Hi all - just a quick post to say that I am now coming to you live from McDonald's ... yes, that is the closest place to our apartment that has Internet. Unfortunately, our landlady at the new place "forgot" to pay the Internet bill for 2 months, so they turned it off. It's now paid (we think, but can't confirm), but given how everything else works around here, it still won't be on for the next century!
So another hiatus on the blogging til I won't smell like burgers while doing it.
Good day today though - it was beautiful out and we walked to the fine arts museum (Museo de Belles Artes)/Floralis sculpture. The museum was very cool - paintings from Rothko, Monet, Manet, Picasso, Chagall, Berni (look him up if you have time - he is Argentine and his work was pretty fascinating) Rodin sculptures, etc. We also saw the Floralis sculpture, which is a giant flower sculpture that actually opens and closes in the morning and evening. I will post pictures next time since I forgot my cord.
Tomorrow we may or may not go to a 10k run/walk that we're told is more of a social event. Basically, you bring everything you need to enjoy an asado (bbq), leave it all at the starting line, and then either run or walk in a circle til you reach your utensils back at the starting spot. After that, you enjoy a delicious asado which luckily we've had great experiences with. I'm afraid that if I walk, when I get to the finishing line there will be no more asado!!! I might just have to attempt to run ... should be interesting, but probably not a good idea to run that length as a beginner? We shall see.
The apartment has been mostly fine so far, minus the Internet ordeal and some new "friends" that joined us on Thursday (friends = cucarachas). Don't worry, nothing 2 New Yorkers can't handle.
Ok, I think my clothes smell like coffee/burgers so I am going to hit the road. We'll hopefully be up and running for real very shortly!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Movin' on up
We're happy to report that we get to move into our new apartment tonight! It's a 2 bedroom pad in a cute building near our old apartment in the Barrio Norte neighborhood. I am really excited not to have to live in the same room as 5 other girls anymore. Things are looking up!!
I don't have a picture of the outside of the hostel, but it was awfully cool looking since it was bright green. Here are some snapshots of the room though so you can feel like you were really there with us ... not that you'd want to be, but you get the drift :)
I don't have a picture of the outside of the hostel, but it was awfully cool looking since it was bright green. Here are some snapshots of the room though so you can feel like you were really there with us ... not that you'd want to be, but you get the drift :)
Here are our lovely roomies. Although lovely, some people are not as neat as Caitlin y yo!
I repeat, happy to move to our own place again. Yay.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Coming to you live from the top bunk
Let's play a fun game of "Guess why I'm writing you from a top bunk!" Tonight's Espanol homework for me is something similar, so I thought it might be interesting to mirror the exercise on our blog. Basically, you're given a statement and you have to ask questions about the past to figure out how that statement came to be (for anyone that's curious, it's to practice the Preterito Pluscuamperfecto). So, here goes (in English though):
-Are you vacationing in another city? No
-Did you move? Not yet
-Did you get a new bed? Yes, but no
-Are you in a hostel in BA? Yes!
-Did something happen in your apartment to make you move out? Yes!
The story, in short:
Last week, the first week our extremely nice Super was away for 3 weeks, we were told that a plumber would have to come in to fix a leak affecting the 1st floor (we're on the 2nd floor). The plumber arrived and essentially told us we could go about our normal business - but since it was a big job, he'd have to return on Tuesday. We didn't think much of it because it wasn't really affecting us ... until Monday night, that is. I don't think Caitlin slept a wink that night because we had at least 5 leaks dripping throughout the apt and our first floor neighbors came up to visit twice: once to make sure our water was turned off (it was) and again to advise us to unplug everything immediately (fridge, etc) so a fire wouldn't break out. For anyone who knows my sleeping ability, it's hard to believe I was woken up at all but I was, just not as much as poor Caitlin.
The good news is that the plumber was very punctual on Tuesday morning (literally - Caitlin and I were stationed at the window waiting for him), but the very bad news is that the water (obviously) and electricity had to be turned off, and won't be back on for some time. Even worse, the apartment is not in great shape :( ...
