La Fábrica Brukman, El Gato Negro

Hola gente linda,

Great news: I passed my art test (not spectacularly, but I passed!), and got an 8/10 on my essay for literature class! ¡Sí! Both of those grades were a big relief. =)

This weekend I'm going to Calafate (until Tuesday!) to see some glaciers. I promise pictures and a blog when I return! Here are some photos from the last week:

 Murals of Carlos Gardel, a famous Argentinian tango singer, in Abasto, the neighborhood where he grew up.

 Abasto! A huge shopping mall with a Nickelodeon theme park, a children's museum, and tons of other stuff inside! It reminds me exactly of the Mall of America. I love the sequiny Argentine flags. I learned today (from Fede) that the blue of the flag is called "celeste." Un nombre lindo! (A pretty name!)

 I found this sculpture in Villa Crespo. On one side it says: "International Declaration of Children's Rights: All of us children are equal. Our race, sex, language, doesn't matter — let's play!" The ladder says: "The same for everyone."

 A random photo that I like. If I haven't already mentioned it here, the food in Argentina is very American-style. Typical dinners with my host family are chicken nuggets, roast beef, hot dogs, milanesa (breaded meat), all accompanied with Coca Cola or Crystal Light! lol.

 Another scene I liked, near Avenida Corrientes.

 I love the reliefs in this city! They're everywhere.

This is a book store/cafe I like near Corrientes and Callao: a famous spot for librerías.

Now for more about my week! On Tuesday I went to Brukman Factory — a factory that was "taken" by it's workers after the financial crisis in 2001. Pesos and dollars used to be equivalent in Argentina, but after 2001, inflation went crazy and the peso's value dropped a lot (now 1 dollar is equivalent to about 4 pesos). Presidente Menem had privatized all of the national industries (electricity, gas, railroads, even mail) in the 90s, which amplified the economic crisis with lots of corruption.

Immediately after the peso-dollar change, the banks suspended everyone's accounts and allowed only very limited access to the money. That period was called "el corralito" — the little corral. Some businesses went bankrupt and some people couldn't access enough money to get themselves to work or buy groceries for their families... Some people broke into stores and stole some goods.

For the first time since the dictatorship, a curfew was reinstated. The streets of Buenos Aires filled with protestors. The Madres of Plaza de Mayo were among them, and asked that the poor be provided with basic necessities during this chaotic time. The police broke up their protest violently. The majority supported the Madres, and in response to all this chaos, the president (De La Rua) resigned and fled from the Casa Rosada in a helicopter. Since the vice-president had resigned some time before in protest of Menem's practices, there was a chaotic change of leadership, and Argentina went through 5 presidents in 10 days. As my program director / "Tía" Alejandra put it, "No es ficción: es la Argentina!" (It's not fiction: it's Argentina!).

The owners of some businesses and factories transferred their fortunes to banks in foreign countries and abandoned shop. Brukman Factory was one. The owners fled, leaving the factory's 500 workers unemployed. Instead of accepting this passively, though, Brukman's workers decided to "take" the factory and operate the business themselves. The police, private utility companies, and former owners all tried to drive the workers (mostly women) out, but the workers succeeded in reclaiming their factory after months of camping outside in shifts to prevent anyone from taking their machines.

The workers paid all the factory's debts off with their work and still managed to pay everyone a higher salary than they'd received before. They make important decisions through consensus,pay every worker equal salaries , and give everyone the chance to do skilled work (through a sort of apprenticeship and rotation system): it's a co-op sort of system. 500 factories in Argentina have been "taken" to date, and they're all doing pretty well.

I visited Brukman Factory with my exchange program and got a tour of the place. We learned how suits, this factory's specialty, are made. What interested me most is that brand names commission pieces from random factories — some Christian Dior suits, for example, are made at Brukman. The workers follow fashion magazines as models to modify their patterns. We also got a feel for the environment. The workers can listen to music and chat while they work, and everyone has a smile on her face — a much better situation than most factory workers are allowed!

On Wednesday I went shopping with my friend Stephanie for thermal socks and snowproof pants. We went to a bunch of outlets to find them and got brand name stuff for good prices. After that we went to an old, English-style tea shop called El Gato Negro, The Black Cat, with Lucio, the guy I met at Recoleta. I had spiced tea and a delicious alfajor de maicena (like two crumbly shortbread cookies with dulce de leche inside)! Lucio told us, among other things, that Argentinians love American tv shows (we'd known that already from channel-surfing, or as they say here, "zapping"/"shopping"). Apparently "Friends" is still super-popular, and they made short-lived Argentine remakes of "Married With Children" and "The Nanny!"

