La Librería Avila

Thursday 8 February 2007

I walk past this book store every Thursday on my way to classes downtown. It is the oldest bookstore in Buenos Aires (and very possibly the continent, although I'm not sure), founded in 1785. It has also been named one of the six most beautiful bookstores in the world.

Although I've traveled in Europe, which is full of old buildings, and Asia, whose civilization is millennia older than ours, it still amazes me to think that this one store is about the same age as my entire country. (Well, my entire government, anyway.)

Palacio de Aguas Corrientes

Wednesday 7 February 2007

Ryan and I both had the morning off, so we decided to do a little sight-seeing. Our destination was the Palacio de Aguas Corrientes (Palace of Running Water), the waterworks of Buenos Aires. It was finished in 1895, and the outside was designed as a beautiful building, architecturally, to fit in with the gorgeous old houses around it. Inside, however, it is just one big ugly room with tanks and pipes and whatnot. We're not exactly sure if it is still functioning as a waterworks, but it definitely still houses the offices, as there were lots of people there to pay their bills.

On the second floor is a small museum full of old taps and faucets and toilets, the old blueprints of the building, and some other old-fashioned knick-knacks. They had a whole room full of old toilets, in fact.

Grrrrrrrrr, post office

Tuesday 6 February 2007

I had a close encounter with the inner workings of the Argentine bureaucracy today. The lovely ladies at South American Explores (a local travelers' club of which we are members) let me know that my mother's package was here, and I should come by the clubhouse. When I got there, I found, not a package, but a slip to go to the local post office to pick up the package. Pretty normal, they do that for safety, as there isn't usually a mail box or anything to put it in.

So, I go to the local post office and wait for over an hour to get my package. It's finally my turn, I sign for it, and the woman brings out, not a box, but a letter. Hmmm, a registered letter for me from the Argenine post system. I open it up, and it is another slip telling me that my package is at the main post office. I couldn't believe it.

Why they wouldn't just tell you which post office it's at on the first slip, I don't know. Maybe they see that it's from somewhere else and think, "Let's frustrate the foreigners!"

Yea Argentina!

Monday 5 February 2007

Some construction workers outside a particularly patriotic metal door. In the Parque Patricios neighborhood.

Carnival in Almagro

Sunday 4 February 2007

Ryan and I went to a tiny Carnival celebration on Medrano Street in Almagro last night. It featured a local award-winning murga (group of people who dance and sing together, in matching costumes, during Carnival), some tango singing (what event in BA would be complete without it!), and lots of children spraying foam at each other and whoever else was around. It was short and small, but a ton of fun, and the dancers were terrific. The announcer mostly talked about how great Almagro is (there's a lot of neighborhood pride here.)

It was all a little dark and fast for my camera, so you should really check out Ryan's site to see a nicer picture, and hopefully his Flickr account later on to see much more of it! Either way, you'll be seeing more when we go to Gualeguaychu in a few weeks to see the biggest Carnival in Argentina!

Caseros Prison

Saturday 3 February 2007

This is the prison on Caseros Avenue in the Parque Patricios neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is closed down now, but in its day was known for being dirty, over-crowded, hellish, and full of political prisoners. Conditions were horrible, torture was rampant, and the entire building was in fact designed to let no direct light in, keeping the prisoners in a hazy twilight. A reminder of the military dictatorship, and an ugly building to boot. They are demolishing it now, floor by floor because of all the hospitals nearby, and it is slowly shrinking in size.

A New York artist named Seth Wulsin came down here a couple of years ago, was impressed by the art scene, and decided to stay. He said that he was walking past this prison one day and saw faces in the smashed out opaque windows. He decided to do an art project, despite the fact that it would exist only as long as it took for the demolition crews to get down to the ground floor. So, he carefully punched out more of the glass circles, making faces in the grids. These faces represent the people who were imprisoned here. They can only be seen from just the right angle, where the sun hits the glass. (It took Ryan and I a while walking around to find just that angle. For a closer view, check out his site.)

