Category Archives: Argentina

el boliche de roberto tango music spanish guitar
Argentina, Culture

La Música Tango

La Música Tango:  A Time Warp

Me encanta. Last Wednesday night, my roommates and I trekked the whole half block from our house to a small, intimate little bar called El Boliche de Roberto. Mikael and Aliya were heading to Brazil the following day for a couple of weeks, so we thought it exceedingly necessary to celebrate their brief departure. After a few bottles of wine, some cheese, some excitement from the fútbol game on tv and the usual debatable topics of conversation spewing from Mikael, a woman came to a stage which was no higher than 10 inches off the ground and no wider than can fit 2 people. The second she took to the stage, the entire bar fell silent and all eyes were concentrated in her direction. Our table was directly in front of her as I sat inches away from the music that would capture me for the rest of the night. When she finally opened her mouth to sing, I felt transported to a time and place, unfamiliar.  Her raspy voice: oddly beautiful. The music: a fine balance of intensity and comedy. I only understood about less than half of what she was singing but the passion behind her subject was evident in her voice, her face, her body language and even the guitarist was moved by his own guitar playing. I was obsessed. She sang about five songs and then while she walked around collecting tips in a basket, which I was glad to hand over, her younger male apprentice came up to sing and as I suspected, I had not been disappointed. Now, on to DANCING Tango!

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almagro buenos aires argentina malbec
Argentina, Culture

BsAs Living | Casa Potosi

BsAs Living: 5 Roommates, 1 awesome apartment

Kip has finally arrived in Buenos Aires and his welcome to the city was met with 3 new roommates and a charming old-fashioned home in the neighborhood of Almagro. I can’t say enough about our new (and sadly, short-term) living situation. Our roommates are phenomenal. They’re sociable, well-traveled and enjoy having a good time. In the past three days alone, we’ve spent nights cooking together, purchasing and drinking several bottles of wine and have had the pleasure of meeting their close-knit group of friends. My first night at Casa Potosi, Sylvia cooked up a feast of two different types of curries while eight or so of their close friends mingled, introduced themselves and played Wii. It reminded me so much of our close-knit gang from back in San Francisco and suddenly, I felt a slight twinge of homesickness. The apartment’s got an inviting indoor patio encased by the kitchen, two bedrooms and the living room. It’s great for studying, having dinners or just hanging out and chatting. It’s actually my favorite part of the house! There’s even an upstairs game room loft.  This house does have its disadvantages, though. While it’s perfect for warm, balmy Argentine nights, it’s unbearable in the winter. It’s an old, open-air type house so there’s hardly any insulation and the room that Kip and I co-habitate is the largest and in front of the house facing the street so we definitely feel the bitterness of the cold. But I wouldn’t trade it for the experience and the company. It’s a house with character and it should be a very interesting month at Casa Potosi!

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colonias de inmersion al idioma buenos aires argentina
Argentina, Culture

Spanish Immersion Camp Counselor

Spanish Immersion Camp Counselor: Evoking my inner child

Just when I thought I was wrapped in the serenity of a subtle Argentine chill, a blast of icy misery descends upon us. Okay, let’s back up a couple of days. Last week at the hostel, my roommate from Quebec, Maggie, decides that it would be fun to dye Cara’s (roommate from Michigan) and my hair. Not all of it, just strings and pieces. The bottom portion of Maggie’s hair is stunningly purple.  I played it safe with one little streak of bleached rusty blonde/brown near my temple so that it peaks out just a bit. I figure, new country, new ‘do! Thanks Maggie!

After finally securing a room for Kip and I at a very cool looking house in a neighborhood called Almagro and with roommates I can’t wait to get to know – Syl from El Salvador, Rob from France, Mikael from Denmark,  I took off for two days for training for my new job as a camp counselor at an English Immersion program. The idea of these 3-day camps are to allow children of various ages and stages in English development to become immersed in the English language. The camps are themed and kids are only allowed to speak English or face light punishment, often times in the form of an English essay. All Spanish-related items are confiscated at the beginning of camp and all counselors are native English speakers from all over the world (Ireland, USA, Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa, we didn’t have any Canadians at the training;)). The training brought about a child-like glee in all of us as we were expected to do and learn everything the kids will be going through during the actual camps – from arts, crafts, campfire songs, dances from various English-speaking countries etc. All the camps are at least an hour outside of Buenos Aires, mostly in provincial areas and I’m really excited for my first camp, which I believe is in September.

And finally, after two whole weeks, I left my hostel today and am at my new house. It’s already 3pm and most of the roommates are still sleeping, I guess it’s expected? Ciao!

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copa america san telmo market buenos aires argentina
Argentina, Culture

Sunday Market and Copa America | Buenos Aires | Argentina

Sunday Market and Copa America: Walking around BsAs

Photo captions:

People geared up to cheer for Uruguay in the Copa America (vs. Paraguay). Uruguay won! Buenos Aires was all fluster that night 7-24-11

Sunday Markets in San Telmo, miles of vendors! It went on FOREVER.

