Hi Everyone,
I haven`t been avoiding you life just keeps on happening and internet cafes are not always close by.
Bariloche was fabulous but mostly because of the hostel and the delicious group of young guys I called the Puppy Dogs who ran it. It was like living in a mad family where there were buckets full of affection, laughter, friendliness and fun. A great friend that I had made in Peninsula Valdez turned up out of the blue which was lovely too. I did one treck up into the forest and nearly died, realizing how unfit I was. I loved it but didn´t get to the top. Amazing trees and a bamboo type plant particular to Argentina. I also did half a days riding in the foothills of the Andes which was magic. The other 4 people riding with me had not one idea how to ride which made me chuckle. Not even turning left or right!! The family who ran the ride from their farm were welcoming and generous giving us a delicious ásado` with wine and all the trimmings. I felt part of their home.
We also saw condors. As well as the astral lapwings who drive me made with their shrill shrieking to lure us away from their nests. If they just shut up we`d never even notice!!
For those that don`t know Bariloche is an Alpine Lake District sitting on a beautiful lake. It is also an ultimate destination for students finishing their final year at school. So they were every where in groups and hordes just filling up the town. There was also a gang of dogs that lived around the streets - their favourite past time was chasing cars - and when they weren`t doing that they were lurking round tourists hoping for food and affection. Bariloche is also famous for chocolate - shame I don`t like it!
Starting to go north I stopped for a few days in San Martin de los Andes. As a town it felt too pretty, too tidy and too ordered for me - a bit lifeless. However lovely walks, lakes, beautiful woods, wild flowers and views. I palled up with a friend from Paris and we went to visit a Mapuche community up in the hills. On arrival we heard a group of youngsters playing fabulous Andean music - apparently part of a bigger orchestra. I could have listened to them all day. The wife walked with us up into the hills. It had a lovely feel to it this area - she talked about the spirits of the earth and the trees and how the Mapuche try to work in tune with nature. Maybe they have something that we have lost. Each Mapuche family has their own house and some land and each one specializes in growing something or contributing in some way to the whole - be it chickens, sheep what ever. I thought it looked a great plan. I know they have had to fight for their land, and to keep it, and have only in the last 10 years had full communication i.e. internet, phones, but this seemed something to aspire to for all of them. They have their own school and Mapuche is taught for 2 hours a day. However the only thing I will pass on next time is the family `car´that we went back to the village in. The husband said he would give us a lift so we agreed before seeing the MOT certificate! Only one door worked in the back and I have never seen such a dilapidated specimen. The windscreen was peppered with holes and cracks and the seats were all in different states of disrepair, some closer to the ground than others. As we rattled down the hill the dust came up in clouds through the floor and we could hardly see in front of our noses. We survived!
En route to a little town called Alumine the landscape changed to a volcanic skyline - very dramatic. This little town gave me a completely magic experience. I wanted to visit the lakes but the bus had gone and the lass in theTourist Office suggested that I hitch hike. She said it was completely safe. So I set off with my picnic in my little ruchsack and a bottle of water. For a while I walked with a kindly old man on a horse - I haven´t a clue what he was saying but he didn´t seem to mind. Eventually after about 5 kilometres a little car stopped beside me. Inside was a young girl and her 4 year old daughter. I jumped in and off we went. After a little while of chat she invited me to visit her parent`s farm (which was where she was going) as it was the day that her father, brother and her husband plus other gauchos branded the cattle. Would I be interested? I didn`t hesitate. They were an amazing family who didn`t bat an eyelid when a strange English woman turned up to join them for the day. The cattle were driven across a river to a piece of land that was flat and easier to work. We stayed this side. But after a while I said to Marielin that it was very difficult to photograph through the trees. So back we went to the house and I was kitted out with gym shoes and given a sturdy stick. We forded the same river on foot in a very fast flowing current. It was not easy and I certainly didn´t want to fall over with my camera on my hip. However all was well and we walked up to join the gauchos who were just getting on with a days work of lassoeing calves and cows, branding from the fire they had made, dosing them with medicine and clipping their ears. After about 1 hour Marielin asked me if I would like to go for a ride. So we each take a horse and headed up the valley. How wonderful was that. Later in the afternoon we have a second ride in the opposite direction. At the end of the day we all road home on horseback fording the river with some horses carrying 2 of us. I was invited to join them for the inevitable asado which was delicious and then driven back to Alumine by Marielin and her husband and their little daughter. It was a full moon and the landscape was bathed in its light - what a fabulous dreamy day! I am constantly amazed by people`s openheartedness and generosity.
The journey to San Rafael was another 2 day affair. The last lap was more extraordinary landscape this time dotted with monkey puzzle trees that are native to this part of the world and growing in desert like conditions. Extraordinary. Yet another lovely hostel - more Swiss and Israelis with Canadians buying land here. I spent Christmas Eve on a lake swimming and laughing with a gang from the hostel. The lovely family that run it (3) daughters invited us to a meal with them in the evening - Christmas eve is more special to them. I gave everyone a candle to light and make a wish with or remember someone close to them - and of course to light with the meal.
12 of us sat down together and it was great. It was a late night as we chatted and ate and drank into Christmas day.
I am now staying with Kate and her family just outside San Rafael before I make my next jump, my next trip. It is hot now - over 40 centigrade!
As usual I have no idea where I shall be for New Year. But I wish you all lots of special things for 2011, friendship, unexpected moments, dreams coming true and a good life where maybe we make a difference - somehow. I also hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas - I meant to send you good wishes but somehow it never happened. I thought about you!
Lots of Argentinian hugs and much love
Sal xxx
Tuesday, 28 December 2010
Saturday, 11 December 2010
How do you talk to a Glacier?
Since I last wrote I have been to El Calafate which is quite far south and sits on a milky turquoise lake. The town is an architect´s dream with random houses all over the place with no need for planning permission for colour, shape, size or position. Lots are pink, mauve, purple, yellow and green of the most extraordinary shapes and sizes. It had a feeling of being temporary but is growing daily as I noticed big hotels half finished and others under constrution. The hostel was run by two lovely young guys with dreadlocks and great smiles. Very friendly. Met people from all over and shared a dorm with a great English couple. The guy reminded me of Rupert a great friend of mine.
So the point of coming to El Calafate was to visit the Perito Moreno glacier. No, I have never seen a glacier before and especially one this size. I took a boat trip to get close and still couldn´t really comprehend this wall of ice towering above me. Inside the ice there are fabulous reflections of blue, purple and turquoise making it seem even more unreal. I just found it very hard to relate to but recognized that it was extraordinary. It is miles long and a kilometre wide. It moves 2 metres a day which is amazing. There are long walk ways that take you close to the glacier. After some lunch I went back again and walked a distance, mostly on my own in a small peaceful wood that ran alongside this white monster that cracked and rumbled like gunshot as parts broke and fell into the lake. It was quite mesmerizing and I have taken endless photographs somehow trying to understand the nature of it. It was a bit like drawing, once I start then I begin to understand the subject matter more and more - so with photographs of the glacier. It was truly awesome.
From the same hostel I spent a day in El Chalten - a town not dissimilar to El Calafate. The idea was to walk for most of the day up into the mountains and see the famous peak of Fitz Roy but the mist came down and the snow and it was not to be. However I found lots of wild flowers I did not know and met a charming Swiss family. Two sons and mother and father on a holiday together. We all ended up having lunch together to recover from the cold. The younger one and I walked together quite a bit. He was on an exchange in Buenos Aires and was fascinated by how emotional the Argentinians were compared to the Swiss - he told me this with a wistful touch to his voice. I wondered whether some countries are ruled by their heads and other countries by their hearts. Switzerland and Argentina seem two good examples - not that I know many Swiss people so that is a huge value judgement!
To reach Bariloche it was a 2 day bus journey up the legendary Route 40. An amazing road which is mostly untarmaced and stretches miles into the distance bordered usually on both sides by ridges and outcrops. Vast stretches of sky that changed as we moved through the landscape. Our bus drivers were called Nelson and Andy - very chatty and relaxed. The rest of the busload turned into a family as we trundled up Argentina. I sat initially with a french guy who had just hitched a lift on a french boat for 20 days, a loner who disappeared half way through the journey to take his own route. The next guy was also French in his 70s but very sweet natured and easy to be with. You learn people´s life stories when you sit on a bus with them for 24 hours. We stopped at a hotel for the night and I shared a room with two young Israeli girls who had just finished their 2 years national service -perhaps not a good thing to mention that most of England supports the Palestinians! However they were well able to defend their position. Apart from being asked out by Nelson the bus driver the journey was just about snoozing, chatting, reading, stopping at Estancias for a break and wondering if it would ever end.
I am now in Bariloche which is on an enormous beautiful lake with crystal clear water and reflections of snow capped mountains. This is a big town which is the haven of the rich to ski, sail, ride, trek, water raft and climb. It is also the centre for chocoholics - this is a speciality of the area - what a shame I don´t like chocolate. The main square has men standing around with St. Bernard dogs - and today they had 2 puppies. The dogs are a lure to have your photograph taken - no thank you! I am not sure if they still use them for serious rescuing - the poor dogs were paraded around with the barrels under their chins.
I am off to the mountains tomorrow hiking with a group from the hostel ........... more of that next time.
I feel a bit more in sympathy with the bad weather you have been having - snow and sleet, but we do have sun too.
Big hug and much love to you all
Sal xxx
sta
So the point of coming to El Calafate was to visit the Perito Moreno glacier. No, I have never seen a glacier before and especially one this size. I took a boat trip to get close and still couldn´t really comprehend this wall of ice towering above me. Inside the ice there are fabulous reflections of blue, purple and turquoise making it seem even more unreal. I just found it very hard to relate to but recognized that it was extraordinary. It is miles long and a kilometre wide. It moves 2 metres a day which is amazing. There are long walk ways that take you close to the glacier. After some lunch I went back again and walked a distance, mostly on my own in a small peaceful wood that ran alongside this white monster that cracked and rumbled like gunshot as parts broke and fell into the lake. It was quite mesmerizing and I have taken endless photographs somehow trying to understand the nature of it. It was a bit like drawing, once I start then I begin to understand the subject matter more and more - so with photographs of the glacier. It was truly awesome.