Mailbox

Friday 2 February 2007

Most of the older buildings have letter boxes like this. Buzon means mailbox.

Book store

Thursday 1 February 2007

A neat old used book store on my block, full of really Argentine books.

Doorbells

Wednesday 31 January 2007

Makeshift doorbells in San Telmo.

Intercom systems are the norm in apartment buildings here, usually with some way of buzzing open the door from your apartment. (Not in my place, though, I have to go all the way down to let people in!) They take safety seriously here, but sometimes a little too far. In my building, for example, the front door only opens with a key, for both going in and going out. This seems like a fire hazard to me, not being able to run out of the building unless you have your keys, but hey, what are you going to do? It's very common here.

Building

Tuesday 30 January 2007

Saw an interesting office building in San Telmo today. I don't think I'd like to work there.

Street

Monday 29 January 2007

A normal BA street in Flores.

Boids

Sunday 28 January 2007

Pigeons on wires in Flores.

Kiosco

Saturday 27 January 2007

A walk-up kiosco, or corner store. You go up to the window, ask for what you want (candy, pop, cigarettes, copies, phone cards, etc.) and pay. Very convenient.

A crappy picture

Friday 26 January 2007

Okay, a fact about Buenos Aires that you won't find in the guide books - it's covered in dog poop. Everyone here has a dog, but no one cleans up after them. It might sound like I'm exaggerating, but you actually have to keep your eyes on the pavement when you're walking, or you'll end up with stinky shoes.

They've actually come up with a little superstition (in order to make the best of this situation, I think.) They say "Pisar mierda trae buena suerte." (Stepping in poo brings good luck.)

Supermercado

Thursday 25 January 2007

This is a local little supermarket, with sale prices listed outside. Down the street from my house.

No se olviden de Cabezas

Wednesday 24 January 3007

Another deathday here in Buenos Aires. Today marked ten years since the murder of José Luis Cabezas, a famous photojournalist. In the late 90's he worked for a paper called Noticias, which was known for its exposés. Cabezas had worked on several articles on police corruption, and also one on Alfredo Yabrán, a local businessman with mafia ties who refused to have his picture taken. So, Cabezas exposes some corruption, takes a picture of Yabrán, and a little later he is found dead, having been beaten, tortured, shot, and his body burned.

The chief of police and several other officers were jailed for life for clearing the area of police, thereby allowing the murder to take place. However, they figured the actual contract had been taken out by Yabrán. When they went to arrest him, though, they found that he had shot himself in the face. Now, there are still a lot of dodgy loose ends around the story (most people believe that Yabrán faked his own death, for instance) and at the protest today Cabeza's mother was still calling for justice. But it was a time when hundreds of journalists were being harassed and assaulted for investigating into leftover vestiges of corruption, and really, there is no one left to go after in this case.

So, to commemorate and at the least keep him and his cause in the spotlight, they had a nice little rally. His family members and friends all spoke, mostly just calling on everyone to remember Cabezas. More impressive, they projected his pictures and pictures of him onto the Obelisco, the Washington-monument-lookalike that sits right smack dab in the middle of downtown.

Butterfly

Tuesday 23 January 2007

Okay, this is the second time that Ryan and I have, at different times and at different places in the city, taken a picture of the same thing. (The last time was on Thursday the 18th, when we saw the same march, him at the beginning, and me at the end.) Today we both took a picture of the same species of butterfly (or moth?), although you should really go check out his. It was on a mirror, so is reflected, and looks like it's floating in space. (http://birdseyeview.aminus3.com/)

I was actually really tempted not to put mine up, as his is far better, but I was so proud of myself of taking such a clear, close shot of an insect. And, my other pictures, of the cool old central post office, were all blurry. So, here ya go!

Pawn Shop

Monday 22 January 2007

So, did some walking around the neighborhood today, between classes, took a lot of pictures. Here is a used electronics store. I really like all of the hand-painted signs and advertisements here. Gives the city a bit of an old-fashioned feel, like the stores are from the forties or fifties or something.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Beth!

