What a Week

BIG NEWS!

I'm an Uncle! Maya Marguerite Owens was born on Monday, April 21st at 8:06 AM, weighing in at 6 lbs and 2 oz. Mother, Father, and baby are all happy, healthy, and full of joy (as am I). Pictures to come soon :)

2 Packs a Day

This week started off like any other...until Tuesday, that's when the smoke rolled in. I wasn't surprised for two reasons: 1) This is Argentina and I'm finally learning that I shouldn't be surprised by anything, and 2) there was actually a little bit of smoke last week. It turns out the smoke last week was from a massive trash fires in one of the Villas (ie slums) that burns its trash every so often to make room. I was not prepared, however, for what Buenos Aires had for me this time: Malos Aires. A quick comparison:

This is a picture of buenos aires from my balcony after a storm, so it still wasn't even that clear:



This is a picture of a standard day with the Humo (smoke):



Imagine that for six days straight, it was horrendous! Sleeping with the windows shut and still waking up like you slept next to a camp fire. Headaches, coughs, sore throats and various other symptoms ran through the city with complete lawlessness. Why you ask? The cause is clear while the underlying factors are a bit more muddled. Fires in the delta that span approximately 150,000 acres are apparently burning out of control. The area is about 200 km north/northwest of the city but southern stagnant winds have brought the smoke down here and let the city marinate in it for awhile. First reports made mention of two arrested for suspicion of starting the fire, while later reports blame the fires on farmers. The government has come out saying the farmers started the fires as a "slash and burn" technique with the intent of restoring nutrients to farmland, or also that they were clearing area for cattle to graze.

If you recall my post about the Campo strike, you'll understand why I say that these allegations run much deeper than that. The Campo and government negotiations are coming to a close and the government is doing some serious finger-pointing in hopes of turning the people against the farmers. The gist of their message is: look at what the farmers have done to you and this city, see how they only care about themselves? The farmers struck back by saying that A) they did not start the fires, and B) the government has the resources to put the fires out but chooses not to in hopes of further blaming the Campo. Both sides have legitimate arguments but it's hard to believe either one. A slash and burn fire sounds logical and sometimes they get out of hand, it's just unfortunate that the winds acted as they did. Clearing room for cattle, however, makes no sense. The region that we are talking about is a delta, similar to that of Chesapeake/Tidewater and not suited for cattle. I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in between but also see this as a strong indicator that perhaps the Campo issue will not be settled as amicably as everyone had hoped.
-More pictures on the Picture link

La Quinta

Literally "the country house," or villa. There was a Rotary district conference this week and all of the scholars were asked to give a quick speech about who they were and what they were doing. It was fun meeting some of the higher ups within the organization from different parts of the world (spain, japan, etc.) and our counselors invited us to a picnic the next day at one of the member's country houses. The place was marvelous. About 35 miles outside of the city it was similar to a farm house: some flowers, a few acres, and some fruit trees. There were about 25 of us in total and we passed the day relaxing, talking, eating, drinking, playing soccer, and enjoying the beautiful weather. In other words, it was a near perfect day and something that I truly needed to re-charge my batteries. I personally like the energy of the big city but also need to see green and have some space to breath. A great ending to a pretty miserable week, topped off of course by the birth of my niece..
-Pictures on the picture link

Free Tibet? I'll take it!

So I'm guessing that most of you know the biggest news that happened here in the past week: the arrival of the Olympic Torch. Buenos Aires was the only South American country that played host to the torch during its five continent tour. Although there was quite a bit of excitement leading up to it (Paris riots, San Fran demonstrations, promises of "something news worthy occurring") it all seemed to go rather smoothly. I use the word "seemed" as I didn't actually get to see the Torch since I had French class, but was able to gather a lot from the events before, the news, and my roommate who went (thanks for the pictures Patrick). The torch arrived Thursday night, April 10th, under the cloak of secrecy and although it may well have just been Argentina's lack of information systems, the complete route wasn't revealed until Friday morning. Some minor demonstrations took place but nothing to write home (or blog) about. The torch itself was under heavy protection and was generally accompanied by a secret-service like escort (minus the sweet sunglasses, ear pieces, and suits). I have a few pictures of the events leading up to the torch passing and one of the runner after. The reason he isn't enveloped in a mass of security is that he's already passed the flame along.

