I'm sick

It was bound to happen, I guess. After spending so much time in close proximity to people, on the subway, city buses and long-distance buses, etc, I came down with a touch of the flu or something. At first I thought it was the biggest hangover ever, as I went out for a late dinner Wednesday night that included lots of red wine. I hit my bed at 1:30 pm and by 4:30 I woke up with the biggest headache of my life. Then I threw up. More headache, more throwing up, etc. Anyway, by noon, I was still suffering from headache and nauseous stomach, so figured it was more than a hangover. Marc doesn't believe me and thinks its a huge hangover.

So, I spent all of yesterday in bed, reading or watching TV. I have cable here at the apartment, so I watched lots of CNN and BBC. There is even a German news channel and, just for yucks, I watched that for about 30 minutes. Then, Sex and the City was on, thankfully in English, and they were episodes I had never seen before. Most of the TV shows and movies from the US are dubbed. My Spanish is not good enough to understand much, and something is really lost in dubbing. Imagine Austin Powers without Mike Meyer's voice. I just can't do it.

So, while watching all this TV, I got caught up on all the sports news, which of course means soccer news: Beckham going to Milan on loan and Diego Maradonna, a deity in Argentina, coaching the Argentine soccer team. There was a mention of Philadelphia winning the World Series, which BBC noted as an ironic name since the only teams playing are from North America.

Feeling better today, but still not straying far from home. I should be in good shape tomorrow.

El Micro

Astonishingly, there are few trains in Argentina. Apparently the British set up quite a nice system when they were down here for commercial pursuits in the 19th and 20th centuries. However, in the 1990s, Argentinian leaders let it fall into disarray. Now, from BA, there are only a handful of places you can get to by train. Most folks travel long distances by bus (el micro),of which there are several companies to choose from. We are NOT talking Greyhound. These buses are nice, nice, nice. There are 5 classes to choose from with class 1 being the best. I took the Semi-cama (class 3, cost about$52 US) out to Mendoza and Cama (class 2, cost about $66) back to BA, a difference of $14 US and well worth the upgrade. They feed you pretty good meals on the bus and the seats recline, much more than on an airplane. In Cama, you get wine with dinner, plusher seats that recline farther back and two movies at night. I was elated that one of them was The Motorcycle Diaries, which was filmed in South America. I don't know which was more beautiful, the landscape or Gael Garcia Bernal's face. I love this movie.

On the way back to BA, I sat next to Veronica, an Argentinian woman about my age. She spoke less English than I did Spanish and I certainly didn't understand everything she said. But, we became acquainted and enjoyed laughing about how bad our English or Spanish was. The benefit of traveling by yourself is that you are given the opportunity to interact with folks that you would not if you had a companion. It took me out of my comfort zone to speak what little Spanish I could, but it was fun and my Spanish improves each time I speak.

Mendoza

Got back into town late this morning from my little excursion to Mendoza. It was nice to get out of town for a few days and explore something different from BA. Imagine that you just spent 2.5 weeks in San Francisco or New York, you took a comfy overnight bus for 14 hours across the lush-turning-to-arid plains and woke up in.....Boulder. That's what it was like pulling into Mendoza. It's laid back, civilized, very green, and has good transit, a university, a central pedestrian mall and a mountain range for a backdrop. I love the fact that the sidewalks are very wide and tree-lined, unlike BA, where you negotiate crowded 3-foot sidewalks on most streets. Interestingly, more folks speak English in Mendoza than BA (I mean in relation to population of course). I think it is due to the emphasis on tourism in Mendoza.

I indulged in a few wine-related activities. Monday evening, I went to a wine tasting room called Vines of Mendoza. Its right downtown. I sat at a bar and ordered a flight of Malbec, the famous wine of Argentina. My "guide" Marcella, who spoke flawless English, presented each one and told me about them. To keep my wits about me, I ordered a cheese plate, which turned out to be enough for two and pretty much became my dinner. The wines ranged from a young wine, only 3 months in an oak barrel, to one that spent 10 months in the barrel + some time it he bottle. Argentinian wines are generally not to be kept in the bottle for more than something like 4 or 5 years I believe. They are to be drunk young. I enjoyed them all, some more than others. Other patrons at the bar included an American couple from Arizona and honeymooners from Toronto. We all chatted a bit. Also, I spoke with Marcella about Argentinian politics. That's a post all its own, so we will leave that for another time. A wonderful evening.