From the same hostel I spent a day in El Chalten - a town not dissimilar to El Calafate. The idea was to walk for most of the day up into the mountains and see the famous peak of Fitz Roy but the mist came down and the snow and it was not to be. However I found lots of wild flowers I did not know and met a charming Swiss family. Two sons and mother and father on a holiday together. We all ended up having lunch together to recover from the cold. The younger one and I walked together quite a bit. He was on an exchange in Buenos Aires and was fascinated by how emotional the Argentinians were compared to the Swiss - he told me this with a wistful touch to his voice. I wondered whether some countries are ruled by their heads and other countries by their hearts. Switzerland and Argentina seem two good examples - not that I know many Swiss people so that is a huge value judgement!
To reach Bariloche it was a 2 day bus journey up the legendary Route 40. An amazing road which is mostly untarmaced and stretches miles into the distance bordered usually on both sides by ridges and outcrops. Vast stretches of sky that changed as we moved through the landscape. Our bus drivers were called Nelson and Andy - very chatty and relaxed. The rest of the busload turned into a family as we trundled up Argentina. I sat initially with a french guy who had just hitched a lift on a french boat for 20 days, a loner who disappeared half way through the journey to take his own route. The next guy was also French in his 70s but very sweet natured and easy to be with. You learn people´s life stories when you sit on a bus with them for 24 hours. We stopped at a hotel for the night and I shared a room with two young Israeli girls who had just finished their 2 years national service -perhaps not a good thing to mention that most of England supports the Palestinians! However they were well able to defend their position. Apart from being asked out by Nelson the bus driver the journey was just about snoozing, chatting, reading, stopping at Estancias for a break and wondering if it would ever end.
I am now in Bariloche which is on an enormous beautiful lake with crystal clear water and reflections of snow capped mountains. This is a big town which is the haven of the rich to ski, sail, ride, trek, water raft and climb. It is also the centre for chocoholics - this is a speciality of the area - what a shame I don´t like chocolate. The main square has men standing around with St. Bernard dogs - and today they had 2 puppies. The dogs are a lure to have your photograph taken - no thank you! I am not sure if they still use them for serious rescuing - the poor dogs were paraded around with the barrels under their chins.
I am off to the mountains tomorrow hiking with a group from the hostel ........... more of that next time.
I feel a bit more in sympathy with the bad weather you have been having - snow and sleet, but we do have sun too.
Big hug and much love to you all
Sal xxx
sta
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Estancia La Maria and caves 5th December 2010
Travelling on coaches, mainly during the night, gives me a sense of time travelling. I leave one place and all the experiences I had there, the wheels turn and I am spun into another life of new people and new places. This week-end was so different from my time at Peninsula Valdez whale watching and being entranced by the dolphins it felt exactly like that. I had read in the Lonely Planet of this estancia where there were caves with prehistoric paintings in them - like at least 80 caves. Since I read about them in England I had become determined to find this place. I had tried ringing them, but it seemed that it would cost me 1000 pesos in taxi fees to get there. It is in the middle of nowhere with no public transpot in sight. Somebody suggested hitchhiking, but the problem would be the lack of cars, not any danger. At the Tosca Hostel Mariano had said that if it was my destiny I would find a way. I arrived in Puerto San Julian (at 4 .30 a.m) which is the nearest town to the Estancia with Manuela a friend I had met at the Hostel . We tried the Tourist Office when it opened at 8.00 and the lass said that Josefina (the owner of the Estancia) was in town collecting 2 guests but there was probably not enough room for me to but worth trying. We jumped in a taxi to the hostel and miracle of miracles they could sqeeze me in. A very hasty goodbye to Manuela, who was never coming with me at this point, and I was bundled into the 4 wheel drive and we set off on gravel roads for the estancia.
The track to the Estancia is 11 km in distance from a recognizable road. It is a wild, beautiful place with over 300 canyons and at least 80 caves that have cave paintings in them. They farm very little apart from 80 sheep, (I have never seen a fridge full of such enormous bits of raw meat) chickens and their own self sufficiency in the way of vegetables. This is not ´the Good Life´ this is ´The Hard Life`. The water arrives through a heavy duty black hose from a spring 3 km away, the lights only work during the evening and go out when Josefina goes to bed and the wind when it blows is so strong you can lean against it. There is a huge lake close by but since a volcanic eruption in Chile it has dried up and is full of volcanic ash. I had a sense of how vulnerable I was out here. There are puma and they will take sheep. Lorena the daughter learnt to use a gun when she was 11 years old. The father Ferdinando died several years ago but he and Josefina bought the farm together - for her it was love at first sight. The caves became their passion. The canyons and the caves are huge and imposing, I felt dwarfed by their presence. I had a sense of this being an ancient land that has been formed by the elements over thousands of years. The rock formations are awesome in the true sense of the word - they have been formed and moulded into extraordinary shapes; sculptured creatures, holes, crevices, folds and slabs, heavy entrances to deep caves, all in a variety of reds, golds and greys - and in many are these strange paintings - lots are of guanacos, the lama like creatures that still roam free and the family will eat if they can - many have lines signifying pathways and circles - maybe planets, but the most common are hands. These can either be direct hand prints or negative prints spraying the ´paint` over the hand. The paint was made from blood and urine and sand. These paintings are of great significance and archaelogists are working on them still. They were first discovered in 1902 and I think these 2 bought the farm in the 1980s. The previous owners had been uninterested in the paintings - for Josefina and Ferdinando it was a life´s work putting Estancia La Maria on the map.
There is a rich bird life here, notably for me, a pair of Southern Lapwings who screamed at me for most of the time I walked up one particular canyon - they were then attacked by a kestrel. They reminded me of the raucous parakets in Buenos Aires. I suspect the lapwings were trying to distract me from a nest. There is also a wonderful amount of wild flowers here which I love but was unable to name as I did not bring a wild life book with me. Surprisingly there were lots of wild roses and a flower that seemed very similar to an Evening Primrose. In this hostile environment lots of them have spines and spikes. The odd lizard and some very fat black beetles. No pumas in sight, except the skeleton of one hung on a fence. I also came across the complete skeleton of a dead horse. When I enquired what happened to it I was told it died of old age. No sentimental burial here!
Josefina and Lorena now run the farm and the business together. They both have houses in Puerto San Julian and live in town when there are no guests. A local man and his beautiful white horse tend the estancia while they are away. Lorena lives with her partner and is studying to be a Notary. Both she and her mother were welcoming and generous hearted. I hope it works out for them in this financial climate.
The Lonely Planet is fantastic for information on where and how and when but as far as costs go it is way out. Mine was published in 2008 and I probably have to multiply by at least 5 or 6 to get a more realistic cost of hostels. Inflation is escalating. I mentioned to Cliff in a postcard that the cost of milongas when he was out here was about 12 or 15 pesos. It is now 20 to 30 pesos. The Argentinians feel it keenly.
The track to the Estancia is 11 km in distance from a recognizable road. It is a wild, beautiful place with over 300 canyons and at least 80 caves that have cave paintings in them. They farm very little apart from 80 sheep, (I have never seen a fridge full of such enormous bits of raw meat) chickens and their own self sufficiency in the way of vegetables. This is not ´the Good Life´ this is ´The Hard Life`. The water arrives through a heavy duty black hose from a spring 3 km away, the lights only work during the evening and go out when Josefina goes to bed and the wind when it blows is so strong you can lean against it. There is a huge lake close by but since a volcanic eruption in Chile it has dried up and is full of volcanic ash. I had a sense of how vulnerable I was out here. There are puma and they will take sheep. Lorena the daughter learnt to use a gun when she was 11 years old. The father Ferdinando died several years ago but he and Josefina bought the farm together - for her it was love at first sight. The caves became their passion. The canyons and the caves are huge and imposing, I felt dwarfed by their presence. I had a sense of this being an ancient land that has been formed by the elements over thousands of years. The rock formations are awesome in the true sense of the word - they have been formed and moulded into extraordinary shapes; sculptured creatures, holes, crevices, folds and slabs, heavy entrances to deep caves, all in a variety of reds, golds and greys - and in many are these strange paintings - lots are of guanacos, the lama like creatures that still roam free and the family will eat if they can - many have lines signifying pathways and circles - maybe planets, but the most common are hands. These can either be direct hand prints or negative prints spraying the ´paint` over the hand. The paint was made from blood and urine and sand. These paintings are of great significance and archaelogists are working on them still. They were first discovered in 1902 and I think these 2 bought the farm in the 1980s. The previous owners had been uninterested in the paintings - for Josefina and Ferdinando it was a life´s work putting Estancia La Maria on the map.
There is a rich bird life here, notably for me, a pair of Southern Lapwings who screamed at me for most of the time I walked up one particular canyon - they were then attacked by a kestrel. They reminded me of the raucous parakets in Buenos Aires. I suspect the lapwings were trying to distract me from a nest. There is also a wonderful amount of wild flowers here which I love but was unable to name as I did not bring a wild life book with me. Surprisingly there were lots of wild roses and a flower that seemed very similar to an Evening Primrose. In this hostile environment lots of them have spines and spikes. The odd lizard and some very fat black beetles. No pumas in sight, except the skeleton of one hung on a fence. I also came across the complete skeleton of a dead horse. When I enquired what happened to it I was told it died of old age. No sentimental burial here!
Josefina and Lorena now run the farm and the business together. They both have houses in Puerto San Julian and live in town when there are no guests. A local man and his beautiful white horse tend the estancia while they are away. Lorena lives with her partner and is studying to be a Notary. Both she and her mother were welcoming and generous hearted. I hope it works out for them in this financial climate.
The Lonely Planet is fantastic for information on where and how and when but as far as costs go it is way out. Mine was published in 2008 and I probably have to multiply by at least 5 or 6 to get a more realistic cost of hostels. Inflation is escalating. I mentioned to Cliff in a postcard that the cost of milongas when he was out here was about 12 or 15 pesos. It is now 20 to 30 pesos. The Argentinians feel it keenly.
