TIERRA SANTA? THANKS, I THINK I'LL GOLF INSTEAD

Awhile back, while I was still living in beautiful San Diego and Chico was already in Buenos Aires, he phoned me to tell me he was going to Tierra Santa, a religious theme park. I cannot fully express how great I thought this was, and how badly I wanted to go the second I arrived. I had Chico describe the entire park in great detail on numerous occasions which only quantified my want and need for Tierra Santa. So time went by, I moved to Buenos Aires, and the perfect day fell upon us. We convinced our friend, Mark that this was going to be fun and dragged him out of bed early one Tuesday for the cab ride across town. The cab dropped us off in front of the Pearly Gates that separated us from the giant statue of Jesus rising out of a plastic mountain every 45 minutes.

It was closed.

We swallowed our tears and went golfing.

Golfing Argentina style:

1 broken golf club (club literally fell off mid-swing)

2 finger wags ("No-no, Chico")

and

4 attempts at collecting bar tab ("La cuenta? Si, si").

We'll try Tierra Santa next week.

WEEK 2 OF NO INTERNET

There are a couple things that I've wanted to write about all week. Unfortunately until now, I haven't had a chance. I came down with a horrible sinus infection last night and feel like I got ran over by a bus. I'm home alone, not a darn thing on TV, no couch to lay on, and I'm almost out of Kleenex (which, by the way, has anyone heard of Kleenex con aroma??? This is the most brilliant invention EVER and until I came to AR, I had never seen it). So please excuse this post if it seems a bit all over the place...

Last Friday we went to a new Cuban Cigar bar called Gran Vega. This is a beautiful spot in Palermo... a bit on the pricey side, but worth it. I strongly suggest ordering a Ron Collins, a Montecristo cigar, sitting back on the leather couch, listening to some Cuban music, and snacking on fried plantains and olives.

Chico and I had Thanksgiving at our apartment for a few friends. We ordered a turkey at our local poultry shop, and went to Jumbo for everything else. This was our menu: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, rolls, cranberry sauce (we found cranberry sauce!!), creamed corn, and apple strudel for dessert. Despite getting the turkey frozen solid the day of, not having a temperature gage on the oven, and never cooking Thanksgiving dinner before, I think it went pretty well.

And to top off a pretty good week... my best friend just booked her ticket to come visit us in January.

And now I really need to watch TV.

Buenos noche- chau!

3 TIMES A WEEK= ONCE A WEEK

No... I really have so much to write about, it's just that my laptop decided to stop connecting to the Internet. I have no idea why and no idea how to fix it, so until I can find a computer repair shop (preferably one that speaks English and won't cost me millions of pesos), I am forced to beg Chico for use of his. So... my Argentine readers... if you have anyone you can recommend, I'd be eternally grateful!!

Well, it was bound to happen. Chico has decided to join the blogging. I'll include his link on my list of favorites, but just out of obligation.
No... actually, I'm interested to read what he views the challenges and joys of living in Argentina are.

We just stopped by Jorge's and decided to try something new. Mil hojas. It is a dark brown pastry which seemed molasses or cocoa flavored, a little dulce de leche, and covered with meringue (picture above). When Chico asked him what it was called, he explained it to us and said that while the dessert is called "a thousand layers", his doesn't have quite that many. Maybe 800 or so.

The man never ceases to amaze me!!

STENCIL GRAFFITI

This is one of the largest stencils I've seen yet at roughly 1 and a half feet long and 1 foot high (located in San Telmo). I have walked by this particular building every day for the past 2 months and noticed it for the first time the other night. And while I'm not quite sure what it means, I could take a couple good guesses.
These stencils are used by artists, advertisers, and activists rather than the 15 year old street punk that many people would seem to think. I have seen all different kinds, from advertising a local newspaper to promoting safe sex to a comparison of GWB to Mickey Mouse.
I have heard that stenciling emerged in BsAs around the time of the economic collapse of 2001. It probably has been around much longer, just not to the extent that it is now.
I should note that this practice is illegal in Buenos Aires. Most stenciling is done either at night or during one of the protests/demonstrations taking place elsewhere in the city.
I happen to really enjoy the wall stencils. I find some funny, some sad, and all thought provoking...

SIDEWALK ETIQUETTE - part 2

You might be on the 2nd or 3rd floor balcony of your home. But there are people who are on the sidewalk below you. This means you DO NOT toss dirty dishwater, or any other liquid, outside. This also means you DO NOT sweep garbage off of your balcony to fall on pedestrians below.

