Reflection at 80%

The Batts clan is here! They arrived Saturday morning and are settling in nicely. Family fun times have caused me to neglect my blog (and my homework*), so I’m actually a few days late for 80%. This means that I have a few days shy of a month left in Argentina. Freakout, as my dad would say.

These reflections were a good idea, and I’ll surely appreciate them someday, but they’re getting more and more difficult to write. I guess I really don’t feel like reflecting right now, at 80%.

With all of the pretension I can muster, I’ll declare that my reluctance to reflect is a perfect reflection of my current state of mind. It’s summertime and the livin’ is easy. November has brought some great adventures so far, and I’m ready for more! Soon, I’ll be THERE, not HERE, so I’m just trying to be here now.**

Coming soon:

-my fabulous yet (somewhat accidentally) substance-free 21^st

-The Wild Battsberrys discover Argentina

-Thanksgiving in Colonia, Uruguay with the entire herd of yanquis

-leaving, probable reverse-culture-shock-related trauma, the end of this blog.

SAD! I promise I’ll do some fun final entries, with lots of amusing photos. Suggestions are welcome!

Thanks for reading, it’s been a pleasure ;) And continues to be!! Because it’s NOT OVER YET.

Besos,

Isa

*I still have homework for Spanish class, as there is still (and always will be) Spanish to be learned. But I’m writing this first, of course – my priorities lie with you, dear readers.

**I have not read this book. Have you?

Cosas buenísimas

LOOK, a new post!!

Mafalda & me in San Telmo :)

To those of you who check this blog regularly for updates, I’m sorry that lately you’ve been confronted again and again with the article about Kirschner’s death. The week and a half since have been quite unique: his passing seemed to both unite and divide the nation, and definitely made people think and reflect about both their personal political views and the future of Argentine politics as a whole. Now, though, the high emotions seem to be winding down, and things are returning to normal.

Because of the official mourning period, a lot of events in the city were cancelled, which means I haven’t been to the theater in ages, and this past week was (relatively speaking) academically heavy for me. But here I am, posting again!

I ended October on a very homesick note – Halloween hit me with nostalgia and made me feel very far away from my family, my childhood, and my culture (an odd feeling, because I tend to dismiss the idea of being connected to “American culture,” or even the notion that it exists in the first place.) But here we are in November, and I’m feeling positive all around! The weather is beautiful, and lots of good things are happening now and in the near future. I’ll share some with you:

1) As of yesterday, I’m a real resident of Argentina! I can stay here through January if I like, says the Government. I’m not going to, though, but now I have a piece of paper that lets me leave the country if I want to and makes my grades real instead of pretend.

2) After escaping from the delightful place that is migraciones, I turned in the final fruits of my labor to USal! That means that, aside from a few more sessions of Castellano Mantenimiento, I’m on SUMMER VACATION, BABY.

3) On Wednesday, a bunch of U.S. gals and I are heading to Puerto Madryn! I’ve felt the urge to leave la Capital for a while, and I’ve wanted to go to Patagonia ever since it first occurred to me it was more than just a brand name.

4) My 21^st BIRTHDAY is NINE DAYS FROM NOW. The celebration plans are lining up. Lots of classy fun. I can't wait!

5) My parents and little sis are coming to visit in two weeks!! I can’t wait to see them after all this time, and I’m really excited to play tour guide!

6) I also have a camera again. AGAIN. I’m hoping it will last at the very least just a bit longer than the last one did so I can successfully capture the bizarre, the beautiful, and the ordinary from my last month-and-a-half on this side of the equator.

A blogpost without photos is like a s’more without the chocolate (how’s that for some American culture?), so here’s a couple from our census-day picnic:

Note the PB & J.

Just look at all those beautiful yanquis! Everything was closed that day, so we stayed outside for hours. I got a super unfortunate facial sunburn that is finally mostly gone.

Also, we found yummy Armenian food on Halloween:

Okay, that’s it for now.

Stay tuned!

Love,

Isa

P.S. I think word-of-the-day is coming to a halt. It's not that I've stopped learning lunfardo, it's just that the words I'm learning are less bloggable these days...so until further notice, that's over.

Un duelo nacional

A change from the usual lightheartedness...

