent so much with such short notice. When I talked to her about it, she said that maybe I, being American, don't understand about the costs around here rising — I'm pretty sure she is used to Americans being rich. She gave me a deadline (today) to decide whether or not I wanted to stay, and after checking out a few different rooms, I decided that I want to move. Besides the rent issue (which is a huge factor), I'd like to live in a neighborhood with a different rhythm: I feel I've seen enough of Palermo. I'd also like to be allowed to invite guests to my room during the day, to watch movies, play cards, etc — especially during winter! I have two really nice options for new rooms so far and am continuing to look.

As I've said before, this time of the year in Buenos Aires is re lindo, extremely beautiful! There are rows  and rows of pink, blooming trees on Avenida 9 de Julio, the plazas are full of people playing music and drinking mate, and Plaza de Mayo, Parque Centenario, and Congreso are full of children having a good time feeding the birds. Another special thing about this time of year is the murgas! They are traditional dances with roots in indigenous and African traditions. The dancers and musicians dress up in bright, multi-colored costumes with glittery cartoon character insignia and go wild, doing jumps, high kicks, and throwing their arms in the air. There are singers, lots of drummers, and one person with a whistle. They remind me of marching band shows in the US (and make me miss colorguard!). Traditional murgas are themed around events of the past year and are often political. Here is a good video of some Argentine murga groups. Spray bottles filled with soapy foam kept the kids in the murga crowd amused. They ran around spraying each other with it like silly string.

On Valentine's Day I went to Puerto Madero with an Argentine guy I met at Fede's party, Martin. We walked around the area, which I hadn't seen much of, and then ate choripan (sausage and bread) by the forest. It was a lot of fun.

 Martin asked me if I knew why the statue was surrounded with plastic. "Because people might vandalize it?" "No... because they'd swim in the fountain." Haha.

Fede and I went to Galerias Pacifico, a really nice mall downtown, to get our Subway fix! I'd been craving a BLT for over a week. The workers were a little confused by my sandwich choice (BLT's don't exist here) and had to improvise a charge for it, but I got my Subway wish! =)

 

 This is a mural in Galerias Pacifico. This city is deeply connected with social justice movements. I love to see testaments of social injustices put out into the public for scrutiny so that healing and a solution can begin. 

I also met a nice British girl this week. She was involved in protests against the rising costs of higher education in England. Up until three years ago it had been completely free for decades. The current price is 3,000 pounds/year (if I remember right), but the government wants to raise it to 9,000 pounds/year. A lot of English people are protesting the rising costs. I went to MALBA with her and after that we went out for Freddo ice cream. I've decided that helado artesanal (homemade ice cream) is a lot more delicious, and will now stick to Jauja (Patagonian ice cream) and other unique little places!

Yesterday was an especially exciting day. I toured two potential new rooms in different neighborhoods, which were both really nice. I accidentally got off the bus too early while heading to the second one, so I decided to stop to eat some McDonald's (which I am not in the habit of doing!) and walk the rest of the way. It had just stopped raining, so Parque Centenario, a beautiful park I used to live right next to, was almost completely empty. ¡Fue lindísimo y re tranqui! (It was very beautiful and peaceful!) On the way home, I saw a billboard advertising a free tango show in front of el Obelisco (a famous monument in Buenos Aires). I decided to go downtown and hang out there until the show. Since I was there and had some time to kill, I decided to take a tour of la Casa Rosada: the Pink House, the Argentine equivalent to the US White House. It was really beautiful! I felt like Perón el Descamisado standing on la Casa Rosada's balcony, haha.

 Here is the front of the house. At night it's illuminated with pink lights.

 There is a beautiful, Spanish-style garden in the middle of the house.

 This room was so bright and luxurious. I probably had the same look on my face as this girl! haha.

 This is Plaza de Mayo as seen from the balcony. Cue la marcha peronista! =)

 This is Presidenta Cristina's office. Wow!