Ryan equals dinosaur?

Sunday 21 January 2007

Ryan and a dinosaur. Isn't he handsome? (Ryan, that is.)

We found this neat bit of graffiti inside an old broken-down building in Colonia. We saw a hole in the bricks and crawled in for a little exploration. The house must have dated back more than a hundred years, and there were ivy and ferns growing into the rooms. A neat little adventure.

Uruguay again

Saturday 20 January 2007

Second trip to Uruguay, time to renew visas again. This is in the old main plaza.

If I understand things correctly, Uruguay was in a "regional federation" with Argentina between 1810 and 1828, when it finally won its sovereignty. My guess is this is how a tile with the date of Argentine independence ended up on a Uruguayan wall.

San Expedito

Friday 19 January 2007

On the 19th of every month the church around the corner holds a little market, selling rosaries, saint medals, candles, and novenas. It is held to honor Saint Expiditus, an Armenian in the Roman army who converted to Christianity then mysteriously died. He is now the patron saint to Urgent and Just Causes, and is evidently well-loved in the Once neighborhood. There were hundreds of people there this morning, lighting candles and offering prayers.

Jorge Julio Lopez

Thursday 18 January 2007

Yes, another protest here in Buenos Aires. They happen with predictable regularity, but this one was bigger than normal, and they certainly have something to yell about now. Four months ago today, on the 18 of September, one Mr. Miguel Etchecolatz was convicted of murder, kidnapping, and torture under the old dictatorship, and was sentenced to life in prison. He was one of the first people to be brought to justice for crimes during the "dirty war" since Argentina lifted pardon laws disallowing their trials.

The problem is, a day after testifying against this man, one of the star witnesses, Jorge Julio Lopez, disappeared. Political disappearances like this were common here in the 70s and 80s, but this is the first time it has happened since the end of the dictatorship, and people are angry, and probably a bit scared. For the past four months his face has been seen on the TV, on ads, on graffiti, everywhere you look. What happened to him isn't exactly a mystery (cronies of Etchecolatz most assuredly took their vengeance as a warning to other witnesses) and I doubt that anyone is really expecting him to show up anytime soon. But people are keeping this issue in the spotlight, and making it clear that they will not quietly be led back into a darker time.

What I found interesting about the rally, however, was the speeches that accompanied it. At first I was so proud of myself for being able to understand pretty much every word, which is difficult when they are being shouted over a loudspeaker. But after about two minutes, I realized that they were saying the same thing over and over and over again. No changes, just the same phrases, mixed up in different orders. "We demand that that government return Jorge Julio Lopez alive, and that those responsible are brought to justice." That was about it, and I'm guessing they stuck around for an hour. I can't believe how boring it actually was.

Oh, and I guess Ryan saw the same protest, at a different point, when they were marching to the Plaza de Mayo. So you can see a better picture and probably more poetic explanation at: www.birdseyeview.aminus3.com. (His photo blog. Check it out.)

Mannequin shop

Wednesday 17 January 2007

The part of Flores where I often work is full of clothing shops. In fact, there is very little else there, a fact which usually frustrates me when I am looking for a place to buy a phone card or a sandwich or something, and all I can possibly get is a good deal on a new shirt or the hottest little dress.

But today I found the stores where they all buy their mannequins! It was a little freaky, actually, walking past these shops full of plastic people, all lined up and naked.

Flying away

Tuesday 16 January 2007

In the Chacarita neighborhood.

Church

Monday 15 January 2007

This is a church in the Flores area, near my student's house. I always walk past it and think what a nice picture it would make. Today the sky was just so blue, I had to stop.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Red Door

Sunday 14 January 2007

A doorway in the Chacarita neighborhood. You sometimes see houses covered with these colorful tiles instead of siding or paint, and I quite like it.

Last Supper

Saturday 13 January 2007

So, I was just cruising around ancient Jerusalem today, and this great group of guys invited me out to dinner. Turned out to be a bit more serious than I expected, though.