I spent today with Fede. We walked to and from classes together, ate Mexican food for lunch (at Típicas: a restaurant I'm definitely going to miss), and he cooked me delicious tostadas with egg and cheese for lunch. He's a pretty good, innovative cook! =) Hamburgers with eggs and pasta with cream cheese and milanesa were two other awesome things he made. Besides being a good cook, he's great with business-y stuff (speech-making, researching, presenting, etc.), foreign relations and languages. He speaks English like an American (or like a Brit, which he prefers!) and is studying German now. An amazing, nice guy, who I am completely enamored with!

Ciao, everyone! I miss you!
Kaeli

Eventful Days!

Hola todos,

I've been having lots more great days in Buenos Aires! =) First, some pictures!

 There are lots of street vendors in Buenos Aires. I took this picture because the vendor was tamboreando (drumming) on the stand. Behind him you can see a colectivo — a public bus. Each route has distinctive colors. At night a lot of them play 80's American music!

 

Some angels from the statue in front of el Conreso (the Congress).

 The top of the fountain, the congress' spire, and the beautiful Argentinian flag (baby blue and white!).

I just like this picture! The woman here is drinking mate: traditional Argentine tea.

 Graves (tumbas) at el Cementerio Recoleta.

 This one looked at first like it was flying.

 I love these flower scarves (at the feria/craft fair at Recoleta). The woman here is the artist who made them!

 MALBA. <3

 Some amazing graffiti at el Centro Cultural Recoleta.

 I especially like the grey chihuahas in the top left.

 An Obelisco (like the landmark) to commemorate the bicentenario (200th anniversary) of Buenos Aires, full of typically Argentine things (including a subte pass, a colectivo ticket, Argentine flags, indigenous dolls, etc).

 A little girl feeding the birds at Congreso.

 I loved this graffiti. It says "I decide; my body does not have a price; when a woman says no, it means no."

 "I decide; there should be no more victims."

 "No means no; my body is not for sale."

 The church by el Cementerio Recoleta.

 A movie theater at el Centro Cultural San Martín: I just like this picture!

A librería: I love how some of them are open-air!

On Thursday I went to two botanical gardens with my friend Antonina. They were really beautiful (I'll go back soon to take some pictures!). The first and biggest of the two that we visited was free. It had lots of cacti, flowers, trees, and statues. One sculpture I loved was a replica of the Capitoline Wolf, which depicts babies Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome) suckling a wolf. I remembered seeing that sculpture my junior year of high school in an art history book!

The second garden we went to was a Japanese garden donated by the Japanese Embassy to commemorate their prince's visit to Buenos Aires. It was full of freesias and manicured bushes and had some pretty red bridges, stone statues, and koi fish. I saw some of my favorite Korean candies for sale there and ate a delicious melon popsicle! 

After the gardens I went to see a movie at MALBA (the art museum-- one of my favorite places here, if it wasn't obvious!). The movie, "La terra trema" ("The Earth Will Shake"), was made in Italy in the 1950's, commissioned by the Communist Party. They played the original reel and projected subtitles in Spanish below it. It's a truly amazing film! It follows a fishing family and shows them gradually losing everything they have: the most touching portrayal of poverty I've seen in a movie. The cinematography is amazing, too: I still have scenes from the movie stuck in my head. I recommend it!

That movie made me want to see as many more as I could, so on Saturday I went to another projection at Teatro San Martín (a cultural center). They're playing classic French films this week. The one I saw was "Sin aliento" ("Breathless"), a surrealist film. It was definitely surreal, and a bit James Bond style. There was a coveted American girl in the movie, which I thought was pretty funny!

Yesterday I saw an Argentine independent film at MALBA: "El pasante" ("The Intern"). There were lots of "argentinismos" (typically Argentine things) in the movie, which I like. It wasn't a compelling story, but it was cool to be able to recognize things, and the cinematography was good.

On Saturday (the day I saw the French movie), I also went to a jazz concert and some librerías (book stores!!) with some friends. I also went to el Congreso (the Congress) again: one of my favorite buildings here!

