Argentina, ¡for the love of Spanish!

Chajarí, Entre Ríos

2007-08-28T15:35:00.000-07:00

I had one of the most incredible experiences in my life last weekend in Chajarí. Chajarí is a small town in the province of Entre Ríos, north of the province of Buenos Aires. Juan Manuel was born there and lived there all his life until he moved to Buenos Aires Capital three years ago. Chajarí is a town with a population of about 30,000 people and it has more unpaved streets than paved. Although it's a tiny town, it is responsible for the majority of citrus exports from Argentina and all of South America. The entire town is based on the citrus industry, and Juan grew up working on his father's groves. I met his family and spent three days with the nicest people in Argentina speaking Spanish, drinking wine and laughing endlessly.

I got a warm welcome similar to this from just about everyone I met!

Juan Manuel with his sister Rosina, 17.

Juan Manuel's brother, Juan Pablo, 9.

Pablito y yo.

Pablo playing fútbol with his big brother.

¡Pablo plays rough!

One of many citrus orchards in Chajarí, also bordering the south of the province of Corrientes.

Hehe, we're silly.

You can't really tell in this photo, but we are in front of the River Uruguay and you can actually see Uruguay in the distance.

Yes, this one is much better. See?

The weather was very wintery in Chajarí, much like Seattle. Overcast, crisp, windy, a little rain. The sky was doing crazy things all weekend.

Hanging out with Rosy and her friends outside, having some wine and laughing a lot.

Juan's abuelita (grandmother), Tita

Gladis y Juan Manuel

Gladis y yo

Juan y Rosy

Pablito y Gladis

Juan y Rosy. We visited a beach/camping area on the River Uruguay called Santa Ana.

It was really windy and felt just like beach in Seattle during the winter.

This is the coolest place to be during the summer in Chajarí.

Always drinking mate!

Isn't she cute!? I love her!

Mi amor.

Juan, Rosina y yo

Gladis y yo

Juan is his mother's angel.

Pablito is trouble.

La perra, Chivela

Rosy is soooo adorable.

In ten years he's going to be a lady-killer like his older brother.

Non-stop laughing.

They start drinking vodka young in Chajarí.

And then it was time to leave...

I truly adored his family and everyone I met in Chajarí. I hope I have the opportunity to go back and visit them again someday.

Montevideo, Uruguay

2007-08-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

My friend Juli made it to Buenos Aires to visit me as a side trip from Santiago de Chile. We spent the Sunday after she arrived in San Telmo walking around, drinking café con leche and checking out the street fair.

Juli y yo en Plaza de Mayo en frente de la Casa Rosada.

Having coffee empanadas on Avenida Belgrano y Avenida Defensa in San Telmo.

We love the street tango. How lovely!

And the street musicians.

On Monday Juli and I traveled to Uruguay by boat. This is a photo of the sun rising over Buenos Aires at Puerto Madero.

Juli y yo

We arrived in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay after about three hours. Colonia is a quaint little tourist town and I visited it last year. Juli and I had lunch there and then we took a bus to Montevideo, which was approximately 200 kilometers away, almost three hours by bus. Driving through the country of Uruguay was really serene. Nothing but green with tons and tons of farmland, mostly dairy farms. Even when we were just outside of Montevideo, the capital city, the landscape was very provincial.

We spent three days exploring Montevideo and had an amazing time! In my opinion, Montevideo is the South American version of Seattle!! The people are way more laid back and there isn't this crazy sense of urgency from people buzzing all around like there is in Buenos Aires. The city is más tranquila, and everyone walks around with a mate in one hand and a thermos of hot water in the other. It's really quite lovely. Everyone we talked to was kind and genuinely interested in helping us figure out this or that. There also seemed to be a more diverse mixture of ethnicity in Montevideo than in Buenos Aires. I wasn't hyper-conscious of my status as a gringa and no one seemed phased by my blond hair. Montevideo is much smaller than Buenos Aires, yet still maintains a refined sense of culture and an inviting city vibe.

La Rambla

Montevideo is a coastal city situated on a peninsula. La Rambla is a waterfront walkway that stretches around the majority of the city. It reminded me of Alki in Seattle.

Río de la Plata

Uruguayos enjoying a late afternoon mate by the water.

This sunset began to amaze me...

Plaza Constitución

Teatro Solis

Another statue of a guy on a horse.

