Quilmes, Lattente, Mundolingo, 9 de Julio

Hi folks,

I've been back in Buenos Aires for nearly a month and realized I haven't written a blog post in a very long time. I've been busily organizing my schedule, no easy feat when you give five students a number potential class times and they all choose the same one. Thus the organization has been a headache, but now all of that is wrapping up and I'm getting into the routine.

Amazingly, despite all the scheduling difficulties, a few power outages, and rising inflation, I have been extremely relaxed about everything. I haven't really felt stressed at all, which is perhaps because I tend to avoid stress as I would the plague. But I recall leaving Buenos Aires in November and, at that point, I was probably the most stressed I had ever been in my life. Which goes to show what a few home-cooked meals can do for one's health.

I've been participating in a number of social activities since my return. I joined a new gym, which I like much more than the old one because the people there are always very friendly to me and helpful.

I also sometimes will go with my roommate, Hernan, to visit his family in Quilmes, which works wonders for my Spanish as we usually will talk for hours. The last time we went by motorbike, a first, and very thrilling, experience for me. We even got frisked by the police at one point, though they were probably disappointed to find only the pancake mix and maple syrup, which I cooked up later (the temperature was of course 90 degrees).

Pancake making + 90 degrees

I can also say I've been served coffee by the national champion barrista of Buenos Aires for 2013. Lattente, a cafe in Palermo, has hands-down the highest quality Colombian coffee you will find in Buenos Aires. It's located in Palermo and is worth a visit for anyone with a sophisticated coffee palate, or who enjoys sitting outside along a quiet street, talking for hours with friends and sipping on a coffee, iced or hot, both are excellent here.

I also began going to Mundolingo. It is a program similar to Spanglish but the difference is you don't have to pay $50 pesos to get in. All you need to do is show up and choose the flags of the various languages you speak (I take the American and Argentinian flags).

Spanglish is great because it is done speed-dating style where you speak for 5 minutes in Spanish and 5 minutes in English. While at Mundolingo you have no formal structure, which means it can be easier for expats to not practice Spanish and just speak in English the entire time.

Church on Belgrano y Defensa

Last Sunday was beautiful, and my friend Simon invited me to go out to enjoy the day and have a coffee. We walked along the iconic 9 de Julio avenue, which I live on now, and we found a quintessential Buenos Aires cafe to stop in and have something to eat. While we were there a car drove by us with no one inside. We acted quickly, realizing that the break was probably not active and the car was free rolling down the road. After stopping the car and stuffing some newspaper under the tire the car stayed in one place, but only meters from the intersection.

Strange is the life down south... round 2

It would seem I've adjusted well to my new surroundings. The apartment I'm sharing with my friend Hernan is both spacious and lofty. Yes, it is quite tall. It reminds me of Alice in Wonderland, the way the doors just go up, and up, and up. I wonder how the light bulbs get changed...

My room and window.

A view of the living/dining room and the
 kitchen beyond. Notice the doors.

While standing in line waiting for my flight down south I met a woman who was visiting Argentina for the first time with her father and some friends. We chatted for a little while and I gave her some advice on things to do and places to visit. That was pretty much the extent of it.

Well, I happened to go for a run the other day, and while I was doing exercises in the park by Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, this same woman happened to be walking by, and she saw me and we got to chatting again. We finally got around to names but, due to a disability that I share with probably most people in the world, I am usually unable to remember a person's name until the 2nd or 3rd encounter. I excuse myself from this lapse. Names aren't important anyway, good, solid, soulfoul connections are.

The park was a much more conducive environment for conversation than was the crowded airport so we hit it off quite well, and I was able to give advice on the must dos for a tourist while in good old Bue. Here's the list I gave her in no specific order.

One of many striking tombs in the cemetery.

1. Visit the Cemeterio de la Recoleta. The ornate and beautifully decorated tombs cover a square block and are amazing to experience. A great place for photographers and explorers to get lost. Best of all it's free!