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Leaving Buenos Aires Ist December 2010
I am now at Puerto Madryn, which is very close to the Peninsula Valdez, in the best hostel in the world - it is small and friendly with lovely staff who are incredibly helpful,with great senses of humour. I have made lots of friends in the brief time I have been here and have made two boat trips - one to watch Franco Astral Whales - I still can´t believe I actually did it - they were amazing - one just continued to surface with her fluke and then smashed it down in the waves - it was truly awesome. This is where they come to breed and then they will go south to the Antarctic. The gestation period is a year, they look after their young for a year and then they have a year off. I didn`t gather what the male whales do - except for the obvious. The second boat trip was to watch Toninos - small delightful black and white dolphins who just played around the boat with extraordinary speed and agility. They made us all laugh - I am not sure why but they were just irrisistible.
This is so different from BA. The musicality tango course with Joaquin was fantastic. He is coming to England in 2012 and it would be wonderful for all our group and more to experience his take on interpretation, timing and rythmn. He was so focussed and inspiring - I shall only remember a small amount of it but that alone will be something. Thank you so much Tony for letting me know about it.
My last week was wonderful - the last milonga at Ideal I danced non stop. Not all amazing dances but I have learnt to hold my own. I have only bought 2 pairs of shoes - so far and one is being altered while I am away travelling. I also took my old faithfuls to the shoemaker. When he asked when I would like to collect them and I replied `March` he was non plused. I hope they are still there when I get back! BA feels like home and I am so pleased I am returning there for my last month. Yes, I had my ups and down, but I ended on an up finding the milongas and Tea Dances that suited me. It all takes time. I have bought another camera so shall try and down load some photos of now. I shall also have a chance to take again some photos round BA that I would like to recapture.. Sadly the Jacaranda trees will be over by then - I know I cant have it all.
Am heading for Puerto San Julian and then across to Calafate and a few glaziers. I leave this great little hostel tomorrow.
I can`t believe that you have snow - it seems extraordinary from this side of the world.
The buses are amazing except one guy who snored and I poured water on his nose - he stopped. We were also stopped twice and searched by police with drug sniffer dogs - the dogs were so fat they could hardly move - obviously well rewarded by their owners.
Much love to all of you lovely people
Sal xxxxxx
This is so different from BA. The musicality tango course with Joaquin was fantastic. He is coming to England in 2012 and it would be wonderful for all our group and more to experience his take on interpretation, timing and rythmn. He was so focussed and inspiring - I shall only remember a small amount of it but that alone will be something. Thank you so much Tony for letting me know about it.
My last week was wonderful - the last milonga at Ideal I danced non stop. Not all amazing dances but I have learnt to hold my own. I have only bought 2 pairs of shoes - so far and one is being altered while I am away travelling. I also took my old faithfuls to the shoemaker. When he asked when I would like to collect them and I replied `March` he was non plused. I hope they are still there when I get back! BA feels like home and I am so pleased I am returning there for my last month. Yes, I had my ups and down, but I ended on an up finding the milongas and Tea Dances that suited me. It all takes time. I have bought another camera so shall try and down load some photos of now. I shall also have a chance to take again some photos round BA that I would like to recapture.. Sadly the Jacaranda trees will be over by then - I know I cant have it all.
Am heading for Puerto San Julian and then across to Calafate and a few glaziers. I leave this great little hostel tomorrow.
I can`t believe that you have snow - it seems extraordinary from this side of the world.
The buses are amazing except one guy who snored and I poured water on his nose - he stopped. We were also stopped twice and searched by police with drug sniffer dogs - the dogs were so fat they could hardly move - obviously well rewarded by their owners.
Much love to all of you lovely people
Sal xxxxxx
Monday, 22 November 2010
Stolen cameras, bloody banks and football!
Hi Everyone,
OK my worst day in BA was last week when I spent most of the morning making futile phone calls to banks trying to release money from one bit of plastic to another - all without success - and all very expensively from an Internet Cafe - being put on hold when you are watching the pesos tick round is a very frustrating exerience.. I was so cross I gave up and will try again this week. Luckily I do have access to money on one piece of plastic that still works so am not penniless in BA. As I was heading off to a Tea Dance to cheer myself up, I was asked directions by a young lad as I entered the Subte. He then continued chatting to me on the train - all very fascinating as he had travelled a lot and spoke quite good English. I nearly missed my stop. As I came up onto the pavement I was just thinking how rich and varied my life was, when I realized that my camera was no longer in its case on my belt. Was he the distraction while his partner stole my camera? I shall never know but all I can say is that they were incredibly skilful. It was attached to my belt and they had to remove it from its case which was on my belt.
The saddest thing for me, which I am over now, was that I foolishly hadn`t downloaded any of my photos - so that`s 2 months of Buenos Aires - gone! Some people just learn the hard way. I have since had fun in a police station with a very sullen constable. My spanish came sharply into focus as I tried to exlain the situation and ask him to give me some verification of the theft for the insurance which he has now done.
Anyway I continued to my Tea Dance feeling decidedly down in the dumps to find that there were loads of women and not many men in sight - not what I needed. I later found out that La Boca was playing River. The finals of the Inter Barrio Football Tournament so all the men were glued to televisions either at home or in every cafe in the city - or actually at the match. Bloody football! A day I would rather forget!!
It`s made a difference this last week meeting Johann, a colourful guy from Shri Lanka. We met at a Tea Dance and have just hung out together, trying different milongas and sharing the odd meal. He has now returned to London as it was just a short trip for him. The next time we meet it will no doubt be on a London dance floor.
The Musicality course that I am doing with Joaquin is fascinating and given me a completely new slant on how to interpret music. It feels like learning to drive a car again. Not only do I dance and listen to my partner and his lead, but now I also can interpret more fully what the music is saying to both of us. It will take a while for this all to filter through but he is a very knowledgeable and skilled teacher. I have given him your e-mail Tony as he has recently published a book on Musicality and would like to do some workshops (partly to promote it) in England and wondered if our area would be a good place to start.
I saw a Hibiscus bush to die for today. It had hug pillar box red flowers and was fiercely proud of itself, almost challenging me to defy its beauty. The Jacaranda trees are startlingly blue but there is a softness and a mist about them - this Hibiscus tree had none of those qualitites - it almost set me on fire as I drew near it.
I had my best ever Milonga last night at Canning. I went with a sense of anxiety as it has not been good for me in the past but some of the Musicality group were going so I thought I might as well try again. Different nights are run by different people and I think this was a neighbourhood night. Slow start but some very lovely dances and I ended up dancing with Carlos till they put the chairs on the tables at 2 a.m. This was utterly surprising - no guarantee next time but does restored my sense in my ability to dance - but also that nothing is set in stone. I also lost my purse that night but someone handed it in to the bar - not that I ever carry much money - but it was good to know people are honest. I also sat on a table with a delightful New Yorker who was trying to tell me her life story as I was desperately trying to cabaceo guys.
Penny, I meant to tell you that your lovely turquoise zip bag you gave me, is my shoe bag in BA, so you are never very far from my thoughts and Suesissima the lovely skirt you bought me in that little London market is definitely my favourite here.
I am sure there`s loads else to say but that will be next time.
Much love to you all
Sal xxx
OK my worst day in BA was last week when I spent most of the morning making futile phone calls to banks trying to release money from one bit of plastic to another - all without success - and all very expensively from an Internet Cafe - being put on hold when you are watching the pesos tick round is a very frustrating exerience.. I was so cross I gave up and will try again this week. Luckily I do have access to money on one piece of plastic that still works so am not penniless in BA. As I was heading off to a Tea Dance to cheer myself up, I was asked directions by a young lad as I entered the Subte. He then continued chatting to me on the train - all very fascinating as he had travelled a lot and spoke quite good English. I nearly missed my stop. As I came up onto the pavement I was just thinking how rich and varied my life was, when I realized that my camera was no longer in its case on my belt. Was he the distraction while his partner stole my camera? I shall never know but all I can say is that they were incredibly skilful. It was attached to my belt and they had to remove it from its case which was on my belt.
The saddest thing for me, which I am over now, was that I foolishly hadn`t downloaded any of my photos - so that`s 2 months of Buenos Aires - gone! Some people just learn the hard way. I have since had fun in a police station with a very sullen constable. My spanish came sharply into focus as I tried to exlain the situation and ask him to give me some verification of the theft for the insurance which he has now done.
Anyway I continued to my Tea Dance feeling decidedly down in the dumps to find that there were loads of women and not many men in sight - not what I needed. I later found out that La Boca was playing River. The finals of the Inter Barrio Football Tournament so all the men were glued to televisions either at home or in every cafe in the city - or actually at the match. Bloody football! A day I would rather forget!!
It`s made a difference this last week meeting Johann, a colourful guy from Shri Lanka. We met at a Tea Dance and have just hung out together, trying different milongas and sharing the odd meal. He has now returned to London as it was just a short trip for him. The next time we meet it will no doubt be on a London dance floor.
The Musicality course that I am doing with Joaquin is fascinating and given me a completely new slant on how to interpret music. It feels like learning to drive a car again. Not only do I dance and listen to my partner and his lead, but now I also can interpret more fully what the music is saying to both of us. It will take a while for this all to filter through but he is a very knowledgeable and skilled teacher. I have given him your e-mail Tony as he has recently published a book on Musicality and would like to do some workshops (partly to promote it) in England and wondered if our area would be a good place to start.
I saw a Hibiscus bush to die for today. It had hug pillar box red flowers and was fiercely proud of itself, almost challenging me to defy its beauty. The Jacaranda trees are startlingly blue but there is a softness and a mist about them - this Hibiscus tree had none of those qualitites - it almost set me on fire as I drew near it.
I had my best ever Milonga last night at Canning. I went with a sense of anxiety as it has not been good for me in the past but some of the Musicality group were going so I thought I might as well try again. Different nights are run by different people and I think this was a neighbourhood night. Slow start but some very lovely dances and I ended up dancing with Carlos till they put the chairs on the tables at 2 a.m. This was utterly surprising - no guarantee next time but does restored my sense in my ability to dance - but also that nothing is set in stone. I also lost my purse that night but someone handed it in to the bar - not that I ever carry much money - but it was good to know people are honest. I also sat on a table with a delightful New Yorker who was trying to tell me her life story as I was desperately trying to cabaceo guys.
Penny, I meant to tell you that your lovely turquoise zip bag you gave me, is my shoe bag in BA, so you are never very far from my thoughts and Suesissima the lovely skirt you bought me in that little London market is definitely my favourite here.
