dubeats

So I'm a crappy blogger . . . what can I say. When the WiFi in my apartment went dead I just couldn't bring myself to go to a internet cafe to write about what I was doing when not in an internet cafe - and now that I'm back I don't see the point either. But I did upload all my pics to Flickr - here is the link if you want to check them out.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dubeats/sets/72157603979647559/

WiFi at the apartment has been down all week - so I haven't been able to blog or upload new pics. So much has happened since my last entry I couldn't possibly capture it all here. But I'll be sure to fill in the blanks when I get back to SF later this week.

Best Sabbatical EVER.

Gina arrived today and the rest of Team Tango will all be here in the next few days. I finished my last Spanish class earlier and I'm sooo ready to spent the rest of my time here more as a tourist than a student. Frankly, for the past two weeks other than a few "must see" places, I haven't really "seen the sights."

I may know where to get the best steak in Palermo or even a fresh salad bar (which are practically virtually non-existent here) - but I have yet to visit the Recoleta Cemetery to pay my respects to Mrs. Peron nor have I been to a single museum. So I'm hoping this next week or so will be maximum-tourism during the day and serious nightclubbing at night.

Anyway - Gina arrived with her usual flourish - there is a whole story behind that statement, but she and my friend Michelle just arrived with the booze so you'll have to ask me about it sometime or her - trust me it's worth it.

Happy New Year! Welcome to the Year of the Rat. According to an email I received, this is the year to "pursue a personal goal or ambition." I suppose learning a new language could be considered ambitious - if not a personal goal. So it looks like I'm off to a good start.


Tomorrow is my last day of spanish class here in Buenos Aires - and frankly I'm ready for a break. After two weeks of 4 hours per day - my head feels like an over-stuffed sofa - soft and plush and ready to burst. I'm constantly moving about, looking for a comfy spot - then once I find it, I'm afraid to move for fear of having to start all over again. I was doing so well until Wednesday of this week when we started learning irregular verbs and moved immediately into the past tense. I know Marcella (our teacher) keeps saying to take it easy - this is only an introduction and it will take time to really learn this stuff - but that is not very comforting when after reviewing the material, she turns to me and asks a question, expecting me to reply using what we have learned in a complete sentence. I'm still absorbing and reflecting what took weeks to learn when I was studying French in High School - having to turn around and attempt to express myself immediately using what we just learned is super frustrating. But I'm happy with my progress and think with more work when I get back to SF I'll begin to see what a great foundation I've laid here.


The best part about tomorrow isn't that its my last day of class - but that Gina is arriving! I'm so looking forward to seeing her - not to mention the rest of "Team Tango." We have dinner reservations for tomorrow night and on Saturday we head over to Uruguay for a day trip to Colonia. My classmates (Marco, Carmen & Michelle) are joining us. Though I'm a little concerned about the weather. It's been nothing but hot and humid lately (80's and 90's) - but tonight it has suddenly turned chilly and windy. I think it might even rain. If that happens, I'm hoping the storm will pass over quickly.


By the way - here is the view right now from my apartment balcony:


Paraguay 4419

Well the wind is picking up now and I gotta meet some friends for dinner - better get out there in case it starts raining.

Damn was it hot today. Must have been in the 90's - so I spent part of the afternoon in a nearby cafe writing postcards. One of the great things about Buenos Aires is you can sit in a cafe, nursing a beer or a coffee for hours on end and the waiter will never give you looks or bring you the check until you ask for it. Of course there are two sides to this coin - the other side being that they never come by to offer you anything or ask if you want the check. They'll pretty much stay away until you call them over - keeping in mind that getting their attention is a whole other thing altogether.

After I finished all the postcards, I discovered another odd fact about Argentina - there are multiple service organizations here that compete to provide postal service. The main organization is called Carreo Argentino and is primarily located at kiosks inside certain businesses. So there are not really any "Post Offices" here. I have read that some of the "locutorios" (where you can pay to use the phone or internet) will take your mail and hold it until it gets picked up. But they don't sell stamps and it seems that no one knows where to buy them. I walked around the neighborhood asking here and there and while they were willing to take my mail - no one knew were I could get stamps.

So, dear friends, I have a sack full of postcards awaiting the moment when I discover the ultra-secret location where stamps are sold. With any luck maybe someone at school will know - or maybe I'll just give you your postcard when I see you next . . .

Off to Puerto Madero for dinner and then dancing at GLAM. Ciao Ciao.

Post class today I met up with my classmate, Marco, and his girlfriend, Carmen, who are both from Belgium. After a fine supper at their apartment, (which is owned by a former diplomat/ambassador, which explains all the photos of her with various world leaders and dignitaries, not to mention the yearly White House Christmas cards from the Clintons), we jumped on the Subte and headed to a Tango Room to meet another student from our school who liked to dance there.

The club was like something out of the 1930's. The walls were covered with thick "poker-room" green curtains and toplit so the color ran down, deep and dark. The green table cloths matched the walls and covered a hundred or so small, round cafe/cocktail tables which surrounded the dance floor, their chairs all facing in the same direction.

We sat and ordered a bottle of Vino Tinto and began to people watch. As the others casually mingled about, they appeared to all know each other, kissing and calling from across the room before moving to the dance floor. But this was not amateur night.

Right from the start, we noticed that these ordinary porteños loved the dance and have refined their moves through much dedication and practice. As the music began to play, dancers would walk to the dance floor, grab each other firmly and move in perfect unison together, like longtime lovers. But things are not always what they appear. What looked to us to be acquaintances recognizing each other from across the room, then standing and moving almost simultaneously toward each other to meet face to face on the dance floor, was in fact something else. These men and women were not acquainted. Instead, they were scrupulously scoping each other out with their eyes, searching and waiting for a dance partner to their liking. To the naked eye, it appeared to be magic. Two people on different sides of this darkened room would rise, move to meet under the lights, strike a pose and begin to tango. It was beautiful and mysterious.

