Night turns to day... - Sept 25-26, 2010

Portenos are known to party hard from Thursday night until the wee hours of Sunday morning. I decided to check out the night life for myself to see what everyone was staying up for...

It's ten o'clock on Saturday night and my first stop after having dinner with my homestay family is Jazz & Pop in Microcentro (downtown) to see my World Music professor, Juan Raffo, jam with his band from years ago called "El Guevo". The door is left slightly ajar by a man smoking outside and music wafts out enticingly into the street. Winding stairs lead us down towards a small darkened room where umbrellas line the ceiling above the band (for acoustics perhaps?) and the people seated at the small dining tables surrounding the stage are packed tightly together to make room for the burgeoning crowd. And here I thought we were early?! During the break I chat with other students who have come to see our professor in action to see what their plans are after the show. Apparently, we are all headed to the same place...

El Guevo plays until about midnight and we climb the stairs to the street level to hail a few taxis to barrio Balvanera where Jacob & Jared from our group live in a shared apartment with other international students. Their landlord hosts two large parties every year...this evening being one of them. After passing the door to their building the first time, I ring the doorbell and a young man peers at me through the glass. I ask if Jacob and Jared live there..."Cuantos?", he says without pause. I know I've only had one glass of wine, but did he just ask me how many? He opens the door and asks me again,"Cuantos?" I look at the group of people I had behind me and say,"Seis." He steps aside and nods his head towards the top of the stairs.

And wow...rooms surround an open air square patio where the majority of the people are milling about with drinks and cigarettes in hand. Music is playing somewhere in the background but conversations in various languages subdue it. Chatting it up with students visiting from Colombia, Germany, Switzerland, France and local portenos hanging out on a Saturday night, I find myself not wanting to leave. Around 2:30am my roomie, Romina, warns me the clubs stop accepting people after 3am. I do the rounds to bid people farewell then go downstairs with my group to hail a taxi to Crobar, a boliche (dance club) in Palermo.

The Buenos Aires electronica scene is alive and well and Crobar is one of its most popular spots. Two hours of dancing and my feet need a rest. It's 5am and my group heads out...for a little snack. A vendor outside of the club is selling hamburgers, superpanchos and choripan. I leaned against a concrete divider on the side of the road waiting for them to finish. We then ventured towards the main street to hail a cab...

Going to bed as the sun started to rise that Sunday morning, I realized the porteno night life is a true religion...one I was not ready to commit to.

Photos courtesy of DK
Left: the crowd at Crobar at 3am
Right top: David, me, Romina still fresh at 3am on the Crobar dance floor
Right bottom: David, Sarah C, Sarah A, and Crystal at Jazz & Pop

Dinner at Professor Bouscaren's - Sept 23, 2010

Steven Bouscaren, Ph.D. is a Professor of Anthropology and Chair to the Department of Behavioral Sciences at City College in San Diego's Community College District. He is on-site teaching all three anthropology classes being held at the Expanish building in downtown Buenos Aires for this year's SD City College Argentina study abroad program.

This evening, my class (Cultures of Latin America) met at his temporary Buenos Aires home for a potluck dinner.

Photos
Left top: Professor Bouscaren playing the guitar for the group
Left bottom: Tasty treats for the potluck
Right top: Cultures of Latin America class with Professor Bouscaren
Right bottom: Lounging during dinner with the group

Guest Appearance

Ryan Robinson, currently a student of UC Berkeley majoring in peace studies, alumnus of Professor Bouscaren's classes at SD City College and participant of the 2008 Buenos Aires study abroad program came to visit our group for a week while on hiatus from his participation with Brazil's Landless Workers Movement.

And of course, here are more photos of daily life at school or on my way home...

Photos
Left top (from left to right): Crystal, Kate, and Esteban in the computer room at Expanish
Left middle: Taken on Avenida Santa Fe facing Circulo Militar (white building in the background whose architectural style was inspired by the Palais du Louvre in Paris of the 16th century)
Left bottom: Cultures of Latin America class with guest speaker Ryan Robinson
Right top: Band playing in front of a bank after business hours on the main shopping drag on Florida (street in downtown)
Right middle: Walking down Avenida Santa Fe after school
Right bottom: Plaza San Martin on a Tuesday afternoon across from Circulo Militar on Avenida Santa Fe

Who's got a case of the Mondays?

