My Spanish is slowly developing, I’m discovering very cool Spanish music (elecro-flamenco, classic tango and reggaeton) and I find myself getting more attached to Buenos Aires. For the first time in a long time I have also found myself over my head in work as Rob and I try and raise a huge chunk of cash to fund a business venture that will allow us to own the rights to a technology that will take advantage of the huge price discrepancy between the British pound and the Canadian dollar. So I’ll soon be getting paid in Pounds which is close to about 6 times the value of the Argentine peso. So my money will go a very long way. I plan on retiring in February, maybe sooner.
My retirement post will come in February, for now I want to talk to you about tango. The other night Sam, myself and a couple other people from our Spanish school went to “Michelangelo”, which is a stunningly beautiful old building located in San Telmo (the same neighborhood, that president bush’s daughter got robbed in a couple days ago). We were welcomed at our ride, by a host who helped Sam out of the car, and guided us to the stone archway entrance. At the dimly lit front entrance we were guided behind long draping curtains into a quite room, with live tango music. We were pampered beyond belief. Campaign, hors d’oeuvres, music, breathtaking surroundings, and a small live tango show. We had it all. Below is a picture of the small room we waited for the show in.
After this teaser, we made our way upstairs for dinner. I won’t bore you with our meal details, but I will tell you this: Steak is very good here and I eat way to much of it. In fact, I have a ponch now. Awesome.
The video above (which I could only see using internet explorer, not firefox) is a small clip I took of the show (notice the live tango orchestra in the background!). Tango originated here in brothels and was a way for sex worker and client to get to know each other. However, as time passed it turned into a hobby for high society. My guess is that it’s probably the only element of prostitution to do so. That is unless, high heals originated in brothels as well. High heals are pretty popular now as well. Anyways, getting off topic.
So the greatest thing about introducing me to tango is the fact, that after watching the show I decided to skip the lessons and try the most advanced moves on Sam right away. Turns out, that’s not a good idea, outright dangerous. Remember, the move from the clip above at the end where the guy picks of the girl and then drops her inches from the ground. Well I pretty much did the same thing with Sammy (emphasis on “pretty much”). I’ll let you imagine the outcome. She doesn’t want to tango with me anymore. I need to find a new partner.
Actually finding a tango (milonga) partner is a pretty funny process. At tango dances the boys stand on one side of the room, the girls on the other. If (as a man) you look over to the other side of the room and see a girl looking at you, you’re supposed to be a macho man and look away. But after you look back, if she is still looking at you, that’s your invitation to go and ask her to tango. Quite the process.
Chau.
Labels: buenos Aires Tango
So it only seems like we've been here for about 2 days, but it's been over 2 weeks now. We're really in the groove now. I can go to stores and kind of order what I need. And even if I don't get what I want I still get something. For instance, the other day I tried to order a steak and instead got a plate of SPAM. I can't even complain to the waitress because I haven't taken a class on complaining yet so I just sit there and eat my SPAM and pretend it's what I meant to order. When Sam says "that's not what you ordered is it?", I just reply "what do you mean? This is totally what I wanted... why do you want to trade for your nice roast chicken?". "my apartment is fun becuase we listen to music, dance and eat all the time"
What I wrote was
"my apartment is a joke because we musical, and eat food from the street".
Not exactly what I intended to say. My teacher has no reservations about laughing at me. It's awesome. So to work around the giggles in the class I try to speak quickly in spanish in the hopes that it will be too quick for anyone to understand. That way, if I'm wrong maybe they let it slide. It turns out they are a little slicker at spanish than I am, and they are on to me. For example, here is the sentence I presented to the class.
".. Amueblado es tambien colletto".
Which means.... absolutly nothing. I guess I didn't say it fast enough because they picked up the error. I spend most of my day working on the speed at which I say things. Vocabulary can come later.
It's a total blast here. Sam and I just look at each other sometimes and we know each other "gets it". This city is so satisfying. There is something particularly sexy and enjoyable about Latin American Culture. In fact, my little sister just sent me some quotes she found in the library in Toronto the other day about Buenos Aires in particular. Unfortunately I don't have the sources of the quotes, but here they are..