SIDEWALK ETIQUETTE

I live in the beautiful and historic neighborhood of San Telmo where the streets are cobblestone and the sidewalks narrow.
And by narrow, I mean NARROW.
And since the vast majority of people who walk on these sidewalks have never heard of the sidewalk etiquette, I am going to post a few highlights:
1) When in a group of 3 or more and stopped for whatever reason, please step aside from the middle of the sidewalk to allow others to pass by without themselves having to step into the street (as residents know, this is EXTREMELY dangerous to do with the buses from hell and the motorcycle mafia sharing the roads)
2) Pregnant, elderly, and disabled people should have the right of way.
3) When smoking on the sidewalk, it is not nice to flick your lit cigarette butt at passerbys.
4) When walking your dog, please carry a plastic baggy to pick up your dog's poo from the center of the sidewalk.
5) If walking with a friend(s), it is courteous to step aside and pause your conversation for a moment to allow others to also pass on the sidewalk.
6) If you like to walk with wide steps and arms spread out, please refrain from doing so if passing someone else.
7) Do NOT litter!! This just makes an already dirty city even dirtier!!

CORRECTION

I realized I posted something false. Actually, it could be true, but since I don't know for sure, I need to retract.
Des Nivel's meat man is Jorge. Not the singing waiter. The singing waiter could be named Jorge, but this piece of information has not been verified. In any case, I still love Jorge the meat man at Des Nivel and I still love the singing waiter who might be Jorge at Des Nivel.

RANDOM POSTS SINCE IT'S BEEN AWHILE

I'd like to say that the reason I haven't posted in so long is because I was travelling. Or found a job. But the truth is I got lazy this week. I was busy... in a way. My days did seem to fill up pretty quickly. So here are some of the things I've done and thought about doing for the past few days:

First of all... I went to my first Boca match. OH MY GOD. That is really all I am going to say until I try it one more time. Chico is trying to find out if he is a Boca or a River fan (and goes to both quite often) and this time he thought it would be fun to sit in the "absolutely insane" section. So after 6 elbow jabs to the skull, various bodily fluids flung onto me, and my post 12 hours of deafness, I think I'd like to check out River Plate.

Finally entertained some friends at our house... we have a beautiful patio that we need to use more. So the other night we had 6 guests for wine and hors devours before we went out for dinner. I had such a nice time... Oh- and we ate at Abril in San Telmo. Pretty good.

Spent a day in Palermo on Monday (combining work and play) and searched in vain for a coffee table. I never realized how important that piece of furniture is! I really want something cheap and nice... considering making on myself but with how busy my days have been I just don't know how I'll fit that in!! :) But anyway, Pompeya doesn't have anything close to what I'm looking for, so I thought I'd try those unfinished furniture shops. Nada.

Went to Chinatown the other day. And here is something for American Expats: Supermercada Casa China. Our shopping basket included 3 bottles of ranch dressing. And they have tomato juice. Oh yes, it is true!

Had my first solo (without the help of any friends) conversation in Spanish!! I stopped to get a choripan for lunch the other day. Jorge, our meat man recognized me and I actually surprised myself with how much I understood and was able to say. Which is still next to zero, of course. But it lasted about 10 minutes, which was pretty cool. Which reminds me of 2 subtopics:

... how much I love every single Jorge I meet. There is Jorge the meat man (Chico thinks he wears the only visor in the city. That is a somewhat strange observation to me, but he may be onto something here), Jorge the baker (who is open today after taking a vacation last week and us being in Uruguay the week before), and Jorge the waiter at Des Nivel. Who, by the way, is in the Lonely Planet guide. I need his autograph before I leave here!!
...how much I love choripan. How can something so relatively simple be so extraordinarily good?

Bue 2006!! Starts today and I have tickets for both days! I am so excited!! Mostly for the beastie boys, amadou et mariam, and dj shadow. I have no idea how I am going to stay awake for this- dj shadow doesn't go on until 2:30AM!! I'm really interested to see the venue. Not sure if it is inside or outside (guessing outside?) and whether or not they will sell drinks (water at least).

So that's my week summed up in a few paragraphs. I'll work on being more diligent in the weeks to come.
Chau for now!!

Our plumbing is fixed!!
For the first time since Tuesday, I didn't step out of the tub with blisters from the hot water.

WHY I AM HAPPY TO BE BACK IN BUENOS AIRES

Des Nivel.

