First of all, Happy Census Day! Today is Census Day in Argentina meaning everything, and I mean absolutely everything is closed from midnight to 8 pm. People are required to stay in their houses until the Census collector comes around and gets their information. You have no idea when they will come except that it will be sometime between 8am and 8pm.
In the last few days Argentine politics have been a hot topic of conversation. Most importantly, today Nestor Kirchner died of heart problems at the age of 60. Nestor was the president from 2003 to 2007 and his wife, Cristina is the president now, although he still had a lot of influence. His death came as a surprise to many, but I am more surprised by the reactions the news is getting.
I was doing homework in my room at 1030 this morning when Magda answered my phone. After a few "Oh My God"s and "What news!" she finally exclaimed "Kirchner is dead!" This is about the time I tuned in, trying to figure out which Kirchner she was referring too. The next sentence out of her mouth was, "Oh thank goodness! Things will be better now!" I was shocked, I understand that she hates his politics, but to say it will be better now that he is dead seems extreme. I talked to some friends here and their host moms all had similar responses, although one even danced and screamed.
The City of Buenos Aires is notoriously anti-Peronists, and these feelings are not being hidden in the wake of his death. The rest of the country is generally lower-class and like Peronists, including the Kirchners more, so the grieving process seems to be a little more typical out there.
For the next three days, Argentina will observe a grieving period, for a lack of a better term. Brazil, Uruguay and other countries will too, but to a lesser extent. Its not clear what exactly will happen but in all likelihood most businesses will be closed. I am interested in what will happen in this country if everything is closed for four straight days! Blog post to follow...
On a non-Kirchner, but still political note...Yesterday my friend Hannah went to the library at the University of Buenos Aires, school of medicine. The library system here is beyond complicated and requires asking at least five people for help per trip. She asked one man to help her find an article about the Menem period. Menem was president from 1989-1999 and very controversial, in orientation they warned us against talking about him with locals. As soon as this man heard the name Menem, he kicked Hannah out of the library! After five minutes she was allowed back in but forced to listen to a 30 minute rant about the evils of Menem. I bet she thinks twice before naming he-who-must-not-be-named again!
My last political story of this very long blog update involves my Spanish class and freedom of speech. Last class we were given a list of 14 women and told to pick one or two to do a final presentation on. I went through the list and it mostly included people that lived during Argentine independence (1810) and artists. The one person that did catch my eye was Norma Arrostito. The paper described her as a guerrilla fighter in the 1970s who is very controversial and immortalized in many songs. I immediately knew I wanted to present on her. When I told the teacher she responded by saying, "If you do your project on her I will automatically fail you!" My classmates and I were all confused and began asking questions in a chaotic manner. The teacher explained that she does not like her politics and as a result will fail any student who presents on her, regardless of the stance they take. We argued with her for a little longer but had no success. So now my final presentation in comparing two actresses, which will be fine, but I am shocked at the limits she put on our freedom of speech.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Feliz Dia de la Madre!
Last Sunday was Mother's Day here in Argentina. A bunch of the family came over for a huge lunch and the rest of the festivities. After lunch, which took about two hours to get through-- I had to promise that I wasn't hungry at least five times, after eating the equivalent of a Thanksgiving dinner!
The best part of the day was it reminded me of spending time with my own family. Two of Magda's children, both in their mid-forties, their spouses, two grandchildren and the mother-of-Magda's-daughter's-husband (or something like that, it sort of got lost in translation) were in our pretty small dining room. The grandchildren, Nico, age 10, and Martina, age 11, were so much fun that I basically spent all my time with them.
We started off the afternoon by watching Princess Diaries, the dubbed version, something I have definitely seen with Leah and Sarah at least a dozen times. During the meal, the two of them would randomly disappear under the table before reemerging in time for the next course. When we all stood up at the end and realized that our shoes were all untied, their under the table game more sense.
After cleaning up, the adults all retired to the living room and bedroom for a nap. The kids and I spent close to three hours making origami. Luckily we found a website that had step by step videos and no talking about how to make different shapes. It was nice getting a chance to speak Spanish with kids because they can be a lot more forgiving and patient than adults, especially when it comes to grammar.