Tropa de Elite
On one of the more casual nights here this week my friends and I decided to go see a Brazilian film titled "Tropa de Elite," or Elite Squad. It was a bit of a gamble considering the entire film is in Portuguese, with Spanish subtitles but figured it was a good opportunity to practice both my Spanish and Portuguese. Other than the fact that the subtitles were white and impossible to see at times when the backdrops were also white, it turned into a pretty good experience. More so than the academic aspect, however, was the filmatic experience. This movie was amazing! Though not for the weak of heart/stomach, it was absolutely sensational. It follows a group of Police officers called BOPE (imagine SWAT combined with Israeli clandestine services) through their struggles to curb narcotics trafficking and overall violence in Rio de Janiero. The film highlights the struggle between this small elite group of officers, a larger group of corrupt police, and the drug lords. It's violent, but not over the top and it's not only tells a great story, but highlights a social issue. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who can handle a fair amount of violence and non-stop intensity, though I'm unsure as to where you'll find it. It had a limited release in the states in January and is being presented at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, so keep an eye out for it.

FUN FACT: There's some sort of intentional loophole setup by the Brazilian government that allows their international companies to write-off profits by donating money to the independent film industry. This movie was sponsored by PetroBras (Brazilian petroleum) and various others, and for this reason the Brazilian Independent Film industry has been absolutely booming over the past decade and a half).

Maggie and Marquis
I had a few more friends in town this past weekend that were staying down near Avenida de Julio with some other mates. Maggie and Marquis are both seasoned travelers and did quite a bit of venturing on their own (or with the others), and every time we managed to meet up a grand time ensued. One of our highlights was a trip to the Japanese Gardens (see pictures). Although relatively small, they were both beautiful and tranquil. In fact, the only real complaint I have with them is the domestication of the animals within the park, which I guess is a common trend among highly trafficked areas. Pigeons would just be walking around, there was this duck that would come right up to you and ask for food, and the fish would literally beg. This proved to be both hilarious and freaky. At one point Maggie lectures the duck on how he needs to earn the food by jumping in the water (see pic), and all of us observing got a kick out of it while not so secretly hoping the duck might become agitated, resulting in Maggie falling in the water. The fish, however, will haunt my dreams. When you walk along the bring they swim up and open their mouths, then when you put food in water, a hoard of them swim atop each other to get it, resulting in some of the Carp literally being out of the water since they're on top of the other fish (see pic). The only other place I've seen this is Lake Mead, which backs up to the Hoover Dam, and I've spent three years of my life trying to repress it. But I digress. Saturday night Maggie, Marquis, and I went out to a nice Parilla and tried a variety of meets, including lower intestines (a first for all, though I wouldn't recommend it). We then made our way to my friend’s place, who was having a party in celebration of finishing the first part of her doctoral thesis. The party died down around 330/4 and Maggie and Marquis headed home, thinking the night was over. Silly me, I ended up going out to club "Big Ones," whose name rivals the absurdity of its patrons. I have very little tolerance for clubs but decided to give it the old college try (since I’m in college again, right?). Although I can't say it was the most fun I've head, we did end up staying there until 8AM, and out until 9 AM. For those of you who've been following the blog a late night/early morning is nothing new to the nightlife here; however, generally my late nights result in me making it home just as the sun comes up. It was quite a harrowing experience to walk out of near darkness and into complete daylight and I certainly don't plan on making that a common ritual.

The Last Two Weeks

Since I only spoke of the Campo Strike last week I intend to bring everyone up to speed on the last two weeks here in Buenos Aires.

Campo: A thirty day truce was arranged between the Government and the Farmers, allowing supplies back into the city. Even though this occurred at the beginning of last week, meats have slowly been trickling in and some shelves still appear barren. Prices have increased drastically, especially on the effected produce, and inflation numbers for March (which should officially come out at the end of April) are forecasted at a minimum of 3%. Although this truce brings hope to a peaceful resolution the conflict itself highlights mistrust and ill will amongst social classes and between some social classes and the government.