Sunday I tried to go to MALBA again to see another old movie about two revolutionaries, one right-wing and one left-wing, falling in love, but realized on the bus that I'd missed my stop! I got off in front of el Cementerio Recoleta (the cemetary), and decided to go there. There are ferias (craft fairs) everywhere on Sunday, and there's a really good one there! I listened to jazz music, saw a puppet show, and looked at all the crafts (there were lots of paintings of Buenos Aires landmarks and tango dancers, mate cups, purses, clothes, etc.). While walking, I met a nice guy named Lucio, and we went to the Centro Cultural Recoleta (a beautiful cultural center/museum) and the cemetary!

In other news, as you might have noticed, I finally replaced my camera! Camera shopping was a bit of a frustrating experience, but I'm glad to be able to take and share pictures again! I'd missed it. =)

Tardé mucho en escribir esto (it's taken me forever to write this blog), so now I'm going to get to sleep! Tomorrow will be another exciting day: I'll be visiting Brukman Factory. I'll write a blog about that in the next few days!

Ciao, mis amores!

Kaeli 

Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo

Hola todos,

Today I went to el Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo (the National Museum of Decorative Art). I honestly didn't think it would be that great, and was hesitant to even go when I found out that it cost 3 pesos (as opposed to 1 peso, or free). But I'm so glad that I did go! I spent three hours there, and feel like I could spend a hundred more in there. =)

The place used to be a mansion, and a lot of the things inside belonged to the family who lived there. There are marble statues, beautiful leather-bound books, lots of little portraits for lockets, teacups and saucers with bright colors and a wallpaper-like scheme, beautiful furniture (including a gondola-shaped bed with a canopy and chairs and curtains embroidered with flowers), a huge theater, a little marble sculpture depicting a battle between angels and demons and people from earth looking on, beautiful chandeliers (the shadows make sort of a leafy pattern on the ceiling)... Needless to say, I loved it.

Both of the exhibitions featured there were great. One was of silver craftsmanship (there were lots of silver mate cups and other dishes), and the other was of Finnish art. The Finnish printed cloth and dresses were beautiful. They made me really want to check Finland out! =)

There were no photos allowed inside the museum, but if so inclined you can go on a visita virtual (virtual tour) on the website. The virtual tour is in Spanish, but the website navigation is easy enough to figure out (just click on the names of rooms), and there's an informational section in English:
Here's a nice room to start with. =)

After that museum, I went to a park across the street and looked at the statues. I'm really going to miss having all these statues around.

Finally, I went to MALBA (Latin-American Art Museum) again to see the author of El país de las mujeres (Women's Country), Gioconda Belli, speak. The talk was really interesting, and I saw some more great art at MALBA. The highlights were a rug which the artist transposed the image of a shadow onto, and an exposition of Alfredo Prior's work (really beautiful, abstract stuff, a lot of it themed around Greek mythology).

It was a full, amazing day! =)

Here's a belated picture of el Día del Estudiante (Students' Day), when me, Fede, his friend, and a bunch of people from my exchange program went on a picnic in los Bosques (Forests) de Palermo.

Besos!
Kaeli

Cosas favoritas y galerías de arte

Hola lectores fieles (faithful readers),

I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while! I was sick for a whole week and after I recovered I did a lot of touring around and a lot of attempting-to-do-homework.

I'm really loving Buenos Aires, and wish I could stay here for at least five more months! Some of my favorite things about the city now are: the rioplatense (River Plate) accent (which sounds a lot like Italian and has a lot of "j" sounds: lleísmo), the beautiful statues, the flower kiosks, the 15-minute grace period for lateness (forget about rushing around to be exactly on time for class, work, and almost anything — I'm going to miss that!), the tiles on the sidewalks (they've grown on me), the dogs, the vines on people's balconies, the delicious desserts (ice cream, which comes in different flavors and has a different texture; dulce de leche; arroz con leche; and delicious pies), empanadas, jamón y queso blanco (infinitely better than ham and cheddar), medialunas (my new favorite breakfast ever), the occasional maté (tea), and the oft-repeated phrases:

• ¿Qué sé yo? (But what do I know?) accompanied with a gesture.

• Ah, ¡Qué lindo! (How beautiful!) whenever someone mentions a faraway place (even another province).

• ¡Ciao ciao! ¡Un beso! (Bye! A kiss for you!) - a common way to say goodbye.

Not to mention all the really nice, helpful, talkative people. =)

Some more specific updates:

Last week was la Semana de arte (Art Week), and I went to art galleries around the city (in San Telmo and Barrio Norte) on Thursday and Friday. Some of the art was amazing. I saw about 40 different galleries, and drank some free champagne, wine, and espresso. It was great! Some of my favorite galleries were:

Cualquier Verdura (Whatever Vegetable) is great. The first floor is a huge gift-shop set up like a house. The kitchen is stocked with colorful and vintage cookware and jars, the closet and bedroom with 70's-style and exotic purses, jackets, and pillows, and there are knitted cacti and books all around. I like the way things are labeled: nuevo, antiguo, industria argentina, y nos da pena vender (new, old, made in Argentina, and "it pains us to sell this"). I hadn't realized that the whole upper floor was for sale, but looking at the website, I see that it is!