I don't think Chico and I said one word to each other over dinner last night except, "please pass the salt" and "should we order one more bottle of wine?" Des Nivel (in San Telmo) has the best lomo, chorizo, puree de papas, provolonetta, and tinto de la casa. And the best waiter. And the best meat man.

We're back in BsAs! Unfortunately, we came home to find we don't have any cold water. Makes for very interesting showers (ouch!) and flushing the toilet (gross). It's only been 2 days though, and the porter is here trying to figure out why we have hot water but no cold water. I'm crossing my fingers this is an easy fix.
Uruguay was absolutely amazing. We started off in Carmelo which is a tiny, sleepy town on the Rio de la Plata. We had a couple very relaxing days there... met 2 stray dogs that followed us around day and night.
From there we went to Colonia. Chico found a golf cart rental agency which he was absolutely ecstatic over. It was a great way to see the entire town. We stayed at the Hotel Colonial which I would highly recommend. It offered free bicycles, Internet access, comfortable rooms, great food and great people.
The next morning we made our way to Montevideo just in time for the quarter final football (or soccer for my American readers) game between Uruguay and Brazil. This was my first football match and I'm hooked (in fact, Chico and I are going to the La Boca match this weekend). The following day we decided to head into wine country as a suggestion from one of our guide books. We took a train (yes... there is a commuter train in Montevideo. We should have taken the fact that no one knew there was a commuter train as a sign, but we were determined to taste Uruguayan wine!!) We hopped on the train that surprisingly still ran considering it dated back to the 1920's with no updating whatsoever, and took the hour ride into Juanico. There are no signs alerting riders to what town they are in, so we found it out by asking the passengers several times at each stop (picture of Juanico above). We found the winery. We found the winery closed. We found a convenience store, bought 2 bottles of wine, and waited 5 hours for the train back to Montevideo.
The next day we decided to travel to Punta del Este, which is the playground for the rich during the hot summer season. It really is a beautiful city, but loud and the hostel we stayed at was full of 20-something boys who were on a week long drinking binge (not quite the scene we were looking for and so we checked out the following day).
From Punta del Este, we traveled north along the coast to La Paloma. We must have looked lost from our backpacks and both of us looking at the Lonely Planet for a map, because 2 Uruguayans stopped their car and asked if we needed help. They immediately called their friend for directions to the hotel for us and then asked if we would like to see the next town over (Las Piedras) with them once we got settled in. Later that afternoon, our friends picked us up and drove along the coast to Las Piedras. We walked along the beach and our friends practiced their English (no practice needed from what I could tell), and then stopped for a drink at a bar right on the ocean. They recommended dinner at a restaurant in town we might like. Oh. We did. It was run by 1 man who played the part of host, waiter, and chef. Chico had lomo and I had pasta. And it had FLAVOR! For anyone who might find themselves in La Paloma, visit La Choza for some great food. As we walked back to the hotel after dinner, we stumbled upon a fairly large drum circle and I decided I was going to live in La Paloma someday. We stayed 2 days there... sunning ourselves on the beach, drinking wine in the evening, relaxing and having a wonderful time.

Our porter just left. He was unable to find the problem with our water. I'm not sure if this means he will find someone else who may be able to help, or if we are just out of luck. Hmmm...

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF JORGE JULIO LOPEZ

As I was packing my bags for Uruguay this morning, I checked my cell phone and came across a text message I received last week and had meant to write a post about. Here is exactly what came across to me (and millions of others with an Argentine cell phone):

Todos buscamos a Jorge Julio Lopez, si sabes algo llama al 911 o al 0800-333-5502. Gobierno de la Pcia. de Buenos Aires.

Jorge Julio Lopez went missing September 18th, the night before the conviction of a police investigator he was testified against. He was a key witness for the prosecution on crimes committed during the Dirty War.

Here is a link to a CNN article on this story...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/09/27/argentina.warwitness.ap/index.html

Wish List Part 2

1) Horseradish
2) Tomato juice
2) Cheese. Anything other than the white rubber that everything here is.
3) SPICE. I miss hot food!

Ok... I realize this entire post is about food. That's because I'm starving and looking over my grocery list of items that are impossible to find here.