When I started this blog, I had the intention of posting about current events in Argentina. Although I've stayed quite informed, I haven't done any political or news-related posts. Compared to what we have in the U.S., Argentine politics are extremely complicated, and although I have opinions I think it would take years of living here for me to really form a stance.

Right now, however, I feel inclined to post, because the country is in a strange, sad, historical moment. Yesterday morning, former president Néstor Kirchner died unexpectedly of heart failure. He was the husband of the current president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and continued to be a highly influential political figure until his death. In the news, the two are often referred to as el matrimonio presidencial ("the presidential marriage").

To honor the former president's death, the nation entered into an official three-day mourning period. The flag is at half-mast, and several events have been canceled. Today, people waited for hours in a seemingly infinite line outside of the casa rosada to pay their respects to Néstor and to offer their condolences to Cristina, who stood solemnly and patiently as each citizen greeted her. What an awful duty to have as a president, to be in the public eye all day immediately following her husband's death. The mourners go to show Cristina their support and solidarity, but in return they are asking her to have the strength to receive all of them and to show them things will be all right.

Cristina with Néstor's coffin.

The people's reactions to Néstor's death demonstrate the heated nature of politics in this city, a place of continuous strikes and protests. It seems that no one is apathetic, and some are incredibly moved; footage of people crying has been on the news non-stop. Some who did not support the former president's views are openly happy about his death. We exchange students have collectively seen the full range of reactions from our host families. This event, although ordinary in its gravity, seems to hold great personal significance for each person living in this country. Even I feel involved, somehow.

So that's the current climate, as far as I see it. The whole thing makes me question how we relate to our political leaders and our expectations of them on a personal level. I shudder to think about it, to be honest. What about you? How does the "political celebrity" phenomenon differ from place to place in the world?

Cinco Cuentitos...

This is post #50! It's likely I'll double that by the end. So much clogging with a b.

I've got two reviews to write from the past week, but first, some little stories in random order:

1) I stepped in mierda for the first time today since being here, which is impressive considering it's just about everywhere. The concept of picking up after your pet does not exist here. Neither does the concept of moving your pet out of the center of the sidewalk when it's about to do its business. That's one thing Rosario has over Buenos Aires! ONE thing.

2) Realizing I have just a tad over two months left, I made a to-do list yesterday for the rest of the semester. It was shockingly brief and included very tangible goals such as "finish at least one of the books I'm reading" and "make PB + J for my Argentine friends." (They've tried peanut butter before but think it would taste awful with jelly. Having eaten thousands of PB + J's in my lifetime, I disagree and am set on proving them wrong!) In conclusion, I'm not running out of time :)

3) Robyn turns twenty today! Last night we partied it up in Palermo Hollywood. I got home around 5, ready to sleep for a good long while, when I realized that I had to get up at 8:30 to go to Immigrations. For further information, see the phrase of the day.

4) Sometimes, my friends and I get the urge to do very yanqui things and we feel embarrassed. The other day, for example, Gwen and I went to see "Comer, rezar, amar" and liked it a little too much. It's a chick flick with a bit of a brain! We read the subtitles to appease our guilt.

5) Continuing with the theme from #4, I've also fallen in love with Tea Connection, a yummy restaurant with actual fruits and vegetables on the menu (and amazing tea, of course.) Yesterday they forgot to charge me for this deliciousness:

That's spinach, corn, and parmesan tarta with lettuce and cherry tomatoes on the side. YUM. The karma's gonna come back to bite me. Or it would if there were such a thing as karma. I firmly believe there is not. I did pay for the tea, though:

All right, now that we're clear on my lunch preferences as well as my religious beliefs, I think this blogpost can end.

BUT not before I make it INTERACTIVE! Question: What should be on my to-do list? What would you do in Buenos Aires if you had the chance?

Okeedoke, that's all.

Besos,

Isa

Phrase of the day: estar hecho/hecha de mierda - lit. "to be made of shit." Usually used to describe one's physical state or appearance after getting little sleep, having a long day, or getting an embarrassing sunburn. I've been using this one a lot lately. To say it about yourself: "Estoy hecho de mierda" if you're male, "hecha" if you're female.

Jueves: My hair is gone!

(Note the new hair, the slightly exasperated facial expression after many photo fails, and the pots and pans that my clothes share a closet with.)

School week diary, day four:

10:00 Wake up. Laze through getting ready. Head out.