In the basement were three works commentating on homelessness. They represented unlivable spaces: pieces of spray-painted wreckage, one with ironical loving messages written on the pieces, and one with spines from a tree. They were really cool.

Here are some pictures of things in the kitchen: http://picasaweb.google.com/cualquierverdura517/ProductosDeCocina#

Galería de Arte Wussman has some really cool, bright, woven pieces by Luciana Malfatti: http://www.wussmann.com/popup/pentapack/02.php

At Asociación Amigos Erik Van Der Grijn (I think... It might have been a different gallery) I saw some great photos: one of an "American breakfast" full pancakes, sausage, and eggs, an "Argentine breakfast" of sunlight and trees, one of some old ladies sitting in front of a window with a swimming pool behind it, and some nice pictures of families.

I loved Claudia Brito Sousa's work at Galería Palatina. I like the colors and textures of the paintings, and the scenes depicted reminded me of Shakespeare. http://www.galeriapalatina.com.ar/

My favorite gallery of all was Raíces Americanas (American Roots). There were some amazing, strangely-colored paintings of wars between Indians and colonizers. There aren't any pictures of it here, but it's an impressive website anyway! I'll have to go back to this one again. http://www.raicesamericanas.com.ar/

After going to lots of galleries with some friends on Friday night, we all went to El Ateneo, an old theater that was converted into a bookstore. It was pretty cool, but the painted dome at the top was a disappointment: they didn't paint the very top of it — just left it black! I prefer the librerías on Corrientes y Callao because the books are much cheaper and they play better music. =)

After the bookstore we went to a kind of fancy restaurant called Cumaná. I had pizza with tomato and basil, an empanada, and some really great house wine.

Over the weekend I hung out with Fede. We talked a lot, watched movies, went out for ice cream a few times, and walked around a beautiful, foresty park.

I've spent the last few days trying to work on my essay for literature. It was a really frustrating experience: although I tried very hard, I'm worried about even passing. The other American students feel the same way. Hopefully we'll all pull through! I'm glad, at least, to have that one overwith, although I have about 5 more tests to come (in the next month).

Sorry there aren't any pictures of my own. I really miss my camera and will either fix or replace it this week!

Besos!
Kaeli

Viaje a Patagonia

Hola todos,

This weekend I went on a trip with my program to Patagonia — the cold, southern region of South America. I saw lots of animals in Puerto Madryn and visited an espacio para la memoria (memorial space) in Trelew.

Our flight from Buenos Aires left at 4:00 am! It took about an hour. Once we got there and got settled in our hostel, we set out for our first activity: buceo (scuba diving!). We put on neoprenes — thick bodysuits to keep us warm in the freeeezing water — and went out in the Pacific in a speedboat to find some lobos del mar (sea wolves). I wasn't sure exactly what those were, but after a 20- or 30-minute boat ride, I found out! They are cute, brown, seal-looking things! I'll try to post a picture of them later.

I had a cold, and wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go swimming in that cold or put a snorkeling mask on. But I didn't want to miss the opportunity, so I did it! We went to an area where the sea wolves/sea lions hang out and swam with them for a while. They're cute, and like to play, brush past people, and be pet — a lot like dogs on land! I braved the water (cold as ice!) and pet a few of them. I got creeped out when one brushed past me, though. Their fins have spidery-looking fingers and their eyes are glassy brown. Cute, but fishy! lol. When we got back in the boat, we were all super-freezing and drank hot mate (a type of tea) and coffee to warm ourselves up and ate some alfajores (like Little Debbie cakes, except richer!). I took some pictures from the boat, but unfortunately my camera got a little wet and fizzled out. =/ I still have my cell phone camera, though, and Fede said I can use his camera if I want.

Later that day we went to a beach to watch some Franco-Austral whales. The water was really deep, and the whales were only about 20 feet away from the shore. They're huge and have big callouses on their skin. They didn't really do anything interesting — just swam back and forth. But it was surreal to see them, and nice to sit on the beach.

