it's a love/hate relationship

everyone seems to have a mixed opinion about the wachitorros. either way, they are taking over capital federal

on the causeway

it's almost beach weather. good thing too, it's been too long. three months, I mean.

EDIT: Recently got back from Mar Del Plata with Vickie. Can't keep me away for too long. 

I just really want to start a Camera Obscura cover band.

this is a good way to meet

Iruya

Gauchos

On the road

Not very recently, I took a trip to northern Argentina and visited the cities of Salta, Perico, Tilcara, and Jujuy. My friends and I knew we wanted to check out the northeast to see some mountains and also try to get a bit off the touristy path by going to the Festival del Virgen del Rosario in Iruya. And so, after missing my plane flight out of Buenos Aires and rescheduling a new one for the next morning, we found ourselves at a peña-folklorico one night and almost to the border of Bolivia the next. Also, for the first time in my life, I experienced what it's like traveling on my own; slipping into salteño cafes, asking taxi drivers where to buy a good empanada, and inevitably sharing a room in a hostel with a few guys from Portugal and a girl who I only saw when she was sleeping. At first, I felt pretty tense trying to get around, after being robbed just before leaving in BsAs (this really was not my week) and hearing that in general, traveling solo/sola as a female in South America is something to think twice about. But of course, I was alright. I decided it's probably safer anyway to look like I knew what I was doing instead of looking afraid and suspicious, clinging to my LeSportSac weekender bag between bus rides. 

One thing I started thinking a lot about in the north, now really having to put my Castellano to the test, was all the little phrases and words that don't really translate at all from English to Spanish or vice versa. Whenever I find a word that expresses something in Spanish but not in english, I usually think it's just funny, unneeded, or actually really useful. One word/phrase I heard a lot up there was the use of the verb aprovechar which means in English, "to make the most of." So succinct. APROVECHÁ, I say. Make the most of it. Take advantage of it while you can. It would seem that, yea, English/Spanish - the translation's not that different; "we have a way of saying that too." But really, the use of the verb aprovechar carries a certain weight to it that doesn't hold the same way in English and depends much more on context. For example, walking up the steep, oxygen-deprived hills of Iruya to our hostel room, I told the host how we'd traveled a long way for a long time but were happy to be there finally. "Sí, bueno, hay que aprovechar el día." Later, hiking with my own personal llama by my side, I was explaining how I didn't have much time left in Argentina and my friend told me, "Aprovechalo." Even my host mom, who, granted, isn't the most friendly Porteña I've met, and is actually pretty gruff, still manages to nudge me and let me know I've got to aprovechalo when it looks like I'm thinking of sitting out another night in the boliche. In vidrieras when something is on sale, you'll see a sign reading: "APROVECHÁ ahora!" Don't let this deal pass up, because obviously the price on this toaster oven is too good to pass up at this moment. When someone tells me this, especially coming from a stranger, it's a sort of blessing. It's like you and them are quietly acknowledging the fact that some things can't be repeated. They only happen once. Moments happen once, and while they last you've got to make the most of it.

I like this verb because it captures to me, what is Argentina, cómo es la Argentina. What I've been trying to convey all this time about Buenos Aires. A city that seems to live from moment to moment, reflected in its  uncontested nightlife - the fact that no one seems to see sleep as a priority, a city that drinks more coffee, smokes more cigarrettes, and takes in more sugar than I can keep up with, but for who time slows down just enough to relax during for three-hour lunch breaks, meriendas, or make-out sessions in the park. Argentina to me is a city on stilts; it's jarringly beautiful at the same time that it has its problems and dysfunctional aspects but it's this idea of aprovechandolo that holds it all up.

Also, as an update on the Spanish progress: after coming back, I felt incredibly more confident in speaking Spanish. I think before I could speak fine, but I now feel like I actually have command of the language or some hard-earned right to speak it. The best part was when I was stayed with Nati in Perico and met some of her good friends. At some point in the night, I realized that I'd completely forgot I was speaking spanish with them. I wasn't struggling with how to say something or trying to find the right words; I was already saying them.

get me to the bosques!

Have I mentioned how everything in BsAs shuts down on sundays? It's like it's a small town, except that it's a city filled to the brim with people. And where do all the people who aren't working go on sundays? to the park! on sundays, the parks are full of people settled down for a picnic, a run, some mate, suntanning, anything to be outside. sunday is the day to spend time with family and friends. I have several argentine friends here who seem to have similar routines of having weekly lunches with their relatives in the city. My favorite place to go is definitely "Los Bosques del Palermo" where we went this weekend.


side note: I was robbed today. I feel like it was inevitable; almost. It's that it's just so common here and I think that had I not already been told so many stories and been told to watch out so many times, it would have shaken me up much more. It's ok, really! But oh Argentina, why'd you have to go and do that?! 


Heading out to the northern region of Argentina to visit Salta/Jujuy tomorrow. Chau!

Maddy made cake! I was still a bit sick, so naranja-limon juice sounded like a good idea. 

la guarnición had to be patagonia berries, obvio.

Maddy at our little place by the pond

In Argentina, you have two options when it comes to buying/ordering water: agua sin gas or con gas. Today i decided to opt for MAS gas. Reloco, i tell you.

Ready for more days like this.

i couldn't even drive yet

loveyoupooh."For a little while, we lounged in the sand collecting seashells for our summer necklaces (every time we go, we find just one to keep). Once we found the one we wanted to save, we decided to return the others to the ocean and started yelling stuff like "This is for every time you made me brush my teeth!" or "This is for every sad love song!" whenever casting one off. The last one, we threw together, and yelled, "...and this is one, this is for every good time that we might forget!"

summer '05

hola, primavera

my little mate gourd

Today I spent the entire day "tomando mate y sol" en true Argentine style by celebrating Dia del Primavera, which also happens to be Dia del Estudiante...which means no class for students! It's hard to rightfully describe to someone the laid-back nature that is living in Buenos Aires, but the number of holidays this country takes and the way in which they celebrate each one definitely says something about it. Dia del Primavera is a day each year when la gente flock to the Bosques de Palermo or any city plaza/parque nearby to spend the day picnicing, drinking, playing music, etc. etc. * Some places are a bit crazier than others - several people warned me to be wary of getting robbed and to watch out for peleas/fights - and others places are more tranquil, like the one some friends from my theatre class and I went to today. 


I spent the entire day taking in the sun, celebrating Dia del Primavera!


My day went a little like this:
I picked out my favorite long skirt to wear because, it being the first day of spring, weather permitted. Walked to Palermo to meet Sarah, where we walked some more around the city to find some sidewalk cafe to eat at and people watch. I loved seeing everyone in their summer gear. And it was clear that many people were headed to the parks, because almost everyone was walking with groceries in their hand or what looked like a picnic bag with their friends.


Afterwards, I met up with the girls/guys from theatre in the park. We had an overabundance of facturas, little pastries/sweet breads, wine, and of course, mate. We found ourselves a little patch of grass and blissfully spent the next five or so hours there in the grass, tomando sol y mate. This is pretty typical for Dia del Estudiante, and looking around there were tons of little groups just like ours, all little circles of friends hanging out in the grass. Some guys were playing soccer. Other groups had out guitars and were clapping/singing along. Even after the sun set, no one seemed to be in a hurry to leave. Really, what's the rush? No one is ever in a hurry here. Some of them are probably still in the park now.


*I think open container laws technically exist here, but only technically. If you see the policia, you're supposed to conceal your botella de vino or what have you, but it appears to be just a sign of courtesy, really. Actually, visit any weekend feria and you'll find venders selling Quilmes, the national beer, in the grass where people are snacking/listening to music in the plaza.