11:00 Arrive at the church around the corner where I attend the fourth years’ play rehearsals every week. Marisa tells us that there’s been a miscommunication: they’ve already started rehearsing in the performance space, and it’s too late for us to get there now. The play goes up Monday, October 11^th, and will be performed weekly through October and November. You can check it out on facebook here.

I head back home. I stop in a verdulería to buy an apple. Lately, men selling me fruit always ask me about the weather. They think I haven’t understood them when I reply that no, it’s not cold outside. Then I respond with a speedy, verbose explanation that I’m not from here and thus this doesn’t seem cold at all to me.

I eat the apple on the way home. It’s delicious. People don’t usually eat outside here, but I figure that I’m going to be stared at anyway, so I might as well do what I want.

13:15 Leave the house. Get on the colectivo, head to Recoleta to meet Gwen and Zoé for lunch at Tea Connection – not the most Argentine of spots, but delightful nonetheless.

14:00 I’m the first to arrive. I snag us a table near a guy with an ironic moustache. I look up words while I wait for the girls.

14:20 The chickies arrive. We decide what to order and spend most of our mealtime in Spanish. We eat some wonderful food, drink yummy tea, and have some ridiculous conversations. Lovely all around!

16:30-ish We realize that we should maybe leave Tea Connection at some point in our lives. Gwen and I decide to go to Palermo to do some shopping, and Zoé decides to head home to study. First, we stop by Gwen’s house. Zoé gets to meet host mom Dolo and host dog Felipe for the first time!

As we’re walking toward Palermo, Gwen and I spot the Doctor Who look alike that we saw in a boliche a few weeks ago. THE SAME GUY! We feel creepy but are overjoyed nonetheless.

18:00 Gwen and I arrive in Palermo. Gwen hasn’t given up on our mission for me to get my hair cut. We find a salon called Maldito Frizz – it looks promising. I step in to inquire about making an appointment. The dude (there are a lot of very DUDE dudes working as hairdressers in this city) says he can start my haircut in five minutes. And so, dear readers, I got much of my hair chopped off by a balding 30-something-year-old guy named Leonardo while listening to some excellent jams.

So, newly rid of my “ugly ends,” we went on to do some shopping, and actually found some lovely stores that were light on the floral print. I got lucky and found a dress, a sweater, and a headband – Gwen left empty-handed, sadly, but we’ll be back. The exchange rate is too much in our favor for us to pass up the opportunity.

20:00 We start heading over to the theater where we’ll be seeing Estado de ira, sponsored by IFSA. The theater is in a weird spot – sort of inside the zoo, from what I gathered. We immediately run into one of my classmates from Voz y Canto – it’s a small world when you’re a theater kid. Once inside, we see another of my USal peeps. I’m not surprised in the least.

21:00 The show starts. Review coming soon!

23:00 Show over. The group of yanquis hovers around Mario, our program director, to see if we’ll be getting a free meal this evening. After we follow him awkwardly for a couple of blocks, he peaces out. Sad.

Left to our own devices, Gwen, Zoé, Rodrigo and I have dinner at Kentucky Pizza. There are a disconcerting number of places in this city with “Kentucky” in the title. At least Gwen feels right at home!

And there you have my jueves. It didn’t turn out to be a school day in the least. Go right ahead and burn with jealousy at my abundance of weekend, just don't hate me for being free!

Besos,

Isa

Word of the day: la bronca - n. Anger. (I feel like it's almost an onomatopoiea)

Miércoles: Garments and Gradual Grumpaliciousness

I kind of want a pair...but imagine that print in pastels and on a dress. AGH.

School week diary, day three:

9:30 Alarm goes off. I begin my bad romance with the snooze button.

10:15 Rise. Have a “big breakfast” of cereal, crackers, and an apple. Listen to Kate Nash and Adele (I woke up feeling like a sassy Brit, I guess) as I get ready for the day.

11:30 Leave the house, hop on the colectivo. I work on memorizing lines as I go.

12:00 Meet Robyn for lunch downtown. It’s been a while and we have stories to exchange. I’ve been craving ñoccis, and it’s the 29^th – the day of ñoccis! – so I couldn’t resist ordering some.