No, really, Ryan and I went to one of the more famous Argentine theme parks today: Tierra Santa. (Holy Land) Ryan's friend Kendra is visiting for a few days, so we figured we'd show her the odder side of Buenos Aires, and see something we'd been dying to go to ourselves. It is a park recreating the ancient middle east, with a "village" of full-scale buildings of plastic made to look like plaster and wood, giant fake palm trees that creak in the wind (why fake ones, I don't know, seeing as palm trees grow all over the place here), and of course, all kinds of statues depicting famous biblical stories. After going to Haw Par Villa in Singapore, which is dedicated to Chinese mythology among other random strange things and features detailed scenarios of every level of Chinese hell, we just knew we'd love this place. And we were not disappointed. One of the best parts were the anamatronic recreations of particularly important moments in religious history. The creation, the birth of Jesus, the last supper. Let me tell you, Jesus has quite the booming voice, and speaks excellent Spanish.

There was one great disappointment, however. The park boasts an 18-meter Jesus who rises from the dead every half hour, and we were quite excited to see the resurrection in person. Unfortunately, it was a little too windy for miracles, and Jesus was unable to resurrect. Ah well, we'll have to go back. We did get our pictures with the 15-foot-high Jesus torso, though, so that compensated a bit!

Bottle Caps

Friday 12 January 2007

A typical road in the Flores area, near one of my regular classes. All over the roads in this part of town you can see thousands of beer bottle caps embedded in the asphalt. Quilmes, a locally brewed favorite, is the most common. I thought it was quite the phenomenon.

Especially considering that porteños don't normally drink to excess. They'll have a glass of wine or beer at dinner with friends, but you do not see large groups of young people staggering about drunk on weekend nights. They drink socially, but are rarely actually inebriated.

Self Portrait 3

Thursday 11 January 2007

I thought this was a pretty door, an okay picture, but I put it up because a funny story comes with it. I was standing in front of this door for five minutes or so, trying different things with my camera, trying to get myself into the picture, mostly taking them from my hip angled up, so I didn't have a picture of myself with camera in front of face. Then, as I continued on to my class down the block, I realized that I was standing just a few doors down from the garage where there are always a few prostitutes standing on the sidewalk. They were all looking at me strangely, as if they thought I had been trying to sneakily take pictures of them and was perhaps really bad at being sneaky. I was quite embarrassed as I walked past them on my way to class.

On my train

Wednesday 10 January 2007

I took this photo on my way home from class today (I spend a lot of time on trains nowadays.) It's really hard to see here because the photo is small, but I thought it was a neat picture because you can see a guy who is sitting ahead of me in my train in the reflection. Look closely. Or, enjoy the pretty blue.

Also, sidenote, the TBA on the train (Tránsito Buenos Aires, I believe) always makes me think "to be announced," like they haven't decided on a name yet, but will let us all know as soon as they do.

A little crooked

Tuesday 9 January 2007

A school door in the Boedo neighborhood. When we were home, I was disappointed by the lack of color in North America. Argentina certainly doesn't have as much as Asia did, but still, they are not afraid to use bright colors here and there, which is nice.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Donny!

Mechanics

Monday 8 January 2007

A mechanic's garage in Flores. I love getting to see different parts of the city.

Estación Darío y Maxi

Sunday 7 January 2006

Ryan and I went out to the southern suburb of Avalleneda, to check out the Carrefour, looking for hard-to-find ingredients or maybe even cheddar cheese. When we arrived at the Avalleneda train station, however, we found that it had been renamed by local grafittiers. Everywhere, on every sign and over every door, the names Darío and Maxi appeared. Nowhere did it say the correct name. And on all the walls were stencils and paintings and slogans and portraits of these two men, saying things like "Ni muertos nos detendrán," (Even though we are dead, they will not stop us) and "Darío y Maxi no están solos" (They are not alone.) We had no idea what was going on, but snapped a few photos (see Ryan's for some really nice ones) and went home.