The other activity was a do-it-yourself wine tour by bike, which I recommend for the intrepid and patient. I kept imagining it would be like that Globe Trekker episode where Justine bikes through bucolic, rural France. I did have an experience like that visiting the first vineyard, a pretty stucco building which included a museum, called Bodega La Rural. Biking on a tree-lined road past vineyards made me grin from ear to ear! After that, it was riding long distances between posts on a busy street which didn't mark the vineyards very well. At least, there were bike paths on this busy street. I decided I wanted to see a large, more commercial facility that was farther away, but marked on a map I had received from the city of Mendoza. Well, the map didn't have all the streets on it, I lost the map I got from the bike people and to make a long story short, I got lost. I eventually got to that other vineyard, Bodegas Lopez, but the only tour going was in Spanish. So, that one was kind of a bust, but an adventure nevertheless. And adventure is what it is all about, right? So, I got to see both boutique and commercial bodegas, and try their wines. If you want to do this, but don't want to get lost and want lunch included, there is a guided tour offered as well. It costs more, of course, than just renting a bike.

A Little Jaunt

So, my computer network was down yesterday and much of today, so I couldn't post. Tonight, I am taking the sleeper bus to Mendoza, Argentina's wine country, for a few days away from the city. My computer is staying in my apartment, locked in the closet. So, I might not post for a few days, or I might post but not include photos until I get back.

Chau (as they spell it here).

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de BA (MALBA)

With so much to explore in BA, museums have not been at the top of my list. The two museums I visited, the Museo Nacional de Belles Artes and the Museo de Nacional Art Decorativo, left me unimpressed. However, Wednesday I went to MALBA and was blown away.

Until my visit, my only acquaintance with Latin American art was that of Diego Rivera (thumbs up) and Frieda Kahlo (yeesh). Blessedly, MALBA only has one Kahlo in its permanent collection. MALBA focuses on 20th century and contemporary work by Latin American artists. Currently, it is showing the work of a Cuban-American, Felix Gonzales-Torres. But the permanent collection is what really got me. I was introduced to surreal Argentinian artist Xul Solar and fell in love with a contemporary artist named Alberto Greco. Lots of energy in this art, and I don't just mean color. Its very dynamic. The permanent collection is not large, which means you can see and digest it all in a short amount of time. No eyes glazing over!

No photos are allowed in the museum, but there is a beautiful outdoor room which contained a billboard by Gonzales-Torres. Interestingly, this museum is the only one in BA to be housed in a building specifically built as a museum. The others are in buildings which were originally built for some other use. MALBA was completed in 2001 and designed, via a competition, by a young Argentinian firm. Its a beautiful building.

Shopping

Notice that I didn't title this Shopping, Part I. That's because there is not going to be a lot of shopping on this trip. It is bad enough that half of this holiday is unpaid and that I have to pay to sleep, travel and eat for seven weeks down here, without me spending on stuff, especially stuff for me. However, as always happens, while shopping for others, I found something for me. But first, a word about prices down here.

The rumor is that Buenos Aires is a bargain. I am sorry to tell you that this is no longer true. BA used to be the most expensive city in South America until the economic crash of 2001. The peso was badly devalued and the city became a bargain for tourists. However, annual inflation of approximately 8% a year (I have seen some figures higher, some lower)has increased prices quite a bit since the crash. So, despite the dollar now being the strongest it has been in five years, annual inflation means BA is no longer a bargain. Nevertheless, I would say that prices are generally lower than they are in major cities in the States. Restaurant meals here are pretty inexpensive, though you can manage to spend a lot here, as anywhere. For example, breakfast of a couple of rolls and coffee sets me back between $2 and $4US. Lunch costs about me $4-$6US and dinner from $10 on up, more with wine. Leather goods are especially well priced here (Christmas presents, anyone?). My studio apartment (w/weekly maid service) in a middle class neighborhood next to shopping and the subway is $685 a month. A transit ride is about $.30.

So, back to shopping. I have been dazzled by the beauty of tango shoes and have been looking around at various tango-shoe stores - there are many here, each making exquisite handmade shoes. No, I don't tango, but I liked the idea of beautiful and comfortable heels for dress up. On my way to a tango-shoe store, I stopped at an upper end shopping mall, the Galerias Pacifica. There, while window shopping for gifts, I went into Rossi Y Caruso, a high-quality leather store, and fell in love with a very elegant (and comfortable) pair of handmade brown lizard heels. While not cheap ($225), they are quite a bit cheaper than I would pay in the States, so....hello brown lizard heels!