... which completes the abridged story of what brings me to a top bunk, in a hostel. On the bright side, it's a nice little hostel that 2 of our friends are staying in. Plus, we are grateful to have a working toilet again.
Our new apt should be ready early next week (fingers crossed!), so stay tuned for more excitement in the land of BA apartments. Chau for now!
-Are you vacationing in another city? No
-Did you move? Not yet
-Did you get a new bed? Yes, but no
-Are you in a hostel in BA? Yes!
-Did something happen in your apartment to make you move out? Yes!
The story, in short:
Last week, the first week our extremely nice Super was away for 3 weeks, we were told that a plumber would have to come in to fix a leak affecting the 1st floor (we're on the 2nd floor). The plumber arrived and essentially told us we could go about our normal business - but since it was a big job, he'd have to return on Tuesday. We didn't think much of it because it wasn't really affecting us ... until Monday night, that is. I don't think Caitlin slept a wink that night because we had at least 5 leaks dripping throughout the apt and our first floor neighbors came up to visit twice: once to make sure our water was turned off (it was) and again to advise us to unplug everything immediately (fridge, etc) so a fire wouldn't break out. For anyone who knows my sleeping ability, it's hard to believe I was woken up at all but I was, just not as much as poor Caitlin.
The good news is that the plumber was very punctual on Tuesday morning (literally - Caitlin and I were stationed at the window waiting for him), but the very bad news is that the water (obviously) and electricity had to be turned off, and won't be back on for some time. Even worse, the apartment is not in great shape :( ...
... which completes the abridged story of what brings me to a top bunk, in a hostel. On the bright side, it's a nice little hostel that 2 of our friends are staying in. Plus, we are grateful to have a working toilet again.
Our new apt should be ready early next week (fingers crossed!), so stay tuned for more excitement in the land of BA apartments. Chau for now!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
An overdue picture
I should have posted this photo way back in one of my first posts when I talked about Andy, our family friend from a vacation 15 years ago. When we saw him again last night, it was a perfect reminder to post it already! So without further ado, the 2 fams from our Florida vacation circa 1995 ...
L-R Mom, Alissa, me, Dad, Andy's brother, Andy's father Danny, Andy's mother, and little Andy up front!
(P.S. Sorry for the ridiculous amount of white space ... I'm working off a scanned picture and limitations of this blog!)
(P.S. Sorry for the ridiculous amount of white space ... I'm working off a scanned picture and limitations of this blog!)
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Operation: For the love of peanut butter...
As we know Amy is missing her peanut butter something terrible...and I too have to admit that peanut butter is a really great snack! It just goes with everything so well. Entonces (so), our mothers were kind enough to send us a package. The package was supposed to contain only peanut butter, but my mom of course wanted to add some extras. So she added some DVDs, magazines and some travel games-- all items greatly appreciated! Thanks to Mom & Cyn (the world's two greatest mamas)!
Sometime last week we received the Correo Argentino slip under our door which directed us to the international pick up place located in Retiro, a two subte train trek away. We had heard rumors that this place was a nightmare, but we were hopeful that these were simply rumors and/or exaggerations. Well, it turns out that people were actually being kind when they described the International Correo Argentino...
Since we were in Bariloche from Thursday afternoon until Tuesday morning, our first real opportunity to pick up the package was yesterday (Wednesday). So after class yesterday we embarked on our mission, operation: for the love of peanut butter (attempts 1 and 2). We walked into the Correo Argentino around 3pm and selected a number as if we were in a busy bakery, then we figured out that we had to wait for our number to appear on the counter on the wall. Well our number was 495 and the counter said that they were currently serving customer 280! So Amy and I looked around in disbelief because this could not possibly be the case, we must have looked royally confused because this very kind women took pity on us and called us over. In Spanish she explained to us that 1. she had been there for two hours and her number was 360-something 2. after your number was called in room one you then had to go to room two and wait for another number to be called and 3. at five o'clock they locked the doors but the people inside the post office could remain there until they received this package (thank you to my teacher, Sonia for reviewing the verb to remain = quedarse earlier in the day). Well, since Amy had a five o'clock skype date with Aunt Lo and Grandma Marcia and we had intercambio at 6:30pm, we decided to leave and come back the next day, especially since they had only called 3 numbers in the past 25 minutes. It was abundantly clear that we would be remaining there until 7:30pm. We said muchisimo gracias to the woman and I handed my 495 to the next sorry sack to walk through the door. Attempt 1 in operation for the love of peanut butter was simply an information gathering session.
