Graffiti 3

Thursday 30 November 2006

More graffiti! (Also in the Flores area) Sorry folks, there's just so much impressive painting here, available to everyone right on the street. I always find myself taking pictures of it.

Window grates

Wednesday 29 November 2006

Window grates in San Telmo

Graffiti 2

Tuesday 28 November 2006

Cool graffiti in the Flores area

The wheels on the bus go . . .

Monday 27 November 2006

An Argentine school bus.

Polo

Sunday 26 November 2006

Ryan and I went to our first polo match today. It was interesting - the crowd was very subdued, clapping politely for both teams until the very end of the second match, which was close and dramatic, when there was moderate cheering. It was freezing cold and a little rainy, so I didn't have the best time, but Ryan discovered quite the love for the sport. It does take a lot of talent, I have to say, and the horses were amazing - the supermodels of the equestrian world. Much more an event of the people here, however. Entrance to two games only cost us four US dollars.

You should aboslutely check out Ryan's pictures when he puts them up on his website, though. He took some really amazing shots.

Gay Pride Day

Saturday 25 November 2006

Today was Gay Pride day in Buenos Aires - I walked past this huge and noisy rally on my way home tonight, and were very grateful that there were still a half dozen blocks between it and my house!

Canna

Friday 24 November 2006

One of my students lives out in the suburbs, in a quiet and green little neighborhood. It is so nice walking down his street, covered with big old trees, flowers outside the houses, the sound of birds - so very different from my own barrio.

Thanksgiving

Thursday 23 November 2006

The aftermath of Thanksgiving dinner - a turkey carcass and a pile of dirty dishes.

I volunteered to help cook at a Thanksgiving dinner held for charity, all the proceeds going to help street kids. Ryan took some wonderful photos of the night (which should be appearing in the Buenos Aires Herald, the city's main English newspaper, on Saturday!) and I spent the night warming unbelievable amounts of mashed potatoes, sending out bowl after bowl of gravy and squash and stuffing. It was a huge success, and the food was excellent. Really, being away from my family, this was the best Thanksgiving I could ask for.

Big Tree 3

Wednesday 22 November 2006

Another ancient tree of Buenos Aires - one of its branches sticks out so far over the sidewalk that people use it as a bench. I really wish I could express or show how amazing I think these old trees are.

Synagogue

Tuesday 21 November 2006

I found this huge old synagogue while walking to a lesson the other day.

Train rush

Monday 20 November 2006

View from the train window.

Historic Bricks

Sunday 19 November 2006

An exhibit at a local gaucho museum - historic bricks. Almost, but not quite, as good as the Salt Museum in Erie, New York, or the spark plug exhibit in the Air and Space Museum in Ohio.

Try Mexico

Saturday 18 November 2006

I went to another Mexico board of tourism event today, where I ate the most bland salsa I have ever eaten (the woman who was teaching us how to make it took out all of the seeds from the peppers, because Argentines cannot stand anything remotely spicy), had my Mayan astrological fortune told (my sign is the white magnetic wind, and means that my life's mission is communication), and made the ugliest piñata I've ever seen (I started making it together with a family, whose little girl picked out a heart-shaped design to be covered with more hearts, but they left before it was done, so I got to finish it and take it home). It was a fun day.

Rodriguez Peña

Friday 17 November 2006

A statue down the street from where I used to live. It's got a bit of a glare, but you can see how very stern he looks. He's right on the corner, scowling down on everyone who passes.

Feeding Frenzy

Thursday 16 November 2006

I came across a pile of pigeons on my way home from a class today, literally a pile, two or three pigeons deep, all scrambling for a hot dog or something.

Verdulería

Wednesday 15 November 2006

Here in Buenos Aires, most people buy their vegetables from a verludería, or a vegetable store. Few supermarkets carry fruits and veggies, and when they do, they're often more expensive and not as nice. Instead, most supermercados have a vegetable lady stationed near the door, with her own little verludería. I think it's great.

Cabildo

Tuesday 14 November 2006

This is a courtyard in the Cabildo, a building here in Buenos Aires which looks vaguely Mexican to me, but actually used to be the seat of the Spanish colonial government.

