Thursday and Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Thursday...
(sonia's voice)
After class, I wanted to check out Once. It's supposed to be like the garment district of Buenos Aires, tons of cheap clothes and shoes and anything else you could think of. It was crazy there! They really take the term window shopping literally here. Everything offered by the store is displayed in the windows. Barely anything is inside the store.




My goal for Once was to find us a blanket to use to sit on the grass in parks (manta). And I did it!! I found a really beautiful sheet (or what i thought was a sheet). It was white with little pink flowers all over! Cute! It turned out to not be what I expected, but it works perfectly!! And muy linda.

(the "blanket" in use at Parque Tres de Febrero!!)

I checked my watch, and it was time to go home. So I jumped on the subway and headed back. Halfway home, I realized that I had more time then I thought! So, I got off and had a bite to eat. I found a nice cafe on a busy corner ordered a glass of vine and a torta (one of my favorite foods here, mostly cause there's tons of vegetarian options)

(i took a little video of the street, so you can see what it's like here!)

I was close to home, so I decided to walk the rest of the way. On the way, I found a cool church.


And this is a street view of San Telmo, the neighborhood where we live and are growing to love more and more each day!


I got home and went for a jog... And, I'll let Erica tell you about the rest of our night...

So anyways, Sonia and I went out and were supposed to do this Spanish/English language exchange thing. But when we got to the café in Palermo where it was being held, we could just tell it was kinda weird and not our thing. Most of the people were English anyways, and we just weren’t feeling it.

We decided to venture out around Palermo on our own, and did a bit of shopping and whatnot. Sonia bought a really cute skirt! Then we ate at a little café and I got a steak sandwich and she got another really weird vegetarian sandwich concoction. They put the STRANGEST ingredients in their veggie sandwiches! Like sweet corn and cream cheese and articockes, etc… (I'm getting use to it!! And that was actually a great sandwiche...)

Friday...

Sonia had to work all day after school (it was great! i love working from another country!!!), and I actually had a little date with Juan Antonio, the guy I’d met earlier last week on the street. It was very romantic, and it’s fun to have a love affair while I’m here. Believe me, I deserve it after what I’ve been through lately!

Saturday...

Sonia and I went back to Recoleta to wander the fancy streets…. It’s kinda like the Beverly Hills of Buenos Aires. Lots of designer shops and fancy people. Not so much our thing, but it was fun nonetheless!

(getting in trouble while filming at a super posh hotel)

There was this huge crafts fair (happens each weekend) in front of the Recoleta cemetery and we wandered around for a while getting souveniers and checking everything out. It was very nice…

then we went to La Biela – one of the most famous street cafes in BsAs… it was way overpriced, but you know, whatever. It was nice to relax our piernas and people watch outside.

We got home at 8… I feel asleep for a bit, and then we went back out to our favorite restaurant from last weekend (remember the sardines and hot waiter?) and back to Dorrego square for a glass of wine.

(Here's the game... Can you spot the cute waiter!)

It was 3 when we got home… then I skyped my Daddy and he answered without his shirt on and was so adorable. It was just cute.

Sunday...

(Erica) I’m so hungover today – from only a few glasses of vino tinto. Damn that red wine! Sonia left the house earlier than me.

(Sonia) Yep! I wanted to go and check out the San Telmo Flea Market which happens every Sunday. They're big on flea markets here on the weekends. It was AMAZING!! There were tons of antiques, jewelery, music, artisans and those guys that stand real still for a long time... The fair runs the whole way down Defensa and on accident, I went the whole way. Towards the end, it started to get yucky.

(this guy was great. he made me smile with his creativity, so I decided to give him a little money. I set a few pesos in his can and walked away, not knowing that he was following me! I turned around and screamed when I saw him... made a big scene. He just wanted to shake my hand.)

(at five, these guys with giant baskets appeared on the streets calling out what they were selling. I think it was like hot pockets. They looked really good, but i knew I was going home for a jog, so i didn't get one. Maybe next time...)

After a long day of shopping, I went home, went for a jog and then ventured out to find some food. That was an adventure, I tell you, well, i will if you ask me. Anyways, I ended up at a place Erica and I had ate at a few nights before, and I think it's now my favorite restaurant! They have a great vegetarian menu. I got Panache (whatever that is). It was GREAT, very Sonia!! I sat there with my panache and wine and studied for a bit. The waiter was real nice. He explained all the stuff on the menu to me. And then got really excited when he saw that I was studying Spanish.

And here's Erica to tell you about her day!

(Erica) I wasn’t feeling very well… but I pulled myself together, went on a nice jog, and then went out to check out the antiques market that happens every Sunday in San Telmo. It was amazing – my EXACT aesthetic. I wanted to get everything. But I didn’t. just a few amazing pieces – i love shopping here!

Now I’m settling in for the night, reading my self-help book and trying to deal with this goddamned headache.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

We’re catching up on the past few days now…. Blogging is hard when you wake up at 7:30 in the morning!

As I mentioned, I switched classes… I’m now with Graciella – she’s cute. Loves to draw really intricate pictures on the chalkboard to describe what we’re learning.

(Graciella)

The class is much more difficult, and I seriously feel like my Spanish is growing by leaps and bounds!

Since I have a newfound love of yerba-mate, I introduced it to all my classmates, and we totally had a mate party in class yesterday. Super cute.

