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

¡Verano!

Hola todos,

It is officially Summer here! I'm starting to get change-of-season allergies, and tons of mosquito bites. But the benefits of a Buenos Aires Summer far outweigh the costs: the botanical gardens and plazas are absolutely beautiful, it's great weather for picnics and walking, and I love all the flowering trees (especially on 9 de Julio by the Obelisk). Again (I'll keep saying it), it is great to have a friend who works in an ice cream shop at a time like this! =P

So many things have happened this week! Here are some of the highlights:

Fede and I cooked tacos with the taco seasoning I brought him from the United States. We ate it with nacho chips and cheesy Doritos. It tasted absolutely great! After that we watched South Park and "Examine Life," a movie featuring famous philosophers. We had a good time catching up!

Nelson and I cooked an excellent meal of chicken, zucchini, carrots, tomatos, onions, and ground ají (one of my new top-favorite spices). Yum!

I saw the famous flower sculpture in Buenos Aires up close for the first time. I had never realized that it's surrounded by a fountain. ¡Muy lindo! (Very beautiful!) It is one of my new favorite spots.
 

While trying to register for classes (it turns out I'll have to wait a few more weeks), I ran into Alejandra, the Knox study abroad program director. It was great to see and talk with her again! I've missed her and all my Knox study abroad friends! For those of you who were here in the winter, I think of you guys whenever I eat dulce de leche or a Milka bar, and remember when we first arrived here, because the liquidaciones (widespread seasonal sales) are back!

I walked around the sculpture garden near el Museo de Bellas Artes. After that I continued walking down Agüero street and ran into the National Library. Next to the library is a beautiful park full of flowers, benches, and stray cats (the ones pictured here are from Parque Centenario). Someone leaves buckets of water out for the cats to drink, and they are all pretty friendly.

I went to MALBA, explained art interpretation to a new Argentine friend, and ate delicious veggie sushi at a Japanese restaurant in Chinatown. I was expecting it to taste great, but it turned out to be more delicious than I imagined! Sushiiii is delicious! =)

I went to el Gato Negro (The Black Cat), a fancy tea cafe on Avenida Corrientes, with Nelson. After tea and coffee, we ate pizza and fainá (a garbanzo bean pie that accompanies pizza here) and bought some bargain books. I've been reading short stories about single women, short stories by Chekhov, classic fairy tales in Spanish, plays and poems by Gertrude Stein, and Argentine literature, besides all the essays I find on StumbleUpon and read online. I've missed reading, and am glad to be doing more! I'm going to start doing more writing, too.

I went to Parque Centenario, planning to see a play. It turned out I had mixed up the event schedule: they weren't showing a play that day, but projecting a show called "Hijitus." I had no idea what the show was, but decided to wait and find out. I sat in the park (which is beautiful during the summer) reading a book of poetry that Nelson's friend published and watching children feed the ducks. A guy holding a cardboard carton of wine and walking very unstably tried to strike up a conversation with me, cutting my peaceful reading-in-the-shade time short. I am glad I waited, though, because the show turned out to be great. When I got to the ampitheater, I realized that "Hijitus" must be a children's show, because the place was packed with kids. It turned out to be a cartoon series from the 60's about a kid superhero whose raggedy sombrero enables him to receive messages from his confidantes and to fly. He undoes the messes an evil scientist and his gang cause for their city with the help of a policeman, "el comisario." He does a little dance sometimes, saying "chiki chiki chiki," and sometimes concludes a days' work with the phrase "Ojalá, ojalita, hojalata, chocolita, chocolata," a silly little word-play rhyme. The comisario sometimes says "Buenas noches, Bariloche," another cute, rhyming phrase that means "Goodnight, Argentine-province-Bariloche." I saw a character in the show drinking mate, as well as a little girl at the park, and felt more connected to Argentina than ever.

I had my first dream in Spanish. In it, my dad and sister were speaking Spanish. My dad said he was going to "pasear por la hospital." I felt accomplished about having dreamt in Spanish when I woke up: a woman I met in Calafate told me that you know you're really fluent in a language when you start to dream in it. I've started thinking in Spanish more often, too. 

This is a picture of a piece of graffiti I passed every day on the bus last term. It says "Fernanda B: / for a wiseman, Soloman / for a poet, Borges was born / and to love you, me." While I'm not extremely impressed by the writing, I now have a nostalgic attachment to it, and think it's sweet.

Miss you all! Keep in touch, and let me know if you have any requests for the pictures I should post!

Besos,
Kaeli

Comida mexicana, picnics y "la playa"

Hola todos,

I had another semana fantástica (a fantastic week)! I've been hanging out a lot with my friend Nelson from la heladería (the ice cream shop... again, this kind of connection is great! lol). We cooked a delicious Mexican meal on Monday: chips and salsa, Argentine beef (the best), onions, jalapeños, and refried beans (ingredients which are not too common around here). It was the most delicious thing I've eaten the whole time I've been in this country! I love Mexican food. =)

This was our riquísimo taco salad.

Other than that, we've been having lots of discussions, drinking mate, and having picnics. Great summer times!

An example of our picnic food (replacing the coffee with mate). Today we had classic Argentine salad (lettuce, tomato, and onion) with cheese, along with cherries and plums.

