I can smell it. A conspiracy is in our midst! Everyone in this country is trying to make me fat. I know it. And then I started brainstorming. Why? Why would these sweet people want to do this to me? I came up with three reasons on why they are trying to fatten me up (and succeeding no less).
3. They are trying to look skinnier against my whale-like frame.
2. They want some sort of physical evidence that their food is truly, RICA.
... and (drum roll) the number one reason is...
1. They´re fattening me up for some kind of twisted hansel and grettel K-ASADO!
Looks like I better start a trail of bread.... before I eat the whole bagguette.
P.S. did you know mortadello is made of horse meat? I thought it was just fancy bologna.
Sunday, 30 March 2008
Luz´s Birthday Party
Yesterday was Luz´s birthday party which happen to be the cutest thing ever. There were about 30 rugrats running around the Laborde compound (or campo-as the Argentines say). Most of them were students of mine which was fun because we already knew each other. There were specifically two argentine birthday traditions that I remember to be my favorites.
1. Before the party we had a huge birthday lunch with just the family. Afterwards, they brought out the cake with a big, lit candle on the top and sang happy birthday. Luz blew it out and everyone clapped. I assumed at this point that it was done. I was wrong. The candle was relit and we sang the song in English. "Oh, how nice," I thought. "they are singing in my language since I don´t know the words in Spanish." I was wrong again. They relit again and sang the song in every language. Then they relit the candle for everyone in the family who felt like making a wish. I don´t know if this is an Argentine thing, or a Laborde thing. I didn´t care. Just like everything else I played along. I sang, I helped blow out the candle for Eliseo, and I clapped everytime.
2. As the little guests arrive, it is customary to find the birthday girl before entering the party. They then tell Luz "Feliz Cumpleano, Luz", give her a kiss on the cheek and give her their present. She right then and there opens it. When first seeing this I gasped. Don´t you have to wait for the appropriate time, way into the party, after the cake and then open all the presents at once so that everyone one can ooooohhh and aaahhhh at all your new goodies? Nope. Not here. There is no waiting. I love this.
After observing this wonderful cultural difference, all of the cute, clean little tykes run to the jungle gym in their sunday´s best and begin to play. You have got to see this jungle gym to believe it. This death trap would never pass any safety codes in the states. And here they are of all ages slippin´and slidin´around in dresses and patent leather ballet flats twirlin´ and swirlin´, knocking on death´s door. This thing is complete with home made ziplines and climbing walls. They all run back to say hello, now covered in mud and grass stains. But of coarse, no one seems to care. No one says a word. Piera simply guides Luz into the house and puts her in a new dress. A new dress that will ineviditably have the same fate as the first.
After getting bored, they all linger in the tent and start to snack and reload. The DJ starts to warm up, putting some familiar songs in the air.... and then it´s ON! All of the girls start to gather around and get Jiggy. Every song had a different dance to it and every single little girl knew it. Even the infants. So it suddenly becomes clear to me, this dancing thing is engrained in these people´s DNA. They are dancing when they pop out the womb!
I was watching this one little girl, one of my students, and oooohhhh-wweee she danced harder then any of them. then I had a flashback... she danced exactly how I used to dance when I was her age (back when I actually liked to dance). Back when my dreams were shattered... when my sister told me I sucked at dancing (don´t worry min. i am slightly exaggerating). Upon observing this girl for some time, I realized my sister was right. I did suck. But that is the difference between Argentina and the states. There is no such thing as a bad dancer here. The standards are different... there are none. Dancing is as it should be- an expression of how you are feeling inside.. how the music makes you feel. AAAhhh, how refreshing.
Then came the food.... in DROVES. By the end of the parade, there had been tiny mortadello sandwiches, cheese balls, miscellaneous snacks, jamon cruda, more cheese, bread, cake #1, mini pizzas, cake #2, the main coarse (these yummy rolled up enchiladda looking things- i called them fat rolls because they were exactly that. literally and figuratively), and finally cake #3.
The parents started coming to pick up their kids. Some stayed and some didn´t. This is when things started to spice up a bit. The DJ left and the alcohol was brought out. I started to conversate and then had to leave for a 30-35 minute phone conversation with Jared. When I returned the party seemed a little different. Everyone was still talking in that hard to understand Spanish, but it sounded a teensy weensy more slurred. I look over and see Gonzalo topping off everyone´s already full drinks. I look at him and say "Gonzalo, I was gone for 30 minutes. What have you done to all of your friends?" He just smiled at me with that all too familiar crooked drunk smile and shrugged his shoulders. I should´ve known HE was behind all of this!