Futbol news: Apparently my friends and I picked the right game to go to. The following River Plate game ended in a riot and at least one man in the hospital in critical condition. Apparently there has been a massive increase in futbol violence here as of late, and this happened to be one of the most violent outbursts in recent memory. Those of you that know futbol, and futbol hooligans, probably don't think much of it, but there are two things that stand out that I can't seem to wrap my mind around: 1) River Plate won, so why were they rioting? 2) The fight was between two groups of River Plate fans, so why were they fighting? I'm still trying to fix my link connector on this blog so if you want to read more, just cut and paste
http://wwwr2.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=641044

Mike and Andrew: Mike Brennan and Andrew Pearsons made it into town for a little over a week in the end of March and we had an absolute blast. They came in right after Semana Santa (holy week) so things were a bit more subdued than usual but we still managed to make quite a week out of it. I'm slowly starting to realize that Buenos Aires, as amazing of a city as it is, is somewhat limited in its nightlife choices. There's eating, drinking, and dancing, and that's about it. Don't get me wrong, I love all three, but it's a tough adjustment coming from LA where a night at the bars was the backup plan. Nonetheless, I tried my best to show them some of my favorite spots, and we even tried a few new ones. Too much steak was eaten, too much vino and cerveza imbibed, and too much fun was had.

Classes: The last week of March was also my last week of Spanish classes, which I was happy about since now I feel like I can actually start to learn Spanish again. Although that concept seems bass akwards, let me explain: not only was my Spanish school lacking, but due to several errors I was committed to a situation where I was taking too many hours of class each day. That led to stress and frustration and me being a not so motivated student. Since I wasn't motivated and the school was lacking, my Spanish has pretty much been in a holding pattern for three weeks. This last week was my first without and it was absolutely fantastic. I spent most of this week just resting as I felt like I've been on a seven week binder. I've also started taking Portuguese and French classes, both conducted at an introductory level and in Spanish. That brings my course load up to 12 hours per week and I'm starting to realize that I'm going to need to find many new hobbies in order to keep myself from going insane. I do like both my Portuguese and French classes though. Not only am I learning two additional languages, but also meeting new people. The problem with most university classes here is that they are generally very large and you usually don't end up having more than 2 or 3 of the same classes with a person ever. In sum, it's much less of a community and it's much harder to meet people. These language classes, however, are much smaller and everyone is on the same level of vulnerability since they are new to the language.

Social: This week was actually pretty sedated as I spent about a four day span in complete detox. It's very hard, however, to teach an old dog new tricks. Friday night was one of our friend's (Michaela) birthday and we had to go out and celebrate. We went to bar Jobs which appeared to be somewhere in between a dive bar and a nicer bar, in other words, my kind of style. The highlight of the evening was Foosball. Not just any old Foosball my friend, HUGE foosball. These tables were massive and fit three people on each side. I didn't bring my camera out that night (like most nights) so I'll have to go back sometime soon just to take a picture of this table. Saturday was spent in the park. Parque 3 de Febrero is massive (think Central Park) and has several gardens, a horse racing track, tennis club, polo club, and various other novelties. Since the day was amazing we just found a nice hunk of grass and passed the day with tranquility and bliss. After over-indulgence the previous night I was looking for something a little more low-key on Saturday night. I planned an evening at Shoeless Joe's Alamo, an expat bar that was playing the Final Four. My intent was to go have a couple beers, watch some good basketball, and make it an early night. UCLA's loss, however, changed all of that. After meeting some other expats, drinking too much, making my way to another bar, and getting lost, I'd had enough. I learned a few things that night: 1) I think I've just about hit my capacity for expats, 2) I no longer desire to drink for drinking's sake. I'm not sure if I'll follow through on either of these realizations, but hopefully so.

Blog update: One of the things I'm really going to try to work on now (and in the future) is writing more. After two weeks it's hard to remember some of the amazing things I've seen or done. I'm going to start bringing my journal with me and writing more in hopes that I can better summarize events gone by.

The Rising

Generally I try to provide inside to various aspects of my life down here, but this entry will be dedicated solo to one issue: the rising crisis between the government and the farm workers. The situation itself has been developing for quite some time, though it's really come to a head as of recent.