13:00 Robyn and I walk a few blocks to get to our private acting workshop (we’re spoiled) that we have each week with Marisa, whom I’ve mentioned before – she’s basically our mom, although she’s not that much older than us. She graduated from the theater program at USal a few years ago and is now busy working in the Buenos Aires theater scene, in addition to running around with the two of us making sure USal is nice to us.

We’re working on monologs and spend a lot of time focusing on full involvement and consciousness of the voice and body. (I’m translating directly from Spanish again, sounds a little weird...) I had a great time acting today – I feel like I can really be expressive with the language now, and it feels lovely. I wish we could have the workshop every day!

15:00 Time for our dramatic theory seminar with Jorge Dubatti! (As I said, we are SPOILED) The classroom is just two doors down, so I grab a quick two-peso cafecito from the vending machine. Delicious!

Dubatti is a delight. Today we talked about Ricardo Bartís,* one of the most highly acclaimed theater directors in Buenos Aires. Dubatti had an interview with him recently, which I attended. His lecture today focused on logically synthesizing Bartís’s ideas, which were a little all-over-the-place in the interview, although fascinating nonetheless. I think that today, I finally convinced Dubatti that I understand Spanish. He thinks I should move here. I don’t completely disagree.

16:00 Class ends. Robyn had to peace out early because she’s been feeling sick :( Thus, all alone, I decide to wander a bit and do some shopping. Spring fashions have now hit the stores.

My most devoted reader (my mother) recently suggested that I write a post about fashion in Buenos Aires. I plan to write said post in the near future, but I’ll give you all a sneak peak now: if I see another floral print, I think I might just puke. There’s also lots of lace going on. And PASTELS. It’s shocking and quite nauseating. Usually, the reason I get frustrated while shopping here is because I don’t fit into the clothes. (They have four sizes for women, and a lot of stores only have the smaller two in stock. Like that store from “Mean Girls”!!! Then there are special stores for “gordas” and “super-gordas.”) But today, I went to a total of seven or eight different stores, and didn’t find ONE THING that I wanted to try on. Sad. At least I’ll save some money...until, of course, I head back to the U.S. and become overwhelmed by the bounty of beautiful things I want. I’m dreaming of H&M and Anthropologie!

16:45 Discouraged, I go to Havanna for a cup of tea. I accidentally order café con leche and medialunas. Oops. I do some reading for class – the chapter, fittingly, is about consumerism.

18:00 I board the colectivo to go home. I should have taken the subte, the traffic was awful!

19:00 I get off a few blocks early in the interest of my physical and mental health. I go into a few more clothing stores. I want to scream at the very, very ugly things I see. I glance in a mirror; I’m looking rough. I head home for real.

I arrive home. I eat apples and granola. I watch “Friends” on tv. Cintia has returned from Mar del Plata, and she gets her friend on the phone whose son wrote and directed an award-winning play that’s still running in the city – she passes the phone to me and I get a theater contact! Exciting.

20:15 I write most of this blog entry because I have nothing better to do and I don’t want to infect the world with my grumpalicious mood that I caught from the awful clothes and stop-and-start bus ride.

20:45 Brief bout of illness. Blegh. At least I know I don’t have yellow fever.

21:15 I sit in the kitchen sipping water. Cintia takes this as a sign that I want to be fed and serves me a plate of chicken and squash that she had prepared earlier. It’s delicious! I eat while she does other things, then sit with her while she eats her dinner. Conversation includes teenage pregnancies. Leticia puts in her two cents from time to time by shouting from the next room, where she is busy with architecture assignments.

22:00 I write the rest of this entry. My arm itches. I want to take a shower.

22:30 Showertime.

22:45 While finishing my shower, I realize that "Para vestir santos," my favorite Argentine show, is on in 15 minutes! Grumpy mood fades. I watch the show. It is excellent.

Well, there you have my miércoles. These things just keep getting longer and longer. Tomorrow should prove to be more interesting, as I’ll be starting my weekend. Stay tuned!

Love,

Isa

P.S. I should note that there are tons of very well-dressed Argentines, and that I have found clothes that I like here. Just not today. To see some interesting alternative styles, check out www.onthecorner.com.ar

*Bartís is the director of “El box,” which you may remember I did not like in the least. Nevertheless, his ideas are interesting...and Dubatti’s sending us to see the play again! Apparently it’s gone through huge changes since I saw it a month and a half ago. We’ll see.