I am sure there`s loads else to say but that will be next time.
Much love to you all
Sal xxx
Monday, 15 November 2010
Bits and Pieces 15th November 2010
BA is swarming with black and yellow taxis - they are everywhere - even when you want them! They outnumber private cars with ease. However today when I walked up my road looking for a shoe shop I realized that they come here to this leafy suburb to sleep, to eat, their owners dust them and love them. Time out with TLC for the taxi wasps that buzz and swoop through the calles and avenidas of BA, seeking, always seeking in a waspish sort of way. These yellow and black creatures never seemed to rest - their secret's safe with me!
At La Ideal (which is where I have been T dancing for the last 3 days with much more success) is palacial and beautiful - it has an average loo - but the loo attendant sits on her chair with this large door half open. She cannot see out from where she sits but on the door is this handsome mirror which reflects the dance floor to her. It reminded me of the Lady of Shalot except this lady was dealing in loo paper and not weaving at a loom. I tried to explain the story to her in my faltering Spanish - we laughed a lot but I am not sure if she understood anything. Hey ho!
A friend of Elsa's invited us both to a BBQ the other night which was great. Held in a house with the longest tiled entrance hall I have ever been in. Stairs then spiralled up to the sky passing different floors all with balconies overlooking the main couryard. We were on the roof. Huge chimney with an enormous grill on which beef was cooking when we arrived. I was a bit nervous because my Spanish is still not brilliant but there were also 4 Russian girls 3 of which spoke English and no Spanish. So we comprised 4 Russians, 3 Spanish, 1 English and 1 Portuguese, so languages were spinning round the table depending who was talking to who. All very fascinating. We went on to a Milonga afterwards at Club La Independenzia (I think). We stayed until the end and Elsa and I walked home in bright sunshine at 6.30 a.m. begging media lunas from a bakery on the way.
Tony, I am waiting to hear from Joaquim again to see if I am in this week-end. We have been in touch
Much love and hugs to you all
Sal x
At La Ideal (which is where I have been T dancing for the last 3 days with much more success) is palacial and beautiful - it has an average loo - but the loo attendant sits on her chair with this large door half open. She cannot see out from where she sits but on the door is this handsome mirror which reflects the dance floor to her. It reminded me of the Lady of Shalot except this lady was dealing in loo paper and not weaving at a loom. I tried to explain the story to her in my faltering Spanish - we laughed a lot but I am not sure if she understood anything. Hey ho!
A friend of Elsa's invited us both to a BBQ the other night which was great. Held in a house with the longest tiled entrance hall I have ever been in. Stairs then spiralled up to the sky passing different floors all with balconies overlooking the main couryard. We were on the roof. Huge chimney with an enormous grill on which beef was cooking when we arrived. I was a bit nervous because my Spanish is still not brilliant but there were also 4 Russian girls 3 of which spoke English and no Spanish. So we comprised 4 Russians, 3 Spanish, 1 English and 1 Portuguese, so languages were spinning round the table depending who was talking to who. All very fascinating. We went on to a Milonga afterwards at Club La Independenzia (I think). We stayed until the end and Elsa and I walked home in bright sunshine at 6.30 a.m. begging media lunas from a bakery on the way.
Tony, I am waiting to hear from Joaquim again to see if I am in this week-end. We have been in touch
Much love and hugs to you all
Sal x
Friday, 12 November 2010
Tantrums and T Dances
Elsa and I went to a huge milonga last night arriving late - sorry I can't remember where but it was further out than normal, maybe in Belgrano. Smart, very crowded, Comme It Faut shoes on sale and tempting clothes in the ladies cloakroom. We hadn't booked a table so stood for about half an hour till one became free - well I did while Elsa danced! Very crowded dance floor with minimal movement from anyone which was fascinating. At one point Elsa was asked to dance by two guys at the same time. After about 2 hours without a nibble of an invitation I was thoroughly demoralized and VERY pissed off. I do want to make it clear that this is nothing to do with Elsa and don't begrudge her all the dances in the world but definitely need to find my niche here in BA and I think it is entirely different from Elsa's. She does lead and will willingly lead but it is not acceptable in quite a few of the milongas so she can't help me. This is a very macho world on the dance floor. However there are other milongas - the gay one was great and anyone could lead anyone - and did!
So I changed my shoes and headed out the door. The Maitre de was seeing people into taxis so I waited on the steps with a well dressed charming man. It was now about 3 a.m. I suggested taking a bus and he said it was too dangerous. The Maitre de said it was fine so she found me another charming man to accompany me to the bus stop and to wait with me until colectivo 60 arrived. Colectivos cost about 25p wherever you are going and the taxi would have cost me about £6/7. I love the spanish word for bus because that is what it does - collects people! We waited for at least 20 minutes before the colectivo arrived and he then spoke to the bus driver to get me as close to home as possible. What a sweet man. However the bus driver obviously was not as knowledgeable as a taxi service and was restricted to his route. He kept stopping the bus (not at a stop), left the engine running and popped into a shop to buy something, or chat to a friend. I realized afterwards that he was trying to find out how he could get me as near to my home address as possible. In the end he dropped me in the south of Palermo - I live in the north, so I still had quite a distance to go. However he left me in the hands of another charming man who escorted me across the road and hailed a taxi for me. It was half the price it would have been as I was over half the way home. OK the men on the dance floor have often been less then chivalrous but that night the men of BA were gentle, sweetnatured and concerned that I should get home safely - they restored my faith in humanity.
I have decided to experiment with T Dances and have been to the same one twice. Once with a friend, Apricot from Oxford, and today I went on my own - from 4 p.m. - 8.30 p.m. It is Confiteria Ideal - marble pillars, marble floor and a place with wonderful atmosphere of a passed era. OK so most of the portenos on the floor are, at least, over 70, except for Roberto who is probably late 40s/50s and has taken rather an embarrassing shine to me - Apricot says I should only dance with him once or else he will get the wrong idea - it was ever so! But I was on the dance floor most of the 4 hours with guys of all standards - some do the Boa Constrictor dance and you can hardly breath, others tell you how to dance in the middle of the dance, others are good - they all have their very unique version of the salon tango in differing degrees of ability. It was a fun experience for me cabaceoing left right and centre with guys who were happy to return it. So maybe I just shouldn't set my sites too high. But I did chuckle to myself as I watched the beginning of a tanda as one of the more ancient portenos tottered across the floor to invite a muchacha to dance - should I have bought my zimmer frame?
These descriptions have been the two extremes of tango in BA - maybe I can find a middle road.
Muchos abrazos a todos mis amigos
Sal x
The blue Jacaranda trees are flowering in nearly every street now and I love them!
So I changed my shoes and headed out the door. The Maitre de was seeing people into taxis so I waited on the steps with a well dressed charming man. It was now about 3 a.m. I suggested taking a bus and he said it was too dangerous. The Maitre de said it was fine so she found me another charming man to accompany me to the bus stop and to wait with me until colectivo 60 arrived. Colectivos cost about 25p wherever you are going and the taxi would have cost me about £6/7. I love the spanish word for bus because that is what it does - collects people! We waited for at least 20 minutes before the colectivo arrived and he then spoke to the bus driver to get me as close to home as possible. What a sweet man. However the bus driver obviously was not as knowledgeable as a taxi service and was restricted to his route. He kept stopping the bus (not at a stop), left the engine running and popped into a shop to buy something, or chat to a friend. I realized afterwards that he was trying to find out how he could get me as near to my home address as possible. In the end he dropped me in the south of Palermo - I live in the north, so I still had quite a distance to go. However he left me in the hands of another charming man who escorted me across the road and hailed a taxi for me. It was half the price it would have been as I was over half the way home. OK the men on the dance floor have often been less then chivalrous but that night the men of BA were gentle, sweetnatured and concerned that I should get home safely - they restored my faith in humanity.
I have decided to experiment with T Dances and have been to the same one twice. Once with a friend, Apricot from Oxford, and today I went on my own - from 4 p.m. - 8.30 p.m. It is Confiteria Ideal - marble pillars, marble floor and a place with wonderful atmosphere of a passed era. OK so most of the portenos on the floor are, at least, over 70, except for Roberto who is probably late 40s/50s and has taken rather an embarrassing shine to me - Apricot says I should only dance with him once or else he will get the wrong idea - it was ever so! But I was on the dance floor most of the 4 hours with guys of all standards - some do the Boa Constrictor dance and you can hardly breath, others tell you how to dance in the middle of the dance, others are good - they all have their very unique version of the salon tango in differing degrees of ability. It was a fun experience for me cabaceoing left right and centre with guys who were happy to return it. So maybe I just shouldn't set my sites too high. But I did chuckle to myself as I watched the beginning of a tanda as one of the more ancient portenos tottered across the floor to invite a muchacha to dance - should I have bought my zimmer frame?
These descriptions have been the two extremes of tango in BA - maybe I can find a middle road.
Muchos abrazos a todos mis amigos
Sal x
The blue Jacaranda trees are flowering in nearly every street now and I love them!
Monday, 8 November 2010
Raining and Dancing in BA
Hi Everyone,
Had a few technical hitches this end like no Internet Access for 2 days and also unable to recall my password correctly so that took a bit of sorting out in Spanish! I seem to have a mental block about such things so have written it large where I can't fail to find it. My Spanish feels like it has slipped as now I am living with Elsa and we talk English all the time which in some respects is lovely and in other ways is sad. Palermo, where the little apartment is, has a whole different feel to it than Solis where I was living before. Solis was very near the centre, close to Plaza de Congresso, and I felt like I was involved in life in the city. Up here is is full of leafy avenues, still bad pavements, very little rubbish and hardly any poor sleeping rough. The apartment is perfect.