A while ago I saw a government-sponsored poster that said "Every day in Buenos Aires is like a day at the beach!" I had no idea what it was talking about until I saw the crazy stuff they did to Parque Las Heras. It's like Disneyworld around here! lol.

 Oh, populism...

This is more like what the parks are normally like. (It's a photo of Parque Sarmiento.)

On Thursday I went to the acrobatic tango and milonga 8cho show again. The music and dances were great! Here are some pictures. They're blurry, but the best I managed to get!

On Friday I got my weekly dose of ice cream: cardamom, blueberry, and deep chocolate (three of my new favorites), and tons and tons of samples. ¡Qué rico! (De-li-cious!)

I also walked around the botanical gardens. Today I met a Canadian girl there. She asked me if I speak English. She suspected I did because I have "the same super-pale skin as she does." I asked her if the US seemed very much like Canada to her — she'd visited for just a few days. She said that it did, except that in Canada there aren't any billboards warning about people's damnation or advertising gun shops. Haha. She seemed pretty nice, and we might get together sometime to dance salsa.

I love the koi fish at the botanical gardens.

There are unfortunately a ton of abandoned cats in the gardens. There are signs around asking people to please not abandon their pets. =(

Con cariño,
Kaeli

Cine, teatro, helado

Hola todos,

I had another great week in Buenos Aires. I'd completely exhausted my food supply by the middle of the week and had to go grocery shopping. I didn't feel like it and procrastinated going, but... I love grocery shopping here! It means a trip to the health and oriental stores of Chinatown, which are cheaper than other grocery stores and have (for me) more delicious things. So far I've added two new recipes to my repertoire: Waldorf salad and curry. I also replenished my supply of herb-flavored soy spread and sunflower bread and discovered that my favorite kind of tea is jasmine. Yummmm, haha.

I had a second interview at a business in Retiro, the fancy business district of Buenos Aires. The interview went well, but I'm still waiting to see if I'll get the job. While I was there I saw a photo exhibition themed around music education. It was beautiful. I really like Retiro!

On Wednesday I saw an acrobatic tango and milonga show by 8cho. The dancing and special effects were impressive, but the music was my favorite part. I love tango, milonga, and salsa songs! I highly recommend the 8cho shows. They're put on for free (city-sponsored) every few months or so. It is great to live in a capitol!

On Friday I saw another classic movie at MALBA: "Shame," a Swedish movie from the 60's directed by Ingmar Bergman. It shows how one married couple's lives (and the town they lived in) are completely devastated by war. It is a powerful anti-war movie, which I highly recommend.

Saturday I met an Argentine girl named Eli and saw a play with her downtown: "Family Code," a work based on a true story about a lawyer's experience working with two members of the same family, one of whom shot and killed the other. She got free tickets from a friend who was involved in the production and I got to chat a while with some very artsy folks. After the play we got some coffee and talked until 2am!

Today I wrote a bit and got some free tea and ice cream through Nelson, an Argentine friend who works at an ice cream shop. Ice cream (more specifically, helado argentino) connections are great to have! haha. My new favorite ice cream flavor is: dark chocolate.

I also rediscovered my love for Billie Holiday! My favorite song of hers so far is "All of Me":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P0hG3sD0-E

Love and miss you all!
Kaeli

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

Health cooking and other excitement

Hola todos,

 

2011 has been really nice so far! I'm having a lot of fun learning how to dance and cook.

My favorite meals lately are:

• oatmeal with fresh peaches (I don't use any sweetener at all: just a bit of peach in every bite)
• hummus or flavored soy spread on bread, topped with alfalfa sprouts
• miso soup with shitake mushrooms, tofu, and green onions
• all-natural instant soup
• and pasta!

All these things are cheap, healthy, easy, and delicious! Which makes me really happy every time another mealtime comes around, lol.

Don't forget to drink healthy, too. A lot of people around here seem to live on Coca-Cola, Crystal Light (aka Clight), and beer or wine. Water, tea, 100% juice, and unsweetened or mildly sweetened coffee are best.

 

Other delicious things I am very excited about are:

• Melona melon popsicles (Asian popsicles that taste exactly like cantaloupe)

 (I have one in my hand here. And am wearing a new skirt I bought myself for Christmas!)

• Sweet aduki bean pastries (also Asian)

• And Peruvian rice, beans, and spicy sauce that Santos' roommates made! It tasted really great.

As for the non-food-related news... Yesterday I met up with two Americans from Couchsurfers and showed them around MALBA and took them to Chinatown. They are in the music business in Salt Lake City. I told them everything I know about Argentina (history, craft fairs, food, etc.), and we had a lot of fun!

Later that night I went out for ice cream and Peruvian food with Santos. Tonight we're going to the premiere of Los Pequeños Fockers, the new Meet the Parents movie. It'll be the first movie I've gone to at the theater in Argentina!

I also got a new job teaching English. The language institutes here (as in Korea, and probably most other places...) are not very well coordinated. Still, though, it should be great to get more teaching experience and meet a few more people.

Other exciting news is that Maria rented the vacant room in our apartment out — to a girl from South Korea! I haven't met her yet, but I'm excited to.

There are lots of cool events I'm excited about for later this week and next week, but as I'm not sure which ones I'll go to, I'll save it for another entry!

¡Hasta luego!
Kaeli