Actually, this guy is el prócer (the great leader/hero) of Uruguay, José Gervasio Artigas. As Juli and I were walking through Plaza Independencia, I saw this statue and signs referring to it as "El Prócer". I was reminded of a short story I read in my Latin American Literature independent study during my last quarter at North called "El Prócer", and I couldn't help but wonder if this was the statue that inspired the story. I thought that the author might have been Uruguaya, but I couldn't remember. Upon doing a little research to satisfy my curiosity, I discovered that the author of that story, Cristina Peri Rossi, is indeed from Uruguay.

"El Prócer" was one of my favorite short stories that I read for that class. It is a political commentary criticizing military force that gives example to how history is repeating itself through violence. In the story, the great prócer comes down from the horse to see how his country has been doing after all this time. He finds military rule dominating the streets of the city he had fought for, and can't understand why people still need to be protected. Uruguay, like Argentina (and most South American countries), suffered a military dictatorship during the 1970s. In any case, I had an enlightening moment when I saw "El Prócer" with my own eyes.

Juli and I absolutely loved Montevideo. I love Uruguay and I think I will need to spend more time there in the future.

Miranda! and other stuff

2007-08-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

Good news!! My favorite Argentine band Miranda! played a show here in Buenos Aires on August 9 and thankfully Tasha and I were able to make it! It was probably the funnest concert I've been to in a long time. So great, in fact, that Tasha and I had to buy t-shirts to commemorate the profound experience that was seeing Miranda! live.

Tasha modeling the t-shirt. It's one of those obnoxious sparkle t-shirts that leaves a trail of glitter wherever you go. ¡Fantastic!

My friend Mariano and I finally caught up for lunch after several weeks. He's a busy Argentino, working all day and going to school at night. Sounds familiar...

Mariano y yo en Galerias Pacifico. It's an expensive mall similar to Westlake in Seattle, but with a much better food court.

Somehow I keep ending up cooking stuff. This has got to stop.

Avenida 9 de julio. This is the widest avenue in the world, sometimes taking three traffic rotations in order to cross it. Too wide to capture in one angle with my camera.

I really love the yerba mate.

Unas fotos

2007-08-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

Now I've been in Buenos Aires for a little more than a month. I'm glad that I still have more time left than has passed because I feel like I've been here forever. I suppose I've been saying all along that it felt like I never left last year. I've been taking a lot of random photos of friends that I have met. People come and go here, like me, and a big group of students that I studied with for a couple of weeks will be mostly gone on Tuesday.

Tasha

She's too cool for René

My friend Kyle (also from Seattle) just had a baby with his girlfriend here in Buenos Aires.

Amelie Julia Boyd

Kyle and I went to high school together at Mt. Rainier and we met up last year in Mendoza, Argentina after not having seen each other for eight years.

Now we're both living in Buenos Aires, and he didn't even tell me his girlfriend was pregnant.

I sent him a text message one evening a couple of weeks ago to see what he was up to...

...He texted me back saying he had just had a baby and that he was in the hospital.

I got to meet her a couple weeks later. Congratulations to Kyle and Leticia!

This is my boyfriend Juan Manuel. He's from the province of Entre Ríos, which is directly to the north of Buenos Aires province. We met at a party for some friends from the school that were leaving. He's adorable and we're very happy.

This is Tony. When he met me at the party, he immediately told me that I had to meet his friend, Juan Manuel. He promptly went upstairs to his room in order to send a message to Juan telling him that he should come to this party to meet me.

Tony and Juan. Tony is very proud of himself for having matched the two of us. He's a good friend. :-)

I will be going to Entre Ríos on the 24th of August to meet his family before I come home to go to school in September. Yes, that should be interesting...

Argentina truly has the finest wine in the world. The malbecs here are amazing, Trapiche being my favorite. You can actually get Trapiche in the US because it's one of the largest bodegas (wineries) in all of Argentina. Look for it. It won't disappoint.

Next week I am going to Uruguay for a few days.

My friend Juli and are going to take the boat across the Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento. Then from Colonia we will take the bus to Montevideo and spend a couple of days there before coming back to Argentina. I haven't been to Montevideo yet, so I'm pretty excited to experience another vibrant cultural capital city in South America.

Un día en Palermo (A day in Palermo)

2007-08-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

On Monday I went to the Jardín Japonés (Japanese Garden) in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo. My friend Lisa and I walked around Palermo for hours, also visiting the Museo Evita (Evita Museum) and Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays (a botanical garden). Palermo is a lovely part of town, filled with parks and tons of green space. I wish the sun had been out, but it's been like a classic Seattle rainy winter here the past few days.