Not this bunch!!! Mondays and Wednesdays I have a six hour gap between my morning Spanish class and afternoon World Music class. Today we have our first test in World Music. I decide to head home to study and have lunch. This one's uncomplicated folks... just my typical Monday. Enjoy the photos!

Photos
Left top: Dinner being served in the main dining area -Themla (housemaid) and my roomies, David and Romina
Left bottom (left to right): World Music instructors Juan Raffo (Argentine keyboardist and musical arranger) and Walter Frank (Argentine pianist and composer) letting loose after grading our test
Right top: Dinner with the family - Romina, Camila (daughter of my host mother), and David
Right middle: Yum, yum, yum...homemade grub! Tonight is grilled potatoes, broiled marinated beef with salad and crackers.
Right bottom: One of the many parks I pass on my way home walking through the city.

Day trip to Tigre - Sept 18, 2010

Looking to get away? About one hour from the bustling streets of Buenos Aires is the small port city of Tigre, named after the jaguars (tigres) that once inhabited the delta. Frequented by portenos (ones from Buenos Aires) and tourists alike, the latte colored water is rather tranquil despite the steady traffic of catamarans, kayaks, and other watercrafts.

It's day six of "get up and go" for me and the SD City College group and I find myself sitting languidly in the aft section of the tour boat half listening to the guide describe the surroundings and the other half imagining the island life in which over 3,000 Argentines have chosen to partake. We pass numerous homes on stilts, the names of the families inhabiting them hung smartly off the docks to their boats. Traveling supermercados, carrying everyday household supplies such as food and water, glide through the river alongside us. The vendors wave invitingly as if to entice us to stay in their water wonderland.

Our group is dropped off at a recreational facility off Rio Sarmiento called El Alcazar. While waiting for lunch to commence, I stroll about the grounds. The five acre complex is equipped with volleyball and tennis courts, a massive soccer field, and many grills and tables to lounge about with family and friends on a beautiful day such as this. I find the group sprawled on the sand or frolicking in the water by the beach. Day six isn't so bad after all...

The lunch is an array of endless delights from empanadas to salad, bread rolls, various grilled cuts of beef, sausages and, of course, dessert. For the vegetarians and vegans in the group, the waiters bring out pasta, veggies and rice.

On our way back to the city, we are dropped off at Puerto de Frutos for a brief stroll through what used to be a major port to sell fruit. Country style furniture, wicker wares and crafts permeate this market now and the weekend crowd is in full force. Herded onto the bus once more, the group falls into a weary silence as many doze off for the final leg home...but I stay awake, looking out the window as we pass through the outskirts of the city. Ah, Buenos Aires...will you ever let me sleep?

Photos
Left top: SD City College group finds the beach
Left bottom: Supermercado traveling the river with household supplies
Right top: Museo de Arte Tigre showcasing famous Argentine artists from the 19th & 20th centuries
Right middle: Preserved home of Argentina's 7th president: Domingo Sarmiento
Right bottom: Home sweet home for Argentine riverside island dwellers

878 - Sept 16, 2010

What used to be a speakeasy is now a trendy restaurant-bar also known for it's bountiful selection of whiskey (they boast 80 different kinds!). The music selection is what piqued my interest. According to Lonely Planet's Buenos Aires city guide, this spot tends to play a mix of jazz and bossa nova. Bereft of any signage indicating its presence in a mostly residential area bordering Villa Crespo and Palermo, it can only be identified by the address number 878 on the door, hence the name.

Walking towards the location, I monitored the numbers adhered to the walls of the old buildings lining the uneven, cobblestoned sidewalks to make sure I was headed in the right direction. Outside the doors to this mysterious locale was a man in black slacks, a gray blazer and a white shirt, no tie. "Buenas noches", he said as he pulled out a key to open the door. Once inside, I am taken by the red walls, high ceilings and low lighting. Couches and loveseats are intermingled with tables throughout the spacious room. It is already a quarter past eleven on a Thursday night but the place is still comfortably full.

Several of the students from the SD City College group had made the journey to visit this particular spot at my urging and we eventually moved from the bar to a more comfortable lounge area to chat while enjoying a drink. Bossa nova was heard more readily after the dinner crowd left at around 12:30am. What a gem! I'm definitely visiting again before I leave Buenos Aires.