Not knowing how it was done, I watched intently, trying to predict who would be the next couple. Would it be the sexy, thin young woman in the slinky red dress and 4-inch pumps, or maybe the middle-aged, blonde housewife in tailored slacks and see-through blouse? And who would be her partner? The dashing mustachioed chico, or maybe the handsome, distinguished gentleman of a certain age? It was almost impossible to guess. But as I surveyed the room with my eyes and gazed past several women, I realized they were looking directly at me. Then I saw that as my eyes reached a section of the room, others would slyly turn to face me as my eyes passed over them. This was when I got it. I was now a part of the game. By actively looking at individuals around the room, I was conveying an interest in finding a dance partner. Knowing neither how to Tango, nor enough Spanish to express that fact, I quickly averted my eyes, turned to my table-mates and asked if they had noticed the same thing. Saying they had, we enjoyed a collective moment of embarrassment and continued our observations more covertly before finishing our wine and heading out into the pouring rain to grab a cab and head home.


P.S. To S. in the Inner Sunset: are we still on for taking Tango lessons together?

Too much homework for a real posting today. But I did upload several galleries of pics. Check them out by clicking each link at the top of the page . . .

http://homepage.mac.com/dubeats/Argentina_08/

Just returned from El Calafate in Pategonia . . . the Aerolineas Argentina flight was delayed 2 hours and I have to be up at 7 to get to Spanish class by 9 am (yep AM classes - ARRGGHH). I'm so tired - did you know in El Calafate the sun goes down at 11:30 pm . . . made sleeping rather difficult - and hungry - oh and did you know that almost everything in El Calafate closes between 1 and 4 pm? That made for a dull afternoon waiting for the flight.

When I finally got to my BA apartment I headed straight to my local pizza place - but it was closed! But then I passed a Chinese woman carrying what looked like take-out (I'd recognize those boxes anyplace). She stopped and rang someone's buzzer - she was delivering! So what did I do? I followed her. Yep. I stayed back a few meters to not draw too much attention to myself - but sure enough she turned the corner and there it was - XIMIN Restaurant Chino. So as I write this, I am enjoying some incredible Arrollanditos and Pollo y Brocoli.

Hey Ryan, I've become a hunter/gatherer . . . it's nature's way!

Gonna finish up and head to bed soon so you'll have to wait until tomorrow when I'll post about glacier hiking, glacier cruising, the best steak I've ever had in my life (I almost cried - really) and why Mormons are the NICEST people on the planet.

Til then . . .

Tomorrow I leave for El Calafate in Patagonia - 2 days of glacier touring & hiking! Can't wait. I also have info on half or full day trips I think would be fun once everyone else arrives in February. Tigre and the Delta are nearby - (19th century Belle Epoch hide-away for BA rich & high society) and there is also Colonia del Sacramento in Urauguay - more the the same - historical 1680s city, beautiful get-away.

I've been all over the city since I arrived - Palermo has great restaurants and amazing designer clothing shops. La Boca is really cool and Recoleta is all class. I've also got a handle on the subway system - but cabs are the way to go - most trips are under $5.

My Spanish is really terrible - but people here are very kind and if they speak English there's no problem. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have learned enough to not feel so foolish when I can't say the simplest things.

Came home earlier and read the news online. Very sad. Such promise. He wasn't a great actor - but it was in him to become one.

Then I went out for a crazy good dinner - bottle of Tempranillo, beef carpaccio, filet mignon & a cafe (also crazy cheap at $30 US!) - then when I came home this was in my inbox.



Someone has way too much time on their hands . . .

Still a bit wrecked from the flight and a week away from starting school, I kept somewhat to myself today - considering my entire Spanish vocabulary can be written on on the inside of a matchbook. I walked around Palermo getting to know the neighborhood and got very lost in the process. I was so turned around I kept turning back a few blocks before my street thinking I had walked too far - but it all worked out and I found my way home as well as the local ATM and supermarket. I bought some sausage, cheese, wine and a bottle of water - and I'm enjoying a little appetizer before heading out to find some dinner. While I was out and about today, I learned a few things:

- the sidewalks are all just very old tiles - most are cracked and broken - gotta watch where you step.

- it's more than just cracked tiles you gotta look out for on the sidewalks - but the pooches are too cute.

- when you find an ATM with a very long line . . . get on line! you might not find another one later on.

- so far, cab drivers are the nicest people here - especially counting the waiters and bartenders.

- From what I've seen of Palermo, the intersections are where the action is. At each intersection there are great cafes and restaurants on every corner -but none on the blocks in between. You gotta walk and entire block to get to the next group of cafes.

Now . . . off to find some parrilla!

Arrived in ATL early after being squeezed in a window seat next to a very nice but huge man (6'5" - 275 EASY!) So when I checked in for leg 2 - I gave the agent a few of my sister's "special pens" and told him about "Sasquach" - He smiled wide, chuckled, put them in in his pocket - winked and said he would try his best to leave the seat next to me empty - so here's hoping I get some room this time.

Ambienland here I come!




UPDATE: The pens worked! I had two seats to myself the whole trip. I advise you get some for yourself.

Bags are packed - flight leaves at 11:41 am tomorrow morning - then it's 5 hours to Atlanta - a 1 hour layover - and 12 hours later I'll be in Buenos Aires. I'm not sure how often I'll be updating this blog . . . but check in every now and then and you'll find a few pictures, a few stories, and my thoughts and observations of life in Buenos Aires.