I found out, however, that on the 26th of June 2002, there was a massive protest on the Pueyrredon bridge in Avalleneda, where over 4,000 unemployed workers took to the streets and blocked off the highways in and out of the city. (This was just after the economic crash, when unemployment was very very high.) Two of these "piqueteros," named Darío and Maxi, were shot down by police trying to control the march. The two ran for cover in this train station, hence the connection. They have become something like local martyrs, and I believe that people still block that same bridge every year on June 26th.

Las Violetas

Saturday 6 January 2007

Today Ryan and I met our friend and language exchange partner Paula at this cafe, Las Violetas. It is well-known for its beautiful stained glass windows (seen here) and scrumptious cakes (in my belly). It was quite the ritzy place, and we couldn't afford to go regularly, but it was nice to sit down to a fancy tea in the afternoon.

Casa Única

Friday 5 January 2007

This is Casa Única, a hostel near our house. I was checking it out as a possible recommendation for friends or family who visit us down here, and thought that the outside was absolutely gorgeous. (The inside was also brightly painted and cheery!) This is yet another example of fileteado, the traditional Buenos Aires painting style.

Lindsey, Empanada Queen

Thursday 4 January 2007

This is Lindsey, fellow empanada queen. We took one empanada class together, and tonight taught our second group of people how to make these delicious little meat pies. We don't claim to be experts, just to love empanadas!

Self Portrait 2

Wednesday 3 January 2007

Walked past a glass shop in San Telmo today, took a picture of me looking rather distorted.

Darth Vader

Tuesday 2 January 2007

Back to work today, which included teaching the people who work at LapTV, a company which owns several cable channels, most of the movie channels. They have a seven-foot-tall Darth Vader statue in their lobby, along with a little Yoda. (There is also a Gladiator and Jimmy Neutron on the other side.) It quite surprised me the first time I came to work here!

Happy New Year!

Monday 1 January 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!

As the clock struck twelve we all toasted and exchanged hugs, kisses, and well wishes, then went out onto the street to watch the fireworks, which were many and loud. The neighbor across the street was adhering to an older tradition, however, and burning an effigy. I guess in the fifties and sixties this block used to close down off of the streets, turn up the music, set up tables in the road, and have a giant neighborhood party on new years. They would often burn effigies of politicians of the time, sports figures who missed saves, local scoundrels, etc. These parties have unfortunately faded away as the neighborhood grew poorer, but they still like to burn things!
The man who set this up said it wasn't anyone specific (that he would tell) so I will just remember the Ecuadorian tradition taught to me by my friend Rick T. Estes, and think of it as the old year.

Oh yeah, and they stuffed it full of fireworks, too, so that as it burned, bits of it kept exploding.

Cordero

Sunday 31 December 2006

A lovely blurry picture of the cordero, or goat meat, that was our new year's dinner. It was delicious, so tender and sweet and soft and rich. (So much better than beef! But I would never say that here . . .) But the most amazing part about it is that this parilla is inside the house where we were guests. These Argentine friends of ours, the same ones with whom we spent Christmas, incidentally, have a giant professional barbeque in their garage. Not too rare for Argentines, I know, but still a shock for me.

Cromagnon

Saturday 30 December 2006

I heard drums late last night, looked out the window, and saw that Rivadavia, a major street nearby, was full of people marching and stomping. We ran downstairs to find that it was a march in memory of the victims of a club fire on December 30th two years ago. The street was full of people for a good half hour, I would guess that there were about 10,000, although I'm not always good at estimating those kinds of things. Here you can see people carrying pictures of some of the victims, there were also a lot of signs demanding justice. (Yes, the club's owner is in jail.)

The club was called Cromagnon, and was stuffed to far over capacity for a concert of a popular band, the Callejeros. Many doors were wired shut to stop people from entering without paying, and children were being kept in a makeshift nursery upstairs. The fire started when some audience members set off fireworks (popular around Christmas and New Year down here) and the very flammable interior caught fire. 194 people died, mostly from inhaling toxic gases caused by burning plastics, and 714 were injured.