Chico's visa is up on Tuesday which means we need to leave Argentina. We were planning on having our housewarming party on Saturday, but I think we are going to postpone that for a week or 2 and travel for a few days instead. Our current plan is to take the train to Tigre tomorrow and then take a boat into Uruguay. Our friends have strongly recommended visiting Colonia, which I know nothing about. Either way... it will be an experience and I'm really looking forward to heading out of the city for a bit. For more than just the day trip to Tigre, Lujan, or San Antonio. All of which were absolutely beautiful, but I am excited for a longer trip.
Chau for now!

TIGRE

Chico and I decided to take a little day trip out of town. Over coffee that morning, we read that there was a market in Tigre (32KM North of BsAs) and thought it would nice to get away, even if it was just for the day. We took the hour long train ride to Tigre which let us off right at the Tigre River. As we were walking and ready to ask someone to point us in the direction of the market (we both forgot to bring our guidebooks) we saw that there were boat tours. We bought a ticket right away.
We hopped on the boat and took a 45 minute trip through the Delta (3 rivers: The Tigre, The Lujan, and The Reconquista) to a hostel called Bora Bora. Tons of little canals and waterways surround the island. We had a lunch while sitting outside looking out onto a little pond surrounded by an immaculately manicured lawn.
I don't think I realized how much I missed the quiet of the country...It was nice to leave the hustle and bustle of the city for the day.

QUICK and NOTEWORTHY ITEMS:

1) Malba (Museum of Latin American Art)- best way to spend a quiet afternoon. 2 favorite pieces: "Desert People" film by David Lamelas and the Frida Kahlo self portrait.

2) Cockroach- very large. Larger than the one I had in the electrical outlet in my apartment in San Diego.

3) Brothel- very nice. Mistakenly took it for a "regular" bar in which we could grab a quick beer on the way to the market for dinner. Group of 7/8 women clustered at the end of the bar gave it away.

4) Pompeya- best collection of crap. Tons of little second hand shops all close together. Bought patio furniture and a gorgeous rendition of the Mona Lisa.

5) Floralis Generica - best mechanical sculpture in BsAs. Created by Eduardo Catalano, which actually opens during the day and closes at night.

Feria de Mataderos

Oh my God. I am in love with gauchos.

Every Sunday, about an hour's bus ride northeast of Buenos Aires, there is a traditional gaucho market. Booths are set up where vendors sell everything from crafts to food and drink. There are the traditional folklore dancers and tango singers in which the public (not many gringos at all) is encouraged to join.

We spent the first part of the day walking through the tents sampling wines, cheeses, olives, and dulce de leche (if I leave Argentina being able to eat meat again, then I am hoping for the same with dulce de leche). After we finished our lunch, we were on our way to the ring races. And here is where I fell in love. Ring races, known as carreras de sortijas, is a competitive sport in which the gaucho rides his horse at full speed under a post to snag a ring the size of a large coin with a spear the size of a ballpoint pen. There were about 7 or 8 men participating in the sport, the youngest the age of 6 and the oldest seemed to be in his sixties. This particular race was held on an urban street with cars parked on either side, and sand spread on the ground. There were a great deal of spectators in a single file line on both sides of the street. After about 30 minutes of watching the gauchos and of being in utter amazement that this was even possible, the most horrifying and yet exciting thing happened. A gaucho, riding full speed, was almost to the ring, when his horse spooked and bucked him off. The crowd gasped and watched, stunned, as the horse went careening into the crowd opposite the side I was on. The horse then changed direction, and the spectators were literally jumping over parked cars for cover. That is when the gaucho of my dreams saved the day- the people- and the horse. After a few minutes, everyone was calm (including the horse) and the races continued.

Beautiful!

Snakes on a Plane Theatrical Trailer (Best version on Google Video, of course)

The trailer for the movie "Snakes on a Plane". WATCH IT!!!

My 1st Parrillada Mixta

Chico and I went to a very nice restaurant last night where I had my very first Argentine parrillada mixta. Not for those with a weak stomach, I found it more appetizing with a couple bottles of wine.

The mixed grill is a combination of various cuts of beef, pork, sausages, sweetbreads, and internal organs. It was brought to our table on a portable grill and looked incredible. I started with asado and chorizo which were familiar and good to me. I tried blood sausage and was pleasantly surprised. Then I tried the small intestines. I will not try the small intestines again. The texture itself was enough to make me want to run to el bano but the taste was horrendous. Then I tried a bottle of wine. I took a slice of brain onto my plate. I quite liked the taste of the brain- although the presentation threw me a bit. But the wine helped me get over that part.

I think this experience will go down as a success... I left the restaurant happy and full and without the embarrassment of getting sick.