Elsa is on a tango mission, which interestingly I am not so much. Or maybe it is just the hours that she keeps that I can't cope with. She will always be returning from the early morning milonga at about 7 a.m. where I have maybe not gone to the second one or dipped out by 3.00. She knows a few people here which is great for both of us but I do feel a bit like the shaggy shetland pony tagging along with the thoroughbred. She is very dark and could easily be mistaken for an Argentinian tanguera, dances beautifully and is at least 15 years younger than me. She is never off the dance floor whereas there can be some milongas where I am rarely on it! The places where the milongas are held can be stunningly beautiful, extraordinary, like film sets in wharehouses, scruffy rooms with awful floors, very formal with a organizers in charge who show you to your table and that is where you sit - no changing or swapping even if in a bad position. The standard of dancing at most of them is fantastically high and I have never seen so many great leaders. It is an absolute joy to watch them, although I would rather be dancing with them, but that is rarely an option - fabulous musicality and poise. The Milongas so far we have been to for those who would like to know are: Chachirulo, several times, El Beson, several times, La Glorietta which is outside under a huge bandstand, Canning which is big with a wonderful photo on the wall from one side to the other with a milonga in session, Konex which is an art centre in what appeared to me to be an enormous old bus station/film set, half outside and half inside. I am going to a T dance this afternoon to try another option to very late night dancing at somewhere called Conf.La Ideal which is an old old building with marble dance floors and chandeliers and was at its height in the Golden Age of Tango so that will be fascinating. It is all fascinating and have only had one evening where I just went home early because I couldn't take the wallflower element - in tears!
I am having lessons now with Hector who has been very good for me. The sad thing is that I don't get to practice as I am not on the dance floor enough. I suspect that those who went to the Mango have probably danced more than me, in your one week, than I have in the 10 days I have been in Palermo. My lessons are in a huge old Buenos Aires house with one of those wonderful old lifts that creak up and down the building with metal concertina doors that you have to slam shut to make the contact. Hector and Silvina are off on tour to Europe soon. If anyone wants to google them their address is www.HectorSilvina.com.ar. I am also joining some classes at DNI which is a well known dance school round the corner. Classes are big but from my point of view it is a way of meeting people. Hey, ho it is all a BIG learning curve.
Still visiting the art galleries and exploring more when I am awake. It feel like I have gone underground and lead more of a nocturnal existence than my first few weeks.
My score on dog walkers is 10 plus the other week-end. Why are the dogs so well behaved in such packs of assorted beasts but they certainly seem to be.
Thanks Tim and Cliff for your comments on my blog - it is really nice to have a response! And thank you too to all those who are emailing me. I am sorry if I haven't replied but I seem to have got a bit snowed under recently.
By the way just for an extraordinary piece of fate I was on television the day that Nestor, the ex President died. I went to the Plaza de Mayo and unbeknown to me the news film camerars were rolling just taking pot shots of the public milling around. Because I have a very colourful jacket I was easily spotted on the news channell by various people at the Spanish School the next day. Famous in Argentina!!!
Yesterday was so hot and today we are in a deluge of rain so you never know what the weather is going to throw at you.
Much love to all of you
Sal x
Had a few technical hitches this end like no Internet Access for 2 days and also unable to recall my password correctly so that took a bit of sorting out in Spanish! I seem to have a mental block about such things so have written it large where I can't fail to find it. My Spanish feels like it has slipped as now I am living with Elsa and we talk English all the time which in some respects is lovely and in other ways is sad. Palermo, where the little apartment is, has a whole different feel to it than Solis where I was living before. Solis was very near the centre, close to Plaza de Congresso, and I felt like I was involved in life in the city. Up here is is full of leafy avenues, still bad pavements, very little rubbish and hardly any poor sleeping rough. The apartment is perfect.
Elsa is on a tango mission, which interestingly I am not so much. Or maybe it is just the hours that she keeps that I can't cope with. She will always be returning from the early morning milonga at about 7 a.m. where I have maybe not gone to the second one or dipped out by 3.00. She knows a few people here which is great for both of us but I do feel a bit like the shaggy shetland pony tagging along with the thoroughbred. She is very dark and could easily be mistaken for an Argentinian tanguera, dances beautifully and is at least 15 years younger than me. She is never off the dance floor whereas there can be some milongas where I am rarely on it! The places where the milongas are held can be stunningly beautiful, extraordinary, like film sets in wharehouses, scruffy rooms with awful floors, very formal with a organizers in charge who show you to your table and that is where you sit - no changing or swapping even if in a bad position. The standard of dancing at most of them is fantastically high and I have never seen so many great leaders. It is an absolute joy to watch them, although I would rather be dancing with them, but that is rarely an option - fabulous musicality and poise. The Milongas so far we have been to for those who would like to know are: Chachirulo, several times, El Beson, several times, La Glorietta which is outside under a huge bandstand, Canning which is big with a wonderful photo on the wall from one side to the other with a milonga in session, Konex which is an art centre in what appeared to me to be an enormous old bus station/film set, half outside and half inside. I am going to a T dance this afternoon to try another option to very late night dancing at somewhere called Conf.La Ideal which is an old old building with marble dance floors and chandeliers and was at its height in the Golden Age of Tango so that will be fascinating. It is all fascinating and have only had one evening where I just went home early because I couldn't take the wallflower element - in tears!
I am having lessons now with Hector who has been very good for me. The sad thing is that I don't get to practice as I am not on the dance floor enough. I suspect that those who went to the Mango have probably danced more than me, in your one week, than I have in the 10 days I have been in Palermo. My lessons are in a huge old Buenos Aires house with one of those wonderful old lifts that creak up and down the building with metal concertina doors that you have to slam shut to make the contact. Hector and Silvina are off on tour to Europe soon. If anyone wants to google them their address is www.HectorSilvina.com.ar. I am also joining some classes at DNI which is a well known dance school round the corner. Classes are big but from my point of view it is a way of meeting people. Hey, ho it is all a BIG learning curve.
Still visiting the art galleries and exploring more when I am awake. It feel like I have gone underground and lead more of a nocturnal existence than my first few weeks.
My score on dog walkers is 10 plus the other week-end. Why are the dogs so well behaved in such packs of assorted beasts but they certainly seem to be.
Thanks Tim and Cliff for your comments on my blog - it is really nice to have a response! And thank you too to all those who are emailing me. I am sorry if I haven't replied but I seem to have got a bit snowed under recently.
By the way just for an extraordinary piece of fate I was on television the day that Nestor, the ex President died. I went to the Plaza de Mayo and unbeknown to me the news film camerars were rolling just taking pot shots of the public milling around. Because I have a very colourful jacket I was easily spotted on the news channell by various people at the Spanish School the next day. Famous in Argentina!!!
Yesterday was so hot and today we are in a deluge of rain so you never know what the weather is going to throw at you.
Much love to all of you
Sal x
Thursday, 28 October 2010
The Day of the Census 27th October 2010
It was to have been a strange day. The whole of Buenos Aires would be shut - schools, offices, shops, industry, everything and everyone had to stay at home waiting for the Census person to come so they could fill in the form together. I asked why they didn`t do it through the postal system and one of the replies, after asking several people, was that the Portenos just wouldn`t bother to do it otherwise! So there was no school and I had thought to go to Colonia, in Paraguay, for the day but decided to save my money for tango this coming month. So on the way home I bought sandwich/picnic material to keep me going on Wednesday. It was an opportunity for me to catch up on a few irregular verbs so I studied in the morning and then joined Rita with my picnic. She told me in a shocked voice that the ex President had died of a heart attack during the morning and Argentina was reeling from the news. His wife Cristina is the President but he has been the power and support behind her since she took office. He was president before her so between them they have been in government for nearly 10 years. I decided to go to the Plaza de Mayo, which is like our Parliament Square. It became a focus for the people during the day as the Census was completed and people were free to move. Nestor, the ex President, died while they were in Calafate in the South so neither he nor Cristina were in Buenos Aires but people came to share their sadness, to post notices on the surrounding fences and to leave flowers. They waited patiently in the queue - young and old, some wrapped in the Argentinian flag, some waving bandieras, some holding messages "Fuerza Cristina, Gracias Nestor". They were in everyone`s hearts - at least everyone who were there - he was not loved by the opposition party. The only flower seller there must have been thanking his lucky stars that he had flowers to sell on the Day of the Census when BA was `cerrado`.
The parakeets still screamed overhead regardless of the gravity of the moment - they remind me of the birds in "Island" by Aldous Huxley. Is this their role in BA to keep me conscious, to keep me awake - I wonder. I don`t think anyone else even notices their noisey calls.
It felt a privelege to be in the Plaza de Mayo on such an historic day. I met some wonderful people. A young Dutch lass who was studying here and was completely in love with BA - it had unwittingly slipped into her heart. I had a long chat with an older portena and had my first Molvinas conversation - she was very political, probably a Progresista, married to a lecturer. I said I`d have a chat with David Cameron when I got home. I realized how poor my history of Argentina was and also how different our paths have been in England and here. They have only had a democracy for about 25 years. How was life under a military coup? I can only imagine how awful it was but when I think of the Madres de Mayo and their sons who were disappeared and to this day they do not know what happened to them. My heart warms to these people who are learning to grow up in a country with so many problems. I also have a certain sympathy with this need to demonstrate and to speak out about their difficulties. The next step, as the Dutch girl said, is also to take action and do something, not just paint banners and march. But maybe this is where you start.
We now have 3 days of mourning. Because of the Census the streets were empty and it was with a sense of freedom that I walked down the centre of the Avenida de Mayo. The rollerbladers also took advantage of this emptiness. This was a day of gentleness and a certain tranquility maybe brought about by the Census.
Today has been utterly different. Nestor`s body was flown back to BA and the general public were able to view him in state. The queue wound its way round the city and people came in their hundreds. I think they will still be queuing at midnight. Helicopters circled overhead constantly. The atmosphere of quiet tranquility had gone completely. All the hawkers were out in force - flowers, banners, hot dogs, burgers, drinks, flags, whole families were queuing with little ones asleep on parents shoulders. The bands, the drums, the clapping and singing - it felt almost like a festival - and the rubbish, of course. It was good humoured and the police force were having no trouble making sure it was a trouble free day funnelling people as they got closer to the Plaza. A huge blow up version of Cristina hung over the square along with other huge balloons carrying messages of support.
No-one could have predicted what an unusual historic day Wednesday would turn out to be. The funeral will be near Calafate which is where he was born. Apparently he died at the same time that he was born and he was only 60 years old.
It`s my last day at school tomorrow which is unbelievable and sad. I have so enjoyed trying to learn spanish and to always have someone to check in with if I need some help and generally mixing with so many different nationalities and it will be strange having a month of English with Elsa. But the joys of a whole of month of tango with Elsa is a whole different thing and I am certainly looking forward to that and I am sure we shall continue to explore the city.
