Listmaking is an addiction

List of things I will miss about Buenos Aires

1. Alfajores!
2. That they sell flowers in the street
3. Spanish (duh)
4. Tango music
5. cheap, effective, public transit
6. partying til sunrise 3 days a week
7. Cafe con leche!
8. Kisses for greetings!

THE END OR THE BEGINNING...ONE CAN NEVER TELL

Lately I've been thinking about the concept of memory...just how we remember things.  Particularly, how we twist and reconstruct time.  Time can fly or crawl according to what seems a subconscious force.  We remember moments in whole entities, as well as in confusing bits and pieces.  Why?  As usual, I have no answer.  BUT, I am forced to reflect on my time here in Buenos Aires, and see what montage of images flows through my head.  The following is an attempt to recount my stream of consciousness in relation to Buenos Aires:

1.  Bizarren  http://www.bizarren.com.ar/cartelera.php  As silly as this warehouse style costume/ dance party is, I made close friends and had wonderful nights singing "corazon, corazon, corazon" to every song...because I didn't know the words in Spanish!  At this party I also learned that there are drunken people in the world who get excited about free chorizo sandwiches at 6am.  (Ewww??)  Haha!

2. The moonlight walk I took with my mother to La Garganta Del Diablo in Iguazu Falls.  Truly inspiring.  During this time I was reflecting very much on the idea that "all will pass."  Every emotion, physical feeling, thought, etc.  It is in this moment that I decided to personally test this theory.  At La Garganta Del Diablo there is an unholy amount of  spray from the falls, and if the smallest gust of wind comes through, everyone gets soaked.   In which case, everyone turns their heads, screams, and runs the other direction.  Being the incredibly logical person that I am (irony), I thought how this reaction really made no sense.  You still get as wet, whether you run or not and for me personally, usually I love to run in the rain.  People just reacted negatively in this situation because of how unexpected it was.  So, I decided to just accept getting drenched the next time around, and be aware of the fact that the feeling of not being in control would pass.  It did.

3. Days at Colombo Pashkus.  This is a good example of memory.  I can't recount an entire day of work filled with all the details, but I remember a feeling.  And the feeling is of support.  I felt the people at work really helped me grow, not only in learning a language and fitting into another culture, but in self-confidence as well.

4. PATAGONIA.  really the moment I remember most is when I walked out of the airport and looked at the landscape.  I will never forget how the colors hit me like a gust of wind.  So vibrant, the way colors should be.

5. When Marcie (the program leader) asked me out of the blue if I had travelled a lot.  I said yes.  She said, "I thought so, you seem to be experienced with these sorts of things."  That made me feel incredible that day.
  
6. My first English class.  I met a lady who is an English professor at la UBA, and decided to go observe her English class, just to see what it was like...obviously I've never been in one.  In that class I realized that I could see myself teaching English, enjoying it, and not being half bad at it!   :)

Just wiggle your nose!

There's a running joke in my family about my grandmother...that all she has to do to get what she wants is wiggle her nose, and it appears!  I think I may have inherited that.  I often feel that I have had an incredible amount of luck in my life, and usually feel a great deal of guilt for "not deserving so much luck".  But recently, I'm realizing that it's not luck.  It's an astute ability to realize the opportunities that life throws my way.  While here in Buenos Aires, I had the vision/dream/want/need/idea to come back to Buenos Aires during my summer vacation (May-July) to get some experience teaching English, perfect my Spanish, and just be part of the culture I've fallen in love with.  The point to this story is that within the past week, I have found free housing, and a job!

 I will be living in the house of a family with an 11 year old daughter.  The father and daughter have been taking English for quite some time, and are looking to break that level between classroom English and "real life English."  It seems that the family really wants the daughter to be able to speak English and visit a foreign country when she's my age.  They live in a neighborhood called Nunez (well known as a VERY nice area).  This will be my room ----->  
I have my own bathroom (below) and entrance.  It's an old house...so my room is essentially where the "live-in staff" would live.

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... and this is the living room and the kitchen...just so you get an idea of how huge and beautiful this place is!  Not to mention, that it's very rare to even own a house (rather than an apartment) in the city like this.  The father works in public relations, and the other works in tourism, and is also a sculptor.  There is also a HUGE backyard!

And, I will be working at an English Institute called Berlitz.  Here is the link: http://www.berlitz.com/

I'm thinking of working there part-time and finding individuals on the side...just to give some variety to my schedule.  Also, I am going to propose working at Colombo- Pashkus one day a week just doing translating of documents.  I would love to stay in contact with them!

So this is the first glimpse of what I will be doing May-July of 2010!

BIG NEVERENDING LIST OF CULTURAL DIFFERENCES!