I loved being included in Magda's Mother's Day celebrations and getting to know part of her family, but it definitely made me miss/be excited to hang out with my family in December.
Here are Nico and Martina with the cranes they made.
The best part of the day was it reminded me of spending time with my own family. Two of Magda's children, both in their mid-forties, their spouses, two grandchildren and the mother-of-Magda's-daughter's-husband (or something like that, it sort of got lost in translation) were in our pretty small dining room. The grandchildren, Nico, age 10, and Martina, age 11, were so much fun that I basically spent all my time with them.
We started off the afternoon by watching Princess Diaries, the dubbed version, something I have definitely seen with Leah and Sarah at least a dozen times. During the meal, the two of them would randomly disappear under the table before reemerging in time for the next course. When we all stood up at the end and realized that our shoes were all untied, their under the table game more sense.
After cleaning up, the adults all retired to the living room and bedroom for a nap. The kids and I spent close to three hours making origami. Luckily we found a website that had step by step videos and no talking about how to make different shapes. It was nice getting a chance to speak Spanish with kids because they can be a lot more forgiving and patient than adults, especially when it comes to grammar.
I loved being included in Magda's Mother's Day celebrations and getting to know part of her family, but it definitely made me miss/be excited to hang out with my family in December.
Here are Nico and Martina with the cranes they made.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Hustling and Bus-iling
After two trips, four midterms and 67 hours spent on a bus it is time for a long update!
Two weekends ago, I went with my study abroad program to Rosario, Argentina. Rosario is 4 hours away from Buenos Aires and one of the second most important cities in terms of population and the economy. Rosario was great! It is significantly smaller than Buenos Aires and has a much more approachable feel. We spent two days exploring the waterfront, visiting where the first Argentine flag was made and going on a boat ride. All in all it was a very relaxing trip. My friend Hannah and I decided that if we lived in Argentina we would want to live in Rosario so we could enjoy the benefits of a city while also having the beautiful water and slower pace. Rosario reenforced one of my favorite Argentine customs: when the weather is nice everyone, and i mean everyone, is outside! All the green space is filled with people having picnics or just sitting and talking with their friends. I think the US would benefit a lot if everyone just slowed down a little and enjoyed more time outside with friends and family.
The Monument to the flag:
Last Wednesday, Hannah and I embarked on our biggest trip yet to the provinces of Jujuy and Salta in the extreme northwest of Argentina, near Bolivia and Chile. Nineteen hours later, we were in Salta, the capital of the provinces. The next day got off to a little too exciting start when we realized at 6:15 am that the key to our lock had been locked in with all of our stuff (fine, i admit it, i locked it in). Don't worry, we apparently have the skills necessary to be burglars and broke open the cabinet, grabbing our stuff and arriving at the bus station at 6:56, perfect timing for a 7am bus.
Five hours later we disembarked in Humahuca, a tiny town in Jujuy and definitely the most remote place I have ever been. We instantly fell in love with this precious area. Its is a very small town, centered on a plaza with beautiful architecture, surrounded by breathtaking scenery, very colorful rock formations. We spent the day wandering between sites (never more than two blocks), making friends with local children (they loved the sillybandz we gave them) and enjoying traditional food before heading back to Salta to meet up with more of our friends.
The next day we took a tour that led us to many amazing places. First stop, Tren de las Nubes. This train is extremely important to the region because it connected Salta with Chile and the coast, across the Andes. It is the third highest rail system in the world and goes through some pretty tough terrain. Now it is primarily used for tourism, but is still responsible for bringing in a significant amount of revenue.
After spotting the train we headed to some old ruins, of a tribe that was conquered by the Incas. The ruins were expansive and it was very impressive how they were set up. Agricultural areas were carved into the sides of hills so that the water could be directed to them. After enjoying the view we continued on to a small anthropological museum where we literally came face to face with a mummy. Next, we stopped in San Antonio de los Cobres for lunch. At this point we had gained a lot of altitude and were given coca leaves and a special soup to help our bodies adjust. With our stomaches filled we headed off to the most anticipated stop of our journey: Las Salinas, the salt flats.