Word of the day: ruso/a –adj. Blond. (lit. Russian. Huh.)

Lunes: Oranges and Articulations

School week diary, day one:

9:25 Alarm goes off. I hit the snooze button a lot. Get out of bed, get dressed, etc. Eat a little breakfast. Bring laundry to laundry place down the block, owned by a friendly middle-aged Japanese couple. Hop on the subte, travel less than 10 minutes to school.

11:00 Conexión Creativa. We “share.” We dance around and shake each other’s hair out. We give full-body massages using oranges – this is DIVINE and I want to start and end and spend every day doing this. We end class by talking about the experience of the orange massage, what images appeared to us while we were being massaged, etc.

Buy a piece of tarta from a panadería around the block (I live off of tarta). Sit in the lobby of the building reading my book and chatting with classmates passing through.

14:30 Voz y Canto. We warm up our voices and practice the ridiculous duet we’ve been learning, then move on to the monologs – Romeo and Juliet in Spanish. I perform the monolog in front of the class for the first time since reading it out loud on the first day. Since then I’ve memorized it and worked hard – they were impressed! It was a nice feeling. The professor points out that I articulate better because I’m still learning the language, and tells the rest of the class to listen to me as an example. Heh heh. Gold star on my forehead...but for real, it’s nice to (a) see the results of my efforts and (b) have an advantage, for once, as a yanqui* in a class full of native speakers. Some of the girls talk to me at the end about how much my Spanish has improved – they’re shocked! Progress √

16:20 Peace out. Buy some candy from a kiosco and catch the subte home.

Chill at home for a bit, facebook e-mail blog yada yada while the cat takes a nap on my bed.

18:30 Take the colectivo downtown to la escuela de espectadores (“spectators’ school” for theater-goers). Listen to Dubatti, my fave, interview the director of Estado de ira, which I really really wanna see. I haven’t been to the theater in SO LONG!

21:00 Class ends. I get to chat with Robyn for a second, who’s back from a wild weekend in Mendoza and needs to recover. And then she needs to tell me all about it. I peace out on the colectivo and read on the way home.

21:45 Arrive home, super hungry. Host sis and her friend are studying hard. I heat up some dinner, eat, realize how boring my blog post is going to be. And now here I am, writing it.

It was really a lovely lunes! The weather is nice and both classes were great. I’m also realizing how lucky I am to be surrounded by crazy theater people all the time, it’s really wonderful. I’ve got love for non-theater-types, too, of course, but school is so much more fun when it’s a nuthouse.

Tomorrow you get my Tuesday.

Besos!

Isa

Word of the day: yanqui - n. or adj. Person from the United States. Comes from the English word "yankee," but is pronounced JAHN-kee.

Coming Up: Una Semana Porteña

Check out that etymology!

Queridos lectores,

I've been here for ten splendid weeks and have almost thirteen left! As I said recently, time is moving at a beautiful speed. I feel very much in the middle, at a turning point, in a transition not the most comfortable feeling in the world, but it's positive nonetheless. Coincidentally, Winter is turning to Spring here - oh, come on, EMBRACE THE METAPHOR.

To complement this change that is occurring in my being, I want to try changing a few external things, as well. I'm trying to eat fewer empanadas, for example, and I'm thinking about cutting my hair. I also want to mix it up on the blog. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!!

The first thing that came to mind when trying to come up with something snazzy to blog about was really quite simple and ordinary: posting a diary of sorts for a week. I mostly end up writing about my weekend life, but four out of seven days (Fridays off hehe) I am IN CLASS. It's a pretty cool set up. And sometimes, ridiculous things happen that you all might get a kick out of. SO I'm gonna write my week this week, Monday - Thursday. THRILLING! No, for real I'm excited, I promise to make it good.

In conclusion: stay tuned to follow me step by step for the next few days, and if you have any blogging ideas for me, COMMENT or send me an e-mail :)

Also coming soon: I'll be in Rosario next weekend with IFSA. I'm excited, I've heard it's a beautiful city! I'll make sure to obtain a camera by then so I can share with you all another piece of Argentina outside Bs As.

Thanks for reading!

Besos,

Isa

Word of the day: morfar - vb. To eat. (ex: "Morfé como una bestia" = "I ate like a beast." A useful phrase in my life!)