The Basic Discourse: Argentina's economy has actually been quick to recover since its plummet at the turn of the millennium. Although there are still many areas in need of improvement (inflation, health care, etc.) the country has shown its resilience in maintaining a valued economy. A large reason for such a quick comeback has been the value of agriculture. Not only is Argentina famous for it's beef, but soybean and other products have a great value in both national and international levels. After a few successful years the government has decided to re-arrange the export taxes on said products, essentially raising taxes for "the campo" by 10%. The reasoning for this is sound: The Campo is Argentina's cash cow and the government hopes to raise additional revenues from their success so that they can improve other lagging areas like health care and education. The Campo, however, does not take too kindly to this logic. They see the government as essentially punishing them for their success and don't think they should solely carry the fiscal burden for failing Argentine industries.

The History: About 20 days ago the "farm workers" began a strike. I use the term farm workers, though it actually goes much deeper than that and includes meat and dairy producers too. The strike carried on for 16 days and was located in the "interior,” which is essentially every region outside Buenos Aires, though most events occurred in the northern parts. Not only did production halt, but also workers organized demonstrations, protests, and Cortes (cuts). These Cortes were essentially roadblocks that kept good from reaching their destination (image an 18 wheeler stretched perpendicularly along 95 or the 405, surrounded by 40 plus farm workers not letting any produce pass). By the last week the city was really starting to feel the crunch, shortages began to appear in produces markets and elsewhere.

The Protests: After such a strong showing by the Campo, President Kirschner made her way to the interior to try to resolve the situation peacefully; she failed. I'm not sure of the exact details of what transpired but she essentially told the Campo that she would not give in to threats and would not talk to them again until they stopped the Cortes. It was up until this point (about last Tuesday) when I had only been loosely following the story line. At around 9 PM that evening I hear a few people starting to bang pots and pans. At first I try to figure out where it's coming from and also why they are doing it. I initially think its a celebration of a marriage proposal, or their signal of approval for the new national holiday that was celebrated the preceding Monday. As the noise grew, however, I knew it was something more. The clanking grew and ascended on us from all angles, making their way throughout the city towards various congregations. As we made our way to dinner we saw two of these protests on prominent corners, so large that Police shut down roads within a few blocks of each. The protests were peaceful yet inspiring and pretty much consisted of songs of nationalism and shouts of support for the campo. Although I was still somewhat uniformed as to how or why these were taking place, I felt a bit inspired. Not only were thousands of people out in the streets, but also just about every car was honking their horn in unison to the beat created by pots and pans.

The Bad, The Good, and the Ugly:
BAD: The situation, although it is yet to be diffused, got pretty hairy by the end of last week. Shortages were seen in markets and prices were increasing for most goods, especially produce. Private economists are estimating that inflation for the month will be around 3% (what it is for the US in one year). The strike has also left many indirectly affected without work: mainly industries that support agriculture (transportation, etc.) Also, apparently these protests are not nearly as common as I originally thought. The last time these occurred in such a manner was 2001/2002, right after the currency devaluation when the government was taking extreme measures to control prices and inflation. It's a pretty large signal of mistrust of the government by the people. By the end of last week, most of the Argentine's that I know here were starting to have legitimate fears over the whole situation.

GOOD: The Campo has actually shown a sign of good faith in lifting the Cortes this weekend in order to resume talks on Monday. Supplies have made it into the city and though there has not been a full restock, shelves aren't barren. I'm hoping all goes well with the talks on Monday because this country can't afford the fallout from such a prominent strike.

UGLY: Some of the pro-government supporters actually paid bums 50 pesos (less than 20 US) to go into the protests and try to turn them violent by being vocally disagreeable and even physical with some protesters. Simply sad.

I've got a few quick links you can check out below to read a bit more and actually see one of the many protests. You'll need to copy the link and paste it into a new web page. I am hoping for a good report next week:

YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0b5N5RJR7k&feature=related

BBC Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7319903.stm

GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLL!

*check for pictures*
Perhaps an apology is necessary for the last entry as I needed to clear the air. I'll also apologize for the fact that my blog, right now, is a bit more superficial than I'd like it to be. Between visas, the aforementioned class issue (which has been resolved), and guests in town, I have had little time to focus on more than day to day activities. Recently, however, I have started to bring a journal around with me to make better note of cultural differences and points of interest that go beyond my daily life. I'm hoping I can provide better inside into the land that is Buenos Aires starting very soon. Until then...