Indigenous Ruins:
San Antonio de Los Cobres: 12 people live in each house!
After two and a half hours on an unpaved road we were there! They were unreal! Las Salinas is where a lake used to be but after drying up all that is left is an expansive salt crust, you can see the mountains in the distance. Here we were in awe but got over it in order to taste the ground (how often do you get a chance to eat what you are walking on?) and take cool, optical illusion pictures. Las salinas is definitely one of the top coolest things I have ever seen.
We then began the long trip back to Salta. We stopped at the highest altitude of our trip, 4170 meters before starting the descent. We made one more stop in the small town of Pumamarca to view a typical northwest town. The scenery on the drive was amazing, the rocks looked like they were painted because they had so many colors, it almost made me glad that I took geology last semester, almost.
Our last day was spent exploring Salta. The town is known for its beautiful and distinct styles of architecture. The coolest thing we saw was the Anthropology museum. Recently, mountain climbers found the bodies of three Incan children, perfectly preserved, and i mean perfectly, there clothes had not lost any colors and food was still in their stomaches even though they had died 500 years ago! They were probably part of a human sacrifice. Learning about the history and culture was fascinating and seeing one of the children up close was unreal! We couldn't take pictures but here is a cool article from the New York Times.
We then took a cable car up a mountain to get the full panoramic view of Salta before starting the 22 hour trip back to Buenos Aires. 59 hours on a bus was a lot for one weekend but definitely worth every second because the things we saw were incredible and the fact that they are so far removed from the busy, modern world makes them even cooler.
Hasta Luego,
Miriam
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Cultural Differences
Since I last wrote an entry I have been very busy with school so I dont have any big adventures to report on. However, even with all my work I have really enjoyed observing the culture. Here are some of my favorite/confounding cultural differences:
I'm traveling a lot in the next two weeks: to Rosario and Salta, so I promise an exciting blog update filled with pictures when I get back!
Hasta Luego,
Miriam
- Personal Space- In short it doesn't exist here. Personal boundaries are a foreign concept. This seems to be both a positive and negative aspect of Argentine culture. First of all, it makes people appear much more friendly than in the states. The custom is to greet and say goodbye to everyone personally when you enter and leave a room. Even when someone walks into class, they kiss the cheeks of every person even remotely close to them. I think that if this was the practice in the US my family would never, ever, leave an event. The negative is the extreme displays of public affection in couples. We were talking to my teacher about this in my Spanish class and she defended the practice by saying "they are transferring positive energy to each other," regardless, I would be a lot more comfortable if they did it not in the middle of the street or next to me on the subway!
- Protests- I think I can say that growing up I had more exposure to political protests than most people but the protests in BA are bizarre. For instance, they are very scheduled and only last for short periods of times. Every Wednesday morning I walk by a small protest of about 30 men in the same plaza that only seems to last for about two hours. Earlier in my stay there was a strike on the subway. My Spanish teacher explained that it happens twice a year, always during the two hours after rush hour, doesnt include all the lines and is publicized well in advance. I'm still confused as to what the point of that is... Mom? Dad? I think its cool how frequent protests are here but Magda and my Spanish teacher definitely disagree. Magda says that protesting is a national sport and people don't care what they are protesting. Yesterday in my Spanish class we could hear firecrackers going off at a pretty regular interval. My classmates and I were all disturbed by this but our teacher dismissed it as people trying to get attention. Also, on the theme of protests., the University of Buenos Aires was taken over by students in protest of something (its not entirely clear what exactly they are protesting) a month ago and classes still have not resumed, you can't even get into the buildings.
- Census- I bet you are wondering how the Census could be a controversial topic and believe me, I am surprised it is. I was explaining to Magda that I was studying the Census in my Sociology of the Population class when she proclaimed that she hates the Census (which is happening again at the end of October). She said that she doesnt open her door during Census time because then the government can get your information and use it against use you. I'm unsure exactly what her reason is but I chalk it up to the experience of living through political turmoil that she has experienced.