Those purple trees are blooming everywhere just now - I love them.

San Cayetano

Monday 13 November 2006

Ryan and I visited the Museum of External Debt today. It was more interesting than it sounds, really, and about as exciting as a museum of debt can possibly be. We learned a lot more from the very enthusiastic economics student who appointed himself our personal guide when he found out we were foreigners than we did from the very long complicated explanations of past economic policies, though.

This is a picture of a tiny statue of San Cayetano, the patron saint of laborers. (Here, at least.) The museum used hundreds of these little statues to demonstrate unemployment statistics, set up in little circle representing the number of gainfully employed people in different years. He's quite the popular saint here - even here, in Argentina, where people only ever go to church for weddings and funerals, his feast day is celebrated with pilgrimages and parades and devotions.

Mataderos 2

Sunday 12 November 2006

Went to the Feria de Mataderos again, which is a local Sunday market with gauchos and crafts and food and performances. (See October 1)

It's still very strange seeing Christian religious artifacts, instead of Buddhist or Taoist ones.

Amazing Adventures . . .

Saturday 11 November 2006

Okay, shameless plug today. I just finished this book, (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Micheal Chabon) and it was one of the best books I have ever read, definitely up there in my top-ten. Go out, and read it today!

And it's rather fitting that I should recommend it today, as it is November 11th, and thus Rememberance Day in Canada and Veteran's Day in the States. It takes place during World War II, although it is mostly about the relationship between two cousins, one from Brooklyn, the other from Prague.

Window Washers

Friday 10 November 2006

My job isn't perfect, but I wouldn't want theirs . . .

Keys

Thursday 9 November 2006

These are the keys to my apartment. There is one for the main door downstairs, and three for the three locks on my door. Carrying these keys in my bag makes me feel something like a jailer in a Dickens book.

Estacion Peru

Wednesday 8 November 2006

One of the original subway stations.

Santa Clara

Tuesday 7 November 2006

(Santa Clara, pray for us.)

Toolbox

Monday 6 November 2006

I walked past this old old bus in the middle of repairs on my way to a student's house this morning.

Arbasto

Sunday 5 November 2006

This is the Arbasto, which used to be the central market here in Buenos Aires, full of fruit and vegetable and meat stands, as well as birthplace of the local slang known as "lunfardo," which was invented as the Spanish-speaking locals tried to communicate with Italian merchants. Now it is a classy shopping mall, complete with amusement park and movie theater. At least they didn't tear it down!

I've moved!

Saturday 4 November 2006

So, I have finally moved into what I hope will be a more permanent apartment. It is beautiful and spacious and well-lit, and my roommate is Argentine, so I will get to practice plenty of Spanish! (The outside is just as ugly as the last, however, so I decided to show the inside this time.)

Unofficial cooking class

Friday 3 November 2006

This is Gabriella, a real Italian, who one night taught us how to make pizza, the way she's been making it all her life as taught to her by . . someone, I forget who. So I can add real Italian pizza, with home-made dough, to the list of international foods I can cook for you all!

Dia de los Muertos

Thursday 2 November 2006

Today is Dia de los Muertos, a Mexican holiday devoted to remembering the dead, kinda like Tomb-Sweeping day in Taiwan. It is not celebrated here, but I heard about a little celebration of it, and assumed it was being put on by the Mexican ex-pat community, so I went. As it ended up, it was an event put on by the local Mexican tourism board, and had nothing to do with Dia de los Muertos at all. It consisted mostly of old Argentine ladies getting drunk on the free wine (well, and one young American lady, too.) The only Mexican there, that I would tell, was the ambassador from Mexico to Argentina, who gave a long and boring speech about Latin American solidarity.

However, there was a neat tiny little museum with some old missionary artifacts there, and this painting was in it.

Big Tree 2

Wednesday 1 November 2006

Another of the giant magic trees of Buenos Aires. I sat under this one while I waited to have yet another teaching interview. I'm getting a little tired of being all dressed up and full of myself.