This week I had a few guests in town: Fred and his girlfriend Emily. Fred is a long time friend of mine, we grew up together, and I was extactic that he was coming to visit. Although I was yet to meet Emily, she surpassed all forms of flatery mentioned of her. They arrived on Monday, St. Patrick's day, which we chose to celebrate in Ex-Pat fashion. Apparently Argentina has one of, if not the largest Irish population in a non-English speaking country. Additionally, Argentine animocity towards the British (think Faukland/Malvinas Islands)has fostered a great bond with the Irish. Just last year the city chose to make this celebration official, blocking of a small area of the city to traffic and essentially having a party in the street. We were able to weezle our way into Kilkenny, the predominant Irish bar in BsAs, and had a rather good time. In hind sight, it wasn't much more than what a typical bar might have to offer in the States for St.Pattys day (except they also lacked Green beer), but it was interesting to see Argentine's celebrating an Irish/American holiday. I have since been told by locals that it's really just an excuse to drink beer, like I've ever needed an excuse?

As my language classes continue on top of my university classes, I generally find my days pretty full. Most of the evenings are still spent dining out and having a few drinks and I am still struggling to find balance in my daily life. I keep telling myself things will settle down, but am having such a good time that I find it hard to initiate such actions. This week was also Semana Santa, holy week. Good Friday is a national holiday and thursday is an optional work day (optional here means nobody works). Argentina is a predominantly Catholic country, with numbers ranging between 70% and 90%, depending on who you ask. Despite the fact that there is a clause in the Constitution saying the government should support Roman Catholicism, I have seen very few "practicing" catholics. I have been inside some homes and the presence of symbolism and imagery is quite apparent, but there don't appear to be many churches or individuals who go to them.

I've also changed my mentality a bit here in respect to the one I adopted in Europe. That trip was for a very limited amount of time and I refused to allow myself to do anything American. Here...not so much. I'm going to be here for a year and there are a few luxuries that I just have to allow myself. The first one being, of course, NCAA basketball. I tried to start a pool down here, which failed miserably, but still filled out a bracket and watched a fair amount of the games. Fred and I met up in an expat bar on Friday to pull for Davidson and every other underdog as our brackets had already been shot (on the second day, pretty sad huh?) This place totally catered to Americans with dishes like chicken wings and Nachos, and though I won't be making a frequent habit out of it, I loved every second. That night I went set out to two of my favorite places here: Desnivel and Azucar. Desnivel is the restaurant that I previously made mention of when talking about the steak. Although the food is terrific, the ambiance is also great in that you can pretty much be as loud as you want. I believe I have also noted Azucar before, the Salsa club where you can dance until the sun rises. I think and hope all had a great time that night, I know I did.

The absolute highlight of the week, however, was attending a futbol (soccer) match on sunday. I just had some new friends arrive in town that morning, whom I'll make mention of in my next entry, and it was Fred and Emily's last day in town. Futbol is absolutely massive here and there are about twenty clubs within the region that is Buenos Aires. Really, however, there are only two: Boca Juniors and River Plate. The English element in their names actually stems from the turn of the century as they were initially founded by English teams/owners. These teams, however, divide the city. I'm told when tey play that they actually have to re-route traffic so that the fans never cross paths. I'd believe it too. We went to a River Plate vs. Velez game and it was absolutely nuts. We sat in the nice seats, which meant that the only thing keeping us from making our way onto the field was barbed wire and something that appeared to be a moat. The general section (with the crazy fans) was impeded by a 30 ft. fence and police in riot gear. I understand why, it gets absolutely crazy. The fans never stopped singing or jumping up and down, the entire game, and I'm really hoping you are able to access my videos to see only a small part of this enthusiasm. I'm also pretty sure that not a single minute passed where curse words weren't beeing slung at the refs and players. In addition to the experience, the game was also quite exciting. It's much faster live and it helps that my team, River, won.