- Photocopies- No one said that these were all going to be important cultural differences... One of the most confusing parts of the university system here is how you get the readings. If you are lucky, your class is organized and you simply go to the photocopy store close to the school say the name of the class and are given a fat stack of papers. Usually a few hundred pages copied from various books. (copyright laws? what are those) If you are unlucky, like I am in one of my classes, it is a much longer process. I spent a week trying to find the 500 page book I needed in various bookstores before I caved and went with the Argentine system. I went to the library of my school and checked out the book I needed (it was a process, he had to re-glue the cover on and I was only able to keep it for one day). Then I went to the photocopier, left the book for a few hours, before coming back to pick up my huge stack of photocopies, held together by a tiny staple. In case you are curious, it costs about $12 to photocopy an entire 500 pg political science book. I am very much looking forward to ordering my books on Amazon next semester!
- Paseadores de Perros- This is by far my favorite cultural difference, and what I imagine my dad would hate. Paseadores are dogwalkers. You might be thinking that all dog walkers are the same but, boy are you wrong! Here it is an extreme sport, not to mention a full-time profession! There is a national law saying that you are only allowed to walk 14 (FOURTEEN!!!!!!!) dogs at one time. And, let me tell you, people don't always follow it! This means that you can be walking down a very busy street and turn the corner and be face to face with fourteen dogs! Its amazing how well behaved the dogs get along. The Paseadores are definitely one of the most entertaining things to see while I walk to class.
I'm traveling a lot in the next two weeks: to Rosario and Salta, so I promise an exciting blog update filled with pictures when I get back!
Hasta Luego,
Miriam
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Feliz Dia de los Estudiantes!
Today is the first day of spring in Buenos Aires and a national holiday, Day of the Students. With all my classes canceled my friends and I are going to follow the Argentine tradition of having a picnic in a park but first, I am way overdue for a blog post.
Two weekends ago some friends and I took a 15 hour bus ride to Mendoza, the capital of the province Mendoza. Mendoza is located in the foothill of the Andes, meaning there are some great views from town. The first day we went horseback riding in the Andes. We were definitely not very skilled with the horses but our gaucho leader, Diego, helped us make it through the almost 3 hour ride. When we got back to the camp we had an asado, or giant bbq, while Diego sang traditional songs. The van coming to pick us up and take us back to town broke down so we ended up staying in the mountains until 1 am, but with all the delicious food we weren't too upset to be stranded, or "Strandes in the Andes" as my friend liked to say.
A view from the top:
Diego making sure we are headed in the right direction:
Taking pictures while riding is very difficult.
A pretty cool background.
Diego serenading us:
The next day we headed the opposite direction out of town, towards the extensive wineries. We rented bikes and were off on a biking tour of wine and chocolate making places. Our first stop was the wine museum where they tried to teach us all the fine details of wine making and sophisticated things to say while tasting wine, I don't think it stuck though. Next, we headed to a chocolate making boutique, which was more on my level. After tasting what seemed like a million types of chocolates we continued on to a few more bodegas before returning, exhausted to town. We had a near crisis when my friend Kelsey's bike broke down on the side of the road. She was near the back of the group so two of us stayed with her while the others continued on unknowingly. Thankfully, a big group of locals assembled, including a police officer on a bike who helped us call the bike company and get Kelsey a new bike.
This was a lot more boring than...
This:
The final day we went for a walk/hike in the giant park in town. It ended with a hike up a very steep hill to a monument to the Army of the Andes. The views were spectacular from the top! After a very active weekend, with our leg muscles aching, we headed back to Buenos Aires for class.
Taking a break on the hill to admire the views:
This weekend was less eventful but also fun! I went to MALBA, the biggest art museum, and explored a new neighborhood with my friend Hannah. On Saturday we went out into the province of Buenos Aires to watch a rugby game, man is that a confusing sport! In typical Argentine style the grilling of meat next to the rugby field was a big attraction, probably more so than the actual game for my friends.