Photos
Left: Exterior of 878
Top right: Interior facing the doors of 878
Bottom right: Most of the group from that night from left to right - Esteban, me, Crystal, David, Kirsten, Rachel, Kate

Experimenting at El Sanguichito- Sept 14, 2010

After my last class on Tuesday, I had a strange craving for choripan (grilled Argentine sausage tucked into a warmed bread roll). This is sure to clog my arteries and lessen my life expectancy in the short amount of time I will be here in Buenos Aires. It's piling on the chimichurri I look forward to the most really. It's a combination of olive oil, some type of herb -parsley or oregano most likely, garlic and who knows what else but it is a gatronomical delight. El Sanguichito, the fabulous hole-in-the-wall eatery I was introduced to last week, makes a picante version of chimichurri with the addition of red pepper flakes. For those of you back in SD reading this, El Sanguichito is the Argentine version of a 24 hour taco shop. The food is cheap, greasy, and filling.

Upon reaching this hub of heart-stopping treats, I am saddened to discover they have already run out of choripan for the day. I am at a loss...I settle on a superpancho con papas (partially cooked hot dog with bits of fried potato piled on top). Lounging on the second floor with other gals from Expanish, an interesting theory is proposed. Supposedly, beer helps to ease one's mood and allows for better studying. I was headed home for the day to study until dinner so I decided to test this hypothesis and took a hearty gulp from a classmate's plastic cup filled with Stella Artois...

Photos
Left: Sarah and Crystal at El Sanguichito
Right: Romina (my new roommate from the Italian part of Switzerland) and two other students from Expanish

A lesson in public transportation - Sept 11, 2010

With the help of Skype, a few of us planned to meet at the Starbucks in Alto Palermo then head out to check out the shopping mecca of Villa Crespo. As members of the group slowly trickle through the doors of the internationally popular coffee house, we begin to share stories of miscommunication, misdirection and mishaps from our daily excursions throughout the city. Their stories were a backdrop to my own internal distress of being unable to figure out which colectivo (bus) to take to get us from our current location to the next. As I frustratingly flipped through my Guia "T" (transportation and city guide), Maya, who rides the subte (subway) daily, suggested we could take it to a "combination" stop which would then connect with other subte lines throughout the city. Brilliant! Thus began my love affair with taking subte lines versus colectivos to travel throughout Buenos Aires.

The shops were not as great as we had imagined, but the company was engaging and we found ourselves parked at a table in a cafe talking over lunch and beer for over an hour. I had forgotten how much more fulfilling it was to sit down and talk to someone rather than send a faceless text message or email. As we parted ways at different subte stops, I marveled at how much more connected I felt with people in general just by being on the subte or walking down the streets in comparison to my life with a cellphone and car keys in hand...

Photos
Left: Group huddle at the Starbucks
Right: Lunch at a cafe

Tango, Tango, Tango! - Sept 10, 2010

Fridays start at a nice leisurely pace since class usually begins about an hour later than usual. Today's Argentine Life & Culture topic was presented by Liria Evangelista from last week's Argentine world view and economic crisis lecture. An authentic porteno (one from Buenos Aires), she spoke of tango not just as a genre or dance craze, but as an attitude towards life held by the people of Buenos Aires..." tango is a relationship to reality..."

From the origin and development of tango in 1880 by the poor immigrants living in the crowded conventillos (tenements), through tango's golden age from 1920 - 1950, then it's decade of decline and finally it's rise again from dormancy, Liria's narrative brought us closer to understanding the spirit of tango and how it is tied to the history and ideologies and most importantly, the people of Buenos Aires.

And...BREAK! It's an hour break for lunch before we head to a dance studio for a tango lesson! A fellow SD City College student (Jacob, you're the best!) recommends a fabulous spot a few blocks down from Expanish that sells choripan (grilled Argentine chorizo in bread) for a student friendly price. Yumalicious with the chimichurri, it is a filling and affordable meal...it's my new favorite place to eat!

Tango class was...magical, exhilarating and enchanting. Knowing the dance meant more than just learning eight count choreography, I found myself closing my eyes and letting the music saturate my senses as my dance partner whisked me across the dance floor...

Walking home with two other students from the group, we spied a protest march taking place in the street. The weather had also turned into a strange humid heat and the desire for helado (ice cream) was strong. Miraculously we found a heladeria (ice cream parlor) where I tried dulce de leche con nueces (caramelized milk flavor with walnuts).

