Biking and Boating: Week 3 in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Week 3

Boats in Tigre, (Bottom L-R) Rose Garden, Bike Tour, la Flor in Buenos Aires

[20 - 27 de Enero, 2014]

By week 3 things were becoming a lot more comfortable. Eli joined me in an afternoon private class at CEDIC and we both doubled up on our Spanish study for this last week. Outside of class, we'd often duck into an air conditioned food court or coffee shop to avoid the heat and do our homework or trip plan. It was an intensive week of studying and I'm sure I got sick of using Spanish in the evenings in this week, but regularly Eli and I had been getting together and having "conversations" in Spanish to practice. They were slow, "Aprendo las palabras de frutas en mi classe hoy. Quieres practicar?" and typically uninteresting, "Ayer el negocio fue abierto pero hoy el negocio esta cerrado" but we had a good time practicing. Eli- "Tu eres un edificio, K- Eli, you just called me a building, E- I know. Yesterday you were complaining you were fat so today I am one-uping you. K- Muchas Gracias mi novio simpatico!"

Over the weekend we wanted to go for a bike ride around the parks in Palermo so stupidly I arranged this for Sunday. I met Eli early, at about 10- you know, early- and we circled the block a few times looking for the bike place. Nothing was open. The streets were dead- no people, no cars, nothing. Perfectly quiet, which is ironic because when I go to bed late I am amazed at how they can collect trash at midnight regularly right outside my window! But experiencing weekend morning silence was something new. Apparently when it is the cultural norm to eat dinner at 10 pm and go out for the night at midnight, it is also the culture to sleep in on Sundays. Eli shrugs things like this off and says, can't expect everyone to care about being good capitalists. I just wanted to rent a bike on a weekend!

The city free bike system, which we can't use anyway, was chained up and taunting us. 

Oh well, a good pout later we still enjoyed our day of riding through the parks of Palermo.

The Rose Garden

After the ride we enjoyed lunch at our favorite terribly named restaurant chain.

Not surprising, the pizza here is bad.

Other than the fine offerings at Kentucky Pizza, Buenos Aires has some great places to eat. Over the past three weeks we have enjoyed a good mix of nice restaurants, cheap lunch stands like empanada stands, our actual favorite pizza place called Ugi's, and lots of delicious BBQ restaurants. Here are some highlights to exemplify what you need to know about dining out in Buenos Aires.

Delicious pizza place on Cordoba Street with thick dough pizza you can try by the slice

1. Ham and cheese (Jamon y Queso) are the bread and butter of Argentina and are found everywhere. There are sandwiches made with only ham and cheese, like a stacked grilled cheese sandwich, that is then covered in mozzarella. These are found on every menu. Pizza is popular in Buenos Aires due to a lot of Italian immigrants, however, even pizza can be adapted. Ham can sneakily be found in almost all foods.

Ham found on a hamburger

Carne empanada

 2. Empanadas are cheap, delicious and sold everywhere. These pastries (I didn't have a picture so thank you internet) are stuffed with sauteed meat or vegetables or sometimes ham and cheese! Enjoy them baked while you can (Chile fries them). Each one costs about 70 cents.

The Bridge of the Woman in Puerto Moderno, Buenos Aires

3. Fine dining restaurants give you a blue market rate for USD if you pay with dollars which means that your meal can be up to 20% cheaper if you pay with a foreign currency. Eli and I were told at the above restaurant in Puerto Moderna that even if we charged our meal we would get the blue market rate. We enjoyed a delicious steak dinner with wine on the waterfront, at midnight mind you! to find out later that wasn't true. But still the steak was delicious and we enjoyed stuffing ourselves at 12 like true Portenos.

Have a Chop of beer at happy hour

4. Happy hour exists in Buenos Aires but are a bit different then we remember. This one ends at 11 pm! Quilmes is the only Argentinian Beer- a pale ale that's not very interesting- but it comes in a Chop, a glass mug, and pitcher or table tap at happy hour which at least made it fun to drink.

5. BBQ steaks and vegetables are by far the best meal in Buenos Aires. Close to where I lived was a highly recommended "Parrilla" restaurant which was known for being both delicious but inexpensive. Eli and I went on Saturday and enjoyed it so much we promptly returned on Sunday for our last night in the city. Our entire meal, steak, vegetables, salads, bread and a bottle of wine cost less than $20 USD. My favorite feature, the cutting board plates- dig in you carnivores, no time for plates!

Oh boy, what a ridiculously long post. 

During the week we did some awesome things:

Every Monday night is a drum show rave that is an experience you have to have in Buenos Aires. The group is called La Bomba de Tiempo and you can see them on YouTube here: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_OZcscfbQs) 

Eli found out that the Argentina Men's volleyball team had a game in Buenos Aires while we were there so we went to the free match (rediculous!) at a stadium in La Boca. I wish we had our videos up on YouTube to see how good these guys were but for now, just a photo.