JARDÍN JAPONÉS

Avenida Libertador

Huge park in the city... ¡que tranquilo!

Lisa y yo

MUSEO EVITA

This painting is the "classic" portrait of Evita, and by far the most famous of her in the world.

JARDÍN BOTÁNICO CARLOS THAYS

El día del amigo (The day of the friend)

2007-07-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was El día del amigo in Argentina, a commercialized celebration of friendship similar to Mother's Day and Father's Day and the like. There was a party for all the students at school in order to celebrate our international and multi-cultural friendships, so here I am going to introduce you to all my friends!

Alana from Atlanta and Amy from Chicago

Pablo from Argentina and Maria from the US

Me with Aaron from Michigan and Kelly from Paris

Me with Chirag from the States

Kelly, Maria, Aaron and yo

Me and Keegan... also from Seattle! We had the same Spanish professor, but not at the same time

Daniel and Eduardo from Brasil

Keegan and Pablo

Alana y yo

Eduardo, Aaron and Daniel

Me with Christian from Venezuela

Me, Keegan and Kelly

Pablo y Maria

Pablo and Lizzie from Florida who has the same birthday as me

Pablo y yo

Kelly, Alley from New York y yo

René from England and Tasha from Seattle

Tasha, Nati from Argentina y yo

Mis chicas

What fun! I love traveling. Chau! Un beso!

La Boca

2007-07-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

Today after class I met up with my friend Pablo to go play tourist in La Boca. La Boca is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, and it's famous for being the birthplace of tango... supposedly. The brightly-colored buildings are unique to this part of the city and make for some great photo opportunities. It is also home to the Boca Juniors, the club fútbol team in Buenos Aires. La Boca is also infamous for being one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, but if you stick to the main tourist drag, called the Caminito, it's totally safe. Besides, I had my own personal Argentine bodyguard so I wasn't worried. :-) In English, La Boca means "The Mouth", and it sits on an inlet of the Riachuelo.

Carlos Gardel (famous tango singer), Evita Perón, and a famous fútbol "hero" Diego Maradona

Boca Juniors fútbol stadium

Pablo y yo

¡Qué lástima! (What a shame!)

2007-07-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today I went to a bar with Tasha, René and another chica from the U.S. named Erika to watch the Copa America final, Argentina versus Brazil. Argentina lost 0-3, with one of our own scoring a goal for Brazil!! It was pretty sad, no excitement, no drama, no nothing. Apparently the club fútbol teams will be starting soon, so I will try to catch a Boca Juniors match in Buenos Aires, rather than just sitting in a bar with an unexcited crowd. How disappointing, considering I took the time to read about all the sports commentary in Spanish... something I would never EVER do in the U.S. Oh well... ¡Qué lástima!

(Tasha, me and René in our tiny little kitchen)

Tomorrow I am starting Spanish classes again at a school called ELEBAires. They teach Spanish to foreigners and offer other language courses for los argentinos. My friend Pablo teaches German there and he recommended it to me. I placed into the advanced Spanish level and had the option to do grammar in the morning and/or conversation practice in the afternoon. I elected only to do the conversation practice because honestly, I'm pretty tired of studying grammar and I have pretty much learned all there is to know about verbs, pronouns, prepositions, indirect and direct object pronouns, adjectives and whatever else there is to know. I don't always remember everything when I am trying to think and speak quickly, but I've learned it and learned it again and again over the past three years.

I'm starting to think about traveling and where to go after I finish classes. I know I have to check out Patagonia this year, so I'm thinking about heading to Bariloche for a little while. I think I'll take a couple of weeks to do a mini bus circuit going from Buenos Aires to Bariloche to Mendoza to Córdoba and back to Buenos Aires. I haven't finalized any plans yet, but I started checking out hostels in various locations and everything looks good. My school offers travel services and advice, so I will talk to someone there over the next week or so to possibly finalize something in August.

I'm very excited because I've recently discovered an Argentine band called Miranda and I just bought their latest CD tonight. Not one of my Argentine friends likes them a single bit, but I think they're great. Songs always sound better to me when they are sung in Spanish, so I could possibly understand why everyone hates them and I love them. I heard them on the radio when I got here and I was so intrigued by this guy's voice. If you're at all curious, I've included the link to their video on YouTube that you can copy and paste into your browser called "Prisionero", their hit right now. It's quite catchy with a pseudo-latino/pop rhythm. I think if they were singing in English I would hate them too, but what can I say?? I love them and I have no shame.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eQPdtb1_ivk

I guess that's all for now. Un beso, chau!