Now it is a rallying point for a lot of young people here, the latest tragedy to shout about, and the spark of many new fire safety laws for bars and clubs.

End of the Year!!!

Friday 29 December 2006

Today is the last work day of the year! An Argentine tradition is to tear out all of the pages from your planner and throw them out the window on the last day of work. (Also, schoolkids tear up their old papers, tests, and notebooks on the last day of school.) This made for a lovely white swirling snow as Ryan and I walked through the business district this morning, but the beauty of it only lasted about ten seconds, before all that paper ended up on the ground, as litter.

Trash is a pretty big problem here in general, as people often throw their wrappers and bottles on the ground. There are tons of public trash cans around, however, nearly one on every block, but rarely do you see people taking advantage of them. I've even seen people toss papers on the ground when they are literally two steps from a garbage can! This especially drives me crazy when I ride the train out to my classes every day. The station I leave from is one of the poorer ones, where things are dirty and stuff often doesn't work. So, I guess people don't mind polluting it a little more. You see bottles, wrappers, trash thrown out the windows of the train, onto the tracks, onto the platforms, on the floor inside the train.

It makes me so angry, when it would take so little to throw it in the right place, when all that's needed is a change of mind-set. The bins are in place, the opportunities exist, all it would take is the decision to have a cleaner city.

Sweat Shop

Thursday 28 December 2006

Okay, it's not the easiest to see in this picture, but their curtains are never all the way open, and this was the best shot I've seen since I moved in. It seems that there is what appears to be a sweat shop of sorts across the street from my apartment. You can see people working there from very very early in the morning until very late at night. They never stand up or walk around, they just sit at the sewing machines all day long. Now, I really don't know if they are poorly-paid or if it is the same people all day long, but in this neighborhood, well . . . I wouldn't doubt it.

Quesería

Wednesday 27 December 2006

A cheese shop I passed by between classes, in the Flores area. Oy, what a day I had today, running all around the city, traveling for hours, walking for kilometers. At least it means I get to see a lot more of the city, and many more of its interesting little nooks, than I would with a 9 to 5 job!

Fileteado 2

Tuesday 26 December 2006

Happy Boxing Day, everyone! Here is another very nice example of fileteado, traditional Argentine painting.

Heavenly Harp

Monday 25 December 2006

Merry Christmas everyone! As it's not that big of a celebration here, however, and I didn't do much special today, I decided to put up, as always, just a picture of something I saw today. It was still interesting, however, as I sat in on a rehearsal of traditional Argentine folk music today (the friends Ryan and I spent Christmas eve with are folk musicians). I couldn't believe that harp fit into the music, which is usually just guitars, drums, and singers, but his fingers flew and somehow it all blended perfectly. Really, I'm so lucky to get this little piece of inside information, this extra little look into Argentine life!

Pan Dulce

Sunday 24 December 2006

This is pan dulce (sweet bread) that is just about the only actual traditional Christmas food that exists in Argentina. It is basically a heavy bread with dried fruit in it, and sometimes nuts as well. This loaf was hand-made by the mother of a friend of ours, so a little higher quality than the stuff you get in the supermarkets. Still, I wasn't a huge fan of it. But warm with a little butter to soften it, and it might be good . . .

Christmas Fireworks

Saturday 23 December 2006

This is a kiosko, a corner store, where one can normally buy soda, candy, cigarettes, and phone cards. Here, however, you can see that they are getting ready for Christmas, so there is a table full of fireworks out front. On Christmas eve, everyone gets together with their families, eats a giant meal, toasts at midnight, then goes out to light things on fire. It doesn't quite compare with the quantities we saw in Taiwan, but they clearly still love their "artificial fires" (as they're known in Spanish) down here!

Big Tree 4

Friday 22 December 2006

So, another picture of the great big magical trees here in BsAs. This one demonstrates just how beastly some of their limbs can get - many of them need supports, and are held up by strange arrays of boards and crutches. Taken in Plaza Francia.

Estación Flores

Thursday 21 December 2006

A house next to the train tracks at Flores station.