Inspired by our great fake bike ride on Saturday we did an urban hike on Wed. To show that it was urban and hip I used an instagram like tint on our photos.

We visited La Flor which looks like an exploded Chicago Bean and tried to visit the National Library but it was closed for 2 months. Fortunately we also got a tip from my friend Jenn to visit El Ateneo, an old theater turned book store. We added it to our hike and it was beautiful.

El Ateneo Book Store (Thanks Jenn!)

We took a day trip to Tigre which is roughly an hour north of Buenos Aires. Next to Tigre is a huge delta so the tourism is built around canal tours and renting cabanas out on the islands. There is a well known fruit port which now mostly sells furniture. Living 3 weeks in a busy city, it was nice to get out on a boat but otherwise I'm 50-50 on Tigre. Would definitely recommend someone to visit and stay on the islands, but the main town was pretty crowded.

Donna, this picture is for you! A crew house on the river.

Canals, island beaches and fruit in the port market

Tigre Art Museum

FINALLY the last weekend in town we got on real bikes and took a guided bike tour. Our guide was great and let us practice Spanish with her. Otherwise we had mostly already seen everything the tour included. Riding around the city in the bike lanes was a nice experience.

Plaza de Mayo

La Flor, San Telmo, and Puerto Moderno

Leaving Buenos Aires was sad. I really enjoyed talking with my housemate, Lourdes. She is from Mendoza and studying graphic design in school. She really wants to go to school in Denmark next year but needs to pass an English proficiency test to be allowed in. She was happy to use her English on me and she fully understood where I was at with Spanish so let me ask a lot of questions. Wish I could have stayed longer but we both have trips to prepare for/go on and it was time to move on. Perhaps I'll see her one day again in Denmark!

Bye Lourdes, thanks for letting me stay with you!

On to Iguazu Falls in north Argentina... 15 hours by bus away. Let the trip begin!

Photo Album Link:
https://plus.google.com/photos/109460435397456771231/albums/5978248229163283313?authkey=CNzarsi_g_7zVg

Markets and Cemeteries: Week 2 in Buenos Aires

San Telmo Market, 2 Tourists, Recoleta Cemetery and the Cathedral

Buenos Aires Week 2

Eli's new digs

First update of Week 2 is that Eli got a homestay through his school and on Saturday night packed up and went off to his apartment. We had decided very early on that if either of us could get a homestay we should take it. Splitting us up while we are learning Spanish is good for both of us since it forces us to practice more Spanish on our own, and a homestay, ideally supplies you with a whole family to practice with. So when Eli got the offer we were both very excited for him. Problem was, however, that we found out on Friday afternoon. I felt a little nervous about having my travel partner leave the next day with no real plan for me. So I started looking online and writing to people offering AirBnB stays and craigslist offers for rooms. The first couple I found were through AirBnB which looks great but is a complicated arrangement to book when you don't have easy internet access, so I missed most of those opportunities.

My blue room

Then on Monday I got a response about an apartment where two Argentinian girls live where there was a spare room. In true random travel style, I went to view the apartment Monday afternoon and by Tuesday morning I was paying and moving my stuff in. So random how things work out but having Eli receive the homestay pushed me to look for a more comfortable place to stay and in the end I wound up with two very sweet Argentinian girls to live with. I could even practice my Spanish too!


Spanish Language Update
Another thing that happened this week is that I decided to move to another language school and take private lessons. I liked the Academia Buenos Aires but the group class environment didn't progress very quickly once I remembered everything I once knew about Spanish. I wanted to have a more personal curriculum. I really liked my teacher too at this new school, called CEDIC. A really good decision for me but I know Eli also really enjoyed what he was getting out of his more advanced classes at Academia. You have to do whats best for you.

On my second day I had a terrible morning where I got to school early and wanted to kill time in a coffee shop. I ordered a coffee but figured I should get it to go and it took 3 waiters to figure out how to interpret my request, spoken first in bad Spanish then in English. The guy at the table next to me finally said, in perfect English, what is it you want, can I help you? I said, I just want the coffee in a to-go cup. He said something to the waiter too fast for me to understand him and then went back to reading his newspaper. Not only couldn't I communicate this idea of leaving with my coffee to the waiter but I also couldn't understand what was being 'taught' to me by this man's help. I felt like I was never going to get it. I went up to my class a few minutes later and started my lesson by asking to review verb vocabulary. Its very difficult to communicate without knowing the words. So we spent an hour just introducing and reviewing commonly used verbs and it was perfect. Normally these Spainish 101 lessons are filled with grammar and the vocabulary is introduced along the way, but to be honest, the vocabulary is how you advance. I was happy that, with my private class situation I was able to ask for something exactly as I wanted it and we were able to cover it. Within a day or two I could tell I was improving. One successful street conversation can go a long way and with my new verb knowledge I was able to ask directions and respond that I understood. It was a little well timed turning point for me. By the way asking for anything to go is, Para Llevar.

