Suburbia

In an attempt to go to La Boca, a barrio in the southeast part of the city, Julie and I ended up getting a grand tour of the 'burbs, at a killer rate of 90 centavos. Long story short - we missed our stop, and rather than getting off in an unknown neighborhood, we decided we'd wait it out until the bus turned around. It was clear that we had left the city as the street signs changed and the buildings because smaller and more run-down.

One hour, a few horses, many near-brake failures, and a couple of suburbs later, we were told to get off and wait for the bus to turn around to head back to the city. The driver of the first bus kindly informed our new driver that we were lost and American and to let us ride for free.

Of course, on our return, we spotted the brightly-colored houses characteristic of La Boca that we had set out to see. However, the suburb excursion was so exciting, we decided to save La Boca for another day.

Plus, we discovered a new budget way to travel!

Meerkat's are way smaller than they seem on TV

Red Panda at the Zoo

Hi, my name's Amanda and I'm awkward...

...just in case you didn't already know.

Five and a half weeks in and I still find myself in awkward situations every time I say hello or goodbye to someone. Kiss on the cheek is standard - but what about in business situations? Do you stand up? Which side do you go to? Do you kiss everyone in the room?

Many times I have gone in for an interview and been greeted and seen off with a kiss - which just seems inappropriate to me. My English students kiss me hello and goodbye. And how do I greet my Spanish teacher?

Today I encountered my first handshake since I've been here. A director of a multinational oil company (who had a very snazzy oceanfront corner office) shook my hand and wished me luck when I left. Of course, I had no idea whether he was going to shake my hand, or lean in for the cheek-kiss, or just open the door and send me on my merry way. Every time I come or go I get awkward and don't know how to act. I usually end up saying something weird and running out the door before we have to have an awkward goodbye. Hopefully they attribute my odd comments to a "bad translation", which is an excuse I plan on using quite a bit.

Speaking of, my favorite Spanish-English translation is "besos" to "kisses". This is the correct translation, but in Argentina, people say goodbye by saying "un beso". I have received emails from people I didn't yet know that said "Kisses!" as their goodbye. I guess their just friendly..

On that note, a kiss! Chau

Moneda hijacking

I, along with millions of other people in this city, were blessed with free subway rides this past weekend. The occasion? No, not Dia de la Raza - which is basically Columbus day, but sometimes thought of as a counter to it: a resistance to the white man's arrival in the Americas. Okay, sorry, back to the free ride! It was actually due to a lack of monedas. Since the subway did not have enough coins to provide change to customers, they let everyone ride for free.

The direct cause of this? According to Clarin, the Gendarmeria or Justicia Federal (national guard, or some internal part of the government) decided to sequester 5,000,000 in pesos in order to... count it? Okay, so I'm not 100% sure since the articles were in Spanish, but that's what I can gather. They took the monedas from Maco, a wealth transport company that acquires monedas (probably from the bus companies) and sells them to companies, at a mark-up of 8 - 10%. Their main customers include the subway and the biggest pharmacy chain, which resulted in free train service and Farmacity turning customers away.

There are almost 5 billion coins of varying values (from .05 to 1.00) in circulation, and the 5 million pesos that were removed are estimated at a mere .42% of the total supply. However, this had a huge (and "unforeseen") effect on daily life here. When they sequestered Maco's supply, the government was searching for false monedas in an attempt to counter the underground business .

Luckily, the monedas were returned safely and the subway is no longer free.

from our trip to Rosario last weekend

The joys of public transportation

I love public transportation - the subway, LIRR, Chapel Hill Transit, etc. It has been a month since I've been behind the wheel of a car and it is glorious. But the transportation here is, well, interesting to say the least.

- The Subte (Subway) is fantastic. The station is right outside my door, and it comes frequently. Of course, it stops running at 10pm and it doesn't go many places. Plus, it is so crowded that I often feel extremely violated.

- The buses are ridiculous. Besides the moneda (coin) shortage, there are hundreds of privately-owned buses with no schedule. They are confusing and unreliable and all I can do is hope that I am going in the right direction.

- Taxis are absolutely insane. One of the first nights we were here, I took the scariest taxi ride of my life. He drove about 50 mph down cobblestone sidestreets. And, naturally, many intersections have no rules. It's survival of the ballsiest. I've been trying to figure out the rules, and all I can surmise is that the rule is: go and hope the car going the other way hits their brakes in time. A very good system if you ask me.

Today I had to go to an obscure place in Puerto Madero to teach a class. Its very difficult to get to, since neither the subte or the buses go onto the port. So the plan was take the subte, take a bus, and walk. First, a bus completely left me because I was too slow getting on (translation: I didn't jump onto a moving bus, which is the preferred method of boarding). Then I ran for a bus. I've seen it happen many times - all of a sudden a person starts sprinting down the street and you have no idea why. That was me today. I got on the bus, only to realize I was going the wrong way.