Photos
Left: Students in a protest march
Right top: Would you like some liquor with your ice cream?
Right bottom: Kate, Jacob, Sean, and I striking a tango pose at the dance studio

Cafe Tortoni: Tango Show - Sept 9, 2010

The concentration for this week's Argentine Life and Culture class is tango! This evening the group is meeting at Cafe Tortoni on Avenida de Mayo at 8pm to see a tango show.

Bad day for colectivo's today. Late yet again! My roomie and I waited 20 minutes for the right bus but it never passed. Took a different one and had to hoof the extra blocks to the location. Thankfully Lucia, our fantastic Expanish group coordinator, and Professor Stephen Bouscaren, a distinguished archaeologist and our SD City College onsite faculty member, waited outside for us.

Spectacular, stunning, breathtaking, entertaining...a fine tango musical "dramedy" in the intimate basement of Cafe Tortoni...pure delight!

Photos... SD City College group at Cafe Tortoni
Left top: Freddy, Esteban, Crystal
Left bottom: Jacob, Sarah, Jared, Sean
Right top: Lucia - Expanish group coordinator
Right middle: Kate and Pamela in the front; Breanna, Sean, Amber and Maya in the background
Right bottom: Rene, Leilani and Kirsten

Blissfully mundane... - Sept 9, 2010

Today started rather poorly. I was late to school on the day of my first quiz in Spanish class! My roomie and I waited for the colectivo for 20 minutes until one finally passed full of passengers...and kept going! Waiting another 10 minutes, another -filled to capacity- colectivo drove past. Others waiting with us at the stop began to flag down taxis...I began contemplating the same...

Tuesdays and Thursdays my last class ends at 1pm. I resigned myself to domestic chores to start my weekend off right...

Upon arriving at my Buenos Aires home, I separated and bagged my laundry and dropped if off at a laundromat across the street. In Buenos Aires, laundromats wash and fold your laundry for you. They will even pick up from your home!

Next stop was the grocery store. I thought shopping in the states was hard! With all of my allergies I have to be extra careful and read the ingredients on anything I buy. Now I have to read everything in Spanish!

Going to Cafe Tortoni tonight with the SD City College group to see a tango show. If it's not too late I'll check back in afterwards...Chau!

Photos
Top left: SD City College students in the improptu study room at Expanish (from left to right: Esteban, Freddy, Jacob, Rene and Leilani)
Top right: Line to the register at Carrefour (grocery store)
Bottom left: Paseoperro (dog walker) I spied while waiting for the colectivo this morning
Bottom right: Rene and Leilani studying between class at Expanish

Weekend Life II - September 5, 2010

Sleeping in and squeezing in some schoolwork readings earlier in the day, I ventured out again to Feria de Recoleta in search of a coin purse to keep my colectivo (bus) fare. Already late in the day, I was surprised to see large crowds still swarming the vendors and sitting on the vast grassy areas surrounding the park.

Weaving between the stands, my roomie and I ran into fellow SD City College students and exchanged weekend stories until the sound of drums draws me towards a group of
samba drummers entertaining the crowd with their hypnotic beat.

Photos
Top left: Fellow SD City College students at Feria de Recoleta: Freddy, Esteban and David
Top right: Samba drum group drawing in a crowd
Bottom left: Having a late breakfast in the service kitchen consisting of toast with raspberry marmalade & honey and a glass of apple juice while reading through schoolwork
Bottom right: Crowds relaxing on a Sunday afternoon at Feria de Recoleta

Weekend Life - September 4, 2010

Ahh...finally a break! I decided to take it easy this weekend and kept my schedule open for lots of rest and leisurely walks around my neighborhood to find the necessities: grocery store and a laundromat. On Saturday, my roomie and I stocked up on fruits and snacks at the nearest Carrefour (much like a Vons/Ralphs) to fill the gap between the breakfast and dinners provided with our homestay.

Later we strolled down to the Feria de Recoleta (flea market), only a few blocks away by Cementerio de Recoleta I had mentioned in a previous blog, to check out the local music and various vendors.

Venturing a few blocks north, we ran into Facultad de Derecho (law school) and the blooming metallic flower sculpture Floralis Generica. It was designed by Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano as a symbol of "hope for the country's new spring".

Photos
Left top: Standing on the pedestrian bridge next to Facultad de Derecho
Left bottom: My roomie, David, trying a dulce de leche covered churro at Feria de Recoleta
Right top: Floralis Generica
Right middle: Aqualactic: a band playing on instruments called Urbanstrings that were specifically created and designed to express their music
Right bottom: Grocery shopping at Carrefour