Today we walked into the Correo Argentino at around 3:10pm with a little more confidence than yesterday. We selected our number: 151 and we're feeling that this is a much better number than 495. We look up at the counter and it read 35, dread rushed over us. We thought we were going to be there for 1000 years, so Amy got up the courage to ask the kind woman if the number 35 actually meant 135. In Amy's perfect (I use this term loosely) Spanish, she asked if the number was really 135 not 35. The woman in perfect (I use this term literally) English responded "I speak English". She and the kind gentleman with number 149 assured us that they were serving customer 35 not 135. Well, the employees today were working faster than yesterday and the numbers were being called quite rapidly. An hour later, Amy and I were called to the counter. I handed over our package slip and showed her my ID. She said something I didn't catch, but I realized she wanted me to move to the next window; fortunately, Amy did catch what she said and in perfect Spanglish said to me "I have ocho pesos!" So we moved to window number 2 and paid our 8 pesos. I said to the man "esta bien?" and he thankfully gave me the universal A-Ok sign. We were proud to successfully complete the room 1 process.
We moved on to room two. Room two was a large room where 6 digit numbers were being called over a shoddy loudspeaker- it literally sounded like Charlie Brown's mother. So we sat in this room and listened with all our might in hopes of catching our number: 669190. Well an hour or so went by and they started to call a slew of numbers that started with 669 and finally they called our number. We both jumped up at the same time as if we had won the lottery! However, Amy thought that she heard that the number ended in uno not cero. So we sat back down and discussed whether or not it was a 1 or 0. We both really had no clue, but we saw people that we were waiting with in room 1 going to get packages so I figured I would go check to see if the number was called. So I went into the backroom where you retrieve your packages and handed the man my ticket. He took the ticket and started to look for it and then I saw the most beautiful sight I have ever seen: our package!!! I literally took the package and started to jog out of the backroom because I could not wait to share the good news with Amy. Two and a half hours later we received our package. We successfully completed our mission!
Moral of this story: please do not send us anything unless it is under 2 kilos (all items over 2 kilos get sent to the dreaded International Correo Argentino). And since no person from the US knows what a kilo is, it's probably just best to stick to writing us long letters letting us know how much you miss us!
Sometime last week we received the Correo Argentino slip under our door which directed us to the international pick up place located in Retiro, a two subte train trek away. We had heard rumors that this place was a nightmare, but we were hopeful that these were simply rumors and/or exaggerations. Well, it turns out that people were actually being kind when they described the International Correo Argentino...
Since we were in Bariloche from Thursday afternoon until Tuesday morning, our first real opportunity to pick up the package was yesterday (Wednesday). So after class yesterday we embarked on our mission, operation: for the love of peanut butter (attempts 1 and 2). We walked into the Correo Argentino around 3pm and selected a number as if we were in a busy bakery, then we figured out that we had to wait for our number to appear on the counter on the wall. Well our number was 495 and the counter said that they were currently serving customer 280! So Amy and I looked around in disbelief because this could not possibly be the case, we must have looked royally confused because this very kind women took pity on us and called us over. In Spanish she explained to us that 1. she had been there for two hours and her number was 360-something 2. after your number was called in room one you then had to go to room two and wait for another number to be called and 3. at five o'clock they locked the doors but the people inside the post office could remain there until they received this package (thank you to my teacher, Sonia for reviewing the verb to remain = quedarse earlier in the day). Well, since Amy had a five o'clock skype date with Aunt Lo and Grandma Marcia and we had intercambio at 6:30pm, we decided to leave and come back the next day, especially since they had only called 3 numbers in the past 25 minutes. It was abundantly clear that we would be remaining there until 7:30pm. We said muchisimo gracias to the woman and I handed my 495 to the next sorry sack to walk through the door. Attempt 1 in operation for the love of peanut butter was simply an information gathering session.