On Saturday we went to la Península Valdés to see more Franco-Austral whales from a boat. We watched a few hembras y sus crías (female animals and their offspring). The babies tried to copy what their mothers did — they turned upside down so that their tails popped out of the water, jumped, and swam under the boat. The whales are curious about humans, and like to watch us as much as we like watching them! =)

Later that day we saw some penguins. There were about 40 of them in the grass, grooming themselves and sleeping. When you see them up close, their feathers look spiky. They reminded me of hedgehogs!

For dinner me and some friends bought some pasta and sauce to make at the hostel. It was warm, cheap, delicious, and one of the highlights of the day! lol. My cold kept getting worse and worse as I spent more time out in the wind. =/ I got lots of sleep that night, though, which helped.

The next day we went to Punta Ninfas (Nymph Point) to see elefantes marinos (sea elephants). They are like giant white sea lions. To get to them we had to climb down a huge sandstone cliff and walk maybe a quarter of a mile on a rocky beach (I love beaches with rocks). It was exhausting for me — being sick — but worth it! We sat with some pregnant sea elephants on the beach and watched them and a few of their babies. They scooched along on their bellies, scratched themselves with their fins (which have five little fingers and claws), made burping noises, and fidgeted with their tails (which also look sort of like hands). They were bizarre and cool, lol.

I love the landscape in Patagonia. There are green shrubs for miles and miles, blue skies, and desert animals like hares and guanacos (orange llamas! — my favorite animals of the trip).

Our final mini-trip was to Trelew, where a famous prison break and a massacre took place. Hundreds of political prisoners were sent to the high-security prison in Trelew in the early 70's. The idea was to get them away from the big cities where they had a lot of support and influence. The guards were prepared for a prison break attempt, but expected it to come from the outside. Instead, though, the prisoners (with some support from people in the town of Trelew) planned a fuga (a prison break) from the inside. They made fake guns and military uniforms, got themselves punished on purpose in order to see more of the prison and construct more detailed maps, got a prison guard to cooperate, and arranged for trucks to pick them up. The escape was partly successful, but because of one misinterpretation of a signal, some of the trucks didn't come. The most important leaders left the prison in a car, and the others, when the trucks they had planned for didn't come, called taxis!

The first group got onto a plane with their military uniforms and told the passengers that they were drilling responses to terrorist attacks. They stalled for as long as they could to wait for the others, but it wasn't long enough. Only 6 of the 25 people that escaped from the prison successfully made it onto the plane and safely into Chile. The 19 that arrived to the airport in taxis but missed the plane were captured, tortured, and massacred by the marines. After almost 40 years, the guilty parties are in the process of being punished right now. Many of them had escaped to the US, where one of them still lives (and works for the Pentagon).

If you're interested in this topic, I recommend the documentary "Trelew," which is what we watched at the espacio de memoria (in the airport where the prisoners escaped).

Today is a holiday — el Día del estudiante, Student Day — so I don't have class! I'm going to los Bosques de Palermo/Palermo Forests with some friends. I'm still kind of sick, but I've never been to these forests, and it should be fun. =)

Hasta luego!
Kaeli

Federico, Cementerio Recoleta

¡Hola, todos!

 

After a month of living here, I feel at home in Buenos Aires! =) I have a better idea about how things work around here now, love the area, and have met lots of friendly and interesting people.

I took my first parcial (midterm) for my Latin American Art History class yesterday. I think I did decently but not great. The difficulty I had was in naming specific paintings, which I hadn't studied at all — I'd only studied artistic genres, historical events, and artists. I'm not too worried, though, because at any rate it should be clear that I'd done the reading; the other students I talked to hadn't memorized painting names, either; and the professor told us that if we did too horribly, we could retake the test. My next tests are for History of Latin America in the 20th Century and a paper for Latin American Literature. Wish me luck (¡suerte!)! =)

In other (and more exciting) news, I have a new boyfriend! His name is Federico (Fede for short) and I met him in my History class. =) Here's a picture of him from not too long ago (he's the one with glasses): 

 

 

He's Argentinian, majoring in International Relations, and heavily involved in Model UN — he's gotten to travel all over the place because of his involvement: to Poland, Mexico, and even to Cuba! We've been going on dates and talking all the time about politics, social justice, traveling, and ourselves. I'm really happy! =)

On Wednesday we went to el cementerio de Recoleta (a famous cementery where lots of important people are buried): it was his first time there, too. It was raining when we went, and we had to make time for lunch and to get to class, so we didn't see the most famous graves, but we did get a general feel for the place. Most of the graves are mausoleums with coffins displayed inside — it is one pretty creepy place. There are lots of beautiful statues, there, though, and interesting inscriptions. Here are a few pictures!