They also make beautiful riding boots and I could use a new pair....

Vicarious Travel

I created this blog primarily for me, as a creative outlet as well as a travel diary. Secondly, I thought that it would be a good way to keep in touch with Marc and my parents, something to round out Skype. Many of you have written to me to say that you have enjoyed the blog. I am so glad, thanks! I have also enjoyed hearing from you.

If travel blogs interest you, I have two to share. The first is from Michele Reeves and her husband Tom. Many of you know Michele, a former commercial broker in Portland. She and Tom are doing a very brave and cool thing. They and their two young daughters have dismantled their life in Portland for at least a year of adventure in Buenos Aires. You might be interested in their blog. You can find it on the right hand column of this page. I can't seem to imbed it here.

Also, my friend Gretchen is spending 8 months living, eating, traveling and painting in Italy and Spain. You can follow her blog as well, again on the right.

The world is so small. It is amazing to be able to keep in regular touch with folks on other continents.

More Belgrano

Here are more shots of Belgrano. If you need a closer look at the photos, just click on them. They should get bigger (maybe too big - I will work on that). Also, I don't have any photo software on my laptop, so I can't manipulate them as I would like. Perhaps I will work on that.

Belgrano By Bus

Today I decided to go back to Belgrano and explore. I had visited this neighborhood last Friday night, when I went to a classical guitar concert that featured music by Marc's grandfather. Belgrano is an upper middle-class, residential neighborhood. Since it is just outside of the Capital Federale, it is considered a suburb. However, it is not a suburb in the US sense. While it does feature many homes built in the first two decades of last century, there are also a lot of post-WWII high rises. It has fewer shopping streets than other parts of BA, so it is more residential in feel. There are many schools and some parks. I wandered in an especially elegant part of Belgrano for several hours. School had just let out so the sidewalks were flooded with kids just out of school.

Belgrano is accessible by subway. However, due to some dysfunction, the subway car I jumped into today wasn't running. We waited for many minutes for the door to close and the car to move. Then, a muffled voice came on the loudspeaker: "Mwah, mwah ma, wa wa mwah wa!" Obviously, I had no clue what the problem was, so I just followed the other passengers who disembarked with frustration. "Hmmm," I thought. "What to do now?" I could go back to my flat and study, or I could try to take.... the bus. The bus is a whole topic all by itself, and so I will get into it in a later post. I will say now that it is very complicated and I have been very intimidated to take it with limited Spanish. Yet, because I had bought a bus guide this weekend and I had it in my purse, I managed to actually take the bus to Belgrano. Hooray!

So, here are my shots of Belgrano. By the way, I am enchanted with the school buses and vans here. They are orange with white roofs. They are adorable.

The Subway

Like all major cities, BA has a subway system. Its called the Subte. Its a typical subway system: quick, convenient and super crowded. Like New York, BA is now using paper tickets rather than tokens. I live three blocks from the subway and I use it several times each day. Unfortunately, I need to use it in the morning to get to school, so I am part of the rush-hour crush. On Fridays, it seems that the crush lasts all afternoon and well into the evening.

Also, like many cities, BA's subway was built at different times and the stations reflect the technology, civic wealth and aesthetics of the era in which they were built. The subway was originally built in 1913 and was the first built in South America. The line by my apartment, the "D" line, seems to have been the latest to have been built (the system is now privately run). You can access both tracks from all subway entrances (not possible on all lines), ride on new cars and wait in functional stations in good condition. The walls are plain, but the floor is a beautiful red herringbone tile. Actually all the floors are of this tile. Of all the lines I have ridden so far, the "C" line has the most beautiful stations, though they are a bit shabby. The stations on this route have beautiful Moorish-style tiled walls and tiled murals.

My only complaint about the subway is that it closes before 11 pm. Not sure why it closes so early in a city that stays out all night. It is a drag to go out somewhere only to have to take a taxi home because the subway no longer runs. Good reason for me to learn to use the bizarre bus system. I'll let you know how that goes.

Oh, according to Michele Reeves, a fellow Portlander now living in BA, the subway is not free on holidays. The government hasn't minted enough coins, so when the subway runs low on coins (to make change for people buying tickets), they have to just let everyone ride for free.