1. Before the party we had a huge birthday lunch with just the family. Afterwards, they brought out the cake with a big, lit candle on the top and sang happy birthday. Luz blew it out and everyone clapped. I assumed at this point that it was done. I was wrong. The candle was relit and we sang the song in English. "Oh, how nice," I thought. "they are singing in my language since I don´t know the words in Spanish." I was wrong again. They relit again and sang the song in every language. Then they relit the candle for everyone in the family who felt like making a wish. I don´t know if this is an Argentine thing, or a Laborde thing. I didn´t care. Just like everything else I played along. I sang, I helped blow out the candle for Eliseo, and I clapped everytime.
2. As the little guests arrive, it is customary to find the birthday girl before entering the party. They then tell Luz "Feliz Cumpleano, Luz", give her a kiss on the cheek and give her their present. She right then and there opens it. When first seeing this I gasped. Don´t you have to wait for the appropriate time, way into the party, after the cake and then open all the presents at once so that everyone one can ooooohhh and aaahhhh at all your new goodies? Nope. Not here. There is no waiting. I love this.
After observing this wonderful cultural difference, all of the cute, clean little tykes run to the jungle gym in their sunday´s best and begin to play. You have got to see this jungle gym to believe it. This death trap would never pass any safety codes in the states. And here they are of all ages slippin´and slidin´around in dresses and patent leather ballet flats twirlin´ and swirlin´, knocking on death´s door. This thing is complete with home made ziplines and climbing walls. They all run back to say hello, now covered in mud and grass stains. But of coarse, no one seems to care. No one says a word. Piera simply guides Luz into the house and puts her in a new dress. A new dress that will ineviditably have the same fate as the first.
After getting bored, they all linger in the tent and start to snack and reload. The DJ starts to warm up, putting some familiar songs in the air.... and then it´s ON! All of the girls start to gather around and get Jiggy. Every song had a different dance to it and every single little girl knew it. Even the infants. So it suddenly becomes clear to me, this dancing thing is engrained in these people´s DNA. They are dancing when they pop out the womb!
I was watching this one little girl, one of my students, and oooohhhh-wweee she danced harder then any of them. then I had a flashback... she danced exactly how I used to dance when I was her age (back when I actually liked to dance). Back when my dreams were shattered... when my sister told me I sucked at dancing (don´t worry min. i am slightly exaggerating). Upon observing this girl for some time, I realized my sister was right. I did suck. But that is the difference between Argentina and the states. There is no such thing as a bad dancer here. The standards are different... there are none. Dancing is as it should be- an expression of how you are feeling inside.. how the music makes you feel. AAAhhh, how refreshing.
Then came the food.... in DROVES. By the end of the parade, there had been tiny mortadello sandwiches, cheese balls, miscellaneous snacks, jamon cruda, more cheese, bread, cake #1, mini pizzas, cake #2, the main coarse (these yummy rolled up enchiladda looking things- i called them fat rolls because they were exactly that. literally and figuratively), and finally cake #3.
The parents started coming to pick up their kids. Some stayed and some didn´t. This is when things started to spice up a bit. The DJ left and the alcohol was brought out. I started to conversate and then had to leave for a 30-35 minute phone conversation with Jared. When I returned the party seemed a little different. Everyone was still talking in that hard to understand Spanish, but it sounded a teensy weensy more slurred. I look over and see Gonzalo topping off everyone´s already full drinks. I look at him and say "Gonzalo, I was gone for 30 minutes. What have you done to all of your friends?" He just smiled at me with that all too familiar crooked drunk smile and shrugged his shoulders. I should´ve known HE was behind all of this!
Friday, 28 March 2008
High School Flashback
March 24, 2008
Let me first preface this entry with a little info I seem to have left out in the previous entry. While I was in Cordoba I caught an awful cold and also got stung by a Vespa (wasp) on the bottom of my foot, of all places. I wouldn´t wish this awfulness on my worst enemy (who right now is that wasp).
So, last night was so hilarious. I went out with my friend Euge to the disco in Vicuña Mackenna. I didn´t know what to expect. We met up at her friends´s house and then got to the disco (mind you... Euge and her friends are 15 and 16 years old). We were the first ones to arrive because Euge and her friends were in charge of the decorations that night. I felt like I was at a high school dance... because that´s EXACTLY what it was. Minus the whole venue change... it was exactly that.
Everyone was looking at me and I´m sure just wondering who I was but in my mnd I was sure they were thinking "what´s this old lady doing here crashing our high school dance?" or something like that. After I got over the whole old lady thing and they dimmed the lights, I felt a little more comfortable.