Lost no más

2007-07-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

From the moment I arrived I have been longing for my city map of Buenos Aires that I had last year. It went missing during my move, so I've been trying to reorient myself using the substandard paper tourist maps that are not directionally-oriented to the north. I don't have a natural sense of direction in any city, but my Discovery Channel map was so useful in helping me to figure out where I am in relation to the water... just like in Seattle.

Tonight, I reached for my Argentina guide in search of a map of the entire country, and on the back flap was... ¡my city map of Buenos Aires! My favorite map, right there in front of me, and it was like the veil of disorientation was lifted in front of my eyes. My Argentina guide was published by the Discovery Channel. I'm so happy about this. It isn't as big as my laminated, tourist red flag map, but it has a north/south orientation and I am ecstatic to have made this discovery.

Today in Recoleta

2007-07-12T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today was absolutely gorgeous so Tasha and I decided to go for a walk around Recoleta. We also walked through el Cementerio de la Recoleta as the sun was setting, so I finally felt inspired to take some photos. I went there several times last year and it's just so amazing. This is the cemetery where Eva Perón was laid to rest.

Mural for the students that were "disappeared" in 1977 during the military regime.

Naty and Tasha

I am much taller than all the Argentinos.

"La Floralis Generica - Homenaje a la ciudad de Buenos Aires" - Eduardo Catalano, Arquitecto

It opens during the day and closes as the sun goes down.

Tasha y yo (the flower is in the distance)

El cementerio

¡Hola!

Tasha

I miss my kitties...

Un beso, ¡chau!

Argentina vs. Brasil

2007-07-12T00:03:00.000-07:00

The weather was back to normal in Buenos Aires today at a nice cool 8ºC. I spent the last two days walking around the city in search of the supposed best language school this city has to offer. Depending on which map you look at, there seems to be a school on every other corner. Thankfully, I have narrowed it down to three. The next few days are for debating the pros and cons of each one, factoring in price, location, size, class time, group size and overall feel. Then Monday it's back to school.

Tonight was the semi-final match for the Copa America tournament between Argentina and México. Of course, Argentina won 3-0, scoring the first goal near the end of the first half. I watched the fútbol game at the same pub I went to the other night, this time with Tasha, Keegan, and René. Keegan is from Seattle and studied with my second-year Spanish professor in a different class. She put us in touch when he told her he was going to be in Argentina this summer. René is from England and we met on the plane from Atlanta to Buenos Aires. He was hoping to have the whole section to himself because Delta didn't want to let me board, but unfortunately for him I willed my way on. So far his version of that story is something like me sitting down and popping a handful of pills only to become unconscious throughout the majority of a 10-hour flight. The way he tells it is much funnier than the actual experience, and therefore I am able to laugh about it now.

There is one thing that I still haven't figured out about that pub. Somehow they came up with the amount of a $45 peso minimum - per person - in order to watch the game at their establishment. There is no way I could have come close to being able to consume $45 pesos worth of anything in one sitting like that, especially when a liter of beer is like, $10 pesos. Yeah, I can barely drink one liter of beer, let alone two or three, plus food. And, I know the typical Argentina would not be able to throw down $45 pesos just to sit in a bar and watch a fútbol game, so likely they are just asking tourists and foreigners to pay that much. I think they should just charge a cover to let people in to watch.

So Argentina beat México, which means that they are going to play Brazil in the final game. I don't know much about Latin American fútbol rivalries, but I'm pretty sure that Argentina vs. Brazil has the potential to be pretty intense. We'll have to go some place better for that match. There are tons of Brasileros in Argentina, and I think it would be fun to be in a place that had a good mix of both team loyalties. Most importantly is that I am not left in charge of finding such a place, because really I know nothing of sports bars/sports events/sports in general.

¡Viva la Argentina!

Snow in Buenos Aires?? Jamás!

2007-07-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

I think I am finally recovering after a week of severe insomnia, but unfortunately I don't have much to say because of this. Yesterday I went to a café in Recoleta to watch the Argentina vs. Peru fútbol match for the Copa America, and of course, Argentina won 4-0. The excitement was intense, so I can only imagine what the mood would be like during a close game.

