Caminata...and Argentinian business hours

Sa 5.5.12

• every year, my school hosts an event called the Caminata, which is a 'walk' through the neighborhood, usually to a park...a great time for families, but also a way to advertise for the school (picture loud speakers, school flags waving, and cute kids passing out flyers to people on the street)
• all teachers are required to come on this Saturday to join the staff in leading the festivities
• I think the event is fun for families, especially those with young children...only ONE out of my eleven 7th grade students showed up...they have cooler places to be, I get it
• this year's theme was "Literature" so on our way to the National Library's plaza, each of the two groups came across various characters along the way...the Little Prince, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.

exiting through the doors of Septiembre

beautiful day for a caminata!

ran into The Little Prince along the way

Jake caught a pic of this kid's awesome shirt.

"There's Cat in the Hat!"
See the place in the back? BAkery? Yes, I pass this on my way to and from school everyday...
the US $0.25 pastries are dangerous!!!

Hey! There's the other Septiembre group!

arriving at Plaza del Lector

• once we arrived at the plaza, each teacher and student was assigned a character and an area of the plaza to dress up like that character (I was in charge of the Cinderellas...they were so cute!  other characters included: Little Red Riding Hood, Tarzan, Spiderman, Dracula, Harry Potter, a witch and Mañuelita (Argentinean storybook character...a turtle)

all of the characters we picked up on our walk

What character will we be? What's in the bag?

Baby blue tulle...?!?

...princess crowns, sparkles, and lipstick?!  We get to be Cenicienta (Cinderella)!!! 

mothers going to work...transforming their daughters into Cenicienta!

that's a pretty good Spiderman!

My only student who came got to be Tarzan.

I think this is the turtle, Mañuelita?

• after about 20 minutes the director called us to the middle to act out an impromptu play involving these characters (written by the 6th grade students)

"Cinderella came hopping by and greeted Little Red Riding Hood...."

"Then Tarzan attacked...?"

Harry Potter's hat fell down (check out the drawn on glasses in the bottom corner...awesome!) 

"And Spiderman tried to defeat Harry Potter  but his magic spells were just too good..."

• mind you, this was all in Spanish, but with Jake's help (I dragged him along), we got most of it
• everything finished up around lunch time, so we grabbed a snack (including my first submarino...steamed milk with a side of chocolate bar = hot chocolate)...

• then we made our way inside for a quick tour of the Biblioteca Nacional (National Library)...more odd and interesting on the outside than the inside...

• tried to stop at this store on our walk home...note the watch and closing time...classic Buenos Aires...cannot tell you how many times this has happened to me...hours mean nothing, even when clearly posted on the door!!! 

• what's funny is this happened to us again later in that evening  
• we wanted to "celebrate" ("good excuse to drink margaritas and eat Mexican food") Cinco de Mayo at a Mexican restaurant in our neighborhood that we'd been wanting to try...painted on the wall of the restaurant was something like: Happy Hour 4-8pm.  We showed up at 7:50 and the guy said they didn't open until 9.  AWESOME!
• so we went around the corner to a bar that was open (kinda...we were the only ones there) and got a couple VERY expensive, but VERY delicious Coronas, then went back to the other place for dinner at 9...food was decent, and we got our margaritas... 

looks like the didn't have limes

on the walk home, saw these cool leaves...decided to fan myself

Sights, Sounds, and S%&#s of BsAs

Another holiday weekend!  Happy Labor Day! As you read through, you may guess that Jake chose a few of these sites (torture museum, cemetery, etc....)


F 4.27.12

• got together with some new friends tonight...met them last week at the US Embassy; they were having their son's photo taken for his US passport...he was only a few months old!  We found out that they're from the States, have been living in BA for about a year and a half, they moved here with an infant, and just had their second child.  How exciting! Maybe the idea of having a baby here is not so crazy...hmm...we shall see

Sa 4.28.12

• today we met some friends and decided to check out ESMA: Escuela Superior de Mecánica de la Armada (the Navy Mechanics School...one of the most infamous torture centers during the Dirty War, 1976-1983)
• on this rainy evening, we attempted to visit the museum, but after walking the grounds, we finally found the entrance only to find out it would need to be specially opened for us; we decided we wouldn't have much time to see things once we got inside, so we headed to dinner before our 9pm show

• for dinner we sampled the torre de picadas (dos pisos - two floors!) at Buller, a decent brewery in Recoleta

• next we were off to Centro Cultural Recoleta to see Hombre Vertiente, a show like I've never seen with crazy music, gushing water, and people flying like Spiderman...I kind of felt like I was in the protagonist's nightmare; was entertaining and fun

• to get an idea, watch the videos; no words necessary...