I got off and caught a taxi - I didn't want to be late for the first class! I told him the address and he had no idea. I'm used to people giving me blank stares, but this time it was different - it was that he didn't know the street, not that I have a horrific Spanish accent. I pulled out my map for him and continually said "cerca del casino" - close to the casino. Luckily he was very nice and promised we would find it and the cops he asked pointed us in the right direction. He spoke to me in Spanish the entire ride, and it was the longest conversation I have had in Spanish since I got here. Plus, I may have picked him up as an English student!

I thought that our newfound friendship (I mean I gave him my phone number for English lessons) would mean I could pay with a large bill, but of course, he "had no change".

Tomorrow will be another early morning, since we are going away for the weekend!

What's a Jew to do?

Being that I do live in Queens, the large population of Jews is no surprise. In SAT terminology,

Villa Crespo:Buenos Aires AS Cedahurst:Nassau County.

The flower stalls on the streets had signs wishing "L'shanah Tovah" to passersby, and the city was full of colorful posters for "Rosh Hashanah Urbano" - a fair of sorts. The best part was the food displays at the supermarkets consisting of all your Rosh Hashanah staples: matzah, felafal mix, and gafiltefish. Oh well, they get an A for effort.

Tonight, we went to Yom Kippur services at Chabad (in spanish - Jabad). It was the least enjoyable service I have ever been too - and I was a bratty, uninterested teenager. For me, Yom Kippur is the only holiday that incites any desire to attend services.
*Yom Kippur, for my gentile friends, is the day of atonement, where you seek forgiveness and hope to begin the new year with a clean slate.

Basically, it was a service for men. Fortunately, they were nice enough to tell the women "if you want to celebrate your holiday, you can watch our service from afar and be completely uninvolved". I'm surely not interested in being super-involved, nor do I mind men and women sitting separately, but I am not okay with being forced to sit behind a screen where I can't see or hear anything. The majority of the women were chatting while their children screamed and their husbands prayed. The men kissed the Torah while the women kissed the air. I find it sad that people (men and women alike) are comfortable with a religious community that treats women, and their access to worship, as inferior.

It was hardly a thought-provoking, forgiveness-giving, slate-clearing scene if I ever saw one.

With that being said, this will probably be my final visit to synagogue for a while, at least to a Jabad. But let's be honest, I only go on Yom Kippur anyway.

On the lighter side of Judaism, Julie and I just taught Alana my favorite Hebrew school tune - "Wherever you go, there's always someone Jewish, you're never alone cause god made you a Jew". Naturally, the lesson was followed by a sing-a-long (I've linked to the lyrics in case you have the urge to have a sing-a-long of your own).

I am now off to bed, disheartened by the reality of a Yom Kippur without bagels and lox.

I am starting to figure out how to use my new camera!

Coexistencia

(whole text) .5 sq. m of coexistence

this guy knows a thing or two about coexistence

During my 8-hour break between my whopping 2.5 hours of work today, I came across a Coexistencia exhibit in Plaza San Martin. The exhibit was started by the Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem, and Buenos Aires is the 25th stop since the world tour began in 2001. It's purpose is to encourage people to think differently about their communities, themselves, and the "other". The exhibit consists of giant posters from artists all over the world to illustrate coexistence. Through simple art, the idea of a calmer future is portrayed.

Las Afueras

Julie, Susana, Josh & I took a scenic train to the suburbs. It was inexplicably nice to be out of the city even for just a day. We could get on and off the train wherever we wanted. We first stopped at San Isidro to eat and explore a market, then Delta where we took a boat around some of the rivers. There were lots of quaint and colorful houses off of the river, and people boating canoes that seemed to be built 100 years ago.

Buenos Aires is the stereotypical large city - dirty, loud, crowded, and polluted. Multiple times a day I witness people throwing their trash on the sidewalk, and the cartoneros disperse the bagged trash all over when searching for recyclables. The extensive bus system means copious amounts of emissions and the sheer number of people implies noise and crowds. Needless to say, it was good to get out for a day.

Buenos Aires Skyline

The job hunt is proving extremely difficult. I have a few English teaching jobs which I am completely unqualified to do, and the 4 hours a week probably won't pay the rent. Although it is interesting, and I have already learned some things about Argentine culture. I think on this weeks agenda will be informing the students that although in Argentina they say "besos" at the end of an email to someone they have never met, the English translation to kisses is a bit weird and slightly inappropriate in business communication.