I started to dance and Euge and her friends asked me to teach them how to do some USA dance moves... HA! "ME teach YOU?" that´s exactly what I said to her. God forbid I tell her the truth about me and my dancing. That I actually don´t like to dance, and that I rarely do it. But telling an Argentine that you don´t like to dance is like telling them you don´t eat meat. You just don´t do it. You start eating meat and you start freakin´dancing. My wasp bitten foot started to act up, so being the old lady that I am, I had to leave early (early as in 3am).
So I got my Mom and Dad to come get me. HOLY CRAP! I´m 15 again. kinda cool.
Let me first preface this entry with a little info I seem to have left out in the previous entry. While I was in Cordoba I caught an awful cold and also got stung by a Vespa (wasp) on the bottom of my foot, of all places. I wouldn´t wish this awfulness on my worst enemy (who right now is that wasp).
So, last night was so hilarious. I went out with my friend Euge to the disco in Vicuña Mackenna. I didn´t know what to expect. We met up at her friends´s house and then got to the disco (mind you... Euge and her friends are 15 and 16 years old). We were the first ones to arrive because Euge and her friends were in charge of the decorations that night. I felt like I was at a high school dance... because that´s EXACTLY what it was. Minus the whole venue change... it was exactly that.
Everyone was looking at me and I´m sure just wondering who I was but in my mnd I was sure they were thinking "what´s this old lady doing here crashing our high school dance?" or something like that. After I got over the whole old lady thing and they dimmed the lights, I felt a little more comfortable.
I started to dance and Euge and her friends asked me to teach them how to do some USA dance moves... HA! "ME teach YOU?" that´s exactly what I said to her. God forbid I tell her the truth about me and my dancing. That I actually don´t like to dance, and that I rarely do it. But telling an Argentine that you don´t like to dance is like telling them you don´t eat meat. You just don´t do it. You start eating meat and you start freakin´dancing. My wasp bitten foot started to act up, so being the old lady that I am, I had to leave early (early as in 3am).
So I got my Mom and Dad to come get me. HOLY CRAP! I´m 15 again. kinda cool.
Cordoba adventure
March 20th 2008
Yesterday was one of the best days since I´ve been in Argentina. It started a little rough, but just like a good malbec, got better and better with age. I arrived in Cordoba yesterday around 8am and waited for Piera´s aunt, Lita, at the bus station. She came to pick me up and we headed to the hospital so I could get my yellow fever shot. This was the only reason that I arrived a day early. Thank God for Lita because I know for a fact I would have gotten in the wrong line (the most ridiculously long line EVER). My yellow fever line wasn´t that bad though, despite the distracting dog fight that occured directly to my right. No one really seemed phased by this though, so I pushed on.
After the experience which I like to call "the reason I changed my mind about free health care", we headed to Lita´s apartment or what I like to call "Lita´s personal art gallery". So despite the language barrier, Lita became my new best friend. Here are the top five reasons why I love Lita.
1. She travels everywhere... by herself! (even Egypt)
2. she talks super slow (I don´t know if it was just for me or if she always talks like that)
3. she´s an art museum rat and she volunteers at 2 or 3 of them at the tender age of 74.
4. she´s never been married ( I don´t know why I like that about her. I guess I´ve never
met anyone that has never been married at that age)
5. She got an art degree when she was 70 and paints beautifully.
So, in conclusion, I love my new best friend.
After my personal tour guide/my new best friend/ Lita showed me around the city, I headed out in the city.... SOLA. I walked, I shopped, I stopped for coffee and reading, I went to an art museum and read in the park. And just when I thought things couldn´t get better the funniest things happend.
I went back to the hostel to shower and get ready to meet Lita and as I was walking out the door I see a familiar face. Is that Brian (aka Brain)? Yep. One of Halsey´s friends from UNCW. And while we´re figuring this out I get a tap on my shoulder. It´s Larissa- a girl I met in Buenes Aires. She had walked in with Brian and so I asked how they knew each other and they said that they had just met in the dorm... turns out the same 5 person dorm that I am in. How crazy. I know about 15 people in Argentina and 2 of them are in my dorm. That is a good sign. But I can´t hang out now guys.... gotta date with my new best friend.
So, I meet up with Lita thinking that we are going to dinner and she explains to me that she wants to take me to the Paseo de Buen Pastor. Seeing how it was a Wednesday night and I could only understand about half of what she tells me, I assumed that we were going to church. We get in line for a taxi, which is filled with about 20 pissed off elderly women, also trying to get to church. Let me tell you, I have never seen such a pack of pissed off women in my life. The one behind me started screaming so I turned around and she started talking to me in rapidly spoken Spanish with dentures that may or may have not been her late husbands (seems like an honest switcheroo, but either way they were way to big for her mouth).