Su 4.29.12

• had brunch with Terry as she will be heading back to the States in a few days after her two month Argentinean language and culture adventure...went to a place in SoHo, Manuela Malasaña with a set brunch menu...lots of pastries and breads, but pretty good! Left full and happy (can't believe I didn't take any pictures!)
• wasn't sure how I felt about graffiti when first arriving, but on our walk to the cemetery, we came across many artistic displays:

TU BASURA ES MI TESORO: your trash is my treasure

Spanish sign language...part of the playground at a park 

• from there, it was a short walk to Chacaritas Cemetery, the larger, less famous cemetery in BsAs; it was a nice change from Recoleta...very interesting to see, especially on a day with few other visitors...
• for some reason, Jake is interested in these sorts of things

this sign gives details exhumations within the cemetery (we assume due to lack of payment of rent or no living heir, etc.) 

I didn't really like the vultures looking over the dead body...

• That night we met up with some friends for drinks in Las Cañitas; a late night led to...

M 4.30.12

• ... a very relaxed Monday off...sleeping, travel planning, cleaning, laundry, etc. we did however eat dinner like Argentineans at a great Italian restaurant in our neighborhood at 11pm!...followed up with helado of course

Tu 5.1.12

• we had lunch plans with friends at a well-know, parilla restaurant in Hollywood, Las Cabras; unfortunately the friends had to cancel, but we still went; our first parillada completa:

OMG....that's a lot of meat! (this was for two people)

we had leftovers for a couple days

• part of the title of this post is 'smells'...usually I'd be referring to the dog business that is left all over the sidewalks...but during this meal, I got shat on by a bird while dining outside....like the painfully slow service wasn't enough!
• ...and as if getting shat on ONCE wasn't enough...it happened again on our walk home!  good grief!  the birds are very accurate here (it's happened to Jake a total of thee times since February)
• more graffiti throughout Palermo Hollywood and SoHo

ya, 1983!

tengo prioridad te paso; loose translation: I have the right of way (as a pedestrian)

• while Jake went to play tennis that evening (see clay courts below)...

• ...I decided to try making empanadas for the first time:

simple ingredients: espinaca, tomato, y queso

egg wash (I watched a video online first.)

not terrible with my finicky oven...some cheese did ooze out

mmmm.....

• although we didn't make it out of the city, we enjoyed our relaxing, long weekend with friends in BA

Cheesecake Fail

• I've never made cheesecake in my life, so while reading a blog written by an expat living here, I came across her recipe for cheesecake using Oreos for the crust instead of graham crackers (which you can't find here)
• judging by the pictures, you can see that my oven and I are still getting to know each other...it just gets so darn hot!

at the time, this was the only option for buying Oreos at the grocery store

bonus buy...chocolate and white Oreos, and boxed unrefrigerated milk!

just a little crisp around the edges....

berries and whipped cream make everything better

Disco Lights and Tanned Bodies...at the gym

W 5.2.12

• went to my first fitness class at the gym tonight
• class was called Calistenia; translation: calisthenics; dictionary definition: gymnastic exercises designed to develop physical health and vigor, usually performed with little or no special apparatus
• I arrived a little early...there were only a few other women and one man...I assumed this guy could be the instructor  
• by the start of class, the room had filled to almost 30 fellow-exercises...all women around my age or older, plus the one guy
• one older lady with leathery tan skin, bleached hair, unnaturally sized chest, and anorexic-looking legs (her xs spandex capris were loose on her for goodness sake!) was right in front of me, closest to the front mirror so she could primp her hair (NOT in a ponytail) and pout her lips in the mirror at herself...this was entertaining for me both before and during the class
• all of the sudden, a super tanned, super toned guy with short shorts came running in greeting his students and getting us "pumped up"...he made his way to his mini-stage and we began
• the music started up, and with it 80's aerobic-style movements.  This was the warm-up; the rest of the hour class was filled with rep upon rep of various muscle group movements using light dumbbells
• with about 10 minutes left, Mr. Muscles turned off the lights, leaving on a few flashing green disco-type lights
• we stretched and at the end of our last breath...everyone began clapping
• it was all very weird; and my muscles were sore for at least three days after...all those reps really got me!

Pasta de Mani

• cost of peanut paste from Disco: 25,59 pesos = US$5.66
• made peanut butter cookies using this stuff; little different but not bad