"the ability of Argentines to reinvent themselves is amazing. The
unpredictability makes life exciting, it injects creativity into
theater, nightlife and fashion."
"I felt that pent-up energy reverberation across this sprawling
metropolis, which I have loved for its Paris-style boulevards, Bell
Epoque buildings, soulful music and gracious, gorgeous people."
"We never lost our spirit...We know the art of life."
"Today B.A. is a potent cocktail of the sophistication, madness and
ambition of Rome, Paris and New York: it still beats Rome for pure
style, Paris for routines and rituals and New York for the title
"the city that never sleeps."
"Argentine generosity is legendary"
"Though fashion is a priority in looks-obsessed B.A. human
relations trumps all"
"Time, patience and intimacy are now luxuries in the world--and we
have them all. Those things make Argentina even more appealing."
La Boca BarrioI just think those quotes do a good job of giving a brief summery of the attitude here. It's like
nothing I've ever experienced before. I catch myself having these euphoric moments over little
things, like watching kids kick a soccerball down a busy road, cars pushing each other down the
road (If a car stalls, another car will come from behind and push the stalled car where it want's to
go. It's so funny to watch them try to take corners or stop at lights). Likewise the nightlife is super
cool here and people have been so nice to us even though we have pretty serious communication
barriers. Everyone is giving us their numbers so we can hang out at night, bringing us over to their
apartments and so on. In fact, I just recieved a phone call (while I was just writing this sentence)
from a man who says he knows a friend of a friend of Sam's mom. Anyway he found our phone
number and wants to take us out to a polo match in Palermo next weekend. People are so
human here. You don't need excuses or planning to meet with people. The phone call I just
recieved went a little something like this..
Me: Hola
Him: Hola. Sorry for mi english is bad
Me: no problem
Him: Is Samantini there?
Me: no sorry, can I take a message
Him: what is your name?
Me : Sterling
Him: Zurlin?
Me: no. Sterling
Him: oh. that is a hard one.
Me. Yes, what is your name?
Him. Rolofo
Me: Folojo
Him: no. Rolofo. just rolo is fine.
Me: cool Rofo.
Him: zurlin does you want to come to a polo match with me and my friend?
ME: Sure Folojos.
Him: Here is my number --------
ME: Great I'll see you soon.
It's totally random but things like this seem to be happening all the time. In canada kindness from
complete strangers is looked on almost as a weakness, or at least with suspicion. Here it's
expected and very welcomed.
I have lots more to say, but it's almost tea time here. Timing here is a little different. It's a much
slower pace. People have breakfast at about 8 or 9. Lunch at about 1 or 2, tea time is about 5
and dinner is about 10.
Let me explain tea time to you. When Argentines were young they would go to school all day and when they got home at about 4 their mom's would have some milk, or tea, and cookies for them. Well it turns out as you get older you never plan on letting go of tea time. So now as adults they still celebrate tea time. At 5 everyone goes out for a tea or juice or mate and desserts. There is not one meal you have here without desserts.
On that note. It's tea time.
Colorful houses in La Boca: We took a class trip to this neighborhood.
Labels: Buenos Aires
Flying over chile
Yes, I am finally here. This city is amazing. Much more amazing then even my high expectations. My neighborhood is stunningly beautiful. 20 foot wooden doors, marble sculpture, old French architecture, countless fashion and food boutiques (no chains or big department stores). It's very European here. Think Paris, with a touch of Rome having a head on collision with Manhattan, then divide the price of everything by 3 and you have Buenos Aires. I can't spend money quickly enough. Samantha (Samantini, what people call her here) and I go out for dinner each night. We spend time in our neighborhood called "Recolletta" going to really high end Italian or French restaurants. We get a bottle of nice wine, nice lamb, fish or steak meals, a couple of appetizers and desert. Then we pay them the equivalent of about 30 dollars before heading off to the club district to accidentally party at a "transformer" party. Transformers as I soon found out are not the robots we are familiar with from our childhood, but instead surprisingly sexy men dressed as women. They flirt with me, I flirt with them, we all dance, people make jokes and Samantini stares at me with slightly discouraged eyes.
