Cuentos que no son Cuentos

12-02-09 22:26
Mi Casa

Sunday

I spent all day with Liz, another Multisa (our nickname for students in the Multi-country program), exploring parts of the city for seven hours by foot . We originally headed to the Casa Rosada, or the Argentine version of the White House, and took a tour (in Spanish!) with guards in the traditional uniform. It was very gorgeous inside, reminding me of many European palaces that I’ve seen.

After the tour, we continued to wander aimlessly around the barrio Monserrat and made our way towards Puerto Madero, where we had gone to Asia de Cuba on Friday night. After walking around there for a bit, we wandered down random streets aimlessly, coming across beautiful architecture, la Calle Florida (an all pedestrian street with lots of shops and crafts), and a park where we watched the sunset and a flag lowering ceremony by Argentine soldiers. I found out later that the memorial that the soliders guarded was dedicated to San Martin, the great liberator who led several South American colonies to independence. Our last stop of the day was the Avenida 9 del Julio, the largest street in the world - over twenty lanes wide.

TIP OF THE DAY
It’s apparently impossible to cross the road completely during one signal change unless you do a full out sprint, and while you might be tempted to try, it’s better to wait with everyone else at the several pedestrian islands created between the lanes (there’s even benches there for you).

I returned in home in time for my host brother’s birthday dinner, where I met his girlfriend and grandmother. I will again take this opportunity to comment on Argentine sugar intake: after a huge meal, we had panqueques (crepes) filled with dulce de leche and covered with sugar. However, I didn’t realize we were also going to eat a massive, rich chocolate cake once we had sang “Feliz Cumpleaños.” Adriana and I took a much needed walk after dinner and stopped by at my favorite café to chat and, in Adriana’s case, drink a strong, tiny cup of coffee.

Tuesday

Although I was supposed to go to salsa lessons, plans fell through and I ended up showing up at the Subte stop by myself; however, all was not in vain- I had an epic reunion on the street corner with Amanda, one of my very good friends from the University of Florida. Although we didn’t originally know that we were both studying abroad in Buenos Aires this semester, we had made plans to meet up when we got here. It was amazing seeing someone I know from home on another continent. We went to the barrio chino to eat dinner, followed by the cine (movie theater) with her friend Ralph that she had met in her hostel. (How cliché, here we were in another country and we go to a dinner and a movie). We went to see “Cuentos que no son cuentos”, or “Stories that are not stories.” I actually don’t know what the original title is supposed to be in English, but Adam Sandler and his nephew and niece created bedtime stories that would come true the next day. It was really cute and dubbed completely in castellano (they don't call the language Spanish here). I was really excited that I could understand pretty much everything that was going on in the movie, and after a while I just kind of forgot it was in another language.

Wednesday

After dinner, I met up with a bunch of Multisas at the park next to my apartment and we grabbed some delicious gelato ice cream (thank goodness for Italian influences). We then hopped in some taxis to El Museo (aka the Museum – yes, I know, I am very cultural), another boliche (club).

The taxi drivers are usually very talkative and although the driver that we had on the way there drove between lanes, didn’t use a blinker, barely stopped in time behind other cars, and constantly talked with both his hands (taking them off the steering wheel to do so), he was the sweetest old man. When he heard we were from the US he talked about how we were all on the same planet and we should live together in peace. It was a good way to start out the night.

Speaking of the boliche- it was absolutely HUGE! The ground floor was a huge open space while the next two stories were wide balconies; it reminded me more of a mall than a club. It was completely packed with at least a thousand people (some clubs here can hold up to three thousand) jamming out to techno versions of new and old songs from the United States. Since the club opens quite early on Wednesdays and it was actually full by midnight, we stayed until three (we did have class the next day, after all). Minor hazards of the night included being burned by a cigarette and having a broken glass bottle kicked into my foot.

Observation 1: Many of the boliches have attendents in the baños who often sit in the corner of the bathrooms and sell gum and little candies and such.

Observation 2: The majority of the guys that I came across in the boliche very much lived up to the stereotype…let’s just say that if I were ever playing Apples to Apples and the card was “Argentinean men that I’ve met in the club” (after all, I wouldn’t want to generalize too much) and someone put down “aggressive” or “touchy-feely”, they would win hands down. Once again, it’s just a normal part of the culture. However, I am glad we have our big, strong men in ISA to ward off porteños when needed. :)

Well, I've rambled on long enough...
Nicole