The exciting news is that it's snowing in Buenos Aires for the first time since 1918. Snow is so rare that everyone is freaking out and sending me text messages to let me know just how strange this weather is. Apparently I am to blame for bringing this winter snow! :-) It doesn't seem to be sticking, but the sight of it falling is a wonder for many Porteños who have never seen snow before.

(The view of the snow falling on the garden outside our apartment bedroom window.)

Today is 9 de julio, or Independence Day in Argentina. I have been asking around to see what kind of festivities happen in the city, but because it's the middle of winter nobody really does anything special. It's a day to rest, eat asado and just be with the family.

This week my goal is to find a language school to take classes for a couple weeks. I wasn't really planning on studying, but I think it will be a good idea so that I have the opportunity to meet some new people with the same level of Spanish, or relatively close to mine. I have some really great native friends who love to help me and chat it up, but I think it will be good to study with a group and develop a little more of a routine for some time each day. There are almost countless language schools in this city and it's difficult to decide which one to go to because they're all about the same price. That is, except for the one I went to last year. It's the most expensive by far, and sadly I can't afford to go there again. I had a great experience with them last year, but my budget is much more of a factor this year.

I haven't been very active so I don't really have any photos to share yet. I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine in Seattle while I am witnessing history with the snow here.

Un beso, chau!

The first weekend

2007-07-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

My first weekend in Buenos Aires was great, although relatively low-key. I'm still adjusting to the time change (four hours ahead), and while it's not that different, I find myself not being able to sleep until 5am since I normally go to bed around 2 or 3 in Seattle. It will take a few more days, but after the stress of moving and traveling the rest is well-deserved, I say.

On Saturday I went to Avenida Florida with my friend Mariano to buy a cell phone and walk around. Avenida Florida is the central downtown strip for tourist shopping in Buenos Aires and it's pedestrian-only. Often there is live tango dancing and other street entertainers, including music and mimes and the like. You never know what you'll see!

Yesterday I took the subte (the subway system in Buenos Aires) to San Telmo, a historical neighborhood in BsAs, and visited the street fair that is held each Sunday on Avenida Defensa. Last year I lived in San Telmo with my host family, so it all felt very familiar and I really enjoyed the street fair atmosphere. I'm sure I'll be going back, so I'll post some photos later on.

My friend Tasha arrives tomorrow and it will be nice to have a tourist buddy. It's a blast hanging out with my friends, but sad to say they aren't terribly interested in exploring their own culture. It will be nice to have a fellow tourist to share my experiences with!

Mariano y yo

Yo he llegado... ¡Finalmente!

2007-06-29T22:34:00.000-07:00

Yay! I finally arrived in Buenos Aires after 24 hours and three different plane rides. I flew Delta because it was the least expensive and now I understand why. I flew Seattle to LA to Atlanta to Buenos Aires, but in Atlanta they had no record of my e-ticket. The flight from LA to Atlanta to Buenos Aires was the same flight number, and I was given a boarding pass in Seattle that just said LA to BsAs. This caused so much confusion for the ¡ONE! person working the counter AND boarding people at the Delta gate that she really didn't even want to deal with me. Finally she called for some help after everyone else had boarded this over-booked flight, and one can imagine my overwhelmed state of emotion thinking that they weren't going to let me on the plane after 30+ hours without sleep. Yes, I was crying. I have no doubt that helped.

But none of that is important now because I´m in Argentina and it feels like I never left. My apartment is great and so far I´ve just been trying to catch up on much-needed sleep. My friend Tasha is coming on Tuesday to stay with me and I´m really looking forward to seeing her. She has been traveling in Central America the past few months and now she´s heading south to start exploring this continent with me. ¡Que divertido!

Chau!

The Return

2007-06-03T01:05:00.000-07:00

I am leaving for Argentina in less than a month now. This is going to be my official blog site for this experience, so I hope everyone will bookmark it and check back over the next few months. Supposedly I am going to have internet access in my apartment in Buenos Aires, so that will make this blogging process a little easier.

I am also going to attempt something else this summer in addition to maintaining a blog. I am going to try to make an audio documentary to tell the story of my experience of learning Spanish. I may include some video footage if I am feeling so technically inclined. I hope to incorporate this form of audio journalism into my Spanish and Latin American studies at Evergreen in order to fuse some sort of This American Life-inspired Spanish/English hybrid major. Oh, Evergreen...

But first, Argentina! I leave on June 28 at some ridiculously early hour. I guess I'll keep everyone posted.

Holly