Steak, Part I

Why Part I? Well, because after tonight, there will be more postings about steak. Argentina is all about beef. Somewhere I read a statistic that Argentina beef consumption is something like 10 times that of the USA. When one of my work colleagues found out I was taking my vacation in Argentina, his response was "Do you like meat?"

I have just eaten the most amazing-tasting steak ever. I think I could eat this steak every night for the rest of my life. I would if I were Argentinian. The restaurant is located in my favorite BA neighborhood, San Telmo. It is called El Des Nivel and it is a traditional steak house, popular with tourists (they don't take credit cards, I found out). But don't let that scare you because, tourist or not, you are going to have the steak of your life. You have to order vegetables separately, but, depending on what you order, your meat may come with potatoes. I went for the straight-up tenderloin, the most expensive thing on the menu but still a bargain at $10 USD. The 1/4 litre wine and roasted red peppers and tip added another, $5+USD.

There ain't nothing like cows fattened on rich grass in the Pampas. Lean and sublime tasting. It almost cut like butta. We eat grass-fed beef at home, but it doesn't taste this good.

Next time I go, I will take a picture for you.

First Day of School

Today I started Spanish class at the IBERO Spanish School. Yesterday was a holiday, so classes started today. There are many, many Spanish schools down here, and I chose this one based on recommendations from blogs and guidebooks. One thing I like about the school is that they organize activities, like dinners, films and field trips.

The class reflects the demographic of most travellers I have met and seen here: young and carefree. My class includes students from Europe, the UK, the US and Australia. They are all in their 20s, some right out of university, with one couple looking to be in their early 30s. I was getting a little lonely by myself and it is nice to meet and converse with folks. But it is a bit odd to not meet anyone my age. I organized a group to go to lunch afterward, in a nearby cafe. It was during that lunch that I realized that people in their 20s don't really know what to say to someone so much older than they and someone who is married. My ego was bruised for about a minute and then I remembered what it was like when I was in my early 20s and found myself in social situations with someone almost my parents' age. It was weird and awkward, at least at first. Nevertheless, I am meeting several of them tonight to go salsa dancing.

One other thing I observed from my class. Those of us who have already learned a language (we were asked this in class) have a definite advantage. We know what it is like to learn words that have masculine and feminine articles, something blessedly absent from English. We know what it is like to conjugate verbs, whose endings depend on the articles. For some reason, the Aussies in my class are having a particularly difficult time. None of them had ever learned another language.

Random Observations

OK, I am feeling under the weather today, so I am just going to start listing some random observations:

• Sunblock is expensive here.
• The couple in the jeans, hiking shoes, fanny packs and Columbia Sportswear jackets next to me on the subway were......French!
• The subway appears to be free on holidays.
• There are a lot of French tourists here. So far, I have observed tourists from Israel, Australia, Scandinavia, France, Germany, USA, Brazil and Japan.
  
• Women here do not wearing skirts, but pants. Younger women seem to all be wearing jeans - skinny or fashion.
• Older men and women dress very well here. Younger men and women in the smarter parts of town do too.
• Just as the guidebooks say, men in BA are metrosexuals and pretty good looking.
• Not a lot of fat folks here; no one obese, at the most chubby.
• McDonalds seems to be quite popular here. I wonder if their beef is from Argentina.
  
• Portenos, young (i.e. strollers) and old do stay up very late.
  
• According to the BA Herald Tribume, Argentina will begin requiring tourist visas starting in January 2009. OK, that wasn't an observation, exactly.
  

Bergman + Empanadas

Call me crazy, but I went to see a Bergman film this evening, Wild Strawberries, or Cuando Huye El Dia, as it is known here, or Smultronstallet (say that three times) as it is known in Sweden. I will spare you the reasons why except to say that the cinema was conveniently located near a subway stop, which is good after dark. It was in Swedish with Spanish subtitles, which is hilarious if you think about it because my comprehension of Swedish and Spanish is about the same. On one hand, it is a pity to not know the dialogue because Bergman's films are not extremely literal, so you don't know exactly what is going on. On the other hand, it is a Bergman film, so you can enjoy it's big themes and not have to worry about petty stuff like dialogue and story line. It was actually a great way to see Bergman.