The parakeets still screamed overhead regardless of the gravity of the moment - they remind me of the birds in "Island" by Aldous Huxley. Is this their role in BA to keep me conscious, to keep me awake - I wonder. I don`t think anyone else even notices their noisey calls.
It felt a privelege to be in the Plaza de Mayo on such an historic day. I met some wonderful people. A young Dutch lass who was studying here and was completely in love with BA - it had unwittingly slipped into her heart. I had a long chat with an older portena and had my first Molvinas conversation - she was very political, probably a Progresista, married to a lecturer. I said I`d have a chat with David Cameron when I got home. I realized how poor my history of Argentina was and also how different our paths have been in England and here. They have only had a democracy for about 25 years. How was life under a military coup? I can only imagine how awful it was but when I think of the Madres de Mayo and their sons who were disappeared and to this day they do not know what happened to them. My heart warms to these people who are learning to grow up in a country with so many problems. I also have a certain sympathy with this need to demonstrate and to speak out about their difficulties. The next step, as the Dutch girl said, is also to take action and do something, not just paint banners and march. But maybe this is where you start.
We now have 3 days of mourning. Because of the Census the streets were empty and it was with a sense of freedom that I walked down the centre of the Avenida de Mayo. The rollerbladers also took advantage of this emptiness. This was a day of gentleness and a certain tranquility maybe brought about by the Census.
Today has been utterly different. Nestor`s body was flown back to BA and the general public were able to view him in state. The queue wound its way round the city and people came in their hundreds. I think they will still be queuing at midnight. Helicopters circled overhead constantly. The atmosphere of quiet tranquility had gone completely. All the hawkers were out in force - flowers, banners, hot dogs, burgers, drinks, flags, whole families were queuing with little ones asleep on parents shoulders. The bands, the drums, the clapping and singing - it felt almost like a festival - and the rubbish, of course. It was good humoured and the police force were having no trouble making sure it was a trouble free day funnelling people as they got closer to the Plaza. A huge blow up version of Cristina hung over the square along with other huge balloons carrying messages of support.
No-one could have predicted what an unusual historic day Wednesday would turn out to be. The funeral will be near Calafate which is where he was born. Apparently he died at the same time that he was born and he was only 60 years old.
It`s my last day at school tomorrow which is unbelievable and sad. I have so enjoyed trying to learn spanish and to always have someone to check in with if I need some help and generally mixing with so many different nationalities and it will be strange having a month of English with Elsa. But the joys of a whole of month of tango with Elsa is a whole different thing and I am certainly looking forward to that and I am sure we shall continue to explore the city.
Monday, 25 October 2010
Being streetwise in BA 26th October Monday
Yes we have beggars and the homeless on our streets but seeing kids work here is another thing.
Often they are expert jugglers astride the pedestrian crossings while the cars wait to move off as the lights change - they try and catch the drivers as they roar off, usually ignoring the youngsters. They work the cafes and restaurants inside and out with things to sell. They work the buses and the tubes. No one seems to forbid them, they are just tired of being asked. Some kids have such amazing confidence and voice projection you cannot help but be impressed. I have bought chewing gum so far! It`s a start. One fantastic young juggler on a subte (tube) last week got a round of applause and people did give. I am surprised that there are not more buskers but suspect they are confined to one particular street. They are not common on the Subte like the London underground.
The big march last week where a young man was shot was taken very seriously although no-one is owning up to who it was although apparently everyone knows. The police did not intervene and are now trying to decided which faction to support. The following day there was an even larger march in sympathy with Mariano who died - it was huge and everyone who had a banner or a cause to plead was on the street marching to the beat of the drum. You hear these demonstrations long before you see them - always to a steady heartbeat.
I have spotted a professional dog walker with 8 dogs in one go - best record so far! Most people seem to have fairly small dogs but they still seem to produce and amazing amount of crap which just lies around on the pavements. Yuck!
I had a lovely day on Sunday, two gardens, one botanical and one Japonese. I then visited Evita`s museum which I found very interesting set in a fabulous house in Palermo. Lots of footage of her life and the work she did for the poor and the elderly and how instrumental she was in women getting the vote. Yes there is always another side of her maybe being ambitious and self seeking - I saw a lot of parallels with Princess Di. The funeral was immense and the flowers given were in their thousands.
Great jazz band in one of the parks and then I found what is now my absolutely favourite art gallery. Museo de Ates Plasticas in Palermo. Fabulous sculpture by 4 visiting Argentinians and lots of very modern paintings that definitely had a different departure point from English artists. The art gallery itself had been designed by an architect, can`t remember who but yes, he was an Argentinian. He specifically wanted to include light and the outside in each separate gallery so lots of views of the small courtyard - with cafe and trees and more sculpture - dappled sunlight falling into smaller courtyards enclosing the trunks of growing trees and giving a feeling of space and air and the outside and the inside being part of the same space. Small and intimate but the exhibitions strangely seem quite extensive. The staff were great and forgave me for illegally taking some photos, they helped me find the right bus home and in broken spanish, me, and broken english, them, we had a great chat about art and life!
I went to a french film in the evening called `My Life` which had subititles in Spanish - it was partly for homework - I really did try and stay awake and almost succeeded. Subtitles are great but they need to leave them up for longer!
My last week at school and then a month in Palermo with Elsa with loads of tango. This week is going to go so fast. We have Wednesday off for the National Census and two consequent long days on Tuesday and Thursday to make up for it. I shall wait and see what this week brings.....
Often they are expert jugglers astride the pedestrian crossings while the cars wait to move off as the lights change - they try and catch the drivers as they roar off, usually ignoring the youngsters. They work the cafes and restaurants inside and out with things to sell. They work the buses and the tubes. No one seems to forbid them, they are just tired of being asked. Some kids have such amazing confidence and voice projection you cannot help but be impressed. I have bought chewing gum so far! It`s a start. One fantastic young juggler on a subte (tube) last week got a round of applause and people did give. I am surprised that there are not more buskers but suspect they are confined to one particular street. They are not common on the Subte like the London underground.
The big march last week where a young man was shot was taken very seriously although no-one is owning up to who it was although apparently everyone knows. The police did not intervene and are now trying to decided which faction to support. The following day there was an even larger march in sympathy with Mariano who died - it was huge and everyone who had a banner or a cause to plead was on the street marching to the beat of the drum. You hear these demonstrations long before you see them - always to a steady heartbeat.
I have spotted a professional dog walker with 8 dogs in one go - best record so far! Most people seem to have fairly small dogs but they still seem to produce and amazing amount of crap which just lies around on the pavements. Yuck!
I had a lovely day on Sunday, two gardens, one botanical and one Japonese. I then visited Evita`s museum which I found very interesting set in a fabulous house in Palermo. Lots of footage of her life and the work she did for the poor and the elderly and how instrumental she was in women getting the vote. Yes there is always another side of her maybe being ambitious and self seeking - I saw a lot of parallels with Princess Di. The funeral was immense and the flowers given were in their thousands.
Great jazz band in one of the parks and then I found what is now my absolutely favourite art gallery. Museo de Ates Plasticas in Palermo. Fabulous sculpture by 4 visiting Argentinians and lots of very modern paintings that definitely had a different departure point from English artists. The art gallery itself had been designed by an architect, can`t remember who but yes, he was an Argentinian. He specifically wanted to include light and the outside in each separate gallery so lots of views of the small courtyard - with cafe and trees and more sculpture - dappled sunlight falling into smaller courtyards enclosing the trunks of growing trees and giving a feeling of space and air and the outside and the inside being part of the same space. Small and intimate but the exhibitions strangely seem quite extensive. The staff were great and forgave me for illegally taking some photos, they helped me find the right bus home and in broken spanish, me, and broken english, them, we had a great chat about art and life!
I went to a french film in the evening called `My Life` which had subititles in Spanish - it was partly for homework - I really did try and stay awake and almost succeeded. Subtitles are great but they need to leave them up for longer!
My last week at school and then a month in Palermo with Elsa with loads of tango. This week is going to go so fast. We have Wednesday off for the National Census and two consequent long days on Tuesday and Thursday to make up for it. I shall wait and see what this week brings.....
Thursday, 21 October 2010
Little chatting from BA Tuesday??
Hi Everyone,
I have just written this once and then deleted it - grr! The weather is getting hotter and the bin men have been on strike for 3 days. There are loads of demonstrations but it is hard to work out exactly why. There was a large one last night that I passed on my way home from tango and apparently one person was shot in a personal feud. No one seemed to be very surprised. The Labour party is aligned with the government which is right and the Mafia also plays its part. Who knows!
Last week-end I went out to Tigre which is on the River Plata. It has over 5000 islands where many portenos have their week-end houses. Some houses are still under construction, some very beautifully tended and some falling apart. I took a boat trip. For me it could be a perfect situation boats, water, swimming but the river is very polluted with hundreds of dead fish and others gasping for breath. Sad.
I am very impressed with the way that the potenos treat their disabled - electronic ramps on buses and at every junction there is a scooped out part of the pavement to allow for wheelchair access. However on the other side of life I have a lasting image of this poor man running barefoot away dressed only in binbags from head to foot - like some wild ghost haunting the streets.
This is just a short chat to let you all know I am alive and well - apart from Spanish doing my head in and being deconstructed with my tango - it will all pass and tomorrow is another day.
Lots of love to you all
Sal xxx
I have just written this once and then deleted it - grr! The weather is getting hotter and the bin men have been on strike for 3 days. There are loads of demonstrations but it is hard to work out exactly why. There was a large one last night that I passed on my way home from tango and apparently one person was shot in a personal feud. No one seemed to be very surprised. The Labour party is aligned with the government which is right and the Mafia also plays its part. Who knows!
Last week-end I went out to Tigre which is on the River Plata. It has over 5000 islands where many portenos have their week-end houses. Some houses are still under construction, some very beautifully tended and some falling apart. I took a boat trip. For me it could be a perfect situation boats, water, swimming but the river is very polluted with hundreds of dead fish and others gasping for breath. Sad.
I am very impressed with the way that the potenos treat their disabled - electronic ramps on buses and at every junction there is a scooped out part of the pavement to allow for wheelchair access. However on the other side of life I have a lasting image of this poor man running barefoot away dressed only in binbags from head to foot - like some wild ghost haunting the streets.