This week is art week so I am hoping to go to some of the exhibitions before I have to crack down and study for another midterm this weekend!
Hasta Luego,
Miriam
Two weekends ago some friends and I took a 15 hour bus ride to Mendoza, the capital of the province Mendoza. Mendoza is located in the foothill of the Andes, meaning there are some great views from town. The first day we went horseback riding in the Andes. We were definitely not very skilled with the horses but our gaucho leader, Diego, helped us make it through the almost 3 hour ride. When we got back to the camp we had an asado, or giant bbq, while Diego sang traditional songs. The van coming to pick us up and take us back to town broke down so we ended up staying in the mountains until 1 am, but with all the delicious food we weren't too upset to be stranded, or "Strandes in the Andes" as my friend liked to say.
A view from the top:
Diego making sure we are headed in the right direction:
Taking pictures while riding is very difficult.
A pretty cool background.
Diego serenading us:
The next day we headed the opposite direction out of town, towards the extensive wineries. We rented bikes and were off on a biking tour of wine and chocolate making places. Our first stop was the wine museum where they tried to teach us all the fine details of wine making and sophisticated things to say while tasting wine, I don't think it stuck though. Next, we headed to a chocolate making boutique, which was more on my level. After tasting what seemed like a million types of chocolates we continued on to a few more bodegas before returning, exhausted to town. We had a near crisis when my friend Kelsey's bike broke down on the side of the road. She was near the back of the group so two of us stayed with her while the others continued on unknowingly. Thankfully, a big group of locals assembled, including a police officer on a bike who helped us call the bike company and get Kelsey a new bike.
This was a lot more boring than...
This:
The final day we went for a walk/hike in the giant park in town. It ended with a hike up a very steep hill to a monument to the Army of the Andes. The views were spectacular from the top! After a very active weekend, with our leg muscles aching, we headed back to Buenos Aires for class.
Taking a break on the hill to admire the views:
This weekend was less eventful but also fun! I went to MALBA, the biggest art museum, and explored a new neighborhood with my friend Hannah. On Saturday we went out into the province of Buenos Aires to watch a rugby game, man is that a confusing sport! In typical Argentine style the grilling of meat next to the rugby field was a big attraction, probably more so than the actual game for my friends.
This week is art week so I am hoping to go to some of the exhibitions before I have to crack down and study for another midterm this weekend!
Hasta Luego,
Miriam
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Ole! Happy Rosh Hashanah!
On Sunday some friends and I went to Plaza Armenia for the Rosh Hashanah Urbana Festival. It was basically a giant block party to highlight Jewish life in Argentina. My favorite part was obviously the free apples and honey but once my stomach was full there were a ton of other cool things going on. They had traditional music, arts and crafts, vendors with all sorts of traditional items with an Argentine twist, exhibits on important parts of the High Holidays such as reflection and tradition and finally they were selling all sorts of delicious Middle Eastern food.
The crowd.
Writing my name as a part of one of the activities.
This meat is for you, Mark.
A painting we watched them make.
Tuesday was even cooler! My friend Aileen was a genius and bought us tickets to see the World Champs, Spain, take on Argentina in soccer! After warnings from our host moms about safety at the game and promising to only speak in Spanish we set off for the River Plate Stadium in Belgrano. Dressed in our Argentine jerseys we joined the crowd streaming to the stadium. Once there we climbed to the highest section and found our seats. It was so interesting to compare a sporting event in Argentina to all the ones I have been to in the US. First of all, there is almost no technology, only one score board that has the score, time and can say "GOOOOOOL!!!" There are also very few advertisements anywhere and food is dirt cheap, the only downside was the lack of halftime show.