I have only seen a handful of Bergman movies, but, even without knowing the dialogue, I gathered the typical Bergman themes: dreams, reminiscence, family (particularly childhood), lost love, fear of death, fear of life, the tedium and disappointments of bourgeois life in Sweden, and redemption. Also, it contained the usual symbolism: natural landscapes, tolling bells, storm clouds, beautiful young women and aging men. Also, there was a road trip involved. While I know this sounds flip, I did enjoy the film very much even if it was a lot to mentally digest, as I find Bergman intimidating.

Then, I went to a neighborhood joint for empanadas, ubiquitous Latin American food. Through a miscommunication with the waiter, I ended up with two mozzarella/tomato empanadas instead of one chicken and one mozzarella. They were good, but heavy, especially at 10 pm at night. A lot to literally digest.

Ice Cream

Those who know me well know that I love ice cream. The guidebooks say that BA has some of the finest ice cream in the world, due to all the Italian immigration that has occurred here. Many of you will not believe this, but I didn't have any ice cream until my SECOND day here. I haven't really been craving sweets lately. Before I left home, I cut sugar out of my life in an effort to lose 5 lbs. I lost that weight (keeping it off is another matter) and in the process my craving for sweets.

However, yesterday, at about 6 pm, after walking all around the parks in Palermo, I was feeling a bit peckish. As luck would have it, there is a heladeria (ice creamery) half a block from my flat. It is not a chain, but rather a single shop that produces helados artesanales. I don't speak Spanish yet, but some things are clear in any language, like chocolate with almonds and dulce le leche (OK, that IS Spanish). My Mt. Everest of a cone cost seven pesos, roughly $2.50US. It was fabulous. Better than anything in the states, but not as good as I remember in Italy.

Unfortunately, there is just no way to avoid this heladeria, as it is on my way to and from the subway and the main shopping street, Avenida Santa Fe.

Dogs

Like all big cities, you see dogs on the streets and in the parks in BA. Chihuahuas to Bernese. You also see lots of dog walkers. I have seen them orchestrate up to eight at one time, so far. There is a park about six blocks from my house, and it is packed with dogs in the evening. Like Paris, you also see dog poop, or dog "dirt" as my grandfather used to call it, EVERYWHERE. No one picks up. So, the parks smell like dog dirt, and you have to definately watch where you walk.

So, today, on my way to the polo grounds (no polo matches today, I just wanted to know where to go when..), I passed a park called Plaza Seeber. It really isn't a plaza, but a giant quasi-grassy dog park. There wasn't a human around except for dog walkers. It must be some kind of official dog park. The park has stakes in the ground at regular intervals that dogs are tied to, usually two at a time. So, around each stake is a dirt circle where the dogs have worn the grass down. There is also a fenced area where people let their dog play. But since there are no humans in sight, it is as though they just tie them up for an hour or a day and come back and get them later. Remarkable.

Porteno (Portena?)

The last 30 hours have been very exciting and challenging. After arriving in Buenos Aires two and a half hours late, I got into my apartment around noon yesterday. After being shown around, I was on my own. Okayyyyy. It took me a while to get the internet connection. Then, I couldn't get the elevator to work, so I decided to just always take the stairs - I am only on the 2nd floor. Then, this morning, after going to the grocery store, it took me a while to get the stove working to make espresso. This stove requires a flame, but I couldn't find any matches. Drat, I love my morning espresso. Then I found one of those flaming gizmos, the kind we use for barbeques. Yes! Finally, espresso. The washer and dryer are on the 8th floor of the building, by the terrace, which is lovely. However, I don't know how to work the elevator, so I guess I will walk up.....

Preparations

Wow. After planning this trip for over a year, I can't believe that I am leaving on a plane in 48 hours. A seven-week trip abroad takes a lot of planning and preparation. Not since I went to study in Germany 25 years ago have I had to prepare for such a long time somewhere. I can't imagine preparing for this trip while working full time. Taking several weeks of vacation before leaving was worth it.

So, on this trip I decided to bring my laptop, since I have wifi in my apartment in Buenos Aires. My god, what a lot of work this has required. I mean, my laptop has never gone out of my house before, let alone on a plane and to another continent. So, I had to back up data, remove data, buy firewall coverage, download skype, badger Marc to download skype on his laptop, get a headset, get an adapter, go to a cafe up the street to be sure I know how to log on, and finally, set up this blog.