This is just a short chat to let you all know I am alive and well - apart from Spanish doing my head in and being deconstructed with my tango - it will all pass and tomorrow is another day.
Lots of love to you all
Sal xxx
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
City living in Spanish Wednesday 13th October 10
Hi Everyone,
Tony, I didn`t find the quote at Recoletta or Gardel`s tomb - something to look for on the next visit. I liked the quote - I have seen something rather similar on an English grave.
Great you are coming out to BA, Madeline and Gary. I hope to have returned from my travels and be back in the city by then.
It is really lovely that people put comments and read the blog. Thanks Tim and Sharon. This week I have hit a bit of a brick wall with my Spanish classes and am definitely in the bottom league. Brain seems to be in a constant fog. But I have realised that living in a foreign language is tiring until you learn enough of it for it not to be a major effort - I have to have my dictionary available constantly. Today I gave myself a treat in the afternoon and went to MALBO which is BA`s equivalent to the Tate. Much smaller but a new build that is light an airy. Some pieces of great sculpture, a modern installation video about flies and their collection of modern art from the early 20th century. Also a visiting exhibition. It was very peaceful and quiet and I didn`t have to speak Spanish to anyone except on the way home to find the right bus stop!
I went to a fabulous `Feria de los Matadores` on Sunday. A huge fair with with a main stage where bands played and groups danced. The general population all danced the Checkerera (!) at the drop of a hat - maybe I shall have to learn too. Amazing guachos (I`m sure that`s not how you spell it but my dictionary is not being very helpful tonight) on horseback thundering down a street they had cordoned off. In the centre was a ring that they had to spear with a small dagger like stick - not many did! Very dramatic but I felt for the horses legs on hard tarmac but no-one else seemed very concerned.
OK Sal and Tango in BA. I am having private lessons with a young porteno called Gustavo who also teaches at the school. He is taking me back to basics - again - my line of dance, my posture, my relation to him, my pivots, knees and ankles together etc. He is not fierce but for me at the moment with my emphasis on Spanish and trying to stay awake it is perfect. Next month when I leave the school and Elsa arrives it will be a complete emersion and I shall review who I want to teach me then. Until then I shall milonga at the week-ends, take private tango lessons, explore BA and learn Spanish during the week. The two milongas I went to last week were interesting. One was very traditional with the cabaceo in operation but there was one dance during the evening where the women could ask the men by offering them a chocolate and the men could invite the women by offering them a rose. For me it was a relief to be able to ask the men - accustomed as I am! No one asked me with a rose. But I was sitting on a table with a gang of women who I had met at my first milonga and they were very inclusive and asked their guys to dance with me to give me a start. They reminded me a bit of "Sex in the City" - they were definitely out to have a good time and this milonga was where they felt comfortable and at ease with friends they knew of old.
The second Milonga was a mistake - I went to the wrong one where I was meant to be meeting friends from the School. This one was small and not a cabaceo in sight but it seemed to me that friends had come in groups or couples and were not willing to take a chance on a stranger. So I left after an hour. I know where I am going this Sunday so better luck there. Maybe I shall ring Rose the friend who invited me to the other one and go to one of her milongas. I wasn´t overly impressed with the level of dancing but maybe the good ones weren`t asking. It´s a bit like casting on a river, you never know what you are going to catch!
I love my walk to college every day - there are now familiar landmarks, people, shops and squares, dogs who bark from balconies above my head, the pavement washers, the homeless and the street cafes. I also love that I cross Chile, Mexico and Venezuela on my way to and from home - street names amongst others.
The sunshine is hot when it`s out but it can rain hard as well so don`t be too jealous.
Lots of love to you all
Sal in an Internet Cafe in BA
Tony, I didn`t find the quote at Recoletta or Gardel`s tomb - something to look for on the next visit. I liked the quote - I have seen something rather similar on an English grave.
Great you are coming out to BA, Madeline and Gary. I hope to have returned from my travels and be back in the city by then.
It is really lovely that people put comments and read the blog. Thanks Tim and Sharon. This week I have hit a bit of a brick wall with my Spanish classes and am definitely in the bottom league. Brain seems to be in a constant fog. But I have realised that living in a foreign language is tiring until you learn enough of it for it not to be a major effort - I have to have my dictionary available constantly. Today I gave myself a treat in the afternoon and went to MALBO which is BA`s equivalent to the Tate. Much smaller but a new build that is light an airy. Some pieces of great sculpture, a modern installation video about flies and their collection of modern art from the early 20th century. Also a visiting exhibition. It was very peaceful and quiet and I didn`t have to speak Spanish to anyone except on the way home to find the right bus stop!
I went to a fabulous `Feria de los Matadores` on Sunday. A huge fair with with a main stage where bands played and groups danced. The general population all danced the Checkerera (!) at the drop of a hat - maybe I shall have to learn too. Amazing guachos (I`m sure that`s not how you spell it but my dictionary is not being very helpful tonight) on horseback thundering down a street they had cordoned off. In the centre was a ring that they had to spear with a small dagger like stick - not many did! Very dramatic but I felt for the horses legs on hard tarmac but no-one else seemed very concerned.
OK Sal and Tango in BA. I am having private lessons with a young porteno called Gustavo who also teaches at the school. He is taking me back to basics - again - my line of dance, my posture, my relation to him, my pivots, knees and ankles together etc. He is not fierce but for me at the moment with my emphasis on Spanish and trying to stay awake it is perfect. Next month when I leave the school and Elsa arrives it will be a complete emersion and I shall review who I want to teach me then. Until then I shall milonga at the week-ends, take private tango lessons, explore BA and learn Spanish during the week. The two milongas I went to last week were interesting. One was very traditional with the cabaceo in operation but there was one dance during the evening where the women could ask the men by offering them a chocolate and the men could invite the women by offering them a rose. For me it was a relief to be able to ask the men - accustomed as I am! No one asked me with a rose. But I was sitting on a table with a gang of women who I had met at my first milonga and they were very inclusive and asked their guys to dance with me to give me a start. They reminded me a bit of "Sex in the City" - they were definitely out to have a good time and this milonga was where they felt comfortable and at ease with friends they knew of old.
The second Milonga was a mistake - I went to the wrong one where I was meant to be meeting friends from the School. This one was small and not a cabaceo in sight but it seemed to me that friends had come in groups or couples and were not willing to take a chance on a stranger. So I left after an hour. I know where I am going this Sunday so better luck there. Maybe I shall ring Rose the friend who invited me to the other one and go to one of her milongas. I wasn´t overly impressed with the level of dancing but maybe the good ones weren`t asking. It´s a bit like casting on a river, you never know what you are going to catch!
I love my walk to college every day - there are now familiar landmarks, people, shops and squares, dogs who bark from balconies above my head, the pavement washers, the homeless and the street cafes. I also love that I cross Chile, Mexico and Venezuela on my way to and from home - street names amongst others.
The sunshine is hot when it`s out but it can rain hard as well so don`t be too jealous.
Lots of love to you all
Sal in an Internet Cafe in BA
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Places to go in Buenos Aires 6th October 2010
San Telmo market was colourful, fascinating and full of things to feast your eyes on. I walked up through a park with huge beautiful trees their roots sprawled away from the trunks. The branches were home to familes of noisy parakeets. The market itself was full of antiques - ancient guacho equipment, harnesses, knives and all manner of stirrups; beautiful coloured glass soda syphons and a stall of intricate macrame necklaces mixed with precious stones especially the Inca Rose which is the stone of Argentina; mate gourds, hats, besides a host of other crafts and antiques. There was also a fantastic tango orchestra playing in the street - El Afronte - with 4 bandoneon players, 3 violins, a double base, piano and singer - very high energy and completely compelling - the first of many.
On the way out of San Telmo I watched entranced as 2 yummy young clowns played with the traffic at a cross roads - they were delightfully mischievious.
I have now had 3 days in Language School and my brain is struggling but everyone says that the first week is the worst. Great teachers with endless patience and they all seem to have a good sense of humour. My class has 3 students from Holland, 2 from Brazil, one from Belgium, myself and a lass from Belgium. So we have to speak Spanish!! Even if very badly.
The other thing I did this week was visit the Cemetry where Eva Peron is buried. All the graves are in mausoleums. For me it was a place for reflection. Cobwebs and some ancient trainers held up a rusting corrugated roof. Cupolas of coloured glass shone in the sunshine while angels guarded the summits. This was a place for nature to try again. Ferns and wildflowers grew from cracks in the crumbling mausoleums while these sat alongside those of gleaming black marble - the new arrivals. There were cats there too, sleeping and watching in the sunshine. Small decorations caught my eye, shells, crosses, snakes, azrec profiles.
I come across where Eva Peron was buried almost by accident - I had no map. She is in her family vault - Familia Duarte. She had 3 placques and these were some of the words enscribed on them. "Eterna en el alma de tu Pueblo" "EVITA Eterna en el corozon del Pueblo de Almirante Brown."
Some vaults are in ruins - the coffins long gone. Small birds sing sweetly in this peaceful place. The parakeets are the bully boys of the parks. Not for them this place of the dead. I dont know why but two vaults touched me. Maria Isabel Vidal Carrega 1945 "Your grave is broken open, cracked with age. I can see the rusting handle at the end of your coffin. I imagine above you is your husband, Fernando, his too is open to the sky.
This is a city within a city and like BA is is also designed on the grid system but there are no names to these streets only angels, urns, crosses, colossal monuments and crumbling facades to give you clues if you wish to return to where you began.
One Milonga last night - Milonga Catedral - held in a cavernous wharehouse. I did the classes beforehand which were fairly disastrous - hundreds of beginners and the next one was slightly better but my partner was not! I had 2 or 3 dances with Frederico, the teacher, so was definitely an evening of quality and not quantity. Not a cabaceo in sight but wasnt sure if I could ask so unlike me I just chatted to student friends instead. It was an amazing building.
A different one tonight with flowers and chocolates, so I have been told, I´ll let you know.
Kate, glad the 5th Anniversay of the Practica was lovely - it sounded it - and thanks for your note.
On the way out of San Telmo I watched entranced as 2 yummy young clowns played with the traffic at a cross roads - they were delightfully mischievious.