Note to self: While BsAs is very dog friendly, watch out for LOTS of loose tiles and dog piles…

 

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sushi hostel arrabal malbec wine buenos aires argentina
Argentina, Travel

Argentine Sushi | A night of wine and Winehouse

Argentine Sushi – a questionable cuisine

After viewing two apartments today, snagging an interview on Monday for a camp counselor position in an English Immersion program and booking two more apartment viewings for tomorrow, I joined some of my hostel mates in splurging for some “sushi” (if you call cream-cheese filled rolls even that) tonight for dinner. Between 6 of us, we ordered 3 trays of 30-piece sushi and went to the corner store to buy 4 bottles of wine, Malbec being two of them, of course and went to town. I can’t even begin to explain how interesting this dinner was. For starters, there were at least 4 different languages being thrown around at once. There was a couple from Brazil, the guy was Japanese but spoke Portuguese, Spanish and English and his Brazilian girlfriend spoke Portuguese and Spanish but no English. There was the German girl, Carine, who spoke German with the girl from Holland, Wanda, but also interchanged between Spanish and English, which they were fluent in both. Then there was me and Leelah, from Missouri. We both spoke Spanish and English (although my Spanish was questionable), so you can only imagine the hodge podge of tongues being spoken at that dinner table. The funniest part was having to find out about Amy Winehouse’s death today in Spanish. I thought, at first, I was mistaken in what I had heard, perhaps they had wished she was dead? But it was confirmed with both enthusiasm and sympathy that the news was, in fact, true. The rest of the night was reserved for hustling in pool! I found it very useful that the Brazilian girl didn’t speak English because I was forced out of my comfort zone in order to make any attempts to converse with her.

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obelisco subte buenos aires argentina
Argentina, Travel

Buenos Aires | Day 2

Buenos Aires: Surviving Day 2

Last night, I ended up passing out 9pm, the first of my 5 roommates to fall asleep.  When I woke up, everyone was already gone from the room. I checked the time and I had slept until 10:30 this morning! Apparently, it was much needed. After shamelessly sleeping for more than 12 hours, I finally got dressed, grabbed a map, some cash and my camera and headed out to venture into the streets of Buenos Aires. I walked up Avenida  9 de Julio, one of the main roads in downtown Buenos Aires, parallel to the waterfront and leading up to the Obelisco de Buenos Aires, a national monument. A few protests appeared here and there but they were calm.  Further to the right of the Obelisk were several pedestrian streets full of little shops and restaurants that I perused but felt reluctant to spend. The only thing I bought was a 4 peso empanada con queso y cebollas (cheese and onions). Everything is so ridiculously cheap here.

I went to look at an apartment in another neighborhood and on the way back, decided to brave the subway (it was either this or walk 20-something blocks back to my hostel) and it only cost me 1.10 peso, which is roughly .33 cents? Fabulous. The subway system is nothing to fear, it’s well-labeled and easily understood. Mind your claustrophobia during peak hours. It’s literally time to pack like sardines but otherwise, it’s harmless and enjoyable if people-watching is your hobby. One key observation about Porteños y Porteñas (Argentines, specifically those living in Buenos Aires) is that they are very stylish, very fashionable and very good-looking. The women are beautiful and the men are really handsome (or at least so they say, not that I’ve been looking, Kip).  I have never seen so many cute boots, scarves and coats in one city. Everyone is just so well dressed, men, women, young and elderly alike. It’s the tourists that dress poorly in comparison. Then for the rest of the night I hung out with a few Brits and Irish people and exchanged a few S. American travel stories – some disturbing, some funny but all in all, I remember why I love hostels so much: you get to meet the most incredibly interesting people!

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hostel arrabal buenos aires argentina balcony view
Argentina, Travel

Moving to Buenos Aires | Day 1: Hostel Arrabal

Moving to Buenos Aires: Arriving at Hostel Arrabal

(Photo of the view from my hostel balcony)

I’m here. I can’t believe I’m here. After what felt like an eternity of airports, layovers and stale, recycled airplane oxygen, I somehow made it without a hitch and can relax at the hostel. So let’s sum up the last 72 hours, shall we:

I get back to SF after a month in Oceanside, have 2 days to pack up the apartment while simultaneously packing for a year’s worth of belongings in Argentina, Kip drops me off at SFO International Airport, we say our goodbyes and I’m suddenly thrown into a wave of pseudo-anxiety attacks at the realization of my vulnerability as a lone female traveler for the next two weeks. 8 hours pass on the plane to Lima, another 8 hour layover in Lima between midnight and 8am, where sleep never came, and then a 4-hour flight to beautiful Buenos Aires! Both legs of my flights were blessed with the absence aisle mates, giving me ample room to sprawl and commandeer seats, whilst watching a grand total of 5 of the many choice movies offered by LAN. Again, sleep deprivation wins.

As we begin to descend into Buenos Aires, I catch a glimpse of the acres and miles of plotted landscape with small clusters of civilization blotting the terrain. It’s calming, somehow.  The area outside of the Ministro Pistarini International Airport is reminiscent of a drive I once took with my parents in Vancouver, flat lands with bare-leafed trees. It’s a beautiful winter-esque sight. It is a bit chilly here since it’s in the winter season but very comparable to SF weather, so I’m not too worried about what I packed.

After thinking they’ve lost one of my bags and having to hunt it down at another carousel before feeling like I might burst into tears, I found my shuttle driver from the hostel waiting patiently for me outside the terminal. He didn’t speak English so it was a pleasant 40-minute drive to the hostel where my high school Spanish was pushed to its limits but got me roughly through basic conversation. Right off the bat, it was already evident that I’d have difficulty with Argentine Spanish. It’s rapid-fire but sounds melodically similar to Italian. And finally, here I am, Hostel Arrabal in the San Telmo neighborhood, a more European feel with its cobble-stoned streets and architecture. It’s one of the nicer hostels I’ve stayed in and has a full kitchen so I went to a corner market a couple blocks away to buy some food to cook here for the next couple days. I’m greasy from traveling and am ready for a shower and some much needed sleep!

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