In fact, I realized it is suprisingly okay to flirt with transformers. South America is pretty macho. but when a man dresses like a women and flirts with men, they seem to be very receptive. It's very funny to see macho Argentine men dance with the transformer host as if she was a girl. The wig and the dress make them forget the women is really a man. they hold her very delicately around her waist, let him/ her grab their croch and more. I thought these guys must be crazy to be doing this. They 100% forgot that this was actually a man. then the transformer came over to me, winked and pinched my nose. I giggled. he had a wig on. it was okay. that is what I'm telling myself.
Our apartment
Our aprartment from our second floor
I have leart a lot since I’ve been here. For starters, no one can speak English which means every conversation I have on a daily basis is awkward. Allow me to give you what I think the conversation I had this morning was when I signed up for my gym membership. I will write everything in English but remember, they are speaking Spanish and I am also trying very hard to speak Spanish.
Me: hi
Them: hi
Me: uh.. (long pause). I need ticket for gym
Them: (log pause) what
Me: I’m here 2 months, need (then I show move my arms as If I was lifting weights)
Them: (spoke for about 2 mintutes in fast Spanish maybe about pricing, maybe about features, maybe asking questions… I don’t know. I just looked at them intently, smiled and every now and again let them know I recognized one or two words they said (i.e. yes, I know the word “arm”)
Me: how much
Them: $100
Me: can I buy a lock from you?
Them: no sorry
Me: (thinking they said “you can rent one on a daily basis” said: pefect here 5 pesos for (long pause… not knowing how to say lock. Show them with sign language what I mean)
Them: (confused looks and give me back my money)
Me: (thinking lock must be included in price) thank you
Them: what is your name
Me: Sterling
Them: zerlin?
Me: No, Sterling
Them: zerey?
And this goes on for a long time. It’s kind of a funny experience to know every time I go out it’s going to be awkward, without exeption. The good news is my vocabulary is increasing by leaps and bounds on a daily basis. I also now know how to say “lock”.
But there are many things I still get confused over. I recently approached our waiter and asked him in Spanish if “I can have your wallet?”. Apparently I get the word “wallet” and “bill” mixed up a lot. The result is people thinking I’m robbing them. Kind of akward. I will just say “I no take you, I no take you”, that way they know that I don’t want to rob them. But since I don’t know the word for rob, I just use “take” instead. I no take you.
Countless city parks
No cars allowed streets
our area
Recolletta Cemetary
Samantini preparing dinner
Sam doing work in our apartment
So the language is coming along quite nicely. Sundays are kind of fun here. Everything is closed, which means lower chances of getting into an awkward conversations. We also have cable for the first time in our relationship and we spend it watching amazing Spanish television shows. In fact we even go to Spanish cinema. We went to this film the other day about…. I’m not sure, but it was kind of neat watching a full film in spanish without subtitles. I was kind of like watching a silent film, but with sound. It was the opening night so the directors were there with the crew. They gave their speeches and then sat right behind Samantini and I. Samantini lasted about a half hour before she started doing that funny thing people do when they fall asleep in class. The head jolts down a little too quickly and it wakes you up so you jolt your head up. You regain consciousness for about 30 seconds only for the process to repeat itself. I felt bad for the director who was sitting behind us so I put Tini’s head on my shoulder so she could sleep without being rude. So got her second wind about a half hour later when they turned up the volume in the theatre. We both watched until the end of the film. After the film we discussed it which was the best part of the experience. Here are our conclusions about what we watched.
Samantini Review: the film was about Venezuelan kidnappers who took a CIA informant hostage. There was also a girl who liked to be naked. The man at the begging had really funny shorts on. At the end they let the CIA informant go
Sterling Review: the film was either about Vietnam or Bolivia. There was a girl who liked to be naked.
That is what we got from the film. But we still watch a film everyday to practice our language skills.
Barring communication barriers, everything else here is great. Our apartment is beautiful, we have lots of great Spanish music we listen to all day, we ate like royalty and we take great care of ourselves.
I’ll post more soon, but I just wanted to say “hi” to everyone to let everyone know we’re safe and sound. Here are some more pictures below.
Downtown
our neighborhood
more of our area
the view from our apartment
Labels: Buenos Aires