We finally arrived to Buen Pasor, which to my surprise was not a church but actually a Gallery/restaurant/ beautiful building with fountains. Lita had taken me here to see the "dancing waters", which dance at 9pm everynight to music and lights (kinda like the Bellagio in Las Vegas). We grabbed a table right in front. "¡Que suerte!" said my New BFF. So we had a pleasant conversation (in spanish!), finished our cafe con leches and THEN made a visit to the neighboring church called Cappaccino, a gorgeous gothic style church right next to Buen Pastor. After discussing the architecture and sculptures that glittered the ediface, we made the short walk back to her cute little apartment.
I went to meet up with my rediscovered homies back at the hostel. We met on the roof and we drank and chatted with new friends from the hostel into the wee hours.
ahhh..... I love to travel!
The next few days were very nice too. I met with Liz and Raisa from my program and we celebrated Raisa´s birthday, walked around, hung out with locals and got a little drunkipoo. But nothing could beat that first day.
Yesterday was one of the best days since I´ve been in Argentina. It started a little rough, but just like a good malbec, got better and better with age. I arrived in Cordoba yesterday around 8am and waited for Piera´s aunt, Lita, at the bus station. She came to pick me up and we headed to the hospital so I could get my yellow fever shot. This was the only reason that I arrived a day early. Thank God for Lita because I know for a fact I would have gotten in the wrong line (the most ridiculously long line EVER). My yellow fever line wasn´t that bad though, despite the distracting dog fight that occured directly to my right. No one really seemed phased by this though, so I pushed on.
After the experience which I like to call "the reason I changed my mind about free health care", we headed to Lita´s apartment or what I like to call "Lita´s personal art gallery". So despite the language barrier, Lita became my new best friend. Here are the top five reasons why I love Lita.
1. She travels everywhere... by herself! (even Egypt)
2. she talks super slow (I don´t know if it was just for me or if she always talks like that)
3. she´s an art museum rat and she volunteers at 2 or 3 of them at the tender age of 74.
4. she´s never been married ( I don´t know why I like that about her. I guess I´ve never
met anyone that has never been married at that age)
5. She got an art degree when she was 70 and paints beautifully.
So, in conclusion, I love my new best friend.
After my personal tour guide/my new best friend/ Lita showed me around the city, I headed out in the city.... SOLA. I walked, I shopped, I stopped for coffee and reading, I went to an art museum and read in the park. And just when I thought things couldn´t get better the funniest things happend.
I went back to the hostel to shower and get ready to meet Lita and as I was walking out the door I see a familiar face. Is that Brian (aka Brain)? Yep. One of Halsey´s friends from UNCW. And while we´re figuring this out I get a tap on my shoulder. It´s Larissa- a girl I met in Buenes Aires. She had walked in with Brian and so I asked how they knew each other and they said that they had just met in the dorm... turns out the same 5 person dorm that I am in. How crazy. I know about 15 people in Argentina and 2 of them are in my dorm. That is a good sign. But I can´t hang out now guys.... gotta date with my new best friend.
So, I meet up with Lita thinking that we are going to dinner and she explains to me that she wants to take me to the Paseo de Buen Pastor. Seeing how it was a Wednesday night and I could only understand about half of what she tells me, I assumed that we were going to church. We get in line for a taxi, which is filled with about 20 pissed off elderly women, also trying to get to church. Let me tell you, I have never seen such a pack of pissed off women in my life. The one behind me started screaming so I turned around and she started talking to me in rapidly spoken Spanish with dentures that may or may have not been her late husbands (seems like an honest switcheroo, but either way they were way to big for her mouth).
We finally arrived to Buen Pasor, which to my surprise was not a church but actually a Gallery/restaurant/ beautiful building with fountains. Lita had taken me here to see the "dancing waters", which dance at 9pm everynight to music and lights (kinda like the Bellagio in Las Vegas). We grabbed a table right in front. "¡Que suerte!" said my New BFF. So we had a pleasant conversation (in spanish!), finished our cafe con leches and THEN made a visit to the neighboring church called Cappaccino, a gorgeous gothic style church right next to Buen Pastor. After discussing the architecture and sculptures that glittered the ediface, we made the short walk back to her cute little apartment.
I went to meet up with my rediscovered homies back at the hostel. We met on the roof and we drank and chatted with new friends from the hostel into the wee hours.
ahhh..... I love to travel!
The next few days were very nice too. I met with Liz and Raisa from my program and we celebrated Raisa´s birthday, walked around, hung out with locals and got a little drunkipoo. But nothing could beat that first day.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
.JPG)