A few final notes:
-Embarazada here doesn't mean embarrassed, it means pregant. I'm sure you can imagine that quite a few girls have made that mistake before, leading to even more embarrassment.
-"Happy Easter" here is Felices Pascuas. I've asked several and nobody can seem to tell me why it's pluralized. I'm really just upset that I haven't been able to find a word that sounds like Pascuas but actually means derier.

Happy Keyster :)

This is Argentina

also known as "Welcome to Argentina." This is the phrase uttered whenever something goes wrong, like a power outage, slow service, etc. Wouldn't you know the blog that I saved got deleted, this is argentina. Post will be up tomorrow.

I Love the Rainy Nights (not really)

Apparently six consecutive days of rain in Buenos Aires is quite unusual, especially during this season. As with any city, the locals here have a general knack for talking up their city, or in this case excusing it. Despite trying to filter and interpret these comments as “local bias” I’d have to say most of what I’ve been told has held true, the rain included. The city is not setup to handle massive amounts of rain, which has become more than evident through the flooding in the streets, closure of subte (subway) stations, power outages, and various other fun things.

*Fun side note: the original settlement of Buenos Aires did not take due to flooding. I wonder if they’re starting to re-think their position now?

On the bright side the rain has not been consistent, but on the downside the rain has not been consistent. My definition of fun is pretty broad and incorporates a wide array of activities, but getting stuck in a flash flood with all of my visa documents and without slightest shred of gear does not make the list. Compounding the problem is the dilapidated state of the sidewalks, which I think speaks more to the problem of bloated bureaucracy than economic fallibility. All of the major utilities (gas, water, etc.) run underneath the sidewalk and when there’s a problem, they have to break the sidewalk to fix the problem underneath. Apparently the gas company has no problem breaking through the patch work concrete, but when it comes to fixing the problem it’s someone else’s problem. Sometimes they’ll mark off areas with bags of rocks suggesting they’re going to fix the problem, or wood pallets to cover one eyesore with another. Sometimes they’ll even manage to salvage the tiles and put them back loosely, creating a bit of a wobble when you step on. The aforementioned is hardly ever problematic, except when it rains. The rain collects underneath the tiles and stepping on an end displaces the subterranean water, slinging it perfectly up your leg, sometimes making it is far as your shorts.

ACADEMIC NEWS

I’ve spent the better part of the week collecting my documents for a student visa and arranging my schedule with la Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA). I’m never one to count my chickens before they hatch, especially with all the road blocks thus far, but everything seems to be falling in place. It’s actually been so smooth that I’m catching on to this “contagious optimism” that, according to Salmon Rushdie, can be oh so dangerous. Monday is my first day of classes and although I retain a bit of angst, I’m also quite excited. Not so much about the classes, but about my chance to be “that foreign student.” Just imagine any exchange student you’ve ever come across and I could be that guy: died hair, Velcro shoes, and a notebook/folder with something I think is superhip like the Power Rangers. Can’t wait.

SOCIAL NEWS

Some of the rotary scholars are leaving this week for their respective locations around the country while new ones specific to Buenos Aires have arrived. I’m starting to worry a bit about surrounding myself with mostly Americans but those fears have been somewhat belayed this weekend in what I call “the week of the argentine.” I met my first real argentine friend a few weeks ago and we finally got to hang out Thursday and I got to see some of the real local spots, though it was tough cause we didn’t start heading back (at my request) until 4AM. Friday my roommate and I headed to Palermo Hollywood (one of the barrios) and ended up meeting a large group of South Americans (name any country) working for a consulting group. We spent the majority of the night hanging out with them and I think my roommate, Patrick, might be applying for a job. That night we also met Pablo, a rugby playing drummer who made us promise to come to his bands’ live music Saturday night at a bar/club. A little afraid of him, we complied. We also thought this was going to be a little rinky-dink dive bar with a few local bands showcasing their skills…wrong. The bar was massive and Pablo arranged it so we didn’t have to pay the $30 peso cover (about as expensive as it gets). They were the only band and were amazing, Pablo especially. Afterwards he gave me a band t-shirt and told Patrick and I he was going to bring us to a Rugby practice, as well as a bbq (Parilla being the local term). He also asked for our female friend’s phone number for any of you who might be thinking about this in the context of my flight attendant story.

That’s all for now, check for new pictures. There’s a few captions this time and more to come next week, especially of the new place.