"Fuerza Bruta"

I believe that my exact words after exiting this performance were, "What a great way to die!" Those of you who know me well at all know that I'm not a particularly morbid person. I just say "weird stuff" a lot, most of which comes from an honest place. The IFSA people I was with were a little creeped out, but I really meant it - the feeling I got from experiencing this performance is pretty close to what I would hope to feel in my final moments on Earth.

I'm not even going to attempt to describe what "Fuerza Bruta" is. You just have to see it. I purposefully picked a picture that doesn't nearly do it justice so as not to give it away.

Having been here for nearly two months (eek!) I can hardly consider myself enough of an expert on the city to say obnoxious things like "this is a must-see in Buenos Aires," but having been on this planet for nearly twenty-one years ("eek" for some of you reading this), I feel fairly qualified to say that seeing Fuerza Bruta is a very unique, powerful, entertaining experience, and you should go if you can! It didn't change my life or anything, but it made me feel pretty amazing, and it definitely made my creative mind spin with new ideas.

Check it out:

http://www.fuerzabruta.net/

"La Bella y La Bestia"

Last Saturday, Jamie and I went to see the Argentine version of Broadway’s “Beauty and the Beast.” It was FABULOUS. It’s been ages since I last saw the movie, but it used to be one of my favorites. The music is truly beautiful – I’d forgotten much of it, but hearing it again made me realize I how deep an impression music makes, especially when we're little. It's always amazing to feel so close to my four-year-old self, to realize that she's not gone :)

As for the production, I have little to say, I enjoyed it so. The actors were incredibly talented, and they looked like they were having so much fun. I wanted to be up there! So did a little girl sitting near us - she was dressed to the nines in polka-dots and pink converse and danced along to all of the upbeat numbers. A kindred spirit for sure.

Here’s the movie in Spanish, if you get the urge: http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmz9v2K39jM

Randomness in a Red Beret

In keeping with my vow to review all of the plays and films I see while down here, I have five reviews to write from the past week. Holy moley. I’d best get started.

But before I bombard you with reviews, I’d like to post some personal snippets that don’t really fit in anywhere:

1) I recently purchased a bright red beret. Those of you who know me well shouldn’t be surprised that I’m counting this as a major, life-changing, blog-worthy event. I’ve been a hat person for a long time now – at times, obsessively so – but I think it’s safe to say that this time I’m in love.

2) Latest step in resolving language frustrations: I’m vowing to stop being such a neuro-case about my accent. The poor Argentines who have imitated my r’s have had to then listen to my long-winded, flustered explanations of how my Finnish-American tongue often produces “grracias” instead of “gracias” and “perdón” comes out sounding an awful lot like “Perón.” From here on out, I promise only to refer to my accent as “utilitarian” and “cute.”

3) A couple of my IFSA pals are keeping blogs as well. I’m going to embarrass them by publicizing on here:

Robyn – beansandfudge.blogspot.com

Alli – alliupsidedown.blogspot.com

Happy reading!

Expect a kajillion reviews super soon!

Besos,

Isa

P.S. I’ll do a photoshoot with the beret soon. It’s pretty epic. I ask you to please support my need for you all to see it on my head.

Word of the day: el boludo – n. This word has many meanings. Technically, it’s a derivation of “balls.” Can be used the way we use “asshole” and “idiot” in English, but it can mean “dude” in a friendly way, too. (I can’t believe this hasn’t been word of the day yet. It’s an essential part of porteño vocabulary.)

La Rural

Yesterday, Zoë and I went to La Exposición Rural, a huge event going on in the city right now. You can read about it in English here.

We picked the perfect day to go, lots of sun, unlike today which is extremely gray and rainy! Here are some photos:

Me with cows (and, in a gesture of unintentional cruelty, showing off my new leather bag):

Zoë identifying with the cows:

It's a clone !!!!

Sheep-show. Note the awesome uniforms, including berets!

Judging the sheep:

I tried to take a pic of this mega-adorable baby lamb:

Excessive:

Look at that TAIL:

Pobrecito :(

Livestock: a spectator's sport.

Zoë con queso :)

This last one requires a closer look: it's a chinchilla sleeping IN A JAR. Don't worry, it's alive, it can get out, I think it just likes it in there...that's how all the chinchillas were!