Today we walked into the Correo Argentino at around 3:10pm with a little more confidence than yesterday. We selected our number: 151 and we're feeling that this is a much better number than 495. We look up at the counter and it read 35, dread rushed over us. We thought we were going to be there for 1000 years, so Amy got up the courage to ask the kind woman if the number 35 actually meant 135. In Amy's perfect (I use this term loosely) Spanish, she asked if the number was really 135 not 35. The woman in perfect (I use this term literally) English responded "I speak English". She and the kind gentleman with number 149 assured us that they were serving customer 35 not 135. Well, the employees today were working faster than yesterday and the numbers were being called quite rapidly. An hour later, Amy and I were called to the counter. I handed over our package slip and showed her my ID. She said something I didn't catch, but I realized she wanted me to move to the next window; fortunately, Amy did catch what she said and in perfect Spanglish said to me "I have ocho pesos!" So we moved to window number 2 and paid our 8 pesos. I said to the man "esta bien?" and he thankfully gave me the universal A-Ok sign. We were proud to successfully complete the room 1 process.
We moved on to room two. Room two was a large room where 6 digit numbers were being called over a shoddy loudspeaker- it literally sounded like Charlie Brown's mother. So we sat in this room and listened with all our might in hopes of catching our number: 669190. Well an hour or so went by and they started to call a slew of numbers that started with 669 and finally they called our number. We both jumped up at the same time as if we had won the lottery! However, Amy thought that she heard that the number ended in uno not cero. So we sat back down and discussed whether or not it was a 1 or 0. We both really had no clue, but we saw people that we were waiting with in room 1 going to get packages so I figured I would go check to see if the number was called. So I went into the backroom where you retrieve your packages and handed the man my ticket. He took the ticket and started to look for it and then I saw the most beautiful sight I have ever seen: our package!!! I literally took the package and started to jog out of the backroom because I could not wait to share the good news with Amy. Two and a half hours later we received our package. We successfully completed our mission!
Moral of this story: please do not send us anything unless it is under 2 kilos (all items over 2 kilos get sent to the dreaded International Correo Argentino). And since no person from the US knows what a kilo is, it's probably just best to stick to writing us long letters letting us know how much you miss us!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Skiing in July
Forgive us for the hiatus, but we went on another spontaneous trip this weekend, this time to the freezing yet spectacular Bariloche which is located in northern Patagonia. Just in case you were wondering, I brought my Patagonia jacket to match and boy was I happy I had it with me. Did I mention it was freezing??
The food on our way down to Bariloche had some high points (not many), but I was really hoping that the bus food was not foreshadowing our "all-included" hostel food that we'd be eating for the next 3 days. When we finally arrived in town to breathtaking views (I actually mean that, not like in the Seinfeld way), we headed off with our group on a tour to see more breathtaking vistas.
Our group for the duration of the trip consisted of nearly 30 people from all over the globe -- USA, Puerto Rico, Mexico, The Dominican Republic, Argentina, Brazil, England, Malaysia, etc, most of whom are spending an extended amount of time in Argentina like us. It was the first time Cait and I have been fully immersed with people primarily speaking Espanol and while we may not have been able to participate in all conversations, we picked up quite a bit. Thank you Vamos Spanish Academy!
On day 2, we did what any good visitor to Bariloche would do and went skiing. While Caitlin was sailing off on the blacks and reds, I of course took the beginners package, trying not to admit to any of my classmates that I have skied 3 times before. I was really happy to have taken the lesson though because it ended up being an all day affair with a great end result - in the morning a 2 hour lesson and then in the afternoon, a trip down a green trail with the instructor. Truth be told, the last time I went skiing was in Massachusetts 2+ years ago and I think my friend Lisa can attest to how ridiculously awful and scared I was on the green. So, you can imagine how proud I was to make it to the bottom of the mountain this time! Not without incident, of course. I had a minor run-in with a fellow beginner in which his ski pole somehow made its way directly to my mouth. I made sure all my teeth were intact, confirmed I was bleeding from the girl next to me, and then got right back up and completed the trail. Woo hoo!