This is what most of the graves are basically like. I took a picture of this one because there was a Windows magazine slipped under the door. Think the spam will stop when you're dead? Don't be too sure! lol.

 

This weekend I'm going to Patagonia to hike in the snow and have various other adventures!

¡Hasta pronto!
Kaeli

La embajada norteamericana

Hola todos,

Yesterday my friend Fede showed me all around Palermo, one of the neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. We saw a bunch of stylish shops and tall buildings, ate Mexican hamburgers (yay!), and got delicious ice cream (dulce de leche all the way!) at a mall. He asked if I'd seen the American embassy, and I hadn't, so he took me there to show me.

When we walked past a building with lots of tall, black, iron gates and security guard booths behind them, he asked if I recognized it. I didn't. It looked like a jail, and if that were the embassy, I thought it must be the back entrance or something — the ugly side behind the colonial, Greco-Roman-style front. I'd been to the Spanish embassy here: a medium-sized, inviting building with regular cultural events (that's where I saw the discussion about Arab Women in Film), and had seen the Korean embassy: a bigger building than the Spanish one, that did look less inviting, but nothing like a prison. But what we were looking at wasn't a jail or the back of the embassy — that was it!

I looked at the big embassy building (indeed colonial and Greco-Roman-style) from a distance through the gates and saw some men and women chatting, wearing stylish businesswear, through the windows. There was a sign that said something like "American citizens and special guests only" on one of the gates and a ribboned-off section on the sidewalk where you could stand to wait for an American visa. An older guard with some missing teeth patrolled outside. I wondered if he were American or Argentinian, but Fede told me without my asking that they were private security guards.

I wanted to take a picture of the place to show you all how grand, intimidating, and exclusive it is. When I took my camera out, Fede said, "You can't take pictures here. This is the American embassy! I don't want the guard to bother us." My concept of what embassies were like was still almost entirely based on the Spanish embassy I'd visited, so I thought for sure he was joking (it really sounded like a joke...), and started to take the picture. When I saw the guard walking in our direction, though, I put my camera down.

He said (in Spanish), "There are no photos allowed here. There are no photos allowed here. Did you take a picture? Don't you see the signs?" (Signs on the gates — I hadn't read them, because I'd been too impressed by the gates themselves and the building!) He looked at my camera, and I showed him that I hadn't gotten a picture of anything except my purse — I'd moved my camera down when I saw him coming. "This is the American Embassy!" he said. I said "Lo siento! No me di cuenta." I'm sorry, I didn't realize! I wondered if he could tell that I'm American, or if that would matter to him at all. I was glad when he walked away!

Fede said, "I told you you can't take pictures! This is the American embassy!" I said, "I'm sorry! I thought you were joking!" He told me it makes complete sense why you can't take a picture: you could use the information for a terrorist attack. "If you want to take a picture you have to stand over there (on a hill) and just zoom in."

After the embassy Fede showed me the embassador's house. Another grand, gated palace with guards. It had the American seal in the middle and an American flag flying high. It was at the intersection of Avenida Del Libertador (Liberator Avenue) and John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Fede said that every 4th of July there's a huge party (either at the embassador's house or the embassy, I can't remember), where only very important people are invited, and someday he wants to go.

The exclusivity of it all reminds me of Aladdin and the palace and guards in the movie. I wish our embassy were more friendly-seeming, in a country where we are generally known as "American imperialists." The gated, policed, imperial palaces don't help us to challenge that image!

It's less of a wonder to me now why some people here think it's so great to live in America (when, at least in Buenos Aires, it's very similar, cheaper, and safer to live here!). The symbols of America here are so rich, important, and huge (American embassy, American restaurants and stores, American concerts and shows).

Again, though, it's a similar atmosphere, cheaper, and safer (than Chicago, Chicago suburbs, even Galesburg) to live right here. America's real asset, I think, is freedom: freedom of speech, choice, action. That's what we've got that is special, and that's what we need to defend. The other things — cost of living, people's general well-being (health care, stress levels, happiness), and safety — are things that are lacking compared to small- and big-town Korea and the capitol of Argentina in my own experience, and many other places according to what I've read. My personal project for America is to advance equality opportunity (which unfortunately needs advancing in most places). I hope we can shape ourselves up!

Today I'm going to do a bunch of homework and go with another friend (the receptionist!) to a different area, Recoleta.

Hasta luego!
Kaeli