The game got off to a rough start with Spain playing keep away for what seemed like forever but was probably less than two minutes. But, with the stadium packed with all Argentine fans (I think I saw two Spain fans the whole time) the home team had to impress! Messi scored in the tenth minute and then a teammate followed up with a goal in the thirteenth on the exact same play! Argentina scored again on a goalie blunder and went into the half up 3-0! We were so excited because we had expected to lose that we bought ourselves celebratory second popsicles (it was hot up there!) The second half was less eventful but still a ton of fun! We left five minutes early to miss the stampede of deliriously happy Argentine fans but it was an AMAZING experience! (Pictures to come)
Tonight Magda (my madre afitriona or host mom) and I had a special dinner to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Magda is not religious at all but she proclaimed that even though she knows nothing about Rosh Hashanah we could still have a party! She cooked up homemade noquis and chicken because that is what she is used to eating on special occasions. She also made a DELICIOUS chocolate cake with dulce de leche in the middle! I refused the third piece so she made me promise I would eat some tomorrow, I guess I can manage that if she insists.
Haag Sameach to all!
Now all that stands between me and a weekend in the Andes is one midterm!
Hasta Luego,
Miriam
Friday, September 3, 2010
Tango, tango, TANGO
This week marked the end of the World Tango Festival and while I do not know who won (a Japanese couple won last year in a surprising fashion), my friends and I did our best to enjoy the festivities.
On Saturday we started out with a trip to Carlos Gardel's house which has been transformed into a museum about his life and all things tango. There we participated in free tango lessons which were hilarious. First of all, all of us towered over the little Argentine man who was teaching us. Secondly, anyone that has ever seen me walk can probably imagine that I do not have what it takes to be a tango dancer, my friends were much more coordinated.
Hanging out with Carlos Gardel.
If this doesn't look like coordination I don't know what does!
After we were done trying it out ourselves and after a quick and delicious empanada break we headed off to watch the pros dance. We somehow managed to get into the SEMIFINALS! After waiting in a long line we were rewarded with an incredible, and free show! We had our favorite pair but honestly they were all incredible.
Our favorite couple.
As we were leaving we saw our favorite dancer in the lobby and got our picture taken with her. She was still dressed in her beautiful dress and had huge fake eyelashes and other make up on but was wearing converses so she made us promise to take the picture from above the ankles.
Looking fancy...
until the shoes!
We finished the day with a trip to my favorite restaurant, Cumana, for a delicious dinner of locro. It was a great day! Unfortunately this weekend is less fun because I have two short papers for Monday and a midterm on Thursday. But dont feel too bad for me because I am going to see the World Champs Spain play Argentina in soccer this Tuesday and then on Thursday am heading to Mendoza for a weekend in the Andes! Its a tough life!
Paz!
Miriam
Us at the Festival
(photos stolen from Hannah and Kelsey)
On Saturday we started out with a trip to Carlos Gardel's house which has been transformed into a museum about his life and all things tango. There we participated in free tango lessons which were hilarious. First of all, all of us towered over the little Argentine man who was teaching us. Secondly, anyone that has ever seen me walk can probably imagine that I do not have what it takes to be a tango dancer, my friends were much more coordinated.
Hanging out with Carlos Gardel.
If this doesn't look like coordination I don't know what does!
After we were done trying it out ourselves and after a quick and delicious empanada break we headed off to watch the pros dance. We somehow managed to get into the SEMIFINALS! After waiting in a long line we were rewarded with an incredible, and free show! We had our favorite pair but honestly they were all incredible.
Our favorite couple.
As we were leaving we saw our favorite dancer in the lobby and got our picture taken with her. She was still dressed in her beautiful dress and had huge fake eyelashes and other make up on but was wearing converses so she made us promise to take the picture from above the ankles.
Looking fancy...
until the shoes!
We finished the day with a trip to my favorite restaurant, Cumana, for a delicious dinner of locro. It was a great day! Unfortunately this weekend is less fun because I have two short papers for Monday and a midterm on Thursday. But dont feel too bad for me because I am going to see the World Champs Spain play Argentina in soccer this Tuesday and then on Thursday am heading to Mendoza for a weekend in the Andes! Its a tough life!
Paz!
Miriam
Us at the Festival
(photos stolen from Hannah and Kelsey)
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