The funny thing about taking a ski lesson in Argentina is that the lesson is obviously in Spanish. My instructor also spoke a bit of English though, and has really perfected his gestures, so I had 3 ways to figure out for the 4th time how to ski. Luckily I could piece together most of his Spanish, since after he would gesture and speak in Spanish for let's say 5 minutes at a time, he would "translate" the same thing for me in English for about 3 seconds. Luckily again, I had skied before, so the day ended up being pretty amazing. The views from the mountain were spectacular and Caitlin said the views from where she skied from were even more magnificent. These photos confirm!!
After a long day on the slopes (ha, it's funny to hear myself say that), I was so hungry I could have eaten a sandwich from a gas station with the Griswolds. Like I said, I was not super excited about going from bus food to hostel food, because really, how good could hostel food be. Well, let's just say it couldn't have been further from the bus food. We actually gave the cook a round of applause all 3 nights because each meal was muy muy rico!!!! I haven't had soup since I have been here (unless you include Ramen noodles, which I won't) and I've really missed it, nearly as much as peanut butter. To my delight, soup was the first course of all 3 nights and it was just as fantastic as the rest of the meal. Delicious.
On top of our fab meals, the chocolate in Bariloche is heavenly, so we experienced a bit of that as well.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Yo todovia te amo Argentina...
Last Wednesday, I got into a little skirmish with the colectivo. Amy and I have been riding the colectivo more and more so we saved our pesos (because the bus only takes coins) and we took it to La Boca. La Boca is a barrio in BA which is known for it's art and brightly colored houses, but it is in a very poor neighborhood and apparently there is a lot of non-violent crime at night. It was an interesting place to visit, but there were SO many tourists that it was hard to enjoy. Every second someone approached you to try and sell you something, so we did not stay too long. We took the colectivo home and when we got to our stop we went to get off. However, I didn't realize the doors opened in, and I literally got stuck behind them. Amy valiantly tried to assist me and during that process she somehow got her own arm caught so I tugged at my foot until I was able to shimmy it out. After a huge spectacle, accompanied by tears and huge laughs, we got off the bus. However, I left my pride behind. I hope to get it back the next time I ride the bus. And don't worry Amy's bruise is almost completely healed and no medical attention was necessary.
La Boca
We left the debacle behind and were looking forward to a nice weekend. Our top plan was to root on Argentina! In true porteña style, Amy and I set our alarm and left for the bar at 10AM. We arrived and Amy quickly got the Argentina flag painted on her face while I waited in line for the beers! The bar was packed with people rooting for Argentina, and lo and behold, there were mucho Alemán in the bar también!! So when Alemania won 4-0, you can imagine the tension in the room. This was not our best moment in BA, we were hoping to root for Argentina until the end. We had to shift gears, so we decided to cheer for South American teams in general and hoped they would have a full showing in the finals. We left the bar after the Argentina match and strolled around San Telmo we stopped for coffee and then headed back to the bar to watch more futbol! (I still can't believe we watched two games in one day). We were pulling for Paraguay, but Espana took the win, 1-0, towards the end of the second half. Our only hope remaining was Uruguay despite the controversy surrounding that game. (Was it cheating or a strategic move? Leave your comments below!) However, while writing this blog, Uruguay lost to Hollandia 2-3. Looks like Sud America is out of the World Cup completely...
Amy and I cheering on ARGENTINA!
Although there was a metaphoric black cloud hanging over Argentina the weather this weekend was really nice- high 60s. We went out for a celebratory meal of burgers & fries for the 4th of July with Simon and Gareth (thanks for representing Estados Unidos with us). We then walked around Palermo and visited some markets in Plaza Armenia and Plaza Serrano, there were a lot of really nice things, especially in Plaza Serrano. We all ended up buying tees from a young designer. After the markets, we visited a graffiti exhibit and then headed home. It was a nice relaxing 4th.
Trying on our new tees from Plaza Serrano!
Also, in this post we want to wish are very good friends, Gareth and Simon buen viaje! We've loved spending time with you and look forward to seeing you again in the future! BA won't be the same without you.
Chau SuperAmigos!
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