(Nathan drinking mate)

(Sonia charting our course for the afternoon)

On Tuesday, Sonia and I decided to walk to Recoleta and have a nice lunch on a pseudo-Parisian street…We split some salmon and shrimp pasta, delicious!!!

We then went to the famous Recoleta cemetery and wandered around for quite a while. It was seriously intense! I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like a mini-city of the dead. Paved streets with ornate tombs, statues, busts, flowers…. stray cats, you name it!

We went to check out this cool museum, the “Centro Cultural Recoleta,” and all in all had a very nice time strolling around. As we do. We then decided to be adventurous and take the bus home. They don’t stop for you, you have to flag them down, and even when they “stop,” it’s not really a stop… it’s more of a slow down, and you have to just hop aboard quickly. The bus was hilarious – it had all these engraved mirrors and was very glitzy. Apparently they are all private buses, so the operators can decorate them however they want.

By the time we got home it was like 6pm or so, and we were DEAD TIRED. Again. What a surprise. We took a nap, and by the time we woke up at 9, it was too late to go meet our classmates for dinner (that’s what we’d planned on doing.) Instead we went and got a bite in San Telmo – I had salad and bife de chorizo – which is not chorizo at all… it’s steak! Sonia got the weirdest sandwich I’d ever seen – cheese, olives, mushrooms and artichokes. But apparently it was good!

Then we got home and skyped with Dan and Beau for a sec. I was out in a flash.

Today is Wednesday (we have no pictures, didn’t bring the camera around!)

Back at school. You know the drill. Spanish Spanish and more Spanish. I had planned to go to the gym after school (they gave us a free monthly pass to use) but when I got there, I learned that “free” doesn’t mean the same thing in Buenos Aires. It was just a “reduced” price – with “free” access to all the classes… Um… yeah. That’s what a paid gym membership is. Whatever. I was annoyed cuz I’d carried all my stuff around all day for nothing.

Sonia and I went to this monstrosity of a shopping street called Calle Florida or something, and I had a mild panic attack cuz of the crowds. I have a fear of crowds. I had to get out of there, but not before buying a pair of Haviana sandals and an English/Spanish pocket dictionary.

We split up and I came home to catch up on some internet stuff. I realized I still had the need para exercisio, so I ventured out for a jog around the neighbourhood. My, oh my. What a terrific way to spend my time! First of all, it was a great way to sightsee – it’s like walking, only faster! Second of all, I had my very own soundtrack (my iPod!) and I felt like this glamorous person in a movie somehow. Lastly, I came home feeling alive and rested and simply wonderful. Now I know that it’s something I’m gonna do as much as possible while I’m here. Kinda necessary considering the rich foods I’ve been eating. Empanadas, pizzas, steaks, wine, ay yay yay!

Sonia was out all day, and just got back. Yep, I wandered around Calle Florida for a bit. I had a mission of finding a bathroom and learned a new word, the hard way. Golpear means to knock. Florida got too much for me and I wandered over to Defensa, a street that leads home and is full of antique and souvenir stores.

Okay, that’s that. I’m off to the supermercado por algo comidas. Yummmmm….. food.

Hasta luego!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Today (this is about Monday, but we're posted it on Wednesday. We're running behind.) was a very different day for Sonia and I. It started off the same – we woke up at the crack of dawn to get to school by 8am for the new student orientation. We took the Subte to class.

(it was full today, but we found out that this wasn't even rush hour!)

(us out in front of our school!)

Then we started language class with Diego, our little tattooed and cynical Argentinian. I could tell our class was having the most fun, we were all cracking up and enjoying ourselves… but the class felt very uneven. Some could barely speak in Spanish at all! While others, like myself *ahem *ahem* are much more advanced.

All in all, the first class was fun, but I was a little worried since it was all conversation based. I need grammar! I’m good at speaking, but my grammar is whack. I need me some edu-mi-cation. So I’m moving up a level today. The class is great for Sonia though, cuz she has good grammar, but could use some practice speaking. And we met lots of fun people, so it was just a great experience overall.

Sonia had to rush home to work (she had to work till 10pm yesterday, poor girl!), and I stayed for the new student lunch. Then I came up and tried to nap, but alas, I couldn’t. ugh. Annoying.

I woke up and went to the Parque Lezama, which is just a few blocks away from our house. I loved it. Very neighbourhood-ly, filled with old ladies, young couples making out, stray dogs, and weird sculptures.

The parque is located on the original site of where Buenos Aires was discovered. And there are wild parrots or parakeets all around! (I’m not a bird know it all… not sure what they were… but they were loud and colorful.)

I decided I wanted to try yerba mate for the first time. I was a bit hesitant, cuz everyone talks about how gross it is at first, but if you try it a few times, you’re hooked. Sounds just like something I’d love! I went to this bar/café, and gave it a whirl. I added sugar to mine, and you know what? It wasn’t bad! Kinda tasted like really strong green tea.

They served me this huge bowl of caramel (dulce de leche) along with it. It was so dark, I thought it was Nutella… but it wasn’t!

I stopped and bought some meat from a cute little butcher, and on my way home, I met Juan, a guy who lives here…He asked me for a beer, and I thought, “Why not?” So we went for una cerveza (I’m trying to be a more open Erica) and it was actually really fun. He didn’t speak a word of English, so it was good to practicar mi espanol.

I came home to my hard-working Sonia girl, made us some salad, cooked my steak, and before I knew it, it was almost midnight and time for bed!

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.