I have now had 3 days in Language School and my brain is struggling but everyone says that the first week is the worst. Great teachers with endless patience and they all seem to have a good sense of humour. My class has 3 students from Holland, 2 from Brazil, one from Belgium, myself and a lass from Belgium. So we have to speak Spanish!! Even if very badly.
The other thing I did this week was visit the Cemetry where Eva Peron is buried. All the graves are in mausoleums. For me it was a place for reflection. Cobwebs and some ancient trainers held up a rusting corrugated roof. Cupolas of coloured glass shone in the sunshine while angels guarded the summits. This was a place for nature to try again. Ferns and wildflowers grew from cracks in the crumbling mausoleums while these sat alongside those of gleaming black marble - the new arrivals. There were cats there too, sleeping and watching in the sunshine. Small decorations caught my eye, shells, crosses, snakes, azrec profiles.
I come across where Eva Peron was buried almost by accident - I had no map. She is in her family vault - Familia Duarte. She had 3 placques and these were some of the words enscribed on them. "Eterna en el alma de tu Pueblo" "EVITA Eterna en el corozon del Pueblo de Almirante Brown."
Some vaults are in ruins - the coffins long gone. Small birds sing sweetly in this peaceful place. The parakeets are the bully boys of the parks. Not for them this place of the dead. I dont know why but two vaults touched me. Maria Isabel Vidal Carrega 1945 "Your grave is broken open, cracked with age. I can see the rusting handle at the end of your coffin. I imagine above you is your husband, Fernando, his too is open to the sky.
This is a city within a city and like BA is is also designed on the grid system but there are no names to these streets only angels, urns, crosses, colossal monuments and crumbling facades to give you clues if you wish to return to where you began.
One Milonga last night - Milonga Catedral - held in a cavernous wharehouse. I did the classes beforehand which were fairly disastrous - hundreds of beginners and the next one was slightly better but my partner was not! I had 2 or 3 dances with Frederico, the teacher, so was definitely an evening of quality and not quantity. Not a cabaceo in sight but wasnt sure if I could ask so unlike me I just chatted to student friends instead. It was an amazing building.
A different one tonight with flowers and chocolates, so I have been told, I´ll let you know.
Kate, glad the 5th Anniversay of the Practica was lovely - it sounded it - and thanks for your note.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Just landed in Buenos Aires
Hi Everyone,
I am here! With a few hitches on the way. Wheels broke on my large suitcase the night before I left so a pink elephant has joined the adventure - less stable than the turquoise one but more generous hearted in her space. I left my flight confirmation at Jake´s but no-one seemed to mind and I forgot to remove scissors and a nail file from my bag so they were conviscated - but nothing disastrous.
Sat with a friendly Chilean lass on the flight to Madrid. Her husband is involved with the company rescuing the miners. For the flight to BA I palled up with a young girl called Jess who lives in Belgium. She is only here for 3 weeks and was heading off to Patagonia to meet another friend. We got on instantly - it would have been fun to travel some more with her. Maybe we shall meet up when she comes back through BA. I slept really badly on the plane but hey I have time to recover. Fabulous sunset in Madrid and grey skies in BA. We all came round slowly as our breakfast arrived - strange cake and meat filled croissant.
´Slow eyes chat over seats while eyelids are persuaded to remain open - against their will. Slow smiles play around tired faces.´
2nd October 2010
A few days have passed - I have been on an open topped tourist bus to try and get my bearings of the city - amazing new architecture on the port - Norman Foster has even designed for Buenos Aires. In some of the richer areas the old houses are very beautiful but much of the city if in need of repair. Lots of French influence. Health and Safety wouldn´t pass any of the pavements- they can be hazardous. The poor of the city come out in the late evening to sort and scrounge through the rubbish before the lorries remove it. Lots of parks with trees about to come into flower. I have seen one jacaranda in flower - very beautiful. The mimosa will be out soon too. Loads of monuments and a fabulous metal flower sculpture that is enormous and opens and closes with the sun. Several Art Galleries to visit. All manner of buskers from those playing the bandeon to a harpist, to bands and of course one Peruvian playing the Andean pipes. Tomorrow I am going to San Telmo for the Sunday market.
Yesterday I met up with Tania and Steve from Norwich who have already been hear for two weeks. It was their last day. We did a tango workshop together with their teacher Oscar at El Beso and then had a delicious veggie lunch. They had two private lessons while I tried to chat to Oscar´s partner in very limited Spanish - we did OK! LaterTania and Steve took me to my first Milonga which I found fascinating. I sat for a while with no dances but gathered courage after had a dance with Steve and managed to cabaceo several tangueros. One or two misunderstandings when I had thought it was for me and it wasn´t but I got the hang of it. I found the seperating of the men and women on arrival to separate sides of the room extraordinary. Tania was glad of my company as I was certainly glad of hers. On the other side of me were two very friendly tangueras one who spoke good English - one also reminded me of Meryl Streep. They have invited me to a Milonga next Wednesday called SuenoPorteno. Apparently the men can invite a woman with a flower and the women with a chocolate- yes, women can ask too. I look forward to this one.
Today I have spent with the family. I took Maite and the children out to lunch in a seemingly posh restaurant that turned out to have an incredible play area for the youngsters. We all had a good time. Then I went shopping at the supermercado while they went off to a birthday party. I had wanted to treat them to lots of delicious fruit - grapes, nectarines etc.- but there was only seasonal and very little choice. I am so used to buying fruit from any time of year and any country. This is a suburb of Buenos Aires - Avellanada It is difficult to tell whether it is poor area as a lot of places are run down. As far as the shopping goes I think I am just used to huge choice and it does me no harm to get used to less.
So far everyone I have met has been friendly, patient with my lack of Spanish, helpful and warm hearted. Apart from the lady in the post office where Maite has to rescue me. You can apparently only buy one stamp at a time and it can only be posted from there. You see post boxes but they are mostly derelict and nobody collects letters from them. I wonder how many unsuspecting tourists have despaired of their post cards ever arriving thinking the Buenos Aires postal system was like England.
Tommorrow I move to my host family and start Spanish school on Monday - I certainly need it!
I am here! With a few hitches on the way. Wheels broke on my large suitcase the night before I left so a pink elephant has joined the adventure - less stable than the turquoise one but more generous hearted in her space. I left my flight confirmation at Jake´s but no-one seemed to mind and I forgot to remove scissors and a nail file from my bag so they were conviscated - but nothing disastrous.
Sat with a friendly Chilean lass on the flight to Madrid. Her husband is involved with the company rescuing the miners. For the flight to BA I palled up with a young girl called Jess who lives in Belgium. She is only here for 3 weeks and was heading off to Patagonia to meet another friend. We got on instantly - it would have been fun to travel some more with her. Maybe we shall meet up when she comes back through BA. I slept really badly on the plane but hey I have time to recover. Fabulous sunset in Madrid and grey skies in BA. We all came round slowly as our breakfast arrived - strange cake and meat filled croissant.
´Slow eyes chat over seats while eyelids are persuaded to remain open - against their will. Slow smiles play around tired faces.´
2nd October 2010
A few days have passed - I have been on an open topped tourist bus to try and get my bearings of the city - amazing new architecture on the port - Norman Foster has even designed for Buenos Aires. In some of the richer areas the old houses are very beautiful but much of the city if in need of repair. Lots of French influence. Health and Safety wouldn´t pass any of the pavements- they can be hazardous. The poor of the city come out in the late evening to sort and scrounge through the rubbish before the lorries remove it. Lots of parks with trees about to come into flower. I have seen one jacaranda in flower - very beautiful. The mimosa will be out soon too. Loads of monuments and a fabulous metal flower sculpture that is enormous and opens and closes with the sun. Several Art Galleries to visit. All manner of buskers from those playing the bandeon to a harpist, to bands and of course one Peruvian playing the Andean pipes. Tomorrow I am going to San Telmo for the Sunday market.
Yesterday I met up with Tania and Steve from Norwich who have already been hear for two weeks. It was their last day. We did a tango workshop together with their teacher Oscar at El Beso and then had a delicious veggie lunch. They had two private lessons while I tried to chat to Oscar´s partner in very limited Spanish - we did OK! LaterTania and Steve took me to my first Milonga which I found fascinating. I sat for a while with no dances but gathered courage after had a dance with Steve and managed to cabaceo several tangueros. One or two misunderstandings when I had thought it was for me and it wasn´t but I got the hang of it. I found the seperating of the men and women on arrival to separate sides of the room extraordinary. Tania was glad of my company as I was certainly glad of hers. On the other side of me were two very friendly tangueras one who spoke good English - one also reminded me of Meryl Streep. They have invited me to a Milonga next Wednesday called SuenoPorteno. Apparently the men can invite a woman with a flower and the women with a chocolate- yes, women can ask too. I look forward to this one.
Today I have spent with the family. I took Maite and the children out to lunch in a seemingly posh restaurant that turned out to have an incredible play area for the youngsters. We all had a good time. Then I went shopping at the supermercado while they went off to a birthday party. I had wanted to treat them to lots of delicious fruit - grapes, nectarines etc.- but there was only seasonal and very little choice. I am so used to buying fruit from any time of year and any country. This is a suburb of Buenos Aires - Avellanada It is difficult to tell whether it is poor area as a lot of places are run down. As far as the shopping goes I think I am just used to huge choice and it does me no harm to get used to less.
So far everyone I have met has been friendly, patient with my lack of Spanish, helpful and warm hearted. Apart from the lady in the post office where Maite has to rescue me. You can apparently only buy one stamp at a time and it can only be posted from there. You see post boxes but they are mostly derelict and nobody collects letters from them. I wonder how many unsuspecting tourists have despaired of their post cards ever arriving thinking the Buenos Aires postal system was like England.
Tommorrow I move to my host family and start Spanish school on Monday - I certainly need it!
Saturday, 11 September 2010
Trying it out
Hi Everyone,
It's two weeks to go until I leave and I am either feeling deeply excited or terrified. Still 10,000 things to do to but hey they'll all get done somehow.
Next time I'll be writing from Buenos Aires! Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sal x
It's two weeks to go until I leave and I am either feeling deeply excited or terrified. Still 10,000 things to do to but hey they'll all get done somehow.
Next time I'll be writing from Buenos Aires! Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sal x
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