Oh yeah, I forgot to say that I hated the hostel I stayed at the weekend Eli left. Could have contributed to how bad I felt that second morning of class, it was my last night there and by then I was done with it.

Bad Hostel- Arm band be gone

Sightseeing Buenos Aires
Recoleta Cemetery
[ 11 de Enero, 2014] The rest of the week Eli and I would get together on little dates :) and go sightseeing around town. One of our first stops was the Recoleta Cemetery. We had seen recommendations about this cemetery before but what a strange thing to highlight in a city? It was at the top of a hill in a green, pretty park in Recoleta, an expensive Buenos Aires neighborhood. We enjoyed the walk up there- there is such beautiful architecture in Recoleta!- but the cemetery too did have a bit of elegant charm to it. Liking it was a strange phenomenon as you actually could look into many of the crypts which made you feel like you were spying on the dead.

It is, as they say, where the rich and famous of Buenos Aires come to rest which almost makes it sound like an exclusive party. Looking in on the crypts, often damaged by wind storms and years of neglect, made me feel sad and not like this had turned out how the rich and famous had planned. But there were thousands of people visiting on the Saturday we were there, maybe that in itself is how these people wanted to be remembered- as special. Dust to dust right, maybe sometimes its more important the message that you want to leave.

There is one very famous grave here but if you didn't know you might miss it. Evita Peron is buried here under her maiden name, Duarte. Other than the crowds this tomb doesn't draw any special attention.  

Crowds at Evita's tomb

Metropolitan Cathedral

 [12 de Enero, 2014]

Exterior of the Cathedral

On Sunday morning, at the very doable first mass time of 11:30 am, I went to mass at the Pope's cathedral. Pope Francis was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires until 2013 when he was elected Pope. He was very popular in all of Latin America even before becoming Pope. From what I understand, he lived in a little apartment and commuted like everyone else into city every  morning. Now that I know what that commute is like (soo crowded and soo hot) I can really appreciate that. All over the city the Pope's picture is hung up and they are so incredibly proud of him. It's amazing to see. Where else would or has this happened? I have joked seeing his photo everywhere but to see the Pope held at a greater esteem then a celebrity in his home country (he was born in Argentina), he is treated almost like royalty. How beautiful. I have to say I was very touched by the presence of the Pope in my everyday life in Buenos Aires, literally everyday you would see him somewhere, and I look back at the pictures of his Cathedral now and I still feel a little bit of excitement. The Cathedral is completely unassuming from the outside but so delicate and light on the inside. I really enjoyed it.

Photo exhibit in town featuring Pope Francis

Madres de Plaza de Mayo
[16 de Enero, 2014] Every Thursday, hold on a sec I'll repeat, every Thursday since 1977 an association called las Madres de Plaza de Mayo (The Mothers) marches in front of the Casa Rosada around the center fountain in Plaza de Mayo to remind the government that they are still looking for their children. Between 1976 and 1983 the government was trying to send a message to its opposition and it eliminated hundreds of activist young people. They all disappeared. To this day, no one has found their remains and the government still has not told these women where their sons and nephews are. So these mothers march.

Since they have been marching for almost 40 years these women are no longer young. The symbol of the association is a white handkerchief they wear on their head. Every Thursday their supporters and tourists come out to help them. People chant and encourage them on their walk. They make two laps and then stop. For 37 years they have carried out this demonstration, what a message!

Eli watching the Mothers with a few classmates

San Telmo Market
[12 de Enero, 2014] The best feria (market) in Buenos Aires is the Feria de San Telmo! It is on Sundays on Calle Defensa in the quaint neighborhood of San Telmo. They sell antiques and furniture like a flea market. There are real artists selling paintings, jewelry and hand carved decorations sitting next to hippies selling friendship bracelets. There are great food stands throughout and live music being performed on dangerously crowded street intersections. My favorite things in a market are the multicolored awnings over all of the stands. The sun was beating down on us so it was a welcome retreat to stand under the cloth and enjoy the green or red or pink glow.

San Telmo Market Bands

San Telmo Antiques

 That's it for now, Chau!!

Market hunting

Photo Album Links:
Cathedral
https://plus.google.com/photos/109460435397456771231/albums/5976527202142583121?authkey=CO-Kv4O03ZTQRA
Week 2
https://plus.google.com/photos/109460435397456771231/albums/5976525163811711457?authkey=CPPYgOSRqre22AE