Películas e amigos nuevos

 Hola todos,

I have had a fun, eventful week! On Thursday I went dancing at Club Niceto. I set off alone — I really wanted to go out somewhere, and admission that night was free. While I was in line for my ticket, though, one of Fede's friends - Ornella - recognized me from Facebook and invited me to go with her and some of her friends and colleagues! It was a lot of fun. I met some Colombians and an UBA (University of Buenos Aires) professor and saw a crazy, glittery, amazing dance show. We danced from 12 to 4 in the morning — the typical porteño dance schedule!

On Friday I got ice cream at Altra Volta with my Dutch friend (Volta's was the most delicious helado I've had so far) and saw "Wild at Heart" at MALBA. The movie, directed by David Lynch, is disturbing yet captivating. It's very bloody, but has a lot of touching and funny moments as well. If you like independent films and "Kill Bill," then this is definitely a movie you would like. At some point this month I'm going to see the other Lynch movie they're showing: "Lost Highway."

On Saturday I planned to go to a movie at the Park — an Argentine movie called "Carancho." I went, but the speakers weren't very loud, and I could hardly understand a thing. So instead I met up with Santos and saw "Hereafter," or "Más alla de la vida," at the theater.

On Sunday I hung out with Santos and his friends and went to a feria (craft fair) in Parque Centenario, the neighborhood where I used to live. I love hearing Santos and Antonio tell stories (I wrote a bit about them before). Antonio's mom was visiting from Peru and made us ceviche de pollo, a great Peruvian dish with chicken, rice, onions, and potatoes spiced with salt, aji, and saffron. ¡Riquísimo!

 

Later in the day we went to a different friend's house, watched "The Perfect Plan," and drank mate. Tomorrow I have a second interview at a super fancy office in the business district. I'm excited for that and will take pictures!

 Santos is the one with his arms around two people, and Antonio is next to his mom.

 Here is a better picture of Santos, and an example of the typical Buenos Aires checking-out (although they were looking at me in this photo because I had my camera out). Whenever there are two or more men together and a woman walks by, the men are guaranteed to stare. It is a cultural thing that I had to get used to when I first arrived here. I was so used after a few months of living here, though, that when I went back to the US for Thanksgiving, I had to do a double-take the first time I saw two men on a corner in the United States and they didn't seem to notice me at all. Our program director, Alejandra, said that she felt invisible when she went to the United States. Aside from the men checking women out (which I am in no way exaggerating about), Argentine people are in general miradores: very "looky." People don't avoid eye contact on the sidewalk or the subway. When Alejandra went to New York for the first time, she looked all around her on the subway. Her friend nudged her to cut it out (she seemed to be staring), but she didn't understand the warning. A few seconds later, a big black guy came up to her and asked "What are you staring at??" She was careful about it from then on! The way we look or don't look at each other is a significant cultural difference.

This is a great sculpture near Plaza Italia at night.

Hasta pronto!
Kaeli