2. While there stop by the Feria Plaza Francia. A local artisanal market right ouside the cemetery entrance that offers a range of cultural items from ceramicware to jewelry, paintings to mate gourds and leatherware. A great place to buy a gift for a loved one or something special for yourself.
The feria is only open Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.

3. Asado. Of course a trip to a local Parrilla is a must. Argentina has arguably some of the best beef in the world, and they pride themselves on preparing it well. One Parrilla I recommend is La Cabrera. It is rather high end, and the pricetag for a dinner for two would probably run you $400 pesos, but the experience is worth it.

Hernan's dad preparing the famous asado!

4. I also recommended visiting the Feria de San Telmo. This Feria is very similar to the one outside the cemetery. All it needs is to be scaled up about ten times. The Feria de San Telmo stretches along Calle Defensa and finishes at the Plaza Dorrego, another fun historical attraction. There you can not only purchase artisanal goods, you can also find yummy street food such as Choripan, or tango dancing in the plaza.

One of the many statues located in the botanical gardens

Other must hit spots are listed below, and all are FREE!
Botanical Gardens of Buenos Aires
National Museum of Fine Art
El Ateneo Theater turned bookstore (Avenidas Santa Fe y Callao)
Plaza de Mayo, the historical plaza at the heart of Buenos Aires.
The Ecological Reserve, a 360 hectare reserve and natural sanctuary located parallel to the Puerto Madero neighborhood.

Cheers y buen dia!

He llegado otro vez: I've arrived again... finally

Hey folks,

After a month and a half long furlough I have arrived once again to Buenos Aires, my second home. The trip, however, was far from smooth, though I took the bumps in the road with the rather casual, come what may, attitude for which I am known.

Perhaps I jinxed it. Everything went so efficiently in Boston, perhaps too efficiently. And I celebrated my good fortune by declaring to the world, via facebook status update, that so far everything was going to plan.

Well, I arrived in Houston only to discover that my flight to Buenos Aires had been canceled. I patiently waited for an hour in the customer service line, and when my turn came, the services people were much more helpful than I had thought. All the while I had been expecting I'd be sleeping in the airport, but when they gave me three free food vouchers and a hotel room I couldn't disagree.

I gobbled down a large froyo with blackberries and oreo bits (meal numero uno), and took the shuttle bus to my hotel. Aside from a freezing room, which eventually warmed up after I cranked up the heat, my experience at the hotel was A-standard.

FROYO!!!

I returned to the airport and by noon I was milling about Terminal E, exploring the duty free shops and watching planes take off.

Watching planes fly

I killed time for 9 or 10 hours until my flight was finally called and everyone began lining up to board.

This is where it gets interesting. We waited in line for about an hour to get our passports checked, and when it was my turn the United official gave me a peculiar look and asked if I had paid the reciprocity fee (a $300 dollar fee residents of both countries, USA and Argentina, must pay to enter the other). I said yes and showed her the ticket.

While I waited for her to double check its validity the flight crew arrived and I overheard them discussing a slight problem. There were two flights bound for Buenos Aires, and one was scheduled to take off an hour before the other. Furthermore one flight had almost no people on it. This is when they had the brilliant idea of combining the two flights into one (I say this with a hint of sarcasm).

We were thus transferred to gate E20, waited an hour, at which point they started giving us new tickets, which took another hour, then they transferred us back to E18.

My look of serious consternation after a 3 hour delay. Will I ever leave? I kept thinking.

We boarded the entire plane three and a half hours late and shut the doors in less than 20 minutes (I believe that's a world record. If we had been two minutes later the plane would not have had permission to take off as 1AM was the cutoff for flights).

The flight went without incident, except of course for the poor father in the row next to me trying to care for his infant son and toddler. Poor guy. I recall waking up to finding cereal spread across the floor, my shoes, my bag, and pretty much everything else I could see. Moral of the story, never fly with infants... ever!

I spent the first two days seeing the city and catching up with old friends.

The greenery of this building really stands out.

I love the contrast between the modern buildings and this gothic church, nestled in the heart of the city center.

On the to-do list: Find a supermarket near my new place. Begin lesson preparation. Find a good local gym. And of course have fun, it's summertime here!

Cheers