I grabbed a seat for the tango show an hour and a half ahead of time and got one right at the front. They closed part of 9 de Julio Avenue (a huuuge downtown avenue) and set up thousands of seats there for the show. Tango is the birthplace of tango, and something Buenos Aires is famous for. Last night was the first time this world-renowned show was put on for free for the public. The dancers were amazing. They all wore luxurious, 1930's-style costumes complete with feathers, tassels, and diamonds (the 30's and 40's was when tango was at its peak). My favorite dance featured a tango dancer who was popular in the old days (I'll have to find out her name). They danced impressively fast, and at the end of the act, the man held the woman completely upside down. Some of the dances reminded me of Olympic figure-skating shows! The music was absolutely amazing as well. There was one pianist and a bunch of violinists and accordians. It was so impresionante (striking) when one violinist or one accordian did a solo, and suddenly the entire band joined in. I also really love tango singers. Especially impressive was María Graña, who sang two songs about broken hearts. It was an unforgettable night. =)

Besos!
Kaeli

Trabajo nuevo, libros nuevos, y tiempo excelente

Hola todos,

The weather here is improving: it's not as oppressively hot or rainy as it's been. It's about 75 degrees outside now — perfect weather for drinking mate in the park and having picnics. ¡Me encanta! (I love it!)

The Sunday before last I went with Nelson to El Tigre to see el Mercado de los Frutos, a feria with all sorts of crafts. The most popular item seemed to be decorative, Japanese-style wooden plants (tall, curly sticks with flowers on them that you put into a vase). We ate capresse salad and milanesa (does "schnitzel" mean anything to anyone? I saw that as a translation for milanesa in the subtitles of a movie). Later, we drank mate and talked about social justice (specifically, anti-racism) at a park. ¡Lo pasamos muy lindo! (We had a really nice time!)

Here I am drinking mate in El Tigre.

Later that week, I got a new part-time job based in Retiro! I look for executives' contact information to build the company's client base and network. Soon I'll start selling the product (business seminars taught by professionals) as well. It is draining work, and my boss seems temperamental, but being part of a "team" in a super-fancy office and getting free business lunches every Wednesday has made up for the drawbacks so far.

This is a beautiful clock tower I always see first thing as I'm entering Retiro.

And here is what most of the rest of the neighborhood looks like: high-rises and businesspeople!

Last Saturday, Fede had a house party. I met some friends of his from all around the world — France, Belgium, India, and Argentina. We danced, drank (a lot), and partied 'til 5am! (Which wasn't as bad as it sounds, since most people arrived at midnight or 1.) It was a great time, and I got to practice both salsa dancing and Spanish.

On Wednesday I had my first (weekly!) company-sponsored lunch. I ate salad, chop suey with carne argentina (Argentine beef is riquísimo, very delicious), and flan. I also got to know my co-workers better. They are from Britain, the Southern US, and another country I can't remember. Two of my co-workers are girls my age, which is nice!

I also signed up for classes. I'm going to take:

-18th Century European Art
-Medieval Art
-Sociology
-Social Psychology

It looks like a perfect schedule for my last classes as an undergraduate! Estoy emocionada! (I'm excited!)

On my way back from the university, I saw a "Liquidación" sign in the window of an antique book store. I went in to ask what the sale was, and the saleswoman told me that everything in the store was on sale. Only a few of the books had (cheap) prices, so I looked all around and picked out six books: two Guy de Maupassant short stories, Edgar Allen Poe short stories, a Modernist poetry anthology, A Thousand and One Nights, and Machiavelli's the Prince, annotated by Napoleon Bonaparte. When I got to the counter, I asked how much the books were, and they turned out to be more expensive than I'd thought. I told her I'd have to put a few back, and I chose the three cheapest to buy. When putting the books in the bag, though, the saleswoman secretly threw in the other three, too! That was an awesome surprise. I had bought my first Spanish-to-Spanish pocket dictionary that day, and will enjoy reading this great new stuff at cafes and in the sun. =)

Both my mom and my aunt Colleen sent me summer clothes from the United States. They are awesome and smell like perfume and department stores from the United States. (I realized that Abercrombie & Fitch is a distinctly American smell.) I am missing the US a little more now!

My dad gifted me some money, too, and I used it to buy sushi ingredients. Pickled radish (nabo), my favorite ingredient in Korean kimbap, must be prepared differently here because it's not as sweet. But the pickles I bought made up for it, and my portobello mushroom-based, pea sprout-topped sushi was delicious!

Here's a picture of the sushi I made.

And some delicious empanadas I ate at Cafe Piacere.

Besotes,
Kaeli