Sunday, April 12, 2009

Man! We are tired! It’s been an exciting few days, but we definitely need some down time. What’d we do today? Let’s see…. I woke up late, Sonia was already up as usual... My legs were already tired from the day before, so I told Sonia that I just wanted to go for a little 2-3 hour excursion, chill out and read or something, and then head home. Our 2-3 hour excursion turned into an all day walk-a-thon.

(spanish-english dictionary, check. guide book, check. map, check!)

It’s Easter, and tons of people were out in San Telmo for the Sunday market/fair thing. We saw tango dancers in the street and lots and lots of tourists.

(the narrowest house in Buenos Aires, it's six feet wide. According to local legend, the house was built by freed slaves on a sliver of land given to them by their master.)

(there's tons of art nouveau here)

We spent time looking at all the buildings, and came upon this super cool artist’s loft. I snuck my camera inside to take a picture. The guy was blasting tango music and painting away. It was just so romantically beautiful.

We passed by Plaza de Mayo – the main square in Buenos Aires. Evidentially a group of women called the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo protest here every Thursday. This is also where Casa Rosado is, where Eva Peron gave her famous address.

*Between 1976 and 1983 the Argentine military dictatorship instituted a reign of terror known as "El Proceso" in an attempt to impose order on the country by eliminating its opponents. As many as 30,000 were murdered, including trade unionists, political activists, rebellious priests, student leaders and intellectuals. Most were kidnapped, tortured and "disappeared": buried in unmarked graves or sedated and thrown from planes into the Rio de la Plata. Their mothers formed the Madres Movement and have protested every Thursday afternoon since 1976 on the Plaza de Mayo to embarrass the regime into providing answers, despite the intimidation and "disappearance" of several of their own members.*

(Argentinians view the green Falcon as a symbol of El Proceso, cuz that’s what the police drove during that time.)

Our destination was Puerto Madero – the place all Argentinians seem to love. It’s a built up version of their formerly run-down waterfront. Every porteno we met has told us we must go, how wonderful it is. It ended up just being really weird. There was a TGIFridays and some other American chain. It just seemed really grand in an obscene American way. We gave it a shot, we tried to like it, but yeah…. It’s just not our thing.

(some weird bridge. they call it the nike symbol. not sure why...)

(we were on a little bridge taking this photo and a crossing guard started yelling at us. so we thought we just weren't allowed to stop on the bridge. but as we got closer to him, we noticed that the bridge was moving! there was a boat that wanted to pass. and the bridge turns to let the boats in. it was crazy cause we were still on the bridge when they started to move it!)

We were by this time starving, so we stopped at a pizza place for some food. They even had a vegetarian menu! Sonia got this pumpkin mash – and I got cheese pizza. Yummy stuff. Then on our way home we got some gelado (we’ve vowed to make it a daily tradition… it’s SO good here.)

(we learned today that calabaza means pumpkin! tons of pumpkin here. and it's SO tasty.)

Now it’s like 8:30 and we’re both dead tired. Taking it easy and watching some tv in our living room. And I’ll go back to reading my self-help book. School starts tomorrow! We’ll be up at 7am. Yikes.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Buenos Aires! Day two…. So wonderful. I woke up late and found Sonia lying in the hammock in our living room. Adorable. I made us a breakfast of boiled eggs, toast, cucumbers, cheese and coffee. We decided to go out and explore Palermo, and try to use the Subte (subway) to get there. The closest stop to our house is Constitucion, but little did we know that it’s also a huge train station. It was MADNESS inside. Trying to figure out how to buy tickets and get on the right platform was intense. But we did it. I have to say, I was useless. Sonia did it all. She even got all aggressive with the ticket line and stuff – in a good way. Someone needed to take charge, and I was having a freak out panic cuz of the crowds.

(the subway)

(us being proud of conquering the subway)

We got out at Plaza Italia, and walked over to Palermo Viejo. We’d heard there was a cool bookstore to check out and we wanted to get a pocket Spanish/English dictionary, mostly to prevent any more menu/meat accidents. Alas, all they had was a really huge one. We got some gelado (gelato) which was SO delicious. I had no idea what flavors I was ordering. Through my experience so far, I’m learning that I love to order things off the menu with no idea of what’s coming. I like the surprise and anticipation. This time it worked out well.

(they love boxed drinks here! gatorade...)

We walked over to the botanical garden. They had a huge greenhouse which we were excited to enter, but it was pretty much full of what looked like houseplants. There were stray cats everywhere, and they were so cute! Sonia befriended many of them – she’s good with cats. I was scared that they were full of ticks and fleas. We went to relax on a patch of grass. I read my self-help book and Sonia took a nap. Then the lady kicked us out cuz it was closing time.

(erica chillin', kinda.)

(a view of the other people around us. sonia was napping.)

(we stopped and got a snack on the way home. sonia's irregular eating habits are rubbing off.)

We went back to our home barrio of San Telmo. Found another bookstore, got some postcards and the dictionary. Produce and some odds and ends. Buenos Aires is seriously beautiful at dusk.

Man, we were TIRED when we got home.

Whoo-hee, seriously! We relaxed for a few hours, but then it was back out on the town for some more fun.

We took a cab back to Palermo to La Pena del Colorado – a place that has Argentinian folk music nightly.

(our first cab ride!!)

(we lucked out and got a really nice, but slow drivin', cabbie. and, he showed us some sights on the way!)

(you can hardly tell, but that's a guitar made out of an armadillo shell. apparently, that's traditional folkloric instrument.)

(this is us at the restaurant)

(view of the restaurante and our new friends! see how they put the big beer bottle on ice, what a great idea!)

We had just bought a dictionary and were anxious to translate the menu and get Sonia something sin carne to eat. And we did it!! Sonia finally had her full vegetarian meal! A barbecued sweet potato and quinoa with peas and corn. She was smitten.

We met two nice chaps who gave us suggestions on the menu. I asked them what the best thing to get on the menu, and they suggested Entrana, which scared me... Sounded like entrails. But I went for it. And it was great! Nothing entrail like at all.

(sonia telling my tail of entrails.)

The place was super cool cuz there was spontaneous music and dance going on everywhere. Very bohemian. We left at 2:45… had no idea it was so late!

Now it’s 3:15 in the morning and it’s time for bed! Tomorrow is our last day before school starts, so we’ll probably keep it mellow.