1. People don't cross their arms as much here...haven't been able to figure out why.
2. Some things are more organized in Argentina: people form lines at the bus stops, rather than just staying in a big cluster.
3. Men DEFINITELY touch more: not weird for a man to put his arm around another, or sit a little bit closer together than I'm used to, or dance together in a group.
4. They call friends "gordo," and it's not an insult.  Still can't get used to that!
5. People don't leave as much space when passing each other in the street.
6. There are SO many dogs...especially for it being a big city.
7. When guys dance with you here, they ask you like a thousand questions...as if it were an interview...where are you from?  What do you study?  Do you like it here?  Where do you live?  ...blah blah blah...
8. I think that in general you have to interact more with salespeople/ waiters.  As in...you have to ask specifically for the check (they don't just bring it to you), you have to ask for sizes at clothing stores (everything's not out for you to look through)

IT'S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!!!!

I discovered a while back that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are not a world renowned custom.  This made me very sad.  So, as an experiment in cultural exchange, I brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for everybody at the business I intern at.  It was just so funny to me how foreign of an object a PB&J sandwich was to them. Example:
"What is this?"
"A peanut butter and jelly sandwich"
"A what?..oh like from the movies...doesn't it make you fat?"
"No, it's like natural, ya know?"
"When do you eat this? At lunch?"
"Yeah, for lunch"
"Hrmm...it's really sweet...look at the bottle, it's huge!!! Why do they sell things in such big containers???"
"Haha!  I don't know!"
 
I had to explain and re-explain the concept of peanut butter many times.  Explained that it was generally considered a simple kids food.  I still don't really get how peanut butter could be considered sweet, but hey whatever!

I guess the point to this story is that I used my knowledge of peanut butter for a lunch of cultural exchange.  At the end, some liked it, some didn't.  But, at the very least, a good time was had by all!

The End.

Phrases/Words that I LOVE in Spanish:

1. Que liiiiiiiiindo
2. chiquitito
3. flaco
4. "esaaaaaaa"

Words that I have not been able to find an adequate translation for in Spanish

1. cute (Lindo is just not the same)
2. awkward (incomodo is not strong enough)
3. random (they just don't say that, idk)
4. fail (there could never be an adequate comparison)

Journal Entry #1

I still have little direction on where I want this whole blog thing to go, but one thing I've always wanted to do was keep a simple journal.  So...

I had a pretty kickass past weekend.  I've been doing an internship at a public relations agency while here.  It's called Colombo Pashkus.  Here's the website if you want to check it out.
http://www.colombopashkus.com/
I have grown and learned a lot from the experience, even though I just do simple work.  :)  Anyway, Friday the whole office all went to a "quinta" to have "asado."  For those not familiar with this, it's basically like having a "company picnic" with "barbecue."  And, a quinta is just like a small private park that you can rent out for the day.  It had a pool, volleyball net, small soccer field, etc.  Essentially what I learned from this experience is that Latins know how to let loose and have a good time with their coworkers!  It was a really fun day for me!

On Saturday night I went to this concert of "folklore," which from what I understand is considered like the country version of tango.  And they have a special dance that I equate to square-dancing a little bit.  Here's an example of the music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhlGKBmaCko&NR=1

It was funny because the place was like an hour away in another barrio called Haedo.  I took a collectivo (bus), but didn't realize that there were 2 lines to the same bus line.  So...essentially by the end of the journey the bus driver and I were BFF.  haha, I was like, "Can you let me know when we're to the main street of Haedo?"  And he was like, "I have more than a few stops in the center."  I said that it was near the train station.  He said there were 2 train stations.  hah!  But he was so nice, he was like, "Do you want me to talk to your friend and find out?"...Keep in mind a little weird...cuz he's driving a bus.  But I was like, "Well, yeah!"  Haha!  But, I arrived and met my friends safely.  Now they are just convinced I really do make friends everywhere!  The place where the concert was, was in open air in the patio of an old house.  The old house is used as kind of a community club and a meeting point for one of the oldest socialist political parties in Argentina.  Overall, a very fun atmosphere!

THEN, Sunday I went to this market in a barrio called Mataderos (Killers)...named so because it's where most of the beef slaughterhouses are located.  The market was pretty much like a mix of all the other markets I've been to.  It had antiques, clothes, kid's stuff, etc.

AND, today I went to see a friend act in a play.  Very well done.  The way the play was structured made me think of how Jennifer and I used to play as kids.  It was set up as a family watching TV and changing the channels.  So, people would come on and act out the different channels as they flipped.  Very funny and certainly well done!            

THE BEGINNING

Well, I have officially begun a blog about 3 months too late!  In August I came to Argentina to study abroad at La Universidad de Palermo.  During my months here, I have had the wonderful opportunity to not only learn the language, but observe the many cultural differences between the northern and southern hemisphere.  For whatever reason, cultural differences interest me greatly, and I hope to spend the rest of my life learning about them!

As usual, I have a myriad of ideas as to what the theme of this blog could be, but for now have settled on recounting the aforementioned cultural differences I have observed during my time here.  Maybe I'll throw in some advertising observations as well!

1. Argentinians do not cross their arms as much.  Not sure why.
2. The service at restaurants is decidedly WORSE.  But, the explanation is that time is different in Argentina.  You can order a cafe con leche, sit for hours, and nobody will bother you!  See, everything has a positive and negative side!
3. Rubbing upwards on your neck means "I don't know," NOT "fuck you."  :)

More to come later!